Michael Hinman

Zephyrhills gets youth infusion with new advisory council

October 16, 2013 By Michael Hinman

The last time Zephyrhills tried to form a youth council a decade ago, it didn’t last very long, but it produced at least one big result: a city councilman who would later become mayor.

Now, Danny Burgess is set to resurrect the youth council concept after getting the go-ahead from the Zephyrhills City Council to form a new group designed to get young people involved in the community.

Could there be future council members or mayors in that bunch?

Danny Burgess was just a year out of high school when he campaigned and won a seat on the Zephyrhills City Council in 2005. He got his first exposure to city government as a member of his Zephyrhills High School Youth Council, a revived concept that he will now lead as mayor. (file photo)

Absolutely, Burgess said. It also could help change the perception that Zephyrhills is primarily retirees. The community is much different than that, said Burgess, who is often greeted with odd looks when people find out he’s the mayor.

“People don’t expect to see a 27-year-old mayor from Zephyrhills. But what they don’t realize is that we’re a diverse community. We have retirees, older families, younger families. We are just a great melting pot,” Burgess said.

When Burgess served on the youth council, his group would sit at a table in front of the City Council, taking in meeting after meeting. It was an eye-opening experience for Burgess, who up until then had never considered doing anything with city government.

But this was during a tumultuous time, when the government was arguing over the renaming of Sixth Avenue to honor civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.

“We were front and center during that whole debate,” Burgess said. “We got a crash course at that meeting, as well as in general, about what it means to lead a city.”

While he hopes there won’t be a major controversy like that one, Burgess said the new youth council will have a chance to experience government for the first time like he did, and even play an active role by advising the City Council on issues affecting young people.

The board will have seven members who are in public, private or home school, and are in at least ninth grade. Each will be selected by the City Council through the standard board application process, and after the initial board, will serve terms of two years.

The goals of the youth council include evaluating and reviewing problems facing youth in Zephyrhills, conducting community meetings with youth to learn about additional issues, and presenting their refined ideas to city leaders.

The City Council decided to revive the Youth Council because of the efforts of Victoria Tinney, a Girl Scouts member who is a freshman at Zephyrhills High School.

“She had to do a community project for a badge, and Victoria approached me and asked if there was a way to create a forum or group for the youth to be more involved with the City Council,” Burgess said. “Victoria actually came and presented to the City Council her vision, her idea, of what she wanted.”

There are a lot of issues facing young people in the community — especially when it comes to recreational opportunities and job creation — that could benefit from their unique insight.

That’s exactly what Councilwoman Jodi Wilkeson hopes will happen.

“A lot of young people are moving away as soon as they graduate from high school, and I want a place for my kids to want to come home to when they get a college education, and not live somewhere else,” Wilkeson said. “If those young people come to us and say there are opportunities to encourage other kids who are not in service clubs, who are not participating in sports, to go to school and they have ideas about that, we’re going to listen.”

Teenagers in grades nine through 12 are encouraged to apply for the youth council through the standard board selection process. The form can be found at tinyurl.com/ZhillsYouth.

Despite focus, manufacturing labor still lacking in region

October 9, 2013 By Michael Hinman

It takes more than tax incentives and good schools for kids to attract the manufacturing industry to Pasco County. It’s going to take a solid workforce base already living here. And that’s where programs like the engineering academy at schools like River Ridge High School come into play.

The only program of its kind in Pasco County, these engineering students are learning about the ever-evolving manufacturing industry — one that more and more requires homegrown highly skilled labor to take on complex jobs.

Bryan Kamm, director of government and public relations for Bauer Foundation Corp., talks to students of the Engineering Academy at River Ridge High School as part of Pasco-Hernando Community College’s National Manufacturing Day on Friday. Bauer has an apprenticeship program that helps produce high-skilled manufacturing workers in the county. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

“Many times, kids don’t have a clue what they want to do when they graduate from high school,” said Bryan Kamm, director of public and government relations for Bauer Foundation Corp. in Odessa. “And when they do, they still don’t have the experience they need when they graduate from college. Here we’re trying to bridge that gap.”

The doors of Bauer Foundation Corp., a company that specializes in building foundations and equipment, were opened to students around the area last week as part of National Manufacturing Day. Pasco-Hernando Community College organized this year’s tours, providing an in-the-field look at industry to more than 160 students in the River Ridge program as well as 100 more from Nature Coast Technical High School and Hernando Robotics Club.

The River Ridge program pulls in students from all over the county, and continues to grow, said former school board member and current Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey.

“If you stay in engineering, you have the highest chance of anybody to get a job,” Starkey told some of the students during the Bauer Foundation Corp. visit. “Whether you go on to college, or you just want to get a job after high school, you will get the highest pay and have the most opportunities.

