The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Wesley Chapel/New Tampa News

Home Depot offers jobs in spring hiring spree

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Home Depot is looking to fill 1,350 jobs in an estimated 30 stores across the Tampa Bay region, including in Pasco County.

The “Jobs in Bloom” hiring spree anticipates adding 80,000 jobs at stores and distribution centers nationwide. There are full-time, part-time and spring seasonal jobs available, according to a news release from the Atlanta-based Home Depot.

More than half of Home Depot’s seasonal hires move on to permanent positions, the release said.

The largest number of available jobs, at an estimate of 3,000, is in Chicago. Other targeted cities include Dallas, Philadelphia and Sacramento.

According to the Home Depot website, jobs are available at the Zephyrhills location, at 32715 Eiland Blvd.; and, in New Tampa, at 17601 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. In Hillsborough County, the Carrollwood store at 16121 N. Dale Mabry Highway also has job openings.

Home Depot has retooled its online application process.

Applications take about 15 minutes on any type of electronic device – computer or mobile, the news release states.

“We want everyone to have an easy and convenient experience with The Home Depot, whether they’re shopping with us or applying for a position,” Tim Crow, executive vice president of the company’s human resources department, said in the news release.

To personalize the application process, Home Depot also is highlighting job experiences of current employees in video and photo essays. These are available at the store’s digital content site, “Built from Scratch.”

Other links are available at the online Careers site and #HomeDepotHiring.

Nationwide, jobs are available at nearly 2,000 stores and 75 distribution centers. Jobs include customer service and sales, lot associates, freight and receiving, store support and cashiers. Job availability varies from store to store.

For information, visit Careers.homedepot.com/jobs-in-bloom/.

Published March 8, 2017

Principal provides an overview for high school students, parents

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As future high school parents and students arrived at the Center for the Arts at Wesley Chapel, they were greeted by upbeat music and a slideshow featuring progress made so far on Cypress Creek Middle High School.

Parents and students had plenty of questions, and Principal Carin Hetzler-Nettles, who hosted the evening session on Feb. 15, was ready.

Before fielding the questions, though, Hetzler-Nettles took the audience on a pre-recorded virtual tour of the school, now under construction off Old Pasco Road.

Wearing a white construction hat, Nettles stepped through the school, offering details about the physical plant and future plans.

After the tour, she provided additional information through a power-point presentation, covering everything from what time school is expected to start, to what types of academic and athletic programs will be offered.

During the upcoming school year, there will be students in grades six through 11 on campus.

Projections show an estimated 840 middle school students in the coming school year, and 650 high school students, the principal said.

There are two large two-story classroom buildings on the campus, and an administration building with classroom space on the second floor, Hetzler-Nettles said.

The current plan is to house the middle schoolers in one of the large classroom buildings, with the overflow being on the second floor of the administration building, Hetzler-Nettles said.

The high school students will be housed in the other large, two-story classroom building, which is closer to the student parking lot.

A full array of academic and elective courses will be offered to high school students, and there will be three high school academy programs: Business Management, Criminal Justice, and Engineering and Robotics. Students in the academies will have the opportunity to earn certifications, too, the principal noted.

Courses offered will be dictated by student demand. If a course isn’t listed on a course card, students should write it in, the principal advised. If there’s enough demand, it will be added.

The high school athletics program will include the slate of sports available at other district high schools.

And, according to an update on the school’s website, it also will be offering lacrosse — for high school girls and boys. It will be a pay-for-play program, Nettles said.

The school will have four separate locker rooms. There will be one for high school girls and one for middle school girls. There will be one for high school boys and one for middle school boys.

The locker rooms will be separated by a coach’s office, the principal said.

The gym also will have a screen that can be pulled down to divide it so that high school and middle school physical education programs and practices can be held separately, she said.

The school also plans to have separate band programs for the high school and the middle school.

And, it plans to have a competitive marching band — an issue of apparent concern to some parents. They urged Hetzler-Nettles to hire a teacher who will not be afraid to seek out difficult competitions merely because the school will be in its first year of operation.

The principal said she got their message, loud and clear.

High school and middle school students will ride the bus together — something that already occurs at a number of district schools, the principal said. Middle school students will ride in the first 10 rows of the bus and high schoolers will ride in the back.

The school day will start and end at the same time for both middle and high school students, she said. Right now, it’s looking like school will start at 7:25 a.m. or 7:30 a.m., and will end at 1:50 p.m. or 1:55 p.m., but that is subject to change.

