Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Project already half finished

By Kyle LoJacono

The thousands of people who make the daily trip through the project zone to widen SR 54 will likely see an end to the construction sooner than anticipated.

The job is making the highway six lanes from I-75 to Curley Road in Wesley Chapel, a stretch of about 3.2 miles. The project was scheduled to take 21 months from when it started March 29, but is on pace to take a little more than half that long.
“Right now we’re 50 percent finished in 28 percent of the time,” said Robert Shepherd, Pasco chief project manager. “Really, I think we’re further along than that because most of the utility work is far along.”
Both Withlacoochee River Electric and TECO have moved their unities, while Bright House and Verizon lines are at least 90 percent. Pasco-operated waterlines are 80 percent moved, which is as much as can be completed until the traffic pattern shifts in December.
“Pepper Contracting (Services Inc.) has been able to work around the utility work, so they’ve gotten more done in less time,” said James Widman, Pasco chief engineer.
Pasco commission chairwoman Pat Mulieri said Pepper deserves a lot of credit for the fast pace.
“They’ve put their full workforce into the job,” Mulieri said. “That has been the real key. Not all companies do that.”
Kurt Keith, Pepper’s project manager for the job, said about 90 people are working on the construction each day.
Ron Garraffa, Pepper’s construction manager, gave more of the credit to the county’s proactive approach.
“They delivered everything we needed from the start,” Garraffa said. “Everything was worked out with the utility companies, the right-of-way (land) was bought and finished up front.
“A lot of time right-of-way or utilities lag behind and we can’t go fully into the job and that’s like playing football on a field that’s only 50-yards long,” Garraffa said. “Here we had basically all 100 yards to work on from the start.”
Pepper, based in Clearwater, was founded in 1994 and is owned by Terry Cradick and Doug Ebbers. The company is also completing the widening of W. Lutz-Lake Fern Road in Lutz near Steinbrenner High.
“SR 54 is the largest project in terms of financial at $28 million,” Cradick, Pepper’s president. “The length is also one of the largest we’ve done.”
The project is the most expensive in Pasco history at $105.2 million, according to Shepherd. Only $28 million is for the construction, about 27 percent of the price tag, with another $74.2 million from right-of-way land purchase and $3 million for planning and design.
“That is a large percentage for a project,” Mulieri said. “The businesses were right up next to the road and we needed to buyout some of them to do the project. We’ve learned from that and now we have a row-acquisition policy so development has to be far enough away from roads for future widening.”
Terry Wright of Land O’ Lakes, who works in Wesley Chapel east of the project, is pleased to hear the project is ahead of schedule.
“The construction slows things down and the speed limit is only 35 (mph) through there when it was higher before,” Wright said.
The project has done more than slow traffic on SR 54. It has also forced the temporary closing of roads connecting with the highway. Boyette Road was closed to through traffic from June 19 to Aug. 15 and Curley is closed until Nov. 5, both to work on the intersection with SR 54.
While there is some temporary pain from the project, Wright sees the positives.
“I’m happy they’re doing the project because the road really needs to be wider and it’s good news that it will be done sooner,” Wright said.
Wright’s comments fit in line with what Pepper’s employees have been hearing.
“In the beginning, like with most projects, you hear a lot of concerned people,” Garraffa said. “As we get the information to them they’ve been very receptive and I haven’t really heard anything directly negative about the job we’ve been doing.”
Mulieri said of the project, “I haven’t heard much negative either and most people knew the widening was needed. We needed the infrastructure to move people and bring goods and services to the area and it’s already helping to bring more jobs. T. Rowe Price is bringing 1,600 jobs to the area and they told me it was because of the building of needed roads like (SR) 54. We’re really bringing opportunities home.”
Shepherd said the contract with Pepper says the road will be completed by March 2012. While he said there is not a new opening date, he added Pepper is working so ahead of schedule it is making it almost impossible for them to fail.
“For us, this is a very exciting job,” Cradick said. “Just seeing all the cars that drive on the road lets you know how important it is to the area. It’s going to help the people and the businesses and that’s important to us.”
The connection with the road is even bigger for Garraffa because his parents live in east Pasco and he drives on SR 54 to visit them.
“We’re in the construction business because we like building things,” Garraffa said. “When you step back and see what the job is doing for an area like Pasco County, that makes it really hit home with what we’re doing.”

