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Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

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IvyWarriors’ robotics team looks to reprogram the future

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These future robotics engineers are a ‘prime’ example of where technology is headed.

IvyWarriors — an eight-member robotics team — is on its way to the Florida FTC State Championship, set for March 4 and March 5 at the AdventHealth Fieldhouse in Winter Haven.

There, they will face 48 other teams from across Florida in a quest to win a spot to compete in April, at the FIRST World Festival in Houston, Texas.

IvyWarriors teammates, from left, Nikhil Padi, Rohil Agarwal and Sahil Vaswani , watch and control their hand-built robot, Challenger. They and other members of their team will be competing this weekend at the FIRST® Tech Challenge: Freight Frenzy. Coach Abhay Vaswani, next to the wall on the left, watches as team members practice. (Mike Camunas)

The acronym FIRST is a shortened version of, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. It is the nonprofit that hosts the FTC, or First Tech Competition.

IvyWarriors advanced to the state tournament by winning first place among a field of 16 teams at the Tampa Bay ROBOT League Championship in early February in Lakeland.

The team is made up of Sahil Vaswani, Rohil Agarwal, Vineet Sharma, Nikhil Padi, Neil Babu, Ananth Kutuva, Joshua Selvan and Avaneesh Venkatesh.

Team coaches are Abhay Vaswani and Tamil Gurusamy, and there are other mentors, too.

IvyWarriors, based in Odessa, is made up of students from Berkeley Preparatory; Sunlake, Hillsborough and Strawberry Crest high schools; and the International Baccalaureate Program (IB) at Land O’ Lakes and Robinson high schools.

Rohil Argarwarl, the team’s lead programmer, described how the competition works.

“Moving on round to round is just like a soccer or football tournament,” said Argarwarl, a sophomore in the IB program at Land O’ Lakes High.

The difference, he explained, is that these teams work with other teams.

The teams are randomly paired, in a two versus two format, which encourages them to work with other teams, which FIRST calls ‘Co-opertiation.’

The teams taking part in designing, building and coding robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. Teams work on developing an autonomous and driver-controllable robot to complete missions on a thematic playing field.

IvyWarriors robot, Challenger, unloads a package onto shelving. It will perform this and other tasks during the Freight Frenzy competition.

Each season has a different theme and this year it is Freight Frenzy. Simply put, it involves challenging the players to build a robot that eventually will be used to help shipping and supply chain warehouses, such as Amazon, to be more efficient in sorting and delivering packages.

“(FIRST) give(s) you the ways on how you score with your robot,” Land O’ Lakes IB junior Sahil Vaswani explained, “and then they leave you to build and code your robot and have enough driver practice in order to score.”

So, through painstaking trial and error and outside-the-box thinking, the IvyWarriors created their autonomous and remote-controlled bot, Challenger. Resembling a mix between Rector and Lego sets, Challenger is a fully functional delivery robot. It can lift scaled packages to put on shelves and can operate a conveyor belt to sort packages.

“This is the second version,” Vaswani said. “Challenger 2.0, really. We had to make modifications on frame and wheel size.”

In the competition, the robot must be completely programmed to do this for the first 30 seconds of the allotted time, meaning the IvyWarriors have to build a code to ensure Challenger does its job autonomously.

For the next two minutes, IvyWarriors can control it remotely with controllers that look like they were directly taken from a gaming system.

The IvyWarriors set about building their bot back in September through various brainstorming sessions, many involving pros-and-cons lists, until they were certain it was the right design.

“One of the biggest issues we had was going over barriers (that are in the competition area),” Agarwal said. “We had to keep things like that in mind, but also had to make sure our code is easy to read by basically anyone and you have to develop that from the roots up.”

Other obstacles that stood in the IvyWarriors’ way during the build process was making sure the motors were the right torque, especially on the crane and the wheel that would bring the box onto the crane, installing wheels that would make Challenger the most mobile — this lead to them installing mecanum wheels that allows Challenger to make 360-degree moves.

“And now,” Agarwal said, “almost all robots in warehouses will have those.”

“During our season, we try to find many solutions to make it more mobile and faster, especially with the barriers,” Sunlake sophomore Nikhil Padi added. “It was really about finding the right motors to go with the right wheels, that way it would move the way we wanted, especially in the autonomous section.”

