- Shanna Gillette
- Critics and supporters of the Lens filled St. Pete's City Hall
Knowing there is a viable petition drive that could stop the motion for a new Pier, the St. Petersburg City Council voted on Thursday to approve spending $4.75 million to continue to bring The Lens concept to fruition.
The vote came one day after VoteOnThePier.com, a group that's been striving for years to get a referendum on the ballot regarding whether there should be a new Pier, went before a judge. This prompted Lens critic Wengay Newton to introduce a motion at the beginning of the meeting to delay voting on the new funds. But He didn't get a second vote from his Council colleagues.
City Attorney John Wolfe told the council that if the second activist group trying to stop the lens project, StopTheLens.com, is able to get enough signatures to put up a ballot question, is still wouldn't prevent the inverted pyramid from being demolished next May as scheduled.
Today, for more than two hours, dozens and dozens of citizens spoke either for or against the council approving the funds. After a lunch break, council members then discussed the issue for another two hours.
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2012.