Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Buoyed by the success of its first Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ and Blues Fest, the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce is considering taking the event to the next level.
The chamber will decide early this year whether to seek to have the competition sanctioned by the Florida Bar-B-Que Association, said Vonnie Mikkelsen, the chamber’s executive director.
If that happens, the event will likely draw more professional competitors, and a larger crowd, which would be good news for the chamber’s scholarship coffers, Mikkelsen said.
The chamber was gratified by the outcome of last year’s event, especially for an inaugural effort, Mikkelsen said. “During a first-year event, you’re always building a template as you go.’
About 3,000 attended and the event received a 9.8 rating on a scale of 1-10 from teams competing there, Mikkelsen said.
The event allowed the chamber to triple its scholarship fund, Mikkelsen said.
In the coming year, the chamber plans to conduct some “pulse” surveys to find out where its members stand on various issues. Results from those surveys will help determine whether the chamber should pursue government action on any specific issues, she said.
The chamber also is paying close attention to the city’s redevelopment efforts which are aimed at building a stronger identity for the city and enticing more businesses to locate near downtown.
And, it plans to hold some forums on government issues, such as regional transportation, to help inform its members about various topics, Mikkelsen said.
For more information, call the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce at (813) 782-1913
Or visit http://zephyrhillschamber.org/
Up the road in Dade City, brand new executive director John Moors wants to build on the sense of community he’s observed during just a few weeks on the job.
“I see the chamber as sort of setting the table for economic development,” said Moors, whose initial focus will be making sure the inner workings of the chamber office operates smoothly. For more information about the Dade City Chamber of Commerce call (352) 567-3769 or visit http://www.dadecitychamber.org/.

One of the biggest items on the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce’s agenda this year is the chamber’s plan to move its headquarters to The Grove shopping center.
The 1,700-square-foot space has more visibility from Interstate 75, is more conveniently located for members, is at the same place as some of the chamber’s larger events and offers room to grow, said David West, the chamber’s executive director.
Besides moving to new quarters, the chamber also continues to welcome new members, West said.
Wesley Chapel’s economy is better in general than many other locales and the community is in an excellent location to take advantage of future growth opportunities as the economy improves, he said.
The community is easily accessible to Tampa, enjoys lower property taxes than Hillsborough County, has a low crime rate and generally offers a good quality of life, West said. It also offers these intangibles: “People are friendly. People like each other. They help each other.”
The chamber is attracting new members because of great recruiting efforts by current members and because it offers business owners a chance to network, share their knowledge and advertise what they have to offer.
“People do business with people they know, like and trust,” West said.
The chamber provides opportunities for networking and for business owners to encourage and support one another. This year it will be launching a Toastmasters International club and will starting a marketing networking group.
For more information about the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce call (813) 994-8534 or visit http://www.wesleychapelchamber.com/.
-B.C. Manion

The economic downturn has been challenging, but there are bright spots, said Kathy Dunkley, executive director of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce.
The East Pasco Campus of Rasmussen College, a 25,000-square-foot building now under construction on SR 54 near Sunlake Boulevard, will bolster area businesses, she said.
Those attending classes or working at the college will frequent the nearby businesses, Dunkley said. “That’s going to give them an economic boost.”
College officials chose the location purposefully because of its proximity to Interstate 75 and the Suncoast Expressway. It also is near Sunlake Boulevard, which will provide a straight shot into Hillsborough County, once the road is extended. And, it is directly across the street from a 72-acre site that T. Rowe Price eventually expects to use for an office complex for up to 1,600 employees. The timeline for the project remains uncertain.
When it comes to turning the economy around, small businesses will lead the way, said Dunkley, who has been at the helm of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce for 12 years.
The chamber works with small businesses to encourage them to share ideas and learn from each other, Dunkley said. They also have the benefit of some pro bono help from seasoned professionals, she said. One of those is Lorraine Lane, the chamber’s immediate past president, who offers her expertise to help area businesses, Dunkley said.
“She makes them think differently,” Dunkley said.
The idea is to help each other to achieve success.
“It’s going to take the whole community to work together,” she said.
For more information about the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce call (813) 909-2722 or visit http://www.centralpascochamber.com.
-B.C. Manion

By Kyle LoJacono

Pasco and north Hillsborough counties currently have several major road projects underway. Here is a look at what drivers and riders can look forward to on the highways and byways across the area this year.

