The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Local News

Holy Week ushers in celebrations

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Churches across Pasco and Hillsborough counties are gearing up for a wide array of Holy Week events and Easter celebrations.

Some churches will do re-enactments of the Last Supper and Good Friday, while others will include egg hunts, pancake breakfasts, barbecue meals and other festivities.

Easter drew a big crowd at New Walk Church last year in Zephyrhills, and is expected to do so again this year. (Courtesy of New Walk Church)
Easter drew a big crowd at New Walk Church last year in Zephyrhills, and is expected to do so again this year.
(Courtesy of New Walk Church)

Whatever they’re doing, churches are ready to greet regulars and visitors alike, as they commemorate the last days of Jesus’ life and celebrate his resurrection.

Our Lady of the Rosary Church, at 2348 Collier Parkway, expects about twice as many people at its Easter services as normally attend its weekend Masses, said the Rev. Ron Aubin, the church’s pastor.

“A normal Sunday, it would be about 3,000 to 3,500. Easter, it will be over 7,000,” the pastor said.

Aubin said the Easter message, in part, will be this: “He (God) sends his son (Jesus) as savior of the world, and that we who believe in him and die in the waters of baptism and rise with him in the waters of baptism, will also rise to the eternal life.

“I have the hope of one day rising from the dead. And hope is not wishing. Hope is believing. It is something that’s coming. It’s just not here yet,” Aubin said.

Like Our Lady of the Rosary, Van Dyke Church in Lutz and New Walk Church — which has campuses in Zephyrhills, Dade City and Holiday — also are expecting a big boost in attendance.

“We’ll probably have basically a doubling of attendance,” said Rev. Matthew Hartsfield. We usually worship anywhere around 23 (hundred), 2,400, on a typical weekend. We’ll probably see 5,000 on Easter weekend,” said Hartsfield, pastor at Van Dyke Church, 17030 Lakeshore Road in Lutz.

Leading up to Easter weekend, “we simply strongly encourage our members, our existing members to be inviting friends and relatives, acquaintances and neighbors and to simply be more intentional about just having kind of an open heart to people who might be willing to receive an invitation to come and celebrate Easter,” Hartsfield said.

The service itself is very similar to a typical Van Dyke service, Hartsfield said.

“We typically have a very high energy, high celebration time of music and worship and our messages are always positive and life-application oriented. We really don’t change much of that particular emphasis for Easter. We just simply have a very Easter-specific message,” Hartsfield said.

However, there is a special children’s program at all of its Easter services that children attend while their parents are in the main sanctuary.

In a society in which a growing number of people do not identify with any particular religious affiliation, Hartsfield said he thinks the best way to help encourage people to open their hearts is through making the love of Jesus real in their lives.

“Truly, only the Holy Spirit can arouse the human heart. But obviously, the Holy Spirit uses human believers to help the rising of that in non-believing hearts,” Hartsfield said.

“It’s really the way that Jesus himself said it would work,” Hartsfield said, citing a scriptural passage in which Jesus says that others will recognize his followers by how they love one another.

“If the world is going to know that we’re his disciples and he ever existed, it’s going to be demonstrated by our acts of love and of mercy and compassion,” Hartsfield said.

New Walk Church is expecting to nearly triple its normal attendance during Easter weekend, said Gary Baldus, lead pastor.

Normally, the church has an attendance of 2,000, but it expects around 6,000 during Easter weekend.

“We get that from a pretty big outreach that we do. We bring in a helicopter with eggs and they drop them,” Baldus said, noting there are other smaller activities, too.

“We go a little extra because we know that people are more likely to attend on this weekend than many other weekends of the year,” Baldus said.

He thinks that many people also attend Easter services because the mindset, “This is just what we do on Easter.”

For some, it’s a “Get right with God weekend,” Baldus said.

That may not be theologically accurate, but many people feel that way, Baldus said.

New Walk is ready to welcome newcomers and invite them to get involved.

“We do have our groups that we are launching on the next weekend that they can get connected to. We have a baptism the next weekend, that if they make a decision, they can come back to be baptized,” Baldus said.

Some of those visiting for Easter services will undergo a transformation and begin attending regularly. Others may come back in a month or six weeks.

“It is about life transformation through Jesus,” said Baldus, noting anyone who wants to find out more about the church’s services can visit EasterAtNewWalk.com.

Many other churches throughout Lutz, Odessa, Land O’ Lakes, Wesley Chapel, Dade City, San Antonio, New Tampa and Zephyrhills also are planning special celebrations, including Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church, 1833 Exciting Idlewild Blvd., in Lutz.

Exciting Idlewild is planning four weekend celebrations.

Two services are scheduled for April 4, at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., with Hungry Harry’s Family Bar-B-Que and food from the Idlewild Kitchen from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

On April 5, there will be two services at 9:15 a.m. and 11 a.m., featuring Ken Whitten, the church’s senior pastor, and its worship choir, orchestra and band.

