The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Wesley Chapel/New Tampa News

Cypress Creek Middle set to open this fall

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When a new school year opens, Cypress Creek Middle students will finally have school buildings to call their own.

Middle and high school students have been sharing the campus, formerly known as Cypress Creek Middle High, since 2017.

Beginning this fall, however, there will be a middle school for grades six through eight, and a high school for grades nine through 12.

Construction on the middle school began in 2019.

Cypress Creek Middle School is ready to open on its new campus.(Courtesy of Pasco County Schools)

“It’s more than on track,” said Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent for Pasco Schools. “It’s as ahead of schedule as we’ve ever been.”

Like all public schools in Pasco County, a regular school day likely will be very different from any previous school years.

Planning sessions are ongoing for the fall start of school, with keen attention on how the COVID-19 pandemic will dictate changes in school operations.

Gadd said he anticipates an announcement on what to expect for district schools by July 1.

Cypress Middle School has a student capacity of about 1,600 students. Gadd surmises the first year enrollment will be somewhat lower.

Construction for the school building is estimated at about $43.5 million.

It shares the same campus as the high school, but is about 15 acres north of it.

With a curriculum focus on performing arts, the building design includes a black box theater, chorus, dance and orchestra rooms.

Also, Pasco-Hernando State College is expected to open its Instructional Performing Arts Center on the same campus this fall.

The district initially planned to open both a high school and a middle school on the Cypress Creek campus at the same time, but a lack of funding forced it to use the campus for both middle and high school students.

The campus opened in 2017, for students in grades six through 11, with a senior class added the following year. Care was taken to keep the younger students and older students separated, and to provide middle school and high school programs.

Opening of the middle school in the fall also required a realignment of school boundaries affecting primarily students living in the Seven Oaks subdivision of Wesley Chapel, who attended John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Ranch High School.

While the district gears up to open a new school, it’s preparing for how it will operate safely amidst COVID-19 concerns.

Gadd noted there’s no precedence to follow.

“We look at everything the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) does, but CDC has not provided us with any pragmatic, practical information,” Gadd said.

Figuring out how to do social distancing isn’t easy, especially with kindergarten and elementary students, he said.

“How do you keep kindergartners from interacting?” Gadd asked.

One option to keep younger students safe would be to keep them together as one classroom group, he said. There would be no intermingling with students in other classrooms. And, activities with each group, including recess, would be done as a unit.

Middle school and high school students are more mature, and more likely to handle social distancing, Gadd said.

But, there are many more issues to resolve — even something as simple as getting students to and from school.

“How do we get kids on the bus and off the bus?” Gadd said.

Work sessions are ongoing.

“Our intent is to open all schools,” Gadd said. “Right now, we haven’t received any guidance from the state suggesting otherwise.”

Revised June 09, 2020

Moffitt cancer center coming to Wesley Chapel

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Construction on a $44 million outpatient cancer treatment center in Wesley Chapel is nearing completion.

The three-story, approximately 100,000-square-foot medical building is expected to open on schedule in late fall.

A new Moffit cancer outpatient treatment center is under construction at AdventHealth Wesley Chapel. (Courtesy of AdventHealth)

The new center is part of the AdventHealth Wesley Chapel campus, at 2600 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.

A medical partnership between Moffitt Cancer Center and AdventHealth was announced last year, and construction on the outpatient center began in May 2019.

The new outpatient center will provide area cancer patients with up-to-date, cutting-edge medical and radiation oncology services.

There will be four operating rooms, 20 exam rooms, 22 infusion stations and two linear accelerators.

Cancer patients who are in remission or are post-treatment will have access to screenings and survivorship programs.

“The goal is to stop people from driving so far and bring treatment to where they live,” said Ashley Jeffery, AdventHealth’s manager of corporate communications for the West Florida Division.

Moffit Cancer Center, in Tampa, is recognized as a top-tier cancer hospital. It is one of only 50 with a designation from the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

AdventHealth, formerly Florida Hospital, is a faith-based, nonprofit hospital with several locations in Pasco County.

In a news release announcing the partnership with Moffitt, Mike Schultz, president and chief operating officer of AdventHealth West Florida Division, said, “Our partnership allows us to strengthen our network of care by expanding the type of health care services we can provide to our communities and gives cancer patients greater access to the country’s leading-edge research, clinical trials and cancer treatments at Moffitt.”

AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, which opened on Oct. 1, 2012, wasn’t even three years old when it announced a $78 million expansion, which included additional emergency rooms, inpatient rooms, surgical suites and related surgical services, Heart Catheterization Lab, recovery/observation rooms and shelled space for future growth.

The hospital also added Inspiration Place in 2018, which is a women’s center in an adjacent building on its campus.

Published May 27, 2020

There’s no stopping these women

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The GFWC Wesley Chapel Woman’s Club handed out thank-you notes to staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa. (Courtesy of GFWC Wesley Chapel Woman’s Club)

The GFWC Wesley Chapel Woman’s Club continues to be busy during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving back to the community and celebrating Club Federation Day.

The women distributed thank-you cards to first responders and essential workers at BayCare’s St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, as well as to the manager of the Glory Days restaurant in Wesley Chapel, where the club’s first meeting was held.

Using their crafting skills, the women also sewed and embellished bears, called “Cuddle Bears.” They added little notes of kindness, and delivered the bears to Atria Assisted Living in Lutz.

And, they painted, distressed and arranged flowers in individual glass jars, again with individual notes, for Angels Senior Living at the Lodges, also in Lutz.

Shantel Meyers, from the woman’s club, said that “We still continue to do our work no matter what gets in our way. It’s our mission and we are all dedicated to it,” in an email to The Laker/Lutz News.

For information about the club, call Meyers at (813) 361-9542.

Published May 13, 2020

Members of the GFWC Wesley Chapel Woman’s Club hand-crafted glass jars with flowers for Angels Senior Living at the Lodges, in Lutz.

 

Woman’s club forming in Wesley Chapel

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When Marie Ambrosino moved to Wesley Chapel last year, she wanted to join a woman’s club for her surrounding community.

After all, she had been involved with GFWC (General Federation of Women’s Clubs) organizations for nearly four decades — most recently with the GFWC Woman’s Club of West Broward in South Florida.

The new GFWC Wesley Chapel Woman’s Club was established last month. From left: parliamentarian Marie Ambrosino, secretary Andrea Edwards, treasurer Kim Hanscel, president Cindi Nalon, vice president Shantel Meyers and GFWC Florida District 8 director Kay Taylor. (Courtesy of Shantal Meyers)

With the help of social media, word-of-mouth and some other GFWC connections, the GFWC Woman’s Club of Wesley Chapel came to life.

And, it happened in a mere matter of months.

The club was established in February with 12 charter members. That came less than a month after a group of six GFWC-minded women met for dinner with the idea of forming a new club that puts its focus on the burgeoning Wesley Chapel community. Many of the members had past affiliations with other GFWC clubs, such as the GFWC Pasco Junior Women’s Club.

The group is now in the process of seeking its 510c3 status, and is being sponsored by the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club.

The new club is actively looking for new members — women over 18 years old. There is no requirement to live in Wesley Chapel.

Though most members are Wesley Chapel residents, the club’s vice president, Shantel Meyers is a Lutz resident, for instance. “I could’ve joined (other) clubs, but I wanted to be a part of joining a whole new group,” Meyers said.

The group welcomes anyone who is interested, said Kim Hanscel, club treasurer.

“If somebody lives in Zephyrhills and wants to come here (to our club) because they travel here all the time, or whatever’s convenient for them, absolutely they’re welcome to come,” Hanscel said.

Kindness and helping others is the group’s purpose, club leaders say.

Ambrosino, the club’s parliamentarian, said the common thread among the ladies is this: “We are women who care about our communities, and that’s our mission.”

She added: “We share the same bond, and that’s just to make our world better.”

The GFWC Wesley Chapel Woman’s Club is dedicated to community improvement and helping those in need through volunteer service and fundraising events. The organization is likely to focus much of its efforts on domestic violence and awareness, homelessness, hospice, and foster care, among other community issues.

The GFWC Wesley Chapel Woman’s Club is seeking new members over 18 years old. The group focuses its volunteer efforts on arts, conservation, domestic violence and awareness, education, home life, internal outreach and public issues.

The group is currently brainstorming various club projects for those purposes, as well as fundraisers and events for other local charities, in the way of bingo nights, bunco nights, casino nights, golf tournaments, murder mystery games and so on.

