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Browning reports on school issues

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Practically no education-related topic was off limits during Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning’s recent visit with The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce.

At a recent breakfast meeting at the The Edwinola, Browning touched on everything from teacher pay and performance standards, to acceleration programs and school safety.

“We live in a crazy day and time in education,” said Browning, addressing dozens of chamber members.

Browning praised the district’s teachers as a whole, saying they’re “busting their tail ends trying to educate the kids.

Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning was the featured guest speaker at The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce’s breakfast meeting, at The Edwinola. (Courtesy of Pasco County Schools)

“Being a teacher today is tough, tough work, and it is patience, particularly when you look at the schools. Every district has schools that range on one end of the spectrum to the other — from the low socioeconomic to the very affluent schools,” Browning said.

The Pasco County school district encompasses about 73,000 students across 90 schools, making it the state’s 11th largest district. Its annual operational budget is about $1.2 billion.

A call for more state funding
Browning mentioned he’s been visiting schools throughout the county to gather input from educators on “what’s right, what’s not right, what needs to be fixed, what’s working.”

In the same breath, he said there won’t be salary increases for teachers and other school base staff next school year.

That’s because any additional state funding for education has already been earmarked for school safety, mental health services and classroom supplies, he said.

“Once you take those three things out of there, there’s not a lot of flexible spending. So, when you start talking about pay raises…I can’t do it. I can’t do that next year because there’s not the money there for us,” Browning said.

“You’ve seen the reports on the national news about teachers walking out of classrooms, demanding more money, and I can sympathize with them on what they’re doing. But…in Florida we can’t do that, and I will advocate that,” he said.

Related to teacher pay, Browning stressed the state legislature “has got to get serious about how we’re going to fund education to the levels that it needs, so that we can address all the issues that we’re having to face.”

Browning also blasted the Florida Standards Assessment, the state’s accountability system, and the idea of assigning grades to schools and districts.

Though Pasco is labeled a ‘B’ district, Browning acknowledged the school system “has a lot of ‘C’ schools, fewer ‘B’ schools and even fewer ‘A’ schools.

“I am not sold on the idea that we tag a school with an ‘A, B, C, D or F’ — and that is going to really set the course for that school,” Browning said.

“Realtors, they will sell property based on the grade that school is given. It’s grossly unfair. I’ve asked realtors, ‘Please do not sell homes to folks, No. 1, based upon a school grade; and secondly, they think that is the school they’re going to attend.’”

Browning also criticized the state’s evaluation system for teachers.

It doesn’t add up that approximately 98 percent of the district’s teachers are graded “effective or highly effective” yet the school district still has a ‘B’ grade, he said.

“A lot of it’s based on student outcomes, student data, which some of it should be. But, we’re still arguing about how we come up with a system that truly evaluates instructors, teachers and district staff for that matter,” Browning said.

Some type of measure is needed to truly delineate great teachers from subpar ones, Browning suggested.

“I want great teachers, and I want to keep great teachers in our schools.,” he said. “Our kids, our communities do not need mediocre teachers in our classrooms.”

Rigorous academies, technical programs
Meanwhile, Browning proudly discussed the district’s school acceleration and technical programs.

He highlighted the success of the “high rigor” Cambridge International Programme in place at five schools — Pasco Middle and Pasco High since 2014; and this year introduced at San Antonio Elementary, Paul R. Smith Middle and Anclote High.

Pasco County Schools was recently awarded the District of the Year — Medium Sized Cambridge District. The district was recognized for expanding access to Cambridge exams by more than 100 percent and achieving a pass rate of 76 percent. The district also had 31 students who received a Cambridge Learner Award.

The Cambridge curriculum can be compared to Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate curricula, whereby students in the high school program can earn college credits and an international diploma. Those who earn the diploma also qualify for a Florida Bright Futures College scholarship.

“If you set the bar high, those kids will achieve it,” Browning said, later adding he will continue to “press hard” for more rigorous academic programs district-wide.

Additionally, Browning was upbeat about the many career and technical academies the district currently offers, such as Zephyrhills High’s aviation academy and Wesley Chapel High’s automotive technology academy, along with academies at other schools ranging from health to finance to robotics engineering, and more.

Said Browning, “We’ve just opened up a lot of choices for kids — getting kids the opportunity to get a taste of what it is in the real world, and make those connections about what they’re learning in the classroom and how that applies to real life.”

He also observed: “When you can make that connection of what it is and how does this really impact you as an adult, then they start seeing.”

Many graduates of Wesley Chapel High’s auto academy are making as much as $75,000 to $80,000 working at local car dealerships, Browning said.

“We know that not all kids in our system are college bound. Does that mean they shouldn’t be successful? No. Does that mean they shouldn’t make good salary? No,” the superintendent said.

The school superintendent also talked about the possibility of a technical high school in east Pasco, noting it’s on the district’s five-year facilities work program.

The district’s only two technical offerings — Marchman Technical College and Wendell Krinn Technical High School (replacing Ridgewood High in 2018-2019) — are located in New Port Richey.

He said plans call for another such school to be built on a 125-acre, district-owned tract of land on Handcart Road in the Dade City area — to serve students living in Dade City, Zephyrhills and Wesley Chapel.

“We are trying our darnedest to find money to build that facility,” the school superintendent said.

Elsewhere, Browning spoke extensively about school safety measures, from the district’s active threat plan to beefing up school security.

He also noted that he’s staunchly opposed to arming teachers and other school personnel.

“There’s something inside me that tells me anytime I introduce a gun in a classroom, on a school campus, it’s just another opportunity for someone to get hurt or killed,” Browning said.

Published April 25, 2018

Helping a community to lift itself up

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Drive up to Life Community Center and you’ll find a crowded parking lot.

That’s because there’s a lot going on in the modular building, at 6542 Applewood Drive in Wesley Chapel, which is affiliated with Life Community Church, formerly known as Victorious Life Church.

Carol Smith, left, enjoys coming to the weekly luncheons. Carmen Robles, a volunteer at the center, helps Smith get settled. (B.C. Manion)

For instance, there’s a weekly community luncheon on Tuesdays in the modular building, and anyone is welcome to drop in for a hot meal and some fellowship.

During one of those recent luncheons, Riley Brannon greeted people as they entered the building. Later, as they prepared to eat, he offered a blessing.

Carol Smith, a regular at these gatherings, said she enjoys the food.

Carmen Robles, a volunteer, helped Smith settle in for a pasta lunch, prepared by Nancy Frankulin, of Bosco’s Italian-To-Go. On alternate weeks, the meals are prepared by Taco Sun.

The center also has a food pantry that operates on Friday afternoons, routinely providing food for 300 to 375 families.

The groceries are donated to the church by Costco and Feeding Tampa Bay, said Terence Gaston, the food ministry coordinator. “Our motto is nobody goes hungry,” he said.

Brannon said Life Community Center is doing important work.

“People are getting food that wouldn’t otherwise,” Brannon said, plus it helps in other ways.

One program, called “Raptime,” is aimed at keeping kids in school.

