public comment on Green Key flooding and coastal oak tree
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, Aug 19, 2025
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
The county’s minutes for Board of County Commissioners, Aug 19, 2025
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
What was said
Machine transcription of 29m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 56% of 108 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
During this process, that there's multiple entities, uh, F DOT, City of Newport Ritchie, Pasco County, and private owners manage the Green Key Road area, leading to longstand unresolved issues which might support arguments for judicial jiu-jitsu. There's obviously a disconnect between the multiple entities on various issues. Frequent flooding on Green Key Road and surrounding properties require intervention. Elevation changes
at Pleasantville Mobile Home Park cause water accumulation. Additionally, drainage north of Green Key US nineteen shopping center is obstructed by debris from land clearing, diverting runoff onto the road which lacks a stormwater system. A senior department official responded quickly to the issue, scheduling a follow-up meeting on the July 21st at 8 a.m. Uh to discuss potential solutions, including redirecting
water of US 19 to stormwater drainage system. During that meeting on the 21st of July. Uh the New Port Riche Utility Department announced ongoing development on the Green Key Ten Year Stormwater Plan. Indicates the plans uh plan scope would incorporate and address flooding issues affecting the west side of US nineteen. The Stormwater Master Plan update for Pasco County appears to include projects targeting the
west side of US nineteen, those through sp those specific project names for that area are not explicitly detailed in the provided information. The current drainage system is causing property flooding, even small rain events leaving properties inundated for days. Th this situation is described as unattainable and necessitates immediate action. Residents acknowledge the challenge that stormw management faces, but the
concern is the current water runoff infrastructure cannot even handle small rain events. Okay, uh thanks.
Uh I've just got one more uh
paragraph.
Yeah, just one more paragraph. Okay. We realize that it will take a collective effort from all stakeholders to find a realistic solution to these uh problems in the Green Key area. Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay.
Alan Rose.
Your address please for the record?
Yes, good morning. Alan Rose, [address removed]. I've been coming to you for years about our issues of our coastal issues and today I just want to refresh things. Uh it's what we want to bring forward is really strong from the hurricane experiences we've had recently. We need to bring in Coastal Barrier Island. We need to, whether you want to engage federal, state, we have there's available funding from the feds at $2 billion. The state has approximately $150 million annually designated
for our coastal areas. We can address this. And what I'm recommending is seven barrier islands. Anklet Island and the set set sandbar needs some sub-sea structure reworked out there so it gathers. Uh and grows further north than from Derney Key. Taking uh uh dredge materials, dredge spoils from alongside the Cody Channel. They're hard spoils and they'll help. maintain the structure out there and get the longshore drift back on shore. Then you
can take uh the Port Richey Island north from the Cody River north, protecting the uh Salt Springs State Park, approximately four miles. All these islands will be approximately one point two miles offshore. They're at a four foot shelf, Relatively simple to to build and it'll the cost will be brought down if you follow certain things. All the hard hard sprawls from years past when they did the side cast stretching, take those and use those for the base of these islands. And then behind the islands.
Bring in the trench and use that material so you protect our coastal. And it's it's already in place with it's called the Coastal Barrier Resource System. And it's already in place but it stops at Anklok. So I would recommend you approach the feds, and if they engage, they will pick it up and they'll bring it north our 24 miles. And I would recommend these seven, another Barrier Island from Leisure Beach Channel north to Hudson Channel, and then from Hudson Channel north to Sea Pines, and then from Sea Pines to Sun West. And then from Sun West to Arapica
with inlets for all of your connecting waterways. And uh like I said, the hard spoils that are alongside, already alongside from 60 years ago when they did the side cast dredging. Use those. They are hard base and they will give you structurally sound islands out there. And then you can do the rest. You're gonna get get a lot of benefits from this. This. The water will, you'll get about 50 million gallons a day of purified water from the oysters that we'll use to to fortify the eastern side of the islands. The western
side will create new areas for sea turtle nesting and the migratory seabirds we get annually. So you're gonna you're gonna improve our environment and protect our coast. That's what this is all about. Um This will break the surge. Like we didn't have like wasn't broken on the last time. If if should it ever happen again, you're gonna have protection. That surge will be broken. If you have an eight foot surge, it'll more than likely be two to three foot. So that's just like a a massive tide. It's
not gonna do what these past storms have done. And we see this every year, so we can do something to protect all of us.
