The Laker/Lutz News

Tank Hill

Upgrades set for Tank Hill water facility

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Construction is slated to begin on the multimillion-dollar Tank Hill water facility renovation project.

The Dade City Commission on Sept. 10 awarded a contract to Clearwater-based KAT Construction & Materials Inc., in the amount of $3,325,580 for the improvement project.

The figure marked the lowest submitted proposal among six bids, which were gathered back in July. The proposal was also considered acceptable by Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) criteria.

The scope of the large-scale project generally calls for a new elevated storage tank and water supply well upgrades, plus miscellaneous site work, and electrical and instrumentation modifications:

  • Installation of a new 500-foot deep water supply well
  • Installation of a new deep well vertical turbine pump with associated piping, appurtenances and well pad
  • Two new booster pumps and hydropneumatics tank
  • New sodium hypochlorite feed system

The contractor has 540 calendar days, or roughly a year-and-a-half, from the start of construction to complete the upgrades.

Improvements are being funded through a construction loan agreement; debt service will be included in each annual budget.

The project’s timeline was slightly delayed from months ago, as on-site pre-bidding meetings had to be rescheduled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published September 23, 2020

Dade City budget is decreasing in 2020-2021

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The Dade City Commission has adopted the city’s tentative budget for next year, and it represents an 8.2% decrease from this year’s budget.

Commissioners had the first reading of the ordinance and first hearing on the proposed $17,710,000 budget in a virtual meeting on Sept. 10. Commissioners gave first-round approval and will have a second reading and final public hearing before the new budget takes effect on Oct. 1.

Dade City Commissioners on Sept. 10 approved a $17,710,000 budget for fiscal year 2020-2021, based on a 7.14 millage rate. It represents a decrease of about $1.58 million, or 8.2% from current budget.

The 2020-2021 budget represents a decrease of $1,576,935 from this year’s budget.

The proposed budget is based on an approved 7.14 millage rate, accessed on the taxable value of property within the city.

Here’s a breakdown:

  • Capital outlay and debt service represents about 44% of the budget, anticipated to total $7,825,733. Major capital projects include construction of the Dade Oaks retention pond; Howard Avenue stormwater improvements; installation of the Tank Hill well, storage tower and booster station; Morningside Drive design, acquisition and construction project; construction of the visitors information center; and other various utility, sidewalk and road improvements projects.
  • Personnel costs represent about a third of the budget, totaling $5,807,341 — and an increase of $144,221 from the current budget. That’s a result of funding four new positions, increased health care and workers compensation premiums, 3% cost of living adjustments, years of service increases, reorganization within the police department, increased wages and benefits through the negotiation of the police union contract, and associated retirement.
  • Operating costs make up about 23% of the budget, at $4,076,925. Changes include funding for a website revision, conversion from a part-time IT consultant to a full-time IT manager (staff position), projected increases in solid waste collections, and additions to a utility renewal and replacement fund.

The city organized six budget workshops throughout July, August and September to hammer out the fine details, with the help of new interim finance director Andrew Laflin.

Newly elected Commissioner Knute Nathe said he was “very proud” the town was able to pass the budget without having to raise taxes on residents — maintaining a millage rate that’s been in place the past several years.

Washington Heights residents raise community concerns
Several Washington Heights residents weighed in during the public comment period of the virtual meeting — expressing their disappointment with city leadership, asserting their local neighborhood and subdivision has been neglected in funding and resources.

The Washington Heights community is generally bordered by Gaddis Avenue and Whitehouse Avenue, and includes 10th, 11th and 12th streets, among other areas.

More than a handful of residents spoke up, complaining of flooded streets and stormwater deficiencies; poor road and sidewalk conditions; and, a general lack of code enforcement presence to address trash, debris and parking issues of a slew of nearby rental properties.

Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez (Courtesy of City of Dade City)

Harriett Craig, who’s lived on 10th Street since 1979, called out commissioners for appropriating “millions and millions of dollars” toward park improvements and other projects in other parts of the city, but overlooking various infrastructure issues of her local neighborhood.

“The city commissioners are here to serve the entire city, not certain parts of it,” Craig said. “I, as a resident of the City of Dade City, feel like our voices are mute when it comes down to expressing what our needs are in the city,”

She continued her point: “If Howard Avenue can be upgraded so homes won’t be flooded, why can’t 10th Street get the same treatment? I don’t understand it.”

Anita Blake, who lives in Oakview Circle adjacent to Washington Heights, also levied harsh words to commissioners: “We can’t even get the road paved, we can’t get the ditches paved. At some point, it’s like, why are we even paying taxes?”

