HNS REPORTS---FEBRUARY 22, 2010

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MONDAY DREDGE MEETINGS SET STAGE FOR TUESDAY REPORT

Hernando County Public Works officials were scheduled to meet with both a dredge consultant and state regulators Monday in hopes of delivering some good news to county commissioners on Tuesday.  The County Board's agenda includes a briefing from staff on the stalled Hernando Beach dredge project.
Officials had meetings planned Monday with Halcrow, Inc., concerning the firm's status as consultant and project overseer.  Halcrow has expressed concern about county contracting officials who are recommending only partial payment of a change order request totaling almost $800,000.  The county has said Halcrow's oversight failures helped bring the dredge to its current delayed status due to allegations of permit violations by the dredge contractor.
The meeting with regulators from the Department of Environmental Protection is reportedly aimed at finding out when dredging can resume.  A new process of separating water from dredged spoil has been proposed to remedy permit violations, and the county has indicated an expedited state ruling is needed to get the project back on track.

WATER FEES CASE GOES BACK TO COURT THIS WEEK

Lawyers for Nick Morana and Hernando County go back to court this week in the latest chapter of six years of litigation over utility regulatory fees collected by the county.  Morana and his lawyer Joe Mason want almost four million dollars in fees refunded to customers of Florida Water Services, while the county is using the collected funds this year for water and sewer upgrades.  Morana's lawsuit has bounced from judge to judge, and even from court to court over the years.  
The suit claims the money came from customers and should go back to customers.  The county says Florida Water paid the fees and never made a separate charge to customers.  
So far the case has been in Peyton Hyslop's county court, went to an appeals court in Daytona Beach, then to federal court in Tampa, and is now back in Hernando and being heard by Circuit Judge Victor Musleh.  A hearing last week resulted in a split decision on various motions and comes back to Judge Musleh later this week for unresolved issues.  The hearing will decide whether or not there will be a trial or a summary judgment.  
In either case, more appeals are likely, and none of the lawyers are predicting when it will end.  For his part, Mason says the county should not be spending the money until the case is over and also wants $30-40,000 for attorney's fees based on a long-running public records dispute.  County lawyers advised commissioners to put the money in this year's budget after holding it in a separate fund for most of the case.  They told the County Board they are confident enough of the eventual outcome to spend the funds now.

HERNANDO GOP CHIEF OPTIMISTIC ABOUT STATE PARTY DIRECTION CHANGE

Hernando Republican Party chief Blaise Ingoglia had a busy weekend, between the Friday "major announcement" that Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite will run again and get married, to the state party confab in Orlando that elected a new leader, to a Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday night in Pinellas County.  But Ingoglia told Hernando News Source that he's hopeful new state GOP leader John Thrasher will put the party back on track to elect conservatives this fall.  Ingoglia wouldn't say how he voted in the contest, but he said Thrasher is off to a "good start" by calling for an audit of state party finances,  The local leader was one of the critics of former party chief Jim Greer, and he said he supports the audit and an Attorney General's probe of possible criminal activity regarding the previous regime's "wasteful spending and lack of accountability."
Ingoglia said that although Thrasher is a sitting state senator, he will give him "the benefit of the doubt" in his efforts to "put control back in the hands of Republican grassroots leaders."  He said his favorite part of Thrasher's acceptance speech was when he told party members that "our enemies are the liberal media and Democrats, not fellow Republicans."



LANDFILL OKAY HAS CONCERNED RESIDENTS THINKING APPEAL

Residents along Remington Road and Wildlife Lane in east Hernando County are talking about filing an appeal of a notice from state regulators that they plan to permit a construction and demolition debris landfill in their neighborhood.  Out of Bounds Inc. already has zoning approval in a 12-year old litigation settlement with the county, and only a possible administrative hearing stands between the current former sand mine and a future landfill.  If the residents ask for a hearing, they will have to find evidence to counter the ruling by the Department of Environmental Protection that the C & D landfill will not damage the environment or pose a risk to underground water.
Some residents have suggested that the county recently gave up some protections that were built into the settlement.  But county lawyers said they accomplished some good things by going to court to clarify settlement provisions.  As a result the landfill operator will hire an independent spotter, rather than a county employee, which could have been costly in potential liability for any errors.  The lawyers said they also convinced the operator to assume the costs of building a new road over about a quarter mile at the east end of Wildlife Lane, instead of the county having to build the road at taxpayer expense.