That concerns some parents who anticipate a traffic nightmare, as so many people arrive and depart from the campus at the same time.

The road has been widened near the school entrance, but Hetzler-Nettles said she’s not aware of any plan to widen Old Pasco Road beyond that point.

The principal also told the crowd that high school and middle school students also will eat in the same cafeteria and will use the same media center, but at different times, the principal said.

The principal has advertised half of the positions she expects to be able to fill, but can’t advertise the rest until she has firmer numbers — which likely won’t happen until at least sometime in April, she said.

While acknowledging that making the transition to high school can be difficult and that it can be tough to adjust to a new high school, too, Hetzler-Nettles told the audience that she’s excited about the new possibilities that Cypress Creek Middle High will offer. She also invited parents and students to get involved to help make the school all that it can be.

“Parents if you’re interested in volunteering, we’re going to need a lot of help. I would love it if you would reach out to me.

“Just let me know what you’re interested in helping with, or if you have no idea what you’re willing to help with, you’re just willing to help. I’m going create a list, I’m going to keep all that information, and then we’re going to be calling you up when we need help.”

She urged students to share their ideas with her.

She wants the school to be a place they enjoy and where they can thrive.

Students will help determine the school’s traditions, she said.

“The most important thing at a school is the student voice. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. School is what you make it, just as life is what you make it. I want to hear your thoughts and your opinions. You can tell me the things you want to see at your school and the things you’d really like to have,” the principal said.

Cypress Creek Middle High School
Mascot: The Coyotes
School colors: Green and yellow
For information: Visit CCMHS.pascok12.fl.us
If you have questions, suggestions or want to volunteer, call Principal Carin Hetzler-Nettles at (813) 346-4401 or email her at .

Published March 1, 2017

Ice arena offers plenty of room, action

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There’s no shortage of activities — or room— at the newly minted Florida Hospital Center Ice.

From learning to skate, to playing hockey and curling, there’s plenty to do at the much-ballyhooed facility, which measures 150,500 square feet.

On Jan. 28, during the facility’s opening weekend, hundreds of youth and adults packed into what has been described as “the largest ice sports facility in the Southeastern United States.”

During a water break, Mason Cessna, 9, of Valrico, gets a quick swig during the 9- and 10-year-old session. Coaches were watching the individual abilities of each participant in the ‘Squirts’ division.
(Fred Bellet)

Patrons came from as far away Brooksville, Valrico and Lithia to check out the complex, at 3173 Cypress Ridge Blvd., which is off Interstate 75 at the State Road 56 interchange in Wesley Chapel.

Others visited from nearby Lutz, Land O’ Lakes and New Tampa.

And, while two of the complex’s five rinks remain under construction, there were plenty of options to accommodate ice enthusiasts of all kinds.

The Olympic rink, which measures 200 feet by 100 feet, was fully occupied with public skaters and learn-to-skate participants.

Two NHL-sized rinks (200 feet by 85 feet), meanwhile, were teeming with hours of youth recreational hockey evaluations and adult pickup games.

During breaks in ice action, spectators marveled at the fully stocked pro shop and other amenities at the two-story facility.

Gordie Zimmermann, managing partner of Florida Hospital Center Ice, is one contented man.

“We’ve exceeded our expectations from the get-go,” Zimmermann said. “Like participation for the Learn to Skate, everything’s almost double of what we thought it would be coming out of the starting block, so it’s been terrific.”

That, too, applies to registration figures for the center’s adult hockey leagues.

Florida Hospital Center Ice has attracted a large number of skaters, taking to the ice.
(Fred Bellet)

The initial eight-week “reduced” session has 25 teams signed up, consisting of beginner, intermediate and advanced leagues.

“We thought we would maybe get 10 teams in the first adult (league),” Zimmermann said. He’s elated with the current registration figures.

Additionally, more teams are anticipated to sign up once 12-week sessions commence.

Besides recreation league offerings, the center also will be home base for several other area-based teams and organizations.

The Wiregrass Ranch and Freedom high school club teams have signed up. The same goes for the University of South Florida Ice Bulls, of the American Collegiate Hockey Association.

The Tampa Bay Junior Hockey Club, an elite training development program, also has jumped aboard.

Consequently, a bevy of regional and international tournaments and camps are in the works, Zimmermann said.