“Everyone in the group is very energetic and looking forward,” club president Cindi Nalon said. “We all just want to jump in and get busy, and do things.”

She added, “I think we’re going to grow quick. We’ve started off quick with 12 members off the bat, and with everything we’ve got going, I think we’re really going to grow.”

Besides working to better the Wesley Chapel community, the group will be mixing in some social activities to build camaraderie — whether it’s seeing a movie, shopping or having dinner together. “We do have fun, as well,” Nalon quipped.

In her short time with the upstart club, Ambrosino has come away ecstatic with her new peer group.

Not only are they “very warm and welcoming,” she said, but they’re also go-getters ready to make a difference.

“This group of women are absolute doers,” Ambrosino said gleefully. “I’ve been thoroughly impressed with them, being in club work for a while and seeing how things go, these girls have jumped right on board.

“I keep telling my friends down south, ‘You’ve gotta meet these girls.’”

In Florida, there are over 9,000 members in over 230 GWFC-affiliated clubs, according to the state chapter’s website.

It’s the many lifelong friendships forged that make each club special, Ambrosino said.

“We help each other, we’re supportive of each other,” she said. “We’re there for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, deaths — the good times and the bad times, and that’s really what life is about.”

The GFWC Wesley Chapel Woman’s Club meets the first Wednesday of every month from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Parks Ford of Wesley Chapel, 28739 State Road 54, Wesley Chapel. The next meeting is April 1, which will feature guest speaker and member Amanda Markiewicz, director of outreach for Sunrise of Pasco County Inc. — Domestic & Sexual Violence Center.

Attendees are asked to wear teal as a symbol of sexual assault awareness.

For more information, email , or search GFWC Wesley Chapel Woman’s Club, Inc., on Facebook.

Published March 18, 2020

Project aims to improve emergency access

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Construction is underway to make it easier for emergency services to get between New Tampa and Wesley Chapel.

The connection of Mansfield Boulevard and Kinnan Street will be barricaded as construction is set to begin in March. The corridor will be an easy access point for first responders traveling between Pasco and Hillsborough counties. (Brian Fernandes)

Mansfield Boulevard is in Wesley Chapel.

Kinnan Street is in New Tampa.

An improvement will connect the streets, but will be accessible only to first responders.

The Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) board approved the connection last June.

It was one of three corridor projects – all interlocking Wesley Chapel and Tampa, that the MPO passed.

The Mansfield-Kinnan connection was initially proposed as a public road for motorists.

The AECOM consulting firm took surveys in 2017 and 2018 to get public feedback about each project. Findings showed that the Mansfield-Kinnan connection was not popular among those responding to the survey.

This was due in part to concerns that an influx of traffic along Mansfield Boulevard could be hazardous to students.

Wiregrass Ranch High School, Dr. John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Elementary School are all located either on or just off that roadway.

As a result, the Mansfield-Kinnan connection proposal was changed to operate as an emergency-vehicle-only corridor.

Pasco County, Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa are all involved in the construction of the connection.

Mansfield Boulevard, in Wesley Chapel, has residencies and schools along its stretch. The roadway soon will become a corridor for emergency vehicles traveling to and from Tampa

The developer of Tampa’s K-Bar Ranch will initiate the paving of the connection, scheduled to begin mid-March.

Hillsborough County will then help with construction, such as striping the road and the installation of an emergency gate.

The gate will only grant cross-county access to emergency vehicles.

Only first responder equipment will open the gateway and Pasco County will oversee its operation.

The Pasco County Commission is expected to approve an agreement for the gate to be used only for emergency vehicles.

Bicyclists and pedestrians will have access, too.

The project calls for the sidewalks on both streets to connect.

Barricades will enclose the construction site.

Completion is expected in the summer.

Published March 18, 2020

East Pasco land donated for fire station

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The Pasco County Commission passed a resolution at its March 10 meeting recognizing Schikedanz Bros.-Hammock Pines Ltd., for its donation of 3.8 acres for a fire station to improve fire rescue services in East Pasco County.

Scott Cassin, fire chief for Pasco County Fire Rescue, expressed appreciation for the gift.

The site is just east of Fox Ridge Boulevard, on the south side of State Road 54, in Wesley Chapel.

