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Charter government could bring massive changes to Pasco

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Rep. Richard Corcoran thinks voters should get to decide whether to reshape Pasco County’s government. (File Photo)
Rep. Richard Corcoran thinks voters should get to decide whether to reshape Pasco County’s government.
(File Photo)

A discussion is underway that could lead to massive changes in Pasco County government.

State Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, is advocating that Pasco voters be allowed the option to vote on whether the county should shift to a government governed by a charter.

Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano thinks that’s a horrible idea.

And, a majority of Pasco County commissioners said they want to know more about it before making any kind of commitment on the issue. After hearing from Corcoran and Fasano at their Jan. 13 meeting, they decided to hold off on taking any action until getting more information about the implications of a charter government.

Corcoran told commissioners that letting voters decide the way the county should be governed gives them greater control.

When voters have more control, the future speaker of the Florida House of Representatives said, “you wind up with a government that’s more transparent, more accountable and more efficient.

“This is just an opportunity for us to go down a path and see if there isn’t ways that we can create a government that’s even better than the existing government,” Corcoran said.

Under state law, either a majority of county commissioners or a petition signed by 15 percent of the county’s registered voters can create a charter commission. In Pasco, that would require more than 46,000 signatures.

Once a panel is formed, it has 18 months to complete a charter that Pasco voters would adopt or reject.

Fasano opposes the creation of a charter government.

“I’m not a fan of charter government,” Fasano said.

“There’s no question, when you have charter government, taxes will go up. No question, when you have a charter government, you will have another layer of government that people will have to get through,” Fasano said.

“Think about charter governments in other counties. All you have to do is look at Miami-Dade, what a mess. It’s layer of government after layer of government after layer of government. It is more taxes put upon the people of a community that is struggling already.”

Pasco County attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder said there are 20 charter counties operating across the state’s 67 counties.

“If you look historically, across the state, most of the charters that got adopted were because of issues between the county commission and the constitutional officers or the county commission and the cities,” Steinsnyder said.

Charter government is not a panacea, but it can be a good vehicle for a government to form its own way, he said.

The charter dictates the shape that the government will take, he said.

“Government can be a much stronger form of government, if the charter so provides. It can be a much weaker form of government, if the charter so provides,” Steinsnyder said.

On one hand, it may solve some problems. On the other, it may create more problems than it solves, the county attorney said.

He also noted: “Once you turn that over to a charter review commission, you’re bound to put it on the ballot, and whatever the voters say, up or down, that’s it.”

A charter can include such things as single-member districts for county commissioners, terms limits, an elected county administrator or an elected county mayor and other changes to the composition of local government.

Corcoran said that Pasco’s legislative delegation wants local voters to decide how they are governed.

“How we govern right now, is dictated to us from Tallahassee. I’m saying that’s not good enough,” Corcoran said. “I think the system that we’re governed under should be dictated by Pasco residents and controlled by Pasco County voters. You do that, you’re going to have a more accountable system of government.”

He said he’s committed to raise money and collect signatures to create a charter commission.

But the delegation is open to a proposal by Commission Chairman Ted Schrader to form the charter commission — with commissioners choosing 10 of the members and delegation members choosing the other five.

Schrader said, “If it’s going to be done, it needs to be done in Pasco County.” But he added: “In no means am I strong proponent of establishing charter government. I don’t want anybody to get that idea.”

Instead, he said, he’d like more information on the issue.

“This is all new dialogue to me,” Schrader said.

Commissioner Kathryn Starkey also wants to know more.

“Let’s just do a little homework before we start the next phase. I personally have always wondered, would we better off as a charter or worse off as a charter?” Starkey said.

She’d like to talk to some other counties and to have a workshop to discuss the issue.

Commissioners put the issue off until they can obtain more information and discuss how they’d like to proceed.

There was one point that opponents seemed to agree on, however.

Any charter issue on the ballot — needs to go on a presidential election ballot to ensure the highest degree possible for voter participation.

Published January 21, 2015

Flu cases are up: Take precautions to stay well

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Chances are that you know someone who has become ill with the flu this year.

It could be a family member, a colleague, a friend or someone at church —whoever it is, Dr. James Robelli, of St. Joseph’s Hospital North in Lutz, offers this bit of advice: “If you know someone that has the flu, stay away from them.”

Dr. James Robelli (Courtesy of St. Joseph's Hospital-North)
Dr. James Robelli
(Courtesy of St. Joseph’s Hospital-North)

More people are coming down with the flu, as compared to prior years, said Dr. Nadeem Kahn, chief of medicine and director of infectious control at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel.

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel has reported a significant increase in the number of flu cases coming into the hospital, according to statistics provided by Tracy Clouser, director of marketing.

In December, it saw a 274 percent increase in flu cases in its emergency department and a 125 percent increase in the number of patients admitted with the flu.

Robelli, who is medical director of the emergency department at St. Joseph’s North in Lutz, also reported an increased number of flu cases.

It is a nasty bug.

“It’s not like having a common cold. It really feels like a truck has run over you. Back pain. Muscle aches. You can’t do much of anything,” said Kahn, of Infectious Disease Associates of Tampa Bay.

Robelli concurred with Kahn’s assessment, describing the flu as a “cold on steroids.”

Dr. Nadeem Khan (Courtesy of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel)
Dr. Nadeem Khan
(Courtesy of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this year’s vaccine has been less effective in preventing the flu. Despite that fact, both the CDC and the local doctors recommend the vaccination.