Children, from age 5 through fifth grade, can enjoy their own Easter worship celebration at Kidz Cove.

Published April 1, 2015

 

Pasco 911 center needs improvement

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The merger of 911 operations between Pasco County and the sheriff’s office is a work-in-progress, and no one would say it has been without problems.

But County Administrator Michele Baker and Sheriff Chris Nocco say they will try to mend what Nocco describes as a “broken partnership.”

That could mean tweaking the nearly two-year-old agreement that brought the emergency call center under the county’s supervision.

“We’ll sit down immediately and go through the interlocal agreement and bring something back (to the commissioners),” said Baker in response to criticisms about the call center’s operations.

Nocco would like management hires for the center to be shared equally between his office and the county, with each having a veto. His immediate concern is hiring a director. The position has been vacant since the resignation of its first director in September.

Nocco also wants a lieutenant from his office to be named assistant director. Baker said she supports the request, calling it “brilliant.” She also assured Nocco he would be consulted on the director’s selection.

The sheriff brought his concerns about the call center to county commissioners at their March 24 meeting. First responders, including deputies and firefighters, filled the boardroom.

“That’s all we want is a partnership,” Nocco said. “The reason we are speaking up is because the partnership has failed.”

Among complaints were a lack of leadership, training, quality control and urgency in responding to 911 calls.

Nocco and some of his deputies cited troubling incidents.

They said a deputy was sent to the wrong address. A dispatcher delayed passing along a resident’s tip that might have led to the arrest of a murder suspect. A dispatcher advised a woman caller to step outside her house to see if a man armed with a knife was still present. A dispatcher ignored a deputy’s request for backup at a crime scene. And residents have complained about unanswered and dropped calls.

“Those are unfortunate situations, and our operators were wrong,” Baker said

But she defended the overall progress and operations of the call center.

It meets industry standards with more than 99 percent of calls answered within 20 seconds, she said.

“The staff who work in that communications center are great people,” Baker said. “They are feeling a little maligned right now because they are struggling.”

Prior to the merger, Baker as then-assistant county administrator participated in a study of other call centers that dealt with consolidation. Generally the process took three years to four years, Baker said.

Pasco opted to accelerate that time frame and is now a year-and-a-half into the merger, she added.

On March 31, eight new hires were scheduled to begin working at the call center. New dispatching software also is ready for use. And she said 100 percent of staff members are cross-trained in working with law enforcement, medical and fire rescue calls.

“Are they really experienced yet? Not so much,” Baker said. “But it takes time to become comfortable.”

Nocco said training for new hires is insufficient, and some basics, such as drug testing, are overlooked.

Commissioner Mike Wells Jr., said he found the hiring and training process for the call center “alarming. We need to relook at these things. We need the best of the best.”

Published April 1, 2015

Local computer whiz spins success

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Friends and family knew about his geeky side long before he took the leap into computers and web design as a full-time job.

As a teenager, Thomas Giella Jr., built his own computer.

“I always helped out people on the side with their computer issues,” he said.

Thomas Giella Jr., is building his businesses, Gear Spinners, i-gent, and Techsoft Academy, at SMARTstart’s incubator site in the Dade City Business Center. (Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)
Thomas Giella Jr., is building his businesses, Gear Spinners, i-gent, and Techsoft Academy, at SMARTstart’s incubator site in the Dade City Business Center.
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)

He launched his web design and marketing business, Gear Spinners, more than a year ago. Now he has two offshoot companies, Techsoft Academy and i-gent, and a $1,000 check pinned to a calendar in his office with a paper clip.

“I plan to get a frame for it,” Giella said.

The check is his prize for winning third place in the inaugural SMARTstart Business Challenge on Jan. 29. The Pasco Economic Development Council, the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce, the New Port Richey Economic Development Department and SCORE sponsored the contest to celebrate Business Development Week.

The SMARTstart incubator program is an initiative of the Pasco EDC, with locations in Dade City and New Port Richey.

About 20 businesses, both on and off site, are members of SMARTstart. They include technology companies, sales and marketing, and new attorneys. One company completes personal assessments to reduce company turnover.

“We have a pretty diverse membership,” said Krista Covey, the managing program director at Pasco EDC and director of SMARTstart.

Giella competed against about 20 companies to earn one of five spots in the finals that were held at the SMARTstart incubator site in New Port Richey. Judges included representatives from Pasco’s business and academic community.

First place winners were Brian Anderson and Janel Norton of Veterans Alternative Therapy Center in Holiday. Second place went to Greg Smith of Savealator in New Port Richey.

The competition was modeled after Shark Tank, the television show where contestants make a pitch to a panel of investors.

