The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

B.C. Manion

Summer volunteer job helps teen chase bigger dreams

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At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much remotely related between a teenager’s ambition to work in forensic nursing and her volunteer role in the Mom/Baby Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North.

But, Sherika Edwards has a plan, and her volunteer stint at the hospital in Lutz figures into it.

The 17-year-old, from Lutz, said she’s always been interested in criminal justice and that other members of her family work in medical careers.

Sherika Edwards spent part of her summer vacation working as a volunteer at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North. She aspires to become a forensic nurse and said having the opportunity to work at a medical facility while she is still in high school was a valuable experience.
(B.C. Manion)

So, the idea of becoming a forensic nurse and tracing evidence to help bring justice to the victims of crime makes perfect sense to Edwards, entering her senior year at Steinbrenner High School.

She said she eagerly signed on when she had the chance to become a volunteer at the hospital, which enabled her to get some exposure to the life that goes on inside of a medical facility.

She wrapped up her summer commitment last week.

During her volunteer stint, she handled a variety of chores.

She answered call lights to find out what patients needed. Sometimes, they just wanted a snack, or a cup of juice or ice, which Edwards would get for them.

She also helped to organize file cabinets and to assemble information folders for patients at the hospital to deliver babies, or to have surgical procedures, Edwards said.

The types of information the patient receives depends on their needs, she explained.

Edwards also helped put together kits containing supplies that a patient might need.

One of the highpoints during her volunteer time at the hospital was having the opportunity to witness a live birth, she said.

Edwards said she was happy to pitch in.

“I like being able to help out the nurses with simple tasks,” she said.

Over the course of the summer Edwards earned 72 volunteer hours toward the community service hours she needs for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.

In addition to getting exposure to the variety of jobs that are done within the hospital, the volunteer work gives the youths a chance to be mentored by adults, said Tiffany Scalone, Media Relations Coordinator for St. Joseph’s Hospitals BayCare Health System.

“They’re learning about responsibility, commitment, things like that, as well,” Scalone said.

Edwards was among 21 participants at the hospital’s Volunteen program at St. Joseph’s Hospital–North over the summer. The program on that campus is open only to children of hospital employees at this point, but is expected to be expanded in the future, Scalone said.

Edwards’ mom, Dian Creighton, is a patient care technician in the medical/surgical unit at the hospital in Lutz.

The teen volunteers are well-received by patients and staff, Scalone said.

“All of the team members and the patients just love the Volunteens. They love the energy that they bring, and just the unique perspective that they have. Being fresh and go-getters,” Scalone said.

Edwards said she’s glad she did the volunteer work.

“I think it’s a good opportunity, especially if you want to be in the medical field,” said the young woman, who has not yet decided where she will study nursing.

Published August 8, 2018

Some call it St. Petersburg’s ‘oldest living museum’

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Birds chirp, as breezes stir through the trees.

Butterflies flutter about and people relax on shaded benches.

This sign, in the Sunken Gardens parking lot, invites passersby to visit the gardens and explore the beauty that awaits. (B.C. Manion)

There is beauty around every bend and there’s no clue, in this tranquil place, that busy Fourth Street North is less than a block away.

There’s plenty to take in at this botanical garden, which dates back more than a century.

Described by some as St. Petersburg’s “oldest living museum,” it boasts some of the region’s oldest tropical plants. It has cascading waterfalls, meandering paths, demonstration gardens, and more than 50,000 topical plants and flowers.

It provides a picturesque backdrop for weddings. It hosts a variety of horticultural and children’s programs. And, it is a frequent destination for school field trips.

You can get a nice close look at some parrots at Sunken Gardens

There’s a bench there, made of fossilized limestone rock, known as the Sunken Gardens Growing Stone. A nearby sign proclaims: “Legend has it that, ‘He who sits upon the ancient stone shall be granted tranquility, inner harmony and the talent to make things grow.’”

