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Port Board's Patience Is Ebbing

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 27, 2007

PORT RICHEY - The Port Authority Board wants the city to fire the private consultants advising officials on the multimillion-dollar dredging project because of a loss of confidence in the firm's ability to complete the permitting process.

Among the five recommendations the three board members made to the city council Tuesday night is that officials begin seeking a replacement for the LPA Group.

Board members also said they want biweekly progress updates from LPA, or a possible successor, and a requirement that a representative from the consulting firm attend port authority meetings.

'We feel that we've been left out of the loop,' board chairman Roland Brier said.

Council members tabled the recommendations for discussion at their next meeting.

The port authority's discontent is part of increasing frustration expressed by city officials and residents who would be affected by the dredging project over delays in obtaining the necessary permits.

In the past two years, the city has paid LPA of Tampa more than $475,000 to get dredging permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

At issue Tuesday night was whom was to blame for the most recent setback.

DEP officials told city officials last month they must conduct tidal flow studies on three canals included in the dredging project.

Days later, the council passed a resolution authorizing LPA Group's project manager, Mariben Andersen, to remove canals 6, 11 and 13 from the dredging application, if it were determined that the requested tidal studies would further delay the permitting process.

A week after that, the council rescinded the resolution after learning that, contrary to the consulting firm's estimates, the flushing studies could be completed in a few days.

'A Compromising Position'

Since then, Mark Hashim told fellow council members Tuesday he has uncovered a paper trail of missteps by the consultants that led to the decision to consider removing the canals.

'They LPA Group placed the city in a compromising position,' Hashim said.

Andersen told the council that a lack of communication between her firm and DEP officials led to the confusion.

'It was never our intent to put you in a precarious situation,' she said. 'I had no idea how long it was going to take, and we did not recommend to you to drop those channels.'

After hearing that explanation, Port Authority Board member Mike Latini said Wednesday, it didn't assuage his concerns.

'They put on a dog and pony show,' he said. 'We're not hearing anything different.'

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.

But 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.

Some Question Project's Worthiness

The lengthy process was handled originally by the Port Authority Board and its advisory committee. The responsibility later was passed to Tampa Bay Engineering, which the city replaced with LPA Group about two years ago.

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 a project that benefits only the residents who live along the canals.

On Tuesday, council members approved spending more than $9,500 on flushing studies for the three canals in question. The studies are expected to be finished by an Oct. 24 deadline to resubmit the three-part dredging application to state regulators.

Port Richey's waterways have been degraded by pollution and years of neglect.

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

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