Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By B.C. Manion

An energy conservation company is proposing a five-year contract with Pasco County Schools that could reap millions in savings for the cash-strapped district.

Cenergistic has presented an 83-page proposal to the Pasco School Board, and Gary Clark, regional president for the company, appeared at a board workshop April 16 to cover the high points.

The company has been in business for 27 years and has saved its clients $3 billion. Its client list includes 20,000 school buildings, Clark said.

The potential for reducing costs is not as great in Pasco as it is in some places because the district already has instituted practices aimed at efficiencies, Clark said.

But there is room for savings, because the energy bill is a big-ticket item on the board’s budget, Clark said. He noted, “You’re spending about $13 million here.”

He told school board members his company would do for Pasco what it did for Sarasota: “we’d take a really good program and make it great.”

St. John’s County saved 45 percent of its energy costs, Clark said.

“We aren’t going to save Pasco County 45 percent,” he said.

But Cenergistic has estimated it can save the district more than 20 percent in its energy costs.

“We don’t sell any equipment. We change the habits and behaviors of staff,” Clark said.

The company doesn’t believe in making people uncomfortable to achieve its results, he added. Most savings come from making changes for how things operate when buildings are unoccupied.

The company’s plan calls for employing four energy specialists who would be expected to do audits of buildings in the early mornings, late at night, on weekends and holidays.

During the initial five years of the plan, the company pays the salaries of those specialists, who would be selected from current district staff.

The most important skill these specialists need is the ability to communicate, Clark said.

“We can take someone who is good with people and train them,” he said.

Teachers are generally a very good fit for the position: “Probably 80 percent of the specialists come out of the classroom.”

During the first five years, the district has the choice of keeping those employees on its payroll and being reimbursed for their costs, or having Cenergistic hire them.

After the fifth year, the district would pay the salaries if they choose to continue in the program, Clark said.

The district also must agree to purchase software called EnergyCAP Energy Management Software, which tracks energy use, meter by meter, building by building and campus by campus, Clark said.

Signing a contract with Cenergistic is, at worst, budget neutral, Clark said, because the company is paid a percentage of the district’s savings.

If the cost for operating the energy-savings program exceeds the district’s savings, the company will write the district a check to cover the difference, Clark said.

“We’ve only written eight checks in 27 years,” Clark said.

He also noted that it takes about six months to get the program up and running, so the company doesn’t charge anything for its services during that time.

At the end of the first 18 months, Clark said the company expects to save the district more than $2 million. During 10 years, the savings would be about $28.9 million.

Indirect benefits included increasing the comfort when buildings are occupied and extending the life of equipment by ensuring it is properly used, Clark said.

When the district starts paying for the program, it would cost about $278,000 a year, but at that point the estimated savings would be more than $3 million, Clark said.

Cenergistic was founded in 1986 as Energy Education Company and was rebranded in 2012 as Cenergistic. It has more than 1,250 clients across the nation, serving school districts, higher education campuses, health care facilities and large churches.

The company’s energy saving program has been implemented in more than 20,000 buildings.

School board member Steve Luikart said he’s glad superintendent Kurt Browning brought the company to the board for its consideration. He said he became aware of Cenergistic about a year-and-a-half ago, but former superintendent Heather Fiorentino was not interested in pursuing a possible contract.

Board chairwoman Cynthia Armstrong and board members Joanne Hurley and Alison Crumbley said they are interested in the potential savings, but want to be sure due diligence is done before signing a contract with any energy savings company.

At the board’s April 16 workshop, board member Allen Altman raised questions about getting tied into a contract. He noted he’s heard grumblings from members of other school board members at conferences about trying to figure out how to get out of a bad contract they were stuck in.

Clark assured Altman that boards tend to not want to cancel contracts with Cenergistic because it actually is saving money for their districts.

Altman said he just wants to make sure the district doesn’t get locked into a contract that it later regrets.

By B.C. Manion

Pasco County Commissioners have approved using $2 million in Tourist Development tax funds to build two lacrosse fields at Wesley Chapel District Park.

Commissioners decided April 23 to proceed on a 4-1 vote, with Jack Mariano dissenting.

The expansion is required to provide enough fields to accommodate teams competing in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions presented by Pasco County.

The county promised to provide the additional fields when it entered into a four-year agreement with KSE Lacrosse to host and sponsor the tournament.

The county had until March 2014 to expand and improve its field inventory, but because of delays in negotiating a contract for construction of the Fields at Wiregrass, county staff went ahead with plans to make improvements at the district park.

The county’s utilities branch acquired 12.2 acres immediately south of the existing parking lot. That land will be purchased, managed and operated by the Office of Tourism and Development.

The Tournament of Champions has been in Pasco since 2008, growing from 26 teams to 79 last year. The event produced more than 3,700 room nights in 2012, with an estimated economic impact approaching $3 million, according to county documents.

After the meeting, Commissioner Pat Mulieri wrote in an email that she’s glad the county proceeded with voting for the new fields.

“My issue is we keeping talking and never build,” she noted. “We are moving ahead.”

There’s a possibility the fields will be constructed in time for use in this year’s tournament, said Rick Buckman, director of Pasco Parks and Recreation, in an interview after the meeting. One reason is the board voted to use turf instead of grass, which makes construction quicker, he said.

After shifting the tax funds, the county still has sufficient money for its proposed Fields at Wiregrass project, with more than $9 million remaining.

Current negotiations regarding the Fields at Wiregrass indicate that $8.5 million will be needed for that project, according to county documents.

“The ultimate plan is a complex with multiple sports,” Buckman said.

In other action at their April 23 meeting, county commissioners:

—Banned the sale of dogs and cats at flea markets. The animals can be shown, but not sold there. Commissioner Jack Mariano dissented, claiming that the action would interfere with business operations. But Commission chairman Ted Schrader and Mulieri voiced concerns about people purchasing pets on impulse. Some speakers advocating the ban claimed that pets purchased at flea markets often wind up being abandoned at the county’s Animal Services department. County officials, however, said they had no evidence regarding how many pets purchased at flea markets are abandoned.

—Heard a quarterly report from John Hagen, president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council. Hagen told commissioners, “The pipeline has slowed in the last 90 days. We have not closed any new projects.” He also told them he hopes that’s an anomaly, possibly tied to the national budget cuts due to sequestration.

By B.C. Manion

Jeanne Forsythe loves to capture images of Florida.

The Wesley Chapel woman uses photography and painting to preserve the natural beauty that she sees.

She is awestruck by the beauty that surrounds her in her community.

“At one time, it was typical for me to head to the coast for my nature shots or photo studies to bring back to my studio for reference for paintings,” she said.

However, she added, “it didn’t take long after moving here to see I wouldn’t have to go far to find inspiration for my paintings and photography. Seagulls fly overhead with the sunlight shining through their feathers, blue herons stroll along the conservation ponds and sandhill cranes come up to the yard after a rain pecking the ground for food. Lizards and palm trees are in abundance and both vary in species and color. Wesley Chapel is beautiful.”

One piece, which she calls Mossy Oak Morning, is a photograph she took of morning sunlight streaming through Spanish moss. She captured that image in a field near Wiregrass Ranch High.

Her Mossy Oak Morning, Colorful Beatles and Beach Chairs will be among the works on display at the North Tampa Arts League’s upcoming show, Artists Unleashed.

The artists, including Forsythe, will be at a reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on May 3 at the Carrollwood Cultural Arts Center, 4537 Lowell Road in Carrollwood.

The show features traditional and contemporary works, including pieces created in a multitude of mediums like sculpture, oil, acrylic, pastels, mixed media, metal, digital design and photography.

The event is free and open to the public.

Forsythe said the show’s title encouraged her to push the boundaries of her normal work.

In a photo she calls Purple Waters, Forsythe has taken sand and shells and incorporated them into the print she had made on canvas.

“I wanted someone who loves the beach as much as I do to be able to take a part of it home with them,” Forsythe explained.

Forsythe joined North Tampa Arts League in 2008 and enjoys the inspiration she derives from the camaraderie of her fellow artists.

“It’s so much more difficult to navigate through the ins and outs of the art business on your own,” she said.

Forsythe was drawing Disney characters when she was 12 and hoped one day she would become an animator.

She was also a big fan of How to Draw books and used them to help her learn to draw animals and faces. Her parents got her one for Disney characters.

“I was totally hooked on that,” she said. “Mickey and Donald were my favorites.”

She also enjoyed doing paint by numbers, which she said was also a great way to learn about creating effects through the placement of color. For instance, when people think of trees, they typically see it as browns and greens. By doing paint by numbers, she learned that creating the desired effect required using brown, green, blue-green, tan and even purple, she said.

“It’s a good learning tool,” Forsythe said.

At 15, she picked up photography and got her first camera.

Initially, she didn’t think she was very good, but then she found out she needed contacts, she said.

When she went to college, she studied photography and art.

“I was actually going to major in art when my dad said, ‘Well, be prepared to starve.’

“I switched my major, for practical reasons, to graphic design,” she said.

Forsythe went on to have a 30-year career, beginning as a graphic artist and ending up as the art director for the Ingram Book Company in La Vergne, Tenn.

She uses what she knows about composition, the use of bold colors and the shapes of things that she gleaned from her experience in graphic arts to help her in her creative quests.

She draws inspiration from such artists such as Henri Matisse, Vincent van Gogh and John Singer Sargent, as well as the artists she’s met through the North Tampa Arts League.

Now, at age 51, she is devoting much of her energy to pursuing a career as an artist. She paints and takes photographs, primarily of nature. She is available, though, to do custom work for clients.

She also works part-time as a house cleaner and helping people declutter their spaces.

She and her husband, Jay, have two sons, Alex, 17, and Joshua, 14.

Forsythe said she feels certain she was meant to preserve images through her photography and paintings.

“Years ago, when I went to Disney World with my sister, my dad said, ‘Don’t take your camera. Enjoy the time that you’re there instead of worrying about the picture you’re going to get or looking through your camera at everything.’ … That entire day I thought oh, gosh, I wish I had my camera.

“If something is that beautiful, it’s a moment in time; some things you can go back and see again, and some things you just can’t. That wave is only going to be cresting that way, with the light hitting it that way, on that day at that time. It’s a way to stop time.”

The North Tampa Arts League’s show Artists Unleashed is presented by the Carrollwood Cultural Center in Carrollwood, 4537 Lowell Road.

The show is from April 29 through June 3. Jeanne Forsythe and other members of the art league will be there from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on May 3. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit northtampaarts.com.

For more information about Forsythe’s work, visit Jeanne-forsythe.fineartamerica.com and Yessy.com/forsythedesign.

By B.C. Manion

An organization that’s slogan is to “protect, serve, preserve” Lutz is staging a giant yard sale May 4 to raise money for its efforts.

The group, which calls itself the Lutz Citizen Coalition, began as a group of citizens concerned about the proposed location of a school for students in sixth through 12th grades.

Learning Gate Community School, a charter school in Lutz, wants to expand its brand of education by opening a second campus near the intersection of US 41 and Sunset Lane.

Area residents have banded together to fight the site, claiming that putting a school there would have too many negative impacts on the surrounding area.

That issue is now in the court system.

Sam Calco, one of the yard sale’s organizers, said the Lutz Citizens Coalition is not a single-issue group.

It also played a pivotal role in halting Hillsborough County’s plans to take out trees in the medians of US 41 running through the community.

Coalition members kicked up a storm of protest, and the county listened by putting those plans on hold until a solution can be found.

Now, the coalition has been soliciting area businesses and community residents in a quest to create what they’re billing as the Lutz Community Biggest Yard Sale.

The sale is set for 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with setup beginning at 6 a.m.

The event will be in the grassy area in front of the Lutz Train Depot, which is in front of the Lutz Branch Library, at US 41 and W. Lutz Lake Fern Road.

The group is asking for people to donate whatever they don’t need so they can sell it to raise money for their efforts.

They are also renting out spaces for people who want to sell items at the yard sale.

Those spaces range in size and price, going from $25 to $100 each. They are being sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

The event will also include live entertainment, a 50/50 chance drawing, a concession stand and a farmers market.

Lutz Community Biggest Yard Sale

8 a.m. to 3 p.m., May 4, on the grassy area in front of the Lutz Train Depot, US 41 and W. Lutz Lake Fern Road.

To rent a booth, contact Patrice Eveld at (813) 842-9111 or email at or Sam Calco at (813) 500-0202 or email

By B.C. Manion

Just turn on the news any day and you’re likely to hear about some disaster somewhere that has killed and maimed people.

People who don’t die in these tragic events often are rendered unable to communicate how they want to approach death. Serious illness can have the same result.

There is a document that people can fill out ahead of time to provide advance directives on the kind of care they’d like to receive.

Aging with Dignity’s Five Wishes allows individuals to express how they wish to be treated if they become seriously ill.

The 12-page booklet addresses personal, family and spiritual matters, in addition to medical and legal concerns. The document is legal in 42 states, including Florida.

The easy-to-understand document allows you to indicate:

—The person you want to make care decisions for you when you can’t

—The kind of medical treatment you want or don’t want

—How comfortable you want to be

—How you want people to treat you

—What you want to let people know

Gulfside Regional Hospice and The Hook Law Group, which specializes in elder care, had seminars at various locations on April 16, in conjunction with National Healthcare Decisions Day, to provide information about advance healthcare planning.

Alicia Scott conducted the seminar at Gulfside’s Lutz Thrift Shoppe, 1930 US 41.

“Working in this business, I’ve seen many patients who have not been able to speak for themselves,” said Scott, a community education representative for Gulfside. When patients can’t express their wishes, family members often are faced with gut-wrenching decisions.

There can also be family disputes over what to do if the person who is dying has not made his or her wishes clear.

One prominent example of this was the Terri Schiavo case involving a woman who was in a vegetative state for 15 years.

In that case, the parents battled the husband on whether the woman should be kept alive with a feeding tube.

Ultimately, a court ruled that the husband could remove the feeding tube and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal. Schiavo died March 31, 2005.

“If she would have had something like this (Five Wishes) written out, there would not have been that long, drawn-out case,” Scott said.

The Five Wishes document, Scott said, can help individuals talk with loved ones about their desires involving end-of-life care and how they want to be remembered.

The document prompts individuals to decide who they want to be their health care surrogate.

That person is someone who can represent “what you do or do not want, if you can’t speak for yourself,” Scott said. It is essential to be sure that the surrogate will carry out your wishes, she said.

There are legal requirements about who can be selected as a health care surrogate, and the Five Wishes document spells those out.

The document also allows individuals to express how they want to be treated when they are in pain, whether they want life support treatment when close to death and if there is any circumstance when they would not want life support.

A do not resuscitate (DNR) order from a doctor is not the same thing as the Five Wishes document, she said. Those not wishing to be resuscitated should have a conversation with their doctor about that, she suggested.

It’s also important to know that individuals can change their Five Wishes whenever they desire, but they must be sure to destroy any old copies of the document.

The document also covers personal and spiritual issues, such as whether you want someone to pray by your bedside and what type of memorial service, if any, you would like.

If you are interested in obtaining a free copy of Aging with Dignity’s Five Wishes, America’s most popular living will with more than 15 million copies in national circulation, call (800) 561-4883 to request one.

Taylor Morrison’s new models

Taylor Morrison’s West Florida Division expects to open its Kentwood model in Connerton for public viewing this month.

The two-story home has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a game room and a two-car garage. Its approximately 3,255 square feet of living area includes flexible options that can be tailored to suit the needs of individual buyers.

Connerton is a new home community spread across 4,800 acres in Land O’ Lakes.

For more information about the Kentwood model or any of Taylor Morrison’s plans for Connerton, call (866) 495-6006 or visit www.taylormorrison.com.

Morrison also has opened a new phase in Ladera, a gated community in Lutz known for its sizable home sites and beautiful lake setting. The new phase is known as Ladera Estates and offers 19 home sites, many with water views or overlooking wooded conservation areas. The company also has two model homes in the community available for purchase through a leaseback program. Interested buyers are encouraged to contact the Ladera sales office for details on terms.

Ladera is a gated community of 168 single-family home sites just north of Carrollwood. For more information about the new Ladera Estates phase or the model leaseback program, call (813) 443-5348 or visit www.taylormorrison.com.

Credit union announces mobile deposits

Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union announces mobile deposits for members using SunMobile, Suncoast’s mobile banking app for iOS and Android.

Mobile deposits allow credit union members to deposit checks from anywhere using the SunMobile app. To deposit checks, members open the SunMobile, iOS or Android application, choose the account in which to deposit the check, enter the amount, snap a front and back photo of the check from the mobile device and confirm the deposit.

The mobile deposits feature is among many of the credit union’s iOS and Android mobile application features, including bill pay, ATM and branch locator, account transfers and the ability to view alerts, budgets and goals.

Home-selling webinar

Lance Mohr, a realtor with Future Home Realty, offers a free webinar to teach homeowners how to maximize the money they can make while selling their home.

Besides giving homeowners an opportunity to have more money in their pocket, it will also teach them valuable lessons, help them reduce frustration and save time, he said in a release. The webinar covers such topics like how to properly price your home, home staging/conditioning, marketing and understanding real estate statistics.

Registration for the webinar can be completed at www.TbSellerWebinar.com. Participants will then select a date and time to watch the presentation.

For more information, contact Mohr at .

East Pasco Networking Group

Speakers for the May 14 meeting of the East Pasco Networking Group will be Eric I. Mitchell and registered nurse Carmen S. Hayford, members of Team Vision to Action with Independent Business Owners.

The networking group meets at The Village Inn at the intersection of SR 54 and US 301 in Zephyrhills. Networking is from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., followed by the meeting.

Daniels Chevrolet’s first anniversary

Daniels Chevrolet is celebrating its first anniversary on May 18 with food trucks, arts and crafts tables, hourly giveaways, special car deals and more.

For more information, contact Al Daniels (813) 935-3100. The dealership is at 11300 N. Florida Ave. in Tampa.

Seeking outstanding senior volunteer

The nominations have been posted and it is time to cast a vote to choose winners in the annual Salute to Senior Service program honoring contributions of area seniors, age 65 and older, who donate their time and talents to the community.

Visit www.salutetoseniorservice.com to view the nominations and cast a ballot.

Oasis changes name, opens satellite center

Oasis — a Pregnancy Care Center is opening a satellite center in Wesley Chapel on May 1 at 5854 Argerian Drive Suite 101 at a dedication at 11 a.m.

The center will initially be open three days a week, Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The telephone number is (813) 618-5037.

With the addition of the satellite, Oasis will be changing its name to Oasis Pregnancy Care Centers.

Oasis needs additional volunteers for the satellite center. Those interested in helping, call the main office at (813) 406-4965.

Support The Troops Golf Tournament

The third annual Support the Troops Golf Tournament will be May 18 and 19 at Scotland Yards Golf Club, 9424 US 301 in Dade City. Individual entry fee is $45. Foursome entry is $180.

Each day will include dinner, green fees and a golf cart, a silent auction, door prizes, a raffle and a hole-in-one contest with a $10,000 prize sponsored by Quiet Zone.  McDonalds is donating brunch on Saturday. Saturday’s awards dinner will feature barbecue chicken, and the main dish at Sunday’s awards dinner will be lasagna.

For more information about the tournament or to register to play, contact Sheldon Kamlet at (407) 221-5858.