The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Local News

Electronic billboards coming to Pasco County

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Pasco County officials want to weed out unsightly static billboards in favor of a more limited number of electronic billboards.

But, how to swap out one for the other and how quickly to do that are issues that are open for debate.

Pasco County commissioners discussed the matter at a workshop on Oct. 13 in New Port Richey.

County staff members in the coming months will compile an inventory of existing billboards and locations, get input from stakeholders — including business owners and residents— and draft an ordinance permitting electronic billboards.

The public would have an opportunity to weigh in before a new ordinance could be adopted.

Staff members estimate the process could take a year-and-a-half. Some commissioners want a much shorter time span, and a quick route to taking down static billboards.

Looking at how Hillsborough and Pinellas counties handle the matter would provide ready answers, said Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore.

“Talk to them. Figure it out. Get it done in a week,” he said. “We’re going to sit here and talk about this for a year? Come on, guys.”

Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, and Tampa negotiated agreements with billboard companies to swap out multiple numbers of the old billboards in return for new, but lower numbers of permits for electronic billboards.

The electronic billboards, with two sides, rotate digital advertisements every few seconds. These are becoming standard fare along busy interstates. The fees for these digital messages are more expensive than those for standard, one-sided billboards.

“These are so much cleaner than regular billboards,” Moore said. “They look so much better.”

Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano suggested letting the billboard industry provide data and recommend a swap-out ratio to take some of the research burden off county staff members. At minimum, he would anticipate an industry recommendation to remove five static billboards for each single electronic billboard.

“Let them do their own homework and what signs they want to take down,” he said.

Commissioners then can look at the proposal and decide if it works for the county, Mariano added.

Staff members have met with four companies that each has 10 or more static billboards in Pasco: Clear Channel, Champion Outdoor Advertising, Outfront Media and Logan Outdoor Advertising. They plan to continue with these discussions, as well as talking with small business owners.

In 1999, the county adopted a moratorium on new billboards. The inventory at the time showed 537 registered billboards in the county. Those numbers are somewhat lower now, said Pat Wallace, a county senior development review technician.

The moratorium should remain in effect, said Pasco County Chairman Ted Schrader. “I don’t want to see a bunch of new signs going up,” he said. “I’m absolutely opposed to that.”

It is not clear, even with a new ordinance allowing electronic billboards, just when Pasco would see them popping up. The county’s population isn’t considered dense enough to warrant them as yet.

“It will be years before they actually do it,” said Elizabeth Blair, Pasco County assistant attorney. “It’s not financially productive to them.”

Exactly where the flashier billboards would go also could raise concerns with residents, especially those living near commercial corridors, said Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey.

“I can’t think of very many people in our county for whom an electronic billboard won’t be disruptive,” she said.

Published October 28, 2015

Cutting a path toward development

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At 128 feet tall and 26 feet around, a bald cypress tree in Pasco County is the eighth tallest of its kind in Florida.

The Ehren Cypress Tree was photographed on Aug. 27, 1989, on property owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, near Ehren Cutoff Road. Jack Vogel, Patsy Herrmann and Eddie Herrmann, all of San Antonio, are standing with outstretched arms, leaning against the tree’s estimated circumference of 27 feet. The tree was spared from being cut down decades before because it had a split in its trunk. Courtesy of Eddie Herrmann
The Ehren Cypress Tree was photographed on Aug. 27, 1989, on property owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, near Ehren Cutoff Road. Jack Vogel, Patsy Herrmann and Eddie Herrmann, all of San Antonio, are standing with outstretched arms, leaning against the tree’s estimated circumference of 27 feet. The tree was spared from being cut down decades before because it had a split in its trunk.
Courtesy of Eddie Herrmann

And, it will always be protected in the Upper Pithlachascotee River Preserve, 1 mile east of the Suncoast Parkway. The land was purchased from the proceeds of the Penny for Pasco 1-cent sales tax approved by Pasco County voters.

That is good news for future generations.

Because it only took 37 years for the Cummer Sons Cypress Company to log the centuries-old cypress trees for the company’s logging operations.

Loggers like Jacob Cummer, who harvested much of the old-growth cypress in east and central Pasco County, probably skipped over this tree because of a large scar on its western side, presumably from a lightning strike.

Cummer had bought land for timber in Virginia, North Carolina, and Louisiana.

In 1922, the Cummer operation acquired a 100-acre site in Lacoochee to construct the largest sawmill and box factory in the South.