All kinds of people spend part of their day here at Sunken Gardens.

Moms push strollers, or walk along, clinging to a small child’s hand.

Friends chat as they make their way through.

If you want to see some gorgeous hibiscus blooms, a stop at Sunken Gardens will satisfy that desire.

Couples share the experience.

And, there are families and nature lovers, too.

Those who want to learn the identity of various plants and flowers can check out the informative signs, and if you have a camera or a smartphone, you’ll find plenty of photo ops, too.

Sunken Gardens got its start in 1903, when George Turner Sr., a plumber and avid gardener, purchased the site, which included a shallow lake that was 10 feet below sea level, according to published historic accounts. He drained the lake to form his private, sunken garden. He also planted papayas and citrus, along with exotic plants on the rich soil on his property.

Don’t just look around and look down at Sunken Gardens. Look up, too. It’ll help you appreciate the many splendors of nature’s grand designs.

By the 1920s, Turner had opened a nursery and began selling fruits, vegetables, roses and other plants. Visitors paid a nickel to stroll through the gardens.

In the fall of 1935, he fenced his garden and began charging a quarter for admission.

Over time, Sunken Gardens became a popular tourist attraction, luring more and more visitors. At one point, it was rated among Florida’s top 10 commercial attractions.

After Turner died in 1961, his sons Ralph and George Jr., took over Sunken Gardens. The attraction eventually was sold to the City of St. Petersburg.

Sunken Gardens has numerous special events during the year. To find out more, visit StPete.org/attractions/sunken_gardens.

Sunken Gardens
Where: 1825 Fourth St. N., St. Petersburg
When: Open Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 4:30 p.m.
Sunken Gardens is open on most holidays, except it is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
Cost: $10/Adults, $8/Seniors (62+), $4/Children (age 2-11). Parking is free.
Children’s Programs: Children’s classes are held on Saturdays beginning at 10:30 am. Location within Sunken Gardens is announced prior to the class date.
Info: (727) 551-3102

Revised August 9, 2018

Pay raises elusive in Pasco schools

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Pasco County school officials are still searching for ways to provide some sort of raise for district employees — although the prospect did not appear promising at a board meeting last week.

At the board’s July 24 meeting, numerous teachers and other support personnel took turns urging the Pasco School Board to make employee pay a budget priority.

The current budget proposal does not include pay raises for any district employees.

Christine Goddard, a Spanish teacher at Land O’ Lakes High School, urged the board to make salary increases a budget priority.

Pasco County School Board member Colleen Beaudoin

She loves teaching in the district, she said, but is disappointed that her salary hasn’t improved much in the past couple of years.

“You can’t put your students first, if you continue to put your teachers last, in budget considerations,” Goddard said.

Sue Jenkins, a bus driver who lives in New Port Richey, said she loves her job and the kids she drives, but has to work two jobs.

“I’m too old to work two jobs for very long, so please make us a consideration,” she said.

Cheryl Vinson, of Lutz, noted that Pasco’s pay is not keeping pace with its neighboring counties.

“At my school alone, we have lost seven teachers who have moved to go back to their home states of New York, of Ohio, have gone to other districts because they can’t afford to live in Pasco County anymore. I have numerous friends who work second jobs.”

Beth Vogel, of New Port Richey, who works as registrar for the district, urged board members to take another look at the pay rate for registrars. She said the starting pay for them is $9.25 an hour.

“Our pay does not reflect the work that we do,” Vogel said. Registrars have extensive responsibilities, handling massive amounts of confidential information.

“It’s an endless, endless task. We are not compensated for what we do,” Vogel said.

Don Peace, president of the United School Employees of Pasco, called for the union and school district to work together to seek solutions.

“I implore all of you to be creative and innovative in your thinking this year, as together we seek to provide meaningful salary adjustments for all employees,” Peace said.

“I would also like to ask for the district to consider forming a joint task force with USEP to investigate the possibility of a ballot initiative and to investigate the processes needed to accomplish that task.

