The Laker/Lutz News

Henry Wilson

Elevated toll road no more: FDOT rejects project

By

It was on life support as early as last week, but now the Florida Department of Transportation says an unsolicited proposal from a private group of companies wanting to build an elevated toll road along the State Road 54/56 corridor is now officially dead.

“The department was unable to reach an agreement with International Infrastructure Partners LLC on a framework of financing and various design concepts for the corridor that would be acceptable to all parties and address the concerns of the local community,” FDOT secretary Ananth Prasad, said in a release. “In absence of this framework, advancing this project would not make any sense.”

Pasco Fiasco, a group of home and business owners along that 33-mile corridor who opposed the project, celebrated the decision, and said they are postponing a planned rally at Sunlake High School next week that was intended to build even more opposition to the project. Organizers told The Laker/Lutz News last week that they could still hold the rally either way, because a similar public project could be pushed forward as part of the county’s long-range transportation plan.

While FDOT and Pasco County officials have said future growth will require some sort of expansion of the corridor that connects Zephyrhills at U.S. 301 and New Port Richey at U.S. 19, the plan to build the elevated toll road came unsolicited last year by a construction group known for similar projects around the world.

The project itself had been chipped away over the last few months, as public sentiment against it grew — including from Pasco commissioners Henry Wilson and Jack Mariano. However, it went into a tailspin last week when Prasad admitted that discussions on how the project would be built started to fall apart when the developers, who at this point said they would raise the estimated $2.2 billion construction cost privately, started asking for public money to help fund it.

FDOT continues to work on other projects in the area as part of its five-year plan, Prasad said, including the widening of State Road 54 from the Suncoast Parkway to U.S. 41, as well as from Curley Road to Morris Bridge Road. It also will continue work toward starting the new State Road 56 leg from Meadow Point Boulevard to U.S. 301.

Wells comes out swinging in commissioner race

By

Pasco County Commissioner Henry Wilson has been raising money for his re-election campaign since last July, and has amassed a respectable $19,000 through the end of March.

Mike Wells Jr.
Mike Wells Jr.

But now Wilson will have to go into full fundraising mode because his new challenger, Mike Wells Jr., isn’t holding back. Wells, the son of Pasco County property appraiser Mike Wells Sr., has already out-raised Wilson — in a single month.

Wells collected $20,700 in April, according to election campaign documents filed with the county, the largest single-month total of any county commission candidate so far this year. In fact, Wells’ haul was the most in a single month by any candidate in any commission election since the race between Ted Schrader and Ronald Oakley two years ago where both candidates combined to raise nearly $345,000.

A good portion of Wells’ early donations — nearly $6,800 — have come from property developers and those involved in real estate, primarily in the New Port Richey area. However, he also received a $2,000 boost from Waste Aid Systems in Land O’ Lakes, including from its vice president, Thomas Peterson.

Wells has spent less than $400 in his first month, meaning he comes into May with more than $20,000 on-hand.

Wilson has yet to file his financials for April, but raised $1,900 in March. He has not spent much as well, with nearly $18,000 in the bank through the end of March.

But who has the most money may not be the final decider in this race, if the past has anything to say about it. Wilson raised just $8,700 in his first bid for county commission in 2010, and beat incumbent Michael Cox, who raised more than $162,000.

Barring anyone else jumping into the race, voters will decide between Wells and Wilson in an open primary Aug. 26.

FDOT leader goes point-by-point on elevated toll road

By

Patrick Knight has been an active voice against the proposed elevated toll road in the State Road 54/56 corridor, and tried to pull the big guns into his fight by writing Gov. Rick Scott.

Instead, Knight’s letter was answered by Florida Department of Transportation District Seven secretary Paul Steinman, who responded to Knight point-by-point on the potential 33-mile project that would stretch from Zephyrhills to New Port Richey.

