The Laker/Lutz News

Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant

Recreational options expand in northern Hillsborough

By

Carrollwood Village Community Park is finally a reality — and ready for the public to enjoy.

Situated on a 50-acre site that was once home to the now-offline Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant, the “passive” community park offers a number of amenities.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Oct. 19 to celebrate the partial completion of Phase I of the park.

Features include a dog park, a multi-use trail, exercise stations, picnic shelters, a pond, an open lawn, restrooms and parking.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan called the new Carrollwood Village Community Park ‘an oasis in Carrollwood Village,’ during an Oct. 19 ribbon cutting ceremony. (Kevin Weiss)

A splash pad, playground and amphitheater are set to open by February, marking the completion of Phase I construction of the park.

Planning for the park, which is at 4680 West Village Drive in Tampa, began years ago.

Carrollwood residents weighed in during a series of community meetings dating back to 2014.

The original idea for a new park in Carrollwood became a community-driven, grassroots effort after word spread more than four years ago that the wastewater site was being retired.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan was among those who championed the idea of funding the park, and the Hillsborough County Commission approved the $6.5 million park project last May.

Hagan, a northwest area resident who grew up in Carrollwood, said the county “had a rare opportunity to do something special” with the large green space that was once home to the wastewater plant for more than 40 years.

He characterized the new park as “an oasis in Carrollwood Village.”

“This park will be a centerpiece for the entire community to enjoy,” Hagan said during the festivities. “It will be one-of-a kind, right in the heart of Carrollwood Village, and a great place to relax, exercise, have fun with your pet, and take a break from your fast-paced day.”

At the ceremony, Hagan also announced the county has allocated another $3.5 million for Phase II construction of the park.

Potential amenities may include the following, subject to community input and funding: An observation pier, shade canopies, solar trail lighting, a skate park/pump track, a community nature center, a pedestrian boardwalk, water fountains, a bridge/trellis, an event pavilion, a secondary playground and landscaping/garden area.

“There’s still plenty of room to grow,” Hagan said.

The Carrollwood Village Community Park adds to a list of more than 170 neighborhood parks in the county.

It is expected to become the county’s “most amenity-rich community park” once all phases are complete, said Rick Valdez, who is Hillsborough County’s parks and recreation director.

“We have skate parks that are skate parks, splash pads that are splash pads — this will have it all,” Valdez explained.

“There’s a lot of things that make this place special,” he added. “It’s very rare that we get $10 million to build a park, so we are paying attention to the smallest details, and just also going and getting input from the community, and just giving the community what they want.”

Local residents are excited about the park’s possibilities.

Dawn Hudson is president of the Carrollwood Park Conservancy — the group responsible for initially spearheading the park project.

“Parks make life better,” Hudson said. “I think it will draw people from 10 to 15 miles — someplace for people to go.”

She said the opportunity to build another park in Carrollwood would not have been possible without the retirement of the wastewater site and the simultaneous collaboration of local residents.

“We carried our vision through, and here we are. It’s pretty amazing,” she said.

Hudson said she’s most looking forward to helping plant a botanical garden that will make the park “really interesting to walk through.”

The addition of a “nature play” playground is another feature that will stand out, she said. “It’s not going to be your plain jane swings and slides,” Hudson said. “It’s going to be a place where you use your imagination to play, like running up a hill, hiding behind a big rock, crawling through a tunnel.”

Park hours will normally be from sunrise to sunset, with staff on-site to facilitate programming and provide maintenance.

Another unique aspect of the park: It is home to a 1,200-square-foot, 24-hour indoor fitness facility used exclusively by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies. In essence, that creates  built-in security — with officers working out around the clock on park grounds.

The workout facility is in a former administration building structure at the wastewater plant. Everything else associated with the former treatment plant has been demolished, with the exception of two reclaimed water tanks, pump stations and fencing.

A grand opening for the park will take place sometime in early 2019 after Phase I construction is complete.

For more information on the park, visit CarrollwoodVillagePark.com.

Published October 24, 2018

New community park planned in North Tampa

By

A new family friendly county park is coming this fall to the Greater Carrollwood area.

After nearly a year of finalizing its conceptual design, construction is slated to begin next month on the new Carrollwood Village Community Park, at 13055 Delwood Road in Tampa.

The park replaces the site of the Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is situated on 50 acres along the west side of North Dale Mabry Highway, just south of West Village Drive.

Construction is expected to begin next month on the new Carrollwood Village Community Park, at 13055 Delwood Road. It replaces the site of the Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is situated on 50 acres along the west side of North Dale Mabry Highway, just south of West Village Drive. (File)

Hillsborough County Public Utilities is presently decommissioning and relocating the existing treatment plant infrastructure, which has been in operation for more than 40 years.

