County Negotiating with Arbitrator on Speed Humps Project

Whether you vociferously praise or complain about Carrollwood’s traffic calming project, the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners has heard your cries.

While Carrollwood Village's speed humps will soon undergo a facelift, we caught up with  Steve Valdez, Hillsborough County's public works spokesman, to get the latest information on the county’s response to the issue in Original Carrollwood.

Patch: What logistics or issues were addressed at the last county commissioner’s meeting regarding the speed humps in Original Carrollwood?

Valdez: The Board of County Commissioners voted to have the same, identical type of arbitration that Carrollwood Village had. That includes same arbitrator and same process.

Patch: What does the process entail and how much will it cost?

Valdez: We are negotiating with the arbitrator right now, so we don’t have a final cost. We are negotiating the identical package that we had for Carrollwood Village, which was to have the arbitrator do site inspections, analysis and so on. One public forum will allow citizens to come up one-at-a-time to express their concerns, whether it be about a specific device or the plan in general. Time will be limited based on the number of people present. We will be having it at Carrollwood Elementary School.

Patch: Do you know when the public forum be held?

Valdez: Not yet. We’re looking at March 24, right now but we haven’t got clearance with the arbitrator yet.

Patch: Do you know when the arbitrator will begin their work?

Valdez: We will have the arbitrator on board probably within the next week. What they will do at the meeting is, the arbitrator’s team usually brings two or three people with him. They will sit off to one side and they will not debate,  or discuss the issues with the public. They are just there to listen.

Patch: Does the public works department have a timeline for resolution?

Valdez: No, we’re still negotiating the contract. We’re certainly hoping to have it wrapped up by the end of April.

Patch: Is there anything else Carrollwood residents should know about this issue?

Valdez: The Board of County Commissioners made it extremely clear that once the arbitrator does his due diligence, has his meetings, listens to everybody, speaks to anybody that he has questions of after the meeting, goes back and re-looks at situations (the arbitrator will) come up with his written report that is a binding report.  Once the board accepts his recommendations, then those recommendations will be the final outcome. That will be the “compromise plan.” They also have to realize that these are just recommendations to the board. It is at their discretion, whether they accept that or not.