One of the more intriguing on the docket is the World V-Red Prospect Advanced Camp, from July 16 through July 21.

Labeled as Canada’s No. 1 hockey program, it’s the first time ever the weeklong event will be hosted in the United States.

“The biggest thing that we’re doing,” Zimmermann said, “is that we’re bringing in major tournaments through the summer, and we’re going to bring in another one that’s going to be huge for the area for hockey.”

Rob Passante, left, of Wesley Chapel, has the duty of tying ice skates for 10-year-old Tucker McKinney, of Seffner, as Tucker’s brother, Luke McKinney, 4, looks on. Tucker is friends with Passante’s son, Dominic.
(Fred Bellet)

The complex, too, has drawn the eyes of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who’ve signed on as program rink sponsors.

No plans are in the works for the Lightning to relocate their practices from the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon, however.

Other visiting NHL teams, though, may practice at the Wesley Chapel complex during their road trips to Florida; multiple NHL organizations have already expressed interest in doing so, Zimmermann said.

Still, there will be ample ice time for everyone — even the average skater or recreational hockey player.

“We can do a lot more…and still keep our public skate and our learn-to-skate program going; we don’t have to cancel it,” Zimmermann explained.

Other key features of the complex, interestingly, don’t even require ice.

Rinks can be converted to accommodate large corporate events and dry floor sports, such as basketball, volleyball and box lacrosse.

“We have a sub-floor that goes over the ice,” Zimmermann said, “and a sport court goes on top of one of the NHL rinks. We can put it on any one, and we can also do it on the mini-rink.”

There’s also a six-lane, 90-yard running track, and a 2,600-square-foot fitness facility.

All those features, Zimmermann said, set the facility apart from other complexes.

Kim Payne, communications director at Florida Hospital Center Ice, watches a practice session from an observation area on the second-floor.
(Fred Bellet)

“Really, there’s nothing comparable to this south of New York all the way through the West Coast,” Zimmermann said. “It’s pretty amazing.”

Shari Klutz, skating the center’s program director, agrees.

“I love this facility,” said Klutz, who previously served as figure skating director at the Ashburn Ice House in Virginia. “They thought of a lot of key things, and made it unique. It has every training aspect you could need.”

The ice complex has been a long time coming for the area.

Previously, many Pasco and north Hillsborough residents would trek to Brandon to get their hockey and skating fix. Others may have used the Clearwater Ice Arena or the Tampa Bay Skating Academy in Oldsmar.

Florida Hospital Center Ice was expected to open in October 2015. However, various permitting and technological setbacks stalled the $28 million capital investment project.

Zimmermann pointed to a lengthy commissioning period, balancing of the building and “other things out of our control.”

“I wouldn’t say they were necessarily delays,” Zimmermann said. “It’s a very complicated building.”

He added: “We would have loved to be open before the (Christmas) holiday, but we’re going to be here a long time, so we wanted to do it right.”

With a relative dearth of ice complexes in the Bay Area, Center Ice is forecasted as an economic driver for both Wesley Chapel and Pasco County.

The county already has five hotels in development, including two directly adjacent to the complex.

Officials believe the massive facility will attract 1.5 million to 2 million visitors annually, with 40 percent coming from outside Tampa Bay.

Though open and operable, the entire complex is still not fully complete.

Finishing touches are still being made to the fitness center and two rinks. The full-service restaurant, Top Shelf Sports Lounge, is slated to open sometime this month.

Published February 22, 2017

Lexus of Wesley Chapel brings new dealership to Pasco

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A new dealer will tap into the luxury automobile market in Pasco County with its new showroom under construction near Wiregrass Ranch.

Lexus of Wesley Chapel is being built on about 8 acres, next to Wesley Chapel Toyota, at 5300 Eagleston Blvd., south of State Road 54 and west of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Owners of Williams Automotive Group competed against nearly 130 dealers nationwide who sought to win the coveted Lexus dealership.

Construction is underway on Lexus of Wesley Chapel. The luxury car dealership is expected to open by the end of 2017.
(Courtesy of Lexus of Wesley Chapel)

The new Lexus showroom is expected to open by the end of 2017 and employ about 100 people. Williams Automotive Group is the parent company for Wesley Chapel Toyota, Wesley Chapel Honda and Tampa Honda.

Lexus of Wesley Chapel will be the second to sell luxury, high-end vehicles in Pasco County.

