Town manager outlines funding limits, charter constraints and possible sale of three town parcels to help finance beach improvements

At the end of the workshop Town Manager Brian Raducci summarized the town’s preliminary financial position and raised two governance issues for public input: the charter’s five-year cap on leases of town-owned property and the requirement for voter approval to sell certain town parcels. Raducci said the town has roughly $1.2 million in current operating funds available as an initial contribution and that larger elements would require additional money from reserves, bonds, grants or partnerships.

Raducci explained that the charter currently restricts long-term leases and that selling the three specific parcels on Northlake (acquired in 2012) would require a voter referendum. He said staff included questions about possible charter amendments and a potential sale in the survey so residents could indicate whether they want the town to research those options further. "If we were to reduce [the lease restriction], we would put other safeguards in place to protect the citizens," Raducci said.

Staff did not propose specific charter language and said any charter change would be a separate, public process requiring council action and, likely, a referendum in a future election cycle.