The pitch can be a nerve jangling trial, but Giella kept it simple.

He had 10 minutes to “sell” Techsoft Academy to a panel of judges including representatives from Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative and Pasco-Hernando State College. Judges then had 10 minutes to quiz Giella.

“I tried to think like a customer,” he said. “I thought about all the stories I’ve heard from my clients. It was an awesome learning experience.”

Giella earned office space at SMARTstart’s incubator site in Dade City about five months ago. He works out of a small office at the Dade City Business Center, at 15000 Citrus Country Drive, Suite 103.

His services with Gear Spinners include web design, development and web hosting. Techsoft Academy can help bloggers and businesses go a step further by offering classes that teach more advanced skills. And i-gent caters to Realtors who need website management.

“Some people are go, go, go,” said Giella, and they likely don’t have time to spend on a website. But others, he said, want to do more of the work themselves.

Giella also helps organize Tampa Bay Word Camp, a group that offers conferences to teach skills in Word Press for blogging, business and social media.

Recent clients include the owners of the Yeoman’s Cask & Lion, a British-style pub that will open soon on Morgan Street in downtown Tampa. The pub is a new location and a rebranding for the former Yeoman’s Road Pub on Davis Islands, south of downtown Tampa.

His contest prize money will help buy new equipment to enhance his business, including a DSLR camera and microphone.

Giella started working on a business plan in 2013 to turn his hobby into a brick-and-mortar reality. A few months ago SMARTstart approved his application, and he moved into the business center.

Membership fees for on-site businesses start at $100 a month with tiered increases based on profitability. In return, fledgling entrepreneurs get office space, mentors, seminars and classes.

“They want to see what you’re up to, how much you’re making, is it going to create jobs,” Giella said. “It’s great the amount of stuff we talk about. It’s not common that you can talk about business in front of others and actually get good advice back.”

Giella graduated from Saint Leo University with a degree in business management. He launched a profitable business selling LED lighting for motorcycles, but sold the company two years ago.

“Everyone kept wanting me to build websites,” he said.

Gear Spinners and Techsoft Academy are gaining traction. Giella has a handful of proposals that could increase his client portfolio. If business picks up, he could be hiring his first employees in the next months.

“I can’t wait until I can hire people,” he said. “But I’m taking it one step at a time.”

He credits SMARTstart with giving him a chance to prove his new business has potential.

“My confidence level is boosted,” Giella said. “That’s key. People can see that.”

For information on Gear Spinners, contact Giella at (813) 235-0554, or visit GearSpinners.com. For information on SMARTstart, contact Covey at (727) 478-0670, (352) 437-4861, or visit SmartStartPasco.com.

Published April 1, 2015

It’s playtime: Brothers enjoy making music

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Things can get a little loud at the Dorsey house in Land O’ Lakes.

With four brothers ages 6 through 11, they can fill the house up with sound.

But you won’t hear a loud television blaring or children screaming over toys. Instead, you’ll hear violins being tuned. Piano keys being played. Music stands being moved into place.

The Dorsey brothers spend many days practicing their instruments as part of their home schooling. From left, Nathaniel and Anthony are on their violins, and Daniel is on the piano. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
The Dorsey brothers spend many days practicing their instruments as part of their home schooling. From left, Nathaniel and Anthony are on their violins, and Daniel is on the piano.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

And then you’ll hear elegant pieces of classical music, performed by artists who spend a lot of time honing their craft.

When these boys play together, it doesn’t sound like anything you’d hear on the playground.

The three oldest brothers, Daniel (piano), Nathaniel (violin) and Anthony (violin), participated in this year’s Justine Le Baron Young Artists Competition, an annual event sponsored by the Florida Orchestra Musicians Association.

Daniel took third place in the Junior Piano category, while youngest brother Aaron, at age 6, gave the piano a rest and sat this one out.

Their mother, Rowena Dorsey, doesn’t mind the symphonic sounds in her house the least little bit.

“It’s like a regular music school if you ask me,” she said with a laugh. “We are kind of an unusual family.”

Rowena home-schools the boys, so their music practice is a scheduled part of their day. Rather than just going through the motions, the boys enjoy working on pieces of music and performing them well, after plenty of practice.

After dinner with their mother and their father, Martin, they frequently repeat their latest efforts with both parents listening to their improvement.

If it sounds like music is a time-consuming pursuit for the boys, it is.

But that’s what they like to do.

Their parents encouraged them to pick up instruments at a young age — they all started around age 5 or age 6.

But the enthusiasm is all their own.

Their parents don’t force them into competitions.

They choose when they want to compete, and they practice because they want to play better.

“Ultimately, I really want them to enjoy it,” Rowena said.

They do enjoy playing, she said, but they’re also very competitive.

That’s why a seemingly impressive performance at the Young Artists competition might be something of a disappointment.