Construction is tentatively set for 2023, and when it opens it will be known as Station 4.

The station will enhance services to Watergrass, Meadow Pointe and Zephyrhills, Cassin said.

“This is a great location, it’s going to serve so many people,” the fire chief added, noting that the station will be constructed using funding provided through general obligation bonds approved by county voters.

Gunther Flaig, who spoke on behalf of the land donor, said, “As a father of a current EMS student, trying to become an EMS worker, I know a little bit about the difficulty that you’re facing.”

He said the company was happy to “do a little bit” for the county.

Commissioner Kathryn Starkey also expressed gratitude for the donation, noting that she and Flaig have been friends for a long time.

Commission Chairman Mike Moore said, “We very much appreciate your donation.”

As the county continues to grow, Moore said, so will its need for more fire stations.

Published March 18, 2020

Students take a stand on the power of voting

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Wiregrass Ranch High School’s annual Poetry Slam, for Black History Month, focused on the importance of voting.

With the theme “Let Your Voice Be Heard: Vote,” the event also was a tribute to the late Denise Goodridge – the school’s former principal’s secretary.

The members of the Black History Club at Wiregrass Ranch High School took part in the annual Poetry Slam. They shared their poems on the power of voting, during the Feb. 21 event. (Courtesy of The Wiregrass Stampede Newspaper)

Goodridge passed away last year due to health complications.

The Feb. 21 gathering took place in Wiregrass’s gymnasium.

Students packed the bleachers to hear the poetry from members of the Black History Club and from some faculty members.

Gloria Jackson, a reading teacher at Wiregrass, helps to oversee the Poetry Slam.

Before the wordsmiths took the stage, Jackson asked those gathered to reflect on Goodridge’s life.

As a slide show displayed photographs of Goodridge, guest vocalist Fiona Williams sang a rendition of Boyz II Men’s “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.”

Jackson also had encouraged students to come to school wearing blue — Goodridge’s favorite color.

Sa’Derrica Tate, president of the Black History Club, offered opening remarks before the poetry presentations.

She reminded her classmates about the need to express themselves at the ballot box.

“As you get closer to the age of 18, keep in mind to vote. Don’t sit and complain about our country. Instead, go out and let your voice be heard. Your vote is your voice,” she said.

She brought attention to the fact that 2020 marks 150 years since African-American men were granted the right to vote, by way of the 15th Amendment. And, it’s been exactly one century since women were granted that right, too, through the 19th Amendment, she added.

Wiregrass Ranch High School faculty joins the Kuumba Dancers and Drummers of Tampa, for Poetry Slam. The dancing group allowed students to take part in West African chants and dancing, on Feb. 21.

In her poem, “A Vote Is,” Tate described the right this way: “The shield for my mother, my sister and my aunt. It is the fight we have finally won!”

Faculty member Yvette Fisher, who stood alongside the students, offered encouraging words through her literary piece, “Silence No More.”

She shared: “I will speak and I will speak loud at the voting polls, always remembering that we all get to speak. We all have a choice because we all have a voice.”

Fisher said voting is a topic that cannot be “overemphasized.”

The teacher said her parents and grandparents were involved in the civil rights movement, and noted that resonates with her because the work for progress continues.

Fisher also reflected on Goodridge, noting the woman’s kind demeanor and the impact she had at Wiregrass.

Student William Cuebas offered a deeper meaning about going to the polls, in his poem, “It’s More Than Just a Vote.”

He said, “And true equality was rearing its bright face. So the next time that you’re taking the bus to go vote, don’t forget who came before us. The right to vote has a bigger message to me. It’s more than just a vote, it’s a symbol of our unity.”

Cuebas also touched on Goodridge’s positive vibe: “She always had this wonderful smile, this passion in her heart.

“I feel like this dedication to her memory, was one of the best things, I feel, we’ve done in this Poetry Slam,” the 17-year-old said.

Besides listening to poetry, students in the crowd had a chance to dance and sing.

The Kuumba Dancers and Drummers of Tampa entered the gymnasium, accompanied by the vibrant sounds of drums.

Dr. Kya Conner — the group’s speaker — was joined by various dancers and drummers dressed in African attire.

The purpose of the Kuumba dance is to “strengthen and preserve traditional West African dance and drum culture,” Conner said.