Their teamwork and ingenuity paid off, and now it is time to be tested on a bigger stage.

“IvyWarriors are ready to fight like warriors and are extremely grateful for the opportunity and knowledge that they have gained by participating in FIRST,” coach Abhay, a software engineer, said. “It is organizations like FIRST that are driving STEM passions across the globe, and educating students on the world of engineering and robotics.”

Like their competitors, the IvyWarriors want their team’s robotic moves to take them to nationals.

But the value of being part of the team goes beyond competing, Agarwarl said.

“All of us have a passion for engineering and robotics, but we all also love driving (Challenger) around!” he said.

Published March 02, 2022

Pasco seeks to strengthen trade ties with German town

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The Pasco County Commission welcomed Andreas Siegel, the consul general of Germany, to its meeting last week and celebrated its Document of Friendship with Germersheim, Germany.

The Document of Friendship establishes the basis for developing and promoting a transatlantic exchange of mutually beneficial information, cooperation and fosters a relationship of understanding between the peoples of the District of Germersheim and Pasco County

The friendship pact also calls for the continued promotion of economic development, educational opportunities and cultural exchange.

The document came about during a trade mission to Germany last October.

Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey, Commissioner Christina Fitzpatrick, state Rep. Amber Mariano and others accompanied Bill Cronin, president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council, Inc., on the mission, which involved exploring opportunities to establish business relationships and to learn more about apprenticeship programs, among other things.

The ties between Pasco and Germersheim date back to 2008, when Pasco County Schools established a student exchange program with the German district.

Starkey said Siegel, who is based in Miami, has been instrumental in strengthening the relationship between Pasco and Germany. She said Seigel planned to meet with the Pasco EDC later in the week.

On another matter, the board delayed, until March 22, its consideration of a temporary moratorium on the submission and acceptance of applications for building permits, site plans, special exception uses, conditional uses, rezonings and comprehensive plan amendments proposing to increase entitlements on land around the airports in Pasco County.

The moratorium would apply to land near the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport, Tampa North Aero Park, Pilot Country, Hidden Lake Airport and a portion of the conical and horizontal surfaces of the Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport.

In other action, taken on Feb. 8 or Feb. 22, the county board:

  • Approved a task order for Coastal Design Consultants Inc., to perform work connected to an expansion at Starkey Ranch District Park.

The task order involves architectural, engineering, and related services for six multipurpose fields, an additional parking area, a concession stand, and to extend the multi-use path around the existing stormwater pond area.

The work is to be done for price is not to to exceed $177,600 for fiscal year 2022.

  • Approved of a task order with ESA Scheda Corporation to provide environmental engineering and consulting services for the county’s Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources’ Environmental Lands Acquisition and Management Program. The consultant will work with its subconsultant, Wildlands Conservation Inc., to provide environmental and land management planning services for five Pasco County ELAMP sites. These sites will be referred to as:
  • Pasco Palms Preserve (116 acres)
  • Upper Pithlachascotee River Preserve (129 acres) with the northern portion of the Arthur Site (195 acres)
  • Five Mile Creek Conservation Area (179 acres) with the southern portion of the Arthur Site (647 acres)
  • Jumping Gully Preserve (1,839 acres)
  • Crockett Lake Tract (519 acres)

The effort aims to review all available information, former land management plans, desktop data reviews, and interviews with the county’s land managers, coupled with thorough site investigations to provide land management approaches that enhance, conserve, and protect natural resources, while achieving short and long-term objectives.

Funding for the project is budgeted at $190,806.00 and is in fiscal year 2022.

  • Amended the county’s land use plan from a designation for residential to a designation allowing commercial uses on 3.34acres at the Intersection of Gall Boulevard and Chancey Road.

Published March 02, 2022

While planning its budget, Pasco watches inflation, labor costs

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Inflation, low unemployment and the prospect of rising interest rates are key considerations, as Pasco County prepares its budget for fiscal year 2023.

“We’re expecting taxable assessed values to be at or near what they were last year. You can see the taxable assessed values for ’22 — this fiscal year — was 10.8%,” Robert Goehig, budget director for Pasco County, said during the Pasco County Commission’s Feb. 22 meeting.