Eunice Penix, a former longtime commissioner who lives on Wilson Street, also shared her dismay with the community seemingly being brushed aside: “I’m kind of upset. It seems to me we have selective code enforcement. …We shouldn’t have to call the city every time something needs to be done when we have workers all over the city riding and looking; they should look to see what’s wrong with the grounds.”

In response to all that, Dade City Manager Leslie Porter told residents she’ll collaborate with department heads to inspect the area and formulate an action plan in coming weeks.

“We care about all the communities in the city,” said Porter, “and it’s good for us to know when there is a problem, if there’s somewhere where we may be falling short, so I do thank you all for being here and letting us know what your concerns are.”

Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez assured Washington Heights will be met with a detailed response and action from city staff, saying she is “very, very disturbed” by residents feeling neglected.

“This is embarrassing, and it should not be the case,” Hernandez said. “It’s our town, everyone pays the same taxes and should be treated the same, so we expect a plan.”

In other city business and happenings:

• Dade City Clerk Angelia Guy has been selected to serve on the Florida League of Cities’ legislative policy committee

• A neighborhood community cleanup is scheduled for Sept. 19 at 8 a.m., at Naomi Jones Park, 38122 Martin Luther King Blvd. Volunteers can register at KeepPascoBeautiful.org/coastal-cleanup

• The Mickens Field concession stand/restrooms building is progressing, as the 672-square-foot structure is vertical and bearing a roof. The $89,750 project, at 14318 Canal St., is on track to be complete by the end of October.

Published September 16, 2020

Dade City considering sidewalk cleanup program

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The Dade City Commission is considering a sidewalk pressure washing program to address the downtown’s main corridors — as part of a concentrated effort to provide a cleaner community appearance to attract visitors to the town.

The city already has strived to beautify the downtown of late, with recent improvements to the public parking areas on Eighth Street, including tree trimming, mulching of planted areas, and debris removal.

Now, city leaders are looking to pressure wash sidewalk areas on both sides of Seventh Street, between Church Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Meridian Avenue, between Eighth Street and Third Street. Work would encompass concrete curbs, driveways, and both public and private sidewalk areas.

Commissioners on May 26 provided general consensus to review three third-party quotes for pressure washing services at a future meeting. Received bids ranging from $2,800 to $6,000 to $7,290 for a one-time deep cleaning. Commissioners also are requesting additional information from the companies, such as signing off on hold harmless insurance requirements.

If approved, a sidewalk cleaning project would be funded out of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA ).

Dade City Manager Leslie Porter explained the program would be similar to that of New Port Richey, which has a regular sidewalk cleaning maintenance program as part of a downtown revitalization initiative.

Commissioners agreed some type of downtown sidewalk cleaning is long overdue, and perhaps should be done as regularly as annually or biannually.

Commissioner Jim Shive couldn’t recall the last time the sidewalks had been pressure washed, or if ever.

Some type of cleaning program would be “a small investment that will definitely make the downtown shine,” he said.

“It would definitely make the walking and pedestrian areas downtown pop and make it look a lot cleaner,” Shive said, adding it makes sense to contract for such services. The city’s public works crew doesn’t have the equipment needed to perform efficiently, he explained.

Shive also observed that it’s an opportune time to undertake such a project because of lower foot traffic downtown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s time to do some things that we normally couldn’t get done in the downtown area,” Shive said.

Mayor Camille Hernandez said a sidewalk cleaning would “just give our city a refresh” and “make people feel good about their city and have some pride.

“I think this is a small investment that can make a huge difference as we continue to clean up our town,” the mayor said. She favors pressure washing sidewalks at least once a year, if done at “a reasonable cost.”

The city’s practice in the past has been to expect property owners to clean and maintain private property, including sidewalks, curbs and drives, unless part of a code enforcement action. If a property owner has not maintained their property according to city code, and the city remedies any violations, a lien is placed on the property to recoup the costs associated with the cleaning of the property.

Other updates from Dade City Manager Leslie Porter:

  • Staff is in the process of ranking bid responses for the construction of a new concession stand and public restroom building at Moore-Mickens Field, 14318 Canal St. The city has budgeted $150,000 for the project. The old structure was demolished on May 22 by city public works.
  • Staff is applying for a technical planning grant from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), to help fund an update to the city’s comprehensive plan.
  • Staff is developing a budget workshop calendar for fiscal year 2020-21, with an expectation that several workshops will be required once new city commissioners come aboard following the June 30 municipal election. “We’ll really need to hit the ground running when we have our new commission installed, so I anticipate there’ll be quite a few budget workshops as we work through the process this year,” Porter said.
  • Bidding is expected to open July 9 for the multimillion dollar Tank Hill wastewater improvement project. The scheduled on-site pre-bidding meeting had previously been delayed, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Published June 03, 2020

Dade City projects progressing, others delayed

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As coronavirus disease-2019  (COVID-19) affects how municipalities and government entities operate, the City of Dade City is striving to keep day-to-day duties relatively intact, while following various safety procedures and precautions.