“That, to me, is why engineering is so important. It will help bring American jobs back from overseas, and bring stability to our economy.”

Manufacturing jobs have remained flat year-over-year in Florida, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics for August. The Tampa Bay region, which Pasco County is a part of, has actually witnessed manufacturing jobs drop 3 percent since last year. Yet, some 600,000 manufacturing jobs across the country remained unfilled because of the gaps between the job requirements and the skills of those who are applying for them, according to PHCC.

Many young people, especially those under 25, aren’t even considering manufacturing jobs in their future. That’s despite the fact that manufacturing salaries are typically 19 percent higher than other jobs, according to a report from The Manufacturing Institute. The national trend is for salaries and benefits averaging at just under $79,000, while non-manufacturing jobs pay a little more than $66,000.

Manufacturing jobs are also more likely to have benefits — 78 percent offer health care, for example — compared to non-manufacturing jobs, which only 54 percent offer similar benefits, according to the study.

Pasco County offers a wide range of manufacturing opportunities through 320 different facilities, according to the Pasco Hernando Workforce Board. That includes 3,100 jobs in highly technical advanced fields in pharmaceutical packaging, aerospace, military and defense manufacturing, as well as the manufacturing of baking equipment, and storm and lightning detectors. The county also offers thermoforming jobs, where plastic is heated and shaped into different products.

Bauer Foundation focuses on the construction of building foundations, and developing the equipment that creates it.

A division of the German-based Bauer Group, the Pasco company employs up to 80 people at its Odessa site, but has more than 200 people working in construction sites across the Southeast.

Bauer offers an apprenticeship program that allows high school students to apply for what becomes a job complementing their schoolwork. It introduces jobs that students may not even had known existed before, and helps create the local workforce manufacturing companies like Bauer needs.

“We’re a very highly technical and skilled company from Germany, and when someone comes in the door and applies, generally they don’t have the skills they need to work for us,” Bauer’s Kamm said. “There ends up being this learning curve, where over a long period of time, they can come up to speed. And they can do that while still going to school.”

Bauer typically takes in four students each year for its summer orientation program, a six-week program that is ultimately a long-term job interview. The best candidates from that group are offered on-the-job training that they can do during their junior and senior years, and while they continue their education.

And if they choose a local school, like PHCC, Bauer also pays their tuition.

For more information on National Manufacturing Day and how to pursue a job in the manufacturing industry, visit mfgday.com.

Government shutdown could soon victimize poor children, infants

October 9, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Lacy White followed the latest news from Washington, D.C. closely over the past few weeks as Congress and the President haggled over spending measures that led to a federal government shutdown.

Not only was her husband a civilian contractor at MacDill Air Force Base who would lose his paycheck if a shutdown were to occur, but both were eight weeks into caring for an infant they’ve fostered since she was born, and were depending on the government to help pay for the baby’s needs.

“This is a double whammy for us, and it’s frustrating,” the former Land O’ Lakes resident said. “We need the checks to help with the baby’s formula, and without those, we’d have to pay out of our own pockets. But if my husband is working without pay, too, then we really have to dig to get the money.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture website, which is the home for information on the federal government’s WIC program to help support women, infants and children, shows only an error page to anyone trying to visit. The federal government shutdown has created a potentially serious problem for poor families, who depend on government assistance to feed their children.

White receives support through WIC, the federal assistance program more formally known as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Individual states like Florida administer the program using federal dollars — money that is now missing because of the federal government’s inability to keep the financial coffers open.

Communication between the government and WIC recipients has been nonexistent. Even visiting the website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the federal program, brings up a page telling visitors that “due to the lapse in federal government funding, this website is not available.”

So, White and others like her have to turn to the news.

“As far as I have read, WIC is shut down, and we will no longer be getting her formula checks,” White said of her foster baby. “No one has contacted us. No one has let us know. We have to go by word of mouth.”

But checks are continuing to be cut, even as federal dollars stop, said Deanna Krautner, a spokeswoman for Pasco County. She referred more detailed questions to the state level, who in a statement said Florida Department of Health “continues to monitor the situation in Washington, D.C., and the department will be able to continue WIC services for the foreseeable future.”

When pressed further about where those dollars are coming from, Department of Health spokeswoman Denishia Sword said the state has put together temporary operating dollars, including reallocated federal funding, USDA contingency funds and infant formula rebates.

Yet, those contingency funds won’t last long. Bruce Alexander, communications director with the USDA, told Forbes magazine that if the shutdown is not resolved before October ends, there may not be sufficient money to keep the program going.

