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Council Will Begin Search To Replace Consultant

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 11, 2007

PORT RICHEY - City council members will seek to replace the private consulting firm that has been advising them on a multimillion-dollar dredging project.

That decision, recommended by the city's port authority board, means the city will begin seeking bids from firms to replace the embattled LPA Group.

Councilman Mark Hashim blames the Tampa-based consultants for setbacks in negotiations with the state Department of Environmental Protection for dredging permits.

'The bottom line is that we were misled by the LPA Group,' he said at Tuesday night's council meeting. 'They sent the city into a tailspin. That didn't need to happen.'

Until a replacement is found, however, the city will keep working with LPA Group.

'We've gotta hang with what we've got,' Councilman Dale Massad said.

Council members on Tuesday also approved several other recommendations from the port authority, including a request for biweekly progress updates from LPA, or its successor, and a provision that a representative from the consulting firm attend city meetings.

City officials and residents who would be affected by the dredging project have become increasingly frustrated with LPA Group and with delays in obtaining the permits.

In the past two years, the city has paid LPA more than $475,000 to get dredging permits from the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Port authority board member Mike Latini applauded the council's decision to find a new consultant.

'You don't settle for what you've got if what you've got isn't doing the job,' he said.

The project calls for dredging more than 400,000 cubic yards of mud and silt, enough to cover 10 acres with a 15-foot-high mound, from miles of canals and other waterways.

The permitting process has dragged on for more than a decade as state regulators and Port Richey officials have wrangled over the environmental impact of the project.

Supporters say the dredging will make the waterways healthier and boost property values. Critics say the price tag - estimated at more than $15 million - is too high to justify work that benefits only residents along the canals.

On Tuesday, the council also voted to retain the services of Fowler White Boggs Banker, a Tampa law firm that specializes in negotiations with state officials on environmental projects.

Massad, who proposed hiring the lawyers, called it a smart move.

'They can do more in five minutes on the phone than we can do collectively,' he said.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

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