Fruitland Park commissioners were told Thursday night that the completion of a project to widen County Road 466A to four lanes sits atop the Lake County Commission’s priority list.
But they were quickly reminded that until the project moves up on the Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) priority list, there’s really no way to know when the $7.5 million needed to finish widening the one-mile strip of road between Poinsettia Avenue and Timbertop Lane will become available.
That somber report was delivered by Lake County District 5 Commissioner Josh Blake, who represents the Fruitland Park area. He told commissioners that the county is all in on the need to get the CR 466A widening project completed and has dedicated all of the impact fees collected in the Central District to the cause. But he said that money won’t even come close to paying the entire tab.
Blake also pointed out that the CR 466A project ranks fifth on the MPO’s list of top-20 projects – down from third a year ago. That wasn’t the news they wanted to hear from their Lake County counterpart, who also is longtime Fruitland Park Commissioner Chris Bell’s son-in-law.
“We had the $7.5 million allotted to finish that job up and it was taken away,” said an obviously disgusted Commissioner John Mobilian, who serves on the MPO and was referring to the most recent state legislative session where just $450,000 was awarded toward the project.
Mobilian said he is constantly lobbying the MPO powers-that-be to move the CR 466A project to the top of the priority list.
“We’re going to have hang now probably two years to get that mile done,” he said. “One mile is all that’s left out there.”
Mobilian said the bottleneck created by the two-lane section right before the roadway meets the entrance to The Villages portion of the community on Drake Drive is really hampering Fruitland Park’s efforts to attract new commercial business along the busy corridor.
“If we don’t get that done, it’s going to slow us down by several years,” he said. “And the longer we wait to get it done, the more expensive it’s going to be. It’s an absurd procedure that they have.”
Blake agreed with Mobilian but added that the only real answer is to continue to push the issue at the MPO level. He also warned commissioners against trying to bypass the MPO to go straight to the State Legislature to get funding for the project. He said when that happens, any money lawmakers appropriate for a road project is deducted from the funding the MPO receives. And he warned that Gov. Ron DeSantis could then veto the project and any state money already dedicated to it – like the $450,000 received from the state Legislature earlier this year – would be taken away.
“They’ve made it very clear that they prefer to go through the MPO process,” he said. “And we’re trying to be savvy in how we handle it.”
Blake later mentioned that the county had secured a low-interest $10 million loan to resurface roads – a fact that quickly got Vice Mayor John Gunter’s attention.
“You borrowed $10 million to resurface; borrow another $10 million and finish this project up,” he said of CR 466A.
“I can certainly deliver that message to the County Commission,” Blake responded.
Mobilian reminded Blake that the county also stands to gain from having the project completed.
“The sooner we get that allocated, the more business comes in, the more taxes the county gets,” he said. “So, I thought they’d be a little bit more interested in getting it done.”
Mobilian then asked Blake a point-blank question?
“Are you pushing for us?” he asked. “You’re our representative, so are you pushing for us to get the money to get that road done?”
“Absolutely. I understand that,” Blake quickly responded. “I’m with you 100 percent.”