“It felt weird,” Daniel said about his third-place finish. “I was going against the same people in another competition and I won first (place). And I was against them again, and they beat me this time.”

David likes to challenge himself, repeatedly practicing a difficult piece until he has it mastered.

He’s been involved with music for about half his life, and he’s always displayed a natural ability toward playing.

He has fun with both piano and cello, and can’t imagine going very long without having a chance to practice and play.

Daniel prefers the challenge of performing alone, but he appreciates the chance to play with his brothers and to enjoy the dynamics of a group setting.

“When I get to play with my brothers, I get to experience how to play as a group,” he said. He also has the chance to discover when to come together as a group and when to back out and let another person play solo, he said.

Younger brother Anthony also likes playing with his brothers, but he prefers a different instrument.

“I like the sound of the violin,” he said. “I like getting the notes in tune.”

He started playing violin after seeing his brother, Nathaniel, play the instrument.

And Nathaniel doesn’t mind that his little brother is following in his footsteps. While it’s a fun instrument to play, he said, it’s not easy.

“Sometimes it’s hard, but I just have to learn it,” he said.

While they love practicing a challenging piece of music and performing in front of people — there’s a recital for home-schooled students at the end of the month — the brothers do have other interests. They watch a little television and enjoy playing board games (“Clue” is a big hit in their house). But the soccer field is a main attraction, and the boys are eager to kick the ball when an instrument isn’t handy.

No matter what they do, Rowena said the lessons learned from playing music stay with them and help them succeed in various activities. From math to soccer, improvement via consistent practice is a discipline that serves them well outside of music.

And inside the house, the Dorseys find classical music to be a pleasant-sounding alternative to noisier activities for young boys.

“It is very nice,” Rowena said. “I don’t have to worry that they’re glued to the TV. That doesn’t really grow their brain. I just know that this music is really helping them develop.”

Published April 1, 2015

Sunlake extension offers new route for drivers

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The blockades disappeared a few weeks ago, and suddenly Sunlake Boulevard was no longer a dead-end street at the construction site of Long Lake Ranch, the master-planned community south of State Road 54.

Motorists slowly are beginning to realize they can travel in a mostly straight line from State Road 54 in Pasco County to North Dale Mabry Highway in Hillsborough County, with a bonus of bypassing the traffic-clogged intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41.

Motorists traveling north on Sunlake Boulevard, away from the roundabout, will see speed limits increase from 35 mph to 45 mph. (Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)
Motorists traveling north on Sunlake Boulevard, away from the roundabout, will see speed limits increase from 35 mph to 45 mph.
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)

Portions of the approximately 3-mile stretch provide a smooth, four-lane road for drivers, with a roundabout in the middle.

The road narrows to two lanes soon after passing Long Lake’s entrance. Varying speed limits are posted along the journey toward Hillsborough County, with the slowest speed of 20 mph through the roundabout.

At the southern end, Sunlake Boulevard enters Sunlake Park, a mature tree-lined neighborhood of 36 single-family homes, built in the 1960s. A series of three speed bumps and a speed limit of 25 mph keep speeders at bay.

“It’s convenient to drivers,” said Melissa Greene, commenting on the Sunlake Boulevard connection. She recently was waiting in mid-afternoon at the intersection of the boulevard and Evergreen Oak Drive for a Hillsborough County school bus to drop off her son.

But Greene and other parents at the school bus stop say they also worry about speeding motorists, increased traffic especially during rush hours, and confusing speed limits that change from one side of the road to the other.

They would like speed bumps similar to those in Sunlake Park.

“I don’t know if that would happen because there are no houses on every section of road,” Greene said. “It would be nice. It would slow people down.”

She also would like to see school buses drive into the subdivisions dotting the boulevard, but Greene said that might not happen.

Still Greene said, “We see drivers fly by here.”

The roundabout also is troublesome to some who worry about accidents as motorists approach and leave the traffic circle.

Heading south toward the roundabout, speed limits drop from 35 mph to 30 mph. On the opposite side on the same stretch of roadway, heading northward, speed limits bump up from 35 mph to 45 mph.

It’s confusing to drivers,” said Jennifer Todd, who waited with Greene for the school bus.

The sequence of speed limits meets national standards for road design for roundabouts, said Deborah Bolduc, Pasco County’s program administrator for engineering services. “It’s for safety reasons,” she said. “It’s supposed to do that.”

Hillsborough and Pasco signed off on the project, but Amprop Development Corp., did the road design and construction to extend Sunlake Boulevard. The company developed the Shoppes at Sunlake Centre on the north side of State Road 54, at Sunlake Boulevard. It also sold land to T. Rowe Price at the southwest corner of the intersection. However, the financial investment firm backed away from plans to build a campus there.

