491 history is fraught with peril

Hey, it’s Wednesday! A little bit of this, a little bit of that:

— The County Commission will get proposals from consultants to do the design work and buy right of way for the C.R. 491 widening between Pine Ridge and Hampshire boulevards.

Commissioner Janet Barek, whose district this project is in, brought up what I mentioned a few weeks ago. It makes zero sense to stop this project at Hampshire when another mile or so up the road gets us to Deltona Boulevard, an entrance into a growing area of Citrus Springs.

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Her suggestion went nowhere. It’s more expensive. Twice as much. Well, no kidding. It’s twice the distance.

Then, not 10 minutes later, Commissioner Jeff Kinnard — who poo-pooed Barek’s idea because of the cost — mentioned that all the bigwigs in Tallahassee last week were sure to tell Citrus County to get all its major transportation work out of the way right now because it’s going to get much more expensive in the near future.

So, dumb question: If it’s going to be much more expensive later, and we know that the road widening will continue past Hampshire eventually, why not start planning it now?

See, the 491 stuff is on my radar because its history is filled with expensive, questionable board decisions. Today’s photo is part of the C.R. 491 widening near S.R. 44. We purposely extended two streets, part of an over-reaching medical corridor plan that failed with little public support. These streets go nowhere. They serve no public purpose.

I can detail the sorry political history of this road that started well before this board. It'd take more than 700 words. So, yeah, it has my attention.

Logic says this next stretch of 491 widening should go to Deltona. The County Commission is crying poor. Something doesn’t add up.

— The Cardinal Street interchange plan received unanimous approval. Barek and Chair Diana Finegan weren’t crazy about the idea, but they went along with it because there really was no reason not to.

Only one citizen spoke up. A businessman who lives on Cardinal said he’d like to see the area brighten up. Everyone else is growing economically in Citrus County, why not us? 

I get it. I drive out to Cardinal and see a slice of Citrus County that’s disappearing. The locals may view it much differently.

Reminds me of the turnpike extension talk. Every county said absolutely not except Madison County, which didn’t care about the infringement because its citizens needed the jobs that an expressway would bring.

Time will tell whether this ruins Cardinal or revitalizes it.

— I’m conducting a fair amount of research for a Betz Farm blog, which I’m hoping to turn around in the next few days.

But, my goodness, citizens have quickly caught the irony of the County Commission looking at a land-conservation program while AT THE SAME TIME giving away valuable public property that offers the same purpose.

Yes, the county is “selling” the Betz Farm property to a developer who wants to do what developers do. I’ll get into this later, but we’re pretty much looking at one of the biggest rip-offs that Citrus County citizens have ever seen. This deal goes down, we will regret it forever.

It’s astounding that the county can be serious about a land-conservation program, while at the same time, gifting Betz Farm to a developer for more rooftops. Does the County Commission not recognize that citizens are fed up? How can the board be so tone deaf?

— I watched Tuesday’s board meeting in the cozy comfort of World Headquarters III. Not my first choice, but it’s OK on occasion.

Man, I NEVER missed meetings in person. In fact, ask any politician of the last 30 years and they’ll tell you what a pain I am about candidates attending board meetings.

Candidates tell me they watch the meetings online or catch a video the next day. Sorry, that doesn't cut it. Candidates for County Commission and School Board should attend meetings in person from start to finish — just as they will if elected.

Candidates who don’t attend board meetings have no clue about the physical and mental toll it takes to sit there for hours at a time before the citizens they serve. I’ve seen good candidates be poor commissioners because they struggle in the meeting itself.

That’s it for this Wednesday. Have a great one, friends.

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