The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Kathy Steele

Pay hikes needed to retain staff, Nocco says

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Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco says he needs a $5.4 million increase in his annual budget to provide better pay and benefits — both to recruit new employees and to keep veterans from leaving for higher paying jobs.

“It’s a morale issue,” Nocco told Pasco County commissioners at a June 2 workshop in New Port Richey.

The sheriff’s office is on pace to set a record for 50 resignations this year, largely due to low compensation, Nocco said.

His 2016 budget request is about $104 million in total, about 6.7 percent higher than the budget approved by commissioners last year.

Other increases in Nocco’s budget include $475,000 for body cameras and $254,000 for aircraft maintenance.

The argument that Pasco is losing officers tired of low pay isn’t new. Nocco has issued the warning in past years.

He came to this year’s budget workshop armed with fresh data and a salary survey to back up his claims.

“We didn’t just cry wolf,” said Nocco. “The problem is growing.”

The salary of a Tampa police officer is more than $48,000 a year, and in Pinellas it is more than $45,000, based on information gleaned from agency websites as part of a salary survey done by Tallahassee-based Evergreen Solutions. Pasco deputies make just under $40,000 a year.

Some counties, including Pinellas, also use the incentive of a signing bonus to attract staff.

Evergreen Solutions reviewed salaries paid by 13 of 16 peer law enforcement agencies in the state. Pasco was at the bottom in salary compensation, and gives no signing bonuses.

At Nocco’s request, the survey focused on the local market area of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, and the cities of St. Petersburg and Tampa.

Evergreen Solutions is recommending a three-year phased in step pay plan to provide incremental increases linked to an employee’s job description. The requested $5.4 million would cover the first year’s cost of salaries and benefits.

Commissioners are in the midst of reviewing budget proposals from all county departments.

Data on revenues will be provided by the tax collector’s office on July 1. A final budget won’t be approved until September, with two budget hearings in the interim.

“We know we have challenges ahead of us,” said Chairman Ted Schrader.

Pasco doesn’t have the tax base to pay for everything it needs, he said.

While everyone supports public safety, Schrader was skeptical of the proposed pay plan and its impact on future budget requests. “Where does it stop?” he said.

The economic downturn in the economy that began in 2008 has strained Pasco’s coffers. Many departments, including libraries and parks, took hits in recent years.

Since 2013, the county has boosted the budget for the sheriff’s office by 12 percent, including an additional $7.2 million for fiscal 2015, according to county budget records. Those records also reveal that the sheriff’s office’s budget represents more than 40 percent of total ad valorem expenditures from the county’s general fund.

Nocco acknowledged the commission’s support for past requests. “We know if there was more money in the pot, our numbers would go up,” he said. “ I think a lot of people are seeing the need. The Tampa Bay market in law enforcement is very competitive. But, you have been supportive. There is no doubt about it.”

Commissioner Mike Moore appeared generally favorable toward Nocco’s request. Based on the sheriff’s data, he calculated that the county has spent close to $5 million in training costs for officers who later left for better paying jobs.

Better retention of employees would be cost efficient, he added.

“We’re growing by leaps and bounds,” Moore said. “It’s not just about big versus small (counties) anymore. It’s who’s growing the fastest.”

Preliminary numbers from the tax collector are looking good, said Commissioner Kathryn Starkey. “We’ll have an even better next year.”

But she said challenges remain.

“We are filling up with people who don’t have a lot of money to pay for everything we want to do,” Starkey said.

Published June 10, 2015

Celebrating a half-century of dance

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Sally Blackwood was just meant to dance.

And at age 79, she is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Blackwood Studios in Dade City with a recital of “The Wizard of Oz”.

The journey down the yellow brick road is a tradition begun in 1965 and has been repeated every decade since.

Sally Blackwood has a conversation with some students before a dress rehearsal dance number. (Fred Bellet/Photo)
Sally Blackwood has a conversation with some students before a dress rehearsal dance number.
(Fred Bellet/Photo)

“It is our signature piece,” said Blackwood who teaches up to five hours a day.