A railroad was built in the Green Swamp to transport cypress trees from land that totaled more than 50 square miles in east Pasco and west Polk Counties.

Many of the cypress trees were cut with an ax before the chainsaw was invented.

Using a sophisticated network of levers and racks, cypress logs as large as 6 feet in diameter were lifted out of the swamps and, at one point, produced more than 100,000 citrus crates each day.

With 700 employees and the largest payroll in Pasco County, coupons could be used as part of workers’ paychecks in the prospering downtown of Lacoochee.

In the years after the Cummer sawmills opened, a two-story, 30-room hotel was built.

The new growth in the town also included four churches, two bakeries, two drug stores, two service stations, three barbershops, two train depots and a constable.

Over in central Pasco, all was not lost when the stage line stopped running around 1856. The area was surrounded by vast stands of virgin timber.

Established along what is now County Road 583, 100 people found work at the Ehren Pine Sawmill.

By 1910, a community called Ehren had a hotel and school, along with the sawmill.

The first permanent settlers such as George Riegler, of Lutz, needed lumber from the local sawmill to build homes for their families.

Greer’s Mill was used by Jim Greer to “sawmill a new town site” as a retirement area for Union veterans of the Civil War.

Lumber magnate and former Zephyrhills Mayor I.A. Krusen built The Home Theatre in downtown Zephyrhills. Opening in 1948, it was billed “as one of the most modern movie theaters in the South, with comfortable seats, a wide stage and a glass-enclosed ‘crying room’ for cranky babies.” Courtesy of Henry Fletcher
Lumber magnate and former Zephyrhills Mayor I.A. Krusen built The Home Theatre in downtown Zephyrhills. Opening in 1948, it was billed “as one of the most modern movie theaters in the South, with comfortable seats, a wide stage and a glass-enclosed ‘crying room’ for cranky babies.”
Courtesy of Henry Fletcher

Called the Zephyrhills Colony, Harold B. Jeffries, a captain who served in Pennsylvania’s 28th Cavalry, started it with lumber from Greer’s Mill.

Even the railroad cross ties came from Greer, transported by a team of oxen owned by Brantley Smith, a great-grandfather of Lance Smith, a future developer and a member of the Zephyrhills City Council.

Greer had plenty of competition.

James L. Geiger and I. A. Krusen, to name just a couple.

Geiger’s sawmill was located south of Greer’s Mill. He was one of the five signers of the Town of Zephyrhills charter, granted by the Florida Legislature in 1915 and ratified in a special election a year later.

“At the height of his business,” Madonna Wise wrote for the Zephyrhills News on March 3, 1994, “Krusen employed 300 men, turning out a million feet of lumber per month.”

Krusen’s mill was part of the Krusen Land and Timber Company that once owned 13,000 acres, extending as far south as present-day Tampa Palms and Pebble Creek.

Despite cypress exteriors exposed to harsh winters and hot summers, many old buildings in New York City have a rooftop water tank that is hardly considered outdated.

Local sawmills were familiar with the term “tank cypress.”

Also known as “The Wood Eternal,” the heart of old cypress trees was valuable for marquee customers including the Atlantic Tank Company of New York.

And, the majority remain in use due to the unique benefits that cypress shells provide for water tanks, brewer’s tanks, oil tanks and tanks for canneries.

Cypress trees, which took centuries to grow, were felled in great numbers by logging operations.

It took only 37 years for the Cummer Sons Cypress Company to close its doors and move farther south.

In 1959, the company relocated to the Everglades to harvest a stand of bald cypress as “pond timber.”

Some of the company’s land holdings in the Green Swamp were sold to Agri-Timber, and, in 1992, that area was set aside for water resource protection and conservation by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Totaling 37,500 acres as the Green Swamp-West Tract, the area shares a boundary with Pasco County’s regional park that is operated along a section of the Withlacoochee River east of Dade City.

Local Sources

Elizabeth Riegler MacManus and Susan MacManus: “Citrus, Sawmills, Critters and Crackers: Life in Early Lutz & Central Pasco” (1998) University of Tampa Press.

Rosemary W. Trottman: “The History of Zephyrhills, 1821-1921” (1978) Vantage Press.

Pasco County Environmental Lands Division

Doug Sanders has a penchant for history and has developed his sleuthing skills through experience in newspaper and government work. For more information, or to submit your ideas for a local history column, please contact Doug Sanders at .