Making Sunlake Boulevard into a connector route has been part of long-range planning for decades, said Hillsborough County engineer Mike Williams. “As you make additional connections, it helps facilitate the distribution of traffic in the area.”

Heavily traveled North Dale Mabry Highway and U.S. 41 are expected to see some traffic diverted to the boulevard, but area residents say traffic congestion in their neighborhoods will only get worse — especially at Lutz Lake Fern Road and Sunlake Boulevard, and at the left-turn lane off North Dale Mabry Highway, near a 7-Eleven convenience store.

“That backs up pretty far, “ Greene said, describing the traffic at those intersections.

Published April 1, 2015

Children’s Home benefits from their ‘Champion of Service’

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When Rachelle Duroseau received the Champion of Service award from Gov. Rick Scott, she didn’t have much advance warning that she was up for the distinction.

“I did not know I was nominated. It was a surprise to me,” said Duroseau, who volunteers for the Children’s Home Society of Florida and lives in Wesley Chapel.

Rachelle Duroseau holds up the Champion of Service award she received on Feb. 5 at Governor Rick Scott’s cabinet meeting. In addition to Gov. Rick Scott, other government officials, her parents and Children's Home representatives were in attendance. (Courtesy of Children's Home Society of Florida)
Rachelle Duroseau holds up the Champion of Service award she received on Feb. 5 at Governor Rick Scott’s cabinet meeting. In addition to Gov. Rick Scott, other government officials, her parents and Children’s Home representatives were in attendance.
(Courtesy of Children’s Home Society of Florida)

She had just a few days to prepare for the presentation at the governor’s cabinet meeting Feb. 5 in Tampa.

Those few days gave her enough time to have her mother and father, Javeline and Serge, present, along with the supervisors who had nominated her.

Duroseau is a volunteer coordinator at the Children’s Home Society, which provides care and resources for abused, neglected and abandoned children.

As part of the Gulf Coast division, she works at the Joshua House in Lutz. Her main duties include managing volunteers and working on larger campaigns, which include an annual back-to-school drive and a toy drive during the holiday season.

If that sounds like a full-time job, it is.

Duroseau works a 40-hour-a-week schedule. She’s in the Americorps VISTA program, a national service program designed to help fight poverty. She receives a living allowance through an Americorps grant.

Since the money she receives is set at the poverty line and works out to around $1,000 a month, the Nazareth College graduate isn’t doing it for the money. She simply sees people suffering and can’t let it continue without doing something about it.

“It honestly doesn’t even feel like service to me. It just feels like a natural thing that needs to be done,” Duroseau said. “I don’t even feel like I’m doing anything special or out of the ordinary.”

But the 26-year-old’s volunteer resume is anything but ordinary.

She said her parents taught her the importance of helping others when she was young, and she’s been following that path.

Duroseau has a long history of service to others.

Before coming to Children’s Home, she took care of hospice patients, traveled to India to help women and orphans, and worked with homeless shelters and foot clinics to provide foot hygiene to the homeless, including efforts with at-risk youth, Habitat For Humanity and emergency shelters.

The volunteer’s experiences appealed to volunteer program manager Meghan Pfleiderer when she interviewed Duroseau for the position at Children’s Home.

Duroseau’s college studies in sociology and community-based youth development were a plus, as well.

The volunteer’s demeanor is another big asset, Pfleiderer said, especially when dealing with volunteers. It’s important to make them feel rewarded and appreciated, since they’re such a big part of the organization. They might have five to seven volunteers for their regular day-to-day operations, but utilize 125 or more for large projects. And Duroseau is able to handle them and their efforts effectively.

“The personality that Rachelle brings to the table is perfect for that sort of relationship, and engaging somebody in service that is truly just 100 percent from the good of their heart,” Pfleiderer said.

Those healthy relationships have translated into tangible results for Children’s Home. They had a successful back-to-school drive just a couple of months after Duroseau began working there last May. And their holiday toy drive, with an ambitious objective of helping between 400 children and 500 children enjoy presents at that time of year, met its goal.

“It couldn’t have been done without Rachelle,” said Michelle Smith, administrative supervisor. She’s not sure how everything got done before Duroseau came on board, but now that she’s here, Smith wanted to make sure she was staying.

Americorps volunteers are only in their positions for one year, though they can extend it another year if both parties agree.

Smith didn’t want to wait until the end of her term to find out if they would get to keep Duroseau.

“I have been asking for the past six months if she was going to renew,” she admitted.

Much to the relief of her supervisors, Duroseau did want to stay.

“The fact that she wanted to do a second year just made us all so happy,” Pfleiderer said.

Duroseau is happy as well, and eager to continue working on projects and advancing the Children’s Home’s many goals throughout the year.

With so many who need assistance, Duroseau believes she’s in the right position to do her part to help.