“This type of project has already been built, and is operating successfully around the country, so we are getting a good idea of what people are able or willing to pay to use them,” Steinman wrote in a letter to Knight, which was shared with members of elevated road opposition group Pasco Fiasco. “Like any good business, the company that runs this venture will study its potential customers and set reasonable prices. If they were to charge too much, they would lose money in the end.”

In his letter to Scott, Knight touched on not only the potential high cost of tolls, but other factors he and members of his opposition group fear, like sinkholes, traffic congestion, extra noise from the road, and even allowing a foreign company to participate in a road project. One of the key partners working with developer International Infrastructure Partners LLP is OHL Group of Spain.

“There will never be public support for this project,” Knight wrote. “An elevated toll road owned and operated by a foreign corporation and used only by those who can afford a very high toll is not needed.”

However, where a proposing road construction company is based is not necessarily something the FDOT considers when partnering with projects, Steinman said.

“Nothing prohibits foreign companies form competing for this type of project,” Steinman said. “Allowing more companies to compete benefits Florida by increasing competition and lowering costs for the taxpayer.”

Also, any company, foreign or domestic, would have to hire local subcontractors and engineers to build, Steinman added. And both that work and the attraction to develop in the area because of the “presence of the roadway” would create more jobs in the state.

Steinman also downplayed any potential problems with sinkholes in the county, citing recent work on Interstate 75, which he said created no sinkhole problems either on the project site, or in surrounding private property.

There was a little bit of hope for opponents of the road, however.

“We have received many similar comments from other citizens, and have asked the company proposing the project to provide other options to the original elevated concept,” Steinman said.

International Infrastructure Partners submitted its unsolicited proposal to FDOT last summer, and the decision to give the company the necessary right-of-way along the State Road 54/56 corridor to build the potential $2.2 billion project lies with the state agency.

However, FDOT officials have said in the past they would not move forward without the blessing of the Pasco County government. Two members of the commission, Henry Wilson and commission chair Jack Mariano, have publicly come out against the project.

Public meetings about the proposed project are set to begin in June and July.

Mariano joins Wilson in opposing elevated toll road

By

In a brief email to organizers of an opposition group to a proposed elevated toll road across along the State Road 54/56 corridor, Pasco County commissioner Jack Mariano has joined in the dissent.

“I want you to share this with everyone you can,” Mariano said in an email from his personal account Wednesday morning. “This toll road is bad for residents, businesses and Pasco County commuters. I support using the available north-south connections, the rail connection to Channelside, and Ridge Road extension all the way to” Interstate 75.

Mariano, who is the current chair of the commission, sent the email to Pasco Fiasco organizer Richard Connors. Pasco Fiasco is a group of residents who live along the proposed path of a 33-mile elevated expressway that would connect Zephyrhills and New Port Richey. The final decision on whether to move forward on the project lies with the Florida Department of Transportation, which maintains the corridor. However, officials there have said they won’t approve it without the blessing of Pasco County government leaders.

The road was first proposed last year by a group known as International Infrastructure Partners LLC, and said they would privately fund the estimated $2.2 billion project, earning money back through collected tolls.

Mariano’s opposition to the project joins fellow commissioner Henry Wilson, who has spoken out against the elevated toll road for the last few months. Wilson, who is now facing a primary battle for his seat with Mike Wells Jr., recently reached out to Pasco Fiasco himself, hoping to get help with his campaign based on his elevated road position.

In sharing Mariano’s email with the rest of his group, Connors said he wanted to “thank Commissioner Mariano for his continued opposition to the Pasco elevated toll road and alignment with our group.”

Pasco County commissioners are planning to hold three public meetings in cooperation with FDOT in all parts of the county some time this summer.

Mike Wells challenges Henry Wilson for commission seat

By

Mike Wells Jr. has a name that is quite familiar to Pasco County residents, thanks to his father, longtime property appraiser Mike Wells Sr.

Mike Wells Jr.
Mike Wells Jr.

And now the younger Wells wants to make a name of his own by challenging Pasco County Commissioner Henry Wilson in the Republican primary. In making the announcement, Wells doesn’t share a lot about his platform, except that he knows being a commissioner “demands hard work as well as leadership skills attuned to citizens’ needs.”

