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HDR Engineering

Pasco expected to add 250,000 people

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Pasco County has been growing rapidly in recent years, and that trend is expected to continue.

“You have over 250,000 people in the pipeline that are expected to move to the county by the Year 2045,” Steve Schukraft, a planner with HDR Engineering Inc., told the Pasco County Planning Commission, during its April 21 meeting.

So, over the next 25 years or so, Pasco is “going to add the number of people, that’s similar in a scale, to all of the people who are living in the city of Tampa,” said the planner, whose company has been hired to help Pasco County update its comprehensive plan.

“When you look at the curve, that’s a similar rate of growth as you’ve experienced, since around 1980,” Schukraft said.

Knowing how many vehicles are traveling down a road is essential information for future planning of roads, developments and various services. Here is a look at a backup of traffic heading east on State Road 54, waiting at a traffic signal at S.R. 54 and U.S. 41. (File)

“There is a lot of development in the pipeline. Shaping that development is really fundamental. Preparing for it, serving it, shaping it — is really critical,” the planning consultant added.

Local governments, under state law, must develop comprehensive plans.

“Comprehensive plans provide your authority to zone. So, it’s a fundamental basis for your land development code. But it also provides guidance for capital investment programs, conservation investments, transportation programs,” Schukraft said.

In the 2050 update, he added, “we’re folding in some of the work the county is doing, related to sustainability and resilience.”

Completing the update is expected to take five years. The first two years have focused on primarily research and beginning to think about the broad structure of the plan. Next, the plan elements will be drafted, and finally, the Pasco County Commission will adopt a new plan.

“The most minor approach would be a strike-through and add-in to the existing document, but there’s a possibility to restructure segments of it, in a more significant way. So, that’s what we’re trying to find out, what’s appropriate,” Schukraft said.

“We’ve been doing a series of work sessions with groups around the county, to supplement our research in the more technical aspects of growth and development, across Pasco County,” he added.

The consultants are diving into past planning processes, in the documentation and feedback that the county has received through various activities and is supplementing that with listening sessions.

The listening sessions focus on perceptions of the county’s assets and challenges and ideas about what should be done to build a better future, the consultant said.

The county also has gathered feedback from the community in recent years, and that data, along with information gleaned through the listening sessions will be used to create an Issues and Ideas Report, he said.

Listening sessions aim to gain greater insights
Schukraft explained how the listening sessions work.

“As we talk to people, we ask them: ‘Do you know about the plan?’ ‘Are you aware of development that’s going to happen around you?’

He told the planning board: “I can tell you our observation is that, it’s kind of hard, when you look at the plan, to know that. To know what’s coming.

“If you were uninitiated and you pulled up the county’s comprehensive plan, or went to the web site, it’s really tough to tell what’s going to happen around the corner, up the road, down the road, and the timing of that.

A new apartment community, Avidity Living, is one of the latest new residential options on State Road 54 and Oak Grove Boulevard, in Land O’ Lakes. Pasco County is expected to attract about 250,000 new residents by 2045.

“So, one of the things we need to do in this process is make the future more transparent, so people understand, what’s in the pipeline, what’s committed, what’s next and where the sort of edges between different kinds of development occur.”

He also shared observations regarding the county’s long-range planning and zoning processes.

“We have early notions that it appears you spend an awful lot of time doing comprehensive plan amendments, which are kind of like land development code approval actions. And, they’re almost stacked right on top of one another.

“The comp plan is supposed to be a larger policy document that guides broader decisions, and the land development code is where things get executed and detailed.

“So, there may be a way to separate those two documents a little bit, so you’ve got higher level guidance in the comp plan and then you use your land development code to detail how projects get delivered, location by location.

“So, if it’s minor uptick in density on a project, maybe the comp plan can absorb that level of change, if it doesn’t change the character of a broad area.

“The land development code, if you want to change your zoning, that becomes a separate discussion, about appropriateness, about compatibility, about impacts on roadways, schools, public facilities,” Schukraft said.

David Goldstein, chief assistant county attorney addressed the consultant: “Can I ask you a question about that, though, because most of what we process are amendments to the future land use map. Are you suggesting that we not have a future land use map?”

Schukraft responded: “You need to have a future land use map. You don’t have to have the lan -use map you have now. It could be a more generalized map. That’s a possibility that we could look into. Because right now, your future land use map and your land development code are practically the same thing.

“You wouldn’t be doing amendments at every meeting. You’d be doing amendments on a three-month, six-month, cycle, that would be broader-scale amendments.”

Schukraft went on: “The thought of that is that long-range planning could focus more on the long-range questions. Your short-range, your zoning and land development code staff, could focus on the land development code questions.

“They wouldn’t be stacked up and doing similar things,” he said.

Goldstein also told Schukraft that the county’s current comprehensive plan contains a number of policies that says the county will adopt amendments to the land development code by certain deadlines, but that hasn’t happened.

Schukraft responded: “Where there’s time frames and commitments indicated in the comp plan that staff hasn’t been able to deliver for various reasons, it’s really fundamental to get that cleaned up.”

Planning board members told Schukraft that they would like a longer session to delve deeper into issues and the consultant said that will be arranged.

Published May 04, 2022

Pasco lifts ceiling on commercial hauling rates

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Commercial haulers now can operate in a free market in Pasco County — meaning competition among private businesses will establish the charges.

The Pasco County Commission voted on Oct. 26 to remove the ceiling on the rates. The action brings Pasco into alliance with the approach used by other counties around the state, according to county staffers.

The change does not affect residential hauling rates.

At the same meeting, the county board approved increasing charges associated with water and wastewater connection fees — previously referred to as impact fees.

The board also established new fire line and fire hydrant rates. The increased rates take effect on Jan. 3. For a complete breakdown of the new charges, visit Pasco County Utilities, on the county’s website, PascoCountyFl.net.

In other action, the county board:

• Accepted a check for nearly $2.9 million, in “excess fees” from Paco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano. The tax collector’s office is funded entirely by fees and commissions, with no direct ad valorem dollars. When the office’s total revenues exceed expenses, the “excess fees” are returned to the county board and other taxing authorities on a pro-rata basis at the end of the fiscal year.

• Approved a change to the comprehensive plan on 37.58 acres, east of Old Pasco Road and north of Overpass Road, to allow for commercial development. The board also approved a companion rezoning, allowing a commercial planned development of use to 315,000 square feet of commercial at that site.

• Authorized to shortlist and negotiate agreements for a Tower Road route siting and pond siting analysis for an area that begins east of Sunlake Boulevard to east of U.S. 41. The shortlisted firms are: American Consulting Engineers of Florida, LLC (American); Kissinger, Campo & Associates, Corp. (KCA); NV5, Inc. (NV5); Baslee Engineering Solutions, Inc. (Baslee); and George F. Young, Inc. (George F. Young). The county board authorized negotiations with the top firm, and if an agreement can’t be reached, authorized staff to negotiate with the remaining firms, in the county’s ranked order.

• Authorized to shortlist and negotiate agreements for a Tower Road route study and pond siting analysis for an area from the terminus of Rangeland Boulevard to east of Sunlake Boulevard. The shortlisted firms are Kissinger, Campo & Associates, Corp.; WGI, Inc.; American Consulting Engineers of Florida, LLC; NV5, Inc.; Baslee Engineering Solutions, Inc.; and, George F. Young, Inc. The county board authorized staff to negotiate with Kissinger, Campo & Associates, and if an agreement can’t be reached, to negotiate with the remaining firms, in the county’s ranked order.

• Approved an agreement to accept a $6.5 million grant, through the state Department of Environmental Protection, to provide water and wastewater infrastructure improvements to stimulate economic growth in the currently underdeveloped area of Pasadena Hills. The county will construct a water and wastewater distribution system including a piping system and appurtenances, a lift station, restoration, project management, and all work necessary to complete the project as outlined in the grant work plan. The grant begins upon execution of the agreement and expires on March 31, 2024. No county match is required and this is a cost-reimbursement agreement.

