The Laker/Lutz News

Compark Drive

Pasco Animal Services to get cooling, heating upgrade

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The Pasco County Commission is moving ahead with a project to upgrade the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at its Animal Services’ Adoption Center.

Commissioners approved a staff recommendation to proceed with a project design, and build a heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrade for the Adoption Center, for a cost not to exceed $506,190. The agreement calls for utilizing Omnia Partners, with Daikin Applied Americas Inc.

The Adoption Center consumes more energy per square foot than any other county building, according to the board’s Jan. 26 agenda background materials.

The building currently averages an annual electric bill over $160,000 per year, the agenda materials say, and the installation of three new energy-saving HVAC units would save approximately $90,000 annually.

Using Omnia would allow for standardization with current systems already installed throughout the county, the agenda materials said.

In other action, commissioners allocated $40,000 to help pay for amenities at the intersection of the Starkey and Suncoast trails.

The primary source of support for the project is a $160,000 grant from a Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) recreational trail program grant. Pasco County also set aside an additional $10,000, for possible cost overruns.

The money will be used to add a restroom with a composting toilet, an ADA hard-surface access trail, a well/water fountain, a bike repair station, a solar charging station, a bike rack, a wayfinding locator, and a kiosk with trail use/trail safety educational literature.

In another action, commissioners approved the purchase of 1.09 wetlands mitigation credits in the amount of $131,100 from North Tampa Mitigation LLC.

The credits are needed to offset additional wetlands impacts for the Wesley Chapel Boulevard (County Road 54) widening project, from north of State Road 56 to north of Magnolia Boulevard, according to the agenda backup.

As part of finalizing the design plans for the C.R. 54 (Wesley Chapel Boulevard) widening project

from north of S.R. 56 to north of Magnolia Boulevard, two stormwater management facilities located at the south end of the project needed to be reconfigured and relocated. In addition, a right-turn lane was added on northbound Wesley Chapel Boulevard, 54 at Compark Drive to replace the existing right-turn lane.

These design changes resulted in additional wetland impacts, which need to be mitigated in order for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to approve the county’s permit modification application.

On another issue, commissioners approved a resolution requesting the Pasco County Legislative Delegation to sponsor and support a local bill that would support a Net Metering Program in Pasco County.

At the end of 2024, Pasco County’s energy contract with Duke Energy (Duke) will expire. Presently the sale of renewable electricity supplied by the Waste To Energy (WTE) Facility accounts for approximately 40% of the solid waste department’s enterprise fund’s annual revenue, according to a county documents contained in the board’s agenda materials.

Under Duke’s currently available standard offer contract, the county’s annual electrical revenue would decrease by over $22 million, the document says.

If the proposed local bill is adopted, Pasco County would be able to realize fair market value for the renewable electrical energy that it is already generating.

Published February 10, 2021

Wesley Chapel Boulevard expansion plans progress

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A construction time frame has been set for Pasco County’s plans to widen Wesley Chapel Boulevard to six lanes.

The expansion of the road — also known as County Road 54 – will be broken into two projects.

The first project begins just north of the road’s intersection with State Road 56 and extends to the north of its intersection with Magnolia Boulevard.

This is what Wesley Chapel Boulevard looks like now. Its widening to six lanes has been a long-awaited development among motorists who travel the busy road. The project is a response to Pasco County’s continual growth. The project is set to begin construction as early as the fall of 2021. (File)

The second project extends from the intersection at Progress Parkway to the intersection of Oakley Boulevard.

An initial 2003 study prompted the idea of expanding Wesley Chapel Boulevard to four lanes. However, later studies predicting an increase in density resulted in a call for more widening.

“Projections we did, before 2008, show that future growth is going to bring the volumes up to a point that we’ll need to have six lanes there,” said Panos Kontses, a Pasco County engineering manager.

The widening comes at a time when State Road 54 and State Road 56 are adding new commercial and residential buildings, in response to the area’s growing demands.

County engineers are finalizing the blueprints for the project.

“Right now, we are trying to finish the design plans,” Kontses said. “We are about 90 percent finished.”

Letters offering to purchase right of way have been sent to landowners along the route of the first project.

Most of this stretch is two lanes, without a median to divide opposing traffic.

The new construction adds a median, which will have openings so motorists can make turns.

Future plans for commercial growth and road widening on Old Pasco Road was considered in this project, the engineering manager said.

Kontses said the expansion of Old Pasco Road, which intersects with Wesley Chapel Boulevard, is expected to increase traffic.

The county’s plan to create a new interchange at Interstate 75 and Overpass Road — which feeds into Old Pasco Road — also will increase activity in the area,  Kontses added.

Motorists heading northbound on Wesley Chapel Boulevard, have to make a slight right curve when going past the intersection of Old Pasco Road.

Eastbound traffic already has three lanes from Old Pasco Road to Oakley Boulevard, but westbound traffic has just two lanes for a portion of that stretch.

To accommodate an expansion of a six-lane road, the existing median will be narrowed.

This median runs north of Magnolia Boulevard to Oakley Boulevard.

The projects’ additional amenities will include an 8-foot multi-use trail to the east side of Wesley Chapel Boulevard and 5-foot to 6-foot sidewalk on the west side. These will be installed in the area between State Road 56 to Magnolia Boulevard.

Also, traffic lights will be added at Wesley Chapel Boulevard’s intersections with Stagecoach Village Boulevard and Compark Drive.

A signal already has been installed at Grand Oaks Boulevard, but will undergo an upgrade during construction.

While it’s too early to tell what delays or closures may come, Kontses assured that contractors will use night construction in order to minimize disruption.

Both projects will be treated as one development during the construction phase. The project cost is estimated at $53 million.

“We assume construction should start sometime between the end of 2021 and [the] beginning of 2022,” Kontses stated.

Construction is expected to be completed by the summer of 2024.

Published May 08, 2019