The rhythmic motions are accompanied with songs and chants during West African events, such as baby showers, funerals, weddings and graduations.

Conner instructed students in the crowd how to perform the stylistic clapping, as the drummers joined in unison. She also taught them how to incorporate a unique chant along with the clapping and drums.

Volunteers were invited to come down to learn an energetic dance routine, and several responded to the offer.

At the program’s close, Jackson brought it full circle, by reflecting on the life of Goodridge.

“Her impact has been tremendous,” Jackson said. “Even though she’s gone, she forever lives in our hearts.”

Published March 11, 2020

Spreading smiles, through mini horse therapy

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Senior living residents and staff at Beach House at Wiregrass recently welcomed some special guests — a pair of miniature horses and their handlers.

The 3-foot-tall ponies, Honey and Belle, stopped by the facility’s memory care center on Feb. 18, to provide therapeutic interaction with Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, in the form of comfort, love and smiles.

Beach House Assisted Living & Memory Care resident Sarah Sherman smiles, as she is greeted by mini horse Belle and her handler, Lisa Slaughter. Belle is a mini therapy horse with the organization Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures. (Christine Holtzman)

It’s a visit the horses make monthly.

Patients spent time bonding with the animals through eye contact, touching, petting and even a few kisses on the horses’ foreheads.

Memory care resident Rachella Rey voiced her appreciation for the visit.

“It’s nice of you to bring them in and let all of us see them,” she told the handlers during the hourlong visit.

She immediately bonded with 8-year-old Belle.

“This is amazing, you’re amazing,” Rey said, while continuously petting the friendly Belle.

The Beach House is one of the first places that handler Mary Rose Gullet visited about two years ago when she began the journey of launching her 501c3 nonprofit organization, Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures.

“It’s one of our favorite places to go,” said Gullet, adding it’s “where we really started seeing the impact that they make.

“This is where I first realized, ‘We need to keep doing this,’” Gullet said.

Added fellow handler Lisa Slaughter, of Land O’ Lakes: “It’s like they (horses) know what they’re going through. They’re just very spiritual animals; they just have a sense about them.”

Gullet began taking her Honey, a 7-year-old mare, on friendly visits throughout Central Florida in 2018.

The horse is named Honey because “she’s sweet like Honey,” Gullet said.

Beach House Assisted Living & Memory Care resident Mary Davenport, pets mini horse Belle, while Honey, the founding horse for Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures, looks on. Also seen is Belle’s handler, Lisa Slaughter. Honey’s handler, Mary Rose Gullet, is slightly off camera.

For Gullet, it was a way to “have a good impact in the community and make a difference in someone’s day.”

Gullet, now 30, has owned and bred horses since she was a teenager growing up in Wesley Chapel.

After she graduated from Pasco-Hernando State College, Gullet had the option to become a full-time, stay-at-home mom to her children.

But, she felt compelled to bring joy to individuals of all ages and limitations, whether it be physical, cognitive, emotional or behavioral disabilities, through mini horse therapy.

In a short time, Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures has grown significantly.

The nonprofit has two sister facilities in Lutz and Wesley Chapel, in addition to Gullet’s 12-acre horse farm in Webster.

In total, the organization has six mini horses and a board of directors/volunteers serving throughout Central Florida.

Last year, the group went on more than 275 visits — spending time at schools, hospitals, senior living facilities and behavioral health centers, and other locations.

Gullet swears by horse therapy, noting it has helped her in her personal life.

It has helped her to cope with a traumatic childhood, which included sexual abuse and subsequent battles with mental health issues.

“Horses are probably the only reason why I’m still here today,” Gullet said passionately. “It’s continually healing me; it’s ongoing therapy.”

Because of her personal trauma, Gullet felt it her duty to share the joy of horses with others, to help alleviate suffering and to provide comfort.

She put it like this: “Looking back, it’s the silver lining, the good that came out of the bad for me because I’m able to help people, and it did give me the drive and passion to share horses with people.”

Gullet went on to describe that horses are empathic creatures.

Mini therapy horse Belle and her handler, Lisa Slaughter, greet Beach House Assisted Living & Memory Care resident Bruce Patron, during a visit on Feb. 18. Belle is with the organization, Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures.