“I’ve been in local government for a long time. I’ve never seen the taxable assessed values that are this high and that have been assessed at this high level for a long time. So, we want to prepare for the inevitability that they are not going to be at that level forever,” Goehig said.

While revenues are expected to be up in some categories, expenses are expected to increase, too.

Goehig identified some key drivers to higher expenses:

  • Medicaid, expected to go up $300,000 to $400,000
  • Employee health care, an increase of minimum of $500 per budgeted FTE (full-time equivalent)
  • Property insurance
  • Workers compensation insurance
  • 4% negotiated firefighter wage increase
  • Pay and classification study
  • Capital needs and maintenance
  • Rising fuel costs
  • Opening of two new fire stations
  • Higher costs for vehicles and construction
  • Increasing expense for indigent burials and cremations

The budget director’s remarks came before news broke regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The war, of course, could affect the world economy, as well as the local fiscal picture.

Still, at the February meting, Goehig provided a briefing to the county board regarding the current situation and how the county plans to proceed with budget planning.

The county needs to pay attention to increasing costs, he said.

“As you can see here, the unemployment rate is at an all-time low and it has remained at an all-time low in the Tampa Bay region, Pasco County included, for the past couple of years,” Goehig said.

Nationally, at this time the unemployment rate was 6½%, while it was 3½% in Pasco. It remains at  3½% locally.

“With that low unemployment and with that very high demand for employment, that’s going to cause wages to increase,” Goehig said.

The employment cost index, which measures all compensation, not just wages, has increased by 4%.

At the same time, the rate of inflation is at 7.5% nationwide and 9.6% in Tampa Bay.

The region’s inflation rate is the highest it has been for 40 years, Goehig said.

“It’s always higher in Florida than it is throughout the nation, but that gap is much wider than we would expect,” he added.

As the county considers wages, Commissioner Ron Oakley wants to be sure that it addresses the differentiation in pay rates between highly experienced employees and those less experiences. He said thinks there needs to be a bigger gap between those pay rates.

County Administrator Dan Biles said a wage study will address pay issues.

The cost of doing business also is going up because of inflation, Goehig said.

He attributes rising inflation to a combination of the federal government pumping money into the economy through American Rescue Plan funds at  the same time there are supply-side issues because of the pandemic.

“We have a lot of money chasing too few goods,” Goehig said.

The Producer Price Index also increased 9.7% over the past 12 months, he said, including an increase of 87% for the cost of construction materials.

“That is insane,” Goehig said. “Anybody who has been out trying to buy a 2-by-4 recently can feel the pain of that 87%.”

The cost of housing also has gone up, with Pasco home values increasing by 25% to 30%, he said.

Interest rates, which are expected to increase, will affect impact the county’s long-term taxable assessed values, the budget director said.

Once those interest rates hit 4% there will be fewer people in the housing market, which will have an impact on the county’s budget because of a decrease in taxable assessed value.

But that impact won’t be felt immediately, Goehig said, because once a house is permitted, it takes about two years for that house to show up on the tax roll.

“Moving forward, we’re optimistic about the future, however, we do want to keep in mind that it’s important to maintain the level of service that our customers have come to expect, and given the rate  of inflation and the increase in wages, just maintaining that level of service moving forward is going to be more and more expensive.

“We don’t want to bring on additional costs now that we may not be able to sustain in the future,” Goehig said.

Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles put it this way: “This isn’t going to be a year when we see a lot of new initiatives, just because we’re trying to maintain our level of service across the enterprise.”

The county board is scheduled to have a budget workshop on May 24.

Pasco budget considerations for 2023 fiscal year

  • Taxable assessed values expected to rise by 10.8%
  • Higher values are expected to yield $27 million in additional revenues
  • Low unemployment rate will translate into higher wage costs
  • Inflation in Tampa Bay area at 9.6%, outpacing national rate of 7.5%

Source: Robert Goehig, Pasco County budget director

Published March 02, 2022

No retail ban of rabbit sales in Pasco

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Despite a strong push by animal advocates, the Pasco County Commission has decided to not ban the retail sale of rabbits in the county — at least for now.