By Doug Sanders

Published October 28, 2015

Creating art from life

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Land O’ Lakes watercolorist Bob McAnespie doesn’t like to refer to himself as an artist.

He calls himself a painter.

In his view, an artist is to a painter, what a chef is to a cook.

Bob McAnespie
Bob McAnespie

The Land O’ Lakes man teaches a watercolor class for beginners at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex. The three-hour sessions are held Thursdays and cost $10 each. Supplies for the class cost about $50.

McAnespie encourages anyone who is interested in creating watercolor paintings to give it a try.

“The only way you can fail in watercolor is if you quit. If you stick with it and have any talent at all, you’re going to get somewhere,” said McAnespie, who is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and the Florida Watercolor Society.

He enjoys painting landscapes or cityscapes, particularly with people in them.

“A lot of painters, especially beginners, they avoid people because they’re afraid of them. I tell them: ‘Don’t be afraid. People aren’t hard, once you learn a few tricks.’

“You know, when you put a person in a painting, that becomes the center of interest,” said McAnespie, who is primarily self-taught.

Over the years, he’s honed his skills by taking classes and workshops, reading books and watching instructional art programs on television.

Bob McAnespie has spent decades refining his watercolor painting skills. He says the best results come from painting on location, at the right time of day. Courtesy of Bob McAnespie
Bob McAnespie has spent decades refining his watercolor painting skills. He says the best results come from painting on location, at the right time of day.
Courtesy of Bob McAnespie

“I own 126 books on watercolor. I’ve read some of them two or three times,” said McAnespie, the former president of the Brandon League of Fine Arts and a former member of the Zephyrhills Art Club.

After painting for decades, McAnespie decided to begin teaching several years ago. He said he saw that as a way to deepen his knowledge.

Creating watercolor paintings requires both patience and courage, he said.

It’s also good to relax a little, he said.

He said he tells his students: “Don’t try too hard.”

Being too obsessed about results can yield paintings that are tight and have hard edges, he explained.

He teaches his courses indoors, but he recommends going out on location to get superior results.

“Mother Nature is the best teacher of all,” he said.

“The light is better.

“If you paint from a photograph, there are a lot places on photographs, in fact, they look black. But inside that black, there are a lot of colors that you don’t see. But when you are on location, you can see them.”

Time of day is important, too.

“The best time is 10 in the morning, or 3 o’clock in the afternoon because the shadows are better. If you go at noontime, there’s not much shadow at all. The sun is right above your head,” he said.

Bob McAnespie has art works hanging in his home studio and in his living room. He enjoys creating landscapes and cityscapes, particularly scenes that feature people. Courtesy of Bob McAnespie
Bob McAnespie has art works hanging in his home studio and in his living room. He enjoys creating landscapes and cityscapes, particularly scenes that feature people.
Courtesy of Bob McAnespie

Developing a trained eye takes practice, he added.

“You have to work on your observation technique. There’s a difference between looking and observing,” he said.

During his classes, McAnespie brings in five paintings and students vote on which one they’d like to create.

He demonstrates, while students observe. Then they paint and he observes.

The back-and-forth process seems to work well, said McAnespie, who has shown at many local art shows and will have works on display at the upcoming Lutz Arts & Crafts Festival at Lake Park and at the Suncoast Arts Fest at The Shops at Wiregrass.

McAnespie said he typically paints for an hour, or a bit longer, each day. Then he relaxes by playing piano.

Music and art have many similarities, he said.

“They both contain the principles of design and composition — like repetition and variation, balance, contrast, gradation, harmony and unity,” McAnespie said.

 

Watercolor lessons

When: Thursdays, from 9 a.m. until noon

Where: Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex, 3032 Collier Parkway, Land O’ Lakes

How much: Classes are $10

Who: Bob McAnespie, a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and the Florida Watercolor Society, teaches the class. Beginners are welcome.

For information: Call (813) 388-2766.

Published October 28, 2015

Retail is coming to Ballantrae Village

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New retail is headed to State Road 54 in Land O’ Lakes, as Dunphy Properties prepares to start construction on the first shops at Ballantrae Village.

A groundbreaking is expected in January for a Circle K, a Dairy Queen, a Dunkin’ Donuts and a Taco Bell on outparcels on the northeast corner of State Road 54 and Ballantrae Boulevard, according to a news release from Dunphy Properties.