“We should be partnering together to message our legislators both here in the district, who obviously have not been working for us, and also in Tallahassee, to implore changes to public school funding, and to educate the public on the need for properly funding public schools and programs,” Peace said.

School board members Colleen Beaudoin and Alison Crumbley responded to the speakers.

“Your pleas are not falling on deaf ears,” Beaudoin said.

“Every board member here, we did set our priorities months ago, and every one of us said that salaries is our priority,” she said.

“We all know that the quality of the people we want to keep is paramount, and it needs to be commensurate to the pay. We want the best people teaching our kids. We know people are leaving. I was heartbroken last week when somebody asked me for a reference to leave the county,” she added.

“I’m sorry you’re in this position, that you are coming here feeling that you have to beg,” she said. “We’re trying. Staff is working on it.”

Crumbley thanked those who came forward to address the board.

“We’re very determined to do what we can and get employee raises,” she said.

“We know this is essential. We know, from the bottom of our hearts. This isn’t over,” she added.

New safety, mental health programs required
It remains unclear how the district would pay for an employee pay raise.

It costs about $4.1 million to provide a 1 percent raise for district employees, said Olga Swinson, the district’s chief finance officer.

The district won’t know its total enrollment until October, at which point it can take another look at the numbers, she said.

There’s a chance enrollment could exceed projections, or that projected enrollment at public charter schools could be lower-than-expected.

In either case, the district revenue picture would improve.

It is true that this year’s student allocation was at its highest rate, but that figure fails to account for inflation, according to Swinson’s budget presentation to the board.

In 2007-2008, the base allocation per student was $7,306. That compares to a base allocation per student of $7,408 for 2018-2019.

When cost-of-living increases are included, however, the allocation per student needs to be $8,528, Swinson said.

Superintendent Kurt Browning also noted that the Florida Legislature tied local districts hands by refusing to allow growth to pay for itself.

The required local effort, which was certified by the state, is 4.031 mills, Swinson said. That’s a reduction from the 4.317 mills that it was last year.

If legislators had allowed local districts to keep the same millage rate for required local effort as they had last year, the district would have $8.2 million more to use to support pay raises, Browning said.

That would essentially equate to a 2 percent pay raise for district employees.

Also, although the Legislature provided more dollars to local districts, they also mandated that most of that new money be spent on school security and mental health services, district officials said.

The school board is scheduled to vote on the tentative tax rate for schools at its July 31 meeting at 6 p.m., after The Laker/Lutz News’ press deadline.

Based on the proposed tax rate, the owner of a $125,000 home, assuming a $25,000 homestead exemption would bay $627.90 in school taxes in the 2018-2019 fiscal year. That compares to $656.50 for 2017-2018, a decrease of $28.60. If the Legislature had allowed districts to levy the same millage rate as they did last year, Pasco County would have generated an additional $8.2 million in revenues.

Published August 1, 2018

Stitching together a quilt of creativity, kindness, friendship and fun

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When members of the East Pasco Quilt Guild come together, it’s more than a meeting about the best pattern to quilt, or best fabric to buy or best colors to use.

It’s a club where members get a chance to showcase their creativity, catch up with each other and share their enthusiasm for a pastime they cherish.

The guild’s meetings, which last about two hours, generally feature a chance to learn a few new things about quilting.

From left to right are club members Sandi Morgan, Ginny Lane, Kelli Boles, Sue Anderson, Susan Weick and Jane Hancock. The quilt on the left is a veterans quilt, ‘churn Dash.’  The quilt top, on the right, is a charity quilt, ‘Dresden Star.’ (B.C. Manion)

The gathering, held on the second Monday evening of the month, also gives club members a chance to show off quilts they’ve completed, to encourage each other and share what they know about various techniques.

Club members have at least one thing in common: A passion for creating quilts.