Numerous advocates appeared during the public comment portion of the board’s Feb. 22 meeting, urging them to take action to protect rabbits.

At the Feb. 22 meeting, and at previous meetings in September and December, the rabbit advocates asked the board to include a ban of the retail sale of rabbits — in addition to the county’s ban on the retail sale of dogs, cats, kittens and puppies.

This bunny lived in a loving home and was well taken care of from the age of 6 months; unfortunately, rabbits often are ‘impulse buys’ and are abandoned on the streets shortly after their purchase, say some animal advocates who want to ban the retail sale of rabbits at pet shops. (Courtesy of Meagan Rathman-Urena)

Many of their comments at the most recent meeting reiterated concerns raised previously.

According to the animal advocates:

  • Rabbits are the third most surrendered pet
  • It is difficult to find fosters and homes for them, because they are a high-maintenance pet and require expensive care
  • Rabbits reproduce rapidly, resulting in more rabbits than wanted
  • There are very few places that will accept rabbits that are surrendered or abandoned, including just one private rescue in Pasco County
  • Rabbits do not fare well when they are abandoned to the wild because they are not well-equipped to defend themselves or secure necessary food and water
  • Many people who purchase rabbits do so as impulse buys, with no clue of what a rabbit’s care requires

When the issue came up in December, the county board directed its department of Animal Services to research the issue and make a recommendation.

Mike Shumate, director of Animal Services, addressed the issue on Feb. 22.

A memo from that department in the board’s agenda packet, says: “Although the abandonment of pet rabbits is a problem in Pasco County, Animal Services found the data to support a ban on retail sales was insufficient to attribute it specifically to retail sales at pet stores.

“Pet rabbits are sourced from a variety of sources including local and regional breeders, online pet sales, pet owners, 4-H participants, and other commercial sources,” the agenda memo notes.

“Other factors that may lead to the abandonment of pet rabbits include the lack of rehoming options for pet owners; access and affordability of proper veterinary care including sterilization; and lack of public education for the care and ownership of pet rabbits,” the memo adds.

At the Feb. 22 meeting, Shumate said: “Our recommendation to the board at this time is basically to direct Animal Services to initiate an ordinance amendment that would strictly focus on the prohibition of sales in public places, such as the flea markets, and require the retail stores to have certificates of source.”

He added: “The department will provide public education programming on rabbit ownership; public information on rehoming assistance; and resource support for animal welfare organizations to help remedy the abandonment of pet rabbits.

“Some of  that resource can be to help them with the spay and neuter of rabbits that come into their rescues,” he said.

Commissioner Mike Moore thanked the animal advocates who turned out to the board’s meeting and suggested to them: “Give this some time. See how it works.”

If it doesn’t work, Moore added, “ it needs to come back to us.”

Shumate told commissioners: “I think we definitely need some time, so we can actually start looking at the volume of rabbits that we’re talking about that are abandoned.

“We want to hear that from the public. We want to hear from the rabbit rescue, the other folks that work with rabbits, in the county.

“We want to see what the numbers are,” Shumate said.

Moore encouraged the animal advocates to work with Shumate through that process.

Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey said she would have supported the ban.

“I was OK with the ban. We had a couple of rabbits and it didn’t work out well for the rabbits.

“Our dog did not like my daughter’s little bunny, so that didn’t work out well.

“When I was young, we had a bunny and that bunny ended up folded up in the pull-out sofa. “We couldn’t find it and then we found it. It didn’t work out well for that bunny. I don’t think they’re great pets,” she said.

Starkey told Shumate: “I’ll go to your leadership. Bring it back to us, please and let’s see if we think we need the ban.”

Commissioner Jack Mariano also expressed support for Shumate’s approach.

Published March 02, 2022

Pasco aims to rein in rogue vehicle sales businesses

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The Pasco County Commission is taking aim at businesses that sell vehicles, but don’t follow the county’s rules.

The county board held a public hearing on Feb. 22 to discuss a proposed six-month moratorium on the opening or establishment of new and used car, truck and van sales businesses.

The moratorium is not aimed at businesses that are playing by the county’s rules, Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey said. In fact, there are exceptions within the moratorium that protect those businesses.