In 2015, AutoNation opened Pasco County’s first Mercedes Benz dealership at the corner of State Road 56 and Interstate 75, also in Wesley Chapel. It is within the orbit of Tampa Premium Outlets, Cypress Creek Town Center and Florida Hospital Center Ice.

For Lexus fans, the nearest dealership is more than 20 miles away in Tampa.

A study and review of the area’s demographics found Wesley Chapel to be “a perfect fit for the luxury car buyer,” according to an email statement from John Williams, co-owner of Williams Automotive Group.

The market for Lexus of Wesley Chapel covers not only Pasco but northern Hillsborough County, Hernando County and beyond, Williams said in the email.

According to 2015 census data, the annual median income in Wesley Chapel is about $75,000. By comparison, the Pasco overall median income is about $45,000.

Average household income is even higher at more than $85,000 in Wesley Chapel, and $60,000 in Pasco.

With the ongoing growth in the county, Williams said the market can handle even more luxury dealerships in future.

The main Lexus showroom will be a two-story building with about 58,000 square feet. There also will be a double-tunnel car wash of about 3,800 square feet, and a covered outdoor pavilion of about 1,900 square feet.

The dealership will have nearly 500 parking spaces.

A 10-acre adjacent site has room for more than 600 additional parking spaces, and a future collision center. Williams said construction on the collision center probably will begin in 2018.

The indoor showroom will feature 12 Lexus vehicles while another 10 vehicles can be displayed outdoors. There will be 30 service bays, including eight detail bays, with room for expansion.

In addition, there will be several customer lounges, quiet rooms, business offices, a children’s play area, technology center, and an upscale cafe with coffee and cappuccino.

Published February 22, 2017

Farewell, and Godspeed, to Adam Kennedy

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The call brought Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning out of an early morning meeting. Crews Lake Middle School was on the phone. The principal hadn’t arrived. There were reports of a terrible wreck along his usual commute, and they were worried.

Saying he was on it, Browning rang up Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco and put the situation to him. “I’ll call you back,” Nocco said. Ten long minutes ticked by. Then, Nocco, on the phone.

“My condolences,” he said.

Now, Browning. “Those are the words no one wants to hear.”

(Courtesy of Pasco County Schools)

Thus began what Browning would come to know as “the worst I’ve had as the superintendent of schools.”

Adam Kennedy was, like many U.S. Marines, a Renaissance man. Smoker of savory meats; baker of perfect cheesecakes; housepainter, woodworker and cabinetmaker; golfer, triathlete, Xbox aficionado and Pokémon shark; tank driver and fan of Broadway musicals; warrior-philosopher, educator and servant leader.

And — and! — marvel his friends — he more or less mastered virtually all these skills before that maker of instant experts, YouTube, entered our lives. Adam Kennedy was old school.

Also, this: He is missed. As Nocco reported to Browning, the 46-year-old died on the way to work Jan. 20, when his 12-year-old Dodge pickup slammed into the back of a logging truck on State Road 52 that had slowed to make a turn just west of U.S. Highway 41.

A couple of weeks ago, some 800 mourners filled the school’s gymnasium to express, with tears and tender memories, why his premature passing left a sinkhole that will be slow to fill.

“He never gave you the answer,” Clarissa Stokes, his student, said into a melancholy microphone the other night. “He made you work for it.”

This was not College of Education theory at work. This was a revelation that came to Capt. Kennedy in the cockpit of an M1A1 Abrams tank on the outskirts of Baghdad. Deployed as part of Operation Desert Storm in 1991, it came to Kennedy he wasn’t sure exactly where he was, or what exactly motivated the Iraqis.

There in his war machine, Kennedy made a promise: If God saw fit to deliver him home, he would do whatever he could to make sure future generations of Americans did not suffer a similar fundamental shortcoming about the world.

It was a vow he followed as surely as if it had been an order from a commanding general.

Kennedy made it home, made his way into teaching, and began making his mark on young minds by inspiring them with the stories of those who went before.

Teaching rewarded him not only with young minds flickering to life, but also dedicated friends and a wife, Abigail, also a teacher, and their children, grade-schoolers Ethan and Hannah.

All were, and remain, staggered. Because Kennedy was young. And vibrant. But, as colleague Freda Abercrombie rightly noted, “It is not always the leaning tree that falls.”

Once a commander, in the classroom he was commanding.

“He told us, ‘Never present a problem without offering a solution,’” Stokes recited, “‘because then, you’re just complaining.’”