The faces of many of her students have a familiar look, because often they are the children or grandchildren of students she taught in the past.

“We really are a studio family,” Blackwood said.

Her own family is where her passion for dance began.

Her father’s orchestra traveled through Florida at the height of the swing band craze in the 1940s. Ben Atwood and his musical troupe played the swanky Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg. Her mother, Genevieve Atwood, played violin in the orchestra. It was a love match.

Blackwood would find her own love match, too. But first there would be a childhood of uninhibited movement.

She traveled with her parents to military bases as they entertained troops during World War II. She was 5 years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

They were part of the vaudeville circuit, playing one night in Jacksonville and another in Avon Park. Her hometown was Lakeland, Florida.

“They did everything they could to help the war effort. I was like their mascot,” Blackwood said. “I made up dances.”

She did a “little samba” to the song “Down South American Way.” Or, whatever she’d seen in the movies.

A Lakeland teacher spotted her and told her parents their young daughter had to take lessons, and join her dance troupe. Another teacher, Mary Fariday, told a teenage Blackwood to go to New York.

“Ballet was my big love,” she said. “(Fariday) took me under her wings and taught me everything.”

At age 20, she auditioned for the legendary Robert Joffrey, founder of the Joffrey Ballet School, then based in New York. He selected her to tour with a troupe that would perform at colleges and universities.

Blackwood is modest about the accomplishment, pointing out she is barely 5 feet. “He was a short man,” she said. “He liked short dancers.”

But fate and love intervened.

Her high school sweetheart, James “Woody” Blackwood, had returned to Lakeland from Germany after three years of military service. He wanted to see her one more time.

“I was going to go home for a week,” she said. “I never went back. I’ve never regretted it.”
Ballet with a professional company takes drive and ambition.

Besides, she said, “I’m not a competitive person for myself.”

Though the couple was living in Lakeland, Blackwood began driving to Dade City once a week to teach 19 dance students.

Enrollment grew and it made sense in 1966 to relocate the family.

“We had so many coming back,” she said. “I’d have to come back four times a week.”

They bought a house on Meridian Avenue in downtown Dade City where they raised their daughters, Mary Ann and Glenda. A kindergarten teacher whose daughter was in Blackwood’s dance class offered to build a facility next to the house which she would use during the day. It was Blackwood’s dance studio in the afternoon and evening.

Woody Blackwood, who died in 2001, operated an antiques shop in another house, adjacent to the studio.

“He did everything for us,” said his wife. “He’d make dinner for me. He built scenery. He was good with the kids.”

The antique shop is now a two-story maze of costumes collected through the years. Square-dancer skirts in a rainbow of colors hang along the walls. Racks and racks of gowns, tutus, leotards, fancy dress shirts, vests, bangles and beads, laces, a box of yellow polka dot bikinis, and the odd piece of stage scenery are showbiz cornucopia.

Cheryl Hauff is part of the studio family and in charge of making costumes for more than a decade. Her daughter is a former student.

“Everyone just becomes family,” she said. “It gives girls (and boys) something to do. They advance and progress.”

Ballet is the foundation.

“Nobody has ever gotten a system better to train bodies,” Blackwood said. “That’s why we really stress ballet.”

It teaches control, stamina, body placement, and how to move smoothly and gracefully.

“If they never dance (again), the posture they get from ballet is so healthy and beautiful,” she said. “It also teaches them respect for music and for themselves.”

Her studio offers 66 classes a week in ballet, tap, jazz, modern dance and acrobatics. Blackwood has seven teachers including her daughter, Mary Ann Blackwood, who also is the studio’s choreographer.

She seems somehow to know instinctively how to orchestrate the movements of dozens of children, Haupff said. “She is amazing,” she added.

“The Wizard of Oz” will have two performances on June 12 and 13. An old “reel-to-reel” tape recording of the narrative and music from 1975 will be used.

The play isn’t a re-creation of the familiar movie with Judy Garland, though bits of familiar songs are used as performers move scenery around between scenes.

L. Frank Baum wrote more than a dozen Oz books and Blackwood dips into many of them for the story line.

There are no flying monkeys. That would be too scary, she said.

