Residents of Jefferson Avenue in Century can breathe a sigh of relief now that the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has decided to allow Florida Public Utilities (FPU) to install a gas pipeline under the sidewalk on Highway 29, following their original plan, instead of detouring through residential Jefferson Avenue.
At a public meeting held Thursday, March 8, at Century Town Hall, representatives of FPU met with the Century Town Council, Mayor Henry Hawkins, residents of Jefferson Avenue and others to discuss the proposed installation, addressing concerns that citizens had about a gas pipeline in their neighborhood, including how it would affect property values, safety and other issues.
No decision was made, but another meeting was scheduled for the following Thursday, March 15, at 7 p.m. to give Jefferson Avenue and other Century residents a chance to be heard. That second meeting was cancelled after an agreement was reached between FPU and FDOT to allow the pipeline to be installed underneath the sidewalk along Highway 29, the original route.
According to Ian Satter, spokesperson with the FDOT, the original plan involved a lot of permitting and impacting the community roadway, so FPU explored rerouting down Jefferson Avenue. Several days after the first town hall meeting, FDOT met with FPU to discuss installing the pipeline under the sidewalk on Highway 29.
“They'll have to submit a plan that will have least amount of impact as possible,” said Satter. “They'll have to get it permitted through FDOT. I spoke to a permits person and they are looking at that information now. We decided that was the best course of action for the work that has to be done.”
“I'm glad they had worked it out with FDOT,” said Century Mayor Hawkins. “They decided to go down Highway 29, keeping the original plan in place.”
