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Three Sisters' Saviors

Photo by Matthew Beck
Lace Blue-McLean, left and Crystal River City Manager Andy Houston are the Chronicle's Citizens of the Year for their leading roles in the effort to buy the Three Sisters Springs property.

Lace Blue-McLean and Andy Houston honored as Chronicle Citizens of the Year

What a pairing.

Lace Blue-McLean is one those headstrong environmental types who refuses to let the cause die despite the obstacles.

Andy Houston is the mild-mannered city manager, a career bureaucrat who retired from the big city and found employment again in the small town.

Yet these two individuals have combined with many others to lead one of Crystal River's greatest community projects ever - buying the Three Sisters Springs property.

While "community effort" seems best to describe the outpouring of interest in the Three Sisters project, it's Blue-McLean and Houston who are leading the way.

And that's why the Citrus County Chronicle Editorial Board named Blue-McLean and Houston as its 2007 Citizens of the Year.

"I've never seen two people with better organizational abilities," said former state Rep. Helen Spivey who, with the Save the Manatee Club, is helping with the Three Sisters fundraising. "They literally keep on top of it, and not in a power play kind of way. They're keeping track of everything and gently coaxing it along."

Dr. K.C. Nayfield, a veterinarian who has helped rally business support for the project, said the leadership from Blue-McLean and Houston is invaluable.

"Without either one of them and their talents, we never would have gotten to where we're at now, which is in a pretty good position," Nayfield said.

Three Sisters is a prime gathering spot for manatees and a worldwide tourist attraction.

Efforts to buy the 57-acre property off Kings Bay Drive to avoid development are not new, but they picked up in 2005 when it was for sale.

Environmentalists feared development could lead to pollution in the spring and have a negative impact on the manatees. They also saw the potential purchase as a way for people to view manatees without actually getting in the water with them.

Blue-McLean, 53, came to Inverness in 2003 from her native Orlando where she worked as a legal assistant for the Nature Conservatory, an organization that helps move environmentally sensitive land from private hands to the public for protection.

She and her husband, Bob, had wanted to move to Citrus County; Bob's cousin is former Inverness Mayor Joyce Rogers.

Eventually they found a home and settled in. Blue-McLean still works part-time as a legal assistant for three attorneys.

She started volunteering at the Homosassa Wildlife State Park and joined the Friends of the Chassahowitzka Refuge. In 1995, the Friends group and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service eyed the purchase of the Three Sisters property from Harvey Goodman.

That deal didn't happen because an ownership group headed by Tampa businessman Hal Flowers offered more than what was available through a state grant. Flowers and his partners paid $10.5 million for the property, and then began working on plans for a residential community there.

Houston, 57, was living in Georgia with his wife Susan. Houston had retired after 30 years with the city of St. Petersburg where as an assistant city manager he helped lead many segments of that city's government.

The Houstons wanted to move back to Florida to live closer to their grown children, who live near Tampa. He applied for positions in Orange County and Crystal River. Houston said he never made it to the Orange County interview because Crystal River seemed like the perfect fit. He took the job in 2006.

In 2006, Flowers approached Jim Kraus, then Crystal River National Refuge manager, to discuss the idea of selling the property to the federal government.

"They wanted to keep it quiet for a while," Blue-McLean said.

Kraus took the idea to Blue-McLean, who was president of the Friends of the Chassahowitzka.

They went to the Florida Communities Trust, which suggested that the city act as the lead agency to help facilitate the transaction and grant.

Blue-McLean said it seemed the chances looked better than ever before.

"We had a willing seller," she said. "Everyone was very open about getting it done."

Houston knew very little about the property. He knew plans called for 300-plus homes and he also knew that as the city manager, he would do what the council told him to do.

So when Blue-McLean and others came to Houston for help, he took the issue to the council. By then, Nayfield and other business leaders, plus various community groups, had rounded up plenty of support.

The council chambers were packed a year ago when the council wholeheartedly backed the city's role in being the lead agency in seeking the $6.3 million state grant.

Houston became the point man, organizing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southwest Florida Water Management District and city into meetings to discuss the role each would play in the purchase.

The Florida Communities Trust staff was supportive from the start. George Willson, senior associate with the Conservation Fund in Tallahassee, offered his group's help in acting as a liaison between the various agencies and Flowers' ownership group.

No one group stood alone.

"We see them all as equals," Blue-McLean said. "We all are pulled in together."

Houston, the low-key leader in city hall, said he wasn't sure what he was getting into, having never been involved in such a project before.

"My involvement was more than what I expected it to be," he said.

But he knew the project has its merit.

"My wife works part time at the Best Western gift shop. She's always telling me how many people come from around the world to see manatees and they want to see manatees without getting on a boat," he said.

The city received the FCT grant in September, only to learn earlier this month that the Legislature froze the Florida Forever property-purchase program in a budget-cutting move. Last week, Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed the legislation, once again freeing up the money.

Organizers are awaiting results of two state appraisals before negotiations continue on the property.

Meanwhile, the grant requires a $2.7 million local match and fundraising continues. The Felburn Foundation donated $2 million; funds are dedicated by the Citrus County Tourist Development Council and Crystal River City Council.

The city's inaugural Stone Crab Jam festival, sponsored by the Kings Bay Rotary Club, netted $35,000 for the effort. Two weeks ago, Mayor Ron Kitchen presented a key to the city to event chairwoman Lisa Vandeboe.

About $170,000 must still be raised.

Both Blue-McLean and Houston said the community support is overwhelming, especially during these economic times.

"You cultivate donors. You don't walk up to someone and ask for a million dollars," Blue-McLean said.

Blue-McLean, asked what Houston brings to the effort, said: "His ability to keep a cool head, an even approach to it all. He is very professional about all of this."

Houston, asked the same question of Blue-McLean, said: "She has the enthusiasm and perseverance. She has a vision of what this property could be. It was not going to fail. Whatever needed to happen, would happen."

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