Instead the witches have crows.

“We chose music to fit the characters,” Blackwood said. “So, it can be classical.”

On June 14, there will be a reunion of Blackwood and her extended dance family through the years. At least one former student is coming from California.

But a 50-year reunion doesn’t mean Blackwood is planning to retire any time soon.

“I hope I’ll have enough sense to know when I’m not doing a good job,” she said. “I still have patience.”

Plans are under way for a trip to Europe where some of her students will perform in Germany and Austria. And she has three girls who are going to a Joffrey-sponsored summer camp in Miami.

Teaching is where her heart is.

“This way you’re sharing everything. That’s the way I like it,” Blackwood said.

Blackwood Dance Studio presents The Wizard of Oz 50th Anniversary Recital and Reunion Party
When: Recital at 7 p.m., June 12 and 13; reunion party, 2 p.m. on June 14
Where: The recital is at Wesley Chapel Center for Performing Arts. The reunion party is at Dan Cannon Auditorium at the Pasco County Fairgrounds in Dade City.
Cost: Recital tickets are $15 per person
For information, call (352) 567-5919

Published June 10, 2015

Students help ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’

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The Skype call from Salva Dut, one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan” is likely something the sixth-graders at Pine View Middle School will never forget.

Social media for 15 minutes linked two worlds – the one of privilege in America and the other of poverty in South Sudan.

Jackson Hilborn, left, McKenzie Lee, Hannah O’Conner, Destini Randall, and on the front row, Aimee Fuss, all age 12, were among Pine View Middle students who collected money to help the nonprofit Water for South Sudan. (Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)
Jackson Hilborn, left, McKenzie Lee, Hannah O’Conner, Destini Randall, and on the front row, Aimee Fuss, all age 12, were among Pine View Middle students who collected money to help the nonprofit Water for South Sudan.
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)

About 40 students filled the seats in the media center to listen to Dut and ask him questions about his life and his nonprofit, Water for South Sudan.

Pine View Middle was among more than 80 schools worldwide to accept the Iron Giraffe Challenge. The students collected more than $1,300 in donations to aid in drilling wells that deliver safe drinking water to villages in South Sudan.

As one of the top donors, the school was placed in a drawing. The prize was the Skype call from Dut.

Their funds are part of nearly $75,000 collected in total from all schools. The Iron Giraffe is the nickname, given by Sudanese children, to a drill used to bore wells.

“It kind of made me feel good to help people who aren’t as privileged as we are,” said 12-year-old Jackson Hilborn. “I didn’t know much about Sudan. It really helped me learn about other cultures and how they live.”

Hilborn and others in sixth grade language arts classes had read “The Long Walk to Water, “ a book by Linda Park that includes a biography of Dut as well as a fictional story of a young Sudanese girl. They also studied water issues, viewed a documentary on the Sudan and the Lost Boys, and saw the movie, “The Good Lie”, starring Reese Witherspoon.

“We were super psyched about the Skype,” said sixth-grade language arts teacher Chrissy Arrington.

Students delved into a culture they never knew existed.

“They are so in a bubble here,” Arrington said. “It’s opened their eyes where they see how much water they use and what other countries have.”

The fundraising by the students will help many people, Dut said. “You should be proud of yourselves,” he told the students.

He also spoke briefly about his experiences as a “lost boy” and answered questions posed by students.

The “lost boys” were orphans who fled the fighting that overtook their villages during Sudan’s second civil war from 1983 to 2005. Some were as young as age 5. They endured violence and years of hardships at refugee camps.

His story was inspirational to the students.

“He had a rough start to life, but he has changed things to where he’s doing something great,” said 12-year-old Hannah O’Conner.

Dut fled to Ethiopia, then led 1,500 lost boys to a Kenya refugee camp. In 1996, he was among 3,000 lost boys chosen to relocate to the United States. He went to school, found work and became an American citizen.

“The United States was different,” Dut said. “It was a cultural shock for me.”