Fourteen children have been with the program since elementary school, and now they’re in middle school, said Robin Granger, director of Life Community Center.

The goal is to help them to graduate from high school.

Riley Brannon offers a blessing during a Tuesday afternoon lunch at Life Community Center, in the Angus Valley community of Wesley Chapel. The gathering, held each week, offers fellowship and a free hot meal to those who choose to attend.
(Courtesy of Life Community Center)

Angus Valley, where Life Community Center is located, has a high dropout rate, Granger explained. “It’s generational. Their parents didn’t graduate from high school. Their grandparents didn’t graduate from high school,” she said.

Because of that, when a problem arises at school, parents often feel intimidated when they are trying to stand up for their children, Granger said.

That’s where Life Community Center comes in. It provides guidance for parents to help them take the needed steps to support their children, Granger said.

“We’re not going to do the work for you, but we’ll walk beside you,” she said.

“When you’re not sure what to say to the social worker, or your kid is suspended, or your kid has to be transferred — what can we do to advocate for you? We coach parents. We don’t do it for them,” Granger said.

Helping people find gainful work
The center also has a program aimed at helping people to enter or re-enter the workforce.

Its Work Ready program helps people to put together their resumes, brush up on interview skills and to even learn skills that can help them land a job.

For instance, it provided scholarships for students to be trained to become certified nursing assistants. Seven of those people now have full-time jobs, Granger said.

The idea is to provide a hand up, not a handout, she said.

The center aims to help equip people who haven’t had the opportunity to be employed, or haven’t had the chance to understand what it takes to get a job, Granger said.

A big crowd gathered this spring for the ribbon cutting at the new modular building for Life Community Center. The center has been serving the community for years, but previously was operating out of a doublewide trailer. (Courtesy of Life Community Center)

There’s another program, called “Celebrate Recovery,” which focuses on assisting people who are in recovery.

“People are more willing to walk in a community center than they are a church,” Granger said.

At the church, about 10 people showed up to a recovery meeting; at the life center, about 30 did, Granger said.

The center helps in other, practical ways, too.

“We have a Back to School, where we help do socks, shoes and underwear,” she said, noting that those items are provided for families who need the help. And, there’s a program that supplies food for children who would otherwise go hungry over the weekend.

On top of all that, every fourth Friday of the month, Florida Hospital and Pioneer Medical Services bring a mobile unit to the center to see people who do not have insurance, Granger said.

The center aims to provide the kinds of services that people want and need, Granger said.

It also wants to be a source of information regarding programs it doesn’t directly provide, but that can be useful for community residents.

Creating a paradigm shift for helping others
At Life Community Center, people get help — but it’s not just a one-way street, Granger said.

The center has a program called Time Exchange.

It works like this: “If they need an electricity bill paid, or a water bill paid, we’ll partner with them to do it, but in return, they have to give us Time Exchange,” Granger said, meaning a number of service hours in exchange for the help.

“If they have $100 electric bill, we’ll work with them, but then I expect to see them here, whether it’s at the community lunches or at food ministry,” she said.

Nancy Frankulin shows off a big pot of pasta sauce served during a recent Tuesday afternoon lunch at Life Community Center, 6542 Applewood Drive in Wesley Chapel. (B.C. Manion)

And, at Christmas, they’ll help a family give their children nice presents, but they expect some hours of service at the center.

Again, the goal is to give a hand up, not a handout.

Time Exchange helps people see how they can contribute, and it fosters a way to connect to others, she said.

“Poverty isn’t about the lack of material things. Poverty is about broken relationships,” Granger said.

The lack of resources can be demoralizing.

“When we think about people who are living paycheck to paycheck, or they get behind in bills, they feel like there’s no light at the end of their tunnel.

“They’re just depressed. They’re feeling hopeless,” she said.

What the center has discovered is that people who began helping as part of Time Exchange often continue helping.

That’s because they feel welcome and appreciated, Granger said.

Besides, she added, “there’s a lot of laughter, and there’s a lot of fun.”

Want to help?
These are some items on Life Community Center’s wish list:

  • 10 Chrome Books/Laptops: to help job seekers and Stay in School programs
  • 1 printer
  • Books for teens
  • Do-it-yourself ideas/projects for children and teenagers
  • Board games for kids

For more information, call (813) 994-0685.

Ways that Life Community Center helps:

  • Celebrate Recovery: A 12-step program celebrating God’s healing power for any hurts, hang-ups and habits
  • Raptime: A stay in school program servings youths who live in Angus Valley
  • Community lunches: A free hot lunch on Tuesday for anyone who wishes to come
  • Food ministry: Families are welcome to pick up a box of fresh produce, meat, bread and groceries on Fridays between 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.
  • Little meals: A partnership with Quail Hollow Elementary School to provide nutritious supplements on the weekend for chronically hungry children in the community
  • Community Service House: Those needing to earn volunteer hours can do so at the Life Community Center.
  • Work Ready Services: Help is provided with resumes, interview skills and classes to help members in the community to obtain jobs
  • Grants: Help can be provided when someone encounters an unexpected hardship, but that help must be repaid through volunteer hours at the center.
  • Thanksgiving in a box: Life Church provides 500 families with the ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal, including a turkey.
  • Imagine Christmas: Parents complete 10 hours to 18 hours of community service in exchange for quality Christmas gifts for their children.

For more information, call (813) 994-0685.

Published April 18, 2018

State Road 54 West booming with development

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State Road 54, east of U.S. 41, tends to hog the spotlight on new development.

After all, it is home to premium commercial shopping meccas, including Tampa Premium Outlets and the now-rising star of Cypress Creek Town Center.

Brightworks Crossing, an apartment and retail project, is going up at Wesley Chapel Boulevard and State Road 54. And, other area development includes Florida Hospital Center Ice, luxury car dealerships, a thriving Shops at Wiregrass, and commercial and residential expansions at Wiregrass Ranch.

The master-planned community of Asturia, off State Road 54, will have single-family homes, apartments, shops and a corporate center. (Kathy Steele)

But, west of U.S. 41, with its large parcels of open land, the game of catch-up is on.

Apartments, single-family homes, offices, hotels and shops are under construction, awaiting permits, or have just cleared the rezoning hurdle.

The mixed-use, master-planned community of Asturia is among many new developments that are reshaping Pasco County’s future. The changes are particularly noticeable in Land O’ Lakes, on the north side of the state road from U.S. 41 to Starkey Ranch.

Construction sites and new development pop up – boom, boom, boom.

The progression of development is taking a natural course of following where land is available, said Lars Kier, president of the Central Pasco Association of REALTORS.

“It’s moving away from Wesley Chapel and Tampa,” he said. “It’s just a natural growth that way.”

Also, the western side of Pasco County is largely developed, he added.

Central Pasco and East Pasco are more rural.

“Real estate is establishing itself where it’s easier to develop,” Kier said. “With all the growth in Pasco, I would definitely think all of it is going to be pretty well-developed.”

Occasionally, the county’s rural past meets up with its urban future.