During a recent conversation with a half-dozen club members, it soon became clear that these women absolutely adore cutting fabric into pieces and then stitching it back together again.

Of course, their finished projects look nothing like the bolts of fabric they started with.

Club member Jane Hancock has been quilting for about 40 years.

“My grandmother taught me to sew, and so we come from a long line of quilters and seamstresses,” she said.

“I was sewing with my grandmother when I was probably 5 and was in 4H, and won lots of trophies and ribbons and all that for my sewing. And, it just kind of morphed into quilting,” Hancock said.

Kelli Boles said she began with hand-piecing, then moved up to machine piecing and now is long-arm quilting, which involves using a large machine and is the final step in sandwiching a quilt together.

The East Pasco Quilt Guild makes quilts to benefit a variety of local groups and causes. Tickets were sold to give people the opportunity to win this quilt, with proceeds going to a local organization.

Many quilters piece together the quilt tops and then have someone else, such as Boles, handle the final step of attaching the quilt top to its backing.

In fact, Boles recently completed that chore for Susan Anderson, another member of the club.

Boles couldn’t wait to show Anderson the final result, and when she did, Anderson’s eyes brimmed with tears of joy.

“I just love sewing,” Anderson said. “I just love the sound of the machine. It just has a nice rhythm to it.

She adores making quilts.

“I love all of it: Cutting the pieces, picking out the fabric, the whole process,” she said.

She began sewing as a young girl— making crude doll clothes for her Barbie doll. Next, she graduated to making her own school clothes.

“I made my first quilt when I was in the eighth grade for Home Ec,” she said, using a cardboard template for her squares.

Another club member, Susan Weick, said she began quilting about 35 years ago when she was living in New York.

“My neighbor taught me. She taught me hand-stitching. We used to just go have coffee and doughnuts, and sit and stitch,” she said. “I learned through her critiquing,” Weick said.

Susan Anderson, a member of the East Pasco Quilt Guild, sees her completed quilt. She created the quilt top, which was sandwiched together by Kelli Boles, who knows how to do long-arm quilting.

She was an exacting teacher, and a good one, Weick added. “Everything had to be perfect.”

Club member Ginny Lane said she enjoys making all sorts of quilts, from quilts small enough for a baby to those large enough to cover a king-size bed.

Sandi Morgan, who is Kelli’s mom, began quilting nearly a half-century ago.

Her grandmother, who was a tailor, taught her to sew when she was about 9.

In her family, sewing skills skipped a generation.

“My mother, bless her heart, couldn’t sew a button on anything,” Morgan said, with a good-natured laugh.

From making simple squares, Morgan’s quilting interests and abilities have broadened. In fact, she now works at Quilts on Plum Lane in downtown Dade City, and Anderson works there, too.

Using thread and fabric to make new memories
Quilting provides a way to become absorbed in both the art and act of creation, escaping from life’s everyday stress and worries, the women said.

Quilting is history, too, Hancock said. She has some quilt tops made by her mother and her aunts, dating back to the 1920s. She intends to have them quilted and then to give them as wedding gifts to her children. Thus, these family heirlooms will pass from one generation, to another, to another.

Being part of the guild also offers ample opportunities to give back to the community, too, members said.

The guild routinely gives a quilt when someone moves into a Habitat for Humanity house.

Sandi Morgan works on a needleturn appliqué medallion.

They also make a quilt for Saint Anthony Catholic School each year, starting the quilt with a piece of fabric from a school uniform. The school auctions off the quilt to raise money.

They give a quilt to Pioneer Florida Museum & Heritage Village each year, and one to a local organization. Tickets are sold for the opportunity to win each of the quilts, with proceeds benefiting those groups.

Club members also make quilted Christmas stockings, which are given to various charities, and they make quilts to give to veterans.

The club, which incorporated a decade ago, has about 60 members.

It welcomes anyone, but so far there has been just one male member, and he stopped coming.

