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TAMPA – BayCare has acquired a 36-acre office parcel in the Tampa Bay Park, which includes three buildings and two parking garages adjacent to St. Joseph’s, St. Joseph’s Children’s and St. Joseph’s Women’s hospitals.

BayCare announced Feb. 4 that it had acquired a 36-acre office parcel just west of its St. Joseph’s hospitals’ campus in Tampa to provide room for strategic growth. 

The partial acquisition of the Tampa Bay Park includes three buildings and two parking garages and is adjacent to St. Joseph’s, St. Joseph’s Children’s and St. Joseph’s Women’s hospitals.

The acreage increases by more than 75% the health system’s property holdings in the West Tampa neighborhood where St. Joseph’s Hospital has operated for nearly a century.    .

“As West Central Florida grows, so must BayCare to continue our mission to improve our communities’ health,” said Stephanie Conners, BayCare president and CEO. “The opportunity to buy such a large piece of property contiguous to one of our largest medical campuses provides us the opportunity to expand important specialty services for our patients and communities. This expanded campus will serve the entire region as a medical destination for specialty care.”

In the short term, BayCare is working individually with tenants of the facilities to support lease agreements. Relocating or adding BayCare offices and clinics to the property will happen over time.

The partial acquisition of Tampa Bay Park expands the campus into a regional destination for specialty care.

Eventually, the health system envisions directly linking the property via a new, vehicular bridge to its hospitals’ campus and using the facilities to complement the system’s needs but also those of St. Joseph’s hospitals – three centrally located facilities that are poised to expand to meet the region’s needs.

BayCare has announced it will build a new facility for St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital by 2030, and St. Joseph’s Hospital and its trauma center remain an essential resource for acute and specialty care for the region. 

BayCare also has announced it will expand its graduate medical education programs to 650 residents by 2029 to help ensure West Central Florida and BayCare continue to attract the best and brightest physicians. Residencies occur after medical school and provide new physicians with supervised, hands-on training in the specialty or sub-specialty of their choice. By the middle of this year, BayCare is anticipating having up to 283 residents across 18 programs serving in its primary footprint of Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties.

“We are excited for the opportunity this provides BayCare, but also our communities,” said Kimberly Guy, chief operating officer for BayCare. “To have this many centrally located medical resources together in a single campus will deepen our region’s access to BayCare’s high-quality, compassionate care. It will also create an environment that attracts the brightest medical professionals to care for our patients.”

 

PASCO COUNTY – Pasco County Utilities received a Meritorious Award as part of the 2024 Water Conservation Awards for Excellence.  

The honor celebrates innovative and outstanding achievements in water efficiency across Florida.

The Florida Section of the American Water Works Association presented the award to Water Conservation & Efficiency Coordinator Phoenix McKinney, highlighting her work on the “Reactive Focused Assistance Site Visit” program, which offers free, onsite assistance to help customers identify leaks or other issues contributing to high water use.

“Our goal is to help customers pinpoint the cause of their high-water use and then reduce it,” McKinney said.  “Thanks to our program, customers we’ve worked with are saving between 1,000 and 30,000 gallons of water every month.”

During a six-month period in 2024, Pasco County Utilities provided onsite assistance to 41 homeowners, resulting in an overall savings of about 313,500 gallons of water per month.

The program isn’t just for residential customers.  

Any Pasco County Utilities’ account holder – including HOA board members, community management professionals, commercial property owners and model home sales teams – can request a site visit or consultation.

Pasco County Utilities customers with water usage seemingly higher than expected can request on-site assistance by emailing

Find tips for water conservation and efficiency at mypas.co/SeekALeak. Visiting bit.ly/PascoWatering to know your watering day.

On the web: PascoCountyUtilities.com

LAND O’ LAKES – Pasco County Schools Superintendent John Legg told the school board on Feb. 4 he thinks homework should be part of what’s used to determine their grades.

“I want our teachers to have the ability to feel they can assign homework and have grades attached to it in a meaningful way,” Legg said.

If this is approved, it would reverse a decision made by the school board three years ago to not have the results of students’ homework count toward their grades.

Faculty and staff members were also informed of Legg’s intention in a memo and YouTube video.

The idea of homework having an impact on students’ grades has been the subject of debates for more than a decade throughout the United States.

Some people contend that homework takes away from the amount of time students can spend with their families. Others have said homework is an important part of helping students learn in addition to what they have been taught in the classroom.