Down the entrance drive into Asturia, a small herd of cows munches grass on an open field. Behind them, construction workers raise the roofs on new homes.

But, Asturia isn’t all that’s happening.

From U.S. 41, west, there are the Shoppes at Ballantrae Village; Mystic Pointe apartments; Bexley by Newland Communities; Florida Hospital Central Pasco ER; Asturia Corporate Center; South Branch Ranch; and, Publix at Gunn Highway and Starkey Ranch.

A drive into Bexley reveals the Spring Hills Suites Marriott hotel under construction, and the Lakeside Walk apartments, which are preleasing.

Other locations on State Road 54 are filled with clusters of housing frames or smoothed over plots of ground, waiting for a construction start. Or, motorists can spot a sign planted in the dirt, “The Preserve New Homes” coming.

On the south side, for sale signs offer up large swaths of vacant land, waiting on the next development wave. Some parcels are newly rezoned, and need site plans and permitting before more development sprouts.

Some small commercial projects are visible, as well.

The DCI Professional Center at State Road 54 and Ogden Loop has a sign heralding a fall 2017 opening for the 18,000-square- foot office complex, across from Asturia.

So far, all that is finished there is a paved parking lot.

Stanley Steemer is nearing completion on State Road 54, just west of U.S. 41.

Sienna Village II is planned as an expansion of the existing Sienna Village, a small office complex off State Road 54, also just west of U.S. 41.

The expansion, at State Road 54 and Sofia Drive, will have 150,000 square feet of offices, and 30,000 for commercial.

Highlights of new development on State Road 54, from U.S. 41 to Starkey Ranch, include:

  • Shoppes at Ballantrae Village

The shopping center outside the master-planned community of Ballantrae includes DQ Grill & Chill, Domino’s Pizza, Dunkin’ Donuts, T-Mobile, Hungry Greek, a dental office and a spa.

Circle K convenience store is adjacent to the shops, at the entrance into Ballantrae.

  • Mystic Pointe apartments

The upscale, gated apartment complex will have 252 apartments, and a Key West vibe when construction is complete. Preleasing on one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments is underway.

The complex is between Bexley by Newland Communities to the west and Ballantrae to the east, off State Road 54.

  • Bexley by Newland Communities

The master-planned community is under construction on more than 1,800 acres, off State Road 54, east of Suncoast Parkway. Newland Communities announced in March that more than 250 new homes have been sold.

On the entry drive into Bexley, Spring Hill Suites Marriott is being built. Lakeside Walk apartments are under construction, but are preleasing.

Bexley’s clubhouse is home to the Twisted Sprocket Café, which is open to the public for breakfast, lunch and happy hour.

  • Florida Hospital Central Pasco ER

The emergency room facility is open outside Bexley, providing medical care 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

  • South Branch Ranch

Sembler and Altman Development Corp., had March pre-application meetings scheduled with Pasco County planners for property rezoned in 2017 at the northwest corner of Suncoast Parkway and State Road 54.

Altman is proposing 16 buildings, including a clubhouse. There would be more than 350 apartments with one-, two-, and three-bedrooms.

Sembler is proposing a project with a grocery store, fitness center and shops. Outparcels facing State Road 54 could be future sites for restaurants, offices, shops and a gas station.

Both are part of South Branch Ranch, according to county records.

  • Land Investment Partners offices/apartments

The Atlanta-based investment company plans to build two, three-story premier office buildings of 75,000 square feet each, at the southeast corner of Suncoast Parkway and State Road 54.

The company also plans 300 apartments, with access off Northpointe Parkway in Northpointe Village.

The locations are part of the Suncoast Crossings development property, and adjacent to the newly opened manufacturing plant by Mettler Toledo.

  • Asturia Corporate Center

The Pasco County Commission approved a plan in 2017 to build up to 200,000 square feet of premier office space on the north side of State Road 54, west of Asturian Parkway. The business park will be part of the mixed-use, master-planned community of Asturia.

Harrod Properties Inc., is developing the project, which will be built in phases and without pre-signed tenants.

  • Publix at Starkey Ranch

A 45,000-square-foot Publix grocery store is expected to open in fall 2018 at State Road 54 and Gunn Highway. An additional 30,000 square feet will be available for more retail.

Published April 11, 2108

Crocheting kindness

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When nurse Doris Michel put the bunny ears cap on 1 ½-day-old Maksim Damjanovich’s head, the baby looked adorable, and the nurse beamed with joy.

Travis Drummond holds his 2-day-old baby, Aurora. She’s wearing a cap that was crocheted for her by Kelley Berens, night charge nurse in the Mom/Baby Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North. (B.C. Manion)

This is the third time that a member of the Damjanovich family has received a crocheted cap after being born at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, at 4211 Van Dyke Road in Lutz.

“We think it’s really special,” said Alison Damjanovich, of Tampa Palms.

Her other two daughters, Genevieve, who is nearly 3, and Rosalie, who is about 20 months, also received the crocheted caps when they were born at the hospital.

“It’s nice to have a little keepsake to bring home and keep forever. It’s very special,” Damjanovich said.

Cherish and Travis Drummond were delighted, too, when night charge nurse Kelley Berens bestowed a yellow cap to their 2-day-old daughter, Aurora.

“I think it’s awesome,” Cherish Drummond said. “It’s very sweet.”

Night nurse Fritzie Plaras-Rooney went the extra, extra mile. She crocheted a cap and a cotton-tail diaper cover for a baby in the Mom/Baby Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, where she works.

Travis, agreed: “I think it’s great. I have a disabled aunt. This is part of what she does to be able to active — makes hats for babies in her community.”

The tiny caps are just two of the thousands that nurses Michel, Berens and Fritzie Plaras-Rooney have made for babies under their care in the Mom/Baby Unit at the hospital.

Berens and Plaras-Rooney have been at the hospital since it opened in February 2010. Michel joined the staff a year later.

The nurses do this project on their own, selecting and paying for the yarn, and making the caps on their own time. Occasionally, though, they do receive donations of yarn or of caps others have made.

The idea for crocheting caps for the new arrivals likely came up in a conversation during a break, but it was so long ago she isn’t sure, Berens said.

From left, Kelley Berens, Fritzie Plaras-Rooney and Doris Michel enjoy crocheting caps as a welcome to the world gift for the babies under their care at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North. Nurse manager Nathalie Fetgatter, in the back row, is delighted by the nurses’ personal touch.

She does remember that at another place where she worked, people sent in caps of compassion for premature babies who did not survive.

“I guess that’s what sparked the idea,” Berens said. But, she had a variation on that theme: “Why not do it for every baby?”

Before she could start making caps, though, Berens had to watch some YouTube videos to refresh her crocheting skills.

The women said they make the caps all over the place.

Plaras-Rooney, of Wesley Chapel, likes to make them while watching HGTV programs.

Michel, of Spring Hill, gets a lot of crocheting done while waiting at her doctor’s office.

Berens, of Land O’ Lakes, makes good use of her time as she sits in the car line at her son’s school.

They also make them during their breaks at work.

It typically takes about a half-hour to crochet a cap.

