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Three Sisters Spring has long been eyed for its development potential

Anyone who has ever visited Three Sisters Spring on a cold winter day will see whiskered giants swimming in the clear waters. The spring, which lies in the heart of Crystal River, acts like a warm blanket for manatees escaping the cold water of coastal rivers and the Gulf of Mexico. The spring is a federal manatee sanctuary in the winter, one of many in the Kings Bay area.

Three Sisters Spring remains an ecological treasure in the minds of many, but the 60 acres of land surrounding it along Kings Bay Drive could soon become a high-end residential subdivision. Or, it could go into public ownership if someone in government or the private sector can find the dollars to buy it. The city of Crystal River is leading an effort to place the spring in public ownership.

In close proximity to Three Sisters Spring are Magnolia Springs or Gator Hole, a federal winter sanctuary, and Idiot Delight's Spring. Some local historians say Three Sisters Spring derives its name from the fact that all three springs are in close proximity, but others say Three Sisters Spring is the interior spring on the Three Sisters Spring property, and the name comes from its three vents.

The owner of the 60-acre Three Sisters Spring property, Hal Flowers, a Tampa developer, is cooperating with the city in applying for a $6.6-million grant from the Florida Communities Trust (FCT). But Flowers said if the property can't be placed in public ownership, he plans to build 70 elevated homes on the waterfront and clustered housing on Linda Lake.

Flowers said the property should be preserved for all time.

"Honest to God, this is the first piece of property I've ever owned that needs to be in public ownership," Flowers said. "It's our sincere desire to put it in public hands."

That being said, Flowers said he isn't hiding the fact that he has secured the necessary authorizations to develop the property. While the idea of public ownership appeals to him, he said, he knows it won't be easy to find the public funds necessary to buy it, and he has to be ready to begin building roads if the public funds can't be secured, even though the state's housing market is depressed at this time.

He thinks the property is worth $18 million. He says he has sunk about $12.5 million in the property, not includ-ing attorneys' fees. But he said the Southwest Florida Water Management District is in the process of determining its actual value. The district has hired two appraisers to assess the property.

"We understand you don't go to the public and say, 'make me rich'," Flowers said. "We shouldn't sell something for less than what it's worth. At the same time, we're not trying to get rich from it."

The taxable value of the property is $7.5 million, according to the property appraiser's Web site. Flowers paid almost $150,000 in property taxes last year on the Three Sisters Springs property.

A colorful history

Flowers is not the first owner of the Three Sisters Spring property with visions of developing it commercially. Former owner Harvey Goodman at one time proposed building a marina and casino on the property, according to environmental activist Helen Spivey. She said she attended a Crystal River Council meeting where attorney Clark Stillwell presented the proposal for Goodman.

"It was a mind blower," she said.

Spivey said Linda Lake, a 40-foot deep water body on the Three Sisters Spring property, is actually a borrow pit. She said dirt was taken from the pit to fill a large hardwood swamp that she estimates once covered two-thirds of the property. She said the swamp filtered water and gave the spring a better flow. She said the owner previous to Good-man, George Sterchi, pushed down the trees and covered the former swamp with dirt from the borrow pit.

Ralph Duball, whose brother Russell lived next door to the Three Sisters Springs property from 1972 until his death in 2006, said his brother indicated a big dragline was used to dig the fill dirt from the borrow pit.

Duball fears Three Sisters Spring could be devastated if hundreds of homes are built on the property. He said the limestone could collapse. Duball, who has lived in his brother's home since 2001, said at least four or five homes on streets in his neighborhood next door to the spring have had problems with collapsed sinkholes under the founda-tion since he and his wife moved in to take care of his brother in 2001 when his health was fragile.

"If he (Flowers) devastates the spring or stops the flow, we have no recourse to come back on him," he said.

Goodman at one point obtained a permit to build a water plant on the site, but the plant never came to fruition. The Goodmans eventually sold the property to Flowers for $10.5 million in 2005.

Flowers said he has done compaction soil tests to make sure homes can be safely built on the property. He said he is aware the fill on the property is a mix of dead trees covered by soil.

Linda Goodman's conservation

Flowers believes the Goodmans saved the spring. He said Harvey Goodman's wife, Linda, was a fierce defender of the spring run. He believes Linda Goodman probably made people angry with her outspoken defense of the spring. But she and her husband managed shut down the spring to motorized boat traffic, which spared it. He said she felt strongly that boats and swimmers were destroying the spring.

The Goodmans obtained permission from the state to block the entrance to the spring to motorized boat traffic. The barricade allows manatees, swimmers and kayaks to access the spring.

