Bronson Councilman Robert Partin discusses his conversation with a toll road consultant at Tuesday’s council meeting.
By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Bronson Councilman Robert Partin surprised his fellow board members Tuesday when he said he had received a call from a senior consultant associated with the Suncoast Connector toll road, and while she made no shocking revelations to him about the road, it was a wakeup call for him as a city leader.
Partin said Andrea Garcia, senior project manager for Atkins Global, a well-known project management consultant, talked with him for 45 minutes about the Suncoast Connector project and made him realize that Bronson wasn’t ready for a road of that size if it were to come near the town.
He said Garcia didn’t reveal anything more than she did at the two Bronson Town Council meetings she attended before concern over the Coronavirus forced her to stop her visits, but Partin said he wanted to encourage his fellow board members to be proactive about the road rather than assuming it’s going to be built elsewhere, only to be told it’s coming toward Bronson.
Partin, in an interview with Spotlight Wednesday, said he neither favors nor opposes the toll road, but he wants the town to maintain a level of awareness about the project and plan for what could happen if it were built near Bronson. He said he watched Chiefland’s approach to the toll road project and while he thinks the city may have asked for twice as much as they are likely to get from the project, he agreed with Chiefland’s proactive approach to preparing for the project and the growth that might result. Chiefland is asking the state to build a sewer plant and an industrial park if the toll road goes around the city. Partin said he is sort of coat-tailing on Chiefland’s approach.
“If that thing’s coming within 2 or 3 miles of Bronson and that very well could be on the west side of Bronson; if you’re trying to do the most common-sense route, from point A to point B is a straight line from here to where they want to go at I-10; going from Lecanto (in Citrus County) to just west of Bronson is a straight line,” Partin said. “A Canadian bought all this land out here between Gulf Hammock down to Goethe (State Forest) all the way to Chiefland, so they’re going to be dealing with one person.”
He was referring to Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach, one of Levy County’s largest landowners. The Suncoast Parkway toll road extends from the Veterans Expressway in Tampa to State Road 44 in Citrus County at Lecanto. The state is proposing to extend the Suncoast Parkway north to Jefferson County. The new stretch of toll road would be called the Suncoast Connector. The state is also planning to construct a second toll road known as the Northern Turnpike Connector from Wildwood to southern Levy County. The Northern Turnpike Connector would intersect with the Suncoast Connector. Partin said the toll road is going pass through Levy County; the question is where.
“We know it’s going through Levy County; where else is it going to go? If you go north from Lecanto, you have to go through Levy County,” Partin said. “Either way it’s going to impact us.”
Many years ago Partin said he lived near what is now the Spring Hill exit on the Veterans Expressway near Tampa. He said prior to the Expressway being constructed, the area was undeveloped. Today the area is a bustling economic hub the size of Chiefland, “all because of that road coming through.”
“So you’re talking about building infrastructure the size of Chiefland, possibly overnight, two to three miles from Bronson and then you expect us to handle the water and sewer and all that other stuff in that short period of time. It’s just not feasible,” Partin said. “First of all we don’t have the money to do it. We have to be proactive about it. That’s what I’m saying. We got to meet with these people. They got to be able to tell us what to do. First we need to determine where it’s going to go. If it’s not going to come this way, tell us and we won’t be having these problems and discussions.”
Partin said the state has already decided to build the toll road. The governor has signed it into law and the Florida Legislature has funded it. He said the state will build the road.
“Levy County can vote until their eyes are crossed saying they don’t want this thing. That don’t mean nothing. They (the state) already voted and allocated the funds to build it. It’s going to happen. That’s what the word eminent domain means.” He was referring to the Levy County Commission’s 3-2 vote on a resolution urging the state not to build the toll road anywhere in Levy County.
Eminent domain means the right of government to take land for public use and reimburse the owner for the property. Partin said he is all too familiar with eminent domain. He said the government condemned 2 ½ miles of his property for a national gas transmission line a few years ago. He said the state has the right to condemn land in Levy County for construction of the toll road.
“They just told us where it was going. We got paid handsomely. The monetary part of it I’m not complaining about, but that pipeline is not a highway. You can’t see it. The pipeline is underground. It looks like a long golf course out there. A highway is different. You can see it. You can hear it,” Partin said.
————————-
Town of Bronson Regular Meeting May 5, 2020; Posted May 6, 2020
