$5,000 later, no news to report

Officials defend a study that confirms Port Richey's dredging company wasn't the best.

By CAMILLE C. SPENCER, Times Staff Writer
Published January 24, 2008

PORT RICHEY - City Council got a report this week saying the consulting firm hired to spearhead Port Richey's dredging project wasn't the best around, but it didn't do anything wrong in its stalled effort to rid 30 canals of muck and silt.

The findings of that report, which cost the city $5,000, didn't surprise anyone.

Still, the evaluation was worthwhile, said council member Dale Massad, who recommended that the Fowler White Boggs Banker law firm do the evaluation.

"I think what Fowler and White said was that they the LPA Group did an adequate job," he said. "If they said they didn't perform well, we would have a reason to be angry. I don't think $5,000 is a lot of money. I think they gave us an honest evaluation."

But council member Mark Hashim, the lone vote against hiring the law firm a few months ago to do the report, disagrees.

"It (the evaluation) was a waste of our money," Hashim said Wednesday. "We didn't need their assistance. All they (the law firm) did was rehash history. We already knew they (the LPA Group) weren't best-suited for the job."

Officials have grown frustrated as the city spent five years and about $457,000 toward the dredging effort but has yet to get a single permit,

The three-page report, compiled by attorney Ron H. Noble after he spoke with the state Department of Environmental Protection and the LPA Group, says the law firm has "not identified any glaring errors or omissions in connection with the LPA Group's work for the City of Port Richey."

It also says that while the LPA Group is "certainly not the highest qualified consulting firm in the Tampa Bay area to handle a complicated municipal dredging project," it is "qualified to provide these services in a timely and cost-effective manner."

The report landed in the council members' hands at a crucial time.

In October, the City Council voted 5-0 to find a backup firm to work on the project while the LPA Group continued the work it had started.

A five-member subcommittee was formed to interview consulting companies that would replace or work along with the LPA Group. The city is trying to get three permits for the project.

The subcommittee - members of the city's Port Authority Board - plan to meet Tuesday and recommend three consulting firms to the council at the next meeting.

Mayor Richard Rober said he would like the LPA Group to proceed with obtaining the city's largest permit, for 26 canals - that project is closer to the permitting phase than the other four canals - and to hire someone else to work on the smaller portion of the project.

But Rober said the law firm's report was important because it gave city officials a chance to see where they stood with the LPA Group.

"I appreciated the work," Rober said. "People argue that you spend a lot of money to do that, and others say, at least you know where you stand."

City Council hired the LPA Group about two years ago, said former council member Phyllis Grae.

She said former City Manager Jerry Calhoun chose the LPA Group based on its credentials. Grae said she hadn't heard of any controversy over the firm's work until recently.

"It wasn't until lately that because of the disappointment that things are not proceeding the way we would like them to, that's when all this has come into place," Grae said.

Hashim said he's bothered by the snail's pace at which the project is moving.

"We've spent half a million dollars," he said, "and we've gotten nowhere."

Camille C. Spencer can be reached at cspencer@sptimes.com or (727) 869-6229.

[Last modified January 23, 2008, 21:24:05]