The USDA typically receives $7 billion to run programs like WIC nationally, but the program’s contingency fund is just $125 million — enough to run the program for six days.

White’s family, luckily, has put money away for a rainy day, and only collects WIC because she has a foster baby. Yet, families that solely depend on WIC won’t have those options, and she fears children not just in the Tampa Bay area, but across the country, will suffer.

“We would typically spend $100 a month on formula, and that’s just to feed her,” White said. “There are a lot of expenses involving children, and families who live in poverty would not be able to do this on their own.”

If her family ran into problems, White said her church will be available to help. But there may be only so much charity groups can do — especially if so many families end up in need, said Thomas Mantz, chief executive of Feeding America Tampa Bay. While the organization does not necessarily provide the same services as WIC, if families have to suddenly pay for items like formula, they may have to make cuts in other areas — like food.

“Any time there are challenges in the economic environment, one of the choices people will often make is the choice of food,” Mantz said. “They have to pay a medical bill, or they have to get their car running to get to work, or they have to pay for their lights or rent. Any time those choices have to be made, these folks have to go without food, and seek food assistance elsewhere.”

Feeding America will move 40 million pounds of food in its 10-county service area this year, but that is still not enough, covering less than 50 percent of the need. And if the government shutdown continues, that will be even more assistance the group will have to be ready to supply.

Congress and the President getting back on the same page couldn’t come too soon, White said. The government needs to get back to work, and start paying for these much-needed social programs.

“My husband has to get up every day to go to work without a paycheck, yet these guys are up there still paying themselves while we are all just waiting,” White said. “Something needs to be done.”

They are coming, will Pasco be able to build it?

October 9, 2013 By Michael Hinman

For decades, the population center of Pasco County has been on its western, coastal side. Areas surrounding Port Richey and New Port Richey have always been the focus of activity thanks to their proximity to Pinellas County.

But by 2025, that could all change. The southern portion of Pasco County, which as late as 1990 had population rivaling only the northern rural parts of the county, will not only overtake the New Port Richey area, but will become the most populous in Pasco.

The population of Pasco County is shifting from the western side, which officials have called ‘The Harbors,’ to the southern side. By 2040, areas like Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch could have 309,000 people, a population jump of more than 900 percent since 1990. (Image courtesy of Pasco County)

The area, which includes Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch, could reach as high as 309,000 people by 2040, putting Pasco on the path to 1 million residents. And the county will have to be ready.

“We have a big responsibility in the Tampa Bay area,” Melanie Kendrick, senior planner in Pasco County’s economic development department, told members of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce late last month. “As companies are looking to come to this area, and companies in Hillsborough and Pinellas are expanding, they don’t have the room. And great cities grow north.”

In 1990, the southern portion of the county — which officials are calling “Gateway Crossings” — had just 30,500 residents, compared to the nearly 142,000 on the western side. In 2010, Gateway Crossings expanded to a little less than 120,000, a jump of 293 percent, while the western side grew just 28 percent to 182,000.

By 2025, Gateway Crossings is expected to grow to 214,000 people compared to 194,000 on the western side, according to numbers provided by Pasco County officials.

Already, 94 percent of Pasco’s population resides in the unincorporated areas.

“If the Pasco County Commission were a city commission, we would be the 12th largest city in the state,” Commissioner Kathryn Starkey said at the chamber meeting. “It’s an interesting challenge for us as commissioners as we have to act like a city commission, while other commissions like the one in Pinellas actually controls very little with so many incorporated areas there.”

Pasco is one of the fastest growing areas in the state, but still exports 90,000 people a day to Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, while importing just 40,000.

“If we could get people to work here in the county, we could bring our wages up,” Kendrick said.

To make that growth work, planning had to start a long time ago, and the county is getting its act together, Starkey said. One of the first major issues the commission had to address once Starkey arrived was the permitting process, which she described as a “disaster.”

“We were known as a difficult place to do business,” Starkey said. “We still are, but we are working on that.”

Permitting has been streamlined, removing a lot of red tape that existed before, with the hopes that smart growth will be encouraged by the private sector. That does mean, however, building up rather than out. Density is going to be key, but Pasco will need the infrastructure to support it.

Already, key areas like U.S. 41 and the Suncoast Parkway junctions with State Roads 54 and 52 have more than 2 million people living within a 40-minute drive time. Wiregrass Ranch already is not far behind with 1.92 million people within a couple gallons of gas.

Yet, Pasco still wants to keep its community spirit with aspects like sidewalks and neighborhoods. Yet, some traffic arteries must remain arteries.

“State Road 54 will not be a main street,” Kendrick said. “It will not be walkable, ever.”