“They have feelings. They love being connected with people, and I think they have a different way of connecting to people. When you have a relationship with a horse that you trust, there’s like a calming piece to it,” she said.

And, with the mini horses, “I get to hand a piece of that to people in these facilities,” she said.

Slaughter said some of the most powerful moments come when they take the minis into mental/behavioral health facilities — meeting with veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or those who’ve been placed there for emergency mental health, through the state’s Baker Act.

Slaughter said the minis bring “little package of smiles” to those who “don’t have much to smile about.”

“It’s a lot of joy that we bring around,” Slaughter said.

“The first time I went to a visit, it was a little anxiety going on, and within seconds you just see there’s just calmness because you’re with this animal that’s just calming you.

“It’s emotional. It’s pretty rewarding to be able to do it. You wake up every day and you look forward to it,” Slaughter added.

The organization plans to use the horses to help celebrate birthdays for foster children.

It also hopes to serve more as a crisis response team in the future — something handlers did recently at a Pasco County school following a student who died by suicide, to aid students, teachers and faculty.

Said Gullet, “I want to be able to call up one of our handlers and say, ‘Hey, we have a crisis, we need a horse there, let’s throw the horses in a trailer and get there.”

For more information about Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures, visit MiniTherapy.org.

Published March 4, 2020

inPrep charter school to open this fall

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When Innovation Preparatory Academy, a new charter school in Wesley Chapel, opens this fall, it will usher in new opportunities in technology and innovation for students, according to officials at the groundbreaking ceremony last week for the school.

“It would be easy just to throw another school building up here. That’s not what you’re going to see,” said Jonathan Hage, the founder, chairman, president and CEO of Charter Schools USA.

Greg Singleton, CEO of Metro Development Group, shared details of Innovation Preparatory Academy, or inPrep for short, that is set to open this fall in Wesley Chapel. (B.C. Manion)

“You’re going to see a learning environment that’s truly on the very cutting edge of what is the best in the country,” said Hage, whose organization will be operating the school, under a partnership with Metro Development Group.

“This is actually one of the most innovative school projects we’ve ever been a part of, in our 22 years of building and operating charter schools around the country,” the education professional said.

“We’re going to be looking at the technology in a wholly different way because we have the 5G network,” Hage said. “They created a project from the ground up that’s designed to ensure that parents have amazing options and choices for their children.

“I’ll tell you, it’s a testament of the work that’s been done on the ground here, by an innovative team that wanted to make sure that we put the kids first in this county and make sure that the families had something that was unique for them,” Hage added.

Greg Singleton, president of Metro Development Group, told the crowd: “We’re super excited about what’s going on here. The goal here is to make this one of the best educational facilities in this particular region.”

The K-8 school, which will be called inPrep for short, will have a capacity for 765 students.

It will open this fall as a K-6 school, adding seventh grade in its second year of operation, and eighth grade the year after that.

“We’re going to use a curriculum called the WISH model, which stands for Wellness, Innovation, Science and Health. And, also, the science courses will be based on the STEM model, which is used to kind of motivate kids to get interested in science and technology, and engineering and math.

“Also, for the gifted and high-achieving students, inPrep is going to offer programs that are designed by England’s University of Cambridge to meet the needs (of those students.)

“Obviously, it took a Herculean effort to pull this off,” Singleton said, thanking the Metro team involved in the effort, as well as Red Apple Development, Charter Schools USA, Pasco County Schools, the Pasco County Commission and Pasco County government.

Pasco County Commissioner Ron Oakley was there to celebrate the groundbreaking.

He praised the progress being made in Connected City, which encompasses two Metro Places communities — Epperson and Mirada.

Each of those communities has a multi-acre Crystal Lagoon and Metro’s exclusive ULTRAFi high-speed Internet technology.

Pasco School Board member Alan Altman noted, “this is extremely rare to have such a cooperative partnership arrangement between a private developer and the county and the school district, and see an innovative charter school come in.”

He touched on the variety of academic programs the school district has added, to provide more choice for parents and students, and this charter school offers another new option.

“The more I learn about other school districts around the state, the more appreciative I am of Pasco County, and our board and our superintendent who have stepped out and said, ‘We want to provide choice. We want to provide opportunities.’

