PASCO COUNTY BOCC MEETING
August 21, 2018 9.00 a.m.
Commissioners, You, made the decision to purchase Timber Oaks July of 2014 for $2.4 Million. You neglected to do a comprehensive due-diligence on the property. You did not do any Environmental Contamination Testing prior the purchase. When you finally did the testing, it was contaminated to the point of needing contamination remediation per the DEP. There have been 750 soil samples with arsenic alone. The County also did not request a Geotechnical Engineering Test until February 14, 2015. Had you done your due-diligence, you would have found that testing had been done April 2014 and would also have found out that there are 75 anomalous areas observed that could activate sinkholes. These major defects should have significantly reduced the purchase price. But this was not done until after the purchase. The only conclusion is that it did not bother the County, since you were strapping the costs unto the property owners to pay for this for 20 years.
The County contracted the H.W. Lochner Engineering and Inspection Services for $390,241.59 and then increased it by $72,389.06 for a total of $462,63065.
November 2016, The County has also contracted Ecological Consulting Solutions for the removal of Gopher Tortoises for $56,621.
I have been asking the County “who is paying for Timber Oaks Contamination Remediation” since July 2017. I was told to direct my inquiries to county Attorney Nicki Spirtos and my question went unanswered.
At the June 19, 2018 BOCC meeting, I asked again. I have since sent my question to county administrator Dan Biles. As of today, I have not received the answer to that simple question.
Now I am asking:
WHO IS PAYING FOR THE TIMBER OAKS contamination remediation?
WHO is paying for the tortoise removal?
Who is paying for the Engineering & Inspection of $462,630.65?
Very fair questions to ask my County government that is spending our Tax Dollars.
Diane Kobernick