Everything associated with the treatment plant will be demolished with the exception of two reclaimed water tanks, pump stations, an administration building structure and fencing.

Details about the forthcoming park were unveiled during a March 6 pre-construction open house at the Carrollwood Cultural Center. County parks and recreation officials were on hand to answer questions and gather input from residents.

Described as a “passive” community park, the main amenities will include a dog park, multi-use walking trail, splash pad, playground, indoor community space, and picnic shelters.

Other features include a pond, an open lawn, restrooms and parking.

Each of those aspects were finalized and based on input gathered from Carrollwood residents in a series of community meetings dating back to 2015.

Officials say most of the park will be complete by October, with final touches targeted for December. A ribbon cutting is planned sometime this fall.

Speaking at the open house, Hillsborough County parks and recreation director Rick Valdez called the park a “very important project” for Carrollwood.

“We’ve been meeting on this for months, and I think we have a really good sense of what the community wants to see,” Valdez said.

Described as a ‘passive’ community park, main amenities for the Carrollwood Village Community Park will include a dog park, multi-use walking trail, splash pad, playground, indoor community space, and picnic shelters. Other features include a pond and open lawn, along with restrooms and parking. The Hillsborough County Commission approved the $6.5 million project last May. (Courtesy of Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation)

Park hours will normally be from sunrise to sunset, with staff on-site to facilitate programming and provide maintenance.

Based on renderings, the park’s main entrance will be off West Village Drive with a secondary entrance to the south, off Delwood Road. The two entrances will not connect, to avoid the potential for becoming a pass-through route. There will also be new pedestrian crossings on West Village Drive and pedestrian park access in the northeast corner of the park.

Offsite work includes re-striping West Village Drive, which includes a left-hand turn lane, deceleration lane and addition of the multi-use trail.

The Hillsborough County Commission approved the $6.5 million project last May.

If more funding becomes available, the county would look to construct an additional playground, an event center, a boardwalk and fishing dock, and a nature center. The items would be part of Phase II and perhaps a Phase III.

“Those are things we want to address; we just don’t have the money to do it right now,” said Kyla Booher, planning and development manager for the county’s parks and recreation department.

More could be on the way if at least one county commissioner gets his way, however.

Eric Denney, a legislative aide to Commissioner Ken Hagan, was at the meeting and said the commissioner is “going to work his tail off to get money in the budget” for Phase II of the park.

Hagan is a northwest area resident and longtime supporter of the park project.

“When everything is said and done, this should be a true community asset —something that will improve the standard of living here in Carrollwood,” Denney said.

The original idea for a new park in Carrollwood became a community-driven, grassroots effort after word spread four years ago about the retirement of the wastewater site.

Public comments on the Carrollwood Village Community Park will be accepted through March 20.

To provide feedback on the project, visit HCFLGov.formstack.com/forms/public_comment.

Published March 14, 2018

Carrollwood Village park project pushes forward

By

With funding secured for a new community park in Carrollwood Village, the next step is finalizing the project’s conceptual design.

The 50-acre Carrollwood Village Community Park is set to replace the Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant once it goes offline, and the land is converted to a green space.

A new 50-acre park eventually will replace the Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant, once it goes offline and is converted to a green space. Anticipated park amenities for the Carrollwood Village Community Park are a playground, volleyball court, open-lot amphitheater, skate park, and event pavilion. Other incorporated features include walking trails, a dog park, a splash pad, a picnic area, a botanical garden and a nature center. The park’s budget stands at $6.5 million.
(File)

The property is situated west of North Dale Mabry Highway, south of West Village Drive in the Greater Carrollwood Area.

The current total park project budget is $6.5 million, including $400,000 in impact fees and $6.1 million in financing. The land transfer from the Hillsborough County Public Utilities Department is currently estimated at $1 million to $1.5 million.

The county is retiring the 40-year-old plant because of increasing operation and maintenance costs; the plant’s workload will be transferred to the Northwest Regional Water Reclamation Facility off South Mobley Road.

The decommissioning of the plant is expected to be complete sometime next spring.
In the meantime, the park will be phased in over several years, beginning with the Design Build Procurement Phase, now underway.

That involves the construction of a new pump station, a reclaimed water outfall, odor-control equipment and an electrical building.

As Phase I ramps up, the Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department is still gathering input on the project, which included an April 18 open house at the Carrollwood Cultural Center.

Dozens of residents attended, providing comments, filing out notecards, and asking questions on proposed use and amenity options.