“With the blessing of my family and friends, I am committing myself to do all that is necessary to run a positive and informative campaign,” Wells said, in a release. “For most of my life, I have seen government at work. I am now ready to participate in the democratic process by doing what it takes to earn the job of representing the citizens of District 4.”

Wells will have to start by raising money, and lots of it. Wilson, who was first elected in 2010, already has a running start with more than $17,000 raised and at least $16,000 in the bank, according to election records, through the end of February. Wilson’s biggest month was in January when he hauled in $8,735, at least half of it coming from builders and developers.

Wells’ father served on the county commission himself in the 1980s and was elected the county’s property appraiser in 1996. As a commissioner, the older Wells, among other things, was a leader in creating the county’s public library system, and was a major proponent of getting Pasco County Public Transportation underway, creating mass transit options for county residents.

The younger Wells said he’s been active in political campaigns since he was 12, and has worked in both sales and management for Enterprise Rent-A-Car for 17 years.

The other active county commission race is for the seat currently held by the retiring Pat Mulieri. At this point, three Republicans and one Democrat are looking to replace Mulieri, and have all raised a combined $56,000 in that race so far.

Primary elections are set for Aug. 26.

In Print: No smoking in Pasco, running the Boston Marathon, and a new app

By

Despite the numerous health warnings against it, more than 42 million Americans — 18.1 percent of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control — smoke cigarettes.

They light up at home, they light up in the car, during meals, or when ever they may be stressed.

However, those smokers may not be welcome to work with the Pasco County government come October if a plan offered by a committee led by Commissioner Henry Wilson moves forward. County officials want to ban smokers from getting jobs with the county, even if they only smoke at home on their own time. Someone getting a job with the county would have to sign an affidavit saying they haven’t smoked for the past year, and are aware they could be fired if they were caught smoking, even off company time.

County performance development director Marc Bellas, who introduced the current draft of this policy to the Pasco County Commission last week, admits this is a controversial proposal that could very well change between now and October.

“We have a few challenges that we can’t ignore,” Bellas told reporter Michael Hinman. “Between 24 and 25 percent of our employees right now use tobacco, and a lot of them are in the entry-level positions in roads and bridges, and in utilities. The folks in those departments already have a hard enough time keeping those positions filled. If we take one more thing away, and they believe it’s going to be a problem, then that is not a good choice for us.”

One person who likely wouldn’t have to worry about getting a job at the county is Trish Trout, who is getting ready to run in the 118th Boston Marathon later this month. The Wesley Chapel woman is training for the 26.2-mile race as a way to raise money for charity.

“If you look at me, I’m not built to be a runner,” Trout told reporter B.C. Manion. But “I will crawl. I will roll. It doesn’t matter. I will cross that finish line on the day that I’m supposed to.”

Adam Bohn isn’t big on traditional business attire, but his Lutz-based company, Artix Entertainment, is big on video games. Their latest offering, ‘Battle Gems,’ is their first on mobile platforms. (Photo courtesy of Adam Bohn)
Adam Bohn isn’t big on traditional business attire, but his Lutz-based company, Artix Entertainment, is big on video games. Their latest offering, ‘Battle Gems,’ is their first on mobile platforms. (Photo courtesy of Adam Bohn)

Already crossing a different finish line is Artix Entertainment in Lutz. This app development company recently completed work on its newest game “Battle Gems,” which is now available in the Apple iTunes Store, and soon for Google Play as well.

“We’ve put a lot of heart into this game, but we didn’t expect the kind of reaction that our players are giving us,” Adam Bohn, chief executive of Artix Entertainment, told reporter Michael Murillo. “Very consistently, from people who know us, we’re getting (user grades of) 4.5 out of 5, and 9 out of 10. The reviews have been just overwhelmingly positive.”

All of these stories and more are in this week’s The Laker/Lutz News, available in newsstands throughout east and central Pasco County as well as northern Hillsborough County. Find out what has your community talking this week by getting your local news straight from the only source you need.