Not unlike its municipal neighbor Zephyrhills, which is 9 miles down the road, Dade City has gone about minimizing the number of personnel at City Hall or out in the field — incorporating rotating shift schedules and allowing others to work remotely. The city, for example, is limiting the number of staffers inside City Hall to no more than six to 10 at a particular time, Dade City Manager Leslie Porter told The Laker/Lutz News.

Dade City Manager Leslie Porter (File)

Porter acknowledged the pandemic has presented some logistical challenges, but added “the majority of us have been able to be fully functional, whether we’re remote or in the office.”

She continued: “We’ve been doing our best to keep business moving forward.”

So, while municipal offices on Meridian Avenue are emptier than usual, several projects and initiatives are progressing, albeit with slight delays, Porter said.

For instance, the city recently was able to put two construction projects out to bid:

  • A new concession stand and public restroom building at Moore-Mickens Field, 14318 Canal St. The city has budgeted $150,000 for the project.
  • A visitor’s information center building at the Hardy Trail trailhead, near property that later will be developed into a multi-use splash park/bike hub. The Pasco County Tourist Development Council allocated $250,000 for the information center.

Moreover, the $2.3 million downtown stormwater improvement project is nearly completed and is on track to meet its summer deadline, Porter said.

The scope of the project generally takes underground piping through multiple downtown streets into an existing conveyance system into a reconfigured Irwin Pond, just past U.S. 98 and the CSX railway.

All downtown roadway construction work is done, while “final pieces” of the pond component are underway, Porter said.

There were “a few delays” because of COVID-19, she said.

Other city plans are facing longer postponements, however.

The multimillion dollar Tank Hill wastewater facility improvement project has been put on hold, until on-site pre-bidding meetings can be scheduled, something necessary because it’s a larger-scale project, Porter said.

Also, the splash park/bike hub project is facing indefinite delays. A public draft conceptual presentation was originally scheduled in mid-March, but canceled due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus outbreak, and has not yet been rescheduled.

A visioning meeting would have allowed residents to provide input and ideas on wanted amenities for the new downtown park, located on a 2.23-acre parcel that borders the Hardy Trail on Church Avenue.

Other updates from the city manager:

  • City Hall remains closed to the public, so utility billing payments are being accepted online, over the phone, or through drop box. The city is absorbing the cost of credit card transaction fees for utility bills.
  • Playgrounds and public restrooms are closed, but city parks and trails remain open with the exception of Naomi Jones Park at 38122 Martin Luther King Blvd., due to challenges associated with users not obeying social distancing protocols.
  • Dade City Commissioners Eunice Penix and Nicole Deese Newlon, who are not seeking re-election, have agreed to remain in their legislative roles up until the rescheduling of the Pasco municipal elections. The elections have been delayed per an executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis
  • The Dade City Police Department is temporarily pulling back on some of the in-person, community policing efforts, to minimize face-to-face contact in the wake of COVID-19.
  • The city is releasing a quarterly newsletter on its website and becoming more active on social media, to better engage citizens on various happenings and initiatives.

City to begin virtual meetings
Dade City will start holding virtual city commission meetings by teleconference, the first coming on April 28 at 5:30 p.m. The virtual format will continue “as long as necessary to keep business going and keep everybody safe,” Porter said.

Porter added the city also is prepared to hold other noteworthy meetings virtually — such as planning commission board — should stay-at-home orders extend indefinitely. “We don’t want to hold up progress,” she said.

The city had to cancel multiple in-person commission and planning board meetings in March and April due to COVID-19, and needed additional time to explore how to best go about a virtual meeting setup.

Persons wishing to participate in virtual meetings:

  • Call +1 (517) 317-3122
  • Enter access code 342-617-085(Mute your phone unless you wish to speak during public comments)

Comments about items on the agenda will be solicited and heard during the meeting by telephone or communications media technology.

General public comment (limited to 3 minutes) unrelated to an item on the agenda should be e-mailed no later than 60 minutes before the start of the meeting to . If received in a timely manner, the mayor or city staff will read the public comment at the meeting.