Construction begins in January on the first retail at Ballantrae Village on outparcels, next to the Ballantrae Boulevard/State Road 54 entrance to the master-planned community. KATHY STEELE/PHOTO
Construction begins in January on the first retail at Ballantrae Village on outparcels, next to the Ballantrae Boulevard/State Road 54 entrance to the master-planned community.
KATHY STEELE/PHOTO

An additional four parcels are on the market, and a 13,200-square-foot building also is planned. Tenants have not been signed as yet.

New access is planned to get into and out of the shopping plaza.

Plans for retail at the master-planned community of Ballantrae Village has been slow in developing largely due to the economic downturn in 2007 and a slow recovery. But growth is gathering steam, especially along State Road 54.

“Retail development follows residential growth,” Jim Dunphy said in an email to The Laker/Lutz News. “The economy has picked up enough that we’re seeing explosive residential growth in the (State Road) 54 corridor. In addition, the long awaited widening of (State Road) 54 is underway further fueling interest in the area.”

Dunphy Properties is developing the commercial plaza on about 17 acres owned by the Aprile brothers. The plaza will be on the north side of State Road 54 and east of Ballantrae Boulevard.

The Circle K will be on the west end of the site, with Dairy Queen on the east end.

Bexley Ranch property is under construction to the north of Ballantrae Village.

According to the Ballantrae website, the community has more than 960 homes and more than 3,000 residents.

“Ballantine Village Shoppes is in the center of the growth,” Dunphy states in his email. “Many of the existing residents have done without retail, restaurant and service amenities for a long time. We are now positioned, with the additional residents and promised growth, to provide these shops and services. We are excited to be bringing this project together.”

Published October 28, 2015

Seeking to sweep away commercial blight

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For the first time Pasco County will enforce minimum standards for the upkeep of commercial buildings.

But owners who may need to repair their buildings will have until May 1 to get their property up to code.

Other provisions to cite and fine owners of “slum” buildings take effect immediately.

Pasco County commissioners on Oct. 20 unanimously approved an ordinance that mirrors one already in use to monitor and enforce standards for residential structures and properties.

The commercial ordinance, proposed by Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore, drew objections from several Land O’ Lakes business owners who said the new regulations would be unfair, and were an example of excessive government.

But during a public hearing, most speakers praised the effort to clean up commercial blight along the county’s major corridors including U.S. 19, U.S. 301 and U. S. 41.

“You’d think that people would clean up their own yards. The truth is they don’t,” said Greg Armstrong, representing of the West Pasco Board of Realtors. “Unfortunately everyone doesn’t do the right thing. Sometimes we have to prod them along. We have to remind people that we are all in this together.”

Appearance really does matter when encouraging economic development, said Hope Allen, executive director of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce.

“We also have these buildings in Wesley Chapel,” she said. “We are very much in support of this ordinance.”

Stew Gibbons, the incoming president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association, also backed the ordinance.

Moore met with residents on two occasions in the past two months to explain his reasons for pursuing the ordinance. The first time, he met with about 50 Land O’ Lakes business owners who strongly opposed the ordinance.

He found a friendlier crowd at a town hall meeting in September.

Moore said he listened to the criticisms, and requested county staff members to tweak the ordinance. For instance, owners won’t have to worry about code enforcement inspectors defining buildings that had too much peeling paint.

“It’s very hard to measure that so we took it off,” he said.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco supported the ordinance as a tool to raze abandoned buildings that are havens for criminal activities.

Nearly 600 service calls have been answered so far this year around the intersection of U.S. 19 and State Road 52 where there is an empty retail store, fast-food restaurant and a boarded up bank building. And, the Sheriff’s Office has responded to more than 200 calls from an area near U.S. 19 and Alternate U.S. 19, near a closed medical clinic, according to the law enforcement agency’s data.

But not everybody agrees with tougher restrictions.

Greg Conaty told commissioners he worries that the county doesn’t have the manpower to take on new regulations.

“I’m worried about the selective enforcement of it,” said Conaty, whose family owns Land O’ Lakes Recycling on U.S. 41, south of Ehren Cutoff. He said his business has been the focus of code enforcement in past disputes with another nearby business.

“I’m not sure we need more rules if we can’t enforce rules we already have on the books,” Conaty said. “I believe something should be done but it should be fair and across the board for everyone.”

Elizabeth Villanova, a 10-year Pasco County resident, was among a group of Land O’ Lakes business owners and residents who lobbied Moore for help in taking on commercial blight. She created a Facebook page for “Land O’ Lakes Beautification Efforts”, a grassroots campaign that has garnered about 570 signatures on a petition to clean up U.S. 41.