The meeting served as a follow-up to a gathering in September 2015, where parks officials collected input from the community on the type of amenities they’d value the most at the 50-acre site.

Department officials ranked the citizens’ comments, and created a top 10 “wish list” of amenities.

A “passive” community park, featuring walking trails, a dog park, a splash pad, a picnic area, a botanical garden and a nature center were some of the most requested amenities.

Shown here is a conceptual design for the 50-acre Carrollwood Village Community Park. An open house was held April 18 at the Carrollwood Cultural Center to generate additional feedback on the project.
(Kevin Weiss)

Based on the community’s comments, the conceptual plan was further developed to incorporate desired changes, including a playground, volleyball court, open-lot amphitheater, skate park and event pavilion.

This current plan is a “living document” that may be changed based on site conditions, construction restrictions and budget allowance, park officials say.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, the featured speaker at the April 18 open house, said the park has potential to become “a real jewel” in Carrollwood.

“It is going to be a wonderful community asset,” Hagan said. “With the location and size of this property, we have a rare opportunity to really create something special right in the heart of Carrollwood Village.”

A major question remaining is which park elements the community wants first, said Doc Dougherty, the county’s parks and recreation director.

“There’s so much that goes into infrastructure at a place this big,” Dougherty explained. “Our goal would be to have as many (park) elements as we can in the first phase, so people can see something useful here.”

Another issue still under consideration is the park’s operational component.

“That is a challenge throughout all of our facilities,” Hagan said, “Whether it’s parks, libraries or fire stations, it’s not the capital cost up front, but it’s the recurring, yearly operational costs that provide challenges.”

Hagan noted the county is considering various public-private partnership opportunities to reduce those costs.

The county’s parks department already oversees 176 neighborhood parks, 54 recreation centers, and 118 playgrounds, along with has 38 sports complexes, four skate parks and six dog parks.
The idea for the new park in Carrollwood was community-driven.

Once news spread about the retirement of the wastewater site a few years ago, the Friends of the Northwest Regional Park — the group responsible for spearheading the idea for a new park — collected several thousand individual signatures and received support from over 10,000 Carrollwood homeowners for a new community park.

“I’ve never seen a project that has had this level of community support,” said Hagan “A lot of credit must go to leadership here in Carrollwood Village.”
Officials say additional meetings are anticipated as the project develops.

Public comments on the Carrollwood Village Community Park will be accepted through May 2.

To provide feedback on the project, visit tinyurl.com/lgn4xxv.

Published April 26, 2017

Dale Mabry wastewater enters final installation phase

By

Motorists tooling around the North Tampa area may have to take a few detours in coming weeks, as Hillsborough County completes the pipeline installation on the Dale Mabry Wastewater Diversion project.

The project requires the closures of both lanes and roads in portions of Carrollwood Village. The works is expected to be completed by early October.

These areas will be affected:

  • Salem Street will be closed between Waltham Avenue and Four Oaks Road, until Sept. 16.
  • Salem Street will be closed between Four Oaks Road and Pittsfield Avenue, from Sept. 19 through Oct. 7.
  • Pittsfield Avenue, from Salem Street to Lowell Road, will be closed Sept. 19 through Sept. 30.

Detours and lane closures will be clearly marked, and from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., flag crews will help direct motorists and pedestrians who reside within the closure zones.

Approximately 6 miles of 24-inch and 36-inch diameter reclaimed water pipeline is being installed to transfer wastewater flows from the Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Northwest Regional Water Reclamation Facility. (File Photo)
Approximately 6 miles of 24-inch and 36-inch diameter reclaimed water pipeline is being installed to transfer wastewater flows from the Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Northwest Regional Water Reclamation Facility.
(File Photo)

The pipeline construction is being done by traditional open cut installation, which involves dewatering the area, digging trenches, installing the pipeline, backfilling and restoring the area.

The work marks the final phase of the $35 million diversion project, which will consolidate wastewater flow operations in northern Hillsborough.

Once the 24-inch and 36-inch reclaimed water pipeline transmission mains are installed, the 40-year-old Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant in Carrollwood Village will be retired, and wastewater will flow directly to the Northwest Regional Water Reclamation Facility, 10890 South Mobley Road in Odessa.

A pump station, as well as reclaimed water tanks, will replace the Dale Mabry plant, which will be demolished, likely in early 2017.

The Dale Mabry Wastewater Diversion Project is one of three components of the larger, $240 million Northwest Hillsborough Wastewater Consolidation Project.