Witness after witness said much the same thing: Everything about him encouraged others to be better.

Mike Pellegrino admired him because Kennedy boosted his game.

Pellegrino noticed the new guy at Weightman right off, as you do men who wear suspenders and bowties.

Pellegrino and Kennedy wound up playing golf, training for triathlons and repairing houses together.

Pellegrino stood by him, when Adam took Abigail’s hand.

As Jim McKinney, a tech specialist who found a fellow traveler in Kennedy, said utterly without irony, “He liked retro things.”

As proof, he noted the singular time Kennedy shed his 1920s-teacher look to come to school, instead, dressed as Ben Franklin.

Browning imagined big things ahead.

Kennedy made assistant principal before he was 40, and rose to principal in 2015. All of which added to the devastation from the horror of that Friday morning.

The boss pauses here. There is a sniff. He remembers excitedly calling Kennedy to tell him about his new command. “He said [in Marine Corps monotone], ‘Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Right away, sir. Thank you, sir. Have a good day, sir.’ …  I thought I’d messed it up.”

He hadn’t, of course.

Kennedy, it turned out, absorbed the rigors of responsibility the same whether his view was through the periscope of an Abrams, or across the panorama of a middle school campus.

Only the rules of engagement changed. As did the lives of those who were blessed, in recent years, by that engagement.

Tom Jackson, a resident of New Tampa, is interested in your ideas. To reach him, email .

Published February 8, 2017

Festival features arts, entertainment and fun

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The Suncoast Arts Fest, which attracts artists and art lovers from near and far, will stage its 12th annual event at The Shops at Wiregrass on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22.

The festival will showcase 126 artists coming from nearby communities, and from as far away as Alaska, California, Quebec and Tennessee.

This ceramic work was created by Patrick Dragon, one of the artists who will be taking part in this year’s Suncoast Arts Fest, at The Shops of Wiregrass, Jan. 21 and Jan. 22. (Courtesy of Suncoast Arts Fest)

Artists and craftsman must compete to gain entry into the show, and this year’s exhibitors were selected from a field of 170 applicants.

The artists represent a wide array of categories, including ceramics/clay, digital, drawing, fiber, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and wood.

They will compete for $14,000 in cash prizes.

The festival is a popular event in Wesley Chapel, drawing as many as 95,000 visitors when the weather is nice, according to Jennifer Douglas, festival manager.

Festival-goers also will be able to enjoy live entertainment.

On Jan. 21, The Richey Suncoast Kid’s Theatre and The Eighth Note, a children’s a capella group, will kick off the festival. The lineup that day also includes Sassafras Bluegrass Band, When in Rome and Hope Darling Band.

The lineup on Jan. 22 includes John Emil, The De Lei’ed Parrots and Sarasota Slim.

Ed Myers, a digital artist, is among 126 artists accepted into the 12th annual Suncoast Arts Fest.

Other highlights will include a performance by the Brandon Ballet on Jan. 22, and roving performers from the Bay Area Renaissance Festival on both days.

There will be lots of stuff for the kids to do, too.

The Kids’ Art Garden, presented by Suncoast Credit Union, will feature free art projects, a scavenger hunt through the festival and face painting. The Art Makerspace allow will have projects and activities for people of all ages.

Other event features include professional chalk art, custom silk-screened T-shirts and a student Emerging Artist exhibit, featuring works by Pasco County elementary, middle and high school students.

The Suncoast Arts Fest benefits “Arts for Kids,” a mini-grant program, which provides supplemental arts education funding in public, private and charter schools in Pasco County.

For a full entertainment schedule, visit SuncoastArtsFest.com.

Suncoast Arts Fest
When: Jan. 21 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Jan. 22 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: The Shops at Wiregrass, at the intersection of State Road 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, Wesley Chapel
How much: Free admission and parking.
Details: Arts festival showcases 126 craftsman and artists in categories including ceramics/clay, digital, drawing, fiber, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and wood. Event also includes live entertainment, chalk art murals, kids’ arts areas, and other activities.

Published January 18, 2017

 

 

Vet services expand in Wesley Chapel

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The Pasco Vet Center will begin offering its mobile services in Wesley Chapel this week.

The center will be bringing its 38-foot mobile unit to Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus, 2727 Mansfield Blvd., on Fridays, effective Jan. 20.