The idea is to rein in businesses that have been opening without following the proper protocols, or doing business without regard to the county’s regulations.

The board is scheduled to hold a second and final public hearing on the issue and vote on the proposed ordinance at its March 8 meeting, in the Historic Pasco County Courthouse in Dade City.

During the 180-day pause, county staff will study the issues and to draft appropriate regulations to address concerns raised regarding these types of businesses.

In seeking action on the issue during past county board meetings, Starkey has specifically mentioned safety hazards posed by these types of businesses that are crowding too much inventory on their lots.

The county’s code enforcement department also has investigated various complaints relating to this issue.

No one from the public spoke in opposition of the potential moratorium.

Starkey said she’d heard from people in the vehicle sales industry and that a stakeholder meeting will be held.

“We will include both used car dealer representation and new car dealer representation,” Starkey said.

Commissioner Jack Mariano, however, raised some concerns.

“I know how this all started was the used car dealerships, up and down, especially on (U.S.) 19,” Mariano said.

He said he knows there are businesses that have defied the system and that has been an ongoing problem.

The focus should be on fixing that, Mariano said.

But he voiced doubts about the proposed moratorium.

“Right now, you’ve got one dealer, in particular, that’s got a $50 million investment scheduled to open,” Mariano said, noting he doesn’t want the county to do anything that could jeopardize that.

“You’re going to affect a business that brings tremendous tax base,” Mariano said.

Starkey said the proposed moratorium will not affect that dealer or any dealer that is playing by the county’s rules.

Mariano said he’s worried about the impact that the moratorium could have on the county’s image. He said it could create the impression that Pasco isn’t a good place to do business.

He noted that he’d been talking to people in the industry recently and, “everyone I’m talking to is afraid of what we’re doing here.

“The image that’s out here is putting us in a dangerous position,” Mariano said.

Starkey, however, said the moratorium is a good thing for businesses that are following the county’s regulations.

They’re put at a disadvantage she said, when they spend the money to abide by the county’s rules and their competitors don’t.

Senior Assistant County Attorney Elizabeth Blair said the proposed moratorium has an exception for “vehicle sale businesses that have an approved site plan and are operating in accordance with the approved site plan, and any county-approved amendments to that approved site plan.”

In essence, according to Blair, the moratorium “does not stop any good actor from operating their business, from opening their business, as long as they have an approved site plan, which is part of the process.”

“It was crafted in a way where only the bad actors are being stopped from going down the street and opening up a business that they shouldn’t be opening,” Blair added.

She also told Mariano that there’s no legal distinction between new and used inventory because the impacts of the dealership are the same, regardless of the status of the vehicle.

Published March 02, 2022

Nonprofit aims to take care of a child’s necessities

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Fostering Change Foster Closet is a nonprofit program created to provide needed clothing, personal care supplies and food to children who are removed quickly from their homes and entered into foster care.

Based in Pasco County, the organization offers to help any child who has gone into foster care and was unable to bring even the most basic of personal care needs from their home.

During the month of March, all five Pasco County Tax Collector’s Office locations will be accepting donations on behalf of the nonprofit, according to a news release.

“Fostering Change Foster Closet is proud to be the first, and only at the time of this release, 24/7 children’s foster closet,” said founder George Agovino.

“We want to minimize the time it takes for a foster child to be placed with a loving foster family. However, if that family doesn’t have all the items needed to care for that child, like a crib or other such items, that child can’t be placed with a family until they have all these items. Child Protective Services has 24-hour access to our facility, and we are also available just about any time to meet with foster families,” Agovino said, in the release.

For more information about the nonprofit, visit FosteringChangeCloset.com, or call Agovino at 813-421-1958.

For tax collector office locations and information on its charitable programs, call Greg Giordano at 727-847-8179, or visit PascoTaxes.com.

Published March 02, 2022

Project’s impacts on jobs questioned

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The Pasco County Planning Commission has delayed a request that would pave the way for a medical office, commercial uses, apartments and a veterinary office on a site at State Road 54 and Henley Road, about 1 mile west of U.S. 41, in Land O’ Lakes.

The site currently is entitled for an assisted living facility, but the applicant wants to change the approved uses through a text amendment to the land use plan and then to follow that up with a request for a rezoning to a master-planned unit development.