Students’ grades could be negatively affected if they turned their homework in late under what Legg is proposing.

Work groups are looking at ways to change the homework rules, according to Legg. He hopes new guidelines for homework will be in place by the fourth quarter of this year’s school year.

Legg said the school board will be informed of the proposed changes before they are implemented.

A couple of the goals of the proposed changes to homework rules include being able to reinforce what students have already been taught along with letting it be known whether they are doing well or if they need help, according to Legg.

 

Leadership changes

School board members approved two important personnel changes during the Feb. 4 meeting.

Lori Romano was appointed as assistant superintendent for support services. She’s responsible for, among other things, overseeing construction, student assistance, maintenance, planning and transportation. 

Betsy Kuhn, who previously did that work, was recently appointed as a deputy superintendent for the school district.

Romano will also continue to serve in her current position as director of career, technical, and adult education. 

Meanwhile, Kelly McPherson, who graduated from River Ridge High School in 2000, was hired as its principal. She replaces former principal Toni Zetzsche, who was recently promoted to become the district’s chief of communication. 

McPherson had served as River Ridge’s interim principal for about a month. She had been that school’s assistant principal prior to Zetzsche taking on her new responsibilities.

 

Several Hudson residents told the Pasco County Planning Commission on Jan. 23 that they were against a proposal for a 63-lot subdivision.

They expressed concerns about the possible impact that increased traffic would have along with the possibility of flooding in their area. 

Two neighbors also said they thought wildlife in the area would be negatively impacted and the use of nearby agricultural property would be affected if the rezoning request is approved.

Other residents said they were concerned development of the proposed subdivision would affect the value of their properties.

However, the planning commission recommended approval to the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners. County commissioners are scheduled to hold a public hearing on the DRB Group’s request during their Feb. 25 meeting in New Port Richey.

The 34.24-acre site is located on the northwest corner of Hudson Avenue and Colony Road.

The property is currently zoned A-R Agricultural-Residential District and the DRB Group, based in Rockville, Maryland, seeks to have the zoning changed to Master Planned Unit Development.

If the rezoning request is approved, it would make it possible for the development of the 67 residential lots and associated infrastructure in the area that would be known as the Sakelson Hudson MPUD. 

Barbara Wilhite, an attorney representing the applicant, said the planned entrances to the MPUD would be off of Hudson Avenue and Colony Boulevard with an interconnection to Foxfire Drive.

“We are constructing that portion of our entrance, actually, we’re constructing the Colony Boulevard Vision Road standards,” Wilhite told Planning Commission members. “But our entrance is off of Colony, and we’re constructing that entrance off of Colony.”

She also referred to a section of the Pasco County Land Development Code that requires the interconnection to be made to Foxfire Drive.

Foxfire Drive is the primary roadway that neighbors said they thought would be negatively affected by increased traffic from the proposed subdivision.

Chief Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein said it wasn’t clear on the MPUD plan the applicant had submitted that there was a dedication of right of way to make the connection to Colony Boulevard.

“It looks like it goes through land that you own,” Goldstein said. “And there’s no right of way dedication requirement for that interconnect. So I think there needs to be.”

Wilhite said her team had to do a wildlife assessment at the time of  zoning. She added that the wildlife assessment would be done again at the time a primary development plan is submitted because the one that has already been done is only good for 18 months.

“There’s a lot that goes on with stormwater as well, as our many engineers here on the board know,” Wilhite said. 

And she said she didn’t think the value of adjacent properties would be lowered because the homes in the subdivision would be very expensive. 

In other business on Jan. 23, the planning commission:

Approved a request for a conditional use amendment made by Spanish Lakes Land Company LLC to remove a height limitation previously put on approximately 18.65 acres in west central Pasco County. 

The current height limitation of 35 feet was set in 2005. 

Spanish Lakes hopes to develop a maximum of 360 multiple-family dwelling units on the property located 150 feet north of State Road 52 and east of Deerbrook Boulevard. This is less than the 432 units for which the property was previously approved according to the applicant’s representative, attorney Barbara Wilhite.

The property is located within the Urban Service Area and there’s no limit on the height of structures there according to Spanish Lakes’ application.

Wilhite said she didn’t know the height of the structures that Spanish Lakes was considering constructing on the site.