This 38-foot mobile vet center will begin offering services on Fridays, effective Jan. 20, at Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus, at 2727 Mansfield Blvd. Appointments will be accepted at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., but hours can be extended, if a need is demonstrated. (Courtesy of A.J. Jones)

“It’s like an RV. It’s got two offices inside and a satellite. Everything you can do in a brick-and-mortar office, I can do onboard,” said Frank (AJ) Jones, a veteran outreach program specialist.

The weekly readjustment counseling services will be offered, with appointments available at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., Jones said. “If the need is there, we’ll stay there, and we’ll make longer hours,” he added.

“We provide readjustment counseling to combat veterans. We also provide services to veterans who are struggling with military sexual trauma, male or female,” Jones said.

Counseling will be available for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bereavement counseling is available for families who lost someone, who was in the military when he or she died, combat or not. Family counseling is available, too, Jones said.

The vet center also helps veterans who are suffering from other kinds of trauma, too.

“We see mortuary teams. These are the morticians in the military, who are here in the states. When the bodies come back to the states, they normally come back the way it was when they were over there. When they open the casket to prepare the bodies, they’re dealing with the combat trauma,” Jones said.

A.J. Jones is a veterans outreach program specialist.

The center also serves drone teams, Jones said. “They’re in the war during the day, and then they go home at night. It’s different for the soldiers that are over there, everything is focused on being there and where they’re at in the moment. They’re not,” he said. Instead, they’re fighting in the war during the day and going home to their family at night.

“It’s a whole different dynamic there, for the drone teams,” Jones said.

Resources are available to help veterans who are searching for employment, who need assistance with benefit claims, he said.

Referrals also are available for suicide prevention.

All services are confidential and provided at no cost to the veteran and family members, Jones said.

The idea is to make the services more convenient, so veterans don’t have to drive into Tampa to receive help, Jones said.

To schedule an appointment or to find out more, call the Pasco Vet Center at (727) 372-1854.

Published January 18, 2017

Overpass Road/I-75 interchange under review

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About 100 residents had the chance to see the design for a proposal to widen and extend Overpass Road at a public hearing on Dec. 15, but the project is years away from construction.

The project, estimated at $220 million, calls for widening and extending Overpass Road, aligning it with Fairview Heights and Kossik roads, and building a new Interstate 75 interchange.

The nearly 9-mile project is driven by a rapidly changing landscape that developers are tapping into for homes, employment centers and shops.

The proposed plan was outlined at the public hearing at the First Congregation Church of Zephyrhills.

In addition to a new I-75 interchange, the road would be widened to four lanes, or six lanes in some sections, from Old Pasco Road to U.S. 301 in Zephyrhills. Construction on the interchange – the only partially funded phase of the project – is scheduled in 2020.

Pasco County has about $32 million budgeted for the estimated $64 million interchange. Additional state funds will be sought in 2017.

Pasco, with the Florida Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, is completing a study of the project before committing to its construction.

A no-build alternative also is an option.

A decision is anticipated by spring 2017.

At the hearing, residents could view maps and ask questions. They also viewed a video explaining the project.

During a public comment period, one property owner raised concern about access to property abutting I-75. Others opted instead for written comments, which were accepted by the state department of transportation through Dec. 27.

Many people at the meeting had questions about construction, increasing traffic and future plans to buy right-of-way.

Lorri and David Blommel, who live off Kossik Road, had mixed views of the project.

Lori Blommel had some questions: “How are we going to get out of our little place across four lanes of highway? How’s that going to work?”

But, an improved roadway, with an Overpass extension, also would provide a quicker, more direct route to Wesley Chapel.

David Blommel said a 30-minute trip could be shortened to 10 minutes.

The entire length of roadway is quickly transforming. Vacant land is becoming home to new subdivisions to join existing ones, such as the Villages at Pasadena Hills.

Metro Development Group recently broke ground on a 7-acre manmade Crystal Lagoon on Epperson Ranch at Overpass and Curley roads. The master-planned community will add thousands of homes, as well as employment opportunities to the area as part of the state-approved Connected City corridor.

The state’s 10-year pilot program focuses on about 7,800 acres to encourage development of new neighborhoods and stimulate job growth with cutting edge technology. Total build out is about 50 years into the future.

Currently, Overpass is an east-west road that runs from Old Pasco Road to just less than a mile east of Boyette Road. The road falls between State Road 52 and County Road 54. It crosses I-75, but it isn’t connected to the interstate.