Lutz-Lake Fern Road widening
The project to widen W. Lutz-Lake Fern Road is still on schedule for completion in May, according to Hillsborough County Public Works spokesman Steve Valdez.
The job is growing the two-lane highway to four lanes from just east of the Suncoast Parkway to the Boulevard of the Roses in Lutz at a cost of $9.9 million. Hillsborough is paying for the construction and Pepper Contracting Services Inc. is doing the job.
The construction site includes the entrances to Steinbrenner High, Martinez Middle and McKitrick Elementary schools. The project is mainly needed to handle the daily traffic to and from the schools.
A future project, still unfunded, will further widen Lutz-Lake Fern from Boulevard of the Roses to 300 feet west of Dale Mabry Highway. That later job is projected to cost about $58 million, according to Valdez.

US 41 widening
The $14.8 million project to widen US 41 will be completed by the spring as originally planned, according to Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) spokeswoman Kris Carson.
Currently, US 41 is two lanes from Tower Road to Connerton Road in Land O’ Lakes, a distance of about three miles. The construction is growing that to four lanes while adding center turning lanes and a grassy median. Additionally, a concrete sidewalk on the east side of the highway has already been finished, according to Carson. Places along the project include Land O’ Lakes High, Connerton Elementary and Pasco County School District’s administrative office.
The job is managed by FDOT and being completed by R.E. Purcell Construction. The project began in August 2009 and was needed to help ease traffic flow from the increasing population in central Pasco.

Collier Parkway extension
The much delayed Collier Parkway extension will be finished by the end of February, according to Pasco County Chief Project Manager Robert Shepherd.
The project was originally planned for completion last April, but the original contractor, WDG Construction, was released from its contract with Pasco for falling behind schedule. Ripa & Associates took over the job last September.
The project includes the first two of three phases to take Collier north to Ehren Cutoff. The first two portions of the job take the street from where it stops at Hale Road north to connect with Parkway Boulevard in Land O’ Lakes, a stretch of 1.8 miles. The last segment will not happen until 2015 or 2016, according to program administrator for Pasco County Engineering Services Deborah Bolduc.
The original contract was for $4.3 million and about $2.5 million remained when Ripa took control, according to Shepherd. The project is needed to take drivers off of US 41 and Parkway and onto Collier.

SR 54 widening
More than half the construction is finished on the most expensive project in Pasco County history, the widening of SR 54.
The job was projected to take 21 months, but is more than half finished through the first eight months, according to Pasco County Chief Project Manager Robert Shepherd. He said the project is still scheduled for completion March 2012.
“I’d hate to say a date sooner just yet, but we are way ahead of schedule,” Shepherd said. “We could have a very cold winter or rainy period and that would slow us down again.”
The project costs $105.2 million, but only $28 million is for construction. The job is widening SR 54 to six lanes from I-75 to Curley Road in Wesley Chapel, a distance of about 3.2 miles. Pepper Contracting Services Inc. is doing the construction.
The job also included the temporary closing of portions of Boyette Road and Curley, but those intersections with SR 54 are finished.

Bruce B. Downs widening
The widening project of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, also known as either CR 581 or SR 581 depending on the location, is still progressing on schedule.

Pasco County Chief Project Manager Robert Shepherd said the new lanes between SR 56 and just south of SR 54 should be opened by the end of January. That last section to the intersection of SR 54 will then be reduced from three to one lane to improve the old road, which will take about four months to finish. The total length of the road from SR 56 to SR 54 is just less than four miles.
The widening project is being paid for by a developer, Crown Development, at a cost of $17 million. Once finished, Bruce B. Downs will be three lanes from SR 54 to the county line. The project is needed to keep up with the growing population of Wesley Chapel.

Light at Mansfield
The intersection of SR 56 and Mansfield Boulevard in Wesley Chapel remains without a traffic signal months after the opening of the extension of the state road.
Both Wiregrass Ranch High and Dr. John Long Middle are on Mansfield, and many school buses and vehicles leaving the schools each day have to turn across several lanes of traffic to leave the school since the extension opened. Parents of students at the schools have complained to the county commission to get a light put in at the intersection to make turning safer, but fixing the problem is not as easy as it seems.
SR 56 is a six-lane divided road where it meets with Mansfield; too wide for a temporary traffic signal strung from wooden or concrete poles. The metal poles commonly used at wide crossings were unavailable until recently, but have been ordered and should be up and operational by the end of January.
“We need to get a signal there,” said Pasco County Commissioner Pat Mulieri. “It is dangerous to turn left out of Mansfield. Once we get the poles it shouldn’t take very long to put in place. We’ve already got the spots marked off.”