Adjusting to cold weather was a particular challenge. But the abundance in America also was revealing. “Just going to a grocery store where you can see all the food and eat three times a day was awesome,” he said.

Dut thought all his family had died. But nearly 20 years after he escaped from the war, he learned his father was alive in South Sudan but ill from a water-borne disease. Dut returned home and started his nonprofit to bring clean, drinking water to people who had no access to water.

“I drilled one well. That was that,” said Dut who now has dual citizenship. But “good people” pushed him to do more.

Now more than 257 wells are pumping water to serve about 500,000 people.

“He doesn’t want other people to go through the same thing,” said 11-year-old Destini Randall. “It made us happy that we got to help out and saved people so that they can get healthy.

Published June 10, 2015

Troop 12 needs growing room

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The Boy Scouts of America Troop 12 is known in Lutz for its many good deeds.

Every year, troop members are highly visible at the Fourth of July parade in Lutz, an event that draws thousands of spectators.

But well before the parade begins, troop members are doing work behind the scenes.

Troop 12 often does community projects, including this cleanup at Lutz Elementary School. (Courtesy of Mike Ritchie)
Troop 12 often does community projects, including this cleanup at Lutz Elementary School.
(Courtesy of Mike Ritchie)

They stay overnight on the eve of the parade, near the Lutz Branch Library, so they can keep an eye on the vendor and exhibitor displays.

And, hours before the parade begins, the scouts help the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club prepare for the festivities.

They also post dozens of American flags to help celebrate the nation’s Independence Day.

Pitching in for the Fourth of July celebration is just one example of the helpful nature of this group.

The troop’s community roots go deep. Founded in 1933, the troop is one of the oldest in the country.

“From its inception (the troop) has been involved in the community in many ways,” said Scoutmaster Jeff Potvin.

In recent years, the troop has experienced a spurt in membership and has outgrown its scout “hut,” near Lutz Lake Fern Road, off U.S. 41.

“If you’re having a regular meeting, it fits everything. But when they have ceremonies where parents come, it doesn’t,” said Bill Anderson, whose 14-year-old son, Jackson, is a member of Troop 12.

The troop has 57 members, including about 25 who joined just this year.

Part of the troop’s growth is due to Cub Scouts moving up. But the membership ranks exceeded expectations, said Anderson, a former Cub Scout master.

To address the space shortage, the scouts hope to add a new room to the existing structure that was built in 1997.

The expansion would provide additional storage space and a meeting room for troop leaders. It also would free up space for activities in the main room.

The estimated cost of the addition is $12,000 to $14,000, Anderson said.

The boys are working to raise money.

They have collected more than $1,000 from a “buy a brick” program and sales of popcorn at community events. Those efforts will continue. This year the troop also will sell food at the July 4 celebration, Anderson said.

To help raise more money, Anderson has launched a “Give ‘Em Room to Grow” fundraising campaign.

He started things off with a $250 personal donation.

The hope is that local residents and businesses will join the effort, Anderson said. Those who want to contribute can do so at DonationTo.com/Troop12.

The fundraising campaign’s goal is to raise $10,000 by the end of the year, Anderson said.

The scouts aren’t the only ones who would benefit from a larger facility.

“They also have other (groups) that meet there,” Anderson said.

“We try to use it for a community type facility without going overboard,” said Potvin, the scoutmaster.

For instance, volunteers meet there to plan for the Fourth of July celebration. The woman’s club and an art teacher instructing home-schooled children use the space, too.

Anderson sees the fundraising effort as a way to give back to a group that has been involved in many worthwhile projects.

Those projects have included planting about 4,000 trees on behalf of the Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Lions Club, doing a service project at the Veterans Memorial Park, and helping with the setup and tear down at the annual Lutz Arts and Crafts Festival, to name just a few examples.

“They are just very active in the community. And, they are very generous in letting people use their building,” said Phyllis Hoedt, a volunteer who has played a pivotal role for decades in many community projects and events.

Published June 10, 2015

Pasco opens new Utilities Administration Building

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Pasco County is on the move.

With the slice of ceremonial scissors, county officials cut the ribbon on the new 50,000-square-foot Utilities Administration Building, located at 19420 Central Boulevard, off U.S. 41.

