Courtney Campbell Scenic Highway
Corridor Advocacy Group (CAG)
Minutes
Regular Meeting at
URS Corporation - Board Room
7650 W. Courtney Campbell Causeway
Tampa, Florida
June 25, 2004
10:30 a.m.
Attending:
Jane Burmer, URS Corporation
Chris Cook, Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful
Ron Gregory, URS Corporation
The Honorable Bill Jonson, City of Clearwater Councilman
Tim Kurtz, City of Clearwater
Mike Palozzi, FDOT/GEC (PBS&J)
Bill Sanders, Keep Pinellas Beautiful
The Honorable Linda Saul-Sena, City of Tampa Councilwoman
Gena Torres, Hillsborough County MPO
Jessica White, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
Councilman Bill Jonson, CCSH CAG Chair, called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m.
The minutes of the May 21, 2004 meeting were reviewed and approved with one addition. URS is working
on the design for the Westshore Pedestrian Plan for the Hillsborough MPO. Mr. Gregory stated if the
crosswalk across 60 from Shriners is going to be built, why doesn’t it get hooked up to the trail? Gena
Torres stated she will contact Mary Helen Duke and Felicia Leonard to work on producing two letters to
FDOT–one from Pinellas and the other from Hillsborough focusing on the specifics of each side by linking
the small, but crucial gaps in the trail system into their routine maintenance plans.
Councilman Jonson stated that Felicia Leonard would like to receive meeting notices about upcoming
CAG meetings. Councilwoman Saul-Sena said she would like to see Mary Helen Duke added to the
meeting notification list as well.
Old Business:
Status of Designation Application
Mr. Palozzi stated he has submitted the Designation Application to the FDOT Central Office for
their pre-draft review and comments. He has since received comments back from both the
Central and District 7 offices.
FDOT District 7 Comments
Most of the comments from the District 7 office were grammatical edits which are easily corrected.
There were a few issues in our Goals, Objectives and Strategies that were brought up. Under
Goal 1. Resource Protection - Support the Protection of the Environmental Resources of the
Causeway; Objective a. Retain the current physical cross sectional character of the Causeway
reminiscent of its historic origin: The district is encouraging us to rethink or rewrite that statement.
Replace with “retain the visual character of the Causeway, including the landscaping and the trail.”
Under Objective c. Maintain the natural environment of the Causeway; Strategy i: Partner with
local environmental advocates to support the bird populations of special concerns along the
Causeway by identifying current nesting areas, supporting population counts, enhancing habitat,
and installing signage to protect nesting areas: District 7 says we need to make sure “enhancing
habitat” would not encourage road-kills. Mr. Kurtz suggested replacing “enhance” with “protect.”
Under the same Goal; Resource Protection, Strategy iii; Monitor local municipalities efforts to
identify sites for additional trash container sites along the Causeway and ensure that they are kept
in good repair and emptied frequently enough to ensure that debris is not overflowing from them:
Mr. Palozzi ask “who is responsible for emptying the containers?” The response was the local
governments.
Under Goal 2. Objective c. Investigate alternative designs or adaptations for the guardrail and
bridge abutments to be more consistent with the original historic character of the Causeway. The
District wants to know if there are crash testing issues associated with whatever we visualize
those enhancements or adaptions to be. Ms. Burmer stated there are plenty of ASHTO-tested
guardrails that would be acceptable.
FDOT Central Office Comments:
Comment #12 - Relationship to the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Palozzi stated there is a
requirement in the guidelines for Scenic Highways that states the Scenic Highway needs to tie into
the local government comp plans. In our case that would be 4 comp plans, Pinellas, Clearwater,
Hillsborough, and Tampa. There needs to be specific reference to the Scenic Highway and must
include: a map displaying the Scenic Highway Corridor; the Corridor Vision statement; the Goals,
Objectives, and Strategies related to the specific local government. The guidelines in the manual
state inclusion in the comp plans needs to take place prior the Designation Application being
submitted/accepted. This is the way the SHAC prefers it to be carried out. However, if the CAG
is unable to get this accomplished prior to an application for designation, then the CMP should
include documentation stating that the local government comp plans will be amended to include
specific elements of the CMP, in the form of a signed Resolution from each local government.
The group agreed they would work with their Councils/Commissions to get a Resolution signed for
each local government. Mr. Palozzi stated he would revise the Goals to include the District’s
comments so they can be distributed to the local governments in time for the Resolution to be
included on their agendas.
Damascus Beach Traffic Signal
Mr. Kurtz stated construction is underway. Because of the lead time to get the mast arms to
install at the intersection they went ahead and awarded the contract. The contractor has graded
in the aprons, and will take care of the guard rail modifications; will set the foundations for the
mast arms and run all the conduit. In November they will set the mast arms, energize it, then
complete the striping and final signalization.
The crosswalk will be at Damascus on the westside of the intersection.
Brochure
Mr. Sanders shared the brochure of Clam Bayou with the group. It includes a map of the area,
a long with historical and environmental information. Brenda Geoghagen, Aviation Authority,
stated they are willing to assist with the brochure and would like to set a meeting to discuss the
concept. She asked if we had seen any examples from other Scenic Highway programs. Mr.
Palozzi stated he would request some copies from the Central Office. The group recommended
trying to fund the brochure through a SWFWMD grant or through a Bay Mini-Grant from the
Tampa Bay Estuary Program.
Sponsorships
Councilman Jonson stated the CAG needs to find some sponsors to help pay for the support
given by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council serving as the Corridor Management Entity.
Councilman Jonson asked if anyone would be interested in helping find some sponsors by
approaching companies like Trammel Crowe, Bahama Breeze, the Radisson, Landry’s, and the
Hyatt.
His idea is to add sponsorship categories that can be added to the brochure. The group
suggested having the Westshore Alliance approach some of their members, and on the Pinellasside ask Katie Cole to help identify prospective Pinellas companies, and help with contacting
them. Councilman Saul-Sena asked how much money is needed. Councilman Jonson stated
$1,000 per month.
Councilwoman Saul-Sena agreed to discuss the sponsorship process with Ron Rotella and Susan
Chiellini of the Westshore Alliance.
Designation Celebration
Councilwoman Saul-Sena asked when the event should take place. The group agreed October or
later to allow time for the application to be reviewed; for the resolutions to be submitted; for the
brochure to be developed, and for some cooler weather to set in for the outdoor event.
Next Scheduled Meeting:
Meeting adjourned 11:45 a.m.
Friday, August 27, 2004 at 10:00 a.m.