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Canal Dredging Back On After Resolution Reversed

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 13, 2007

PORT RICHEY - Things finally were looking good for the city's dredging project.

After nearly a decade of costly studies and contentious, late-night meetings, city officials proclaimed two weeks ago they were clearing the first hurdle in the regulatory process.

They were nearing a breakthrough with state regulators, who were reviewing the city's application for a project to dredge miles of silt-clogged canals and other waterways.

Acceptance of the application was only the first step; but it was an important one.

Then the mysterious Dr. Wu appeared.

That's T.S. Wu, an environmental scientist with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's bureau of watershed management. He requested that the city perform tidal flow studies on three heavily used canals included in the multimillion-dollar project.

City officials hadn't dealt with Wu in previous meetings with DEP officials, and his involvement in the application process was viewed with fear and apprehension.

Adding to their concerns, LPA Group, the consulting firm hired by the city to negotiate with DEP officials, told them the studies could delay the project by a year or more.

They panicked.

On Aug. 28, the council approved a resolution authorizing LPA Group's project manager Mariben Anderson to remove canals 6, 11 and 13 from the dredging application, if it was determined that the requested tidal studies would further delay the permitting process.

Residents who live along those canals protested, saying the move was unfair.

As it turns out, however, the council's decision was based on misleading information.

Tuesday night, in back-to-back meetings, the Port Authority Board and council tried to sort through a tangled web of misinformation, incorrect deadlines, allegations of secret meetings between officials and residents and conflicting financial reports on the costs.

Council members rescinded the resolution on removing the canals after learning that, contrary to the consulting firm's estimates, the studies could be completed in weeks.

'LPA Group has misled the city,' Councilman Mark Hashim said, explaining that he had spoken with Wu about the studies. 'I think they need to be held accountable.'

The council also asked interim City Manager James Mathieu to commission the flow studies through the LPA Group and to explore hiring an outside lawyer to review the process.

Councilman Dale Massad apologized at the meeting for conveying the consulting firm's 'misleading recommendations' to the council before they approved the resolution.

'She Mariben Anderson totally misinformed me,' he said.

Anderson was not at the meeting and could not be reached for comment.

Port Authority Board member Mike Latini blasted the council for approving the resolution in the first place, saying the entire project had become mired in misleading information.

'There's an awful lot of misinformation,' he told council members.

Mayor Richard Rober questioned Latini about an impromptu meeting he held last week with about 30 residents to rally opposition to the council's decision to possibly remove the canals from the project. He called it inappropriate.

Board member Jim Carroll ladled criticism on the consulting firm.

'We have paid them about $500,000 in consulting fees in the past 24 months, and this consultant hasn't produced one permit,' he said. 'We might have to go to a lawyer.'

Residents, who attended both meetings Tuesday, echoed similar frustrations.

'How much money are we going to spend?' asked Bryan Roberts, who lives on Old Post Road, across from one of the three canals. 'This has been going on far too long.'

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.

If approved by DEP, the city plans to store the dredged materials at an old industrial site, where the sand will be filtered, dried and, they hope, eventually sold.

The permit process, which has dragged on for years as state regulators and Port Richey officials wrangled over the environmental impact of the project, is split into three parts.

One application would cover unclogging 26 canals. A second permit would cut a channel through seagrass beds between Brasher Park and the Pithlachascotee River. The third application would allow creation of a new waterway linking the river to Lake Deedra.

Supporters of the dredging say it 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 a project that benefits only a minority of residents who live along the canals.

Meanwhile, city officials said they are trying to resolve several final sticking points with the DEP ahead of an Oct. 24 deadline to resubmit the dredging permit applications.

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

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