Communities are springing up on either side of State Road 54, which are pedestrian-friendly, but the county is going to need a much expanded road system to carry the incoming population and avoid traffic gridlock.

“You can see the numbers coming into the area, and they are not going to fit on (State Road) 54,” Starkey said. “You could walk faster.”

The county, however, will have to find ways to pay for it. Property taxes already are lower than 60 other counties in the state, Kendrick said, and the recent failure of the additional gas tax by the county commission is going to make it nearly impossible to build more roads in the foreseeable future.

“We’ve had to build $8 million out of the budget to fund roads, and we are going to have to do something to fill that gap,” Starkey said. “It’s going to be a challenge.”

Representatives from the Urban Land Institute, which is helping Pasco County officials with long-range economic development plans, are visiting this week to follow up on recommendations made five years ago. Further suggestions on how to enhance and support growth in the county will be made in the coming months.

From afterthoughts to winners, Sunlake’s volleyball team is ready to dominate

October 9, 2013 By Michael Hinman

New players and a new head coach meant that Sunlake High School had to prepare for some big changes heading into the 2013 volleyball season. But few probably expected one of those changes would be to become accustomed to winning.

And winning a lot.

With just three games remaining — including Tuesday’s late matchup with district-leading Fivay — the Sunlake Seahawks are 12-5, producing the first winning season in school history, and chalking up the most wins in school history as well.

Nelly Diaz, a freshman member of Sunlake High’s junior varsity volleyball team, updates her notes just before she talks to the crowd about breast cancer awareness during last week’s district matchup between Sunlake and Land O’ Lakes high schools. Diaz is one of several young players working their way up onto a solid squad under coach Deann Newton. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Ask the players, and they’ll point toward first-year coach Deann Newton as the reason for the change. But ask Newton, and she points right back at the players.

“The whole team has really come together,” Newton said. “They like each other, which is good anytime. But these girls really get along well, and that has really helped with our team chemistry.”

Newton joined the Seahawks after a 10-year break from coaching. Her most recent job before that was with Mitchell High School, where she took a 17-9 team into the playoffs, knocked off a heavily favored Lakeland High School in the first round, and then lost to eventual state champion Plant High School in four sets in the regional semifinals.

She returned to a sport that has changed a lot (primarily, the implementation of rally scoring, which allows points to be scored on every serve). The higher point totals means a lot more scoreboard watching for many, but not for the Seahawks.

“I tell my girls all the time not to even look at the scoreboard,” Newton said. “It doesn’t even matter. We have to play every point like it’s the last point of the game. Every ball, every serve, we have to focus on each one at a time.”

The Seahawks have developed a strong core of players in recent seasons, but got some extra help this year with four transfers, including Sunlake’s new team captain, Malika Saffore. The Bishop McLaughlin High School transplant is one of the leaders in digs with 157, and has more than 400 assists.

Other transfers this year included junior outside hitter Shelby Stratton from Land O’ Lakes Christian High School, senior outside hitter Maeghan O’Fray from Ocala, and junior outside hitter Sara Nafziger, who moved to Florida last summer.

Saffore, who actually played on Sunlake’s varsity team as a freshman, says she returned to a much different Seahawks team for her senior year.

“There is a much more excitement than I ever remember on this team before,” Saffore said. This stems from the need for everyone to stay focused and contribute, because this is a team that doesn’t operate with star players.

“I’m a senior, and I’m the captain, but I’m really just one of 12 girls on this team,” Saffore said. “We always work as a team, and we always motivate each other as a team. And this year, we have so much talent. We keep looking at that talent, and are getting a hint of what we can accomplish.”

The season is almost over, and while Sunlake has been successful on the court, they know that once the playoffs begins, everyone starts back at the beginning. And a loss there means the season is over. But just as Newton directs her players to focus on just one point at a time, she asks them to focus on the games the same way.

“We don’t think one game is more important than another because every game is important,” Saffore said. “Each game has to turn into a win, and we can’t take anything for granted.”

Crowds have started to grow for Sunlake home games as more and more people start to hear about the success the Seahawks are having on the court. But Newton wants to see the bleachers filled, because the energy of the crowd fuels her girls even more.

“That’s probably one of the most disappointing things I’ve noticed since coming back, it’s the size of crowds for volleyball games at our school and other schools,” Newton said. “I’m 36, I’m not that old, but when I played, we packed the gym.”

People will really start to come as the team improves, and for now, the Seahawks are getting tremendous support from its core of parents and students who make it a point to be at every Sunlake volleyball game.

And they shouldn’t miss a thing, because it only gets more exciting from here.

“Our district is so tight right now,” Newton said. “The top five teams are all strong teams, and anyone can knock anybody off. We’re going to have to play our game the whole time to really make it through to the finals. That’s for sure.”