On June 19, more than 200 employees in the utilities department will move from New Port Richey to Land O’ Lakes. And, the facility is scheduled to open to the public on June 23. The hours will be Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Chairman Ted Schrader, holding scissors, slices through the ribbon, as he and other dignitaries celebrated the opening of the Utilities Administration Building. (Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)
Chairman Ted Schrader, holding scissors, slices through the ribbon, as he and other dignitaries celebrated the opening of the Utilities Administration Building.
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)

The cross-county move recognizes the accelerating growth in the northern and eastern areas of Pasco, with State Road 54 and State Road 56 prime targets for residential and commercial development.

New housing construction is also heating up on U.S. 41, in the vicinity of the new utilities building.

“We’re trying to get closer to the new customers,” said County Administrator Michele Baker. “We have got to move more of our services. This building is the beginning of trying to provide more services closer to where people are.”

The county utility department provides water and sewer services and reclaimed water as well as solid waste, recycling and hazardous waste disposal.

About 30 people attended the ribbon cutting including Baker, Chairman Ted Schrader, Commissioners Kathryn Starkey and Mike Moore and former County Administrator John Gallagher. Representatives of the architectural firm FleischmanGarcia and contractors Construction Technology Group also attended.

The two-story building has a soaring atrium in the lobby, a customer service center on the first floor, a drive-thru window, conference rooms, a training room and offices for the utilities service staff members.

The facility will be a backup location for the county’s emergency operations center.

A national review panel also certified that the building meets Silver LEED standards based on its energy efficiency and environmental design.

Schrader described the grand opening as a historic occasion.

“Pasco is typically a thrifty county,” he said.

But more than a decade ago, it was clear to some in Pasco government that change was on the way.

“They knew Pasco was going to be exploding,” he said. “It’s an outwardly beautiful building that will stand the test of time and be here for a long time.”

Business owners and residents in Land O’ Lakes see long-range benefits to the area.

“We’re obviously very proud of our community,” said Mary Lynn Gorsline, incoming president of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce. “It will help spur growth we’re looking for, positive growth.”

New restaurants or gift shops are potential new businesses that could come to the northern end of State Road 54.

“It will start to change the northern area of Land O’ Lakes,” she said.

There also are other business-related benefits as well.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Terri Dusek, the honorary mayor of Land O’ Lakes. “As a Realtor, it’s going to make it more convenient for buyers and sellers to change over utilities. The centralized part of it is exceptional.”

The vision for the facility emerged in 2003 and was ready to go five years later. But, by then, construction costs were off the chart, said Bruce Kennedy, assistant county administrator for the Utilities Service Branch.

That coincided with a flattened economy and a slow recovery.

It wasn’t until 2012, when the Pasco County Commission could set aside about $9 million for construction.

A groundbreaking happened in 2014.

While most employees will transfer to the Land O’ Lakes office, Kennedy said a small number of customer service representatives will remain in New Port Richey. They will serve mainly walk-in customers, he said.

An office also is maintained in Dade City.

It’s not clear how many walk-in customers will frequent the new facility.

“It’s going to be interesting what that demand is,” said Kennedy.

The county is encouraging more customers to conduct business online. Kennedy said that would include signing up for new service or disconnecting existing service. “We’re trying to automate these things.”

For about 20 to 30 employees who live in and around New Port Richey, the longer distance to work is an issue. But Kennedy said the county is exploring options to provide some kind of carpooling or ride share.

And, he said some employees transferred to job openings in other departments closer to home.

The department essentially ran out of room nearly a decade ago due to staff growth, Kennedy said. Some employees were deployed to different locations, but he said, “This allows us to get our group of people back together to work on a day-to-day basis. This gives us a central location. It’s a big benefit.”

Published June 10, 2015

 

Central Pasco and Hispanic chambers unite

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Two chambers of commerce can be better than one.

In the next weeks, Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce and the Pasco Hernando Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will unite into a single organization.