Property values can drop because of blighted buildings, she said.

“It’s been depressing to watch the complete degradation of (U.S.) 41 specifically. We desperately want this enforced on U.S. 41.”

Published October 28, 2015

Swamp Fest returns, and so does the fun

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This weekend’s Swamp Fest has actually been two years in the making.

But the organizers weren’t behind schedule.

The event had to skip a year because of renovations underway at Land O’ Lakes Community Park, 5401 Land O’ Lanes Blvd.

Since 2009, Swamp Fest has been a local event, with games, rides and family-oriented fun. And according to organizer Doug Hutchinson, it will always stay that way. File photo
Since 2009, Swamp Fest has been a local event, with games, rides and family-oriented fun. And according to organizer Doug Hutchinson, it will always stay that way.
File photo

That $2.4 million project is now complete and the park is ready for Swamp Fest again, which will be held Oct. 30 through Nov.1.

This year, the festival will be held on new and improved grounds, and the event promises to deliver the kind of fun that has drawn thousands each year since it started in 2009.

“I think it’s just a nicer layout that they’re going to have,” explained Mike Walcott, recreation supervisor for Pasco County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources. “The access to the facility is much improved.”

The disabled parking area is away from the dirt and grass, and a short walk from the parking lot to the Swamp Fest entrance means a paved area for vendors and less time walking through uneven areas.

Organizer and co-founder Doug Hutchinson is thrilled to bring Swamp Fest back.

“The improvements that they’ve made are fantastic. The park is beautiful,” Hutchinson said. “We’re really excited. We just missed it so much last year.”

They’ll make up for lost time with a full weekend of activities and entertainment. That itinerary includes several music acts with different styles, including Christian rock, classic rock and folk music. Dancers will be on display Sunday, and vendors representing a variety of businesses and groups will be open all weekend.

The midway also makes a return, with rides up and running throughout the event.

While the fun to be had would alone make the event worthwhile, there’s more to it.

A lot more.

The event actually is a fundraiser for various groups and organizations.

The Land O’ Lakes High School Athletic Booster Club hosts Swamp Fest, but funds are distributed across several local schools and clubs.

Various clubs help by selling unlimited-ride arm bands in advance, assist with parking and participate in other activities.

More than $20,000 went back to community organizations as a result of 2013’s Swamp Fest, according to Hutchinson.

So, it isn’t just a good event to attend, Hutchinson said. It’s also an event that does good for the community.

“We’re trying to make Swamp Fest more of a community fair-type event where all kinds of non-profit groups can come in,” he said.

In addition to Land O’ Lakes High School, other participants include Sunlake High School, Pineview Middle School, Denham Oaks Elementary School, Connerton Elementary School and Sanders Memorial Elementary School.

Tickets for Midway rides will be sold individually, or event-goers can purchase armbands for unlimited rides. For more information, visit LoLSwampFest.com. File photo
Tickets for Midway rides will be sold individually, or event-goers can purchase armbands for unlimited rides. For more information, visit LoLSwampFest.com.
File photo

This year the event will feature two contests that are expected to be popular.

Since the festival includes Halloween, a Halloween contest will be held on Oct. 31.

And, the Mr. and Mrs. Swamp Fest pageant, which includes a wide range of ages, will make a return as well.

The event’s website contains the quote “Always in Land O’ Lakes,” and it’s not there for decoration.

As coordinator for the Flapjack Festival years back, Hutchinson saw that event get moved to Dade City and then fade away when it left the community.

He pledges that won’t ever happen with Swamp Fest.

It’s supported by the area and will remain in the area.

“You can’t have a community event if you don’t have it in the community,” Hutchinson said. “It’s got to be Land O’ Lakes, or nothing.”

And Walcott agrees.

“It’s not a state fair or a county fair. It’s a Land O’ Lakes event. It’s for this community,” he said. “Obviously, we get people from all over the county that come to it. But it’s just nice to have something that you can kind of lay claim to, that this is yours.”

Swamp Fest is open Oct. 30 from 4 p.m. until 11 p.m., Oct. 31, from noon until 11 p.m. and Nov. 1 from noon until 6 p.m.

Admission is free and parking is available for a $5 donation.

Midway rides require tickets, which can be purchased individually or as part of an all-you-can-ride package.

Unlimited armbands cost $22 for Oct. 30 and Nov. 1 and $25 on Oct. 31, and can be purchased at the gate.

Pre-sale armbands cost $16, and are available from local businesses and groups.