WOMAN JAILED FOR STEALING, PAWNING MOTHER'S JEWELRY

A Spring Hill woman is facing eight counts of grand theft and dealing in stolen property for allegedly taking almost $4500 worth of jewelry items from her mother's' home and pawning them.  A sheriff's report says 37-year old Kristan Sorenson took thee jewelry in several separate incidents between November and January.  The report says the stolen items were pawned at several different locations and netted the woman barely $500.

TRIO CHARGED IN THEFT FROM THRIFT STORE

Three people were arrested early Sunday after a deputy found them parked near the back of the Jericho Ministries Thrift store on Wiscon Road.  According to a sheriff's report, the trio claimed they had permission to take items ffrom the rear of the store near the dumpster.   But when the store manager said no one was allowed to be there when the store was closed, deputies arrested 49-year old Janet Lane, 49-year old Brian Beals, and 23-year old Katy Evans.  All three were charged with grand theft after the store manager estimated the value of items in their truck at $530.  They were also charged with possession of marijuana and paraphernalia when a search of the vehicle uncovered several burnt marijuana cigarettes.



DEPUTY SHOOTS SALIVATING FOX THAT TRIED TO ATTACK HIM

A sheriff's deputy who was attacked by a fox that was salivating and behaving strangely shot the animal twice Sunday night.  A sheriff's report says Deputy Tom Berg was called to 20047 Manecke Road near Brooksville when a resident noticed the fox sitting just outside his fence gate.  At first, Berg said he just tried to keep the animal in sight while waiting for an animal services officer to arrive.  He did remove a shotgun from his vehicle in case it was needed.  When the animal circled his patrol car and then approached him and two residents in an aggressive manner, Berg fired two rounds into the fox, which was still alive when the animal officer arrived.  The fox was reportedly euthanized later.

BOARD APPROVES NEW PLAN FOR GOVT. CENTER EMERGENCIES

A new Emergency Action Plan for the Brooksville Government Center Complex was approved by the County Board recently.  The new plan replaces an evacuation routine that was created in 2005.  Training sessions are slated next month for all designated Emergency Team Leaders to review the new procedures for responding to various types of emergencies such as fire, medical, hazardous materials, severe weather and disturbances. All Government Center employees will view an on-line training video about the new plan.
An Emergency Action Plan Task Force appointed by the County Administrator is responsible for implementing the plan as well as creating similar procedures for other county facilities.

HAMILTON WANTS VISION PLAN TO GUIDE COASTAL INITIATIVES

County Administrator David Hamilton told the Coastal Hernando Initiative Project team members Monday that the group needs to emulate the county's other community initiative.  He said he wants the various coastal community groups to meet over the next three months to come up with a Vision Plan to guide the county's implementation of coastal projects.  He cited the concrete steps being taken to make improvements in south Brooksville and said real movement only began to happen once the community developed a comprehensive vision plan for redevelopment of the area.  Hamilton asked a half-dozen coastal area groups to meet and discuss a plan that could be presented at the next Coastal Hernando Initiatives Project meeting in May.
The Monday meeting also featured reports on a drainage project due to start on Pine Island in April and an update on the process of installing fire hydrants along several streets in coastal area subdivisions where hydrants are not currently in place.

