Miscellaneous business reports from Commissioner Oakley

1:58:48All right, we've got ten minutes, so we can go to miscellaneous business. Commissioner Oakley? Oh

1:58:54we are I don't know if I can do it in ten minutes, but I'll try. Alright, let's see. We got pictures on here.

1:59:08We had a meeting out on uh uh Bellamy Boulevard about the correction of a lot of uh safety issues and all on Bellamy and and all of us know how much traffic and all is caused from fifty-two on the Bellamy and people driving through from Hernando County through Pasco to go into Tampa or or other places. And they use that as a pass-through. It came to our attention about a year and a half ago we met on this this project and

1:59:39we addressed all the safety issues passing and uh the roadway nearer with uh shoulders having issues and so we ended up having a meeting on uh May twenty first, twenty twenty five, uh Pete Hannigan and uh Panos was there along with some other staff members. Let me tell you something, it's been a year and a half since we first met to come back and say we're fixing to start this

2:00:09in twenty twenty seven. This project will start in action. Also, a person there was the guy that's going to do the construction for Bellamy. We're going to widen the shoulders. We're widening, I think it's roughly about two feet on both sides. And uh it'd be a lot of improvements and some of the Passing zones that are there now will go away because it's gonna be more safe without without having that there. So we

2:00:40had this meeting in Ron Muck's barn right there on Bellamy Boulevard. And I can tell you, staff really reacted very well to come as quickly as they did within a year and a half to say we're gonna do this in twenty twenty seven, which is Our year is October 26th, so we're like a year away from it. You're a little over a year from that starting. And at the same time this is starting right before that The widening

2:01:11of 52 will also start from Bellamy all the way to Ergin Cutoff. And so there's a lot of construction gonna be happening out there, a lot of things we need. I mean we have other developments coming, so it's very, very important this construction of these roadways get done right away. because of all the development and more traffic coming. So this is a a good way, a good example where we're going to get these roads in here right before we get some of the developments, which

2:01:41is going to have the extra traffic, which you need to pay attention to.

2:01:47You mind if I make a comment to that? Yes. And I've got uh Jason was looking at the road. I think the road could be done better and it makes sense to do that road in one star. We made him a

2:01:55s we made Chase a star out.

2:01:58Um Are there improvements gonna be made at the intersection at fifty two as well? Okay. Thank you.

2:02:04Yeah, we know there's those improvements that fit two at the intersection. Okay. And then the wide see the widening of fifty two is gonna start at the same time. So it's all hitting at the same time.

2:02:17And the f gentleman that was doing the construction for the Bellamy uh John Kilgore, he was there and spoke to the actual work that's gonna be done. And that work is starting at fifty-two, it goes all the way to the county line of Hernando County. Awesome. And then I heard Uh someone spoke to me Do what? Hang hang on for a second, it's not done yet. Somebody uh reached out to us said that Hernando County was looking at improving their site.

2:02:49You wanna speak? Mm-hmm.

2:02:51Yeah, too. Sorry, I have to go in and I'm the I'm the speaker, first speaker at this presentation. Um my concern with the intersection of Bellamy and 52 is that the Orange Belt Trail is coming right near there and possibly there. We don't know where it's gonna cross for sure yet. And so if you don't have a mixed use, trail on either side of building how how is that gonna work? So I don't really know if the county has really looked looked at that intersection as well because

2:03:24Um it's undetermined how we'll get across 52 in that area and Someone's gotta look at it.

2:03:32Well, part of that issue is we're we're doing the whiting and the shoulder uh repair and all on Bellamy. in the same right away that it has now and there's no room for for a big wide trail. And that trail goes past there on down across uh I think goes underneath Interstate on O Pasco Road.

2:03:57There will be other connections with development that's going to come there. And years years ago there was a big conversation about the underpass having a material going on.

2:04:06We're talking about the underpass to I-75. where this trail I go through. Uh fan.

2:04:16Okay. Okay.

2:04:25We'll get you an answer.

2:04:28Okay. Uh next thing was the fire station. And we had a ribbon cutting. Great new fire station. They don't have a pole for the firefighters to drop down to the floor. They they have elevators, it's so high they have elevators and stairs. So very good presentation there and and the fact that We all welcome the better service we're gonna get in those areas when those stations open

2:04:58up. So it's a good project. Then I went and spoke to uh the class 2504 graduation ceremony for the firefighter class. And uh a lot of nice young men that and women that are coming into our fire department that really are joining a very elite group of uh Brotherhood and Sisterhood in the fire department. Look forward to more and more of that. Then we had the uh went

2:05:28to the May twenty ninth, went to the ribbon cutting of a of a lab where they check this is not where they go in and uh clear veins and things like this uh takes care of the electrical part of the heart. So Dr. Ahmad, he's in that one picture he's to the uh to my right, but as you're looking at the picture on the left, he's the new doctor heading up that division

2:05:58for Advent Health there in Zephyrhills. Yeah. So let me go next. What do we got here? Oh this is the uh WREC Technical College graduation. Which I didn't realize we even had that and it's not in our county, this is in Citrus County. And they brought the graduation here and they had five individuals for detention. And they're very

2:06:28well prepared and ready to go. Very outstanding young young men that are going to take over in the detention part of our or detention center. So it was a very good sentiment salmon. Okay. Then went out to the RV, RV area at Lake Ola Road next to the interstate. They're really coming together.

2:06:59It actually is going to end up, I think it's three tiers. And there's a hotel element as part of the RV and all that, which offers also uh extended living for people that come in into the area. And it's very near Interstate 75 at uh exit 293 I believe. which is also my exit there on 75. So they'll have some restaurants and and a lot of activity there. They'll have I think they'll have canoeing

2:07:30and things like that on the lake. So it's it's going to be a very nice project. So um And that finishes up the pictures, but then Uh today I heard a lot about um talking about rural area, equestrian horses, things of this nature. Well people that are talking about those kind of things, Warren would come to the northeast Pasco or in east Pasco

2:08:00County. And we're very rural and I'm working very hard to to keep it rural and and have a very rural outlook on on the northeast rural area and from Blanton north. And some areas to the south here, between here and and Zephyrhills will be continue to be rural. But um We can't make Land Owners. Sale to people and lower their price. I mean it's up

2:08:30to them to determine what they're gonna get for their land. But I offered to a to a group on Tilbury Road at one time, a few years back. Uh they didn't accept my vision for very rural and equestrian uh rodeo arena and things of this nature and a place where you could you could actually ride horses, camp, go to the green swap and go back. That was my vision. But the property owner didn't want to sell to that vision. He wanted three and a half units an acre, which I told him no.

2:09:02And just lately I've had other people that are doing other developments in around the west of Chapel area and all. They came out to Blanton Road near the intersection in a very rural area and they wanted to put two and a half units to an acre. And I told him no. So I'm I'm trying to keep it uh very rural and very open to the peoples that we can have. When we get through of I don't know when that'll be, I won't be around. When they get through developing all of Pasco

2:09:32County, there's at least a third of the county. that will be open space. That will never be having all these uh forty and fifty foot lots and things of that nature. We're gonna keep it very rural in that area. So I keep telling 'em that, but I'll just keep telling us I'm gone. So but uh and that that's all I have today.

2:09:58No, you're doing great sir. Thank you. And I was I know it's tough to balance all that, so I appreciate what you're doing. And like I said, Marion Connelly are doing a great job up there, but we can't make people do what they want to unless they want to do it with the business. Can't

2:10:08force it. I mean they sell their land, they ought they they can determine what they want to do with their land. Okay. It's just they might have to do it somewhere else because We're not gonna allow that to happen. We're gonna keep it rule.