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Hernando Today

DPW Home Purchases Called Smart Legal Move

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: February 13, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - Local businessman Paul Douglas said Thursday the county's purchase of two properties next to the former Department of Public Works depot is a smart legal maneuver that should have been done long ago.

It not only gets the county off the hook in case anyone sues, but it also gets a jump start on final cleanup of the site, he said.

On Wednesday, county commissioners voted 5-0 to spend $130,000 and buy a single-family home and a vacant lot located on the southeast corner of the old DPW site, located on West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Assistant County Attorney Erica Moore told commissioners she will likely be back with a request for a third purchase.

That's a good start but it shouldn't stop there, Douglas said. He believes the county needs to seriously consider buying more properties along A Street.

It's obvious that the contamination did not stop at the DPW fence line and seeped into nearby yards, said Douglas, who is managing member of the Burnhardt Group LLC.

Douglas said he is willing to create a limited liability company that would fund revitalization efforts in South Brooksville, which encompasses the old DPW area.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) had informally suggested to the county that purchasing property adjacent to the contaminated former public works depot in Brooksville would show good faith in starting to resolve neighborhood issues.

The DEP also believes the purchases would lower remediation costs when the push for final site cleanup begins.

DEP Spokeswoman Pamala Vazquez said her department doesn't have regulatory authority to tell Hernando County to buy properties near the DPW site.

However, she said that option had been discussed because it removes a potential hurdle.

If county officials have to do more testing on those properties, they don't have to obtain homeowners' permission and slow the process, she said.

Vazquez said there is no timeline for final cleanup, but she believes the county is serious about getting this site remediated as soon as possible.

The DEP mandated that Hernando County start doing environmental soil testing and site remediation at the old DPW site since contamination was first detected there more than 17 years ago.

The state suggested the purchases "since acceptable soil levels differ for on-site (versus) off-site property," according to a county staff memo.

The property owners, Essie Mae Holmes and Sandra Holmes, have agreed to release the county from any future personal injury claims arising from the old DPW site.

The $130,000 will come out of an account set up for the cleanup of the compound. The combined 2008 value of the home and vacant property is $52,663, according to county tax rolls.

"The purchase price is just a small portion of the amount spent on soil assessment for the old DPW site," according to a memo from Moore.

County Commissioner Jim Adkins said the county should not be in the home-buying business. However, seeing as how the county caused the contamination in the first place, he said he welcomes anything that will facilitate ending this problem.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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