SPRINGS RALLY FEATURES LOCALS BUT FEW LEGISLATORS

Two former Weeki Wachee mermaids and the chairman of the Hernando County Port Authority addressed a rally in Tallahassee last week seeking legislative action to protect Florida's threatened springs.  But reports from the scene indicated relatively few legislators turned out on a typically cold Tallahassee winter day to hear the speakers.  Mermaids Barbara Wynns and Vicki Smith talked about how today's spring has changed from the crystal-clear waters they performed in years ago.  Wynns displayed a bag of algae gathered from the spring, and Port Authority chairman Chuck Morton drank from a bottle of water collected at Weeki Wachee.  
The rally's organizers are trying again to get passage of new laws protecting spring water quality.  They say first magnitude springs like Weeki Wachee and Wakulla, near Tallahassee, are seeing degraded water quality as urban uses spread over the springsheds.  The legislation they are seeking failed in last year's session.



BOOM YEAR FOR SOD?  COLD MAY HAVE DEVASTATED FLORATAM GRASS

It could be a money-making year for sod businesses in the wake of the prolonged January cold snap.  Urban horticulturalist Jim Moll of the County Extension Service said the two weeks of low temperatures without the usual warming days could make it hard for many Floratam lawns in Hernando County to recover.  Moll says some green blades may already be reappearing, but it will take several more weeks to know if the rest of a lawn will come back.  He says there's no point in pouring water on the lawn in an effort to green it up, as only time will tell how much of the grass will survive.
The potential windfall for sod dealers and installers comes just as the Southwest Florida Water Management District appears ready to lift a water shortage declaration.  The district's governing board meets Monday in Tarpon Springs, and though the agenda does not disclose the staff recommendation on watering restrictions, it's expected that input on El Nino rainfall throughout the district will likely weigh in favor of a return to pre-shortage twice-a-week lawn watering.

COUNTY OFFERS WATER CONSERVATION INCENTIVE PROGRAMS

The Hernando County Utilities Department is once again offering incentive programs for its residential customers to encourage water conservation. The program includes an irrigation system rain sensor installation and a low flow toilet replacement for qualified customers. For details, visit the department's web site at www.hernandocounty.us/utils/ or call 352 754-4705.

Posted by Hernando News Source at February 21, 2010
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  • February 23, 2010 wakeup wrote:
    Having spent time volunteering for the Hernando County Republicans in the past, the republican problem is not the imagined "liberal media" or "liberal democrats" the problem is Glen Beck and the far right direction of Fox News. Hate speech, backward thinking, and acting like spoiled rotten kids is hurting republicans. I am retired military who has chosen to receive medical care from the government health system "socialized medicine" VA (Veterans Administration). I have the option to use the insurance company backed tricare for life or the "socialized" government backed VA. The better of the two is the Veterans Administration. The republicans need to smarten up and be grateful for the health care program they have and move "forward" to help all citizens in one way or another receive health care. The Hernando County Judiciary, State Attorney's Office and the Sheriffs Dept. have disgraced the Republican party and the word "conservative". Because of their backwardness; harm has come to the citizens of this county. Mr. Arthur Allain is correct in stating this is a corrupt town. DCF placing a child with an eating disorder and her delinquent brother in the Allain home and later accusing them of causing the problem is disgraceful. Detective Banks was unaware that those with eating disorders such as anorexia/bulimia looked like those from concentration camps. The conservative backwardness of this town prevents an understanding and reasoning behind eating disorders. Conservative backwardness and corruption prevented the civilian lab results that indicated Detective Banks was wrong. The conservative run State Attorney's Office and Judiciary would rather hide their wrong doing and corruption and leave the innocent in prison. The Allains are not the only victims of this corrupt town that bears the worst of conservatism.

    The "far-right" direction of the republican party plus FOX News is hurting the party. My family, friends, and I all use to watch FOX News and no longer do - the "far-right" mantra and dishonesty are sickening. The republican party enemy is "itself".




    If the Republicans want to bring back those they have alienated, then they need to clean up their acts, help the citizenry, and be able to have "backbone" and admit their wrongdoing and faults.
    Reply to this
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