The Pasco County Mosquito Control District is in the planning stages of moving to a new and significantly larger headquarters and base of operations, according to Executive Director Adriane Rogers.
Those segments of the district have been located on a 10-acre site at 2308 Marathon Road in Odessa since 1987. The boundary has expanded twice since then and services have been provided to all of Pasco County since 2003, Rogers said.
The tremendous growth the county has experienced since 1987 is one of the reasons for the planned relocation to a 41.85-acre site on the west side of U.S. 41 just north of State Road 52 in central Pasco County, Rogers said. U.S. Census Bureau records indicate that Pasco County is one of the fastest growing counties in Florida.
“As the county is growing at an unprecedented rate, the district must grow our staff, fleet and technologies to keep up,” Rogers said. “A lot has changed at the district since 1987. We are busting at the seams.”
Nearly 50 people are employed at the district year-round and an additional 13 people work during the season when the greatest amount of mosquito control effort is required, according to Rogers.
There are only nine buildings at the current location in Odessa and those buildings are for various uses, including administration and laboratory, vehicle maintenance and repair, helicopter maintenance and storage, fleet storage, warehouse, and facilities maintenance.
As many as 14 buildings could be constructed at the new location that is north of the Talavera community, Rogers said.
The increased number of buildings will allow for ample fleet storage and buildings with diverse functions, such as administration or laboratory, to be in their own buildings with all assets related to that function under the same roof. This will increase the efficiency of the district’s operations, according to Rogers.
Plans call for all of the buildings constructed at the new location to be hardened structures designed to withstand hurricanes and other forms of inclement weather, Rogers said. This will protect all of the district’s assets.
“It’s vital for the district to be operational immediately following a storm event to reduce mosquito populations and decrease the potential for mosquito-borne disease transmission,” Rogers said. “Our number one goal is to protect public health.”
Only two of the buildings at the Odessa site — a warehouse and a hanger for a helicopter — are hardened to withstand strong winds, Rogers said.
Mosquito Control is seeking solicitations from general contractors so they may be prequalified before submitting bids to do work at the new location.
District leadership needs to know if potential bidders are able to construct the types of hardened structures and multi-use buildings that are planned for the new location. This means they must have prior experience in constructing such buildings, according to Rogers.
A site plan for the new location was submitted to Pasco County in December 2023. Permits to begin development have been under review since then by the county, Florida Department of Transportation, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, and other agencies, according to Rogers.
Another necessary reason to move is that personnel will be able to provide services throughout Pasco County in a more effective and efficient manner, Rogers said.
It currently takes up to 1 1/2 hours to reach service sites in Dade City, Lacoochee or Zephyrhills and up to another 1 1/2 hours to return back to the headquarters in Odessa, Rogers said. This means some of the employees are spending up to three hours of their workday just commuting back and forth to reach the places where their services are needed, Rogers said.
The new location for the proposed campus is more centrally located in the county. This will result in a significant reduction in travel to allow quicker access to East Pasco so the district will be able to provide the same rapid, quality customer service to residents in the entire county, according to Rogers.
Once the permits are granted and the district selects a general contractor, construction could take place over approximately one year. It is unknown at this time what the cost of construction will be and when the district will be able to relocate its headquarters to the new base of operations, Rogers said.
Published on August 28, 2024.