For a complete list of groups selling armbands and for more information, including pageant applications, visit LoLSwampFest.com.

Published October 28, 2015

Russian ballerina makes a stop in Lutz

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She’s graced stages in more than 30 countries, has danced many classic ballet roles and has offered private coaching and workshops.

But last week, Russian ballerina Zhanna Golubenko was in Lutz, posing for photos and autographing posters at Dance Gear, Etc., 1707 Dale Mabry Highway in Lutz.

Zoe Gallagher and Zhanna Golubenko pose for a photograph during Golubenko’s recent visit to Lutz. The Russian ballerina has been touring the Southeastern United States, to share her passion for ballet and to promote upcoming performances of Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker. Courtesy of Lynn Gonzalez
Zoe Gallagher and Zhanna Golubenko pose for a photograph during Golubenko’s recent visit to Lutz. The Russian ballerina has been touring the Southeastern United States, to share her passion for ballet and to promote upcoming performances of Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker. Courtesy of Lynn Gonzalez

Golubenko has been traveling in recent months to cities throughout the Southeastern United States, sharing her passion for ballet and helping to promote upcoming performances of Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker.

That production will be performed in numerous cities, including St. Petersburg.

Besides letting people know about the upcoming show, she’s also putting the word out about audition opportunities, said Carolyn Jackson, owner of Dance Gear, Etc.

Jackson was pleased to host the ballerina’s visit.

“It was just a fabulous opportunity for the community. Everybody loves The Nutcracker,” Jackson said.

Golubenko, who was dressed in costume, said she began dancing when she was 6. That was two decades ago.

Being a ballerina requires a considerable amount of practice and can result in injuries, but for Golubenko, it’s a way of life.

“When you love it, you cannot live without it,” she said. “Even the injuries, they teach you something.”

The ballerina also noted: “Pain in your soul is much stronger than physical pain, so I prefer to have physical pain.”

Most of the people she’s met during her Southeastern tour have been interested in knowing why she became a ballet dancer, and about how to recover from an injury.

She said her parents introduced her to the theater when she was very young and by the time she was 6, she knew she wanted to become a ballet dancer.

As for injuries, she said it is best to try to avoid them. She advised warming up thoroughly before beginning any serious training.

“Most of the injuries we get, we get them on cold legs,” Golubenko said.

At the Lutz shop, there were girls and their moms who were eager to meet the Russian ballerina.

Twelve-year-old Zoe Gallagher was among those lining up to have her picture taken with Golubenko.

“I just really wanted to meet a prima ballerina,” said Gallagher, who herself aspires to become a professional ballerina.

Gallagher said dancing helps her to convey her emotions, and she enjoys stepping into the role of a character.

Dancing, she said, “allows me to transfer into somebody else for a just a little bit of time.”

Published October 28, 2015

New plan on tap for water billing issue

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Pasco County has found a formula that will lower water bills for some customers who have been stung by water bills that cannot be explained.

The new regulations will apply to bills — as a one-time only deal — involving unexplained water usage of at least 20,000 gallons a month.

Pasco County commissioners on Oct. 20 approved

an ordinance that will significantly reduce payments owed by eight customers, and set a precedent for how future incidents of excessive unexplained water use will be addressed. Commission Chairman Ted Schrader voted against the measure.

Decisions in these billing cases will be handled administratively and will not be brought to the county commission.

“These kinds of things shouldn’t come to us,” said Pasco County Commissioner Mike Wells.

The issue grew out of a complaint by Louise Gritmon about her July 2014 bill for more than $3,300, representing 614,000 gallons of water use.

An eight-month audit ordered by Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller Paula O’Neil, and completed by her inspector general’s office, scrutinized nearly 320 unusually high water bills. The final report determined that the county’s water meters worked correctly but there were deficiencies in software and meter reading procedures.

To date, county officials say they have reviewed more than 360 complaints.

Of the complaints reviewed, the county found:

• 88 billing errors

• 21 verified leaks

• 96 leaks that can’t be verified

• 8 unexplained high water usage

• 154 from normal irrigation use

County officials still can’t explain the meter’s reading for an 18-day period when Gritmon’s residence was vacant. But under the new ordinance, her reduced charges would be about $125, according to county calculations.

That’s a 94 percent reduction.

Gritmon believes the policy is unfair.

From her seat in the audience, she told commissioners that even under that policy, she’s being billed “for water I did not use.”