Road construction meeting Nov. 4
Pasco County government will have its quarterly road project meeting from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Nov. 4 at Atonement Lutheran Church of Wesley Chapel, 29617 SR 54. There will be people available to answer questions about all current and some future road projects in east and central Pasco.

Annual event brings community together

By Kyle LoJacono

Last year a combined 15,000 people went to the inaugural year of the LOL Swamp Fest and the new annual tradition is back Friday-Sunday (Nov. 5-7) at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center.

The three-day event actually had two versions in 2009, one in the spring at Land O’ Lakes High and another the first weekend of November at the center, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. The birth of the festival coincided with the end of the Land O’ Lakes Flapjack Festival, which had been at the center each autumn.
Mike Connor, president of the Land O’ Lakes High Athletic Booster Club, said the organization wanted to continue with a fall festival that could help the Gators’ various programs.
“We had been the sponsor of the midway rides at the Flapjack Festival,” Conner said. “When that moved we all thought this community needed a festival like this, so we decided to bring it back.”
Conner said about 5,000 attended the spring version last year with another 10,000 coming last fall. He is expecting at least that many to come out again this year.
The Swamp Fest will have many traditional fall festival elements from midway rides, games, vendors, carnival food and bands such as James Taylor and The Silver Eagle Band. Conner said there is also a pageant for boys and girls of all ages Nov. 6 and also a free breakfast that remembers the now defunct event.
“Saturday morning (Nov. 6) there will be free pancakes provided by Beef ‘O’ Brady’s from 8-10,” Conner said. “There is also a car show. Really there is something for everyone. It’s free to park and get in.”
Things like food and midway games are how the event raises money for the booster club. Conner’s three children graduated from Land O’ Lakes High and participated in athletics, as did Darlene Harris’ two.
“I’ve stayed as a member of the athletic booster club because I enjoy volunteering for this worthwhile group,” said Harris, who is the club’s secretary and vendor booth committee chairwoman. “We help the athletic teams with purchases of safety equipment, give out college scholarships ($6,000 in 2010) to athletes and with other help.”
Conner said the club handles $250,000 in fundraising for the school’s programs each year.
“That all comes from fundraising from the community,” Conner said. “It eases the burden of the school district to buy new equipment. We also pay for the participation fees for kids that can’t afford it themselves.”
Rich Batchelor is an assistant principal at Land O’ Lakes High and is managing the athletic department while athletic director Karen Coss is on maternity leave. He is very appreciative of what the event means for the school.
“The money from the Swamp Fest helps quite a few groups here,” Batchelor said. “It also helps our clubs and organizations because they get a part of the money by helping at the event. The money will help the athletics by buying new uniforms, equipment, pays for banquets and helps offset travel cost. The booster club is a wonderful group that does a lot for the school.”
Conner, Harris and Batchelor each said the real key to the festival’s success is what it does for the area.
“The Swamp Fest brings our community together for some fun family entertainment,” Harris said. “I love seeing the kids and their parents enjoying the food, watching local kids dancing on stage, local bands playing and of course the fantastic fall weather. I hope you can come to the Swamp Fest and have some fun with us.”

LOL Swamp Festival
Where: Land O’ Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.
When: Friday, Nov. 5-Sunday, Nov. 7
Website: www.LOLswampfest.com

By Kyle LoJacono

Four Pasco County fire engines are now staffed with only two firefighters, down from the old standard of three.
“In Pasco, we normally have three on all engines and were building toward four before the financial crisis hit,” said county fire chief Duncan Hitchcock, a 33-year veteran in his third year as chief.

One of the affected engines is at station No. 32, at 38223 Centennial Road off US 301 in east Pasco. It serves mainly Zephyrhills and Dade City. Two of the engines serve various parts of the county as needed. The fourth is in New Port Richey.
Property taxes for fire rescue service increased by 23 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, but that was not enough to prevent the reduced staffing.
Pasco commission chairwoman Pat Mulieri said there were few public concerns about the increase in taxes to pay for fire rescue services, which is likely because of how important it is to people like Land O’ Lakes resident Connie Whiteside.
“What’s more important than protecting your house from a fire?” Whiteside said. “I’d have been fine if they raised (taxes) more to bring in more firefighters.”
Kenneth Browning, who lives in Meadow Pointe, has similar feelings and also fears for the firefighters: “If I’m at work and something starts a fire I want to know the fire stations can put it out. And what if something happens to one or both of the firefighters? I figure the more people the more safe it is for them.”
Of the nearly 2,000 people surveyed in Pasco this year, 65 percent said fire rescue is their top priority in maintaining the current standard of service. Mulieri said that shows how important fire rescue is to county residents, which is why the commission decided to increase taxes for it.
The increase in taxes helped add 14 new personnel who recently joined the force and another 15 who are expected to finish training and orientation in January. The reason the new staff cannot prevent the two-person engines is there is no longer the budget for as much overtime as before. If only a few personnel call in sick, there would not be enough money to fill in.