“We are so excited to join forces, making our chambers and our communities stronger and more diverse,” Charlene Ierna, president of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce wrote in a letter sent to chamber members in May.

The two chambers have hosted joint social mixers recently, and the Pasco Hernando Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is creating a Hispanic business group, known as Hispanic Business Leaders.

“Leaders from both organizations worked hard to determine what would be best for our members,” John Jay also said in the letter to chamber members. Jay is past president of Pasco Hernando Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

A team of board members from both organizations is finalizing the transition that likely will be completed by June 26. On that date, Central Pasco will celebrate its 40th anniversary at its Annual Awards and Installation Banquet.

“We will literally become one,” said Mary Lynn Gorsline, the incoming president for Central Pasco. “We’re pretty excited about it. There’s a huge Hispanic population in this area.”

There is more strength and efficiency in joining the two organizations, she said.

“There is a lot of duplicate work,” Gorsline said.

Published June 10, 2015

Business Digest 06-10-15

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Dual mixer
The Hispanic Business Leaders of Pasco Hernando Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will host a mixer June 10 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at Wesley Chapel Nissan, at 18519 State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel. This is a joint event with Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce.

For information, call Hispanic Business Leaders at (813) 435-1499 or Central Pasco chamber at (813) 909-2722.

General meeting
Join the North Tampa Chamber of Commerce for its general meeting on June 11 at 11 a.m., to celebrate the past year’s accomplishments, outstanding member awards and installation of new officers. Sign-up begins at 11 a.m., at Brunchie’s of Tampa, at 14366 N. Dale Mabry Highway. Networking is at 11:30 a.m. The meeting begins at 11:45 a.m.

The cost is $21, payable online or at the door by cash, check or credit card. For information, call the chamber office at (813) 961-2420, or visit NorthTampaChamber.com. For directions, call (813) 908-7023.

New breakfast club
The newly formed Wesley Chapel Breakfast Club will have its first meeting on June 10 from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., at the Quail Hollow Golf & Country Club in Wesley Chapel.

The club meets weekly and brings people together to network and to help each other generate new leads and prospects. Enjoy a customized breakfast menu. There are no dues and no club officers.

For information, call Bill Meyer at (813) 992-3370.

Networking
Business Link will meet on June 10 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, second floor of the Wellness Center in the conference room, 2600 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. This monthly meeting offers tools, tips and networking to strengthen businesses. San Antonio Citizens Federal Credit Union partners with industry experts to provide valuable information each month. A complimentary breakfast will be provided.

RSVP to Rebecca Gaddis at the credit union at (352) 588-2732, ext. 1237, or email .

Women-in-Charge
Join Women-n-Charge on June 12 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., at Pebble Creek Country Club, 10550 Regents Park Drive in Tampa, for lunch and networking.

The guest speaker will be Ginger Rockey-Johnson, the Original Spice Girl of Tampa Bay who will talk about “The Art of the Pitch.” Group members share their talents, build relationships and share their resources with other women in business.

The cost is $15 for members if paid by Tuesday before the meeting, and $18 for all guests and members who pay after Tuesday.

Register online at Women-n-Charge.com.

For information, contact Judy at (813) 600-9848 or .

Coffee social
The Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce will have its monthly coffee social, June 16, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., at McDonald’s restaurant on State Road 54. This is a “no agenda” networking event over a cup of coffee in a relaxed atmosphere.

For information, call the chamber office at (813) 994-8534.

Business breakfast
The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce will have its monthly business breakfast June 16 at 7:45 a.m., at the Royal Oaks Nursing Center, 37300 Royal Oak Lane, in Dade City. Anyone attending must RSVP. The cost is $5 per person.

For information, call the chamber at (352) 567-3769.

Lunch N’ Learn forum
The Lunch N’ Learn Business Forum will meet on June 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce boardroom, 6013 Wesley Chapel Blvd., Suite 105, in Wesley Chapel. Join fellow Chamber members to learn how to target your market and build your business around its most profitable audience.

The $15 cost includes lunch, and RSVP and prepayment are required. No walk-in seating is available.

For information, call the chamber office at (813) 994-8534.