By B.C. Manion

Boundary changes are in store for some Pasco County public schools, while transportation adjustments could affect some northern Hillsborough County public schools.

Those are just two of the issues that school boards in those districts will face during 2011.
The Pasco County school district is shifting school boundaries to relieve overcrowding at Dr. John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Ranch High. Some of the proposed changes have drawn opposition by parents. The Pasco School Board is scheduled to take a final vote on the issue Jan. 18.
The Hillsborough County school district is preparing to reorganize its transportation plan for Area 3, which includes Gaither and Freedom high schools, Buchanan Middle School, Learning Gate Community Middle and Elementary schools and Lutz and Maniscalco elementary schools.
George Gaffney, general director of the county’s Area 3 schools, said that generally students who are entitled to public transportation to school will not be affected, except that some bus stops may be moved for efficient operations.
If history is any indication, however, the relocation of any bus stop could become a source of objections by parents who typically do not wish to lose a bus stop their child has been using unless it is a change that will make the bus stop more convenient for the child, which usually upsets someone else.
In Pasco County, district employees will have a new option for some healthcare services.
The district is opening three Health Wellness Clinics, including one at the district office in Land O’ Lakes.
The clinics will offer a number of healthcare services at no cost to employees. Use of the clinic is voluntary and employees will be able to continue to see their own physicians.
However, any employee enrolled in a district health plan can use the clinics to get free blood work, free women wellness exams and free medications as long as they are seen by a Health Wellness Clinic physician.
Pasco Superintendent Heather Fiorentino said the district expects the clinics to lead to $3 million in district savings.
Pasco also has a $6 million construction project underway to build the Culinary Arts Academy at Land O’ Lakes High.
The 18,000-square-foot center includes three kitchens, commercial equipment, a theater-style classroom, a demonstration station and other high technology features. It is expected to open in fall 2011.
Meanwhile, the Hillsborough school district will launch a massive renovation at Gaither High in January. The $17.3 million makeover, which will take about 18 months to complete, will be done in five phases.
The school’s mechanical systems will be replaced, which means removing the big chillers and air handlers. The work also will require removing the ceiling and lighting. The school will get a new roof.
The project calls for adding a stairwell at the front of the building to meet current safety codes. The restrooms will be updated to adhere to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

By Kyle LoJacono

State Rep. Will Weatherford (R-Wesley Chapel) has been named the redistricting committee chairman. The committee is responsible for redrawing the boundaries for the state’s legislative and congressional districts.

Weatherford was named to the position by House Speaker-Designate Dean Cannon (R-Winter Park).
“It’s a tremendous honor,” said Weatherford, who just won re-election for House District 61. “I’m happy Speaker-Designate Cannon put his faith in me. It’s a long process that is very complicated, but I’m up for it.”
Weatherford said he understands how important redistricting is to all of Florida’s elections and will make the process something its citizens can be proud of. Florida voters this year approved a pair of constitutional amendments that require districts to be drawn without favoring any particular candidate or party.
“My goal is to have the most open and transparent redistricting process ever,” Weatherford said. “We are looking for a lot of our citizens’ input while obviously following the law and constitution.”
The redistricting job recently got a little more complicated with the release of U.S. Census numbers that pushed Florida’s U.S. House seats to 27, the same number as New York. The Sunshine State now how 29 electoral votes.
Weatherford, who will become the next Speaker-Designate at a ceremony in March, is in the process of creating a website where people can get information on the redistricting, give opinions and even create their own district maps.
“It’s going to be very interactive,” Weatherford said. “We may get some very interesting looking maps by the end, but it will allow us to really see what the people are looking for and where their concerns are.”
District 61 currently covers Land O’ Lakes, Odessa, Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills, Dade City, San Antonio and the rest of east Pasco County along with portions of northern Hillsborough County.
Every 10 years after the federal census, the Florida Legislature redraws the state’s legislative and congressional districts. This redistricting will happen during the 2012 session after two years of hearing public testimony about the district lines.
“In addition to passing the budget, redistricting is the only other constitutional mandate the members of the Legislature must pass,” Cannon said. “Representative Weatherford’s hard work and proven leadership abilities make him a perfect fit for this important, but very challenging assignment.”
Along with redistricting, one of Weatherford’s main focuses in the future is to create an environment for jobs to come to Florida.
“We’re doing a lot of prep work for the coming months,” Weatherford said. “Creating jobs is going to be the key to making Florida more prosperous and we’ll be doing everything we can to do that.”