County commissioners will hold a public hearing regarding this request during its Feb. 25 meeting in New Port Richey.

 

GULFPORT – Gulfport’s Get Rescued Animal Rescue Festival & Fun-raiser is returning for its 21st year with up to 50 animal rescue groups.

The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 22 at 3000 Beach Blvd. S.

“We’re so excited to be back for our 21st anniversary,” Suzanne King said. “This event is a great way to learn about animal rescue, meet adoptable pets and support local businesses. We hope everyone will come out and join us for a fun-filled day.” 

The event will feature pet-friendly vendors, pet-care education, animal training demos, the Florida Weiner Dog Derby and raffles. 

All leashed people and well-behaved pets are welcome. There is no admission fee to attend and plenty of convenient complimentary parking will be available throughout the area.

Proceeds from the event support participating rescue groups. Last year’s event raised over $9,000 and was donated to 26 rescue groups.  Participation is free for 501c3 Animal Rescue Groups.

“Find your paw-fect match at Get Rescued because love is just a wag away,” said Francia Vogini of Husky Haven of Florida Inc.

Email or text 727-417-5494 for more information on Gulfport’s Get Rescued Animal Rescue Festival & Fun-raiser.

The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners authorized several developments this month.

• The recording of a plat with Performance Guarantees in the amounts of $25,677,346.28 and $230,998.80 requested by Forestar (USA) Real Estate Group, Inc. was approved to cover the cost of incomplete infrastructure improvements remaining to be done for 261 single-family detached lots on 132.67 acres in the Wyndfields subdivision, approximately 1,200 feet south of State Road 56, west of Two Ridges Road in south Pasco County.
• Also approved was the recording of a plat with a performance guarantee in the amount of $12,807,810 requested by Taylor Morrison of Florida, Inc. to cover the cost of incomplete infrastructure improvements remaining to be done for 274 single-family detached lots in the Esplanade at Wiregrass subdivision on the north side of Chancey Road, approximately 0.4 miles east of Wiregrass Ranch Boulevard in south central Pasco County.
• Approved the recording of a plat with a performance guarantee of $6,952,863.50 requested by EPG Two Rivers Holdings X, LLC to cover the cost of incomplete infrastructure improvements remaining to be done for 183 single-family detached lots on 124.62 acres in the Two Rivers subdivision east of U.S. Highway 301 (Gall Boulevard, south of State Road 56, in southeast Pasco County.
• Also approved was the recording of a plat with a performance guarantee in the amount of $5,617,365.31 requested by Caroline Drive SFR Owner, LLC, to cover the cost of incomplete infrastructure improvements remaining to be done for 150 attached townhomes on 40.22 acres in the Skymore Wesley Chapel subdivision on the north end of Caroline Drive, west of Bridleford Drive in south central Pasco County. 
• Approved the recording of a plat requested by M/I Homes of Tampa, LLC for the replat of 42 single-family detached lots on 4.995 acres in the Cobblestone subdivision on the east side of U.S. 301 (Gall Boulevard), south of Chancey Road, in east Pasco County.
• Agreed to contract the boundaries of the AR-1 Community Development District owned by LEN-Angeline LLC down from 2,441.787 acres to approximately 1,782.52 acres. The CDD, which is located entirely within the unincorporated portion of Pasco County, was created through an ordinance the commissioners adopted on June 30, 2020. 

The applicant said contracting the boundaries of the CDD would provide for a more efficient use of resources. The development’s contraction would also benefit Pasco County and its residents outside the District by increasing the ad valorem tax base of Pasco County and generating water and wastewater impact fees. This would assist Pasco County to meet its obligations to repay certain bonded indebtedness and transportation and other impact fees as well, the applicant said.

• Agreed to expand the boundaries of the Mirada II Community Development District from approximately 801 acres to approximately 882.11 acres in total. This will be made possible by adding two parcels of land, which are approximately 64.97 acres and 15.55 acres, respectively into the district.

It is located entirely within the unincorporated portion of Pasco County and was created through an ordinance the County Commissioners adopted on Aug. 7, 2018. 

The development’s expansion would also benefit Pasco County and its residents outside the District by increasing the ad valorem tax base of Pasco County and generating water and wastewater impact fees. This would assist Pasco County to meet its obligations to repay certain bonded indebtedness and transportation and other impact fees as well, the applicant said.