Art quilts show off Tampa Bay history

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Joanne Rodriguez knew immediately which historical Tampa landmark she wanted to create on her appliqued quilt – the image of the iconic minarets at the University of Tampa.

“When I came down to Florida in the 1980s, I just thought they were so beautiful,” said the Wisconsin native. “It’s very Tampa.”

Betty Jo Weber of Land O' Lakes makes her way down the Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library hallway, where art quilts are on display. In the foreground, Sandi Snow's art quilt depicts a memory of the Hotel Floridan. (Fred Bellet/Photo)
Betty Jo Weber of Land O’ Lakes makes her way down the Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library hallway, where art quilts are on display. In the foreground, Sandi Snow’s art quilt depicts a memory of the Hotel Floridan.
(Fred Bellet/Photo)

Her quilt is one of several on display through June at an art exhibit – “Memories of Tampa Bay” – at the Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library, 2902 W. Bearss Ave.

Other quilts feature landmarks such as the St. Petersburg Pier, the Hotel Floridan in downtown Tampa, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and the Dade City Historic Courthouse.

The idea for the show came from a challenge made by Terry Montaldo, long-time member of the Feather Princesses. She created a quilt featuring the Hacienda Hotel, a historic landmark near her home in New Port Richey.

“They are currently redoing it as a boutique hotel,” Montaldo said. “I’m quite anxious to see it done. It’s been a dream of people that live here.”

More than 150 members from around Tampa Bay belong to Feather Princesses. A general meeting takes place on the second Wednesday of each month at the Carrollwood Cultural Center. About a dozen smaller groups meet at various times and locations such as the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Carrollwood, Salvation Army in New Port Richey, and quilting shops in Dade City, Lutz and Land O’ Lakes.

Rodriquez joined about four years ago.

She grew up sewing clothes. “I just always loved to sew,” she said. “I even do it on vacation. This is the only group that does strictly appliques. It’s very unique.”

The guild began with a conversation between two friends, Dorothy Johnson and Laura Brooker.

“Before we knew, we were starting a guild,” said Johnson, who is the current president. “It just happened.”

In August, the Feather Princesses will celebrate their 10th anniversary.

“It’s very hot right now,” said Johnson of appliques and art quilts. “Unlike patchwork, with appliques it allows more creative expression. You’re not limited to specific shapes.”

Members work for months on some of their creations. It took a year to pull together the current library exhibit.

With so much time spent together, education and fellowship are a huge part of the appeal, Johnson said.

“We just love getting together and being with one another,” she said.

Some quilters have nearly 50 years of experience.

“Others are just learning to thread a needle,” Johnson said. “But everyone is willing to share. We’re just a fun group of ladies who like to get together and make beautiful appliques.”

For information, contact the Feather Princesses at (813) 253-9227, or visit FeatherPrincesses.org.

Published June 3, 2015

 

Save-A-Lot opening at Zephyrhills Plaza

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Save-A-Lot grocery store will move into the vacant anchor spot at Zephyrhills Plaza on State Road 54.

Sunshine Partners Development Corp., has filed a conceptual plan to redevelop the plaza, county records show. Save-A-Lot, and potential additional retail tenants, could give the plaza a new start.

800px-Save-A-Lot_logo.svgThe approximately 52,000-square-foot discount grocery store will replace the former Sweetbay grocery store that closed in 2014.

The closure was part of an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission following the purchase by Bi-Lo Holdings of more than 150 Sweetbay, Harveys and Reid grocery stores from the Delhaize Group. The intent was to operate the stores under the Winn-Dixie brand.

But to encourage local competition, the federal agency ordered Bi-Lo to close more than a dozen stores in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. They were considered too close to stores already under Bi-Lo control. Two of those stores were in Zephyrhills and Dade City.

A tentative opening for Save-A-Lot is scheduled for late October with remodeling likely to begin in midsummer, said Save-A-Lot spokeswoman Chon Tomlin.

Save-A-Lot operates more than 100 stores in Florida, and more than 1,300 nationwide. Bill Moran founded the company when he opened his first grocery store in Illinois in 1977.

