By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor

The Osceola County Commission Monday delayed approving an audit to review right of way acquisitions over the last year or two, agreeing to discuss the possible scope of the work at a workshop April 25.

The issue surfaced last year when commissioners questioned the cost of acquiring right of way for the Narcoossee Road and other projects. Commissioners also questioned the policies in place to monitor and track the purchases.

County Manager Don Fisher said new policies have been put in place, a new manual on the process has been written and that he is now ultimately accountable for acquisitions.

“There was an unprecedented schedule to acquire right of way – a super-accelerated time frame,” Fisher said, referring to the county's push several years ago to get road projects started and completed faster due to increasing congestion brought on by growth.

Fisher said that in some cases, the usual time of 120 days for acquisition was cut to 60. He also said the county had put in its budget a cost of $6 per square foot for right of way but that the amount should have been closer to $14.50, to reflect all costs involved, such as litigation.

New polices and procedures were presented to the board and approved in January,” Fisher said.

Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr. said he could not support spending additional money – perhaps  $50,000 or more – on what he said was a problem that had been fixed.

“I think staff and the county attorney looked at this and put procedures in place; I just don't want to put us further in the hole (on right of way costs),” Hawkins said. “We have to trust in our staff that checks and balances have been put in place.”

Hawkins referred to the efforts of some fellow commissioners to audit what happened a “witch hunt.”

Commissioner Michael Harford said the staff had done an “excellent job” in looking at what happened that there were millions of dollars of cost overruns for right of way purchases.

“For me, I'd like someone from the outside to look at this and say we are now right on track,” Harford said. “We spend money on this kind of work all the time.”

Commissioner John Quiñones said it is important “to see what led to the problem.” Quiñones last December cited high acquisition costs as part of his reason to vote to dismiss former County Attorney Jo Thacker.

“I disagree that you just sweep problems under the rug,” he said. “That's not what taxpayers expect of us. Some remedial measures have been undertaken but that doesn't resolve the overspending.”

Quiñones recommended the audit look specifically at the Narcoossee Road improvement project, where acquisition costs were the highest.

Hawkins then responded to one of Quiñones' comments.

“To me, it is about the additional cost, not about sweeping anything under the rug,” he said.

Commission Chairman Brandon Arrington said the county, when pursuing its accelerated road-building program, created a budget that did not reflect the true cost of right of way acquisition.

Under the new procedures for acquiring right of way, the county manager and county engineer would be part of the six-person team that also would include the Public Works administrator, an appraiser and the acquisition agent. A manual on the new procedures establishes a standard way of acquiring rights of way and how to foster ideas to lower construction and acquisition costs as well as finding eligible state funding and leaving valuable property on the tax rolls.

Fisher earlier said his monthly county manager report, which is made available to the public, would include information on mitigation and right of way acquisition in addition to construction scheduling.

The county has received eight letters of interest from firms for the audit.

Redistricting committee

Also on Monday, the commission established a redistricting advisory committee to redraw commission districts reflecting the 2010 census.

The intent of redistricting is to keep the five commission districts contiguous, as nearly equal to the population as practicable, and take into consideration the demographics of the county, the geography of the neighborhoods and the existing precinct lines.

The commission intends to adopt the redistricting plan for Osceola County prior to July 5.

The committee will be comprised of 10 at large positions. Each commissioner will select two members, one member in each of two phases. The first phase will begin with district 1, and continue in order thereafter through district 5.

Prior to the start of the second phase of selections, the commission will discuss which racial and gender classifications are lacking representation on the committee, so as to ensure that an accurate breakdown of the population in Osceola County will be reflected through the membership of the committee.

Once the committee is impaneled, the entire slate will be selected by a majority vote. If a majority vote is not received, the commissioners must discuss the issues barring approval of the current slate. Any commissioner wishing to adjust his or her previous selection, based on those discussions, may do so. Regardless of any changes, the entire slate must be adopted by a majority vote.

Committee meetings, which would be open to the public, will be held at 6 p.m. on each Tuesday beginning May 3 in the County Administration Building, 1 Courthouse Square, Kissimmee. The agenda for each meeting will include a “hear-the-audience" section.