The land plan request had received a recommendation for approval from the county’s planners and had been placed on the planning board’s consent agenda — meaning it would be voted on in a single action with other consent items, unless someone raised questions about it.

David Goldstein, chief assistant county attorney, asked for the item to be pulled from consent.

Goldstein asked why the agenda memo, which was part of the board’s backup, did not include an analysis of how the proposed shift would affect the site’s job-generating capacity and what type of fiscal impact it would have.

From an entitlement perspective, Goldstein said, “this seems eerily similar to parcel S-19 in Seven Oaks (a recently denied request for an apartment development).

“It’s clearly an exchange of employment-generating uses for apartments, and if staff wants to recommend approval of that, I’m not saying you can’t, but there should be some analysis.

“At least with S-19, you did an economic analysis and a fiscal impact analysis to demonstrate why it met those policies.

“I see absolutely no analysis in this memo about why it meets our fiscal impact policies or economic development policies. I’m saying there needs to be more analysis that is not in this memo,” Goldstein said. “You did that analysis for S-19 and it wasn’t done here.”

Based on the applicant’s proposal, Goldstein added, “it appears that the employment potential of this site is being reduced. For example, they’re going from 80,000 office to 45,000 office; 30,000 retail to 10,000 retail; getting rid of the ALF (assisted living facility) and, now there’s multifamily.”

According to information from both Cynthia Spidell, representing the applicant and the agenda memo, the applicant wants to create a planned development project that includes a 45,000-square-foot medical/professional office; a vertical mixed-use multifamily development, with 240 apartments and 5,000 square feet of commercial, office and retail on the ground floor and a 3,500-square-foot pet center/veterinary clinic.

Spidell, representing the applicant, said “we have a very constrained site. We have some wetlands, we have stormwater ponds that are permitted already.”

Because of that, there is a limited amount of acreage available, she said.

The previously approved entitlement is not realistic for what can be achieved on the site, she said.

Nectarios Pittos, the county’s director of planning and development, said the county “reversed-engineered, in a sense, what could possibly fit on the site” and how the different land uses could be accommodated on the irregular parcel.

Spidell said the change is being pursued because there’s not a market for the assisted living facility.

Goldstein: “I’m not disagreeing with you that the site was probably over-entitled, but just because it’s over-entitled that doesn’t necessarily mean that you take the land and convert it to multifamily.

“You can take the land that’s available and make it all medical office; you can make it medical office and retail,” Goldstein said.

Goldstein reiterated: “Did anybody coordinate with the Office of Economic Growth on this application?”

Pittos said the application was sent to the Office of Economic Growth for review and it did not object to the proposal “due to property’s site-specific environmental constraints and the restrictive remaining uplands.”

Goldstein also asked: “Why is this on the consent agenda when our board has been pretty clear

about wanting to preserve employment on the (State Road) 54 corridor?

“This is our major economic development corridor, where the board has said they want to see employment-generating land uses. It’s not obvious to me that this is preserving that mission.

‘If it’s OK, then explain why it’s OK,” Goldstein said.

Planning board member Roberto Saez made a motion to continue the item until the planning board’s next meeting, to provide time for information to be gathered relating to fiscal and job-generating impacts.

“I just want to see the data. That is simple,” Saez said.

The planning board concurred, continuing the issue until its March 3 meeting.

Published February 23, 2022

Fair hopes to help you make ‘blue ribbon’ memories

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The Pasco County Fair, now celebrating its 75th year, has always prided itself on creating an event that offer families a wholesome place to have fun.

And, whether you enjoy traditional livestock shows, can’t get enough of thrill rides, love to indulge on fried foods, or simply like to be entertained — chances are this year’s options won’t disappoint at the fair, held at the Pasco County Fairgrounds in Dade City.

With a theme of “Memories made new,” fair organizers have put together a calendar that is chock full of things to see and do.

A look down the midway, near the ‘Sizzler’ ride and the Ferris wheel, during a previous Pasco County Fair. (File)

There’s a beef show, a dairy show, a goat show, a poultry show, a swine show and a rabbit show.

For gardening enthusiasts, there’s a plant show.