“I do want to play as active a role as I can to alleviate suffering,” she said. “Even if it’s a small contribution I can make, it makes me feel good to be able to do that.”

Published April 1, 2015

Business Digest 04-01-15

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New Tampa gym
Come to the ribbon cutting for Crunch Gym Tampa Palms on April 1 from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., at 15313 Amberly Drive in the Shoppes of Amberly in New Tampa. This is the sixth location for the fitness center.

Enjoy free fun, food and adult beverages.

For information, call the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce at (813) 994-8534 or email .

New web-based company
SymphonicB2B will host a ribbon cutting on April 2 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., at 2318 Cypress Lane, Unit 102, in Wesley Chapel.

The company provides assistance with website design, branding, social media, SEO, videos and printing, and is a subsidiary of Tampa-based Symphonic Distribution.

For information, call (866) 471-4749.

Zephyrhills chamber breakfast
The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce will have its monthly breakfast April 2 from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., at the Golden Corral, at 6855 Gall Blvd., in Zephyrhills. Guest speaker will be Ron Yasurek, general manager of Mosaic’s Plant City facility. He will discuss the company’s phosphate operations in Florida and the mission to help the world grow food it needs.

For information, contact the chamber at (813) 782-1913, or email .

New dry cleaners
Pristine Dry Clean & Alterations is open for business, and also is hiring. The family-owned store is at 23388 State Road 54, in Lutz, just down from Panera Bread.

Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Women-n-charge
Join the ladies of Women-n-Charge on April 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at Pebble Creek Country Club, at 10550 Regents Park Drive, in Tampa. The meeting includes lunch and time to network.

The featured speaker will be Ginger Rockey-Johnson, the Original Spice Girl of Tampa Bay, who will discuss “How to Use Today’s Social Media to Market Your Business.”

The cost is $15 for members (payable the Tuesday before the meeting) and $18 for guests and members paying Wednesday and after.

To register, visit Women-n-Charge.com.

For information, call (813) 600-9848, or email .

Breakfast and ribbon cutting
The Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce will have its monthly breakfast meeting April 7 from 8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m., at the conference center at Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, 2727 Mansfield Blvd. The breakfast will be on the third floor, Room B-303.

The guest speaker will be Denyse Bales-Chubb, president and CEO of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel.

Cost is $15 in advance for chamber members and $20 at the door for members and visitors. Online registration ends by 3 p.m., April 3.

After the breakfast, there will be a ribbon cutting at 9:30 a.m., for the new student coffee shop on the campus, on the fourth floor next to the library. The shop will be operated by Dash of Salt N’ Pepper.

For information, call the chamber at (813) 994-8534, or email .

Free business seminar
SMARTstart will offer a free seminar in “Marketing to Grow Your Business” April 7 from 1 p.m. to 3p.m., at the SMARTstart incubator in New Port Richey at 6345 Grand Blvd.

Instruction will include a growth audit and an analysis of factors affecting growth and expansion. There also will be information and resources to make sales, marketing and advertising decisions. Instructional handouts and materials will be distributed.

To register, visit SmartStartPasco.com, and click on “Events,“ or call (727) 478-0670. Emails also can be sent to Krista Covey at .

Grants for businesswomen
Are you a businesswoman who could use $1,000?

Women-n-Charge is offering two $1,000 grants this spring. The grants can be used towards business-related equipment or services and continuing education. The nonprofit’s mission, in part, is to support and assist professional women in managing their businesses more effectively.

Learn more about the grants at Women-n-Charge.com. Applications are available online and are due April 15.

For information, contact Judy Nicolosi, treasurer of Women-n-Charge, at (813) 600-9848, or email .

Two-day career fair
Pasco Hernando State College will host Opportunity 2015 Hernando County Career Fair on April 9 from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and April 10 from 9 a.m. to noon, at the North Campus, Building B Conference Center, 11415 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Brooksville.

On April 9, there will be free seminars on resume writing, interview skills and proper attire and etiquette for interviews.

On April 10, local employers will be present to accept resumes and do on-the-spot interviews. Dress professionally and bring lots of resumes.

The event is free but pre-registration is required at HernandoCountyCareerFair2015.eventbrite.com.

For information, call Nicole Miller at (352) 7907-5174 or Steve Wilson at (352) 293-1123.

Rotary Club needs bee sponsors
The Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon needs sponsors for the third annual “BEE Part of the Buzz” adult spelling bee.

The spelling bee will be April 10 at 6:30 p.m., at the Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club, 10641 Old Tampa Bay Drive, in San Antonio. The event helps raise funds for the Pasco Education Foundation.

Donations range from $1,500 for a Queen Bee sponsorship to $150 for a four-person team.

For information, email Erin Meyer at .

East Pasco Networking Group
The East Pasco Networking Group will meet April 14 at Rose’s Café at 38426 Fifth Ave., in Zephyrhills.