“The families and the citizens of this community will benefit for years to come because of the cooperation that has allowed this to be another opportunity for learning for our students,” Altman said.

Hage, too, marveled at the partnerships involved in the project.

The future is bright, he said, “when people still care about education this much and in this way.

“You see families and kids and business people and elected leaders all coming together, and doing what’s right for families and kids, that’s a unique thing.

“You don’t often see that,” Hage said.

Singleton encouraged parents who are interested to sign up soon.

“I think this is going to fill up immediately because this is something really special,” he said.

For more information, visit inPrep.com.

Published February 26, 2020

‘Downtown’ coming to Wesley Chapel

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Pasco County and Avalon Park Group/sitEX have reached an agreement on a package of incentives aimed at encouraging the development of a new downtown in Wesley Chapel.

The plan calls for a new mixed-use, urban-scale development on 215 acres, off State Road 54, in a community now being called Avalon Park Wesley Chapel.

Beat Kahli, who grew up in Switzerland, wants to create a place where people can get their daily needs met, without having to leave the community. (Courtesy of Avalon Park Group/sitEX)

Avalon Park Group/sitEX proposes to spend more than $800 million to create the new downtown, which will feature multi-storied buildings, with a mix of uses that will be within walking distance — thereby greatly reducing the need to drive outside of the community to go to work, take kids to school or meet various daily needs.

The Pasco County Commission voted 4-0, with Commission Chairman Mike Moore out ill, to approve an incentive package totaling $33.5 million.

The agreement outlines that the developer will spend about $83.3 million to construct a spine road through the project, multi-story parking decks and transit-related infrastructure.

The county has agreed to provide an annual rebate limited to 20% of the previous year’s property tax payments, which will be capped at $32 million and represents 38% of the cost of the public improvements.

Avalon Park/sitEX also plans four freestanding Class A office buildings, and has agreed to expedite the construction of the phase, containing a minimum of 75,000 square feet, in exchange for a loan of $1,250,250, which was approved as part of the deal.

David Engel, manager of the county’s office of economic growth, spelled out some of the specifics during the county board’s Feb. 18 meeting.

“The typical buildings are four stories in height. Commercial will occupy the first floor and three floors of residential above it. There also are five to six parking decks and four freestanding Class A office buildings,” Engel said.

The project will include 2,695 residential units, 165,000 square feet of Class A Office, and 190,000 square feet of commercial space, Engel said.

“Fifty percent of the residential trip generation on the site will stay on the site, once the project is complete,” Engel said.

“The return on investment (ROI) to the county is substantial,” Engel said. “We looked at the ROI based on the nonresidential development for the downtown.”

The project is expected to generate 1,065 full-time jobs and have a total economic output of $84.4 million, according to county documents.

Beat Kahli, president and CEO of Avalon Park Group, envisions creating a place people won’t have to leave, to meet their daily needs. Instead, they will be within walking distance to many of the activities they need or want to do.

A new downtown is planned in Avalon Park Wesley Chapel.

“When I moved from Switzerland more than 25 years ago, it wasn’t actually the mountains which I missed in Florida.

“I knew there were none.

“It wasn’t even that it was hot and humid,” he said.

What he missed, was living in a place where he could live, work and play.

“If you want to satisfy a daily need, you wouldn’t have to go in your car. That’s what I was used to, when I was growing up in Zurich, Switzerland.”

“Instead of building subdivisions, we have to build towns,” Kahli said, noting that’s the only way to resolve the traffic congestion caused by daily commutes.

Pasco commissioners are enthused by the plans.

“It’s such a great project,” said Commissioner Kathryn Starkey. “We’re just really excited to watch this come up out of the ground.

“This will really be downtown Wesley Chapel,” she said.

Kahli’s company already has done a similar project — Avalon Park Orlando — and is currently developing Avalon Park Tavares and Avalon Park Daytona Beach using the same standards.

Commissioner Jack Mariano said he’s aware of Kahli’s “tremendous success” in Orlando.

“I know you’re going to have it right here, as well. I’m glad you picked Pasco County,” Mariano said.

Commissioner Ron Oakley agreed: It’s going to be a great project for this area of Pasco County.

Starkey also noted: “This is cutting edge planning, right here. Being able to live, work and play in the same neighborhood is a great solution for sprawl.”

Published February 26, 2020