Public comment traffic water system and invocation prayer
What the county recorded
This item is not from the published agenda
It is a stretch of the recording that this archive identified as a separate matter — a call to order, a recess, or something taken up that the agenda does not list. There is no official title, no staff recommendation and no disposition, because the county never recorded one. Everything below is inferred.
The source document
The county’s agenda for Board of County Commissioners, Jan 25, 2022
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
The county’s minutes for Board of County Commissioners, Jan 25, 2022
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
What was said
Machine transcription of 11m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 64% of 44 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
Here. Now is the time for public comment. Citizens are given an opportunity to comment on any current or future agenda item coming before the board and on any other business under the board's purview. Today's public comment will be handled as follows. First we will take public comment from those who are here in person. Then we will take public comment from those who have pre-registered for a WebEx link and are currently in the queue. We request that when you address the board, comments
are not directed personally against the commissioner or team member, but rather directed at the issues. This provides mutual respect between board members and the public. After stating your name and address for the clerk, a three minute timer will be activated. After two minutes, a single beep will indicate you have one minute left. When your time is up, two beeps will sound, and you should close your comments. WebEx participants will be disconnected automatically when their time is up. Mr.
Clark, do we have anyone signed up for public comment?
Our first person signed up is Joseph Lapardo.
Good morning.
Morning Commissioners. Morning Administrator. My name is Joseph Lapardo. I live at [address removed]. That's right up the street here. Uh it's my first time speaking so I'm a little nervous. Uh deep
breath. Right.
You want me to start the timer? Oh you got it. No, we start
that on the next
one. So my issue is gonna be surprise, traffic issue in my neighborhood. Um I've lived at this address since 1998, bought the house in May of ninety-eight, so I've been there almost 24 years. I'm a captain paramedic with Pasco County Fire Rescue. I've been with them for 20 years, stationed at Station 14 at River Ridge. Um My story is when we moved into the house. Trouble Creek didn't go through, it was just woods, so it was a dead end, no traffic. two thousand they
opened up Trouble Creek from Rowan to Little, traffic started. Um They basically the topic is they use it as a shortcut from both ways from trouble to fifty four and from rowing to fifty-four. And I did a little research and Google Maps is shown it has a shortcut all the time. No matter where you go in the area, it's giving it the best fastest time. which is wrong because the main road should be the ones used, not ten mile an hour corner where I live. Um I did a little camera study. I got six
hundred to a thousand cars a day going by the house. Which I believe is a little bit more than a little bit. Uh excessive. Um my question would be what is the correct amount of traffic for this area where we live in? It's been Getting a little worse. since the COVID started and people have been buying in the area and we get in small influx of people. Um I really don't want to pay for repaving the corner lot I live on because I think other people that are using it as a shortcut should probably have to chip in because they're using it, trucks are using it. Everybody's using
it except for the residents. Because they live everywhere else and they can go out different ways. Uh we have kids in the neighborhood. I've seen many instances where cars are whipping through and kids almost get hit.
Uh when it's in session, cars try to cut around it. There's kids everywhere. It's an elementary school. A lot of kids walk to that school and they use this area as uh I means to get to school and then of course you got traffic trying to go and back and forth from work. Um What I would like is a little help, maybe get a traffic study. Um some of my suggestions would be a three-way stop sign at Cypress Lakes and Sawgrass. If we can get the shortcuts taken out of the Google Maps somehow. I don't know how. Uh more signage
in the area. I understand we can't block the roads off and Make it isolated. Um so actually I'm just asking for a little help. Maybe you can guide me into somewhere, talk to traffic or set it up so we can have a traffic study, find out exactly how many cars are going through the area, how fast they're going. That's all I got. Thank you.
Thank you very much. It's certainly a no-through trucks. Well, um staff will meet with you. Okay.
Next.
Uh next, Pastor Troy Pederson.