For more information on the setup, call (352) 523-5052, or visit DadeCityFl.com.

Published April 29, 2020

Mayor delivers ‘State of Dade City’ address

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A newly passed budget and some corresponding reorganization in city hall was a forefront topic for Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez in her annual “State of the City” address at The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce October breakfast meeting, at AdventHealth Dade City.

Dade City Commissioners last month passed a $19.3 million budget by 4-1 vote.

The 2019-2020 budget is based upon a 7.14 millage rate and represents a 17% increase ($2.8 million) from last fiscal year ($16.4 million).

Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez covered a lot of talking points during her ‘State of the City’ address. (Kevin Weiss)

The budget covers 83 full-time staffers, including several newly funded positions — community and economic development director, associate planner, GIS analyst, another building inspector, and others.

Addressing a roomful of chamber members, Hernandez said this year’s budgetary process “was one of the most difficult for me, as a city commissioner, as a mayor.”

“It was tough, guys,” Hernandez said. “We’re heading in the right direction, but we had to make some tough choices for not only the city and the services, but also position us in a great place to move forward and to all of those people that are coming in, all those transportation (issues), all those businesses, to be able to accomplish that.

“It wasn’t unanimous, but I think the majority of the commission agreed that we had to prepare ourselves for challenges and opportunities moving forward, and how are we going to make Dade City the best it can be.”

With that, the mayor noted the city last year received 658 building permits for private construction and now has over 4,000 residential unit entitlements (either under construction or review).

That underscores the necessity, she said, for the city to create a new community and economic development department that encompasses community redevelopment, current and long-range planning, online permitting and customer service, and building and safety services.

“We have a bunch of homes that are on the books, and they’re going to start to be built sometime next year,” the mayor said. “There’s a lot of work being done by staff, so this is the reason we needed to reorganize, we needed to make those tough decisions to hire some staff to get those folks help, to continue to move us forward.”

In addition to the budget as a whole, Hernandez offered updates on various capital improvements projects.

She noted that paving has begun on the second phase of the Hardy Trail northern extension, from Church Avenue to Lock Street, and is expected to be complete around next spring. The extension is part of a larger trail network planned for the U.S. 301 corridor extending from south of Zephyrhills to north of Dade City. It ultimately will extend to the Withlacoochee State Trail trailhead.

“We’re really excited about that,” Hernandez said. “We’ll be getting into some healthy initiatives, hopefully working with the banks and hospitals, and other organizations.”

Hernandez also mentioned improvements are “finally” underway to the city’s downtown stormwater management system, which is slated to be finished by sometime next summer.

Hernandez quipped: “For those that have businesses in town, for those of you that love your shoes like me, you won’t have to take them off anymore and go into 6 inches of water on any stormy afternoon.”

Other forthcoming projects include Tank Hill water facility renovations (finalizing request for proposal documents) and Dade Oaks stormwater improvements (finalizing funding and bid documents); the city also has allocated $200,000 toward paving or repaving city maintained roads. “There’s a lot of dirt moving around. I always say that’s progress, and I kind of like having the dirt picked out,” Hernandez said.

The city’s demographic profile was another one of the mayor’s talking points.

Hernandez said of the city’s 7,240 residents, the median age is 35.5 years old, with a growing number of first-time householders, newer marriages and families.

The average household size is 2.51, median household income is about $40,000 and median home value is about $145,000.

That in mind, the mayor stressed the need for the municipality to “maintain youthful interests in style and fun, with lots of things to do.”

She noted several community events — namely the Dade City Heritage & Cultural Museum’s Masquerade Ball, Monarch Butterfly Festival, Scarecrow Festival and Dade City Symphony — all happened within a weekend of each other.

“We are a fun place with fun things happening, and we are going to continue to do that as we move forward,” Hernandez said. “We’re not a town that’s going to roll up.”

Elsewhere, the mayor made it a point to commend the Dade City Police Department’s ongoing efforts to boost its community outreach and advocacy programs, especially with local youth.

Some of the agency’s regular initiatives include Shop with a Cop, Cop-sicle Days, Back to School Bash, Explorer Scouts, Special Olympics, and Habitat for Humanity, among others.

Hernandez put it like this: “It’s not only about having these guys show up and protecting them or leading someone off in handcuffs, but it’s showing them that they are an integral part of our community. They are human, they go home to a family, and you couldn’t imagine the change in some of these children when they realize, ‘Hey, these aren’t bad guys, these are actually good guys that are here to help me.’”

She added: “You don’t know how wonderful of a group of guys we have in our community.”

Published October 23, 2019