PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — St. Petersburg city leaders voted to approve additional funding to repair Tropicana Field.
St. Pete City Council approved all Trop-related items on the agenda to provide additional funding for repairs. The three items included metal panel repairs, security duties at the stadium, and more money toward protecting and cleaning up the site.
It has been about eight months since Hurricane Milton ripped the roof off the Trop and caused significant damage to other parts of the stadium.
City councilwoman Gina Driscoll said this is part of a larger effort to preserve the inside of the stadium.
“We have to make sure we don’t have further damage to the stadium with the rainy season that’s coming up,” Driscoll said.
Some people are pushing back against the city spending more money on the Trop, but others say the repairs can’t happen soon enough.
"I want to see them not even talk about it, just vote the money into repairing the Trop. We need to get it ready for opening day," Mark Ferguson, owner of Ferg’s Sports Bar and Grill, said.
He said sales are down about 20% compared to past baseball seasons.
City leaders are reminding people that they are contractually obligated to fix up the Trop and get it back to playing standards.
“You know, it might just be time we take a look if HOAs are really even necessary.
Maybe we should just do away with homeowner associations as a whole.”
South Florida lawmaker Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) says it may be time to do away with homeowners associations altogether, as more Floridians speak out about rising fees, costly lawsuits, and even arrests tied to HOA disputes. He said this week that he is considering filing legislation in the next session that would abolish HOAs statewide.
