Integral piece

Yesterday, I attended the TBARTA meeting at Silverthorn. The Florida Legislature mandated that a comprehensive, regional master plan be formulated July 1, 2009. TBARTA was created on July 1, 2007, to carry out these mandates, with representatives from Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Hernando County presenters at this workshop including Ron Pianta and Dennis Dix from the Planning Department . Mike McHugh also gave a detailed presentation of the economy development impact, relating to transportation.

Although much of the information was already public record but it was interesting to hear the interaction between the panel participants which included Commissioners Rocco and Russell, along with many other guests. Pam Iorio, mayor of Tampa, was present along with Ronnie Duncan, Pinellas County Commissioner. Sonnie Vegara, citizen member representing Hernando County on the TBARTA board was also in attendance at this meeting.

This presentation was meant to highlight Hernando County's ability to link to the 7 county, TBARTA district in future, with a mass transit program. The panel listened to Mr. Dix's presentation about THE Bus which included routes, funding and tentative future plans. Mr. Pianta gave an overall view of the growth which included our comprehensive land use map and Mr. McHugh gave a detailed report of business development with the county

Just a hint to anyone who has not attended a local MPO meeting or workshop, THE Bus is an integral piece of the puzzle for the future Regional Master Plan which has been mandated by Florida Legislature, with TBARTA at the helm.