Courtney Campbell Scenic Highway
Corridor Advisory Committee (CAC)
Minutes
Regular Meeting at
URS Corporation - Board Room
7650 W. Courtney Campbell Causeway
Tampa, Florida
December 8, 2006
10:00 a.m.
Attending:
Jessica White, Senior Planner, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
Tim Kurtz, Senior Landscape Architect, City of Clearwater
Michelle Greene, Bike/Pedestrian Coordinator, Florida Department of Transportation
The Honorable Bill Jonson, Council Member, City of Clearwater
Susan J. Miller, Bike/Pedestrian Planner, Pinellas County MPO
The Honorable Linda Saul-Sena, Councilwoman, City of Tampa
Michael Palozzi, FDOT GEC Support, PBS&J
Mary Helen Duke, Greenways & Trails Coordinator, City of Tampa Parks & Recreation
The minutes of the October 10, 2006 meeting were approved with no corrections.
With regard to trail maintenance, Councilwoman Saul-Sena asked whether the CAC had invited Lee Royal of
FDOT to attend a meeting, and Michelle Greene stated that, yes, she had been invited but another meeting
had come up which she was obliged to attend instead. Councilwoman Saul-Sena mentioned that Harvey Hunt
had told her that a lot of the maintenance road was the City of Tampa s responsibility. Mr. Palozzi stated that
it is leased to the City of Tampa, which prompted her to ask if it is Tampa s to maintain. Tim Kurtz added that
it is more like a Memorandum of Agreement, where the City does the maintenance and FDOT has oversight if
proper maintenance is not being done. Mr. Palozzi mentioned that when the designation application was
being prepared, the stipulation was that FDOT was responsible for the area from the guardrail toward the road
surface and the local government (City of Tampa) was responsible for the area from the guardrail to the water.
Councilwoman Saul-Sena stated she needed to speak with Mary Helen Duke to determine if this is something
the City needs to get on.
Old Business:
1.
Review status of Tampa Bay Estuary Grant Application results
Council Member Jonson stated he received a letter from Dick Eckenrod informing him that the
CCSH CAC grant application did not make the cut for the Estuary grants this year.
2.
Review status of CCC Trail Grant Application
Council Member Jonson asked Michelle Greene if she was able to give an update on the status of this
grant application. Ms. Greene reported that the $400,000 to conduct the feasibility study has been
received. They are in the process of developing the scope of services and they will request oral
technical presentations (OTPs) rather than making a selection from submitted letters. She will be the
assistant project manager, with Gabor Farkasfalvy as the project manager. The scope will determine
how the trail connection from Pinellas to Hillsborough can be accomplished. Councilwoman Saul-
Sena told the group that she is working on obtaining more money to be directed toward the
advertising and encouraging of eco-tourism. She feels strongly that these two things are linked
because if the trail is marketed more aggressively, more people will want to use it, and increased
usage will make a stronger case for creating the connection. Councilwoman Saul-Sena expressed
the hope that in the designing of the Trail connection it will be kept elegantly simple and appropriate to
the scale of the users, who will be people, not motor vehicles.
Council Member Jonson asked whether FDOT would normally issue a press release regarding the
award of these funds. Ms. Greene indicated that was not usually done for this type of grant, but
Councilwoman Saul-Sena stated that the CAC could issue a release if they wished. CAC members
collectively created the wording for the press release. Ms. Duke announced more good news for the
future in that there will be a ten foot wide sidewalk where Landry s is currently located. The restaurant
will be going away to make room for new condos. Council Member Jonson related that every year
FDOT holds a series of public hearings at which time they solicit comments about their program of
work, and he was wondering if the CAC should submit a comment stating that, with regard to
completing the Trail and to complement the grant it has just received, there are some other
disconnects, particularly in the Rocky Point area, that deserve some treatment. Councilwoman SaulSena thought this is a great idea, and stated she would bring it up at the next MPO meeting, which will
be this coming Monday. She asked if the CAC would like to state this officially so she can present it
as consensus of the group. Council Member Jonson asked if there was motion to that effect. Ms.
Duke indicated she would make the motion that the CAC submit written comments to the FDOT
public hearing with regards to improved bicycle/pedestrian accessibility along the Courtney Campbell.