It’s open to anyone interested in quilting, whether accomplished or not. And, young members can join, too, but those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent.

The club has two shows each year. One show is at the annual Kumquat Festival in Dade City and the other one is at Farm Fest at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village.

Beyond sharing a common interest in quilting, members also share a common interest in each other, they said.

“It’s more than just a club. It’s a group of people who truly care about each other, and are there for each other,” Hancock said.

She experienced the depth of that caring when her world turned upside down.

“My husband was killed a little over two years ago and, man, did they rally,” Hancock said.

“He was riding his bicycle, and he was killed on Lake Iola Road and, man, within minutes this one was there with tons of food. These were there with support. They just wrap their arms around you and envelope you,” she said.

The East Pasco Quilt Guild meets on the second Monday evening of the month. Dues are $20 a year. To find out more about the group, email , or visit East Pasco Quilters, Inc. on Facebook.

Published August 1, 2018

Pasco school district adopts new mental health plan

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The Pasco County School Board has approved a plan that allocates additional funding provided by the Florida Legislature to address youth mental health needs.

The Legislature’s decision to provide more money to address mental health issues came in response to the Valentine’s Day shooting spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent of Pasco County Schools

The Pasco school district was allocated slightly more than $1.7 million in mental health funding, according to Melissa Musselwhite, director of student support programs and services for the district.

Ninety percent of the funding must be spent to provide mental health services and 10 percent can be spent on prevention, she said.

So, the district has designated $1.4 million for services for at-risk youths and slightly more than $150,000 for prevention services. It also has allocated $123,000 for public charter schools.

The district’s plan calls for contracting with Central Florida Behavioral Network to help the district manage access to mental health services and help the district with data reporting.

It also will help the district with wraparound services for students.

“Many times we refer kids out and parents don’t go. We need to be sure that we’re diligent about tracking those kids and following up,” Musselwhite told the Pasco County School Board during a workshop on July 24.

The district’s plan, which required school board approval, was due to the state by Aug. 1.

Board members approved the plan at their evening meeting on July 24.

“There hasn’t be a comprehensive approach to referring kids out for services and support, and the follow-up and the wraparound with the family,” Musselwhite said, noting she would spend close to $100,000 in general fund money every year for a limited number of students.

By working with Central Behavioral Florida Network, the district will be expanding its reach to community resources that it didn’t know about before, Musselwhite said.

The mental health plan also includes:

  • Contracting with behavioral analysts to work one-on-one with students most at risk
  • Training in youth mental health first aid
  • Training in trauma-informed care
  • Training in Positive Behavior Intervention
  • Increased funding for alternatives to suspensions program
  • Additional adult assistance to help with students who are severely at risk for various reasons
  • Increased data collection to help the district make more informed decisions
  • Refining threat assessment procedures to be sure the law enforcement and district personnel are speaking the same language
  • Adding a high-performing school nurse, school psychologist and school social worker who will serve in a coaching/mentoring role for district staff

The district also plans to incorporate Social Emotional Learning across the curriculum, to help kids to learn how to effectively deal with anger, disappointment and difficult situations that arise.

Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent, is a proponent of the approach.

Social Emotional Learning helps kids “deal with the emotions of maybe not being the best player on the team, or not being able to play nine innings every game, or maybe having to sit on the bench for the good of the team,” Gadd said.

“Those things are upsetting to some folks, but how do you learn to handle that because those things that happen in life.

“SEL is trying to help teachers understand how to help kids to build foundational skills so they learn to manage those troublesome behaviors,” Gadd said.

Musselwhite said the district is looking for ways to embed SEL across the curriculum, “so that it’s not something stand-alone, and that it can be holistically done throughout the district, not in one subject or during your time with your school counselor.”

Gadd put it like this: “What we need is more SEL and less people with guns. If I had my choice, I would have rather have seen the Legislature fund a lot of SEL programs all around the state to help kids build those foundational skills so they never get to a point where they want to shoot people.”