The project would widen Overpass from two lanes to four lanes, from Old Pasco to I-75. A diverging diamond interchange would be built with a connection to Overpass.

In addition, Blair Drive, which currently links to Overpass near I-75, would be closed. A new, two-lane paved road would be built with a connection to Old Pasco.

When the Overpass extension is complete, the road would intersect with Handcart Road. From there, the road name changes to Fairview Heights Road and later becomes Kossik Road. The project ends where Kossik intersects with U.S. 301 in Zephyrhills.

Plans, long range, are to widen Overpass Road from I-75 to Boyette Road to six lanes, plus two auxiliary lanes. From Boyette Road to U.S. 301, the road also would widen to six lanes.

The project dates to 2003 and the Overpass Road Route Study. Since then, the plan has taken shape from additional studies and public workshops.

Published December 28, 2016

Overpass Road could be widened

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Residents can review a proposal for improvements to Overpass Road at a public hearing on Dec. 15 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the First Congregational Church of Zephyrhills, 7900 Fort King Road in Zephyrhills.

Pasco County, the Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration will host the event. Maps and related documents will be available for review.

There will be a formal presentation at 6 p.m., as well as opportunities, before and after, to offer comments and ask questions about the project.

Final approval for the project is expected by spring 2017.

Overpass Road currently is an east/west, two-lane road from Old Pasco Road to slightly less than a mile east of Boyette Road, where it ends.

The approximately nine-mile project would expand Overpass to a minimum of four lanes from Old Pasco Road eastward to U.S. 301, in Zephyrhills. A redesign would realign Overpass and connect it with Kossik Road.

In addition, a new interchange would be built to connect Overpass with Interstate 75.

“We need another exit,” said Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore. “It’s that simple.”

Moore and other members of the Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization received an update on the project during an MPO meeting on Dec. 8 in Dade City.

The interchange is the only portion of the project to have any funding. Construction costs for the interchange are about $64 million, but the county currently has about $32 million available.

Moore said about $15 million in state funding should be pursued to help make up the shortfall. And, Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano said federal funding also should be sought for road projects in light of President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to support infrastructure improvements nationwide.

Published December 14, 2016

Coca-Cola on tap at Florida Hospital Center Ice

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Coca-Cola Beverages Florida and Florida Hospital Center Ice are joining forces to bring Coca-Cola products to the soon-to-open ice hockey and sports complex in Wesley Chapel, according to a news release from Florida Hospital Center Ice.

Florida Hospital Center Ice will open in January 2017 with four ice rinks and a mini-rink. (Courtesy of Florida Hospital Center Ice)
Florida Hospital Center Ice will open in January 2017 with four ice rinks and a mini-rink.
(Courtesy of Florida Hospital Center Ice)

The iconic cola company and Florida Hospital reached an agreement for Coca-Cola to exclusively provide non-alcoholic beverages at the new facility, which is under construction at the Interstate 75 and State Road 56 interchange.

Construction is expected to conclude in December, followed by an official opening in January 2017.

Coca-Cola products include Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, Core Power and Dasani bottled water.

The exclusive rights for Coca-Cola prohibits competitive beverages, soft drinks, sports or energy drinks, water, tea and juices from the facility’s concession stand and the full-service restaurant – Top Shelf Sports Lounge – on the mezzanine level.

“Coca-Cola is such an iconic brand and so synonymous with sports, that we thought it was a natural partner for our new facility,” said Gordie Zimmermann, in a written statement.

Zimmerman is the complex’s managing partner, with Florida Hospital Center Ice.

Construction on the Florida Hospital Center Ice sports complex is expected to finish in December. (File Photo)
Construction on the Florida Hospital Center Ice sports complex is expected to finish in December.
(File Photo)

Florida Hospital Center Ice is billed as the largest sports facility in the southeastern United States. It is more than 150,000 square feet and offers four ice rinks plus a mini-rink.

Zimmermann’s company, Z Mitch LLC, invested $28 million in the facility. Florida Hospital is the facility’s major sponsor and naming partner.

The Tampa Bay Lightning is a program rink partner.

Advertising sponsors include Bright House Networks, Buffalo Wild Wings, DEX Imaging, RIPA Associates, Snyder Financial, Team Bohannon/kw, and The Toni Everett Co.

Center Ice will host national and international hockey tournaments and figure skating competitions, and is seeking sponsors for its special events.

For information, visit FloridaHospitalCenterIce.com.

Published November 23, 2016