Networking begins at 8 a.m., with the meeting starting at 8:30 a.m.

Jeanette Hall, Pasco Shopper advertising representative, is the guest speaker.

For information, call Nils Lenz at (813) 782-9491, or email him at .

Business Link available monthly
Business Link, a monthly small business gathering hosted by the San Antonio Citizens Federal Credit Union, meets the second Wednesday of each month beginning at 7:30 a.m.

The meeting is designed to provide a networking and information-sharing platform for the business community.

For locations, details and to reserve a seat, email , or call (352) 588-2732, ext. 1237.

Traffic signals by Lowe’s ready for action

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Traffic signals outside the new Lowe’s Home Improvement store on State Road 54 are expected to be operational within two to three weeks, according to officials with the Florida Department of Transportation.

The addition of stop lights and turn lanes that will help get motorists in and out of Lowe’s and the Village Lakes Shopping Center is welcome news to area residents and business owners.

Cars and trucks attempting to make a left-hand turn off of State Road 54 into the Village Lakes Shopping Center, east of the intersection of U.S. 41, will find it much easier once a new set of traffic signals are activated. The lights have been installed near the Lowe’s store, on State Road 54, expected to open in April. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Cars and trucks attempting to make a left-hand turn off of State Road 54 into the Village Lakes Shopping Center, east of the intersection of U.S. 41, will find it much easier once a new set of traffic signals are activated. The lights have been installed near the Lowe’s store, on State Road 54, expected to open in April.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

Billy Fotopoulos, owner of Pizza Villa, remembers when the shopping center and his restaurant were under construction three decades ago.

“We needed the light there 30 years ago,” Fotopoulos said. But he said state highway officials turned down a request for a traffic signal from Fotopoulos and other business owners.

“Without the light there, you can’t get out of (the parking lot) to go east or even going west, you’re taking your life in your hands,” he said.

Charlene Wingo agreed. She and some friends were leaving the shopping center last week, laden with their purchases. “The light will make it a lot easier to head east on State Road 54,” she said. “I was just thinking now, ‘How am I going to get out of the parking lot?’ ”

Fotopoulos said he loses business due to the lack of traffic signals. Residents living on State Road 54, southeast of the shopping center, are reluctant to try and cross over, he said.

“It will save businesses. It will save lives there,” Fotopoulos said.

The signal will give motorists a green light to turn left, going east on State Road 54. Motorists also can cross over the road to access entrances to either Lowe’s or the Village Lakes Shopping Center.

When the traffic signals are activated, highway officials say they will be synced with signals at the intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41 to help ease traffic flow. The signals will be the only ones between U.S. 41 and Collier Parkway about 2 miles away.

The half-mile distance between the signals at the intersection and those by Lowe’s are standard, highway officials said.

The 152,000 square-foot Lowe’s, at 21500 State Road 54, is expected to open in April.

Published March 25, 2015

Competing interests at Sunlake and Lutz Lake Fern

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James Scarola is deliberating the future of a parcel at the southwest corner of Lutz Lake Fern Road and Sunlake Boulevard.

Applicants for a special use permit want to use a 7.4-acre parcel to become the new home of the Tampa Academy of Math and Science, a charter school specializing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Ruth Gimpel Stables is next door to a proposed charter school in Lutz. Ruth Gimpel said the proposed school could destroy her livelihood. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Ruth Gimpel Stables is next door to a proposed charter school in Lutz. Ruth Gimpel said the proposed school could destroy her livelihood.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

Ruth Gimpel, who owns a horse stable next door, wants Scarola to deny the request.

So do residents living west of the proposed school.

A number of organizations also have weighed in against the proposed school, including area homeowner associations, the Lutz Citizens Coalition, the Lutz Civic Association and the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Clubs.

Scarola, a land-use hearing officer for Hillsborough County, had a public hearing on the request on March 16. He has 15 working days from that public hearing to issue his ruling.

Scarola has the final word on the request, unless it is challenged to the county’s Appeals Board.

Representatives for the applicants — Charter Schools Properties Inc., and Charter Schools Associates Inc., contend that conditions required by Hillsborough County staff address the proposed project’s impacts.

The applicants scaled down their original request for more than 1,000 students, to a school that now would have no more than 870 kindergarteners through eighth-graders.

As it stands now, the school would be developed in two phases, with 670 students housed in a two-story classroom building with 33 classrooms in phase one. The second phase, which is contingent upon an additional traffic analysis, would serve 200 students, in 11 classrooms, in another two-story building.

Both classroom buildings would have a maximum height of 38 feet and would be situated near Sunlake Boulevard.

The applicants have agreed to spend about $500,000 for transportation improvements, said Michael Horner, a planner representing them.

