Courtney Campbell Scenic Highway
Corridor Advocacy Group (CAG)
Minutes
Regular Meeting at
URS Corporation - Board Room
7650 W. Courtney Campbell Causeway
Tampa, Florida
February 17, 2006
10:00 a.m.
Attending:
Jessica White, Senior Planner, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
Karen Harris, Director of Transportation, Westshore Alliance
Maggie Potter, Intern to Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena
Christine Commerce, Executive Director, Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful
The Honorable Bill Jonson, Vice Mayor, City of Clearwater
Mike Palozzi, FDOT/GEC (PBS&J)
Jane Burmer, Principal Planner/Landscape, URS
Ken Hoyt, Member, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
The Honorable Linda Saul-Sena, Tampa City Council
Mary Helen Duke, Greenways & Trails Coordinator, City of Tampa Parks & Recreation
The minutes of the January 13, 2006 meeting were approved with no corrections.
Old Business:
1.
Member Sponsor Status and Solicitations
Vice Mayor Jonson recalled that at the January 13 meeting the group discussed how to recognize the
platinum sponsors (donation of $2,500). He recently spoke to Manny Pumariega, Executive Director
of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council regarding presenting these organizations with plaques
to commemorate their founding partner status. Mr. Pumariega stated he would check the budget and
also inquired as to how and when the CAG intended to present these plaques. He suggested inviting
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the sponsors to the TBRPC s Future of the Region Awards Luncheon to be held March 31 at the
Quorum Hotel in Tampa. The group agreed this was a good plan.
The Great American Clean-up will be held on Saturday, April 22, 2006, which is Earth Day, and the
Courtney Campbell will be one of the sites. Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m. at the boat ramp for those
who wish to volunteer. Mr. Palozzi suggested that the CAG provide and display a Scenic Highway
banner in support of the event. Vice Mayor Jonson added that they could also hand out some of the
trinkets. The group decided they will have a table at the check-in site and that they will distribute the
trinkets to volunteers upon completion of the Clean-up.
Councilwoman Saul-Sena mentioned that she would not be able to attend the next meeting of the
CAG, scheduled for Friday, March 10, because of a big downtown conference that will last all
morning. Mr. Hoyt added that in a conversation with Jessica White, TBRPC, she stated that changing
the group s meeting dates usually plays havoc with the members schedules and often results in poor
attendance. He felt the CAG might be better off cancelling a meeting rather than attempting to
reschedule it. Vice Mayor Jonson expressed the opinion that the group probably did not need to meet
every month, and other members agreed. Councilwoman Saul-Sena recommended meeting every
other month unless there was an item needing immediate attention.
Vice Mayor Jonson mentioned that the State Scenic Byways Staff has asked to attend a CAG meeting
to do a working session. Ms. White stated that she has not yet heard from Andrew Nichol to receive
confirmation of the visit, and Vice Mayor Jonson indicated that they had requested February or March,
which would mean holding the March 10 meeting. Councilwoman Saul-Sena asked what they hoped
to accomplish from the joint meeting. Ms. White stated that Mr. Nichol is the consultant for the Scenic
Highways program and he would like to meet to discuss what others are doing and where this group
is headed. Mr. Palozzi indicated he felt they want to give the CAG an overview of the statewide
program. Councilwoman Saul-Sena asked if the CAG had as one of its goals the undergrounding of
utilities, which would enhance the scenic quality of the corridor. She stated she understood there is a
statewide initiative to attempt to bring this issue before the Legislature this session. It is something
she is very interested in because it seems whenever there is a utility/tree conflict; the tree always
seems to lose. The question she is asking is; can the CAG as an advocacy group take a position that
encourages the Public Service Commission to change its reface so we can bury utilities, and is there
any kind of statewide organization that could convey that to all the scenic corridors in the state? Vice
Mayor Jonson stated that the CAG has a goal, Goal Number 7 - Enhance the Visual Appearance of
the Causeway, Objective A: Bury Overhead Utility Lines.
The group decided that if Andrew Nichol was able to attend on March 10, they will proceed with that
scheduled meeting.
2.
Trail Grant Status
Vice Mayor Jonson reported that Michelle Greene, FDOT, forwarded the application to the CAG, who
in turn forwarded it to Susan Dutill (Pinellas County MPO), and it then was sent back to Ms. Greene
as the revised version. He wrote a letter of support for the revised version and sent it to Ms. Greene.