• Approved a change order involving additional work and a time extension of 129 days for the installation of a drain field at Starkey Ranch District Park. The amount of the contract with R.L. Burns Inc., will increase by $455,234.37, bringing the not-to-exceed total to $3,994,628.37. The new completion date is March 14, 2022.

• Authorized to shortlist and negotiate agreements with firms to complete an Orange Belt Trail route study, design and permitting. The firms are: Atkins North America, Inc.; HDR Engineering, Inc.; Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, LLP; Burgess & Niple, Inc.; NV5, Inc.; Baslee Engineering Solutions, Inc.; and Sand County Studios, LLC. If an agreement cannot be reached with Atkins, the board authorized negotiations with remaining firms, according to the county’s ranked order.

• Approved a change to the county’s comprehensive plan to allow commercial development to be considered on 9.24 acres south of State Road 54 and River Glen Boulevard. The land previously was planned for residential development. The proposed change received a unanimous recommendation for approval from the Pasco County Planning Commission on Aug. 26. A change in the land use designation is the first step necessary to change the potential use on the land. A rezoning is required, too, before commercial development could occur.

• Authorized the reappointment of Steven Hickman to the board of the Pasco County Housing Finance Authority and appointed two new members, Jeffrey Sklet, deputy director for the Pasco County Housing Authority, and Stacy Ferreira, vice president of BB&T.

• Adopted a resolution honoring the Friends of the Pasco County Library System, a not-for-profit organization the helps the library through volunteering, fundraising and advocacy.

Published November 17, 2021

Pasco commissioners push for faster completion of long-range plan

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A presentation on the county’s efforts to update its comprehensive plan was cut short last week — after a majority of commissioners raised questions about the proposed time frame for completing the work.

Nectarios Pittos, director of planning and development, began his presentation at the board’s Oct. 26 meeting by explaining — for the public’s benefit — that the purpose of the comprehensive plan is “the long-range plan to manage growth, improve quality of life and ensure long-term sustainability for the county.

Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore wants the county to accelerate efforts to update the county’s comprehensive plan — the tool that expresses the county’s long-term vision and guides future development.

“So, why are we doing an update of the comprehensive plan?

“We want to understand the current conditions and address the changing needs and reassess the vision that the current comprehensive plan has,” Pittos said.

Required by state law, the county’s comprehensive plan must consider: future land use, transportation, housing, conservation, coastal management, recreation/open space, public facilities, capital improvements, intergovernmental coordination and economic development.

“It’s been 16 years since the last update, 31 years since the establishment of the plan and a lot has changed since 1991 and 2006, and a lot is changing right now.

“And because the 1991 plan took us to 2025, we’re looking at the next plan to take us to 2050, hence the new name of the future comprehensive plan being the Pasco 2050 Plan,” Pittos said.

The county approved its first task order with HDR Engineering to help with the project last year, and approved a second task order with HDR, at last week’s meeting.

The county has envisioned a five-year process for updating the comprehensive plan — which lays the groundwork for the county’s vision and growth over the long-term.

“So, we’re going to be revisioning the county’s long-term plan and we’re going to be looking at a number of data, asking lots of questions and studying the county — where we’ve been and where we’re going,” Pittos said.

Public involvement is important and a public engagement plan has been created to foster that participation, Pittos said.

Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano says much of the work needed to help update the comprehensive plan has already been done and can be used to help in the effort.

The planning director then laid out the major efforts that will be completed, as part of the update over the next four years.

He planned to hand off the presentation to a member of his staff, to go into greater detail regarding what’s been done so far, but that didn’t happen.

Instead, Commissioner Mike Moore began questioning why the process needs to take so long and asking what can be done to update the plan sooner.

When the county board discussed the update a few years ago, Moore said, he was under the impression it would be done around 2023.

