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County clears way for schools at Wiregrass Ranch

Commissioners agree to let construction crews cut through Meadow Pointe.

By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET
Published January 26, 2005

The Pasco County School District got a crucial green light Tuesday to start building the middle school and high school at Wiregrass Ranch, staving off the threat of double sessions for nearly a half-dozen central Pasco schools.

The green light came from the County Commission, which agreed to let construction crews cut through Meadow Pointe to reach the school site. Crews will take Meadow Pointe Boulevard to Beardsley Drive, then take Mansfield Boulevard to the Wiregrass property.

Last year, the county required the school district to build its own access road to the site so that the dump trucks and earth movers would not add to the congestion and deterioration of neighborhood streets.

But school officials said that wasn't realistic. All possible routes would cross extensive wetlands, so it would have been difficult to get the permits to build a road, school administrator Ray Gadd told commissioners at the historic courthouse in Dade City.

The process of permitting and building a road also would have delayed construction of the schools, expected to take 18 months. The district also plans to build a new elementary school in the area.

Officials feared that if the new middle and high schools weren't ready by fall 2006, double sessions might be needed at Sand Pine Elementary School; Pine View and Weightman middle schools; and Land O'Lakes and Wesley Chapel high schools, Gadd said.

"It's a no-brainer," Commissioner Jack Mariano said Tuesday of the school district's request to use Meadow Pointe roads instead. "I think we need to do it and do it quickly."

Parents and neighbors flooded the county with more than 150 e-mails supporting the plan so that construction on the schools can begin, Commission Chairwoman Pat Mulieri said. The Longleaf Homeowners Association also endorsed the plan.

The school district must repair any damage to the roads from construction crews. Even so, some residents opposed the idea.

"We are concerned with not only the vastly increased traffic, but also the dangerous speeding that occurs from both construction vehicles and private cars of contractors and subcontractors driving to their work site," Wayne Busbice, vice chairman of the Meadow Pointe II Community Development District board of directors, wrote in a letter to commissioners.

Other residents said they were willing to put up with some extra traffic to ensure that the new schools are built. Sand Pine Elementary has twice as many students as it was designed for, and neighboring schools are a couple of hundred students over capacity.

"It's certainly not the most ideal situation," Meadow Pointe I resident Dennis Smith said, referring to the road plan. "But it's the situation that makes the most sense."

In other news Tuesday:

Car dealership ordinance proposed. Commissioners got their first glimpse of a proposed ordinance that aims to make better neighbors out of car dealerships.

The measure would ban outdoor intercom systems; prevent test drives on residential streets; require all outdoor lights (aside from security lighting) to be shut off at 9 p.m.; and require a 75-foot-wide strip of green space between dealerships and neighborhoods, among other requirements.

County attorneys drafted the ordinance in response to the flurry of car dealerships proposed in Wesley Chapel and Land O'Lakes. It will go through public hearings March 8 and 22 before the commission votes on it.

Utilities director confirmed. Bruce Kennedy has been promoted to assistant county administrator for utilities services, overseeing the county's water and sewer system, garbage incinerator and street lighting programs.

Kennedy previously ran the water and sewer system as the county's utilities director. He replaces Doug Bramlett, who retired in August. His starting salary will be $99,286.

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 bhall@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 26, 2005, 00:13:15]