After cancer diagnosis, community runs for Keppel

October 2, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Kris Keppel is never one to give up.

Always a fighter in his 20 years as a coach of the Land O’ Lakes High School cross-country team, he now is facing an even tougher battle — pancreatic cancer — and his team, school and community are rallying around him to notch yet another big win.

“Life has definitely turned on a dime,” said Karen DeHaas, the coach of the Gators’ girls’ cross-country team. Better known as “Mima” to the runners because of her granddaughter’s influence on the team, DeHaas was one of the first to find out about Keppel’s diagnosis just a little more than two weeks ago.

“I cried so much,” DeHaas said. “You don’t know how much I cried. I’d be lost without him.”

The cross-country teams of Land O’ Lakes High School don ‘I run for Keppel’ shirts in honor of Coach Kris Keppel, who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Breaking the news to the rest of the team was hard, especially when Keppel could not be at his first cross-country event in the two decades he’s been a coach. But he was still there, thanks to technology, as he watched the first runners cross the finish line thanks to a FaceTime video feed from someone’s smart phone.

The runners, who have never felt abandoned by Keppel over all these years, were going to stand by him, too.

Two of DeHaas’ runners, Carolyn Estrella and Mary-Kathryn Guenette, got together and designed “I run for Keppel” T-shirts. Complete with a purple ribbon, representative of those who are fighting pancreatic cancer, the girls have already raised more than $1,000 for Keppel’s family. And they plan to add even more.

“Coach Keppel always cancelled doctor’s appointments in the past just so he doesn’t miss practice, so when he didn’t cancel one appointment for a practice, we knew something was wrong,” said Estrella, a junior at Land O’ Lakes High School. “The next day after that missed practice, we found out he had cancer. It was hard for all of us.”

Estrella and Guenette had 100 shirts printed right away, which the entire cross-country team donned in his honor last Friday, and DeHaas is confident that the two can actually sell more than 1,000 after it’s all said and done. Each one costs $15, and the proceeds go to Keppel.

“There are so many coaches that have already stepped up,” DeHaas said. “We have this big invitational coming up, and I have had phone calls from coaches in Brandon, Tampa, Hernando, all the surrounding counties. I can’t believe all the compassion and support that I have received from all these coaches.”

For Guenette, the cancer diagnosis hit closer to home. Her younger brother, Spencer, battled brain cancer at a very young age. But he also proved that the fight is quite winnable, and now at 14, is in remission.

“I know what the Keppels are going through right now, and it’s a tough time,” Guenette said. “My parents were really proud that we stepped up and made a difference (for Keppel). It’s a good way of coping.”

There is no such thing as an “easy” cancer to be afflicted with, but pancreatic cancer is aggressive. In 2013, the American Cancer Society estimates that more than 45,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, evenly split between men and women. Treatment ranges from chemotherapy and radiation to surgery.

All of that will require a lot of attention and energy on Keppel’s part, but DeHaas knows that he’ll still find a way to influence the runners he has led for so many years.

“He’s hoping that even if he has to be pushed in a wheelchair, he’s going to be out there watching regionals,” DeHaas said. “I told him he could use my chair, which has a big umbrella on it to protect him from the sun. Either way, if there is any chance he can make it out there, he’ll be there.”

The “I run for Keppel” shirts are available to the general public as well, with proceeds benefitting the Keppel family. To order, email — that’s “carolyn” followed by a zero, two ones and “jr” — or visit the athletics department social media page at Facebook.com/lolhsgators.

RPE comes to Pasco, bringing high-tech jobs with it

October 2, 2013 By Michael Hinman

When John Hagen made his quarterly report to Pasco County Commissioners earlier this year, he wasn’t sure 2013 would end on an upswing for new jobs created in the county.

But the fiscal year ended Monday, and Hagen — the president and chief executive of the Pasco Economic Development Council — has good news: More than 600 high-wage jobs have been created this year, well beyond any expectations.

And the growth was capped by Retail Process Engineering LLC moving its operations from Tampa to the Offices of Devonwood off State Road 54 in Land O’ Lakes, expected to bring 16 new jobs to the county with an average salary of $105,000.

Retail Process Engineering moved into its new location at Devonwood off State Road 54 over the weekend. The company bought the space in April, and plans to add 16 high-wage jobs to the area. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

“Things are definitely looking up,” Hagen said. “We still have some challenges, but we do feel the momentum is here as activity’s been picking up. It bodes well for the upcoming year.”

A company related to RPE purchased the 4,100-square-foot location at 20537 Amberfield Drive in April for $500,000, according to property records. The company had looked at locations in Tampa and Pinellas County as well, but realized that Pasco was a good fit, said executive vice president Rob Henneke. It didn’t hurt that he and many other people who work at RPE already lived in Pasco County.

