Pasco County’s Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) — which oversees transportation planning for the county — is continuing to weigh in on the development of a regional transportation board for Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
The Pasco MPO is a nine-member board, consisting of the five-member Pasco County Commission and one elected official each from the cities of Dade City, Zephyrhills, New Port Richey and Port Richey.
Under a proposed regional MPO, the elected board for Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties could range from five to 25 members — that membership would be divvied up based on population.
Pasco’s MPO voted during its Feb. 8 meeting to recommend a preference for the regional board to be made up of nine to 15 members, or as a second choice, for the board to have 17 to 25 members.
They rejected the idea of the board being made up of five to seven members, saying that size would be too small.
On another issue, the Pasco MPO said they think that representatives from the Tampa Aviation Authority and the Tampa Port Authority should be counted as part of Hillsborough’s membership on the regional board.
Pasco MPO board members Jack Mariano and Kathryn Starkey said Pasco’s population limits its membership to 19% of the new board, so they don’t want Pasco to have any additional reductions.
The composition of the new regional board and all of the other details remain to be worked out, but the recent Pasco discussion is necessary to continue the planning efforts, said Tania Gorman, executive director of the Pasco MPO.
Starkey, a staunch advocate for a regional approach to transportation planning, said Pasco and Pinellas counties already work well together and that Hillsborough appears to be warming toward combining forces with the other counties.
Future discussions will focus on other issues, such as how to involve the municipalities in transportation planning and decisions.
One possibility would be to have rotating board membership. Another would be to have weighted seats. Subcommittees to the main board and non-voting membership are other options.
“We want to be sure that all our cities have a voice,” Starkey said.
Gorman said there are various ways to ensure representation.
“Don’t be dismayed by us being smaller,” she said, referring to Pasco’s relative size to Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
David Gwynn, secretary for District 7 of the Florida Department of Transportation, previously has said that creating a regional transportation planning board would put the region in a stronger posture when competing for federal funds.
It is expected to take a couple of years more to iron out all of the details.
Starkey is enthused about the prospects.
“I’m encouraged — big money coming our way,” she told her Pasco MPO colleagues.
Additional discussion was expected at a Feb. 16 meeting of the TMA, which is a subcommittee of the Sun Coast Transportation Alliance. Its membership is made up of local representatives of the Pasco Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), the Hillsborough County Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) and Forward Pinellas, which is the lead planning organization for transportation and land use in Pinellas County.
That meeting occurred after The Laker/Lutz News’ deadline, which was completed early last week because of the President’s Day holiday.
Published February 21, 2024
