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DOT, company at odds over road
By CHASE SQUIRES
© St. Petersburg Times, DADE CITY -- A difference of a few yards has put a Wesley Chapel manufacturer and the state Department of Transportation miles apart. Pasco County newcomer Pac-Med Inc. ran afoul of state transportation officials this past summer in a dispute over the company's new 100,000-square-foot manufacturing plant at the Tampa North Aero Park in Wesley Chapel. The plant anchors one of the newest industrial parks in the county, one that was to offer upscale facilities, including high-tech, fiber-optic links, to new industry. Pac-Med bought the land in 1999 and opened last year. While the company insists that the Federal Aviation Administration granted preliminary approvals -- required because of the airport location -- the state complained that a loading dock truck access encroached on runway right of way in two places, one by 9 feet, the other by 13 feet. The state requires clear zones extending 125 feet from the center of the airport runway. After nine months of wrangling, state officials in April announced they would reject the construction plan. On Monday, the agency asked a judge to close the access road. No hearing date had been set by Tuesday afternoon on the matter. State transportation officials said in their request, filed in circuit court, that allowing trucks to continue using the driveway "creates a hazardous condition that could result in a catastrophic accident." Pac-Med, which operates a medical packing and shipping operation under the name Soule Co. at the airport, has resisted the state's complaints, according to a series of letters between the company and the agency that were included in DOT's injunction request. Pac-Med lawyer Andrew O'Malley wrote to state transportation officials in January, claiming the FAA approved the plan when it initially was submitted. Now the facility is built and operating, and any complaints should have been made earlier, he wrote. If DOT is unhappy with the driveway, Pac-Med shouldn't be forced to pay for changes now, O'Malley wrote. If the state agency forces the company to close its driveway, the new plant could be forced to close, and that could cause the company to default on county-issued industrial bonds, O'Malley's letter states. Pasco County Budget Director Mike Nurrenbrock said Tuesday there are fiscal guarantees that would protect Pasco from being saddled with the $6-million in industrial bonds approved by the county, even if the worst should happen. O'Malley and company president Jerry Flatt were not available for comment Tuesday. DOT lawyer Bruce Conroy said Tuesday his agency still intends to reject the driveway, as submitted, at an administrative hearing by summer's end. The agency maintains that the driveway is unsafe and plans to move ahead with its request that a judge order the road closed. Pac-Med, the parent company of Soule Co., isn't just a tenant at the airport industrial park, it's also the landlord. The company owns the 145-acre site, with room for nine more manufacturing firms. According to Pasco Economic Development Council figures, Soule employs 47 people at the site. Flatt told the St. Petersburg Times earlier that his company might hire up to 100 more people in coming years.
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