Conditions for approval also call for substantially greater buffering requirements to protect adjacent properties than is required under the county’s code, Horner said.

Michael Raysor, a traffic engineer representing the applicant, said access to the site would be one driveway on Lutz Lake Fern Road, which would be right in/right out only; and two driveways on Sunlake Boulevard. One would be right in/right out only, and the other would be right out only.

The applicant has agreed to build new right turn lanes and a new U-turn lane in conjunction with the project.

Opponents have objected for months about the traffic the school would generate, as well as expressing concerns about potential flooding, fumes from vehicle exhausts and noise from outdoor activities.

Despite those objections, the proposed use has received a recommendation for approval from county staff and garnered no objections from the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission staff.

The school is an acceptable transitional use, according to Tom Hiznay, a county planner.

The site’s design, along with the conditions for approval, provides “sensitivity to surrounding uses,” Hiznay said.

Jay Bockisch, a traffic engineer, speaking on behalf of the opponents, said the proposed school would create the same traffic impacts as a regional mall, four Publix shopping centers, or the tallest office building in downtown Tampa.

“This is not a transitional land use. This is an intense traffic generator. We have safety concerns,” Bockisch said.

The traffic waiting to get into the school’s site will cause backups on Lutz Lake Fern Road, Sunlake Boulevard and North Dale Mabry Highway, he predicted.

The backups on North Dale Mabry Highway, he said, will pose a safety nightmare.

“This is an adverse impact not only to the local community, but to the motoring public along Dale Mabry Highway.”

But Raysor said, “There are multiple safeguards written into the conditions.”

Joseph Serio, who lives directly west of the proposed school site, is concerned about potential flooding. “Where are you going to put the water from the additional highway lanes?” Serio asked.

In rebuttal, an expert representing the applicant said drainage requirements must be met.

Gimpel, of Ruth Gimpel Stables Inc., urged Scarola to deny the request. The stable, at 18920 Sunlake Blvd., has produced 75 world champions and 63 reserve champions, as well as providing fun and learning experiences for riders.

The charter school would change that, Gimpel said.

“It’ll force me to sell my farm. It would destroy my livelihood.”

Published March 25,2015

See an animated movie for free!

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An outside movie event can be a great idea, but it depends on when you do it. If it’s too early in the year, you might catch one of our really cold weekends. If it’s closer to summer, you risk rain, sweltering heat and more rain.

Did I mention the rain? You have to time things just right.

The poolside area at Avalon Park West becomes an outdoor movie theater once a month. (Courtesy of Avalon Park West)
The poolside area at Avalon Park West becomes an outdoor movie theater once a month.
(Courtesy of Avalon Park West)

Fortunately, this happens to be the right time. The weather is nice, but it’s not too humid yet. And because it’s the right time, Avalon Park West, a community in Wesley Chapel, has a monthly “Movie Under the Stars” series that’s worth checking out.

On the fourth Friday of each month they show a family friendly movie. Last month, it was “Planes,” and on March 27, it will be “The Boxtrolls,” an animated film that was recently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

So you show up and watch a movie. Is that it? Well, not quite. Not only is the movie free (this is “On the Cheap,” so you might have guessed that part) but they serve free popcorn as well. They also have free lemonade and hot cocoa, too. And since it’s out by their pool, you can grab one of the pool chairs, or bring your own chairs or blanket. You can even bring your own cooler, and enjoy snacks and drinks from home.

In other words, no $5 drinks and $6 popcorn like you’ll find at the regular movie theater. You can enjoy some nice weather with family or friends and not spend a lot of money to do it. Technically, you don’t have to spend any money at all. How often can you take the whole family out to an event and not lose a penny? As most of you know, that’s rare. So we need to take advantage of those evenings when we find them.

In case you were wondering, you don’t have to live in Avalon Park West to go. It’s open to everyone. All you have to do is like movies and free things to do. And that covers a lot of us.

Before the movie starts on the blow-up screen, a disc jockey gets the kids ready for the show with some music and dancing. So you might want to show up a little early to get a good spot and enjoy the entertainment before the movie begins. And it doesn’t end too late, so everyone can make their bedtimes, too.

Finding cheap things to do isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. And it’s nice to come across something local that’s completely free all the way around. For children and adults who like animated films, this is a great way to spend a Friday night.

By the way, there are only a couple of dates left before the event takes a break until later in the year. If you can’t make it on March 27, you can try again on April 24 when they show “Big Hero 6.” That movie beat “The Boxtrolls” for Best Animated Feature. Since the next two films were both nominated for Academy Awards, you might want to attend both. It’s the same price, after all: Nothing.

Avalon Park West is located at 5216 Autumn Ridge Drive in Wesley Chapel. For more information, call (813) 783-1515 or visit AvalonParkWest.com.

Published March 25, 2015