GROVELAND, Fla. – “Everything is fair game,” that’s what interim city manager Tim Maslow said when addressing the Groveland City Council at Thursday morning’s workshop.
He’s talking about what to do with the $1.4 million the city received from Kroger. The city and Kroger had an incentive agreement, which required the facility to maintain for 15 years a minimum of 60 jobs with an average annual payroll of $3.6 million.
That didn’t happen - the facility opened in 2021 and closed in January of 2026. It left about 1,000 people without a job.
Fast forward to now, city council leaders like Mayor Keith Keogh say before they make a decision on how to use the money they need more information and an organizational chart showcasing what the city could look like in the next decade, citing an estimated population growth of around 30,000 people.
“We have been talking about an organizational chart, we have been talking about different things the staff has brought forth, do we have redundant systems for our computers to preserve our data,” questioned Mayor Keogh.
“I have a concept that I have not shared in full disclosure with all of you yet, and I have a concept that I have not disclosed with senior staff,” said Maslow. “My goal is to go over that with y’all individually and bring that back to the next workshop.”
“Let’s get the ball rolling,” said Vice Mayor Barbara Gaines. “This has been going on and on.”
About half the money is going into the general fund. The other half is slated for the building fund. However, the council does have the ability to transfer the money if they see fit.
“We have a lot of flexibility in terms of use of funds,” said Maslow. “We’re looking at different investments and various capital improvement projects, whether it be city facilities, train station depot restoration. Also, putting the money in reserves for emergencies or hurricane preparedness. And then also potentially looking at paying down some of our debt, so we’re still looking at some options.
Maslow recently took on the position of interim city manager. He tells News 6 a more definitive answer on how the funds will be used should be coming in the next few months.
In terms of the actual former Kroger building, Maslow says he expects another major employer will occupy it.