Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Brooksville council approves repaving of Tremont Street, accepts Hernando Park and adopts several local ordinances
Summary
Council approved adding Tremont Street to the FY '24 repaving contract, accepted conveyance of Hernando Park from Hernando County, and adopted ordinances on chickens and a ban on public camping; residents pressed for better paving oversight and protections for mobile-home park tenants.
The Brooksville City Council on Sept. 16 approved several administrative and local actions, including repaving Tremont Street, taking ownership of Hernando Park, and adopting ordinances on backyard chickens and public camping.
Repaving and drainage: Council approved adding Tremont Street to the FY '24 road-repaving contract for $41,544.09, keeping the contract total under the $600,000 allocation. Public works director Richard Weeks said about 80% of Tremont's surface is road base, rock and dirt, causing frequent washouts and blocking storm drains; he also identified Tremont as carrying stormwater from South Brooksville Avenue and Oak Park Avenue. Residents including Bob Catlin and Jack Thomas urged the city to supervise paving work closely and consider curb repairs in Oak Park where prior paving showed early cracking.
Hernando Park conveyance: Council accepted conveyance of Hernando Park and associated facilities from Hernando County and approved related leases with Brooksville Main Street and tourism partners. The manager said combined annual base revenue is about $16,450, with additional facility rentals expected.
Other votes at a glance: Council approved the consent agenda (4-0); adopted Ordinance 9-77 (chicken regulations) permitting up to five hens on single- and two-family lots with coop-size and setback limits (4-0); and adopted Ordinance 9-87 to implement state law restricting public camping/sleeping on public property (4-0). A rezoning request (Ordinance 9-82) was approved to move forward to second reading Oct. 7 after council action.
Public comment highlights: Linda Grass described steep lot-rent increases and difficulties for seniors in a recently sold mobile-home park and asked council to remember mobile-home residents in policy decisions. Multiple developers and buyers asked for certainty on utility service agreements and requested staff expedite a standardized agreement so projects with bank financing can proceed when capacity becomes available.
The council recessed routine business to focus on implementation details for the wastewater moratorium and other items; all recorded roll-call votes in the evening were unanimous (4-0).
What happens next: Staff will obtain quotes for any curb repairs requested for Oak Park, proceed with Tremont repaving under contractor supervision, implement leases and programming for Hernando Park, and bring back materials as needed for ordinance implementation and continued wastewater-related actions.
