Pasco County is making progress on creating new trails to give residents more options — for getting around and staying fit.
The Pasco County Commission has approved a $2.3 million professional services agreement with Atkins North America Inc., to provide project development and environmental services in connection with the Orange Belt Multi-Use Trail.
The trail project was identified as a new project to be funded through the Pasco County Penny for Pasco Local Options Surtax that was renewed by voters in 2015, according to materials in the county board’s Aug. 9 agenda packet.
The board approved the professional services agreement, as part of a group of items approved on it consent agenda, without discussion.
The Orange Belt trail is on the Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s list of priority regional trails.
It is intended to be a paved trail, 12-feet to 15-feet wide, spanning the county.
It will provide connections between three existing regional trail corridors: Starkey Trail Connector, Suncoast Trail and the Withlacoochee State Trail.
Under the approved agreement, Atkins will develop the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Study for the project, which would identify the alignment and required right of way acquisition and permitting.
The agreement also provides for the development of a plan that would divide the project into segments and would have independent schedules for design, right of way acquisition, and construction.
The agreement is to be completed within 740 calendar days from the date the Notice to Proceed is issued to Atkins, according to the agenda materials.
No dates have been established yet for the design, right of way or construction.
The study is expected to be finished by summer 2024. No dates have yet been set for design, right of way acquisition or construction. Preliminary cost estimates for the project are set at $38.5 million.
In another action related to new trails, the board approved a task order for $141,295, with Coastal Design Consultants Inc., relating to the design and permitting of the Boyette Road Multi-Use Path.
The task order provides for the design, permitting and post-design services required to construct an 8-foot multi-use path along Boyette Road extending from Vandine Road, on the south, to the most southerly pedestrian entrance into the Wesley Chapel District Park, on the north.
The project will create a continuous multi-use path along Boyette Road from State Road 54 to Overpass Road, and will provide walkers, runners and bicyclists with a safe route to and from the Wesley Chapel High School compound and Wesley Chapel District Park.
The design, construction plan preparation, permitting, utility coordination, and bid document preparation will be performed within 243 calendar days from the first Notice to Proceed. A second notice to proceed will be given for the post-design services.
Construction is expected to begin on the project in fall of 2023, with completion expected in 2024. The estimated cost of the project is slightly more than $1.3 million, including design, construction, construction engineering and inspection, according to materials in the agenda packet.
In other action on Aug. 9, the county board:
- Approved an additional position in the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources department to assist the department’s project manager to complete additional projects funded by the General Obligation Bond approved by voters.
- Approved the purchase of two remote-controlled lawn mowers needed for maintenance of very steep areas in the county’s reclaimed water storage reservoirs.
- Approved the reimbursement of $65,086.91 to Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano for mailing expenses for tax notices for the 2021 tax year.
- Approved an additional $35,000 in purchasing authority to Nabors, Giblin, Nickerson, P.A., for attorney’s fees, paralegal fees, travel expenses and costs as maybe incurred by the law firm on behalf of the county, for a cumulative total not to exceed $85,000. The law firm is assisting the county in its lawsuit involving a budget dispute between the county and Pasco County Clerk and Comptroller Nikkia Alvarez-Sowles.
- Approved the appointment of Frank Cornier, president of Tampa Bay Neighborhood Housing Services, to serve on the board of the Pasco County Housing Finance Authority. He is filling a vacancy on the five-member board.
- Approved a partnership between Pasco Fire/Rescue and the Florida Department of Health, Pasco County to treat and prevent opioid addiction in Pasco County. It includes the addition of up to three positions to support the program.
The program will implement a specialized unit to be deployed to incidents where citizens require medication assisted treatment and/or addiction stabilization services.
- Approved $100,000 in additional purchasing authority for Florida’s Sports Coast, the county’s tourism marketing arm, for advertising, and funding of programs to incentivize events in Pasco, resulting in a new not-to-exceed amount of $1,272,064.00 for fiscal year 2022.
Published August 24, 2022