Thank you very much, Alan. Okay. Actually this isn't stuff he's making up. what the Netherlands they've done in the Netherlands.
And and that's just thirty-two years of water waterways management experience talking to the
Yeah. I just you know don't know what it's realisti how realistic it is for our Army Corps to approve that. Okay, next.
Ron Oakley.
Move
to receive
and file.
I'll take a second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye.
Your address for the record project.
Good morning, Ron Oakley, [address removed]. Does anybody know what impaired water basins are? Okay, I'm gonna tell ya.
A water basin or water shed watershed is a land area draining rainfall into a common water body. An impaired water basin means the water is polluted or degraded. Pollution flows downstream affecting rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. In a paired water basin. How they're affected, the cause of that's agriculture runoff. Urban stamp stormwater. Industrial discharge. Deforestation and erosion.
The basic effect Is nutrient overload, sediment buildup, Toxic contamination. Altered flow and temperature. How does this impact water impact the water bodies it flows into? The water quali quality just Declines. ecosystems are damaged in human and economic Economic economic costs. Do we have a breakdown of the
Okay. Direct effect of the basins. Nutrient overload, excess to excessive nitrogen phosphorus cause algae buildup in blooms. Simon Pil Down Smothers The aquatic habitats and black sunlight. Toxic contamination. Harms wildlife and enters the food chain. Altered flow and temperature can exp It can cause stress to certain species and and fish that live in the area. What happens to the receiving waters? In
the case what we're gonna be talking about here is The Gulf Coast. Okay. The Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America, whatever. Water quality declines, algae starts to grow. Oxygen is depletion and murky waters. I took it down. Ha ha ha.
I I saw I I I watched a board once where the guy actually he answered the phone on that up on the stage. That was funny.
And economic eco ecosystem damage. And Hamadet destruction. Um okay. Case study involved, Pasco County has eight impaired water basins, according to DPA and EPA. Take five of these. Prepared water basins are within the Coastal Master Plan that we were talking about through Allen. Three. contained in the plant may require some inland operation, possibly involving eminent domain. Along the watership
from the Five eighty nine west of the coast. These three are gonna be Bear Creek, Dakota River, and Anclo River. Conclusion is Healthy basins. are essential to clean water, thriving ecosystems, and strong communities. protecting them requires better and land management, pollution prevention and restoration projects. If we take care of our basins, if we take care of every drop of water that passes through them, it's going to help us. We're talking about Barry Islands doing the things, same thing here. We're all working together. I'm sorry. All working
together to make it work. So thank you.
Cheryl Orchard.
Thank you very much.
Good morning. My name is Cheryl Orchard. I live at [address removed]. Here's the papers.
Moved receiving file. Second.
All in favor? Aye.