The other phases involve expanding the Northwest facility to accept and treat additional wastewater flows, as well as retiring the River Oaks Wastewater Treatment Plant, where construction is expected to begin next spring.

Officials say the entire program will improve treatment efficiency, reduce power costs and minimize future rate impacts.

“It’s kind of like an old air conditioner. When you replace your old air conditioner, it’s like, ‘Wow, I really saved a lot of money,’” Thomas Rawls, program manager of the Northwest Hillsborough Wastewater Consolidation Project, said in February. “When we transfer that flow to the new plant, it’s like you’re getting better motors, better energy savings.

“Everything’s more efficient.”

The county expects the entire Northwest Wastewater program to save the county approximately $80 million over the next 20 years. Water rates will not rise for residents, officials say.

“As soon as we start transferring that (water flow), the county’s saving money,” Rawls said.

Once the wastewater facilities at the Dale Mabry site are removed, it will leave a majority of the site as a green space, which is likely to become a county park.

Published September 7, 2016

New park seeks funding

By

A grassroots effort from community members in Carrollwood Village spurred the idea for a new 50-acre park that may see the light of day in the next few years.

The Carrollwood Village Community Park expects to replace the Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant once it goes offline, and the land is converted to a green space.

While the green site should be available by the spring of 2017, there’s not a timetable yet for when the park may open, because there’s no funding available for the park’s construction.

A new 50-acre park expects to replace the Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant. (Photos courtesy of the Friends of the Northwest Regional Park)
A new 50-acre park expects to replace the Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant.
(Photos courtesy of the Friends of the Northwest Regional Park)

The county currently has $3.2 million for land acquisition and design of the park, according to Kyla Booher, manager of parks services with the Parks and Recreation Department.

However, about $4 million more would be needed to build the park, not counting administrative equipment or contingency costs.

“It’s a very rough estimate, but it could be upwards of more,” Booher said.

The construction funds would go toward site improvements, park access, infrastructure, lighting, landscape and other costs, the parks services manager added.

Booher said the parks department is still in the “very beginning” of the project’s development and environmental management process.

“We are in the planning process. We are looking at surveys right now,” Booher said. “We’re trying to solicit a design consultant for the master planning of the park.”

In September 2015, the parks department had a public meeting, seeking input from the community on the type of amenities they’d value the most at the 50-acre site.

Booher and her staff ranked the citizens comments, and created a top 10 “wish list” of amenities.

Walking trails, a dog park, a splash pad, a picnic area, a botanical garden and a nature center were some of the features most requested by community members.

“I think those are very reasonable requests,” Booher said. “There are much more that they wanted, but it wasn’t the general consensus.

“At this point, it’s going to be have a little bit more of a passive feel, so it may not have as much activity as a recreation site would with programs like dance and art classes.”

Hillsborough County has $3.2 million for the site’s acquisition and design. However, there is no funding for construction of the Carrollwood Village Community Park.
Hillsborough County has $3.2 million for the site’s acquisition and design. However, there is no funding for construction of the Carrollwood Village Community Park.

A more “passive” park is exactly what homeowners in Carrollwood Village want, according to Bill DeMare, co-chairman of Friends of Northwest Regional Park — the group responsible for spearheading the idea for a new park.

“We already have regional parks like Lettuce Lake Park, and we already have recreational parks — like basketball, tennis, indoor facilities, but this is more unique, and something the community can enjoy,” DeMare said.

“For years, we’ve talked about a dog park, a walking trail, and an area where you can just go and sit down and relax. It’ll be very serene.”

DeMare added it’s also important to have some sort of activity in the park, like an “upgraded” children’s playground.

“If we do a playground, it’ll be state of the art,” DeMare explained. It’ll kind of be a destination playground— not swings and slides— where parents and children can utilize ropes, ladders, rock formations and things of that nature.”

Once news spread about the retirement of the wastewater site, the Friends of the Northwest Regional Park collected several thousand individual signatures and received support from over 10,000 Carrollwood homeowners for a new park in the middle of Carrollwood Village.

“We started a grassroots effort to get the community behind the (park) idea, rather than allowing a developer to come in and have more congestion with stores or bars, or condos or apartments,” DeMare said.

The overwhelming support made the project an “easy sell” when presented to the Hillsborough County Commission last March, DeMare noted.

“It’s a lot easier to get approval when the community wants this,” Booher said. “The commissioners have been terrific.”

The community’s backing is one reason why the park services manager believes project will ultimately receive funding for construction.

“In my opinion, this is one of the more active projects that I’ve seen get picked up and get rolling with. There’s a very active group behind it, so who knows what could happen,” said Booher, referring to friends of the parks’ involvement. “I see this being a very high-profile political project that the community really wants, and typically, they find a way.