They make them in various styles.

They’ll do holiday themes. Or, the colors of a favorite football team. Or, in a shade to match the baby’s nursery.

Three nurses at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North crochet caps of varied designs for babies arriving at the hospital. They say soft yarn is best for making the caps.

“The cool thing is that a lot of us (nurses) do three nights in a row, so we’ll have the same mom and baby,” Berens said.

That gives them a significant advantage: They know, precisely, how big the baby’s head is.

“So, we can really customize it (the cap) to the individual baby,” Berens said,

While it’s satisfying to create the caps, the nurses don’t always take credit for their work.

Plaras-Rooney said she likes to surprise families, by slipping the cap into a drawer where they will be sure to find it.

Berens can be stealth, as well. “Sometimes, I send it (the baby’s cap) in with someone else,” she said.

But, Michel said she enjoys presenting the baby — wearing the cap — to his or her mom, just before they’re leaving the hospital.

“Seeing the reactions is the best thing,” Michel said.

Doris Michel holds 1 ½-day-old Maksim Damjanovich, who is wearing a bunny ears cap that she crocheted for him. Three nurses at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North make the caps as a gesture of kindness.

All three women said it feels great to provide a personal touch with the families they serve.

“We make relationships with people,” Berens said, noting some of the moms have already given birth to three or four babies at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, even though it’s a relatively new hospital.

For Plaras-Rooney, the joy comes from treating the moms and babies like they were members of her own family. “I love my patients,” she said.

Michel gets a kick out of making the caps.

“It’s fun,” she said.

Nurse manager Nathalie Fetgatter, of Land O’ Lakes, is pleased that the nurses give of themselves to create stronger connections with families.

“I love that they do this,” she said.

Travis Drummond, baby Aurora’s dad, is impressed, too.

“I understand the time and effort that goes into that sort of thing — having gone and gotten the yarn for my aunt,” he said.

“At a time when everybody is looking to make a buck — to make something by hand, give it away — it’s very special. It does mean a lot, you know,” he said.

Published April 4, 2018

Renowned hiker to share his stories in Tampa

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Twenty years after he hiked the Appalachian Trail, Jeff Alt’s expedition lives on.

Alt hiked an average of 17 miles a day, for nearly five months in 1998, to walk 2,160 miles, from Springer Mountain, in Georgia, to Mount Kadahdin, in Maine.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail was not only a personal goal but also a way to support people with developmental disabilities, including Alt’s brother, Aaron, who has cerebral palsy.

It took Jeff Alt 147 days to trek the entirety of the 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine and 12 other states in between. Relatives in Lutz and Carrollwood served as his support system along the way. (Courtesy of Jeff Alt)

Because of that commitment, as fellow hikers in his group quit, Alt persevered.

He made a trek of an estimated 5 million steps, overcoming everything from extreme weather and scary wildlife encounters, to persistent aches and pains.

The achievement since inspired the Sunshine 5K, Walk, Run and Roll which just celebrated its 20th annual event in Greenville, Ohio, and has raised more than $500,000 for people with developmental disabilities. It benefits the Ohio-based Sunshine Communities, which supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as they live, work and play on their terms. It’s also where Alt’s disabled brother lives.

Alt will be in town this week to share stories and sign the 20th anniversary edition of his best-selling memoir, “A Walk for Sunshine,” on March 29 at 7 p.m., at Barnes & Noble Carrollwood,11802 N. Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa.

The renowned hiker shared a few of those stories and anecdotes from his long, arduous 147-day journey in a recent interview with The Laker/Lutz News.

Born, raised and still living in Ohio with his wife and two children, Alt has several familial ties to the Lutz and Carrollwood area. These family members served as his support system during the adventure.

His brother, Larry Alt, of Lutz, greeted him at the beginning and end of the Appalachian Trail.

His sister Stephanie Pitts, of Lutz, served as his “unofficial, official public relations person,” updating friends, relatives and media throughout the journey.

Her husband, Dan Pitts, of Lutz, joined Alt in hiking the final leg of the Appalachian Trail.

And, his stepfather, Ron Almendinger, of Northdale, often shipped supply boxes to Alt on the trail.

Each gesture kept him motivated and boosted morale, Alt said.

“Everybody played a role…so I could focus on the journey. They were like my cheerleading squad,” Alt said.

He recalled his adventure getting off to a shaky start.

On the very first day, Alt had to wrap his feet in duct tape, after several blisters formed on both feet, as a result of placing his boot orthotics on the wrong feet.

“One blister is extremely painful,” he said. “But, this was excruciating.”

Alt gave himself the self-deprecating nickname “Wrongfoot” to bring a bit of levity to his own error. “I just reminded myself that I just needed to laugh it off,” he said.

The next day, Alt was close and personal with a skunk on top of his sleeping bag. Luckily, he was able to shoo it away without getting sprayed.

That wasn’t the only “hair-raising” encounter with Mother Nature.

He was charged by a mama bear in Maine, before it abruptly dashed off into the woods with a pair of baby cubs.

Another stress-inducing — and painful — moment came while traversing the Great Smoky Mountains. That’s where Alt suffered a bad ankle sprain in the middle a 12-foot snowdrift, while trying to balance his 55-pound backpack on one leg.

“I thought at that moment, ‘My journey just ended.’ That was the only time that I didn’t think I was going to make it,” Alt said.

He took a few days off, to reduce the swelling, then resumed his journey.

Every day was painful, Alt said, joking that ibuprofen is referred to as as ‘Vitamin I’ in the hiker community.

“Literally, when you took your pack off at the end of the day, your body would say, ‘What did you just do to me? You’re going to feel this all night,’” Alt said.

Cold and hungry
The majority of fellow hikers that year quit because of frigid temperatures, which sometimes dropped to 20 below zero.

“It was so cold, at one point, if you took your boots off at night and didn’t put them in your sleeping bag, they would freeze in the position your foot was before you took it off, and then the leather would cut your feet open because it was still frozen in the morning,” Alt said.

He had never-ending food cravings.

“Your appetite quadruples,” Alt said. “I could eat a half gallon of ice cream as a snack. I could eat a whole pizza and then go eat dinner.”

Even so, he lost 30 pounds, which he refers to as “the Appalachian Diet Plan.”

He also has many positive experiences on his trek.

He marveled at the friendliness and kindness of people he met along the trail.

Complete strangers would invite him into their homes, and would offer something to eat and drink, and the use of their shower.

“It left a very warm feeling in my heart,” he said.

Along the way, he crossed paths with military folks, recent college graduates, a wealthy stock trader, to name a few.

He met a man who had abruptly quit his job to hike, and a fair number of homeless people, too.

“You meet all kinds of people. It’s America, really,” he said.

He also observed there was something to appreciate about each of the 14 states he walked through, including breathtaking views and varying geology.

Even after walking 5 million steps, Alt said the expedition wasn’t truly complete until he could share the news with his brother Aaron, back in Ohio.

His brother doesn’t speak, but he does communicate through gestures and smiles.

