Palma Ceia Pipe Plan Stirs Concern

A plan to replace a water pipeline along MacDill Avenue has some business owners worried.

With a tough economic climate and businesses struggling, the Palma Ceia Business and Design District hosted the city's Utility Capital Improvement Projects staff at its March 10 meeting.

"I don't know about this, if they start to disrupt the traffic," said Marc De Waele, who said business has been slow since he opened Art Symphony Galleria, 2714 S. MacDill Ave., five months ago. "But if we need the pipe, we need the pipe."

"We're still in the very exploratory phases of this project," engineer Niel Postlethwait said. He said the staff is designing the project and hopes to present a budget proposal to the Tampa City Council by October. A rough estimate has construction beginning that month and possibly ending about July 2010.

Worries about parking and construction during the holidays were met with promises to look at easing parking restrictions.

"We'll do our best to minimize the impact during that time," Postlethwait said, explaining one side of MacDill Avenue will remain open, and three blocks at a time will be under construction to allow access to affected businesses.

The pipeline improvement project is three-fold.

The first project is installation of a 12-mile drinking-water pipeline that will run from the David L. Tippin Water Treatment Facility in northeast Tampa to the Bay to Bay Boulevard area; roughly from North A Street west to New Jersey Avenue; and west on Platt Street to MacDill Avenue, where it will run south to San Carlos Street, Esperanza Avenue and Empedrado Street.

The $55 million project is funded through a fee paid by builders and developers, said India Williams, project spokeswoman.

Aging pipes, service interruption and low water pressure were reasons for the project, Williams said.

Along with the new pipeline, two South Tampa projects will replace 4.5 miles of existing distribution lines within Palma Ceia and 1.25 miles of pipeline in the Bay to Bay area to fully utilize the new drinking water pipeline.

Money for the distribution line replacements is available because of a water utility rate increase approved in 2007.

Despite the disruption, business owners hope shoppers will find their way to Palma Ceia.

Owners are working to get distinctive neighborhood signs for the district, and De Waele, a sculptor, has offered to create public works of art to enhance the area's sense of identity.

FOR INFORMATION

For information on the Palma Ceia Business and Design District, call Jennifer Davidson at (813) 293-3823, e-mail jennifer@i2i-creative.com or go to www.palmaceiadistrict .com.