And, there are FFA/4-H exhibits, too.

For those who enjoy the home arts, there’s a Collura Cottage where entries compete in categories such as the best jam or jelly, the prettiest quilt or wall hanging, the most delicious cakes and cookies; artistic cake decorating; table settings, woodwork and more.

Of course, there are contests.

Five-year-old Clint Chessher, of Zephyrhills, reacts with excitement as he sits on the spinning wheel of the ‘Hillbilly Village’ fun house during a previous Pasco County Fair. He was there with his dad, Dwayne, and their friends, the Stoner family.

Some pageants have already been held, with Anastasia Valimaki named Miss Pasco County for 2022 and Larkin Mainwaring named Miss Pasco County’s Outstanding Teen 2022.

The Miss Heart of Florida competition is set for Feb. 25 at 6 p.m., and the Miss Pasco Princess & Mister Pasco Prince Baby Pageant will be on Feb. 26 at 10:30 a.m.

There’s also a Spaghetti Eating Contest and a Karaoke Competition.

The annual Spaghetti Eating Contest is set for Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. Sponsored by Spaghetti Eddie’s, the competition will be held in The Back Porch Theater and is limited to the first 10 people, ages 18 and older, who sign up.

Contestants must eat 1 pound of spaghetti including a meatball, with a big wooden spoon. The competitor who finishes first is the winner.

The karaoke contest is limited to the first 20, ages 18 and older, who sign up. Top finishers will receive cash prizes. Registration begins at 7 p.m. on Feb. 26, with the contest starting at 7:30 p.m.

Daily entertainment includes a stand-up comedy ventriloquist, an illusionist, a comedy hypnotist, a thrill show, glass-blowing demonstration, a magic show and racing pigs.

There also are strolling performers, including a Banjo Man, MythiCreatures, and Rock-it The Robot.

Plus, there’s plenty of music to enjoy, including evenings set aside for bluegrass and gospel performers.

For more information and a complete listing of what’s available at the fair, visit PascoCountyFair.com.

75th annual Pasco County Fair
WHEN:
Feb. 22 to Feb. 24: 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Feb. 25: 4 p.m. to midnight
Feb. 26: 10 a.m. to midnight
Feb. 27: Noon to 8 p.m. (gate closes at 6 p.m.)
WHERE: The Pasco County Fair is at the Pasco County Fairgrounds, 36722 State Road 52, Dade City
COST: $10 for adults; $5 for children, ages 6 to 10; under age 5, free (Specials available for Midway rides); Parking is free
DETAILS: From beef, chicken and pork shish kebobs to spaghetti, and a smorgasbord of fair foods in between, you’ll find plenty to eat and drink at the Pasco County Fair. Plus, there are traditional fair exhibits, fun rides, entertainment and more.

Published February 23, 2022

Deal calls for Pasco to pay tolls

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The Pasco County Commission has approved an agreement to temporarily pay for tolls on the Suncoast Parkway — to accommodate the complete opening of the Ridge Road extension at that interchange.

The agreement is needed because Florida’s Turnpike Authority must collect tolls for users on the toll road, according to background materials in the county board’s Feb. 8 agenda packet.

The county opened two lanes of the Ridge Road extension, between Moon Lake Road/Decubellis Road and the Suncoast Parkway on Dec. 31.

“Two interchange ramps were opened, the ramp from Ridge Road to southbound Suncoast Parkway and the off-ramp from northbound Suncoast Parkway onto Ridge Road. The two remaining ramps (the on-ramp from Ridge Road to northbound Suncoast Parkway and the off-ramp from southbound Suncoast Parkway to Ridge Road) remain closed as a result of equipment backorders, which are preventing the completion of the toll sites along these ramps.

“Work is now nearing completion on all ramps between Ridge Road and the Suncoast Parkway. “However, due to supply chain delays, not all of the toll equipment has been delivered for installation,” according to the agenda packet.

“The county has found it to be in the best interest of the public to open the full interchange as soon as possible,” the packet adds.

Negotiations for the agreement are in progress. The provisions of the agreement address the method by which tolls will be estimated for the period of time that the toll equipment and its installation is delayed, which is expected to be two months or longer.