Also, the district plans to add another Crisis Intervention Team.

It has four teams and will be adding a fifth.

“There was a huge increase, a 46 percent increase, in our crisis callouts for the crisis intervention team over the last year,” Musselwhite said. “It was pretty taxing last year on the four teams that we had.”

The teams are voluntary and are made up of student services team members and school counselors, who receive additional training to respond to crisis situations throughout the district.

Published August 1, 2018

Land O’ Lakes High to get more parking spaces

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Land O’ Lakes High School is undergoing a massive renovation project that is essentially giving the high school a new look and expanding its capacity by more than 400 students.

The Pasco County School Board voted last week to approve $1.2 million in changes to the project.

Providing 60 additional parking spaces was among a list of items that Betsy Kuhn, assistant superintendent for support services, presented to the board for approval.

“Parking has become a serious issue at Land O’ Lakes High School,” Kuhn said, and more parking will be needed as the school expands.

Pasco County School Board member Colleen Beaudoin said the additional parking is needed.

“I get lots of calls about parking at Land O’ Lakes High School,” Beaudoin said.

Other items included in the change order are:

  • Remove and replace existing flammable storage building and resurface an adjacent roadway to improve access for emergency vehicles
  • Update interior finishes such as paint, flooring, lighting, wall base and acoustical panels in the Music and Exceptional Student Education Rooms, to bring those areas in line with the balance of the remodel
  • Remove and replace two air handling units and heaters for the gymnasium, including modification of electrical, as required, and provide new controls connected with the central control system
  • Provide new metal exterior doors, frames and hardware for the gym.

Even though these items were not part of the original scope of the project, they can be completed within the project’s original construction budget, Kuhn said.

Published August 1, 2018

Work to get started on makeover of Zephyrhills High School

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A major overhaul is planned at Zephyrhills High School, and the Pasco County School Board approved a contract last week to get started on the project.

The board approved a contract not-to-exceed $396,846 with Creative Contractors to complete the early site package for the project.

“We will be bringing a full presentation in the fall on the entire project,” said Betsy Kuhn, assistant superintendent for support services. “This is just what gets us started.”

The construction phase will be split into two contracts: One for the renovation work and one for the addition.

The first phase will involve building a new classroom building, Mike Gude, director of construction services and code compliance, told the The Laker/Lutz News in a previous interview.

When the new building is completed, students can be shifted into that building and another phase of the project can begin, Gude said.

When the project is finished, the high school’s capacity is expected to increase by about 500 students.

Published August 1, 2018

Shoppers can stretch their dollars during sales tax holiday

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Shoppers who want a tax break can take advantage of the 2018 Back-to-School Tax Holiday, which runs Aug. 3 through Aug. 5.

During the tax holiday, no sales tax or local option tax — also known as a discretionary sales surtax — will be collected on:

  • Clothing, footwear and certain accessories selling for $60 or less per item
  • Certain school supplies, selling for $15 or less per item

Nationally, total back-to-school spending, including kindergarten through college, is expected to reach $82.8 billion, slightly less than last year’s $83.6 billion. That’s according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation, and Prosper Insights and Analytics.

The survey shows that those with young people heading to college, as well as college and graduate students themselves, plan to spend $942.17 each, down from last year’s $969.88. The total of $55.3 billion is an all-time high in the history of the survey, up from last year’s record of $54.1 billion.

Families with children in elementary school through high school plan to spend an average of $684.79, compared to last year’s total of $687.22, for a total of $27.5 billion. That’s the third-highest total in the history of the survey, following the peak of $30.3 billion in 2012 and $29.5 billion last year.

The survey also broke down the type of expected expenditures. Back-to-school shoppers expect to spend:

  • $236.90 on clothing
  • $187.10 on electronics, such as computers, calculators or phones
  • $138.66 on shoes
  • $122.13 on supplies such as notebooks, pencils, backpacks and lunchboxes

A news release from the National Retail Federation said the biggest change being seen this year related to expenditures for electronics, which have decreased slightly.

