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PHCC Campus Plan In Jeopardy Over Location Dispute

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: February 26, 2009

WESLEY CHAPEL - Pasco-Hernando Community College risks losing $58 million in state funding for a Wesley Chapel campus because of a dispute with the owners of Wiregrass Ranch about where to put a satellite location.

College officials have scheduled a three-way discussion March 13 in Dade City with county officials and the Porter family to resolve the impasse.

The clock is ticking for PHCC officials to use the funding allocated under the state's Public Education Construction Outlay program, or PECO. The program gives schools nearly three years to begin spending allocated funding before taking it back for redistribution.

PECO funding comes from a state bond issue repaid by a tax on utility receipts. The program finances construction projects for colleges and universities across the state.

PHCC got its first two installments of PECO funding earmarked for a Wesley Chapel campus last year and this year. That's more than $10 million waiting to be spent.

Given the state's current economic situation, it's important to spend the money soon - creating jobs in the process - before the money is lost to another school, said state Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.

"There are other campuses with buildings that are ready to be built," Weatherford said. "If we've got $20 million going unspent, someone's going to start asking questions."

College officials say they need only to secure a site to begin work.

"We're ready to start planning today," said Ken Burdzinski, PHCC's vice president for finance and administration.

Burdzinski estimated design for the new satellite campus would take a year, with another 18 months to finish construction on the first phase of the 100,000-square-foot project.

School officials worry they could lose their funding if they don't produce a contract for a site on Wiregrass Ranch soon. Losing the money would force PHCC to reapply for already scarce funding.

"At this time, there are inadequate PECO funds to serve the entire educational community," Burdzinski said. "And right now the financial situation's not that good. We don't want to be in the back of the queue."

As part of a plan for developing a 5,000-acre homestead, the Porter family agreed to provide land for a future community college campus. The location of that campus has become an issue of contention among the family, the school and the county.

The Porter family has offered 50 acres near the Wiregrass High School complex off State Road 56 and Mansfield Boulevard. That offer, which includes 10 acres donated by the Porters, requires the county to surrender 42 acres promised to them for a regional park - something County Administrator John Gallagher has said he's unwilling to do.

School officials prefer a site in the southwest corner of the ranch, near the Shops at Wiregrass mall and the hospital campus planned by Adventist Health and University Community Health.

That location would give PHCC students, many of whom are pursuing health care jobs, easy access to medical facilities for training. It would also put students within easy reach of jobs at the nearby mall, Burdzinski said.

"From an instruction perspective and a program perspective, we would be able to serve those locations with a lot of work force training," Burdzinski said.

After talking with PHCC officials about putting the school near the hospital and mall, the Porter family changed its offer back to the site near the high school, according to e-mail messages from Porter family officials.

Porter family officials could not be reached for comment.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

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