The amount of the tolls to be paid by the county will be based on the Florida Turnpike Enterprise’s traffic counters’ estimates of the number of vehicles that use the ramps during the period when no toll equipment is operational.

The county’s financial obligations are expected to potentially include payment to the turnpike enterprise for one-time costs of traffic counting equipment setup, data processing, and pickup , estimated at about $4,000.

The county also will pay recurring costs of traffic count collection and scheduled maintenance of the equipment, estimated at $1,300 per week, until the tolls are operational.

Additionally, for each vehicle detected by the traffic counters utilizing the ramps while the tolling sites are not operational, the county will pay the turnpike enterprise the blended average toll rate of 33 cents per vehicle.

The total of all of these payments is estimated at $55,000 based on a nine-week period before the tolls will be operational.

However, any delays could require the county board to consider the issue again.

The agreement is subject to review and approval by the county attorney’s office for legal sufficiency.

Published February 23, 20222

Festival features blues music, sizzling grills — and fun

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While most of the people turning out to the 12th annual Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues Festival will be focused on having fun — some will be in a more competitive mode.

That’s because this year’s festival — to be held March 4 and March 5 at 5200 Airport Road — also is the venue for Florida’s barbecue championship.

“We were named the Florida Barbecue State Championship, so we’re going to have competitors from all over the state coming, trying to win the state championship, so that’s exciting,” said Melonie Monson, executive director of the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

“We’re expecting about 60 teams to compete this year,” Monson said.

The 12th annual Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues Festival in Zephyrhills will give teams from the state a chance to show off their grilling skills during Florida’s championship barbecue contest. (File)

Kids also will be testing their skills in the Kidz Grillin’ contest on March 4, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“We have kids from 4 to 17 competing and we got donations for 25 kids to be able to compete for free,” she said.

There will five teams and they’ll be mentored by five local pit masters.

“They’ll be cooking pork and competing for trophies and they’re going to have goody bags. It’s just going to be a fun night for kids to come,” Monson said.

Cornhole enthusiasts will have a chance to prove their prowess on the evening of March 4 and the afternoon of March 5.

The cornhole tournament on March 4, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., is open to all. Teams of two will compete for bragging rights and $500 in prizes. The cost is $20 per team.

On March 5, there are cornhole competitions in two divisions.

The Well-Seasoned division will begin at noon, with an entry fee of $40 for two-person teams. Contestants will vie for $1,000 in payouts.

The Still-Marinating competition begins at 2 p.m., with two-person teams paying an entry fee of $20. Trophies will be awarded for the top three teams.

Monson encourages festival-goers to try their hand at the game.

“It’s inexpensive to compete and it’s fun,” she said.

Others may prefer to sit back, relax and listen to the tunes — and the festival features bands on both days.

Two bands are set to take the stage on March 4, with Sandspurs, beginning at 6 p.m.; and, Chuck Riley’s All Stars, at 7:15 p.m.

On March 5, Ed Wright will perform at 11 a.m.; Jimmy Griswold, at 12:45 p.m.; The Kid Royal Band, at 2:30 p.m.; and Memphis Lightning, at 4:15 p.m.

Other options for festival-goers are a bike and car show, a military museum, a kids zone and a business expo.

Vendors will be offering beer, barbecue, and an array of food and drink choices.

The festival, which relies heavily on sponsors and volunteers, is still seeking additional helpers, Monson said. Those wishing to pitch in can email the chamber office to volunteer.

The chamber will reach back with assignments, Monson said.

Admission to the festival is $5 per person, except for those 42 inches or shorter, and parking is free.

Fly-ins are welcome, but coolers and pets are not, and be sure to bring a lawn chair or a blanket.

Proceeds support local youth and education programs.

For more information, visit ZephyrhillsChamber.org, or call 813-782-1913.

12th annual Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues Festival
When: March 4, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; March 5, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: 5200 Airport Road, Zephyrhills
Cost: $5 admission (kids under 42 inches are free), free parking

Volunteers still needed
Organizers for the 12th annual Pigz in Z’Hlls BBQ and Blues Festival are still looking for volunteers to help out at the festival. If you’d like to volunteer, you can get additional information by emailing .

Published February 23, 2022