“Items like laptops, tablets and smartphones are now an everyday part of household life and aren’t necessarily a purchase parents save for the start of the school year, resulting in a slight decrease in spending in that category,” Mark Mathews, vice president of research for the National Retail Federation, said in a release.

During Florida’s tax-holiday, it’s important to remember that the exemption is based on the sales price of each item, not the total sale amount. So, it’s possible to buy three $59 dresses at the same time and still get the exemption, because each item meets the requirement of having a selling price of $60 or less.

Another thing that’s good to know is that there is no limit on how many tax-exempt items can be purchased during the sales tax holiday.

Back-to-school supplies and clothing items are tax exempt Aug. 3 through Aug. 5
Clothing is defined as: “any article of wearing apparel, including all footwear (except skis, swim fins, rollerblades and skates) intended to be worn on or about the human body. Clothing does not include watches, watchband, jewelry, umbrellas or handkerchiefs.”

The items must sell for $60 or less to be exempt.

“The exemption does not apply to sales of clothing, wallets or bags in a theme park, entertainment complex, public lodging establishment or airport.”

School supplies are defined as: “pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, notebooks, notebook filler paper, legal pads, binders, lunchboxes, construction paper, markers, folders, poster board, composition books, poster paper, scissors, cellophane tape, glue, paste, rulers, computer disks, protractors, compasses and calculators.”

The school supplies must sell for $15 or less to be exempt.

Published July 25, 2018

What a difference a decade can make in real estate

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Even the most casual of observers can easily see that housing demand and residential real estate values have rebounded in recent years in Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

There are new subdivisions popping up all over.

But, to put a finer point on what’s happening, Craig Nowicke, a real estate broker with RE/MAX, based in Carrollwood, dropped by the Rotary Club of Lutz to talk about the Hillsborough real estate market in the past decade.

Craig Nowicke, a real estate broker based in Carrollwood, gave members of the Rotary Club of Lutz an overview of changing real estate market conditions in Hillsborough County over the last decade. (B.C. Manion)

Nowicke and his wife, Linda, are licensed Realtors, with Nowicke specializing in both commercial and residential properties, and his wife focusing on residential properties, including the luxury market.

He provided a “snapshot” of the Hillsborough market between 2008 and 2018.

That marks the period from when the market “absolutely crashed” to today, “where we’re essentially back where we were,” Nowicke told those gathered at the Heritage Harbor Golf & Country Club.

From 2007 to 2008, a year that Nowicke said Hillsborough’s housing market was “driving off the cliff,” the market volume dropped by 24 percent, he said. The total dollar value of single-family residential homes that were sold that year dropped from $3.1 billion to $2.4 billion,” he said.

At the same time, the median sold price decreased by 19 percent, from $220,000 to $178,500.

There were 10,471 units sold in 2008, Nowicke said. And, at that time, there was 24 months’ worth of supply in the inventory.

He explained: “That means there was two years’ worth of houses to meet demand. If no new house came on, it would take two years to sell everything in those market conditions at that time.”

In 2008-2009, the market volume bottomed out at $2.3 billion in sales, he said. Median prices continued going down, reaching $132,000.

“Units (sold), though, started to recover because price has gone down,” Nowicke noted.

In 2011-2012, the market volume increased by 27 percent, going from $2.5 billion to $3.2 billion, he said.

“We hit the bottom, in January of 2011, in price,” he noted.

Unit sales continued to rise, increasing from 16,600 to 18,432. Meanwhile, inventory dropped to 13.5 months, in January 2011.

Fast-forwarding to 2017, the total market volume was $6.8 billion — an 11.7 percent increase from the year before. The median price was $216,600. And, there were 26,000 units sold — which is more than 2 ½ more (units sold) than bottom.

