Tampa: Water
Issues
By Stacie Kress Booker
Florida Trend Archives
- APRIL 2000 ISSUE
Tampa Bay
Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk counties
When
it comes to the issue of water, Tampa wears a regional
hat these days. Faced with mandated stoppage of
groundwater pumping and the prospect of a water
shortage that the Southwest Florida Water Management
District says will hit the entire region in 2003,
Tampa has little choice but to act regionally.
Groundwater pumping in northern
Hillsborough and Pasco counties over the years has
caused significant environmental damage. Tampa Bay
Water, the governance board comprised of
representatives from Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas
counties, as well as the cities of Tampa, New Port
Richey and St. Petersburg, has the task of identifying
and bringing new water sources online. It has three
projects slated to begin over the next two years:
• An Enhanced Surface Water System
involving the Tampa Bypass Canal, the Hillsborough
River and construction of a reservoir — a first for
the region — in southern Hillsborough County.
• New groundwater wells in
Brandon.
• A seawater desalination facility
at TECO’s Big Bend plant on Tampa Bay.
Tampa/Hillsborough will host all
three projects; it has the natural water resources its
neighbors do not. And Tampa also will reap the
lion’s share of economic impact from the projects,
which combined involve more than $600 million in
capital investment and the creation of more than 350
jobs during construction phases. The desalination
plant alone will add $10 million to $24 million
annually to the Tampa Bay economy.
The Greater Tampa Chamber of
Commerce has put its weight behind Tampa Bay Water.
The city is making available federal funds from an
existing grant for the development of alternative
water sources, which will be used to help finance the
reservoir project. David Oellerich, president and CEO
of Tampa-based Mathews Construction and chairman of
the chamber’s water task force, says Tampa’s
business community understands the ramifications of a
water shortage, from strangling real estate
development to scaring away potential business
relocations. As a strong growth center, Tampa can’t
afford not to take a regional stance. Says Oellerich:
“Just imagine the negative effect of having the
stigma on our local community of not having enough
water.’’
People to Watch
Jack Wilson, president and founder
of real estate development firm The Wilson Co.,
continues to run with the city’s movers and shakers.
A past chairman of the Greater Tampa Chamber of
Commerce, he’s charged by the chamber with two key
tasks this year: coordinating the city’s hosting of
the 2001 Super Bowl and spearheading the search
committee for a new chamber president.
Hillsborough County administrator
Dan Kleman is credited with forming a citizen’s
panel, the Committee of 99, which came up with
recommendations for the transit needs of
Tampa/Hillsborough County. He now faces the task of
moving the recommendations through an unfriendly board
of county commissioners.
Businesses to Watch
Intermedia Communications, a
communication services firm, started the year with a
financial vote of confidence from industry and
investment powerhouses. New York City-based Kohlberg
Kravis Roberts & Co. will invest $200 million to
support expansion of Intermedia’s services.
Microsoft and Compaq are each investing $50 million in
Intermedia’s web-hosting subsidiary, Digex. The
company will also move into new headquarters in
Tampa’s Highwoods Preserve office park.
Tampa Electric is recovering from a
rough year that included a deadly explosion at one of
its plants and a federal lawsuit that gave credence to
its long-fought moniker as one of Florida’s worst
polluters. The lawsuit alleging the company failed to
install sufficient pollution control devices at its
coal-fired plants was recently settled. The deal:
Tampa Electric must pay a $3.5-million fine for
breaking the law, spend $1 billion to clean up its Big
Bend and Gannon plants and pay for environmental
damage, and adhere to strict deadlines. The federal
deal supercedes an earlier agreement with the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection calling for the
cleanup, but which imposed no fines.
Affordability
Butting up to tony Bayshore
Boulevard is south Tampa’s most-in-demand
neighborhood, Hyde Park, where three bedroom, two-bath
homes start at a minimum of $250,000 if you can find
one for sale. Realtors say they go fast. This is
pushing prospective homebuyers into north Tampa, where
you can get more home for your money, but you lose the
prestigious address and proximity to downtown and
increase your commute. The median price for a
three-bedroom, two-bath house is $250,000 in south
Tampa and $175,000 in north Tampa. Monthly rent for a
two-bedroom apartment averages $1,075 to $1,282.
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