Councilwoman Saul-Sena spoke to someone regarding obtaining a letter of support from the Tourist
Development Council. Vice Mayor Jonson spoke to Lucie Ayer, Executive Director, Hillsborough
County MPO, who told him the Chair s Coordinating Committee will be meeting on March 10, at which
time the application will be signed. Ms. Mary Helen Duke stated it is going to be highly competitive.
The west Tampa Greenway, in terms of the scoring, is not the number one project in Hillsborough
County with regards to the multi-use trails prioritization process. She feels the scoring for
Hillsborough projects will be Upper Tampa Bay Trail, South Tampa Greenway and West Tampa
Greenway. Mr. Palozzi indicated that he would speak to Ms. Greene early next week to inquire as to
what the chain of command is. Ms. Duke stated she had spoken to Ms. Greene recently and was told
that she (Ms. Greene) would be heavily involved in making the recommendations from the local
FDOT office. Councilwoman Saul-Sena stated she would speak with Ms. Greene and plan to attend
the CCC meeting on March 10.
Ms. Duke passed around some examples of interpretive design display mechanisms so the CAG
could get a feel for what is available in signage. She stated her department should be able to work
with the group to select interpretive signage for Ben T. Davis Beach. She also mentioned that Visit
Florida has a cultural heritage and nature tourism grant program. They have marketing grants, image
development and tourism education grants, some of which are dollar for dollar grants and some
require no match. She suggested they might be used for an information kiosk or interpretive signage.
The grant amounts go up to $5,000, with a 50/50 match; $10,000 would be available which would
fund approximately two signs. Vice Mayor Jonson reminded the group about the Tampa Bay Estuary
Program s mini-grants program, which should be fairly simple to obtain and would help promote the
bay as well as the scenic highway.
With regard to the plaques recognizing the founding sponsors, Vice Mayor Jonson expressed the
need for people who can work on implementing that project, since he does not have a staff to which
he can assign the task. Councilwoman Saul-Sena stated that HDR agreed to do all the drawings that
will be part of the grant application. Ms. Duke indicated that she has been trying to set up a
subcommittee meeting with Tim Kurtz, Felicia Leonard, Susan Dutill, Michelle Greene and Charner
Reese so they can begin sharing their typical trail design elements so they can present the CAG with
a suggested unified palette so that each entity is not doing something on its own.
In the interest of putting together the agenda for the March 10 CAG meeting, Vice Mayor Jonson
wondered how long Andrew Nichol s presentation would last. He also wanted to inquire about the
state website, since when he looked there approximately a week and a half ago, the State had not
incorporated the Courtney Campbell Scenic Highway into its site. This omission is precluding giving
the sponsors the visibility they deserve. He expressed the hope that the subcommittee could meet
before the next meeting so they can provide an update. Councilwoman Saul-Sena asked whether
Andrew Nichol is an advocate for scenic roads, because if he is, she would like to discuss the idea of
having all of the state scenic roads unite to lobby for special money on the state level just for scenic
roads. Mr. Palozzi stated that Mr. Nichol is not a lobbyist, but he is a $doer.# Ms. Duke expressed the
hope that the CAG will receive the statewide TE grant in the amount of $400,000 to do the feasibility
study. She stated that the CAC can also apply for the Scenic Byway grant and either develop new
safety improvements, a corridor management plan, byway facilities, etc. Councilwoman Saul-Sena
asked what is most likely to be funded. Discussion followed pertaining to various grants and the
related funding. Mr. Palozzi stated all of these grants are good and all are incredibly competitive. He
felt what the group needs to be able to do is lay out in front of the committee what opportunities are
available, schedules, budget to accomplish them and which ones will be the most effective.
Mr. Palozzi received a response from Mr. Nichol via Blackberry stating that March 10 would not work
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for him. He will instead attend the April 14 meeting.
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The group considered alternate agendas for the March 10 meeting and decided to focus on grants.
Karen Harris volunteered to organize the discussion for the “Visit Florida Grant.” Additionally, the
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Tampa Bay Estuary Program Grant process will be reviewed. The March 10 meeting will also
address the logistics for the Great American Clean-Up on the Courtney Campbell Causeway.
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Next Meeting: Friday, March 10 @ 9:00 a.m.