Now, the market’s inventory is well below a balanced market, Nowicke said.

There was 2.7 months of inventory in May, the most recent statistic available, he said.

“That is really, really low inventory,” he said.

Experts today consider 5.5 months of inventory to be a balanced market, Nowicke said.

A sellers’ market
The amount of inventory available dictates the difference between a sellers’ market, a buyers’ market and a balanced market.

“The sellers’ market means that the sellers have all of the leverage. There’s no inventory to sell, which is where we are now. Sellers have all of the leverage. There’s more buyers than there are sellers,” he said.

“It’s going to drive prices up. The sellers can demand more, or, for example, if they need to do some repairs, they can just refuse to do them because they don’t care. They’ll just wait for the next buyer.
“The buyers’ market, remember back to the 24-month supply? The buyers had all of the leverage,” he said.

So, buyers get lower prices and more concessions, he added.

“You don’t want to give me a good deal on this house? I’ll just go buy the next one because there’s plenty of houses to buy.

“The balanced market means there’s approximately an even number of the people who want to buy and sell,” Nowicke said.

The real estate expert also talked about the difference between distressed sales and traditional sales.

Distressed sales include homes that are in foreclosure and homes that are being sold short of how much is owed on them, he said. A traditional sale is a home that went on the market that wasn’t a short sale or a foreclosure.

“It was just an everyday sale,” he said.

“In 2011, 40 percent of our market was traditional sales; 60 percent was distressed,” he said.

Since then, the market has improved enormously, and the only homes that can be found at a discount tend to be those which need substantial repairs.

Conditions in the housing market were different when it heated up before, he said.

“This is my general impression, not necessarily data that I researched, but we had a whole lot of new inventory come on line. Lots of builders building new developments. And, then we had unbelievably lax lending policies.

“So, I think if you could fog a mirror, you could not only buy the house, but you also could get a second and a third line on it. You might have $400,000 worth of financing on a $300,000 house that was probably worth $200,000 on its best day,” he said.

Now, he said, “you drive around here and you see all of the construction. They’re building new product all of the time, and it is selling.

“I just helped somebody buy up in Spring Hill, and there’s 30 houses coming up out of the ground next to the one that she just bought.

“It’s crazy.

“I get nervous about this. How long can this go on?

“I don’t know how long it can go on. The pendulum always swings, so there will be a day when it will be a buyers’ market again.

“I don’t know when, but it isn’t right now,” Nowicke said.

Published July 25, 2018

Connerton, county and school board agree to land swap

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Pasco County, the school district of Pasco County and Pasco Investment Land LLC have agreed to a land swap in connection with a county district park in Connerton.

Pasco County owns approximately 119.7 gross acres that have been deeded for a district park in Connerton, a master-planned community in Land O’ Lakes.

The school board owns approximately 22.3 acres that is slated for a future school site, and Pasco Investment Land LLC, also referred to in the agreement as Connerton, owns the adjacent land.

Under the exchange, Pasco County has agreed to convey about 6.6 acres of upland acreage to the school board.

The county also agreed to convey about 46.8 upland acres to Connerton.

The school board has agreed to convey about 6.6 acres of upland acres to Connerton.

And, Connerton has agreed to convey approximately 53.6 upland acres to Pasco County.

The agreement also calls for Pasco County to establish a parks and recreation impact fee credit for all parkland to be retained and exchanged within 30 days of the closing.

The county also agreed to provide for a north-south drive aisle, to the east and parallel to Flourish Drive that allows for vehicular access from the future Connerton Boulevard to the northern boundary of the park site.

The land swap aims to facilitate the development of an elementary school, a middle school and a district park.

There are no immediate plans for the schools or the park, according to school district and county parks officials.

However, the school district and county do plan to share use of the park facilities once they are built.

The development of the district park “is all tied to funding,” said Keith Wiley, director of Pasco County’s Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources department.

Published July 25, 2018