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Hernando Today

Revitalization Plan Ordered For South Brooksville

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: January 14, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - County Administrator David Hamilton has asked staffers to prepare a revitalization plan for South Brooksville that could include proposed improvements to area streets, sewers, ditches and other infrastructure.

He has also asked the county attorney's office to examine why a previous court-ordered revitalization plan - filed in the late 1970s - was never acted upon.

The request comes after last week's Community Initiative Team (CIT) meeting when businessman Paul Douglas announced that, with the exception of Community Development Block Grants, the county or city has not spent any money on revitalization efforts in South Brooksville for the last 10 years.

Douglas said a revitalization plan was completed in 1981 that showed planned improvements in that community's water and sewer system, street lighting, sidewalks and housing.

But for whatever reason, Douglas said the county never acted on the plan.

Hamilton has asked County Engineer Charles Mixson to look at the 1981 plan and report back to the CIT at next month's meeting.

Hamilton also asked the county legal office to look into a possible lawsuit involving either the county or city and the government's failure to follow through on that plan. If so, he wants to know if a court order from so long ago would still carry any legal weight.
Assistant County Attorney Erica Moore said Tuesday she is still looking into the matter. However, from her early research, it appears there was some indication that the NAACP sued the city of Brooksville.

Burnett: 'I'm Not Going To Give Up'

Former Brooksville Vice Mayor Frankie Burnett said not only was there a lawsuit, he was the one that initiated it.

He also plans to make sure the county and city follow through on efforts to revitalize South Brooksville.

"I'm not going to give up on this," said Burnett, who is a member of the South Brooksville Redevelopment Inc. "I will die trying to get it right."

Burnett said he was the one back in 1978 that persuaded the NAACP to file a lawsuit because a lack of revitalization efforts in South Brooksville posed a health and safety issue for residents there.

Before the lawsuit was filed, the county and city got together and the city of Brooksville - for reasons still being researched - decided it would take on the lawsuit, he said.

Burnett said the lawsuit was filed in Tampa's federal court against the city. The court then ordered the city to revitalize the area, he said.

Brooksville officials hired Coastal Engineering to come up with a revitalization plan, which came out around 1981, Burnett said.

But the plan was never acted upon, he said.

Burnett believes that the original court order is still active.

"It is my opinion that once you have a court order, it is not satisfied until it is done," Burnett said.

Burnett stressed he wants to see revitalization efforts done throughout the county but is beginning with South Brooksville because it is in worse shape than other areas.

Douglas: Where Did The Money Go?

Douglas backed up Burnett's chronology of events regarding the revitalization project that never got off the ground.

According to Douglas, the city of Brooksville received about $2.3 million in Community Development Block Grants money to help pay for the needed projects.

But he said less than 10 percent of that money actually went into those efforts over a period of two to four years.

"The rest of it? Nobody knows where it went to," said Douglas, a managing member of The Burnhardt Group, a locally based limited liability company which provides public-private funds to the county to help with projects.

As for why the city agreed to take on the lawsuit, "it was more advantageous for the city to take on the suit as a defendant because they were more in a position to adhere to the judge's order of revitalization," he said.

Douglas praises Hamilton for taking the reins of this project. It all stems from Hamilton's walk through South Brooksville this past summer and actually seeing the faulty ditch system and the conditions many residents are forced to live in, he said.

"(He) was really upset with what he saw there," Douglas said. "At that point, he took it to the county commissioners and asked them to approve an effort to come up with a revitalization plan."

That led to the formation of the CIT, which meets monthly to address areas of concern in that community.

Gene Manuel, former president of Coastal Engineering Associates, said the city of Brooksville hired his firm in the late 1970s to draw up a revitalization plan and that the money to design the plan was paid for out of the $2.3 million grant.

Although Manuel said he doesn't remember the specifics of the plan, he said any such revitalization effort would include suggestions to improve the drainage, water and sewer systems.

Manuel said he does remember his firm doing some drainage improvements but never finished the job because the scope of work cited by the city would not cover the cost.

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

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