“Certainly drive time made a difference for a number of us, as well as certain taxes and some of the incentives that Pasco County was offering,” Henneke said. “It’s certainly a more relaxed atmosphere here compared to Tampa, and we’re still what I consider to be very close to the airport, which is very important to us and our clients.”

RPE was founded in 1999 and specializes in strategic, functional and technical consulting for retail merchandising and supply chain services, primarily when it comes to information technology. The new jobs — which could earn RPE a cash incentive of up to $5,000 per new job payable over four years — would be for those who have at least 15 years of retail experience willing to take on a consultant role for the company, Henneke said.

RPE is the fourth technology company to move operations to Pasco County this past year. It joined financial services technology firm InvestCloud, security camera technology company Communication Concepts Inc., and software developer MB2x.

And there’s still room for more, Hagen said. A recent report by the EDC showed of the 7.5 million square feet of existing office space in the county, 15 percent of it — or 1.1 million square feet — is still available. That’s enough to fit six Walmart Supercenters.

“All you have to do is stand on the corner of State Road 56 and Interstate 75, or even State Road 54 and the Suncoast Parkway, and watch all the traffic every morning going south,” Hagen said. “Having commuted myself, I just realized what a drag it is. So I know there are a lot of other people out there who are trying to one way or another bring their business closer to where they live.”

RPE services clients around the country and into Canada as well in places like Toronto and Newfoundland.

“We have a very good reputation out there in the marketplace,” Henneke said. “As we are able to get the message across of who we are, we’re seeing more and more clients choosing to use our services. And with that, we’ll just keep expanding.”

City to decide future of Main Street parking in October

October 2, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Parking may soon be at a premium for visitors of Zephyrhills’ downtown businesses. That is unless city officials decide to pay up to keep some private parking lots open to the public.

Leases signed in 2003 have expired on three lots in and around the city’s Fifth Avenue business district. Whether they will be renewed or not could depend on if those lot owners will go from free leases to paid leases.

This parking lot near Village Inn is a popular place for cars to park during special events in the downtown area of Zephyrhills. This particular parking lot used to be shuffleboard courts just 20 years ago. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

“We’ve talked to some of the property owners (of the parking lots), and I think they would like to see the city purchase them,” said Todd Vande Berg, director of development services for Zephyrhills. “They had been free before, but now I think the owners would like to get some money.”

The three lots are scattered in key spots around the downtown district. They include:

• The southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Sixth Street not far from the First Baptist Church.

• A larger parcel owned by the neighboring Village Inn restaurant on the west side of Seventh Street south of Fifth Avenue where the Tourist Club used to operate shuffleboard courts.

• A third lot just south of City Hall between Fifth and Sixth avenues, on the west side of Eighth Street, controlled by the owners of the former Wachovia Bank location on Fifth Avenue.

No matter what the city decides to do with those leases, downtown can’t afford to lose valuable parking, especially when special events take place on Fifth Avenue, said Marvin Matteson, an owner of K&M Travel.

“I would hate to see the city give them up, but I would also hate to see the city get ripped off in a lease,” said Matteson, who has operated his business on Fifth Avenue for more than 15 years.

Some residents already complain that parking is difficult in the downtown section, even though parking a block or two away is still closer than most people can park in front of Walmart on the north side of town, Matteson said. Still, his employees and others use the leased lots to free up on-street parking in front of the businesses.

“That would be upsetting to our people, and I know it would really tick some of them off,” he said.

Most of the leased parking is used for special events downtown, like the homecoming parade put on last week by Zephyrhills High School, said Main Street Zephyrhills executive director Gina King Granger.

“On a day-to-day basis, the parking that we have downtown, I think, is fine,” she said. “But these additional parking lots, they are critical when it comes to having all the events we put on downtown. And we do put on a lot.”

Granger said city officials have to be sure to think long-range about parking, and not just the needs of today. There are two large buildings in the heart of downtown that remain vacant right now, but if they were to become occupied, it could create a shortage of parking spaces depending on what kind of businesses can be attracted there.

“Sometimes, the lack of parking down here can be a deterrent,” Granger said. “Even if there is parking available off the street, if people don’t see it, they may not want to stop and shop at the businesses that we already have here.”

Vande Berg is completing his report in the next week, and expects to bring the results to city council at some point in October. Either way, it will be hard to ignore the bigger picture in all of this — especially as the city plans to expand its downtown offerings to include Gall Boulevard once it reverts from the Florida Department of Transportation to the city.