Seeing him, Alt said, ended his journey — “knowing that he understood and smiled.”

Jeff Alt book signing event
What: Jeff Alt will share stories about his Appalachian Trail journey and sign the anniversary edition of “A Walk for Sunshine.”
Where: Barnes & Noble Carrollwood, 11802 N. Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa
When: March 29 at 7 p.m.
Info: (813) 962-6446

Appalachian Trail Facts

  • The Appalachian Trail spans 14 states, covering 2,190 miles, from Georgia to Maine.
  • The Appalachian Trail was inspired by Benton MacKaye in 1921.
  • Earl Shaffer became the first person to walk the Appalachian Trail from end to end in 1948.
  • Emma Rowena Gatewood, also known as “Grandma Gatewood,” became the first female solo thru-hiker at the age of 67 when she first hiked the trail in 1955. She hiked the trail three times.
  • Each year, an estimated 2,000 hikers to 3,000 hikers attempt to walk the entire Appalachian Trail in one season (during a four-month to six-month time frame). Just one in four succeed.
  • Hikers carry backpacks weighing 30 pounds to 75 pounds and supply in towns along the way.
  • Hikers burn 4,000 calories to 6,000 calories a day, comparable to running 2 marathons.

Jeff Alt’s Appalachian Trail statistics:

  • Carried a pack that weighed 50 pounds
  • Went through three pairs of boots
  • Averaged 17 miles a day
  • Had 22 boxes of supplies shipped to him along the way
  • Slept mostly in three-walled shelters, though did carry a tent
  • Completed the trek in 147 days (nearly five months)
  • Lost 30 pounds

Published March 28, 2018

Author recounts childhood in apartheid South Africa

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Rachel Odhner Longstaff’s earliest memory of South Africa is an engine fire and an aborted plane flight near the end of a long journey from Pennsylvania to the city of Durban in the KwaZulu Natal province.

Rachel Odhner Longstaff
(Courtesy Susan Foster)

“I remember being carried from the plane by a huge black man under an umbrella,” said Longstaff. “I think he was the first African I had seen.”

She was a 3-year-old.

Her father was a Swedenborgian minister sent to South Africa to establish a theological school for Africans.

The year was 1948, the year the white South African government voted to establish apartheid. The brutal system institutionalized discrimination against blacks, and the strict separation between the races.

For the next 12 years, Longstaff grew up in a divided world — one where she enjoyed a happy childhood amid white privileges, but also witnessed the harsh reality of apartheid.

Rachel Odhner Longstaff, far left, is seen with her family in a United States passport photo from 1956. (Courtesy of Rachel Odhner Longstaff)

As a child, she didn’t always understand what was happening. But, as an adult, Longstaff began exploring her feelings of guilt and shame for not being more aware.

The result is her book, “In the Shadow of the Dragon’s Back,” published in November by Culicidae Press. Its dedication is to the boys and girls of South Africa, and in memory of her older brother, Pehr Odhner.

“What I wanted to do was show the contrast that had always distinguished my life and Africans under apartheid,” Longstaff, a retired librarian, said of the first book she’s written.

“I think I wanted people to know what it was like. It was a unique slice of history,” she said.

She struggled with how to tell her story.

She didn’t feel qualified to write as an expert on history and politics.

So, she chose to share her experiences in South Africa through a series of personal vignettes — not always told in chronological order — and through family photographs.

Rachel Odhner Longstaff moved with her family to South Africa in 1948, where her father established a theological school for African ministers. She is seen here in her school uniform, and a Panama hat, in a 1958 photo.

Each vignette is followed by excerpts and references to news articles, interviews and commentary on laws and events that give context to the apartheid regime.

The book’s title refers to the Drakensberg, or the “Dragon mountains” of South Africa, which Longstaff describes as being wild and beautiful.

One of the mountains is known as the “Dragon’s Back.”

To her, a dragon is something to be afraid of and something that portends evil.

“As I thought about what happened, I grew up in the shadow, and it was apartheid,” she said. “I grew up in a police state. No wonder I was such a nervous creature.”

The government wasn’t alone in enforcing apartheid. Even neighbors could be watching for missteps.

There was a young boy, Victor, who was the grandson of the family’s cook, Miriam Nyandu.

Longstaff and an older brother often played with Victor. But, a neighbor complained to their mother.

“You have to go and play with him behind the fence,” Longstaff said her mother told them. “We thought it was because we made too much noise.”

The Odhner family lived in the ‘big house’ at 185 Sydenham Road in Durban, South Africa, from 1949 to 1960.

She realized later it was because the neighbor was offended that white and black children touched one another.

An older sister, Jeanette, walked to a bus stop for a ride on her first day of school. A sign at the bus stop’s bench said “Europeans Only,” but her sister didn’t think that applied to her, as an American. Another sign, saying “Whites Only” was written in Afrikaans, a language Jeannette didn’t speak.

So, she stood off to the side with the black maids, and servants, who traveled daily in and out of Durban.

Whites, Africans, Coloureds (mixed raced) and Indians lived in designated residential zones.

“They had to live outside the town because black people were separated,” Longstaff said.

Under apartheid, South Africa approved “pass” laws for nonwhites, requiring them to carry identity cards. They could be arrested for not producing them when asked.

“The police were pretty brutal,” Longstaff said.

Longstaff’s mother and father at times violated behavioral norms. Her mother would drive an African minister’s wife to the hospital, and allow the woman to sit next to her in the front seat.

African ministers gathered in 1960 to bid farewell to the Odhner family. Rachel Odhner Longstaff’s father established a theological school for African ministers.

She would be scolded and told that she “was giving them ideas,” Longstaff wrote.

Her father and his African secretary, Billy Khoza, once quietly tried to help someone escape from South Africa.

One day the South African secret police showed up at the house to search through her father’s office, looking for evidence of his support for the banned political party, the African National Congress.

They said Khoza was a “Communist” and an ANC party member. Her father reluctantly had to fire Khoza.

Years later, Longstaff’s mother invited Khoza (then a successful businessman) and his daughter to tea at their Pennsylvania home.

“It was quite nice,” said Longstaff because it would have been forbidden in apartheid South Africa.

Longstaff said her father had to learn to navigate through apartheid’s rigid rules. Otherwise the church and school could be shut down, and the Odhner family deported, she said.

‘In the Shadow of the Dragon’s Back,’ by Rachel Odhner Longstaff, tells the story of the author’s years in apartheid South Africa from 1948 to 1960.

When Longstaff was 16, her family returned to Pennsylvania.

It was difficult to adjust to an American culture that felt foreign to her in many ways, after being away for most of her childhood.

She is what is known as a “third culture” child, trying to straddle two separate cultures.

She went on to earn an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, and a master’s degree in library and information science from Drexel University.

For 20 years, she was an academic librarian at the Swedenborg Library in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.

Later, she and her husband Alan moved to Florida where Longstaff joined the faculty at Saint Leo University. She is now retired.

It was an annual event at Saint Leo, “Focus the Nation,” that in part spurred Longstaff to think about writing a book. She and other faculty members organized the program, which invited students to explore environmental and social justice through art and literature.

