On Jan. 24th’s consent agenda, TreeUmph!’s landlord waiver needed to be approved by the board in order to move forward with financing for the project. The item was pulled from the agenda for discussion so that Valerie Pianta, Manager of Economic Development, could give some details about how the project is going.
“TreeUmph!” is a zipline recreational facility and one is currently in operation in Brandenton, FL. TreeUmph! will be constructing another facility in Hernando County with the help of an incentive package approved by the BOCC in 2015. The TreeUmph! adventure park will be constructed on a 46 acre property on Cedar Lane, 6 miles west of I75/SR50 Intersection.
Pianta explained that to date contractors have been selected. Daniel Construction will be doing civil site work and Palmwood Construction will handle building construction.
There has been several rounds with SWFWMD. They just received back some additional comments and changes so they had to re-submit documents to the building department. All building permits have been approved. They are awaiting the final site development plan. The well has been drilled and tested. The water passed all drinking water qualifications. The design of lines has been completed by Duke Energy and will be coordinating with Mike Daniels. Their goal is to begin construction of the building and the “TreeUmph!” facility in February and be open by Summer 2017.
Regarding their incentive, Pianta stated that the county has allowed them up to $650,000 and to date the county has paid out $103,570 for work that was completed. Within the requirement of the agreement there was a surety bond that would be issued. At this time, they do not have a surety bond in place because they haven’t been given money for work that hasn’t been completed yet. So there’s nothing to insure at this point. Should that change, TreeUmph! is aware they would have to provide a surety bond.
They hope by next week the SWFWMD permit will be issued.
Shirley Miketinac asked for clarification regarding the $4000 per month contractual lease payment set to begin 3/26/2017. County representatives affirmed that the $4000 per month payment will begin at that time (two years after the lease came into effect). After TreeUmph! repays the $650,000 in incentive money via its lease, they will be able to purchase the land, appraised at $306,447, for $100.