These papers are basically what I'm gonna touch base on so you can follow along and see it what I'm speaking about. I'm going to start off with a green key drainage summary. Background and historical issues. Chronic flooding for decades, rainy season and high tides. Cause broken flapgate, ninety five sewer and roadway design flaws, man made blockage, lack of maintenance. Impact, recurrent potholes, roadway deteriorate from salt water. In nineteen
ninety four the flap gate reported unr unreparable twenty six years it took to get that flat fixed. Manor Beach is higher than the uh than the rest of the streets in there. So everything flows downhill. They get it worse than we do, but we got it pretty bad last time. Rainwater stays on Largo, Sierra Del Prado, all the time from rain, it doesn't recede. So what I'm here today for is to get some answers or
try to work with you to find out what we can do to help the path. This goes all the way to US nineteen. Uh that whole area is low lying, yes, but twenty six years of major flooding from rainwater, from a broken flat, has deteriorated the soil. and the roads. twenty twenty Jacobs Engineering contracted Plan Drawn. Twenty twenty-one, representative Amber Mariano and Senator Hooper sought funding. In uh
twenty two the government approved a two point million dollar grant postponed. Twenty twenty three Pasco's concept plan and DEP contract two million. Federal funding at risk must not be lost or it needs to be used in the area it was directed for. Delays and community concerns. Original construction project twenty twenty three started date completion date was supposed to be completed by december twenty four. I had people from
public works come and talk to the people in the in in our properties. And they told us We're not going to get it done in time. So we gotta move it out to twenty five twenty seven to start. Now they're telling us push back until twenty twenty nine, that's seven years. Residents advocate in six to nine years multiple delays and conflicting explanations. Everybody's got a different answer for you. Key question Why seven eight years to repair four thousand feet of roadway, four streets.
We're on the front lines. It's devastated the area. Pasco County must expite this project, protect home and infrastructure. Our roads are like a minefield, dangerous to travel on. Use the allocated two million dollar efficiency before funding is lost. Green Cay Community urges immediate action. Long delayed project is critical to the quality of life of the residents. It's also crit critical to our wildlife. Our coastal areas have been in need of
attention for decades. Just want to say we need to p protect our environment. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Raquel Thebes.
Move to receive and file.
Second.
All in favor? Aye. Aye.
Hi, good morning commissioners. My name is Raquel Thebes. I live at [address removed], which is also in the Green Key area. Uh, I don't want to harp on any of the issues we've already discussed, so I'm going to skip some of that. But I do want to say that um Robert K. Reese Memorial Park, it's one of the only few public beaches we have, and right now the visitors have to drive through flu uh light, flooding, unsafe conditions to get there. I'm not even gonna share with you the stories that um I've
personally witnessed in uh Boy Scout Preserve and what happens there. Meanwhile, new developments are being approved on both sides, Oyster Bayou cottages, and then on the other side soon to be forest seaforest townhomes. Granted that's all New Port Richey. I've also gone to Newport Ritchie's meetings and I've talked to them about is there some kind of partnership with Pasco County to make sure we address some of these issues in Green Key. Pasco County has poured
millions of dollars into growth and infrastructure on the east side. But on the west side along the Gulf, we've been neglected. I took that citizens course not too long ago, and I was told by some of the commissioners that this money that's coming to the county will be going to the west coast to be shoring up the west the west side of the county rather than the east side. Um I mean, I think that's a good thing It's just
it could be one of the county's top tourist destinations. I just don't understand it. It's a nice little beach. Families should feel safe coming to the beach and the boardwalk. uh in the playground there. Then instead it looks abandoned, drainage is broken, uh crime, homelessness. We all know about the homeless camps in that area. They just go from one area to the next. Whenever the police get them out of one area, then they go to another area. So I'm just asking for three things. First thing Drainage and culvert repairs along Green Key Road and the surrounding streets.
I know we've talked about that. And also if we can have a plan and a timeline for resurfacing Green Key Road, including maybe some sidewalks and some lighting to maybe deter and just make it a nicer place. And then the last thing, stronger scrutiny on the development in the floodplain and evacuation zones. I mean this is an evacuation zone A, we should be kind of concerned about that too with what's going on over there. And to not approve new projects without addressing these flooding impacts
on existing neighborhoods. So we can have Green Key Road either continue to be a single symbol of neglect or it can become a showcase for Pasco's Gulf Coast. I urge you to put the resources and focus here, not just east of the county, so we can protect our home, our visitors, and our tax base. So thank you for your time.
Christy Zimmer.
And your address for the record, please.