But, she also reached out to her siblings to write about the family’s collective memories of their time in South Africa. One brother had about 300 photo negatives.

“At that point, I said I’m going to write the book myself,” Longstaff said.

She started her research with newspapers, including the London Times.

South African newspapers were so heavily censored they weren’t useful, Longstaff said.

“I learned a lot about apartheid that I didn’t know,” she said.

Longstaff hopes her book brings attention to press censorship especially as media reports now often are the targets of “fake news” charges.

That’s an uncomfortable reminder from the past, Longstaff said.

“In South Africa, they were only allowed to print the party line,” she said.

Revised March 21, 2018

Local teen moves on to next round on ‘American Idol’

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Zach D’Onofrio has received a Golden Ticket, and his next national appearance on American Idol will be during Hollywood Week.

The 17-year-old Wiregrass Ranch High School student impressed judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie with “The Way You Look Tonight,” a Frank Sinatra song.

When he appeared before the celebrity judges in New York, the first thing he did was give each of them a pair of socks from his collection.

Katy Perry immediately put the socks on her hands.

Zach D’Onofrio said he didn’t feel too rattled while singing for celebrity judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Luke Bryan. His performance earned him a Golden Ticket, taking him to the next round of the competition in Hollywood. (Courtesy of ABC)

Then, when Zach began singing, Perry came down from her chair and began dancing with him. Meanwhile, Richie and Bryan danced, too.

The Wesley Chapel teen said the judges appeared to be surprised when he started to sing.

“Can I hear you speak again?” Bryan asked. “Is this really your speaking voice, you swear?”

Zach responded: “I swear, this is my natural voice.”

Then Richie added: “You are unique.”

Then they asked him to sing for them again.

Richie then gave Zach a Golden Ticket, signaling that he’d made it to the next round.

Despite performing before celebrity judges, Zach wasn’t rattled.

“I wasn’t really too nervous,” he said, in an interview. “I tried to stay confident and believe I could do well in front of them,” he said, adding that it helped to have his mom in New York with him.

Zach’s American Idol experience began when he auditioned at Tampa Bay Idol at Florida Hospital Center Ice, an event hosted by ABC Action News and Tampa Bay’s Morning Blend.

There, he received a Front of the Line Pass for the next audition in Orlando.

His mom, Darci, and his dad, Bryan, took the day off from work to go to Orlando, and his sister, Taylor, took the day off from classes at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, to be there, too.

“We got there at 7 a.m., or so,” Bryan said. “There were roughly 5,000 people auditioning that day. The majority of them had to wait in this huge line. But, we only had to wait probably about an hour, and Zach got to sing in front of some of the judges.”

Still, Bryan said, “it was a LONG day.

“That was in August. It was all outside at Disney Springs,” Bryan said.

“In the sun,” Darci added.

“It was brutal,” Bryan said.

Zach finished his first audition, and then was held back for a second one later in the day before he found out he had made the cut to sing before the celebrity judges.

At that point, he had a choice to sing in various cities, Darci said.

Zach D’Onofrio has a collection of 40 pairs to 50 pairs of colorful socks. He gave each of the judges a pair, and Katy Perry promptly put them on her hands, like gloves.

Zach announced: “We’ve got to go to New York, Mom. I’m a Frank Sinatra guy. I’m a crooner.”

Darci and Bryan had to decide which of them would accompany Zach because they had a show scheduled at their Dreamhouse Theatre, which they operate in Lutz.

“I pulled the Mom card —  ‘Hey, I birthed him,’” Darci said. Plus, she added, “I’ve never been to New York.’”

Zach hadn’t been there, either, so the two of them made the most of it.

They arrived on a Sunday and stayed for three days, in a hotel within walking distance of Times Square. They visited The Statue of Liberty and the 9/11 Memorial.

The day they went to the 9/11 Memorial was the morning after the shootings in Las Vegas, Darci said.

“It was very, very touching to be there that day,” she said.

Zach’s audition day was on a Tuesday. The day began at 6 a.m., with Zach auditioning around 1 p.m.

“By the time we were done with filming, we weren’t out of there until 10 o’clock that night. It was pretty intense,” Darci said.

Bryan and Darci knew that Zach could sing, but didn’t realize how well he could sing until Zach came across a Frank Sinatra album, while shopping for vinyl with Bryan.

“When he heard Frank Sinatra, he was like: ‘I think I kind of sing like him’,” Bryan said.

Zach, who has performed in various Dreamhouse Theatre productions, said initially he ran the lights and the sound for shows.

“I would always see the actors on the stage perform, and I always wanted to go on the stage and perform myself, but I was always too nervous to do it because I wasn’t sure what other people would say about my voice,” he said.

After singing Sinatra-style for his parents, he decided to sing for cast members of “Little Shop of Horrors” at the theater.

“They really liked my voice, and they thought I should keep pursuing this and keep putting myself out there,” Zach said.

Although he’s interested in becoming a doctor, Zach is now considering the possibility of a singing career.

Like most things in life, time will tell.

Published March 14, 2018

USA Women’s Hockey, fans celebrate gold in Wesley Chapel

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Just days removed from celebrating a gold medal win in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, the USA women’s ice hockey team returned to where their remarkable journey all began — Wesley Chapel.

The U.S. women’s national ice hockey team posed for pictures on Feb. 28 at Florida Hospital Center Ice, in Wesley Chapel. The team spent more than five months training at the facility and lodging at Saddlebrook Resort. (Kevin Weiss)

It’s where the team spent more than five months getting prepared for the Winter Olympics, training at Florida Hospital Center Ice and lodging at Saddlebrook Resort. It’s also where daily practices, off-ice testing and intrasquad scrimmages were used to determine the 23 players selected for the Team USA roster back in May.

The team spent the better part of an hour on the afternoon of Feb. 28 greeting fans, posing for pictures and signing autographs at the Center Ice facility.

The surprise visit was part of a nationwide media blitz that took them to Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and New York City.

A week earlier, the team defeated Canada in a 3-2 shootout to win gold, ending a 20-year drought for the women’s hockey program.

Moments since have been nothing short of surreal for Team USA, from celebrating the victory to the fan support.

“It’s been overwhelming, exciting, just a whirlwind,” said two-time Olympian and forward Kendall Coyne. “It’s been truly an honor to bring home this gold to the United States, and to see the reaction from everybody and the support.”

“It’s been crazy,” added 19-year-old defenseman Cayla Barnes, the youngest member of Team USA. “This has been a goal of ours for so long, and it just proves you can do whatever you set your mind to.”

Two-time Olympian and forward Kendall Coyne shows off her Olympic gold medal. She is one of 23 players on the U.S. women’s national ice hockey team.

Their time spent in Wesley Chapel won’t soon be forgotten, either, from top-flight training digs and hospitality, to the warm, sunny weather.

“These facilities were awesome, the staff here was amazing, and they really helped us with everything we needed,” Barnes said. “It was great to be down here, such nice weather, and really nice to train out here in preparation for the games.”