If The Laker/Lutz News is not coming to your door, call us to see where you can get your copy at (813) 909-2800, or read our free e-edition by clicking here.

Starkey to discuss elevated road at town hall

By

The official public meetings surrounding the elevated toll road concept proposed for the State Road 54/56 corridor might be a month or two off, but Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey is wasting no time giving residents a voice.

Starkey is planning a town hall meeting March 10 at 7 p.m., in the Sunlake High School cafeteria. The school is located at 3023 Sunlake Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes.

The official announcement of the meeting doesn’t suggest topics, but published reports say the controversy over the unsolicited bid from a private company to turn existing right of way into a toll express lane will be right at the top of the agenda.

International Infrastructure Partners are pushing for the road, which would eventually stretch 33 miles between U.S. 301 near Zephyrhills to U.S. 19 in New Port Richey. The final decision on whether to allow IIP to move forward on the potential $2.2 billion project lies with the Florida Department of Transportation. However, officials at the state agency said it would not green light the project if it doesn’t have support from the community and county commissioners.

Commissioners Henry Wilson and Jack Mariano have appeared to take stands against the road, however, Starkey has been more noncommittal either way, saying she is looking to get more information before making a decision.

Opponents to the road call it unnecessary, and has the potential to stymie growth and destroy home values and businesses. Those who support it, however, say it’s needed to help handle future traffic congestion in the corridor created not just by neighboring counties, but the anticipated growth in the southern portion of Pasco County as well.

For the county’s explanation of the elevated road concept, click here.

Wilson not convinced Pasco needs elevated road

By

It’s no secret Pasco County Commissioner Henry Wilson doesn’t put a lot of faith into studies, statistics or consultants. And that’s not changing at all when it comes to the proposed elevated road for the State Road 54/56 corridor.

Pasco County officials have used a series of diagrams, like this cutaway, that show how an elevated road over the State Road 54/56 corridor could expand the existing highway from six lanes to 10. (Courtesy of Pasco County Commission)
Pasco County officials have used a series of diagrams, like this cutaway, that show how an elevated road over the State Road 54/56 corridor could expand the existing highway from six lanes to 10.
(Courtesy of Pasco County Commission)

In fact, he told the Republican Club of Central Pasco last week that if county planning and development administrator Richard Gehring can sell the privately proposed toll road he advocates to the public, he’d buy him dinner at the pricey Bern’s Steak House in Tampa.

“I want to put out this disclaimer right now,” Wilson told the group. “I was the only one of the five commissioners that has opposed this from the beginning, because I don’t think we need it.”

County officials have talked about how future growth in Pasco and the rest of the region will create significant congestion on the existing State Road 54 and State Road 56 in coming years, but that’s congestion Wilson says he hasn’t seen.

“Before I was in office, I spent 14 years travelling from New Port Richey to Tampa, and the only time I hit congestion was in Hillsborough County,” he said. “This is something that will help Hillsborough, not Pasco.”

Yet, county officials have warned against comparing current traffic issues to those that might happen in the future. In a recent meeting with the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, Pasco County administrator Michele Baker credited forward thinking that expanded the lanes in the State Road 54/56 corridor for keeping congestion under control in the present.

“We know we’ll never build enough roads to prevent congestion from occurring,” Baker said last month. Places to build east-west roads in the county are limited because of the amount of preservation land and planned development that exists, especially in the central part of the county. That limits most of the talk to both the State Road 54/56 corridor in the southern part of the county, and State Road 52 and the county line road bordering Hernando County to the north.

“When you look at all the entitlements out there, even if we didn’t approve one new development again, we’re going to need at least 20 east-west lanes,” Baker said. The two major roads have between six and eight lanes, but officials have to ask themselves, “where are the rest of those lanes going to come from?”

Wilson, however, said the idea of needing a 20-lane road in the State Road 54/56 corridor is wrong. Very few places in the country have roads that large, and nearly all of them serve populations counted in the millions, like Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It’s nearly impossible to imagine the need for it here.