Good morning. Christy Zimmer, [address removed]. I'd like to talk about the twenty fifty plan that we're working on. You had great public communicating communications um with your programs that you put out to let people know what was going to be happening. But it's my understanding that there is no uh citizen vetting of the final put together of the plan. Um this process is nothing like the prior amendments
where the public had real input. I remember when it was first written by Cindy Jolly, it was to only be amended every five years. Uh however, there would be an occasional amendment. when a developer proposed a project that would include infrastructure, schools, libraries, and firehouses, and even a jail. on their dime. Now today you have four comp plan amendments. You have a substantial modification, three
rezoning, and this happens at every meeting. What happened to the sacred ground of having a comp plan if you're going to amend it at every single meeting? Why even bother having a five-year review? Unless it's to make it even better for the developers. Don't you think it would be fair to allow the citizens a proper review and vetting of this 25-comp plan? Especially since we are not abiding by Florida Statute 125.6.6 that
says for a public hearing, you need to have a 5 o'clock meeting. And that is what the statute says. There's more to it than that. And you're Um The one that is a major, a substantial modification, that one definitely complies with the criteria of that law. Um, maybe if you had meetings where the people could actually be able to attend and they could feel like they're being heard.
and that they're being given true transparency and accountability, you might build a little bit of trust. back into the community. Just a thought. Please allow the vet the citizens to have a vetting process on this plan. Thank you.
Next. We have one person signed up online, but that's the last that are signed up in the room.
Okay, before we go online, is there anyone else here who wishes to speak to the County Commission? Come on up, name and address, please. You can both come up, just line up. One behind the other.
Hi, my name is Laurie Ricca. Um my address is [address removed]. I'm talking about the burning that's going on with the Newport. corners. About a year and a half ago we had the media involved and they decided to mulch. But now again they're doing it and they're burning and it's disrupting our lives.
My back our out the whole community, our backyards are full of soot, sand, burning Not to mention the smoke for people that have asthma, COPD, and other health issues. This is getting very serious. And I went to the site and they told me that it's too expensive to mulch. So they said that they have to burn. They don't have to burn. Um
Uh we'd appreciate it if they can start mulching. I understand it's expensive. But at it's at our expense, our health expense that that's that we're suffering. It's not fair to us. So I hope you take that into Did you go just
recently?
I'm sorry?
Did you go there just recently? I'm just wondering if
Um about three weeks ago. And then I came here and I spoke to the office here. And I did get a response and uh they did mention to come to the meeting and to bring it up. So I'm re and actually yesterday they were burning. My husband was doing some work outside. And the garage was open for a little while and I do have C O P D and asthma. And my house was completely engulfed in smoke. I have six different
air purifiers going. I put them on high. It just doesn't help. Everything smells like and I even have I have um I have um sleep apnea. So I I have a the machine with the hose. The hose smelled like smoke last night, so I couldn't use it. So it's something I hope that you will consider. Thank you. Thank you.
Hello, my name is Karen Minard. My address is [address removed]. And I'm here today to read a resolution of the Dade City Garden Club of Dade City, Florida. The title of it is Preserving and Protecting the Historic Grand Oak No. 7, located on the properties surrounding the historic Pasco County Courthouse in Dade City, Florida. Whereas the Grand Oak No. 7, located on the grounds of the historic Pasco County Courthouse,
Dade City, Florida, on the northeast corner of the property, has been identified to be removed by the Pasco County Board of Commissioners. And whereas the tree appears to be healthy and has been certified to be healthy through an ISA certified arborst report. And whereas mature oak trees provide critical environmental services, including shade, habitat for native wildlife, stormwater management, carbon
sequestration, and the preservation of soil erosion, and whereas this tree is estimated to be between 200 and 250 years old and represents one of the oldest and most significant natural landmarks in Dade City. and whereas the tree has been a witness to the history and development of the community, serving as a gathering place for generations of residents and holding
cultural, historic, and sentimental value. and whereas the community has expressed strong support for measures ensuring the continued protection of this irreplaceable natural and cultural resource. And whereas the city of Dade City has held the distinction of a Tree City USA for 18 years. A program that is supported jointly with the Dade City Garden
Club. Which encourages care for the trees. And whereas the preservation of mature trees is consistent with Dade City's environmental stewardship goals, Climate action plans and heritage conservation policies as a Tree City USA. And whereas the county has indicated a preference for sable palm trees, which do not provide shade needed in this location and
are susceptible to the newest disease that affects that affect palms in Florida called lethal bronzing disease and their new landscape plan.
Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Dade City Garden Club Board of Directors, and on behalf of the entire Garden Club membership, calls upon the Pasco County Commissioners to vote no to removing the grand oak tree number seven from the courthouse grounds, and encourages the city of Dade City to register the tree as Protected Heritage Tree. recommends that the Sable not be included in the County's new landscape plan for the courthouse.
This is a resolution that was passed and adopted by the Board of Directors of the Dade City Garden Club on the eighteenth of August. 2005 or 25.
Thank you very much. Um, Mr. Kabala, do you want to address that or do you want to pass on though?
I I can. Um Let me see right here. Why don't you see if there's any more public comment that we can do it?
He's gonna look up uh what I think he sent out yesterday. Oh you you got got it? it?
Yeah, Yeah, I I do.
Is there anyone else here that wants to speak to the tree? Because we have a statement, I think. Anyone else want to speak to us about anything? And we do have one person online.
Yes. Do we want to go go with that?
Yeah, let me go to the person online and see if they wanna talk about the tree.
D no it's uh another matter. Diana Zanchuk.
Uh Can you
hear me?
Oh yeah.
Your address. Okay, good.
Because I'm having a little trouble with you, so I apologize. Um I'm Diana Zenchuk. I live at [address removed]. I'm calling about item fifty-six, which is proposed housing on the And the area of Ridge Road and Moon Lake Road in Newport Ritchie.
That's the size of the I have
two Yes. I have two quick questions for you and then a comment. Two quick questions are is this considered multi housing or multifamily housing or single family? And has an architectural study been done because a lot of this is wetland.
this is public general public comment. The public hearing for
that item is this afternoon after one thirty um and the board generally doesn't answer questions
Okay. Okay, then my c my comment has to do with rid with uh Decupolis Road, which is right near Ridge Road. It feeds into it's fed into by Moon Lake Road from people driving on the um It's the the extension to the Suncoast Parkway. People increased traffic coming from Starkey, increased traffic from I believe Plath is being fed in there now. We have probably doubled our traffic load in
the last year. We have trucks coming through here. We have this is all residential until you get to Ridge Road. There is absolutely no retail along this road at all. We have two particular housing developments that are Yeah. Um Starkey and there's a blinking light there. It's been there forever. Nobody pays attention to it. They drive right through it. People running red lights, people running red lights at the school crossing. people passing people. Um we
have road rage incidents. And it's The sheriff can't do much about it. They can come out there and sit, but because the road isn't wide enough and I understand you're gonna widen it, but at this point it's not wide enough and they won't stop anybody because it increases the congestion in the area. We've talked to David Engel, we've talked to Lisa Yeager, and we've also talked to Traffic plus uh the Sheriff and we just need somebody to pay attention to this because it's getting serious and dangerous.
Okay. Thank you. And that's it. Pretty much. And that hearing is this afternoon, not not this morning. Okay. All right. So um Mike, you wanna just put that statement out there for the public and then we'll move on.
Certainly, yes. And so um commissioners are aware uh the board had directed us to uh employ a master arborist and so that master arborist uh performed his work um This month. Um and uh as a result of that detailed inspection of the live oak uh at the historic Dade City Courthouse. Uh his report provided a comprehensive look at the tree's condition and also included options for uh removal or remediation and maintenance. Based on the Arborists report and with the full support of this board, Pasco
County will begin implementing a new maintenance plan to protect both the tree and surrounding property, and we will reevaluate the tree's condition biannually to ensure everyone's safety. Again, Pasco County appreciates the community's patience as we move through the process of gaining a deeper understanding of the tree's condition.