“There’s a lot of things we’ve asked for. There’s a lot of things we requested. So, now we’re going to wait until 2025 for a lot of these things,” Moore said. “Hey listen, I know it’s a big project. This is a long time to wait.

“We’re going on four years or so, from when it was first brought up and first asked to initiate changes. In reality, you’re looking at about a nine-year time frame from when it was first brought up.”

Commissioner Kathryn Starkey told Pittos: “Every one of the steps is very important. We want you to go through all of them.”

But she asked: “Is there any way to speed it up?”

County Administrator Dan Biles told commissioners that the first year of the project was part of last year’s budget and the second year of the project is part of this year’s budget.

“It’ll be in the budget for the next two or three years, until we get this done. It’s not a short-term process,” Biles said.

Commissioner Jack Mariano agreed with Moore and Starkey: “Should it take that long? Can we speed it up?”

Pittos wrapped up his remarks as the meeting was approaching the break for lunch.

He offered to have his staff member make her presentation after lunch.

Instead, Biles addressed Commission Chairman Ron Oakley: “Mr. Chair, I would suggest that we table this for now, we can come back and brief each of you individually, with where we are, where we’re going, what the plan is, get feedback from you directly, and then bring you back something at a later date and kind of wrap up all of this discussion.”

The county administrator noted that may include some schedule adjustments to accelerate the work.

Published November 03, 2021

Pasco stormwater utility fee expected to stay the same

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The Pasco County Commission has decided that the county’s stormwater utility fees will remain unchanged for the 2021 fiscal year.

The current rate is $95 per equivalent residential unit — which is based on an average amount of impervious area of 2,890 square feet for a single-family home, according to agenda background materials.

County staff recommended that the ERU rate and square footage remain the same for the 2021 tax year, and commissioners signaled their approval, without discussion, during their June 22 meeting.

The public hearing for the Annual Stormwater Management Utility System Rate Resolution is scheduled for 9 a.m., on Sept. 14, in the board room at the Historic Pasco County Courthouse, at 37918 Meridian Ave., in Dade City.  At the hearing, the board must adopt a final rate resolution. It can reduce the fee, but cannot increase it, at that hearing.

In other action, commissioners approved these items, without discussion, as part of their consent agenda:

  • The award of a professional services agreement with HDR Engineering Inc., to provide the required roadway design services for the widening of Old Pasco Road, from north of Deedra Drive to north of Overpass Road, in an amount not to exceed $2,570,032.37. That figure includes $595,973.19 in optional services for fiscal year 2021.
  • The appointments of Dennis Baker, representing Tampa North Aero Park, and Spencer Brass, representing Pilot Country Estates Airport, to the Airport Zoning Commission. Zephyrhills Municipal Airport Manager Nathan Coleman will continue to serve on the commission, too.
  • A contract to Pacscon GeoEnvironmental Inc., for as-needed gopher tortoise surveying, permitting capturing transporting and after-action reports. The contract is for an amount not to exceed $90,000 for fiscal year 2021; not to exceed $90,000 for fiscal year 2022; not to exceed $110,000 in fiscal year 2022 and not to exceed $90,000 in fiscal year 2024. The total not to exceed amount is $400,000.
  • A task order revision in the amount of $109,910 with Stroud Engineering Consultants to cover additional design and construction inspection engineering services due to the addition of a 16-inch pipeline. The Florida Department of Transportation is fast-tracking the completion of the widening of U.S. 41, from north of Connerton Boulevard to south of State Road 52. After the original task order was approved, additional improvements were identified, which consist of construction of a new 16-inch diameter force main along U.S. 41 to provide wastewater capacity for new development expected to be built in the vicinity in the near future.

Including the piping now will help meet future demands and avoid costly work later, according to the agenda materials.

Published July 07, 2021

Pasco to update its facilities master plan

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The Pasco County Commission has approved an agreement with Furr, Wegman & Banks P.A., for a facilities master plan update.

The facilities master plan was completed in March of 2015, and this task calls for completing the work necessary to update it.