“We have a really solid footprint in Florida,” Tomlin said. “Our model is well-established in the state.”

Store officials look for established neighborhoods with a customer base that want to have a grocery store close to home, Tomlin said.

“It’s really about being a community grocery store,” she added.

Published June 3, 2015

Wildlife corridors are on agenda

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A mandated but long-delayed ordinance to create wildlife corridors is again winding its way through public meetings, hearings and possible adoption by the Pasco County Commission.

Two public meetings were held in New Port Richey and Land O’ Lakes in May.

There will be a final meeting June 4 at 6 p.m., at the Dade City Courthouse.

The next steps will include two public hearings, and by late summer, a scheduled vote by commissioners.

About 10 people attended the May 28 meeting at the Land O’ Lakes Branch Library for an “informational” presentation that outlined the goals and routes for seven proposed corridors.

The county has been slow to act on this issue.

A proposed 2008 ordinance was postponed.

A second deadline of 2010, included in the county’s land use plan, came and went without county action.

It is important to the county’s conservation efforts to adopt an ordinance, said Keith Wiley, program manager for the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Management Program, also known as ELAMP.

“Development is coming. We know it happens,” he said. “If we don’t do it (preserve wildlife corridors) now, we’re going to miss the opportunity.”

Conservation brings a host of benefits, including clean air and water, flood control and carbon storage, Wiley said.

But it also has economic benefits from increased property values and revenues from eco-tourism, he added.

“It’s not about moving bugs and bunnies from one area to another,” said Wiley.

To date, the county has acquired more than 3,000 acres through ELAMP. Some of those acres are part of the proposed wildlife corridor that county officials say would eventually need more than 7,000 acres to complete.

The corridors in central Pasco would link current and proposed development projects at Starkey Ranch, Crossbar, Connerton and Cypress Creek.

About $36 million from the Penny for Pasco revenues were targeted for land purchases with about $17 million invested to date. Another $46 million from the same source has been approved, and the ELAMP program extended for 10 years.

Much of the needed land easements for the corridors pass through private land.

Most of the people at the May 28 meeting were landowners with concerns about property rights.

Land use attorney David Smolker had a generally favorable opinion of the proposed ordinance. But he also was critical of some provisions dealing with how landowners would be compensated for land acquired by the county.

“Remedies available to property owners are not workable or are really a burden,” he said. “Compensation needs to be streamlined.”

The landowner and the county would each provide a property appraisal and reach agreement on a price through negotiation, said Rebecca Stonefield, a county planner.

The ordinance allows appeals before the Development Review Committee and finally before the commission.

Smolker and others expressed concerns about the length of time the process would take. They also wanted to know if property owners would get land returned to them if a proposed development didn’t happen.

Pasco landowner George Southworth said local governments aren’t being honest when such ordinances are adopted. The end result, he said, is that private landowners lose land without fair compensation.

“Let’s just say we’re going to jump in and take this property,” he said.

Southworth described himself as an “agricultural” man with an interest in conservation. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department named Southworth a 2012 Landowner of the Year for a grazing plan adopted on his JY Ranch. The awards are given in recognition of wildlife management and habitat improvements on private land.

The initiative to create the wildlife corridors – also known as critical linkages – emerged from a lawsuit filed in the late 1990s as a challenge to the county’s land use plan and specifically objecting to the then-proposed development of the Oakstead subdivision, off State Road 54.

A settlement cleared the way for Oakstead’s development but required the county to adopt conservation measures, such as the wildlife corridors. The appointment of a task force that in turn led to ELAMP also was part of the settlement.

According to county officials, residents are on record in support of the kind of conservation measures addressed in the ordinance.

In 2012, about 72 percent of Pasco’s voters approved a second round of Penny for Pasco with money for ELAMP. And in 2014 about 76 percent of Pasco voters approved a water and conservation amendment to fund the state’s land acquisition fund.

“So, I think there is a mandate,” said Jennifer Seney, the county’s recycling coordinator.

For information on the proposed ordinance, visit PascoCountyFl.net.

Published June 3, 2015