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The St. Petersburg City Council met Tuesday for a final Rays stadium and redevelopment deal workshop.
There were concerns over a forgotten burial ground under the proposed development.
St. Pete City Council Chair Deborah Figgs-Sanders brought up excavating the site at a point during Tuesday’s hours-long meeting.
“There are people that are buried there. I think we owe them the honor not to continue to build over them.”
The area is home to Oaklawn Cemetery.
It’s an African American Cemetery that was paved over for the stadium and its parking lots.
In response to Figgs-Sanders, the city’s workforce and development director Brian Caper mentioned the past radar efforts at the stadium.
“In that, it identified four areas, that there was a disturbance. That could mean anything really. The next step is to do ground truthing, which is to dig on the site to determine what is actually there, and if that disturbance aligns with remains.”
Caper says efforts will continue.
Officials say a plan will be formed once a report is completed – which could be as early as late fall.
Figgs-Sanders says it is important to offer proper respect to the deceased.
“When we say we want to pay homage to the defendants, it can’t get any more honorable than that.”
Another one of the key topics of discussion was about the promised affordable housing in the deal.
Council member Richie Floyd has concerns the deal gives developers too much leeway to possibly not provide the affordable housing
“The public should be aware that this deal doesn’t provide the affordable housing, it just outlines how future deals will provide it. I think that’s an important distinction, and one that I’m frustrated by.”
However, council member Copley Gerdes disagrees.
“Yes, there is affordable housing because we discounted the land. If that is within that realm, I think that agreement provides that.”
Environmental concerns were also a point of concern.
The draft says the developers would use “good faith” and “commercially reasonable” to get LEED ceritifcations for the stadium.
LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is the world’s most widely used green building rating system.
But council member Brandi Gabbard says LEED focuses on sustainability, not resiliency.
“I would much rather look back on this after it is built, and be proud of the way it was built, versus being proud of a placard on the side of the building that says LEED certified.”
The deal also promised energy conservation such as the use of solar energy.
The project is predicted to cost $6.5 billion dollars.
The City Council will vote on the stadium and redevelopment deal Thursday.