“Hockey in Florida was new to a lot of us, but I don’t think it took long for us to realize that hockey is serious in Florida,” said Coyne. “The growth is amazing, and just to see the growth in the short six months we were here just shows how much more there can be.”

Coyne added, the gold medal victory provides a “huge opportunity” to further the sport in the United States, particularly among young girls.

The 25-year-old herself was inspired by Hall of Famer Cammi Granato and the 1998 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey, the last team to win gold.

“With our win, I think we can get more girls playing across the United States,” Coyne said.

“If you look at our team currently, a lot of us are playing because we saw the ’98 team win a gold medal. So, knowing that feeling and knowing personally I was one of them… I saw Cammi Granato, and seeing her gold medal made me want to become one of them.”

Tampa resident Chad Courson is all smiles after posing for a picture with Team USA Women’s Hockey. He came equipped with a Team USA jacket and ‘Gold Medal edition’ box of Corn Flakes to get autographed.

Having Team USA train in Wesley Chapel was likewise beneficial to Florida Hospital Center Ice and the Tampa Bay hockey community, said Gordie Zimmerman, managing partner and developer of Florida Hospital Center Ice.

The $28 million,150,500-square-foot complex was picked as Team USA’s training ground over such hockey facilities in Boston, Chicago and others.

“It’s been terrific on every front — for the development of hockey for the girls and the boys, and just the awareness and having the girls here in the facility,” explained Zimmerman.

“I think there was a lot of pressure on them and where they train…and it turned out to be a great experience for everybody. This wave is going to continue, and you can see like with the girls’ (programs) — and that’s what it’s all about.”

As one of dozens of fans at the meet-and-greet, Wesley Chapel resident Rob Simonelli just couldn’t pass up the chance to take photos and chat it up with the newly crowned Olympic gold medalists.

He found out about the team’s surprise appearance at Center Ice through a friend who caught wind of the event.

“I had a feeling because they had been here for a couple months with their training that they’ve got to come back and take a look at the people at the rink,” said Simonelli, who plays recreational hockey at Center Ice along with his son.

“They’re really friendly, and it’s nice that they decided to come and just kind of say ‘Hey’ to the people.”

Simonelli said he watched much of the Olympic coverage on television, and even attended some of the team’s tryouts and international games at Center Ice last year.

Besides national pride, he felt some local pride, too.

“I just was excited that this was their home base. Just following them when they made this their home was kind of cool,” Simonelli said.

Another exuberant fan, Tampa resident Chad Courson, came to the event equipped with a Team USA jacket and a “Gold Medal edition” box of Corn Flakes featuring a cover picture of USA women’s gold winning hockey star Meghan Duggan.

He brought both items to get signed. He also bought about 40 other boxes of the limited-edition Corn Flakes to get signed later that night at Amalie Arena as part of another Team USA appearance.

“I met the team on previous occasions, but it’s still cool,” Courson said of the team’s stop in Wesley Chapel.

As for the team’s run in PyeongChang?

“It was amazing,” Courson said.

Published March 7, 2018

Tampa Bay housing market has solid outlook for 2018, experts say

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Tampa Bay’s housing market is looking strong for 2018, but changes are expected, as the market evolves, according to experts featured at the 2018 Economic Forecast meeting presented by the Tampa Bay Builders Association.

Buck Horne, vice president for equity research, housing and real estate for Raymond James, presented an analysis featuring three key findings during the Feb. 6 meeting at Tampa.

Buck Horne, vice president — equity research, housing and real estate, for Raymond James & Associates, provided a look at key trends in the housing market. (B.C. Manion)

The first involves a deluge of new apartments expected soon.

“We see what we’re calling a wall of new supply in multifamily rental apartments, which is going to be delivering into the front half of 2018, and it could spill into the back half of ‘18, as well,” said Horne, who specializes in the housing and real estate sectors.

“In the latter half of last year, we were doing our data digging and what we found were just surprising levels — how widespread pervasive construction delays started to mount.

“Labor shortages, permitting issues, entitlement delays — all of it really started to mount. And, we saw an incredible backing up of supply in multifamily that was supposed to deliver last year, which is now scheduled to deliver this year,” he said.

The scheduled new supply in 2018 could be as much as 50 percent higher than either 2017 or 2016, according to figures on one of Horne’s charts.

“We think it’s going to start to affect multifamily rental markets, mainly in the big urban core coastal cities — that’s where it’s going to be most acutely felt. But, it’s in a lot of places. It’s not just New York and San Francisco and L.A., although those are the worst.

“But, you’re going to see it in Charlotte. You’ll see it in Nashville. You’ll see it in Tampa, in the second and third quarters, as well,” he said.

Lots of new homes are going up in the Bexley subdivision, off State Road 54, in Land O’ Lakes. Housing experts expect the Tampa Bay housing market to have a solid outlook in 2018.

There has also been a shift within the composition of household formation, which has started to tilt to the single-family side, said Horne, who has been a regular guest on CNBC, offering insight into the housing sector, and has also been widely quoted in major media outlets, such as Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.

“Last year was the first in 10 that we saw multifamily renter households actually decline, rather than growing. We saw accelerations in new single-family household formation,” Horne said.

Dearth of homes for sale
As the spring selling season begins, there’s a historically tight inventory, Horne said.

Listed inventory for sale, as measured as a percentage of total housing stock, is at its lowest recorded level in more than 30 years, according to Raymond James data.

Horne also observed: “We’ve got reliable data going back to the late 1980s, and we haven’t seen anything like this. Anything that’s even affordable and that’s in reasonably good condition gets snapped up very quickly.”

When it comes to housing starts, Horne said, “we’re looking for basically good, but not great, growth. We’re forecasting another year at a low double-digit growth in single-family housing starts and new home sales.

“But, you’ll see we are projecting that multifamily starts will begin to come down. We think that’s a function of the supply issues that are coming this year, as well as possibly some demand that starts to tail off,” he said. He also expects rent levels to begin to stall.

Horne also expects to see growth in single-family housing, both owner-occupied and rental.

There are a lot of factors at play, he said, but he noted: “We are seeing evidence that the push into single-family and away from multifamily is beginning to gain some momentum,” Horne said.

Older millennials are beginning to make the move from apartments into single-family dwellings, he added.

One of the fastest-growing housing types in America is the single-family renter household, Horne said.

“We’ve also got for the first time, in a long time, real household income growth: 2016 household income got up to about a little over $59,000.

“That is driving some better demand, but it’s also driving higher and higher household prices,” he said.

Concerns about affordability
“The cost to build a new single-family house just is relentlessly going higher,” Horne said.

“The under-$200,000 single-family house is becoming an extinct species. It’s harder and harder to build, unless you go way out to the periphery, to actually make that math work.

To build the same house as five years ago, it’s 36 percent more today, he said.

Many new homes have been built in the Long Lake Ranch Community in Lutz and more are being built there, as new home construction continues to create new housing options in Pasco County.

Most of that was labor and lot costs, but rising material costs now are compounding cost issues, he added.

