Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Pinellas considers funding Weedon Island, Shell Key preserves for another year

tampabay.com · 22h · first reportShare

Two beloved Pinellas County nature preserves on the verge of losing local funding could see another year’s worth of county cash after all. Facing a roughly $40 million budget shortfall and public heartburn over the prospect of defunding Weedon Island and Shell Key Preserves, county leaders on Thursday floated using some money set aside for a new county headquarters and instead fund the parks for another budget year. Though commissioners didn’t make a final decision Thursday, the move would give the county more time to ask the region’s state lawmakers for sustained state funding for both parks. The preserves are owned by the state but leased, primarily funded and managed by the county. “The Weedon Island proposal was very sudden, and caught a lot of people by surprise,” said Commissioner Chris Scherer. Hundreds of residents have written to commissioners, urging them to keep paying for the ecological gems in the heart of a densely populated region. Pinellas leaders said earlier this mont