At the regular meeting on December 14, 2021, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) briefly discussed a letter received from Mat Kline, Chief Executive Officer of Mid Florida
Community Services (MFCS), Inc., providing the County with a 60-day notice of MFCS’s termination of the licensing agreement for the operation of the Chinsegut Hill Retreat and Conference Center.
Future reservations will not be available, but existing reservations will be honored through June 2022.
MFCS does not operate the Manor House, which is under the management of the Tampa Bay History Center.
In a letter dated November 9, 2021, Mat Kline, CEO of MFCS sent a letter of the intended termination to County Administrator Jeff Rogers, stating in part, “As you are aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted tourism over the past two years. As a result, our original intention for operating this property has not materialized as expected.”
Rogers reported that a transition team has been assembled to switch operations back to Country control. The matter is expected to be discussed in a future meeting to determine management of the Retreat and Conference Center.
Commissioner Steve Champion has a seat on the MFCS board and reported that the organization has invested “probably close to half a million dollars” in improvements and repairs during its management tenure. “They didn’t make this decision lightly,” Championed noted, and expressed confidence that another organization would be eager to manage the facility.
