In a crackdown by the state Transportation Department, the Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has been ordered by the state to correct deficiencies identified in an audit earlier this year or face further enforcement action.
Sumter County commissioners were informed of the crackdown at their meeting Tuesday night.
An Aug. 27 letter from James Wood, state transportation planning administrator, to MPO chairwoman Leslie Campione outlines 10 requirements for the agency.
It orders the MPO to provide quarterly updates on steps taken to bring the organization into compliance. It also requires the MPO to reimburse the state for all grant funds found not eligible for federal participation.
The MPO staff also will be provided technical assistance and is required to participate in training offered by the state. The agency must satisfactorily complete its next certification process in January.
The state’s tough stance was prompted by inspectors who found fiscal and operational issues. Their audit questioned appropriate use of funds and found that employees were estimating instead of tracking actual time spent on grant activities.
Some MPO officials, including Sumter County Commissioner Don Burgess, suggested the agency look at out-sourcing some of its duties as a partial solution.
The MPO also is looking at severing its direct ties with Lake County, becoming an independent agency and its staff eventually would no longer be county employees.
The decade-old Lake-Sumter MPO is the lead agency for regional transportation issues in Lake and Sumter counties and helps to allocate millions of federal transportation dollars each year.
In other business, Sumter County commissioners:
· Scheduled a public hearing for Sept. 27 on a challenge to a proposed 180-foot cell phone tower approved by the zoning board.
· Approved a motion by Commissioner Doug Gilpin to award a 10 percent increase to Capital Solutions, which provides government lobbying services. The company will receive $66,000 over the next year.
· Set a joint workshop with Coleman city officials on Oct. 3 to discuss the city and county joint planning area.