• Approved a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to change the Future Land Use (FLU) classification from RES-6 (Residential 6 – Du/Ga) to COM (Commercial) on approximately 0.94 acres located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Veridian Way and State Road 54 that was requested by David Springstead, authorized representative for Rajasekaran Mani, agent of record. 

A physician’s office and supporting businesses consisting of a pharmacy and testing facility to provide a single destination for patients will be allowed on the site that will be known as the Wesley Chapel Professional Center.

• Commissioners also confirmed the appointment of David Allen to the position of assistant county administrator, development services, with an annual salary of $205,000.00, and a start date of Dec. 26, 2024.

 

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The Pasco Sheriff’s Office said it arrested a man for human trafficking after learning that he was trying to get other men online to train a child in his custody to carry out sexual fantasies. 

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children passed on information about the suspect to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. Detectives said the suspect was having conversations online with other individuals about a child, who was elementary school age, in his custody. 

The suspect told others online about his fantasies with the child and that he was offering her to them to train. The suspect had sent photos of the child in a bathing suit. 

Detectives intervened before anything happened to the child. Sheriff Chis Nocco said the other individuals were in New Jersey, Alabama, Illinois and the United Kingdom. 

The suspect, identified as Jean Cebollero-Arias, 46, was arrested on charges of human trafficking involving a minor in his custody. 

“The death penalty is never good enough for individuals who are arrested for this,” Sheriff Chris Nocco said. “I know it’s a life charge. But there’s worse things that these people deserve because what these children have to go through is horrendous.”

Nocco said human trafficking investigations generally pull staff from two areas: cybercrimes and missing persons. They call it the missing and exploited persons unit. 

To extend their resources, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office is starting a volunteer unit called Operation Phoenix. This group will work with detectives in going through open source information. Volunteer at https://joinpso.com/.

“You get a lot of young girls that run away,” Nocco said. “They go online. They go into a social media site. They believe they’ve fallen in love with somebody who’s their age. And what they find out is that person is not their age. They find out that person is now using them for sex, selling them.”

Another growing problem is sextortion. After sending nude photos, victims are forced into doing something they don’t want to do if they want to prevent their photo from being sent to all their friends on social media. 

Nocco encouraged families to have conversations with children about these online dangers. 

He also cautioned about getting caught up in the rumors spread on neighborhood sites about people getting swept up by human trafficking.

Nocco encouraged residents to seek the truth and ask those sharing such information if they have notified the sheriff’s office. He said people have told him they heard someone was kidnapped from a particular shopping location. If that were the case, Nocco said the community would see the largest police presence they’ve ever seen. 

“Let’s get to the truth,” Nocco said. “Let’s get to the reality because there’s already enough fear and anxiety out there, but really, if we can just use our power to go save people together, that makes us more efficient.”

 

I’m a big believer in history and pausing at least for a second and looking backwards.

Today’s the start of semester two, which means we ended semester one. 

Semester one was a very, very challenging semester. And I think we need to recognize that because there’s some issues that we are seeing as a result of that. 

Just pause and take a moment to reflect. 

In August and September, we saw an exponential, remarkable increase in the number of school threats that disrupted many of our schools and their academic time daily in the months of August and September. 

By the grace of God, those numbers seem to be going down. It is still a challenge. But it was at a crisis level in those first two months. 

That brought us into October, where we had back-to-back hurricanes, where school was closed in essence, for almost two weeks straight. As you know, when you close school for two weeks straight, you lose routine. You lose rhythm. You lose kind of discipline structures. 

We have to start all that back up, which brought us right into the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

We experienced significant disruptions during semester one. And our student data is showing that. 

Our student data is showing that our students need stability. They need classroom time. Our teachers need to be able to support and block out that distraction.

As we head into semester two, we have time. We have time to make up those academic losses, if you will. But we have to lock arms and we have to work together to commit to allow our teachers to be in those classrooms to focus on what matters most – student learning  – especially in the second semester.

The reason why Is there is no semester three. This is it. For many of our students, this is the time. This is graduation time. This is the opportunity for achievement. This is acceleration time. 

I’m mentioning that to you because semester one was a challenge filled with distractions. I hope all of us, and I know we will, but let’s work together to protect that learning time in semester two. 

Support our teachers, so they can focus on what matters most. And that’s our student learning. 

 

Superintendent John Legg made these remarks Jan. 13 during the Pasco County Schools school board meeting.