The Project Wide Advisory Committee appears headed toward a $1.472 million solution to address erosion at the island that supports the Morse Boulevard Bridge at Lake Sumter.
While it is the most expensive of three options presented by Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc., PWAC members in a meeting Monday indicated they favored that approach because it would have the least recurring maintenance costs. (For background on the three options, click HERE)
At times, Monday morning’s meeting turned heated, with PWAC member and Community Development District 7 Supervisor Ron Ruggeri insisting that the board address the cause of the erosion at the site of the 13-year-old bridge. Ruggeri asserted that the original construction of the bridge could have been faulty.
PWAC member and CDD 10 Supervisor Steve Printz accused Ruggeri of encouraging “fear, uncertainty and doubt.”
“And frankly, I don’t appreciate it,” Printz said.
Kimley-Horn engineer Richard Busche, who said his firm did not engineer the bridge, and that the firm had been hired to come up with possible solutions to the current problem.
“We did not want to rely on old plans or permits. We wanted to look at the current conditions. That is what you hired us to do,” Busche said.
Ruggeri also proposed ideas such as trying to enlist financial support from the Developer and residents north of County Road 466, which failed to gain any traction with fellow board members.
He also said he wanted to have a public meeting to gather input from residents before making a decision on which way to proceed.
However, his fellow supervisors said an additional meeting is not needed.
“This committee was put in place to represent the residents,” said PWAC member and CDD 8 Supervisor Dennis Hayes.
Budget Director Barbara Kays indicated PWAC has existing funds to pay for the project.
“I think the public trusts the board to do the right thing,” said CDD 8 Supervisor Larry McMurry.
District staff will work with Kimley-Horn to develop a scope of services for the project. That scope of services will be considered by PWAC at a future meeting. The vote was 5-1 with Ruggeri as the lone dissenter.