“That has really been the spine through the city for all these years, but because it was under the control of DOT, there wasn’t much we could do with it,” Vande Berg said. “But now we are looking at all kinds of options along Gall Boulevard, maybe even on-street parking, so we might have some options when it comes to parking.”

City council meetings this month are scheduled for Oct. 14 and Oct. 28, beginning at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

Jeffries leaves Zephyrhills as lost, returns a hero

October 2, 2013 By Michael Hinman

The seconds leading up to the explosion are moments U.S. Army Spec. Tyler “T.J.” Jeffries will never forget. The 50 minutes after, from the time he was pulled from the Afghanistan ground and loaded into a helicopter, are ones he likely wishes he could erase from his memory.

Tyler ‘T.J.’ Jeffries makes his first trip home to Zephyrhills since before his tour in Afghanistan where an improvised explosive device cost him part of both legs. He currently resides at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., while he undergoes rehabilitation. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Since that day in October last year, Jeffries — a 2007 graduate of Zephyrhills High School — has pushed himself through physical rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He now uses prosthetics where he lost parts of both legs in the attack. And Jeffries showed the progress he’s made on them in his first trip back to Zephyrhills since before his deployment to Afghanistan.

“The first step is getting over the pain of walking,” Jeffries said. “It hurts when (the prosthetic) hits the end of your legs. You have to learn to deal with that and keep your balance.”

For Jeffries and other soldiers with similar injuries from IEDs — improvised explosive devices — it’s about learning how to walk all over again.

Jeffries was one of 1,744 soldiers injured by IEDs in 2012, according to the Pentagon. And that was just in Afghanistan alone. While that is an improvement over the 3,542 injured in 2011, it’s still one of the top dangers soldiers face in the war zone.

Right after the explosion, Jeffries thought he was going to end up as part of a different statistic — 300 soldiers were killed by IEDs in the last two years.

“At first, I didn’t really feel much of anything,” Jeffries said. “Your body has so much adrenaline pumping through it. But 15 to 20 minutes later, you start to feel everything. My armor had caught on fire, my legs were gone, it was a terrible sight to see yourself in. I thought I was going to die.”

Luckily, no one else was injured in the explosion, and Jeffries’ platoon members were talking to him about his favorite beer, and what they wanted to do that evening. It was all to help keep his mind off of what was happening while they awaited help.

“Your life doesn’t really flash before your eyes, but I did think of all the stuff I didn’t do, and all the things I wanted to do,” Jeffries said. “I started to think about the regrets in my life, and that I was going to die on this ground in Afghanistan.”

One thing he absolutely did not regret was joining the Army in the first place. Jeffries made the decision to enlist when he was 19 and not quite sure what he wanted to do with his life.

“I was one of those teenagers who made the wrong decisions and did stupid things,” Jeffries said. “I wasn’t going anywhere in my life, I wasn’t going to school, and I knew that the military would make my life better.”

Jeffries never feared going to Afghanistan or Iraq, and in fact, joined the infantry so he could end up on the front lines.

He arrived in Afghanistan in early 2012, and was shot at within hours of touching boots to the ground.

“Anybody who says they are not a little scared once they arrive (is) probably lying,” Jeffries said. “But after your first firefight, where you really have to defend yourself, all that fear and stuff goes away. It’s almost like you’ve practiced all this for so long, all this training is embedded in your mind, and all the fear goes away.”

Jeffries has been at Walter Reed since soon after the attack, and while many family members and friends visited him in Washington, he didn’t want to return to Zephyrhills until he could manage for himself.

“I didn’t want everyone to see me in such a horrible state,” Jeffries said. “I didn’t want to be reminded of all the stuff I couldn’t do.”

But with rehabilitation and his new prosthetics, Jeffries is finding life is going back to normal. Once his stay at Walter Reed is done early next year, Jeffries will leave the Army and embark on a future he almost didn’t have.

He plans to attend a gunsmith trade school and open his own gun range either here in Florida, or possibly in North Carolina. Jeffries grew up around guns, has always been fascinated by guns, and feels it’s a great way to combine his personal passions and a career.

However, if he could have it his way, Jeffries would do something much different.

“I would be back in Afghanistan right now,” Jeffries said. “I have some unfinished business.”

Local filmmaker finds his own Batman story

September 25, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Will debut documentary this weekend

Just as a movie franchise alone, Batman has grossed more than $3.7 billion at the box office worldwide, and has touched millions of people.

Yet the character of The Dark Knight is giving back in so many different ways beyond the movie screen and the pages of a comic book. It’s touching people’s lives, and making a positive difference in society. Something one Land O’ Lakes resident has put together in a new documentary premiering this weekend in Tampa.