“The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) recommendations are to have four on each engine and our director of fire rescue Anthony Lopinto had been working for years to get us to those standards,” Hitchcock said.
The NFPA’s recommendations are not rules, but more like industry best practice guidelines. Hillsborough County also cannot afford to staff all of its 45 engines with four personnel, according to Hillsborough Fire Rescue spokesman Raymond Yeakley.
“All of our engines always have three and some have four,” Yeakly said. “We’d like to have as many people working the fires as we can to get them out fast and keep the firefighters safe. We’d like to follow the NFPA standards.”
Yeakley said when an active fire is reported, more than one engine always reports to the scene in Hillsborough. He said usually about 15 people are at such an emergency.
Hillsborough has 42 stations, three of which are based in Lutz including No. 34 at 6415 Van Dyke Road, No. 40 at 16304 N. Nebraska Ave and No. 24, also known as the volunteer fire station, at 129 W. Lutz-Lake Fern Road. There are also stations near Lutz in Northdale and by University Community Hospital.
Hitchcock said there may be a possibility of increasing the four engines back to three personnel in Pasco after the 15 new staff start next year. He added it is too early to tell if that would free up enough overtime money.
“We work hard to maintain our skill level and knowledge of what to do in a rescue situation,” Hitchcock said. “We all have to do 14 hours of in-house training each month to stay at that high level. The people of Pasco can rest assured knowing we are doing everything to keep them safe.”

By B.C. Manion

Taking characters on new adventures is part of Odessa mystery novelist James Swain’s daily routine — but now he’s the one exploring a new terrain.

At the beginning of October, Swain plunged into the world of electronic self-publishing by releasing four new eBooks: “Jackpot,” “Wild Card,” “The Program” and “The Man Who Cheated Death.”
The move comes after years of success in the conventional publishing world. Swain’s books have been published in the United States, France, Japan, Russia, Germany and Bulgaria. The author also has received writing accolades for his work and has created characters, such as Tony Valentine and Jack Carpenter, who have developed a following of their own with readers.
The Valentine books are in development in Hollywood for a television series, Swain said, adding that he wrote a script last year.
Even with his solid track record, Swain is enthused about the possibilities of electronic publishing.
“This is empowering,” Swain said. “So many people have books they want to put out there.”
He said he saw evidence of the growing interest in electronic publishing during the recent St. Petersburg Times 2010 Festival of Reading.
Swain sat on a panel at the festival with Carla Jimenez, co-owner of Inkwood Books, an independent bookstore in south Tampa. They discussed a topic that’s near and dear to readers: “The Future of Books.”
The conference room, designed to seat 100, was packed well beyond capacity, Swain said.
“Probably 80 percent wanted to know how to do this (electronic publishing). The other 20 percent was already part of this (electronic publishing) community,” Swain said.
He said he became attracted to the possibility of publishing eBooks in August, after listening to author Joe Konrath speak on the topic at a mystery writers’ conference in Sarasota.
Swain said he’d already written some books, and had already been paid for two of them – but the rights had reverted to him for those books because they had not yet been published.
Electronic publishing offers enormous potential for authors, Swain said. But in order to be successful, a book must be able to attract an audience and the author must have an entrepreneurial bent, Swain said.
“When I launched these books, I sent out about 1,500 e-mails to fans and people we know,” Swain said.
The sales began immediately and he’s now selling books at a clip of about 75 to 100 books a day, he said.
The books can be read on a Kindle or by using an app that’s available for free from Amazon, Swain said.
He thinks that reading devices, such as Kindle, have much more to offer than simply allowing people to read books.
“They’re stores. They’re libraries. You have access to so much when you own one. Even (if it is an app) on a computer. The world is at your fingertips.”
The great thing about Kindles is that Amazon has thousands of eBooks that are available for free, including classics such as “Pride and Prejudice,” Swain said.
“It’s like I handed you a library,” Swain said. “Culturally, it’s absolutely fantastic. For writers like myself who are waiting for books to get out, it is fantastic.”
Amazon rewards authors who offer books at an affordable price, Swain said. Amazon pays authors 70 percent, if they price their books below $10, he said.
“I price the books inexpensively, $2.99,” Swain said. That seems to be the sweet spot – it is about how much someone spends for a cookie and a cup of coffee, he said.
By comparison, the same book would cost more than $25 in hard cover and at least $7.99 as a paperback, Swain said.
Swain said his previous work gives him an advantage over unknown writers. “I have a connection with readers. I have a following.”
That being said, Swain thinks eBooks can offer an outstanding avenue for finding new readers and for giving new authors a chance to get their work published.
Electronic self-publishing allows readers to buy books at lower prices. It also gives authors more control over their final product, including the design of the book cover and blurbs promoting a book.
“I can’t tell you how many times my publisher put things up that were inaccurate,” Swain said. The covers have also been a problem sometimes, he said. Too often they’ve been based on what sells, rather than whether they convey the book’s content, he said.
Swain said he doesn’t know where his quest into electronic self-publishing will lead, but he’s certain the industry will grow.
“I think what we’re all seeing is – this (eBook) business is expanding and the book sales business is contracting.”
He hopes people will give eBooks a try.
“People are pointing at them saying, “Oh, they’re going to ruin the book business. They’re not. The book business was already having a lot of problems well before it started. This is going to save the book business.”
To download a free app for reading eBooks or for more information about Swain or his books, go to www.jimswain.com