The agreement specifies that the task must be performed for an amount not to exceed $336,720, according to background materials in the agenda for the Feb. 9 board meeting.

The facilities master plan is expected to be completed within 248 days of the county’s notice to proceed, unless an extension is approved.

In other action, the commission:

  • Approved a change order with Williamson Dacar Associates Inc., to extend the completion date of Feb. 9, 2021, for the Hugh Embry Library Renovations by 365 days. No funding was required for this action. The time extension will allow for completion of professional services, including construction administration and closeout.
  • Approved a change order with Moss & Associates LLC for the addition of two Design Assist Contractors (DACs) for the jail facility expansion and visitation building detention equipment and security electronics during the pre-construction phase. The amount of the change order is for an amount not to exceed $120,487, for a new cumulative not-to-exceed amount of $591,689 in fiscal year 2021.
  • Accepted a grant from the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida Inc., to expand archery supplies for reimbursement in the amount of $4,578 and to authorize the director of the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources, or his designee, to execute the grant agreement. The grant will be used to increase the county’s inventory of bows, arrows and targets; thus making archery education more available at passive parks, such as Starkey and Crews Lake Wilderness Parks and Withlacoochee River Park.
  • Approved the purchase of new carpeting in the Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center, in the amount of $57,991.72. The purchase, being made through a state contract, is to replace carpet that is frayed and worn, and has reached the end of its useful life. New carpeting is required to maintain a safe and clean environment, according to agenda background materials.
  • Approve and accept the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 5310 Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Grant funding, through the Florida Department of Transportation, to purchase one vehicle. The grant is specific to Pasco County Public Transportation. Funding for the vehicle Is 80% federal, 10% state and 10% local. The total amount of the award is $90,000, which includes $9,000 match from the state and $9,000 match by the county. If the vehicle exceeds the total cost, the county must make up the difference.
  • Approved a recommendation to approve shortlist firms for roadway design services for design services for the Old Pasco Road widening, from north of Deedra Drive to North of Overpass Road. These are the shortlisted firms, in order: HDR Engineering Inc.; American Consulting Engineers of Florida; WGI Inc.; DRMP Inc.; Madrid Engineering Group Inc.; Johnson Engineering Inc., and Florida Transportation Engineering. The board also authorized negotiations with the top-ranked firm, HDR, to secure a design agreement for the project.

If an agreement cannot be reached with HDR, the board also authorized negotiations could be conducted with the remainder of the firms, in ranked order. An agreement is expected to be brought to the county board for approval within three months.

Commissioners also heard an update from County Administrator Dan Biles, who said the county has signed an agreement that will provide reimbursement to the county for the construction of the interchange at the Suncoast Parkway and Ridge Road.

The county and the Florida Department of Transportation collaborated extensively to execute the funding agreement, in the amount of $20 million. The plan is to deliver the next phase of the Ridge Road extension — opening two lanes between Town Center Road and the Suncoast Parkway this summer.

Published February 17, 2021

Pasco County approves $205,000 for work on comprehensive plan

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The Pasco County Commission has approved an agreement to pay HDR Engineering up to $205,000 during fiscal year 2021, for the company’s assistance on updating the county’s comprehensive plan.

Pasco adopted its original comprehensive plan in response to a state law passed in 1985.

Pasco’s first comprehensive plan took effect in 1991. It was last updated in 2006, with a 2025 horizon year.

The current plan has 50 goals, 216 policies and 917 objectives. Many of these are duplicated within several of the plan’s 12 elements.

The update is needed to streamline the plan, align it with market conditions, and to improve its responsiveness to current trends, according to materials in the board’s agenda packet.

The county estimates it will take up to five years for the comprehensive update, with each year having its work task order.

Updating the comprehensive plan is a substantial undertaking and will involve such activities as developing a project schedule, doing best practices research, developing an outreach and engagement plan, analyzing land use, researching development and demographics and completing myriad other planning activities.

The comprehensive plan is an important document because it sets the stage for the county’s future direction.

Published January 13, 2021