By B.C. Manion

Coming on the heels of a year that’s been dominated by news of double-digit unemployment and high foreclosure rates, leaders in Hillsborough and Pasco counties want to change the narrative.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan led the push to have a ballot measure placed on November’s ballot that allows commissioners to grant a property tax exemption to companies locating or expanding in the county.

In pushing the measure, Hagan argued the county needed another tool to help it spur the economy to create more jobs.
In Pasco County, numerous efforts are under way to lay the groundwork for companies to locate there and to help existing companies flourish and grow.
Pasco is paying attention to both the big picture and the small details, said John Hagen, president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council.
Big things — like tax advantages and good accessibility — help make a community attractive to new businesses, Hagen said. But so do less obvious things like clear development codes and an efficient development process.
Pasco is rewriting its code to make it easier to understand, Hagen said. “It’s a process that’s kind of tedious,” he said.
But it goes to the heart of eliminating a complaint by developers, who frequently object to getting mired in a bureaucracy.
“I think they’ve made some real progress,” he said. “It makes us more competitive.”
Several other initiatives also are under way in Pasco County.
The PEDC plans to launch a website soon that will help both new and existing businesses. The website, which will known as the Pasco Economic Network, will pull together the chambers of commerce, SCORE, the PEDC and other economic development groups to help businesses seeking guidance.
The idea is to have a “virtual” place where someone can go to open any door and find someone on the other side that can help them find the resources they need, Hagen said.
Another initiative involves work to develop a strategic economic development plan, an effort being led by Bob Gray, Strategic Planning Group Inc., a consultant hired by the county.
Gray predicts that over the next 20-25 years everything in Pasco County will double, and the Pasco of the future will more closely mirror Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
Meanwhile, the city of Zephyrhills also hopes to improve its economic climate in the coming year. The city is considering an expansion of its community redevelopment areas, in an effort to fortify the city’s identity and to entice more businesses to set up shop near downtown.

The Economy: What’s in Store for the Year Ahead?
The Pasco Economic Development Council presents a forecast of the U.S. and Florida economies with a look into what the numbers mean locally
Jan. 28, 12-1:30 p.m.
Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club
$25
RSVP to (888) 60-PASCO by Jan. 24

By Kyle LoJacono

While growth in other industries stalled, healthcare across the region continues to expand.
In 2010, Lutz saw the opening of the first new full-service hospital in Hillsborough County in 30 years. In east Pasco County, Florida Hospital Zephyrhills opened a sleep center, while Pasco Regional Medical Center saw the completion of its wound center.
This year’s development trumps 2010’s, with construction of one new hospital in Wesley Chapel and the opening of another in Trinity, the expansion of an emergency room in Dade City, Florida Medical Clinic’s continued growth in east Pasco and the opening of new services in Lutz.

Wesley Chapel Medical Center
While it will not open until the end of 2012, the Wesley Chapel Medical Center’s construction illustrates the growth still present in healthcare in the region.

The facility, which will be located about one-half mile north of SR 56 on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, broke ground Dec. 14. It will take 18-24 months to build and will be the first full-service hospital in Wesley Chapel, according to John Harding, president and CEO of Adventist Health System’s (AHS) Tampa Bay Region. AHS is building the new hospital.
The project was originally a joint venture between AHS and University Community Health, but the two companies merged last September. It will open with three floors and 80 beds, but is built to easily expand to 300. Harding said he projects more floors will be added to make room shortly after its opening.
The project comes at a price of $121 million, according to AHS spokeswoman Christine Stewart. It will offer obstetrics, pediatrics, women’s and men’s services, general surgery, an emergency department with helicopter pad, a comprehensive medical fitness program, orthopedics and sports medicine.

Pasco Regional Medical Center
Dade City will see another healthcare expansion next year when Pasco Regional Medical Center begins work to double square footage of its emergency department.
Pasco Regional spokeswoman Katie Bryant said the hospital had planned to start work on the expansion last year, but permitting was delayed. A date for the start of the project is not yet set, but will likely be either at the end of January or the start of February.
“It’s just part of offering our patients faster access to care,” Bryant said. “We’ve already have a way for people to check the wait times at www.PascoRegionalmc.com to see a healthcare professional in our emergency department so people can decide when to get nonurgent treatment. That helps reduce wait times and obviously having a larger department will go even farther to cut wait times.”
Bryant said the emergency department at Pasco Regional is currently working at capacity most of the time. She did not have exact details because the design can change during permitting.
Pasco Regional will also renovate its waiting rooms and main lobby in 2011 after the emergency department project is started. The renovation will make those areas look less like a sterile hospital and more like a home, including the addition of artwork and a fresh coat of paint in soft colors such as mint green.