She believes it would be fair to charge her just under $41, which is on average what the county has billed her monthly over the past year.

Previously county officials said they had no way under current regulations to remedy bills for Gritmon or others in similar situations. Only billing errors and verifiable leaks could prompt billing adjustments.

County officials cited the audit, which found water meters were recording correctly. However, in some cases no leak could be found or documented, and the excessive water usage remains a mystery.

For billing adjustments, Schrader preferred a 50,000-gallon a month threshold, based on data and an initial recommendation from county staff members.

An average for most customers is about 6,000 gallons a month.

Commissioners were told that during the hottest months, customers with irrigation systems would typically use 20,000 to 30,000 gallons a month, and sometimes more. Schrader said the county could expect a lot of complaints based on the 20,000-gallon threshold, and might need to adjust the number.

“I think it’s easier to go back down than to go back up,” he said.

Bruce Kennedy, assistant county administrator for utilities, also issued an apology to Pasco water customers.

“We know the way we handled these billing issues has not reflected our commitment to good customer service,” he said. “Our policies and procedures certainly need revising. They need repair.”

Published October 28, 2015

Pasco’s tourism sets new record

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Pasco County has posted its best year in tourism, according to county officials.

“This last year has been one for the record books,” Ed Caum Tourism Manager for VisitPasco, said in a news release.

“We surpassed our prediction of 10 percent growth and are up 17 percent over last years collections,” he said.

Specifically, Pasco County posted $968,263 in Tourist Tax collections, in the period between October 2014 and the end of September 2015.

Pasco’s results are in keeping with record numbers of tourists visiting Florida.

That trend is expected to continue, according to VisitFlorida, which is predicting that tourism and the hospitality industries will continue to experience growth.

Counties surrounding Pasco County also have experienced record years in Tourist Tax collection.

“We have expanded our marketing reach in the last two years to reach out to international travelers, as well as North America,” Caum explained. “Last year we focused on Germany and this year we will be reaching out to the United Kingdom and into South America to the Spanish speaking countries.” VisitFlorida trends show that Florida is expected to attract tourists from the emerging markets of Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico.

The impact of tourism on Pasco County is captured in a report from the U.S. Travel Association:

  • Travel spending in Pasco was nearly $466 million, generated from more than 500,000 visitors
  • Travel created nearly 6,000 full-time employees, with an annual payroll in Pasco County of $106.2 million
  • Local sales tax generated from those visitors totaled more than $14.9 million

“Tourism continues to be an economic engine in Pasco County,” Caum said.

Caum offered additional details at an breakfast meeting of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce.

Caum also talked about bright prospects for a greater number of tourists, as attractions such as Tampa Premium Outlets and Florida Hospital Center Ice open in Wesley Chapel, and people take advantage of the newly opened Tree Hoppers in Dade City and Sunwest Park in Hudson.

The hospitality industry is gearing up for increased tourism.

Pasco County currently has 3,556 hotel rooms, according to Caum. He expects Pasco’s hotel stock to increase by 75 beds a year for the next five years.

Besides the growth generated by new attractions, Pasco has long been a magnet for skydivers and for visitors to the county’s nudist resorts, which attract visitors from throughout Florida and from around the globe.

Caum said healthy tourism figures bode well for people who work directly in the hospitality industry, as well as for all Pasco business owners and residents.

The taxes paid by tourists reduce the tax burden for Florida residents, tourism provides jobs, and the amenities that are created to attract visitors, Caum said, can be enjoyed year-round by local residents.

Published October 28, 2015

Kirk leaves his mark on Saint Leo

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Whenever students, faculty, staff and visitors walk across the campus of Saint Leo University, they’ll see a permanent reminder of Dr. Arthur Kirk.

Kirk Hall, dedicated in a ceremony on Oct. 15, is the kind of academic space that Kirk, who retired in the summer of 2015, thinks is important for teachers and students to have.

It is equipped with tools designed to prepare teachers to make maximum use of technology, and what’s known about how students learn.

For instance, there’s a lab where education students can interact with avatars, enabling them to practice teaching techniques and receive immediate feedback.

The building is far different than the facilities that Kirk encountered when he arrived 18½ years ago, on the university’s main campus on State Road 52.

Dr. Arthur Kirk speaks at the dedication of Kirk Hall on Oct. 15. (Photos courtesy of Saint Leo University)
Dr. Arthur Kirk speaks at the dedication of Kirk Hall on Oct. 15.
(Photos courtesy of Saint Leo University)

At that time, enrollment was in decline, there were leaking roofs, and air conditioning equipment that was expected to last 20 years, was 37 years old.