Flowers said Linda Goodman provided him with an album of photographs showing the poor condition of the spring when she and her husband bought it. Several photos show motor boats parked the spring in the 1980s. Two photos show a muddy bank.

One photo from the 1960s shows the late Jacques Cousteau in a boat at the spring. Flowers said he was told Cous-teau rescued a manatee stuck in a Miami drain. Cousteau, famous for his television series, "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau," transported "Sewer Sam" to Three Sisters Springs to recover.

Flowers credits Linda Goodman with preserving the springs when they were under siege from boats and swim-mers. He said the boating and swimming activity was filling in the springs' vents. The springs were trashed with beer and soda cans. She cleaned it up and closed it to boats.

"There was a huge stink about it because boats had been going there forever," Flowers said. "Three Sisters is in much better condition than it was 30 years ago, thanks to Linda Goodman."

Flowers said he spends about $70,000 annually hiring off-duty police officers to patrol the springs. He said it's still common for swimmers to use ropes tied to trees to swing into the springs, but he said the practice causes the trees to lean and eventually to fall. And he said visitors still trash the springs with everything from soft drink cans to baby diapers.

The spring and their nearby cousins (or sisters), Magnolia Springs and Idiots Delight Spring, pump between 2.1 million and 16.3 million gallons of water daily into Kings Bay, depending on the tides and the phase of the moon, ac-cording to the water management district.

Rescuing manatee calf

Flowers ran into a rare situation Wednesday when he arrived at the springs to find Crystal River National Wild-life Refuge Manager Jim Kraus preparing to rescue a badly injured manatee calf in the springs. Flowers climbed into the spring-run fully clothed and assisted Kraus (also fully clothed), David Houghton and others in capturing the 250-pound calf, which was bleeding badly from boat propeller wounds.

The rescuers, who included several recreational swimmers Kraus enlisted to help out, loaded the manatee on a truck for transport to Lowry Park Zoo. The calf is recovering at the zoo's hospital and is doing fine, Kraus said.

Flowers downplays his role in the rescue. He didn't mention the incident in his first interview with the Chronicle about Three Sisters Springs, but when asked about it, he conceded the rescue was an eye-opening experience.

"Those people who want to get rid of the slow-speed zones for manatees ought to see one cut up by a boat propel-ler. I think it would change their perspective," Flowers said.

Financial reality

John Peck, spokesman for FCT, said there is Florida Forever money available from FCT for conservation or rec-reation projects in 2008. The FCT program often funds city parks. The agency receives $66 million in Florida Forever money annually. Cities and counties propose projects that are ranked by a board. He said FCT is aware of the city of Crystal River's intention to file an application for a grant-funded project.

Crystal River City Manager Andy Houston said he can envision a boardwalk and observation towers around the Three Sisters Spring run that would give manatee watchers a view of the manatees swimming below. He pictures a city recreational facility managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

He said the city has taken the lead role in applying for a $6.6-million FCT grant. He said the grant program is competitive. The city could get extra points by providing matching funds, but he said the city council has thus far made no commitment to provide funding.

"There is a financial reality to all of this, and we'll have to see how it shakes out," Houston said.

If the city were awarded a $6.6-million grant in 2008, it would be ineligible for that size grant the following year, Peck said.

That leaves open the question of how to fund acquisition of the spring.

The water district has $26 million in Florida Forever money on hand for land acquisition, but the agency's only role at this point is to obtain property appraisals for the Three Sisters Spring property.

Special place

Fritz Musselmann, district land resources director in charge of the land acquisition program, said Three Sisters Springs is an important water resource, but he said it's not the only one in the district.

Musselmann said the district has not been asked to participate in funding acquisition of the Three Sisters Spring. If the city secures a Florida Forever grant from FCT, he said it would not be eligible for Florida Forever funding from the district.

Musselmann didn't rule out the district taking a bigger role, but he said the only thing the district is doing now is securing two appraisals on the property.

"There is a possibility of that, but at this time we don't know how much it will cost and there may be others that will step up to the plate ? like FCT."

The Save the Manatee Club also is attempting to raise funds to purchase the springs. It is developing a new Three Sisters Spring Web site for funding-raising purposes. Other environmental groups, including Friends of the Chassa-howitzka National Wildlife Refuge, are attempting to raise funds for the purchase.

Kraus said there's no doubt Three Sisters Spring is a special place.

"Anybody who comes into contact with that area and sees what's going on, knows why the area is so important to manatees," Kraus said. "It's pretty significant."

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