Commission didn't vote on Daffodil Road extension

Editor's Note: correction: By a 4-1 vote, the Highlands County commissioners voted to eliminate this year's audit of Reliable Sanitation.

So many streets, so little money.

That's what dozens of Daffodil Road advocates were told when they requested that Highlands County extend their road around a portion of Lake June.

County Engineer Ramon Gavarrete said it would cost $483,000 to pave a mile of what is currently a shell road. The next phase would cost $5.4 million, and the complete project - which would take 10 years if it was started today - would total $18 million.

Two lake area residents, Bill and Bobbie Parken, spoke against the project. Former South Florida paramedics, they enjoy the wildlife. Bobbie Parken walks or bikes the shell road every day, and it's unusual to see a car. If the road is paved, everyone will drive it.

Bill Parken asked if a paved road would disrupt wildlife.

No, replied another citizen, Frank Basilla. "Deer and wildlife are adaptable. The extension makes good common sense. It would save time, money and fuel."

Nancy Connell said there's only one way to get from her house into Lake Placid. "We need another road, a way to get out in the case of emergency."

However, the decision turned on whether Highlands County can afford to build more roads.

"I don't know if we can justify the expense in these economic times," said another citizen, Chester Downing. "Do we need it, can we afford it, and put the people first?"

Yes to all three questions, Commissioner Guy Maxcy replied.

No to the second, Commissioner Jeff Carlson said. The county is constantly asked by its citizens for paved roads or new roads. That's why it's setting up a pay-to-pave program, where the county will provide the labor if the residents buy the materials.

Commissioners Edgar Stokes and Barbara Stewart also remained unconvinced.

"The need is established," Chairman Don Bates said. "Can we afford it?"

The road-building fund is down $2 million, County Administrator Michael Wright said, and he expects gasoline and sales taxes to stay in decline for the next two years.

Convention center road

Even so, the commissioners voted 5-0 to spend $42,000 paving an area around the new convention center at the Highlands County Fair Association grounds. The commissioners focused on the fact that the convention center will be a hurricane shelter, built to withstand 170 mph winds.

Reliable Sanitation

By a 4-1 vote, the commission voted not to eliminate this year's audit of Reliable Sanitation. Local manager Terry Collier said the audit would cost thousands of dollars and would only confirm what the county already knows. The company's books are already open to county inspection.

"This is not a hardship case," Bates noted. Carlson said an audit was a reasonable request, and that it was unreasonable for Reliable to request no audit when one is required by its annual contract. Stewart voted against the motion.

EAR amendments

The commission will likely spend most of the next two meetings on the Evaluation and Appraisal Reports required by the state Department of Community affairs.

County commissioners and the Planning and Zoning Commission have already spent months discussing the amendments. In other counties, EARs have included wetlands, protected species, soils, regionally significant resources, floodplains, mining, transportation, housing, sanitary sewers, solid waste, groundwater, aquifer discharges, water, intergovernmental coordination and capital improvements.

Middle mile

The Department of Commerce is awarding $7 billion in stimulus funds to lay a fiber optic cable throughout America. Didier Rousseliere, director of the business incubator at the University of South Florida Polytechnic in Lakeland, asked and received the approval of the commissioners to utilize the data infrastructure.

A public meeting on the subject is scheduled at the Sebring Civic Center from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday.