Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By B.C. Manion

Pasco-Hernando Community College officials hope to open the college’s planned Porter Campus at Wiregrass in January 2014 instead of August 2013.

Officials had said they expected a potential delay following Gov. Rick Scott’s May 26 decision to veto the fifth and final installment of $6.9 million for the $52 million project.

The state has already provided $45 million for the Wesley Chapel campus and that money is expected to bring the project to near completion, Lucy Miller, director of marketing and public relations, wrote in an email to The Laker.

The college will again seek the balance of the approved funding in the normal budget process for construction funds in the next budget year, the email adds.

The final installment will allow the completion of the project, preparation of the grounds, landscaping and the purchase of furniture, classroom technology, equipment and other start-up supplies and materials, Miller’s email says.

The college hopes to begin site preparation this summer, which includes grading the site to prepare for construction, installing underground utilities and constructing the foundation, the email adds.

“Gopher tortoise relocation procedures have already begun consistent with the permit issued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,’ the email says.

Meanwhile, the college has filed a request for a variance to allow it to build a taller building than is allowed under the site’s zoning designation.

“The variance, if approved, will allow us to move forward with plans to build up, rather than out, reducing the footprint of the project to best use the land designated for the campus,” the email says.

The variance seeks permission to build up to 154 feet in height. The current restriction limits the height of the buildings to 60 feet.

“The variance request is consistent with the developer’s Master Planned Unit Development (MPUD) submission that is pending approval and the previously approved variance for the new hospital currently under construction near our campus site,” the email adds.

The tract of land is at 2727 Mansfield Blvd., just off SR 56, next to Wiregrass Ranch High.

The hearing on the variance request is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on June 23 before the Development Review Committee at the West Pasco Government Center, 7530 Little Road, New Port Richey.

After Scott vetoed the final installment of funding, J.D. Porter, whose family owns Wiregrass Ranch and supplied the 60-acre tract for the campus, told The Laker that he understood the governor had many difficult choices to make. Porter said he is confident that the funding for the college will be there by the time it becomes necessary.

Also, following the veto, Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, pledged that he will make getting those funds one of his priorities.

Scott’s veto drew the ire of Pasco County Commissioner Pat Mulieri.

In a May 16 email to the governor, Mulieri characterized Scott’s action as “short-sighted.” She informed Scott “the hospital, the college and The Shops of Wiregrass would create a synergy in that area.”

A new hospital also is under construction on Bruce B. Downs, just north of SR 56.

The new PHCC campus will have a nursing program, and nursing students could do their internships at the hospital, Mulieri informed Scott. She also noted that students at Wiregrass Ranch High and workers in the community also would benefit from having higher education offerings nearby.

All of these factors are important, Mulieri wrote, because “jobs come to counties that have an educated work force.”

By B.C. Manion

Work is expected to begin this summer to give the congregation of St. Peter the Apostle a more permanent place to worship.

“Our community started about 3 ½ years ago,” said the Rev. Dennis Hughes. “Initially, we met at the funeral home chapel at Trinity Memorial Gardens.”

About two years ago, the church moved to its current location in the Trinity Village shopping center — between a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream shop and a Five Guys restaurant.

The parish for St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, which is art of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, was carved out of the parish boundaries of St. Thomas Aquinas in New Port Richey and Our Lady of the Rosary in Land O’ Lakes.

The parish was initiated in response to the area’s growth.

“If you can remember back 4, 4 1/2 years ago before the collapse of the housing industry, this area was expanding rapidly. The diocese was looking at opening several parishes. This was going to be the first. I was named pastor here.

“We started celebrating mass 3 1/2 years ago, and almost immediately, the economy went into freefall.”

The membership of St. Peter the Apostle now includes about 440 households and is expected to continue to grow, Hughes said.

If all goes as planned, construction on the new $1.9 million multi-purpose center will begin this summer, the pastor said. A church will likely follow some day, but that won’t be until the multi-purpose center is paid off and much of the funding for a church building has been raised, he added.

The new building will be constructed on a 40-acre tract that sits between Trinity Memorial Gardens and Odessa Elementary, Hughes said. Trinity Memorial Gardens is right off SR 54 at Community Drive.

Plans call for a simple, concrete block building. It will have a small chapel and some office space, but the bulk of the new center will be a big empty hall.

“The main hall will be about the dimensions of a basketball court,” Hughes said. It will have portable partitions that can be use to configure space for various uses.

Hughes does not envision using the center for wedding receptions, but he said it could be a venue for dinners — provided the event could be set up and broken down without interfering with worship services.

The church hopes to have its construction plans ready to seek permits from the county by the end of July.

“We’re not going to touch any of the wetlands, so fortunately, we don’t have to worry about mitigation. But we do have to fit within the drainage plan — the overall drainage plan of the Trinity area,” Hughes said.

“I’m hopeful that the county will expedite the construction process as this certainly brings some much-needed construction and jobs to the county,” the pastor said.

The project is coming at a favorable time, in terms of costs, he added.

“Construction costs right now are as low as they have been in about 10 years. Concrete and steel had elevated every construction project. The worldwide slowdown in construction has brought the prices back up to more affordable levels.”

Barring unforeseen delays, Hughes expects the parish to begin using the new facility by the end of next year.

“By Christmas of next year — that should be a slam dunk. Hopefully, it will be several months earlier.”

With its new quarters, Hughes expects the congregation to grow.

“When we were in the funeral home, there were some who were reluctant to come to a funeral home chapel for mass. There are people, I suspect, who are reluctant to come to mass as a storefront.”

Regardless of where the congregation meets, though, Hughes noted: “It’s the same mass.”

“What I told this community from the beginning is that we’re the church.

“That’s why we chose the theme for our campaign, which is “Built of Living Stones.”

“We’re the stones.”

For more information about the church, visit www.sptatrinity.org or call (727) 264-8968.

By Kyle LoJacono

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue has taken several steps to help treat sudden heart conditions, and the department was recently recognized for its efforts as one of the best in the country.

The department was given the 2011 Heart Safe Community Award at the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) national award ceremony in May. Hillsborough won the top honor for large communities, population of more than 100,000 people.

It is the first time the department has been given the honor, making it even more rewarding for interim fire chief Ron Rogers.

“I am proud of our Fire Rescue team for their commitment to train on and teach the latest techniques to save those with heart problems,” Rogers said. “The relationships we have built in our community benefit the patient from before we get to the scene through the definitive care they receive in the hospital.”

The annual award ceremony focuses on departments that have used creative approaches to increasing safety by treating and preventing cardiac-related diseases. Hillsborough Fire Rescue also had to show how it improved the quality of its out-of-hospital intervention techniques.

In a release, the IAFC states that, “Hillsborough County Fire Rescue stood out by developing and implementing several creative elements to their program, including a community-wide bystander CPR training program that resulted in 10,000 Hillsborough County ninth-grade students being trained in CPR.”

The IAFC, which is made up of representatives from fire rescue and EMS departments across the country, also pointed to the department’s use of technology to track and review heart attack outcomes while cataloging the attacks and their locations in the county. During the last year, more than 1,000 cardiac-arrest related incidents were reported and that data was shared with area hospitals to improve response time in the future.

David Travis, interim assistant fire chief, said the department has worked for years to improve its response time and treatment of heart attacks within the county.

“The citizens of Hillsborough County should take pride and be reassured that cardiac care in our community is among the best anywhere in the nation,” Travis said. “This award represents years of work that has truly been a community effort with the local physicians, hospital personnel and most recently the school board.”

Travis said the board allowed the department to teach CPR to public school students, which was one of the elements that separated Hillsborough Fire Rescue from other groups in the country. The training has been adopted as part of the curriculum for county schools.

“We couldn’t have done it without the school board’s help,” Travis reiterated. “Not only did we teach 10,000 students how to properly give CPR, but it was young people who will grow up with the knowledge and can teach it to others.”

The department covers all unincorporated areas of Hillsborough, which include Lutz and Odessa. Hillsborough Fire Rescue’s 42 stations serve 909 square miles, 84 percent of the county, and 832,340 citizens.

For more information on the department, visit www.hillsboroughcounty.org/firerescue/ or call (813) 272-6600.

Wanted: Wood pallets for barbecue

By B.C. Manion

Most of the time, these guys are prepared to put out fires, but as the Fourth of July approaches, they’re gearing up to start one.

A barbecue fire, that is.

Members of the Lutz Volunteer Fire Association Inc., get up in the wee hours of the morning every Independence Day to cook up barbecue dinners for the hungry masses at the community’s Fourth of July celebration. It’s a tradition that’s been going on for more than 50 years.

Proceeds from the chicken dinners they serve help to cover expenses for the volunteer fire department.

But cooking more than 1,100 dinners, like they did last year, requires lots of wood to stoke the grill.

They figure they need about 100 more oak pallets to do the trick.

If you can donate pallets, please call Jay Muffly, president of the volunteer association at (813) 949-2224.

Other organizers also are gearing up for the annual celebration. This year’s theme is “Lutz: Home Sweet Home.”

Lutz Fourth of July Info

For information about the parade, the 5K race, booth rentals, the cake decorating contest and other general information, please call the following people:

5K Race Sponsorship and Entry: Terry Donovan, (813) 949-6659

General parade information: Phyllis Hoedt, (813) 949-1937

Float information: Shirley Simmons, (813) 949-7060

Booth rental: Annie Fernandez, (813) 784-4471

Cake decorating, contest entries: Terri Burgess, (813) 690-5790

Volunteers: Suzin Carr (813) 453-5256

 

Lutz community meeting

The public is invited to a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. to discuss parks and recreation issues in Lutz. Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist and Mark Thornton, director of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department are expected to be there. The meeting will be in the Lutz Community Center, 98 First Ave., N.W.

By B.C. Manion

It’s not exactly secluded, but the makers of this garden hope that visitors will find it to be a respite from the rush of daily life – a place to contemplate and relax.

The “Peaceful Reflections Garden – Native American Medicine Wheel” covers a square swath of ground in a courtyard a bit west of the new school of business building now under construction at Saint Leo University.

The garden features a series of stones laid out in a circular pattern. Strategically placed boulders provide seating in the garden, and wildflowers and stone benches help to convey a welcoming tone.

The garden was created by students and Veronika Ospina-Kammerer, an assistant professor of social work, as an outgrowth of a diversity class at the university.

It pays tribute to the Native American culture and it seeks to be a place that inspires love, respect and gratitude for nature, Ospina-Kammerer said.

“Diversity is all about different cultures,” Ospina-Kammerer said. Learning about different cultures is important for social workers whom encounter people from diverse backgrounds in their line of work.

In researching various cultures, Ospina-Kammerer learned that the most impoverished group of people in the United States are Native Americans. She also learned that the life expectancy for female Native Americans is 52. It is just 48 for males.

“That was shocking to me,” Ospina-Kammerer said. “That is unacceptable.”

In an attempt to help raise awareness about the Native American culture, Ospina-Kammerer wrote a grant proposal for a garden with a Native American theme.

She envisioned working with students to create the garden and using the garden as an outdoor classroom to help enhance lessons about the culture of Native Americans.

University officials saw the merit of the project and approved the funding for the $6,000 project.

Social work students Heather Castle and Adrianne Vyasulu drew a design for the garden. Both women recently graduated from the university with their bachelor’s in social work.

The university’s operations department cleared the scrubby plot and laid down a limestone bed, Castle said.

Next, a truck dumped a pile of gravel, which was then shoveled by social work students into the garden space, where they smoothed it out. The students also placed stones in a circular pattern.

University crews used bobcats to place the huge boulders into their pre-ordained spots.

The circle is symbolic of the never-ending cycle of life, Ospina-Kammerer said.

“In the Native American culture, the medicine wheel has a sacred meaning. The Native Americans use spirituality in their healing.”

They also use the medicine wheel in their traditions and ceremonies, she said.

The garden is for the use and enjoyment not only by students, but by the public as well, Castle and Ospina-Kammerer said.

“This was made by students for students and the community,” Ospina-Kammerer said.

“We’d like people to come out here to visit it,” Castle said.

 

By B.C. Manion

When Cameron Burris went searching for potential college funding, she had no idea that her Google search would lead to a $20,000 scholarship.

The 17-year-old, who founded “Today’s Teens with a Cause,” said she was stunned when she heard she had been selected as a KFC Colonel’s Scholar, which carries a $5,000 annual scholarship for four years.

The Kentucky Fried Chicken Foundation awards 75 of these scholarships annually.

The scholarship recognizes the young woman from Land O’ Lakes for her community involvement and commitment to education.

Burris, who plans to attend the honors program at Florida State University, said the scholarship helps her to fulfill her dream to study abroad for a semester. Now, she just has to decide – which will it be, Italy or Spain?

The recent graduate of Land O’ Lakes High has been involved with community service efforts for years, first becoming acquainted with a variety of community service organizations when she was participating in National American Miss and American Coed beauty pageants.

Her exposure to the community service organizations enabled her to help her peers when they were seeking ways to fulfill community service requirements, Burris said.

Burris created her own community service organization called “Today’s Teens with a Cause.” Essentially, Burris said she helped teenagers who wanted to fulfill community service requirements to find organizations needing their help.

Those student volunteers have created cards for terminally ill children, made cookies and cards for veterans and have performed an assortment of other good works.

Burris said teenagers often are overlooked when groups are seeking volunteers.

Instead, she said, “a lot of times you see really, really young children who think it’s fun, or you see a lot of older people.”

The KFC Colonel’s Scholar Program, sponsored by the Kentucky Fried Chicken Foundation, is an independent charity supported by KFC. The scholarships are awarded based on students’ financial need and the impact they have in their school and community. The program has awarded more than $8 million since its inception in 2006.

The KFC scholarship puts a premium on volunteerism.

It requires recipients to complete 300 community volunteer hours within the school year. It also requires recipients to maintain a 2.75 grade point average.

Burris said she expects to be a lifelong volunteer.

It’s something she’s passionate about because there are so many others in need, Burris said.

Chris Mook presented the scholarship on behalf of KFC at a Celebration of Excellence ceremony on May 19.

“When you look at how many students in today’s economy are scrambling for scholarships, I was thrilled when I heard one of the (scholarship) winners was from our local area,” said Mook, president of Phil Mook Enterprises, which owns 10 franchises including one in the Village Lakes Shopping Center at 21617 Village Lake Shopping Court.

Although not involved in selecting Burris for the honor, Mook said once he met her, he understood why she was chosen. He senses the young woman will go on to accomplish great things.

In addition to the scholarship from the foundation, Burris also received a gift from Mook’s company.

“We bought her a laptop,” Mook said, noting he comes from a family that prizes the value of education, and they wanted to help provide Burris with tools she needs to succeed in college.