Little lake, lot of attention

An important neighbor helps bring county money.

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published June 23, 2007

Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair's home, at left, sits on the east side of Noreast Lake. He says county projects fouled the water and the county should clean it up.
	[Ken Helle | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT Brian Blair was elected to the Hillsborough County Commission in November 2004. He describes himself as a fiscal conservative.

TAMPA - Compared to most Hillsborough County lakes, a secluded private lake called Noreast is pretty ordinary.

At a relatively tiny 8 acres, it ranks 166th in size. But while Noreast lacks many distinguishing physical features, it does boast one political attribute. A house on Noreast's eastern shore is home to Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair.

Since February 2005, a few months after Blair was elected, county work crews have spent more hours at Noreast than any of Hillsborough's 229 other lakes, according to records at the county's public works department.

Workers spent 218 hours maintaining, spraying and planting at Noreast under the watchful eye of Blair, who has repeatedly blamed the county for lake conditions he calls intolerable.

In January, Blair and other commissioners approved $985,000 of county sales tax money for a project intended to divert storm drainage around the lake. That project has since been scrapped, but a less expensive one to improve water quality is planned for Noreast and nearby lakes that flow into it.

Despite at least three reports contradicting Blair's assertion that a county flood control project polluted Noreast or that it and nearby lakes have water quality problems, memos and meeting transcripts show Blair actively pressed for money to be spent on his lake.

Public Works director Bob Gordon said Noreast didn't get preferential treatment but acknowledged that interaction between Blair and employees has been a "sensitive issue."

"They know we have a commissioner sitting on a lake," Gordon said. "He's made a lot of comments that the county was to blame. You'd have to be deaf and blind not to feel some pressure."

Blair said he did not coerce county staff. He said that when he discussed Noreast with employees, he asked them only to "please fix the problem."

In a county of 1.1-million, Blair shares his lake with about 25 property owners. Blair, who moved there in 1980 and whose house is worth about $326,000 according to property records, has not abstained from voting for Noreast improvements.

County Attorney Renee Lee said Blair asked her if he had a conflict voting on Noreast Lake. She said he didn't because the improvements benefit the entire neighborhood, not just Blair or his lake.

But some residents question Blair's advocacy for Noreast.

"He's kind of abusing his power a bit," said Christopher Gusweiler, who lives on a pond that connects to Noreast. "When we're done with this, are we going to go out and spend a million dollars on all of Hillsborough's other lakes?"

The attention and money spent on Noreast Lake comes as county departments are bracing for severe budget cuts, ones that Blair has demanded.

At a July 2006 meeting, the self-described fiscal conservative noted that, "Government can't get its hands on enough of your tax dollars to spend on their priorities, on their pork projects."

Blair said Noreast isn't pork because it poses health risks.

"I helped get the ball rolling for the neighborhood, as both a resident and a commissioner," he said. "You have dozens of homes on a lake that has been pristine for many years that all of a sudden was turned into a cesspool."

An oozing problem

Forest Hills, a neighborhood northwest of Fowler Avenue, is dotted with interconnected lakes. To combat flooding there, the county completed a drainage project in early 2004. It linked a series of lakes with pipes, funneling water through Noreast.

During this period, nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen at Noreast Lake reached record levels, producing a purple ooze that coated the lake's surface. The color was algae getting bleached by the sun.

Some residents blamed the flood project for the conditions. Gordon, of public works, said the county made a mistake when it pumped muck, much of it duck droppings, from a neighboring pond into Noreast. He said this likely contributed to lake conditions, but only temporarily.

At an April 2004 meeting, Blair complained to commissioners about persisting problems -- leeches, parasites, depleted wildlife and fish -- he said happened because of the drainage project.

Elected to the County Commission a few months later, Blair kept pressing for action.

On Feb. 2, 2005, Blair requested a report on the drainage project. After that, his lake received more attention from public works crews than any other in Hillsborough.

About the same time, the county began compiling evidence suggesting its drainage project wasn't at fault.

A March 2, 2005, report by public works stated Noreast Lake's condition was the result of its entire history, not the project. A Sept. 30, 2005, report by the Environmental Protection Commission nearly absolved the county, saying many sources of pollution could have tainted Noreast.

Dan Canfield, a professor at the University of Florida's Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, wrote reports last year and this year saying it was unclear whether the county damaged the lake, but it didn't matter because lakes in Forest Hills were functioning the way they were before the drainage project.

Noreast "is fine now," Canfield said this week.

He should know. He was hired by commissioners in July 2005 to consult with county staff and residents about what to do about Noreast and eight other lakes or ponds that flow into it. Commissioners later agreed to increase the amount spent on Canfield to $77,000.

Blair said he disagrees with Canfield's opinion. He said Noreast still suffers from high levels of bacteria that make his children sick if they swim in it.

"Dr. Canfield doesn't live in the area, " Blair said. "I've been there since 1980; it was beautiful, you could scuba dive on that lake, it was pristine."

Why would Canfield, a research professor of limnology who has studied more than 4,000 lakes in Florida, come to an incorrect conclusion?

"He was hired and paid by the county," Blair said.

If Blair questioned Canfield's objectivity, why did he approve hiring him?

"This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen a reporter talk about," Blair said.

Canfield defended his analysis.

"The county did not buy us," he said.

Records show that the county hired Canfield to work on only one other lake management plan besides Noreast and Forest Hills. That was for East Lake, a 100-acre lake with one of the highest concentrations of nutrients, which can choke a lake's oxygen supply.

Lakewatch, a statewide volunteer-driven monitoring program that Canfield started in 1986, classifies Noreast's water as "good." More than 100 county lakes have higher concentrations of nutrients than Noreast.