And the fear of such a large road is driving the support behind the elevated road, Wilson said.

“Since I have been in office, we try to say that we are business friendly,” he said. The elevated road “is probably the least business-friendly thing we could do.”

How the elevated road would move forward is based on studies conducted by the Florida Department of Transportation, Wilson said.

“It doesn’t say anything about it being determined by Pasco County needs, or Pasco County wants, or Pasco County anything,” he said. “And we know that a government study can say anything we want it to say. Just like statistics. We can make it say anything you want it to say.”

A private road development group, International Infrastructure Partners Inc., has asked the FDOT to give up key right-of-way along the State Road 54/56 corridor to build an elevated toll road that would connect Zephyrhills at U.S. 301, and New Port Richey at U.S. 19. The 33-mile project would be constructed through private money, with returns coming from toll revenue.

Although the project is commonly known as an elevated road, Baker said no one should expect every mile of it will be above the ground. Some pieces could be much lower.

“Are they going to build an elevated road from U.S. 19 to U.S. 301? There’s no reason to,” Baker said. “The whole road doesn’t require that, and it doesn’t make sense.”

Flyovers would have to occur at major intersections, however, like where State Road 54 and Land O’ Lakes Boulevard meet, an intersection that already draws 100,000 cars a day, according to the county. And the goal would be to prevent flyovers similar to what’s found on U.S. 19 in Pinellas County, splitting entire areas in half, and forcing many businesses to face a giant wall where the road elevates, Baker said.

Yet, the need for such a structure is at least a decade away, if not more, Wilson said. And that means the county can convince the FDOT to slow down a bit on the project.

“If we don’t need it for 15 to 20 years, then there is probably going to be a better option in the next few years,” he said.

Published Feb. 5, 2014

Next step toward elevated road: Public education

By

The biggest obstacle in the way of an elevated road connecting the east and west sides of Pasco County is public education.

At least that’s what Pasco County Commissioners stated last week just before signaling their support of the Florida Department of Transportation’s continued study into an unsolicited bid that would build upward on the State Road 54/56 corridor.

Commissioner Pat Mulieri says Pasco County officials should show this rendering when talking about the proposed elevated road. This concept would have elevated lanes high enough to provide a clear view across the road, and allow better local car and pedestrian traffic below. (Image courtesy of Pasco County Planning and Development)
Commissioner Pat Mulieri says Pasco County officials should show this rendering when talking about the proposed elevated road. This concept would have elevated lanes high enough to provide a clear view across the road, and allow better local car and pedestrian traffic below. (Image courtesy of Pasco County Planning and Development)

“I definitely don’t think the public understands what we are talking about,” Commissioners Kathryn Starkey said. “We need to go out to the community, get their input, and let them see what their options are. When I go to them, I see a lot of misunderstanding and misconception, and a lot of understandable objections. But they don’t know what we know. They don’t get to sit up here and see the traffic projections and understand what the alternatives are.”

International Infrastructure Partners Inc. has proposed building a 33-mile elevated toll road down the center of the State Road 54/56 corridor, similar to the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway in Hillsborough County, using private money to fund it. The ultimate decision on whether it happens lies with FDOT, but the state agency wanted the county’s OK before moving forward.

Richard Gehring, Pasco’s planning and development administrator, said one of the main misconceptions is that businesses and homes along the corridor would face giant walls, similar to what’s happened in the elevated portions of U.S. 19 in Pinellas County. However, a completely elevated road could have far less negative aesthetic impact than many realize.

“You could have view lines across the roadway,” Gehring said. “That condition could be enhanced by landscaping and night lighting to soften up the overall infrastructure.”

Gehring showed a rendering of what he thinks State Road 54 could look like from the ground level. The elevated road was about 20 feet high, but the supports were covered in topiary-like vegetation, and businesses across the road were quite visible.

“Have you reached out to the chambers to show them how this road could look?” Commissioner Pat Mulieri asked Gehring after seeing the images. “The elevated road has caused such an uproar since they think it would have this blank wall that would destroy businesses. But this is a totally different concept.”