Good morning, Commissioner, staff. I'm Pastor Troy Peterson, uh Light of the World Tabernacle, 8114 Leo Kidd Road, Port Ritchie, Florida. I'm coming on behalf of uh Somebody Cares, Pasco and Hernando. I know some of you all are familiar with us. And I'm here to encourage you guys to uh have us head up the invocation prayer be at the beginning of the commissioner's meeting. I just want to share a couple of brief scriptures
that kind of nullify that, the importance of praying in Jesus' name. John 16, 23, Jesus Christ is encouraging the people. He says, Most assuredly I say to you, whatever you ask, the Father in my name, the name of Jesus Christ, he will give it unto you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. name. And so we see that the only way to the Father is through the Son. And although the invocation is praying to the Almighty God, right? Jesus
is that God. And so I believe wholeheartedly that if we acknowledge Jesus Christ in our commissioner meetings, then he is going to bless you all and give you guys the wisdom to make the decisions that will make Pasco really great. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, the Apostle Paul says, I exhort you first. In all the supplications. Now, supplications are specific, heartfelt petitions and needs. We have a lot of them here in Pasco County. Some of them are going to be addressed
today. And I believe wholeheartedly that if we pray in Jesus' name before the meetings, Jesus is going to give us the answers and the wisdom to address them specific needs. He says, prayers and intercessions. Giving thanks made for all men, for kings, that's you guys, kings and queens, of uh who are all in authority, that we may lead piet quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and reverence for for who desires all men to be saved and to
come to the knowledge of that truth, that truth being Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is to the Son.
Okay, and he he's interceding on our behalf. And when you acknowledge Him, He is gonna lift you up and raise you up and give you the wisdom. And uh Matthew 6, and when you pray, don't use vain repetitions as the Heath Heathen do, for they think they will be heard by their very many words. And so not not to condemn the invoc invocation or anything like that. And many of you know that somebody cares is very right. reputable group of pastors that does a
lot for this community. What we're willing to do is come in and be chaplains and walk alongside with you guys. Thank you for your time.
Very much
I you know I apologize, uh a little problem with the writing, Pastor Danny and it looks like Pasco.
Yeah, Pasco.
Pasco?
Yeah the so my name's Danny Fields and I'm with uh somebody cares Pasco. Uh my address is on file. So to follow up with what Troy Peterson was talking about, so I would like to just go ahead and pray for you and uh and for the people here for all the decisions that are gonna be made.
Like you.
Uh yes, sir. I'm sorry. I apologize. We needed your address for the record, please.
Okay. So yes, I live at [address removed]. The zip area is [address removed].
Thank
you. Okay. So uh Father, we do come to you and we do acknowledge you, the great creator, and we do stand for in God we trust as Americans, as citizens. Lord, I thank you for the work that you have them do, that you put them in this position to be able to make decisions. With the faith-based church, government, and the communities with the stuff that's going to be addressed today. So, Lord, I just ask you to bless each one of them spiritually, mentally, physically, financially,
with love, peace, and joy. Lord, I ask you to knit their hearts together in the precious name of Jesus and listen to the petitions of the people and give them wisdom. They've already asked it for wisdom to be able to. Make decisions to better this county. to better the state of Florida, to hear the the needs of the people and come up with solutions to be able to uh Have the wisdom to go forth to make things flow like with the homeless Lord.
So we lift that up that they'll have wisdom and strategies together, uh listening to the people and the and the things that are going on in our community so that way they can address these issues with uh roads, uh Lord, uh traffic and Building roads and and new construction and water and sewer and all these things are gonna be coming up today, Lord, that has been addressed and they've they've made decisions on these and made proving. But we thank you that
you're gonna continue to give 'em wisdom and that uh Like Troy said, we've been lifting them up in prayer with uh other pastors. So we come here to bless you. We come here to thank you for your service and and you are listening to the people and uh and you're gonna come up with the solution so they can see what you're doing for them and for us. And so we just thank you, Father, that your will be done in the precious name of Jesus. So bless them and bless all those that
uh serve here and those uh families that are here. And again, I just want to thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen. Sorry we're having some technical issues up here, but thank you very much. Um just keep an eye on us and we'll go like this if it goes out again. Okay.
Uh Madam Chairman registered for the online virtual b however Our indication is she's not there. Elizabeth Gray. Is she by chance in the room now?
Okay, um is there anyone here in the room that would like to address the board? Please line up.
If we could have your name and address for the record, please, sir.
Sure. My name is Robert Evans. I live at [address removed]. Over there in Gulf Harbor's area. So I'm a new Pasco County resident, been up here about a year, lived in Oldsmar since nineteen eighty-nine. And I understand uh you guys are voting or looking at taking over the water system. So Uh down in Oldsmar I had reclaimed water. I had trash included. Never spent over seventy bucks a month. Here. It's hundreds of dollars. It's sometimes bigger than my electric bill. I think it's outrageous. I