Florida Medical Clinic
Florida Medical Clinic will see at least three major additions to its healthcare offerings in Zephyrhills this year — expansions to its same-day surgery, clinical rheumatology and urgent care facilities.
“We need more space to meet the healthcare needs of our patients in east Pasco County,” said Florida Medical CEO Joe Delatorre.
Florida Medical’s same-day surgery facility will grow by 12,000 square foot. That project is set to start in the first half of 2011. The Rheumatology facilities will increase by 7,500 square feet, plus a tentative plan to make a 7,000-square-foot addition to urgent care.
Additionally, Delatorre said the company plans to add an 18,000-square-foot addition to its medical facility in Land O’ Lakes at some point.
“We can’t add any more physicians in Land O’ Lakes right now, but the demand for more healthcare services continues to grow,” Delatorre said. “We’ve got more plans for the future in Pasco and northern Hillsborough.”

St. Joseph’s Hospital-North
Last year, the opening of St. Joseph’s Hospital-North in Lutz was one of the healthcare highlights, but the new facility is still making additions.
Besides adding many more doctors, several from Florida Medical Clinic, the Lutz facility just opened its own imaging center right next door — BayCare Outpatient Imaging Center, a full-service outpatient imaging center. It is located at 4211 Van Dyke Road in Lutz in front of Kohl’s.
“It has already starting seeing patients,” said hospital spokeswoman Jacqueline Farruggio. “It will cut down on patient diagnostic time.”
It offers services such as high-field MRI, multi-slice CT scans, digital mammography, digital X-rays and bone density scanning, according to Farruggio.

Medical Center of Trinity
In the west, the Medical Center of Trinity is set to open its doors in the fall.
The project, which comes with a $210 million price tag, has been delayed several times. It was originally planned to be finished in 2010, but issues with construction and permitting pushed the opening back.
The new hospital will replace Community Hospital in downtown New Port Richey.

By Tammy Sue Struble

Hans Geissler, founder of Morning Star Fishermen, an aquaponics training and research center located on 10 acres off Old Saint Joe Road, lost a lot of fish last year. Earlier in the year temperatures in the area took a nose dive and the agriculture industry was literally frozen.
“I’m not going to let it happen” again, Geissler exclaimed.

Now he has his green house covered with plastic and has made preventative measures with more insulation and filling cracks.
The nonprofit has more than 110,000 galloons of tank space and a solar-heated green house where tilapia are bred to feed a variety of plant species.
Morning Star’s main focus is education. Students come to learn how to create sustainable farming systems of their own. There are dormitories on site where people can live and study for up to three months. Morning Star offers courses lasting one day to 12 weeks.
In 2010, Geissler said he “Had more students than ever before.” He sees a movement of people wanting more and more to go back to the basics, “especially in this economy,” he stated.
Morning Star is run on a voluntary basis; for more information check his website at www.morningstarfishermen.org.
Tony Martin has been working at Shannon’s Produce in Zephyrhills for a little more than four years now. Hydroponic farming is becoming more popular with growers; Martin estimated that about 10 percent of the vegetables they get from wholesalers is grown hydroponically.
“A lot of peppers, tomatoes, and leaf lettuce are grown hydroponically,” he explained. In fact, Martin was recently planting swiss chard, parsley cilantro, kale, endive, dill and buttercruch lettuce hydroponically on the produce stand’s property.
“I think people are going to start eating healthier. The customers especially like the home grown swiss chard,” he said. They keep asking, and Tony keeps planting, increasing his rows every year for the past few years.
Martin also explained how recycling water helps keep from draining the groundwater; they us a lot of rainwater to irrigate their plants. It is helpful in reducing well water consumption or having to pay for county water.
In January 2010, the area felt a major cold spell, the worst since the 1989 freeze. Even the recent brush with cold air paled in comparison to early 2010.
“This is nothing like last winter!” George Neukom III, owner of Neukom’s Groves in Zephyrhills, said of the recent cold snap. “We hope we hope we don’t have another one like that. However, it is always a little scary to us citrus growers when we see a freeze coming.”
Although the Neukoms believe a little chill is just fine and, actually helps make the citrus a little sweeter.
For the citrus growers in our area of our last cold spell says George Neukom (George III’s father), “We were very fortunate.”