But not all the commissioners were anxious to move forward with more studies of the elevated road. Commissioner Henry Wilson said he moves through traffic just fine.

“I spend very little time in congestion here in Pasco County,” he said. “The congestion is when I get into Hillsborough County. This is going to benefit the Pinellas and Hillsborough drivers more than it benefits our people, our citizens.”

Although Gehring demonstrated 17 other road options that were carefully considered instead of an elevated road — including the construction of a 20-lane surface highway through the middle of Pasco — both Wilson and Commissioner Ted Schrader felt there could be other alternatives outside of the corridor that could move traffic east and west.

That could include Ridge Road, which Schrader said might not have even been considered by FDOT since it is a county road and not a state one. Elevating that road and connecting it to Interstate 75 could be a possibility.

Gehring, however, said that would still only move traffic over the Suncoast Parkway, and would not connect the east and west sides of the county with an expressway option. And such an option will be needed within the next 30 years if the county doesn’t want to stunt its growth.

In the end, however, commissioners approved a resolution giving their support to more studies on a proposed elevated road unanimously.

The elevated road is still quite a ways away, if it ever happens. A member of Gehring’s team said ground could be broken within seven years at the earliest, although Schrader said it would be more like 10 years if everything goes as planned.

Smaller gas tax hike could return next year

By

Without new funding sources, roads in Pasco County could be in trouble. And while county officials have brought several options to the table, commissioners chose to revive one debate that created quite a ruckus last fall: the gas tax.

“I’ve heard enough from the citizens before that I am not going to support a gas tax,” said Commissioner Henry Wilson, who joined fellow commissioner Jack Mariano to defeat an earlier proposed 5-cent gas tax hike in September.

Moments later, however, Wilson softened his stance, saying he might consider a compromise that would bring a proposed increase to just 3 cents.

That could make a big difference in what is now a $5 million gap in the county’s capital transportation fund. A 3-cent increase could raise that much money, and cost drivers 6 cents a day, assuming gas stations passed that tax on to drivers.

However, to fund all of the county’s transportation needs beginning next year, Pasco would need to raise $8.5 million. And that’s where a new option can come into play — raising property taxes.

That option, mixed with a gas tax, had the commission buzzing last week. With a 3-cent gas tax increase, the county would only have to raise taxes 0.1905 mills, equal to an annual increase of less than $10 for a $100,000 home that claims $50,000 in exemptions.

Raising property taxes for road and bridge projects would affect homes in all parts of the county, including incorporated areas. But the county would not be required to share those revenues with the individual cities, like it would for other options.

Commissioners won’t have to decide on a new plan until next year, but giving county administrator Michele Baker and her staff some direction in which way they’re leaning could help with the planning process, Baker said.

“We have years of decisions to deal with, but going forward, we have very limited revenue, and we have to come up with a plan on moving forward,” she said.

By moving money intended to build new roads into accounts that would maintain existing roads, more than a dozen projects as part of an overall 15-year plan would be affected, officials said, totaling $151 million, with $55 million earmarked from gas tax revenue.

Projects like Bell Lake Road from U.S. 41 to Alpine Road would be pushed from 2015 to 2017. It also delays other projects like County Road 54 from State Road 54/56 to Progress Parkway, as well as Starkey Boulevard from River Crossing Boulevard to DeCubellis Road to the next decade.

Other projects would be moved off the schedule completely, like the third phase of Collier Parkway to Ehren Cutoff, as well as Twenty Mile Level Road from State Road 54 to Collier Parkway.

Commissioners did indicate they would likely reject other options brought to the table, including creating a new municipal service taxing unit and tolling options.

Another funding possibility could come in the form of a real estate transfer tax, a documentary stamp tax that could raise 45 cents for every $100 value when real estate is sold. The county would only have to tax 28 cents for every $100 value for the full $8.5 million. Such a move there, however, would require approval by the state legislature.