The departure of T.J. Fish as director of the Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization may not be enough to keep Sumter County officials from pursuing the agency’s dissolution.
Fish, who has directed the MPO since its founding more than a decade ago, signed a separation agreement on June 5 that requires his resignation effective Sept. 1.
Last month, Sumter County Board Chairman Doug Gilpin and County Administrator Bradley Arnold met with the governor’s staff to request dissolution of the transportation planning agency.
Instead, Gilpin proposed that the two counties join MetroPlan Orlando, the metropolitan planning organization for Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.
The Lake-Sumter MPO is the lead agency for regional transportation issues in Lake and Sumter counties, helping to allocate millions of dollars in road project dollars each year.
Sumter County officials have complained repeatedly over the past few months about the agency’s lack of improvement in solving its problems.
Last year, an internal audit questioned the MPO’s appropriate use of funds and found that employees were estimating rather than tracking time spent on grant activities. The Florida Department of Transportation also withheld some grant funds because of late or improperly submitted reports.
In a June 6 letter to Lake County Manager Jeff Cole, Arnold spelled out several requirements for Sumter County to remain in the organization.
Arnold said the agency’s governing board of about 25 members should be reduced to five voting members.
He also said the agency should operate independently of both counties. The MPO’s staff currently are Lake County employees.
“We value our relationship with Lake County and the restructuring of (the MPO) is the logical next step in growing our two-county area,” Arnold wrote. “We look forward to your partnership to salvage (the MPO) through the implementation of these conditions before pursuing the next executive director.”
Despite Arnold’s cooperative tone, Gilpin said he’s not convinced the MPO can be saved.
“I believe it’s a very viable solution for all of this to be rolled into MetroPlan Orlando,” he said, adding that the Orlando agency’s staff has the skills to operate effectively.