Land O’ Lakes filmmaker Brett Culp poses with Kye Sapp, a young boy diagnosed with leukemia who finds strength during his treatments through the character of Batman. (Photo courtesy of Brett Culp)

“This character has been around since 1939, and multiple generations have experienced Batman,” said Brett Culp, a wedding videographer turned independent filmmaker. “I wanted to create a film that expressed how people do things for others, and I was looking for a way to do that. Batman was really an ideal way to do that, with a story that has been a powerful and constant part of our culture for a long, long time.”

Culp used his own money mixed with a little more than $50,000 raised through crowdfunding websites like Indieogogo and Kickstarter to produce “Legends of the Knight.” In this film, Culp traveled around the country finding out how the Caped Crusader influenced our culture today with a range of people as young as 5, and as old as retirement age.

The stories surprised him, but the people behind those stories amazed Culp even more.

“This one guy we featured is 19 years old, and is one of a kind,” Culp said. “He is a junior college student, and when he puts on his Batman mask, no one knows who he is. He raises $50 here and there for different organizations, and then he’ll go downtown and do pretend fights with bad guys just to entertain people. He’ll then go to places like the Boys and Girls Club and take pictures with the kids there.”

On the other end of the spectrum is a retired businessman who, once he sold his company, decided he was going to live the life of Batman, right down to creating his own $200,000 replica Batmobile from the 1960s television series. He drives around to children’s hospitals, and makes that his full-time mission.

“It is really beautiful, interesting, connectable and inspiring,” Culp said. “The connection that it has to Batman, it’s just so fun to watch people interact with the character.”

“Legends of the Knight” was a two-year project for Culp, the grandson of former Tampa mayor Lloyd Copeland, and a fourth-generation native of the area. When Culp and his wife Tricia get together with friends for dinner, they spend the time sharing stories with each other, many on how popular culture has impacted the world.

Culp is a lifelong fan of Batman, fascinated by the character’s ability to solve problems with only his superior intellect and innovative technology, not through a need for superpowers. Batman also is much more relatable to fans since he was born out of tragedy (his parents being killed in front of him as a young boy), and his commitment to never turn his back on the people of Gotham City.

Movies based on comic books are dominating theaters, but comic books themselves still haven’t earned the respect they deserve, Culp said.

“Comic books are perceived as irrelevant, stupid, or something just for kids,” he said. “We all had that experience growing up, where nobody takes us seriously and think our ideas are stupid.”

Yet, these characters have been a part of many lives for decades, covering generation after generation after generation. And more than 70 years after its creation by Bob Kane, Batman is still finding his way into the hearts of young people. That includes Kye Sapp, a 5-year-old in Arlington, Texas, diagnosed with leukemia. It took a character like Batman to inspire him to continue on.

“He is part of a home with a single mom who has two other kids, all younger than Kye,” Culp said. “It was a really difficult time in their lives, and it was also a time when they felt a lot of weakness and vulnerability. But that was until Kye adopted Batman as part of his own identity.”

Kye would check in to the hospital as Batman. He would wear Batman pajamas to his chemotherapy sessions. When he would feel sick, he would stay strong, because he said Batman wouldn’t whine, and he won’t either.

There have been documentaries about Batman in the past, but never one that explored how Batman has affected the real lives of people who enjoy the character. That made “Legends of the Knight” a passion project for Culp, keeping him going despite the thousands of miles travelling, the long hours planning, and countless sleepless nights stressed about how he can make the project a reality.

But now it is real. After months of talk, film trailers, interviews, and a small promotional tour that included one of the nation’s biggest comic book conventions in San Diego, Culp is ready to premiere “Legends of the Knight” at Tampa Theatre. The family-friendly event will take place Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the theater, located at 711 N. Franklin St., in Tampa.

Along with the 12 stories, Culp also conducted more than 60 interviews with Batman “experts,” including producer Michael Uslan, the man who owns the Batman movie rights, and is responsible for the Dark Knight’s rebirth on the silver screen in 1989.

But what happens to “Legends of the Knight” after this screening is anyone’s guess. Culp said he’s working with his team to figure out the next step, which most likely will include finding a distributor to take it to theaters, or direct-to-DVD.

“This is a grassroots film,” he said. “It was not made with Hollywood connections, or funding from a major studio or anything like that. It doesn’t have any big names in it, just everyday people.”

So Saturday’s event might be the only time in the near future they’ll get to see Culp’s hard work.

“For the path we have gone down so far, I just feel so overwhelmingly blessed,” Culp said. “I don’t have any doubt that this whole project is just special, and that something really cool is going to come out of it.”

For more information on the film, how to get tickets, and even to watch a teaser trailer, visit www.WeAreBatman.com.