Some Beacon Square residents say they're willing to pay $788.20 per home to have crumbling roads paved.
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET
Published October 6, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - The County Commission imposed a forced paving assessment Tuesday night on Beacon Square - and got applauded for it.
Most of the residents who attended the meeting said their deteriorating roads desperately needed to be repaved, and they would gladly pay for the work. The assessment for most folks comes out to $788.20 per home.
"It's the proper thing to do," said Ora McAlister, a retiree who describes Lighthouse Way as "one big pothole."
"This should have been done a long time ago."
The County Commission unanimously approved the repaving project for Beacon Square, a Holiday neighborhood with 94 roads and 3,400 lots. The vote was the latest in a series of forced paving assessments in older neighborhoods with crumbling roads.
About two-thirds of the Beacon Square homeowners who responded last winter voted against the $2.3-million paving assessment, but the commission has the power to do the project anyway.
Some residents blamed the "no" votes on landlords who don't want to pay for the improvements. But others said they simply can't afford the work.
"I'm (working) a minimum wage job," said Melody Cachetas, who works with children in foster care. "How much can you bleed me?"
Commissioners said homeowners can spread out their payments over five years, at 5 percent annual interest. And they repeated the argument used in previous forced paving assessments:
"It's cheaper to do it now as opposed to delaying any action, because it's not going to get any less expensive," Commissioner Ted Schrader said at the meeting at the West Pasco Government Center.
The road assessment wasn't the only topic addressed by commissioners Tuesday evening.
Companies get refunds
Commissioners agreed to give impact fee refunds to two new businesses, but they said they wanted to revise the formula to better reward companies that offer higher-paying jobs.
The county will refund $6,617 of the $7,089 in impact fees paid by Premier Security, a company that will initially employ 37 people at the West Pasco Industrial Park. Also, the county will refund $18,473 of the $30,787 in impact fees paid by Route 41 Manufacturing, a truss fabricator that will initially employ 17 people in central Pasco.
Impact fees are one-time taxes on new construction to pay for widening roads and adding other amenities for the growing population.
The refunds are based on a formula that gives more weight (75 percent) to the number of jobs created than the salary of those jobs (25 percent). Commissioners said they want to change to a 50-50 formula to give larger refunds to better-paying companies.
County seeks park grant
The county is applying for a $200,000 state grant to develop the Lake Lisa park on Regency Park Boulevard, just south of Embassy Boulevard. That grant, coupled with a $200,000 match from the county, would pay for picnic tables, a multipurpose court, a bike trail, a playground, a handball court and other amenities.
If the county receives the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program grant, the park would be developed within two years.
Bridget Hall Grumet covers Pasco County government. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is hall@sptimes.com