“It’s very fluid. It could happen at any time,” Booher said.

The next public forum will be held sometime in the spring or summer, Booher said.

Published February 17, 2016

Wastewater plant is set to retire

By

Due to increasing maintenance and operation expenses at the Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant, the county expects to retire the plant.

To prepare to end operations at the 40-year-old plant, the county is installing a six-mile stretch of 24-inch and 36-inch reclaimed water pipeline transmission main, and a new pump station to transfer wastewater flows from the Dale Mabry plant’s location to the Northwest Regional Water Reclamation Facility.

The pump station, as well as reclaimed water tanks, will replace the Dale Mabry plant, which will be demolished, likely in early 2017.

Once the wastewater facilities at the Dale Mabry site are removed, it will leave a majority of the site as a green space, which is likely to become a county park.

Construction of the Dale Mabry Wastewater Diversion project is in full force, with a six-mile stretch of water transmission piping being installed along Gunn Highway. The installation of the 24-inch and 36-inch piping should be complete over the next few months. (Courtesy of Alice Ramos of the Valerin Group)
Construction of the Dale Mabry Wastewater Diversion project is in full force, with a six-mile stretch of water transmission piping being installed along Gunn Highway.
The installation of the 24-inch and 36-inch piping should be complete over the next few months.
(Courtesy of Alice Ramos of the Valerin Group)

The Dale Mabry Wastewater Diversion Project is one of three components of the larger, $240 million Northwest Hillsborough Wastewater Consolidation Project.

The other phases involve expanding the Northwest facility to accept and treat additional wastewater flows, as well as retiring the River Oaks Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The Dale Mabry portion of the project costs approximately $35 million.

Officials say the entire program will improve treatment efficiency, reduce power costs and minimize future rate impacts.

“It’s kind of like an old air conditioner. When you replace your old air conditioner, it’s like, ‘Wow, I really saved a lot of money,’” said Thomas Rawls, program manager of the Northwest Hillsborough Wastewater Consolidation Project. “When we transfer that flow to the new plant, it’s like you’re getting better motors, better energy savings.

“Everything’s more efficient.”

Barring any delays, the Rawls said the entire project should be completed by December—ensuring the pumps, pipeline and plant all work in conjunction with one another.

“We have to make sure the (Northwest) plant can absorb that (water) flow because we use a biological treatment system…there’s actually living organisms that treat our wastewater, and you don’t want to shock them,” Rawls explained about the flow transfer. “It’s like you’re sending them a new type of food, if you want to call it.”

The county expects the entire Northwest Wastewater program to save the county approximately $80 million over the next 20 years. Water rates will not rise for residents, officials say.

“As soon as we start transferring that (water flow), the county’s saving money,” Rawls said.

Rawls referred to the project as “the perfect storm,” for beginning construction this year, due to the county’s good credit rating and bond capacity. Plus, the county was staring down the barrel of “$10 (million)-$20 million” in repairs alone at the Dale Mabry plant site.

“It’s like an old car — you’re either going to junk it, or you’re going to rebuild it make it a pristine car,” the project manager explained. “We’ve got the fiscal ability, the county’s administration is behind it, the citizens are behind it, and it’s just a good mesh of everything.

“Five to 10 years ago — in the middle of that recession — it wasn’t the best time to go out and do this,” he said.

Construction crews are currently installing transmission pipelines along Gunn Highway between the Veterans Expressway and Lynn Turner Road—which should wrap up in the next few months.

With drills going underneath major intersections at Brushy Creek and the Veterans Expressway, there have been a small section of lane closures.

“We’re doing a directional drill that goes down 40 feet underground…and comes up on the other side,” said Rawls. “We don’t want to affect all the traffic in those big intersections, but we’ll have to close some of the median. It’s better than cutting through the intersection and disrupting all that traffic.”

Rawls said the project’s construction has “stayed pretty true” with its timelines, especially since the county is using a “design-build” form of project delivery, where both the designer (McKim & Creed Engineering) and contractor (Westra Construction) are working hand in hand.

“If they come across a problem out there, they have a team of engineers and experts out there that can get together, figure out the issue and keep moving, so there’s less impact on the community,” Rawls said. “It’s not going to linger on for years and years.”

During the winter months, Rawls noted it’s much easier to lay pipe into the ground, because there’s not as much rain.

“We can properly compact the (piping), and backfill it while it’s drier,” he explained. “We kind of held off during the holidays, but we’re hitting it hard now. We’re picking it up full steam.”

Published February 3, 2016