PHCC pushing to seal land deal

The school's board members will hear recommendations, then decide where to build a new campus.

By JENNIFER FARRELL

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 12, 2000

The search is nearly over.

After more than two years of scouring Spring Hill to find a spot for a new campus, trustees of Pasco-Hernando Community College are expected to make a decision Thursday. At a meeting set for 7 p.m. in the board room at 10230 Ridge Road in New Port Richey, the board is scheduled to select a property after representatives from a Coral Gables engineering firm outline their recommendations on the four sites under consideration.

In May, Harper Partners ranked the properties, with a 49.9-acre plot off the Suncoast Parkway coming in first. The firm cited high visibility, a central location and a reasonable price as reasons the previously rejected site at Powell Road and the parkway topped the list.

In its recommendation, the firm selected a 50-acre County Line Road site that nearly was purchased in 1998 as its No. 2 pick. Third was a 50-acre Hernando County Airport Business Park site, which has been heavily lobbied for by county and state officials. A 53.6-acre site off U.S. 19 overlooking Hunter's Lake came in fourth.

PHCC President Bob Judson said the preliminary recommendations could change, however, depending on the results of a more intensive review done by the firm during the past month. Among the issues considered, Judson said, were cost, location, traffic patterns, projected growth, environmental factors and access.

James Yant, chairman of the Board of Trustees, said he still favors the County Line Road site. Yant, who was a board member when the search began in 1998, acknowledged he could be swayed by what the engineers tell him Thursday.

"If the consulting firm comes up with something that would lead us in a different direction, I could go in the direction of the experts," he said.

Yant said the purchase price of the County Line Road site had increased significantly during the past two years, going from $600,000 last year to $850,000 now.

The Suncoast parcel has an asking price of $750,000, while the Commercial Way and Airport Industrial Park sites are listed at $850,000 and $450,000, respectively.

Once the board agrees on a site, Judson said the staff will begin negotiating a contract in hopes of completing the deal in time for the trustees' next meeting in September.

Judson said it will be 8 to 10 years before the college starts building, meaning the campus likely would be open in 10 to 11 years, he said.

College officials appear eager to move forward.

"This has occupied absolutely too much of my time over the past two years," Judson said. "Let's execute a contract and leave this one to rest."

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