By B.C. Manion

Quilt lovers who want to add to their collections will have plenty of choices at a quilt auction Nov. 6 at the “As Our Garden Grows 2010 Quilt Show.”

The show, presented by the Cypress Creek Quilters’ Guild, is slated from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the University of South Florida’s Botanical Gardens, at Pine and Alumni drives at the southwest corner of the USF Tampa campus.
The auction will feature more than 90 quilts. In addition to quilts being sold, about 200 quilts will be on display in the show. The event also features a boutique and items for sale by vendors.
Bidding for most of the quilts will begin at $20, with all of the proceeds from the auction benefitting USF’s Hope House for Eating Disorders.
An event rain date has been set for Sunday, Nov. 7.
Many quilts in the show have interesting names, such as “Every One Loves a Sharp Dressed Man,” by Cathleene Kiel Tokish; “It May Be a Zoo in Here, But it’s a Jungle Out There,” by Pat Reeves; and, “Clowns to the Right, Jokers to the Left,” by Paula Lewis.
While many of the 116 members of the Cypress Creek Quilter’s Guild will have quilts on display, the show is just one of many of the guild’s activities throughout the year.
Guild members come from many communities, including Land O’Lakes, Lutz, Wesley Chapel, Odessa, New Port Richey, Tampa, Brandon and Mulberry. The vast majority of members are women, but there are three male members – and the group welcomes more.
The youngest member of the guild, Katie Nagel, is a teenager; the oldest member, Katherine Coffey, is 89.
Coffey’s daughter, Polly Batista, also belongs to the guild, though she acknowledged she never thought she’d be a quilter.
“My mother started quilting when she was 7,” Batista said. “I wasn’t going to do that. Period.”
As it turns out, however, she had a change of heart and now Batista, Lynn Herndon and Dr. Pauline Powers are co-chairwomen of this year’s quilt show.
During a recent interview, guild members said they came to quilting in different ways.
Powers said she took up quilting years ago as a way to relieve stress caused by a particularly difficult job. She likes the fact she can get lost in her quilting as she concentrates on the work. She likes being able to fit quilting into her schedule when she has a few minutes to spare.
Guild member Joyce Bartholomew said she and her daughter took up quilting as a diversion when Bartholomew’s daughter broke up with her boyfriend.
That was 25 years ago. The ex-boyfriend is long gone, but both women still love quilting. In fact, Bartholomew is showing seven quilts in this year’s show.
Another guild member, Diane Juranko, said she decided to give quilting a try at the encouragement of a friend. Once she took up the craft, she never looked back.
Guild member Cathleene Tokish, who will be showing five quilts at the show, said she was drawn to quilting after seeing gorgeous quilts at a show.
Besides quilting, guild members said they enjoy trying new tools of the trade, attending workshops to learn new techniques and designs, shopping at fabric stores to add more material to their stash and using their talents to help various charities.
They make Quilts of Valor, for instance, to give to service members who have been injured in the war on terror. They also make Breast Cancer Heart Pillows for patients recovering from mastectomies; walker caddies for people in nursing homes; and quilts for kids at Hope Children’s Home.
The guild meets at 6 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month at the Lutz Community Center, 101 1st Ave., N.E. in Lutz. Anyone who is interested in joining the guild or learning more about it should go to www.cypresscreekquilters.org.