In short, the list of challenges was long.

Kirk took the job anyway.

He was attracted to the mission of leading a Catholic, student-centered, university.

And, he said, “I also saw enormous potential, because it had some exceptional people that believed passionately in the institution.

“It looked like the right set of ingredients,” he said.

Kirk Hall is just the latest new building erected during Kirk’s tenure.

All together, the university added more than 1 million square feet of space and completely renovated four buildings, Kirk said.

But, buildings are just one sign of the university’s progress.

“I had an expression that ‘the anthropology was more important than the economics’,” Kirk said.

In other words, “it’s a lot easier to reverse the enrollment problems and financial problems and so forth, than it is to change the culture and build a culture that sustains excellence and success,” he said.

Cindy Brannen, past chair of the Board of Trustees; Beverly Kirk; Dr. Arthur F. Kirk Jr., president emeritus; Dr. Maribeth Durst, retired vice president of Academic Affairs; Charles ‘Chuck’ Fisk, retired economics faculty member (husband of Dr. Durst); Dr. William J. Lennox Jr., president, Saint Leo University; and Dennis Mullen, chairman, Saint Leo University Board of Trustees.
Cindy Brannen, past chair of the Board of Trustees; Beverly Kirk; Dr. Arthur F. Kirk Jr., president emeritus; Dr. Maribeth Durst, retired vice president of Academic Affairs; Charles ‘Chuck’ Fisk, retired economics faculty member (husband of Dr. Durst); Dr. William J. Lennox Jr., president, Saint Leo University; and Dennis Mullen, chairman, Saint Leo University Board of Trustees.

Kirk said he stayed at the university because he enjoyed creating that culture, and he enjoyed working with the university’s staff.

But, as much as he enjoyed that, he also knew there would be a time when it was time to go.

“There is the potential of staying too long. That’s not good for the individual or the organization. That was something that was on my mind for several years,” he said.

Before he left, it was important to him to complete a number of priorities, including the academic building — now called Kirk Hall.

“I really felt that all of the students and all of the faculty deserved that kind of academic facility,” Kirk said.

Over the years, there have been many gratifying moments, Kirk said.

He’s pleased by the results of a survey of the Best Colleges to Work For, conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“They survey the faculty and staff randomly at the institutions,” he said. “And, if you score in the top 10 percent of more than one of their 12 categories, you are placed on the honor roll for Best Colleges to Work For.

“We scored in the top 10 percent of 10 of the 12 categories,” he said.

Those results are particularly meaningful, he said, because of the progress that has been made.

Kirk Hall, on the University of Saint Leo campus, will serve as a permanent reminder of Dr. Arthur Kirk’s contribution to the university.
Kirk Hall, on the University of Saint Leo campus, will serve as a permanent reminder of Dr. Arthur Kirk’s contribution to the university.

“When we started, we had a fractured culture. So, to have that strength of culture, and organization and people that are very committed and happy to work there, was extremely important to me,” Kirk said.

Raising the university’s profile was important, too, Kirk said.

When he arrived at Saint Leo, he was surprised by how little people knew about the university.

“People who live in Dade City and drove by the campus all of the time didn’t know we were on 16 military bases in six states,” Kirk said.

“That was certainly a surprise and increased the challenge a little bit. Support follows understanding. If they don’t know who you are, where you are and what you do, they’re not going to give very much support,” Kirk said.

The retired university president said he would run into people in Tampa who would say: “Saint Leo, I’ve heard of it. Where is it?”

That has changed over time.

Now, for instance, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn mentions Saint Leo University in the same breath as the University of Tampa, the University of South Florida and Hillsborough Community College, Kirk said.

Kirk also is pleased that core values adopted by the university in 1998 have become part of the university’s way of life.

Those values — community, respect, responsible stewardship, excellence, personal development and integrity — are taken seriously, Kirk said.

“Each one is defined as a personal expectation of everyone,” he said. “One of those core values is taught very intentionally in every single course in the curriculum, at every level.

The core values, he said, “have become very much part of the (university’s) DNA.

“When I walk around and hear students and faculty talk about the core values, and how important they are, I feel really, really good about that.”

Perhaps one of his most special memories, though, will be the one where, surrounded by family, students, faculty and staff, Kirk saw an academic building named in his honor.

“It was a joyous occasion,” Kirk said.

Published October 21, 2015