Warm Mineral Springs Park Master Plan

During the Sept. 12, 2023 City Commission Regular Meeting, a work assignment was approved to engage the services of Ardaman & Associates to perform an evaluation of the subsurface conditions within the proposed building areas that could impact the proposed development.

On July 25, 2023, the City Commission in a 4-1 vote directed staff to move forward with the public-private partnership (P3) pathway for Warm Mineral Springs Park.

The next steps, in accordance with City Code requirements and best practices, will include continued due diligence efforts, such as a geotechnical survey of the proposed building areas and real estate and investment evaluations by third-party experts; negotiations and a draft agreement with the developer for future consideration by the commission; the drafting of a Comprehensive Plan Amendment for low- to medium-intensity development; and continued opportunities for stakeholder engagement.

In response to public feedback provided during multiple commission meetings, workshops and community surveys, conceptual plans for the P3 have been scaled back from high-intensity development, as originally proposed, to medium-intensity development. That would also allow for the addition of a restaurant, spa and wellness services, three amenities that a majority of respondents to the 2023 community survey indicated they desired to see at the springs.

Staff will continue to identify additional opportunities for community input from stakeholders to assist with the implementation of this partnership.

On April 9, 2019, City Commission approved the adoption of the Warm Mineral Springs Park Master Plan. This plan includes a comprehensive analysis of the entire 81.6 acres and provides recommendations for future services and amenities. A large portion of the plan’s creation included community input through a series of stakeholder meetings, community engagement sessions, and public surveys.

On Feb. 25, 2020, City Commission approved a contract amendment with Kimley-Horn & Associates for professional design and engineering services to include historic restoration of the existing nationally registered buildings, as well as utility infrastructure and parking lot improvements. In coordination with the project planning process, several historic rehabilitation grants were applied for but were not received.

At the June 4, 2021, Special Commission Meeting, the City Commission provided direction to proceed with funding the construction of this first phase of the Warm Mineral Springs Park Master Plan. The Request for Bid for this initial construction phase was released on April 20, 2022 and closed on June 6, 2022. A single bid was received in response to Request for Bid (RFB) No. 2022-22 Warm Mineral Spring Park Building Restoration & Improvements. The bid far exceeded the available project budget of $9,345,470.88, and the City issued a Notice of Intent to cancel the solicitation and rebid at a later date.

During the City Commission Workshop on June 16, 2022, staff was directed to evaluate options such as phasing the project and exploring potential public-private opportunities.

On Sept. 8, 2022, after re-evaluating projected construction costs, staff presented information on a potential phased approach to completing the Warm Mineral Spring Park Building Restoration and Improvement project and provided estimates for six major project elements with the revised opinion of probable cost ranging from approximately $13,047,625 to $15,047,625 based on the current construction conditions. No action was taken. Review the Commission agenda and backup materials.

On Sept. 12, 2022 City Commission reviewed two unsolicited P3 conceptual proposals related to the WMSP Master Plan Building Restoration & Improvements and Future Phases. Commission accepted a P3 Conceptual proposal from WMS Development Group LLC(PDF, 4MB) for substantive review.  

On Nov. 22, 2022 City Commission reviewed and accepted the P3 Unsolicited Detailed Proposal(PDF, 4MB) submitted by WMS Development Group, LLC and made the preliminary determination that the proposal is for a facility or project that serves a public purpose and meets the definition of a 'qualifying project" in Florida Statutes Section 255.065(1)(i). The next step is for the City Manager to analyze whether to further pursue the detailed proposal under the P3 procurement process outlined in City Code 2-420(c)(1). The City is required to notify submitter of decision to reject or accept proposal for competitive review within 120 business of receipt of the proposal.  On Jan. 18, 2023 the City Manager provided notification to the submitter that the detailed proposal has been submitted for competitive review.

On March 29, 2023 the City announced that it is moving to the evaluation and negotiation phase with WMS Development Group LLC after receiving no other competitive bids in response to RFP 2023-14, Warm Mineral Springs Public Private Partnership Project, which closed on March 20, 2023 at 2 p.m.

In April 2023, the City also contracted Pritchett Steinbeck Group, Inc. (PSG) to complete a Threatened and Endangered Species Survey of Warm Mineral Springs Park. The report was received on July 5, 2023, and isavailable for download(PDF, 22MB). PSG reviewed existing surveys and documents, then completed an in-field survey for the presence, signs and habitat of threatened and endangered species.

On June 9, 2023, the results from the independent Warm Mineral Springs Park survey were received and made available for download(PDF, 3MB). A total of 959 residents participated from randomly selected households to provide their feedback, a sampling which is representative of City residents and gives the results a margin of error of +/- 3.1%. An additional 666 people took the online survey that was open to everyone(PDF, 143KB).