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Pasco, Schools Turn To Engineers For Compromise

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: December 11, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - Engineers will seek to construct a compromise on who pays for road improvements around newly built schools, Pasco county and School District officials decided today.

After months of negotiations, county government and School District remain in a stalemate over details of an agreement settling the who-pays question. Time is running out to submit the plan to state regulators by a Feb. 1 deadline.

"If we don't make a deal there's going to be repercussions on both sides," Commissioner Ann Hildebrand warned today.

So consulting engineers working for the county and School District will work on the final plan while officials take a back seat.

County Administrator John Gallagher and Ray Gadd, assistant schools superintendent for support services, will try to set up a meeting by early next week between the consultants – Volkert & Associates for the schools and Tindale-Oliver & Associates for the county. The consultants will recommend how to divvy up tasks.

Gulf High School is an example of good traffic flow because there are numerous exits on several streets, officials said. By contrast, Deer Park Elementary School is cited as an example of poor traffic flow since access is limited to a few points along Trouble Creek Road.

The current law is unclear, Dennis Alfonso, an attorney for the School District, said today. The district has been picking up more than its fair share for road improvements such as turn lanes even though the law does not require it to do so.

New, concurrency regulations have created confusion as well. The goal is to make sure money is available to build infrastructure, such as roads and sewers, before schools are built.

"It's a trust issue," Gadd remarked.

The county can spell it out more clearly that the schools will focus on access improvements while the county concentrates on road widening or other capacity projects, Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein noted.

The county is recommending a quarter-mile zone around new school sites that would be the responsibility of the School District. School leaders hesitate to accept it since they view it as a "slippery slope" on costs, Alfonso said.

The county agreed to let school traffic back up onto local streets if necessary, Goldstein noted. "We'll take some heat on that," Goldstein remarked about any protests from homeowners.

A thorny issue remains over when to require traffic studies. The county wants such studies done before the School District decides to buy land for a school.

The county and district, however, are coordinating better these days, Gallagher noted.

Gadd provided a tentative list of schools to be built during the next 10 years and possible sites. Before Gadd developed a plan, the county "didn't have a clue" where new schools might be constructed, Gallagher said.

Goldstein sent a list of county roads in poor condition to district officials and suggested they avoid buying land along the roads for school sites.

School Board member Kathryn Starkey recalled the School District once walked away from buying a site on Seven Springs Boulevard because of potential traffic problems, and chose a site on Mitchell Boulevard instead.

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