Seeking specific plan

As the reports rolled in, Blair continued to seek a county fix for Noreast. In a Sept. 27, 2005, memo, Gordon said the county was considering a number of projects to improve lakes in Forest Hills.

"Once we have had a chance to meet with Commissioner Blair, a specific plan of action will be forthcoming," the memo said. A memo three days later from the EPC also noted these projects would be presented to Blair and "a specific plan of action will be generated."

Gordon said that, of the options, Blair said he favored a plan to build a bypass to divert stormwater around Noreast Lake. But Gordon said his own staff didn't recommend it because it was costly and might degrade water in an adjacent pond.

Regardless, an official informed Blair four months later that the Noreast Lake Bypass project was highly ranked. Blair told him at a Feb. 15, 2006, meeting: "I'd appreciate it if you could expedite it as soon as possible."

Blair wondered at the meeting if the county could tap an EPC pollution fund to pay for the project. The next day, then-Commissioner Ronda Storms warned him not to skip the regular application process for that money.

"You don't want to get nicked on it," Storms said, according to the meeting transcript.

The EPC has no record that Blair or anyone advocating the project applied for money.

By January, the project didn't need it. Commissioners budgeted nearly $1-million in sales taxes for it.

Blair denies telling the county he preferred the bypass project. He said others in the neighborhood pushed for it, not him.

Jim Wilson, president of the North Forest Hills Neighborhood Association, said Noreast Lake and his lake to the north, Cedar, still suffer from poor conditions caused by the 2004 county drainage effort. He lauded Blair.

"We wouldn't be as far along without Brian," Wilson said. "Brian set aside that money. We would probably have to wait another five years without Brian."

Gusweiler, Blair's neighbor, said the commissioner approached him before a Nov.6 neighborhood meeting and asked him to support the bypass.

"The only person I heard advocate for the bypass was Brian Blair and an old lady living next to him," Gusweiler said. "I think it's ridiculous."

At the meeting, which the county videotaped, Blair told his neighbors he wanted all lakes treated equally, but did note Noreast's troubles.

"Please realize that Noreast Lake is the recipient of everything, it's the basin lake of everyone's problems now," Blair said.

Blair left early, and later, many of his neighbors blasted the project, saying it benefited only Blair's lake.

"You have 25 homes on Noreast Lake, and but for the fact that Commissioner Brian Blair lives on Noreast Lake, it wouldn't even be addressed," said Elizabeth Shepherd, who lives on nearby Pine Lake. "If I came to you and asked you to do something about Pine Lake, I would be turned down without a blink of an eye."

In January, a report from Canfield concluded the bypass wasn't necessary.

"Noreast wasn't showing problems, so maybe we shouldn't spend a million dollars on that," Canfield said this week.

Gordon said the bypass has been scrapped, a decision Blair said he urged because of the high cost. A new project will focus more on other lakes in the area, including installing filters and repairing a pipe, Gordon said.

Blair said the new project will cost only a fraction of the bypass project. Gordon, however, said the county still plans to spend $985, 000 on lakes in Forest Hills.

The project manager, Robert Wisemen, said of the original $985,000, about $73,000 in consulting fees has already been spent. Another $600,000 is still planned specifically for the project. He said the remaining money won't be spent unless it's needed.

Canfield said $985, 000 is too much.

"I don't think you have that much of a problem," he said.

On April 30, county staff showed neighbors the new project. Some residents complained it still concentrates too much on Blair's lake.

"Noreast, according to Brian Blair, isn't suitable, up to par," said Mike Behl, who lives east of Noreast. "I walk my dogs in that neighborhood. I see ducks, fish, turtles, people swimming.

"I'd like an independent source to come in and take a look at it," Behl said. "Otherwise, it's the good ol' boys looking after the good ol' boys. It's my tax dollars going to waste."

Michael Van Sickler can be reached at mvansickler@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3402.

Key dates

2004

Jan. 20: Hillsborough County finishes a $613, 447 drainage project to reduce Forest Hills flooding.

Spring: Noreast Lake has two major algae blooms.

April 21: Brian Blair tells county commissioners the drainage project is to blame for a host of problems at Noreast Lake, where he lives.

Nov. 2: Blair wins County Commission seat.

2005

Feb. 2: After a resident complains about Forest Hills lakes at a meeting, Blair makes his first public request for action on Noreast Lake by asking for a county report.

March 2: The public works report finds no evidence linking the problems on Noreast Lake to the drainage project.

July 20: Commissioners approve a $60, 000 contract with University of Florida to study the Forest Hills lakes.

Sept. 12: EPC executive director Rick Garrity meets with Blair, who asks if the EPC can take action against public works regarding Noreast Lake.

Sept. 30: The EPC report concludes it cannot take action against public works because it's not clear the county is at fault for the condition of the lakes.

2006

Feb. 15: Commissioners unanimously increase the UF contract to $77, 345. During the meeting, Blair says he would appreciate it if staff could "expedite ... as soon as possible" a Noreast Lake Bypass project to improve the water quality. He asks if the county could pay for it through the EPC's pollution recovery fund.

July: A UF report says it's unclear the county caused the algae problems. It also says Noreast's water quality since 2004 has been good.

Sept. 7: County pays URS, a consultant, $26, 544 toward the Noreast bypass project.

2007

Jan. 4: Commissioners approve $985, 000 in sales taxes for the bypass project.

January: The UF final report says the cause of algae blooms cannot be determined. It recommends holding off on the Noreast bypass project.

April 10: County pays URS an additional $46, 894 for the revised Forest Hills Lakes project.

[Last modified June 22, 2007, 23:00:04]