“The point is, it’s not going to get any better anytime soon,” Horne predicted.

“We know there’s a tremendous amount of pent-up demand for entry level, but increasingly fewer and fewer — particularly smaller builders — are able to meet the cost required to build at that price point.

“You’re finding the larger builders, who can get the efficiencies and the scales needed to build in high volumes and production efficiencies, that can acquire the land in large enough chunks and develop it, those are the guys that are soaking up that entry land demand.

“The smaller guys — it’s harder and harder to compete for that entry-level buyer,” Horne said.

Lesley Deutch, a principal for John Burns Real Estate Consulting, said the affordability issue is her greatest worry.

While Tampa is one of the most affordable markets in the state, it is getting more expensive to buy a house, she said.

In Tampa, there’s a two months’ supply of resale housing inventory, she said.

“So, that’s really driving people to the new home market, and we expect to drive up prices of resale homes,” she said.

Deutch offered a forecast for 2018 for Tampa’s housing market.

She expects employment to be up by 2 percent, adding 26,600 jobs. She expects income to increase by 5 percent.

She’s projecting total construction activity to rise by nearly 12 percent, up to 20,000 permits.

Most of that growth will be in the single-family sector, she said.

She expects the median price of new homes to increase by 4.3 percent.

“(It’s) not a booming, doubling of growth, but a very, very strong growth market. One of the strongest, actually, in Florida,” Deutch said.

John Burns Real Estate Consulting is based in California. The company spends a substantial amount of time looking at demographics across the country, and doing consumer research.

Its research reveals a high demand for communities that allow residents to walk to destinations, such as restaurants, grocery stores and coffee shops, Deutch said.

“I think that having housing that’s close to something walkable — people will pay a premium for it because that’s what they’re looking for,” she said.

She also sees a shift coming for Tampa’s housing market.

“It’s going to be a different world over the next 10 years,” she said, as households grow substantially in the 65-plus age category (+142,000), grow modestly in the 25 to 44 age group (+14,000), as they decline in the 45 to 64 age group (-14,000). The 45 to 64 age group is typically the move-up buyer.

“So, where is the opportunity here? It’s really a different strategy than we’ve been using in the past. It’s a different buyer. It’s a young buyer and an older buyer,” Deutch said.

Buck Horne, vice president for equity research, housing and real estate for Raymond James & Associates, and Lesley Deutch, principal for John Burns Real Estate Consulting shared their insights at the Tampa Bay Builders Association’s 2018 Economic Forecast breakfast.
Here are some of Buck Horne’s key points:

  • A supply surge in multifamily could disrupt rent pricing.
  • Apartment occupancy has been falling noticeably on a year-to-year basis.
  • Investors should shift their focus more significantly in favor of single-family homes.
  • Inflation-adjusted median household income in the United States hit a new record high of $59,039 in 2016, breaking a previous high mark set in 1999.
  • The cost to build a like-kind single family home has increased 36 percent over the past 5.5 years.
  • Luxury markets continue to grow. New home sales priced above $750,000 was the strongest growth category in 2017, increasing 32 percent, year on year.
  • Listed housing inventory for sale, both new and resale, as measured as a percentage of total housing stock, is at the lowest recorded levels in 30 years.

Here are some of Lesley Deutch’s key points:

  • Median housing resale price in Tampa market is expected to be up 7.6 percent in 2018.
  • Single-family permits in Tampa market are expected to be up 11 percent in 2018.
  • Tampa’s employment is expected to be up 2 percent, which is more than 26,600 jobs.
  • There’s a two-month supply of resale inventory, which is virtually none.
  • Tampa is ranked No. 2 in the United States for people moving into the area, based on U-Haul truck rental pricing.
  • A consumer preferences survey by John Burns Real Estate Consulting reveals that three community features important to buyers are safety, location and street appeal.
  • The John Burns survey also shows that important home features are design, price and function.
  • The vast majority (84 percent) of buyers desire a detached, single-family home, and 62 percent expect to pay $250,000 to $450,000 for it.

Published February 28, 2018

Voters could decide on four bond issues in 2018

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Pasco County voters could be asked to support as many as four bond referendums in November to pay for upgrades to public safety, fire rescue, parks and libraries.

County officials presented information on the bonds at a Feb. 13 workshop in New Port Richey.

A four-year plan for Pasco County Fire Rescue might include a $58 million bond referendum on the 2018 ballot. Approval could mean an expansion and upgrade of the fire station near the county jail in Land O’ Lakes. (File)

At a previous workshop, Pasco County commissioners had considered a single referendum for about $185 million to pay for public safety and fire rescue needs. That included a 1,000-bed expansion at the county’s jail in Land O’ Lakes, four new fire stations, and upgrades and expansions at five other fire stations.

There also was discussion on including parks and libraries in the single bond, or possibly putting those categories into a separate bond.

This is the county’s current breakdown on individual bond issues:

  • $128 million for public safety
  • $57 million for fire rescue
  • $19 million for parks and recreation
  • $9 million for libraries

Pasco County commissioners had differing opinions on whether to pursue separate bond issues.

From a legal standpoint, Pasco County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder said the bonds should not be “lumped” together.

“Every single item should be on there,” said Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano. “Let the people pick.”

Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore said he worried about overloading voters with too many issues.

“On one ballot, that is going to be very, very full,” he said. “That’s a lot of information —  a lot going on.”

But, he later said, he could go along with four bonds.

“If you guys want to put it on the ballot, put it on the ballot,” he said.

The detention center project, at $128 million, would pay for a 1,000-bed expansion. County officials said a judicial administrative order mandates that the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office relieve overcrowding when the inmate population reaches a daily average of 1,900.

The facility was built to house 1,432 inmates but, as of January, held more than 1,800 on an average day. By 2020, the inmate population is projected to be at nearly 2,400 a day.

The cost per household, based on $100,000 property assuming a homestead exemption, is estimated at $13.87 annually.

Fire rescue is seeking $57 million for four new stations, as well as renovations at five existing stations and at the fire training center. In addition, the bond would pay for trucks for the new stations.

The cost per household, based on $100,000 property assuming a homestead exemption, would be about $8.60 annually.

The $9 million for the libraries would be used to modernize and upgrade a library system built in the 1980s. The cost per household, assuming a homestead exemption, would be $1.71 a year.

The $19 million for parks and recreation would pay for deferred maintenance projects. The cost per household, based on $100,000 property asssuming a homestead exemption, would be $3.71 a year.

“I think people would vote for $1.71 and $3.71,” said Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey, referring to the cost per household for the libraries and parks bond issues.

Currently, the county spends $1.5 million annually on deferred maintenance needs.

At that spending rate, county officials said it could take more than 15 years to catch up.

Using bond proceeds, the backlog could be completed in five years or six years, they said.

One critical recreation issue for the county is a shortage of ball fields.

Currently, sports leagues must compete for playing time, said Keith Wiley, the county’s director of parks, recreation and natural resources.

“As growth continues and as children want to play, the reality is we don’t have enough fields to put them on,” he said.

Revised February 28, 2018