As Our Garden Grows 2010 Quilt Show
Where: The University of South Florida Botanical Gardens, at Pine and Alumni drives on the USF Tampa campus.
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 6 (Rain date: Nov. 7)
What: Quilt show features more than 200 quilts, a boutique and an auction of more than 90 quilts. The auction will be from 1-5 p.m. and will benefit USF’s Hope House for Eating Disorders.
Who: The Cypress Creek Quilters’ Guild is presenting the show and auction.
For more information about the show go to www.cypresscreekquilters.org

By B.C. Manion

When Patrick Hunter wants to go fishing, he just heads out behind his house and casts a line into the Lake Heather Pond.
If he wants a lovely view, he simply gazes at the beauty of the placid pool of water.

And, if he wants to get up close with nature, he strolls around the pond’s perimeter to check out the blooms on the magnolia tree, to capture a photo of the purple pickerel weed or to watch a red-shouldered hawk make a circle in the sky.
The pond is teaming with life and it offers an excellent spot for enjoyment for Hunter and his neighbors.
It wasn’t always this way.
Just a few years ago, the pond was choked with coattails, torpedo grass and Brazilian pepper bushes. It was drying up in places and filling in with weeds.
It was on its way to becoming marshland, Hunter said.
But he and his neighbors joined forces with the Adopt-A-Pond program to restore the pond to good health. Instead of being an eyesore, the pond now provides a bit of beauty for people living around it or passing by.
The pond’s good health is no accident, said Hunter, whose group is maintaining just one of the 260 ponds that have been taken on by groups in the Adopt-A-Pond program. The program is funded by Hillsborough County and the Hillsborough River and Alafia River basin boards of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
The program, which began in 1991, helps homeowners learn how to manage their storm water pond in order to create a functional wetland system.
Keeping storm water ponds healthy is important because they prevent flooding, they provide water treatment and groundwater recharge and they are part of the network of waterways.
Lake Heather Pond, unlike most ponds, does not flow into other waterways unless there is an unusual flood event, Hunter said.
But it does pick up pollutants that are carried into the pond from nearby yards, streets and parking lots.
It’s important to minimize pollutants and to use vegetation to provide cover for baby fish, said Hunter, whose group known as Lake Heather Pond Keepers has been helping to keep the pond healthy since 2006.
Those wishing to participate in the Adopt-A-Pond program must submit an application, which can be found on the Hillsborough County Water Atlas at www.hillsborough.wateratlas.us.edu/AAP. The application explains the program’s requirements.
Pasco County also has a volunteer program aimed at keeping ponds healthy. Information about that program can be found at www.adoptapondpasco.org.
The website explains the criteria used for acceptance into the program, offers suggestions on vegetation, includes a form people can fill out if they would like a presentation on the program and offers other useful information.
The nonprofit Pasco organization lists its partners and supporters as Florida Lake Watch, Hillsborough River Watershed Alliance, Pasco County Government and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Keep your pond healthy:
Don’t let yard waste and falling leaves wash into your storm drains. Compost them or use them for mulch.
Fertilize wisely. Twice a year is often enough and spring and fall are the best times to fertilize.
Learn about your dirt. You can have your soil analyzed by the Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension Service. Once you know more about your soil, you will know what it really needs. When using fertilizer, think “slow” — as in slow release or insoluble. That way the fertilizer you put on your yard will stay there instead of ending up in your pond.
Establish fertilizer-free zones. Stay at least 50 feet away from your pond and a few feet away from your pavement with fertilizer applications.
Source: Hillsborough County Adopt-A-Pond program

Prevent the introduction or spread of invasive plants:
Avoid disturbing natural areas. This means you should avoid clearing native vegetation, refrain from planting non-native plants and steer clear of dumping yard wastes.
Do not use exotic species in your landscaping, for land restoration or for erosion control projects.
Use plants that are native to your local region, as much as possible, for your landscaping projects. If the plant is not native, make sure that it is not known to be invasive. Your cooperative extension service can advise you on that.
Source: Hillsborough County Adopt-A-Pond program