North Palm River is a low-income, unincorporated area of Hillsborough County that falls within the City of Tampa water service area, but service lines were never extended there. Residents in the area lacked access to clean drinking water for decades. In 2016, Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa entered into an agreement that enabled the county to extend municipal service to 357 properties. Hillsborough County brought on Dialogue Public Relations to engage the community and facilitate municipal hook-ups.

Dialogue worked closely with Hillsborough County to conduct several small group briefings with local community groups, churches, schools and others to introduce the project concept, listen, and gain an understanding of stakeholder concerns and questions before the program roll-out.

Dialogue developed materials to inform and engage the community and address concerns, including a project fact sheet, frequently asked questions, brochure, direct mail postcards and construction-related information. All materials were produced in English and Spanish, distributed at meetings and made available at the local library, community outreach office and the County’s website. Dialogue worked closely with the County, its contractor, and the contractor’s public outreach consultant (Valerin Group) to host a community meeting and six events, where County staff members helped residents sign up for service.

The project team exceeded its overall goal of a 50 percent sign-up rate. As of May 2019, 88 percent (315 of 357) of eligible residential properties had signed up for service.

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