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Commission Again Delays Reservoir Repair Outlay

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 28, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County commissioners on Tuesday delayed for another week a decision on spending more than $4 million on repairs to their troubled reservoir under construction off Parkway Boulevard in Land O' Lakes.

The delay, on the heels of a three-week delay granted last month, will allow the reservoir builders to consult with Coastal Caissons, an Odessa-based company that specializes in foundations.

On the advice of County Attorney Robert Sumner, commissioners allocated $35,000 to hire attorney Seth Mills to review the reservoir project for improprieties - an action that Sumner said does not portend future lawsuits by the county.

Commissioner Michael Cox invited Coastal Caissons President Charles Puccini to address the commission on the reservoir, which sits atop land riddled with potential sinkholes. The reservoir will store reclaimed water used for irrigating yards and golf courses.

The contractor building the reservoir has pumped thousands of yards of grout - a mix of concrete and sand - into underground cavities to stabilize the ground.

Commissioners on Tuesday extended the completion date on the reservoir to May, adding 60 days because of the problems on the site. The repairs could push the cost of the reservoir to nearly $23 million.

Puccini criticized that approach as insufficient to solve the problem permanently. He agreed to examine the current plans for fixing the reservoir.

Commissioners' discussion with Puccini drew an audible sigh from County Administrator John Gallagher, who suggested enlisting Puccini's help could complicate the project and invite a lawsuit from the original contractors.

"We're behind the eight ball already," Gallagher said. "How many more eight balls do we want to line up?"
Underground cavities were found on the site as contractors began work on the 18-foot-tall earthen dam on the reservoir's southeast side. Sinkholes also opened up during work on the northwest side of the future lake, consultant Les Bromwell said.

County commissioners worry that the cavities beneath the reservoir could lead to a catastrophe should one open beneath the dam containing the 15-foot-deep lake.
Bromwell has recommended that the county add a manmade liner to the bottom of the reservoir to keep water from seeping from the lake to create sinkholes in the lake bottom.

He also recommended that reservoir builders change the shape of the lake slightly by building an additional berm across the southeast corner. That would avoid the sinkhole-prone corner.

Leaving the original dam in place would create a backup containment area should the new berm fail, Bromwell said.

Commissioners urged Bromwell and other consultants to guarantee that the lake's earthen berms would never fail - something the engineers would not do.

"A sinkhole may never form," said Larry Merrin of Qore Property Sciences, one of the companies building the lake. "We're designing the redundancy in there in case it does form."

In other business Tuesday, county commissioners:

•Ordered Luis Ramon of Holiday to demolish the home he owns at 3015 Rock Valley Drive. County officials issued a demolition order for the fire-damaged home in 2005, but delayed it so Ramon could sort out the repairs. As of this week, those repairs had not been done to the county's satisfaction. Despite a last-ditch appeal from Ramon, commissioners ruled his time was up.

•Approved the construction of nearly three miles of sidewalks in the Beacon Woods neighborhood in Hudson. The sidewalks will link to a similar project done by Wal-Mart as part of its redevelopment of a site at a corner of U.S. 19 and Beacon Woods Drive. Wal-Mart provided just more than $160,000 for the new sidewalks in Beacon Woods. The county provided a matching amount to do the project.

•Approved the temporary closure of Dunstable Drive in the Concord Station development in Land O' Lakes so county crews can install a sewer line and manhole to serve the community's clubhouse. The work should take less than 30 days, county officials said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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