The motion was seconded by Mr. Kurtz and passed unanimously.
New Business:
3.
Review Goals & Objectives to set priorities for 2007
Councilwoman Saul-Sena asked who the designated person was from the Pinellas County MPO.
Susan Miller stated it is Commissioner Karen Seel whose designated attendant is Brian Smith, the
Executive Director, and she (Ms. Miller) is his designated attendant. Councilwoman Saul-Sena
referred to Goal 1, a., i., which is, $Strategy - Work with the two County Metropolitan Planning
Organizations to adopt policies to maintain the historic character of the roadway without impacting the
function of the roadway.# She feels this is an easy task to complete, since they are currently working
on plan updates, and she asked Ms. Miller to convey to Commissioner Seel that she will work the
Hillsborough side of the Bay if Commissioner Seel will do likewise in Pinellas County. She also
pointed out that Goal 2, a., i. has been accomplished, which is the installation of a traffic signal at the
Clearwater Christian College entrance and the western beach area.
Mr. Palozzi referred to Goal 4: Education, b. Objective: Develop a Scenic Highway education
program. With regard to the interpretive pamphlet, he expressed the belief that this is something the
CAC needs to continue to work toward because all of the other designated Scenic Highways in the
state have some form of pamphlet to be used as a handout. While the CCSH has a preliminary one,
the desire of the group has been to be certain each member is comfortable with it and then have it
nicely printed. Council Member Jonson indicated the pamphlets should be available at the welcome
station and also at hotels in the area. Councilwoman Saul-Sena suggested asking the Aviation
Authority for assistance and stated that she would call a contact person there. Council Member
Jonson mentioned an advertising firm in Clearwater which resides in a six-story building that
overlooks the Causeway and he agreed to contact them as well.
Mr. Palozzi again referred to Goal 4: Education, e. Objective: Maintain an archive of Courtney
Campbell Scenic Highway information. He suggested collecting some of the old photos and posting
them to the website. Council Member Jonson stated those photos are on the website. He mentioned
that the City of Clearwater is attempting to do a “story core” history project for Clearwater. This could
include stories related to the Causeway. Mr. Palozzi stated that if you go to the Scenic Highway site
that Central Office maintains and look at the other scenic highways around the state, none of them
have a picture/history log. He thought the old photos of the Courtney Campbell along with a video
sound log would be a great way to present the history of the corridor. Councilwoman Saul-Sena
stated she is working on the same project for the City of Tampa. She calls it $Virtual Tours,# and she
hopes to do it for neighborhoods, the Hillsborough River and also for the Courtney Campbell. They
are using the City of Tampa s home page on its website as the launching point. She realized she
needed help, so she has enlisted the help of some USF anthropology students who have computer
skills. Mr. Kurtz mentioned that Jan Platt had some very pleasant insights from when she was young,
and he suggested contacting her.
Mr. Palozzi stated that the CAC needs to set goals for the coming year, so he suggested that
everyone think about what needs to be done and come to the next meeting with ideas and
suggestions to set the work program. Council Member Jonson recommended that the group pick a
few smaller things, do them well and get them finished. He feels the pamphlet and history of the
Causeway are worthwhile, but that the CAC also needs to get out and recruit sponsors.
Councilwoman Saul-Sena asked if they could get a bird representative on the CAC. Ms. Duke replied
that as part of the scenic highway grant application, the Audubon Society came out and did an
assessment, providing the CAC with a list of avian species. She also mentioned another long-term
item identified at the last meeting that the committee wanted to discuss with FDOT is the long-term
condition of the maintenance service roads. Harvey Hunt had suggested the CAC may want to
consider applying for STP funds.
Miscellaneous:
4. Hillsborough County Representative to the CCSH CAC will be Rose Ferlita and she will be
represented at the meetings by Della Curry. The group decided to make sure that former
Hillsborough County representative to the CCSH CAC, and now Congresswoman, Kathy Castor is
aware of the $400,000 grant.
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5. The group decided to meet every other month on the 3 Friday of the month. Ms. White will ask
members for a time preference of either 10:00 a.m. or 12:00 noon.
Next Scheduled Meeting:
January 19, 2007