Even if it doesn’t prevent the flu, it is likely that the course of the illness will be shorter and the symptoms less severe, both Robelli and Kahn said.

Or, as Robelli said, “It’s better than nothing.”

People with the flu begin being contagious about a day before the onset of symptoms and are typically contagious for about a week, Robelli said.

Because it is possible for you to unwittingly make others ill and because other people who are contagious may infect you, it’s important to practice good hygiene, the local doctors agreed.

“I recommend hand sanitizer for everybody — in their purse or their car,” Kahn said.

It’s a good idea to use the sanitizer after grocery shopping, stopping at the post office or going to other public places, he said.

“You don’t know who’s been touching what,” Kahn said.

It’s also important to use good hygiene — such as coughing into a tissue or your sleeve and washing your hands frequently.

Be safe in the workplace, too.

Don’t go to work if you’re ill, and use good hygiene.

Many offices have computers that are used by many employees.

Be sure to clean work surfaces and wash your hands frequently.

“You’ve got to remember, those hands are everywhere,” Kahn said.

Kahn theorizes the increased number of cases showing up at the hospital may be connected with increasing numbers of people visiting the area during winter months.

“A lot of the patients that you meet — most of them are just visiting family or they’re snowbirds who live up North,” Kahn said.

“It seems like a lot of the people we see at the hospital are because we have an influx in the population. Obviously, the more people you have, the more chances you have for influenza or other illnesses,” he said.

People who are younger than 2 or older than 65 are among those most vulnerable, Robelli said.

Others at high risk for serious complications include people with lung disease, with end-stage renal disease, people who are on chemotherapy, women who are pregnant and people with other chronic illnesses.

Those in high-risk categories should call their doctor as soon as they experience symptoms.

It’s a good idea to get in touch with your doctor even if you’re not in a high-risk group because delaying treatment means that medications will not be effective, Robelli said.

The CDC recommends flu antiviral drugs for treatment of influenza illness in people who are very sick with the flu or people who are at high risk of flu complications.

Adult deaths for the flu are not reported to the Florida Department of Health, Deanna Krautner, of the Florida Department of Health in Pasco County, said in an email. Those deaths are grouped with pneumonia, she said.

Pediatric deaths for the flu are reported, and Pasco County has had one child death related to the flu, this flu season.

Pasco County continues to see an increase in influenza activity, Krautner reported. “Our surveillance indicates hospitals and urgent care centers are experiencing elevated levels of influenza.”

As of early January, there had been 21 pediatric deaths from the flu reported nationwide, according to the CDC.

Published January 14, 2015

Sometimes the best gifts come in camouflage

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For three unsuspecting siblings attending Saint Anthony School in San Antonio, a student assembly marking an early start for Christmas break on Dec. 19 was more than it seemed.

It actually was cover for a carefully orchestrated holiday surprise: The return of their father, U.S. Army Col. Peter Quinn.

U.S. Army Col. Peter Quinn returns from deployment in Afghanistan just in time for the holidays, surprising his children on stage in front of 200 classmates at Saint Anthony School in San Antonio. The officer’s wife Kelly, left, joins him along with two of his children: Gabriel, 13, and Grace, 11. (Courtesy of Bryant L. Griffin)
U.S. Army Col. Peter Quinn returns from deployment in Afghanistan just in time for the holidays, surprising his children on stage in front of 200 classmates at Saint Anthony School in San Antonio. The officer’s wife Kelly, left, joins him along with two of his children: Gabriel, 13, and Grace, 11.
(Courtesy of Bryant L. Griffin)

Quinn, who just returned from Bagram, Afghanistan for a two-week leave, was determined to give his children a present they wouldn’t forget, especially since the deployment — his second to the region — resulted in nearly a year of separation from his Wesley Chapel family.

Working with the Army Intelligence and Security Command in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Quinn currently serves as a senior contracting officer’s representative providing linguistic support to U.S. forces in Afghanistan. His deployment ends next May, when he plans to return stateside and retire from the Army after 30 years of service.

His secretive homecoming came together with help from his wife Kelly, and the school.

“When I cooked up this idea several months ago and presented it to Kelly, she said, ‘You’re crazy,’” Peter Quinn said. “I said, ‘We could make this happen. We can make one of those special moments for Saint Anthony’s.

“I wanted to do something special for my kids. Every military dad wants to do that.”

However, meeting the surprise’s tight schedule after 20 hours of flying during two days of transit was tricky. His 10:30 a.m. Tampa arrival only allowed him a little more than an hour to reach the school.

The students assembled in the school’s parish center were set to head home at noon after prayers and announcements. Like Peter Quinn’s children, the students also were unaware of his imminent homecoming.

“I was a little bit worried because I almost missed my connecting flight,” Quinn said. “I was five minutes out from it taking off. I was running to my gate … because I wasn’t going to miss this.”

His children — Grace, 11; Faith, 11; and Gabriel 13 — were seated amongst their 200 classmates when Quinn, dressed in his camouflage duty uniform, suddenly emerged from the curtained stage. The reveal left them stunned.

Quinn, bearing the widest of grins, met their dash to the stage with a long-awaited embrace. The hugs were prolonged and repeated as cheers and applause quickly swept through the assembled students.

“It’s just really exciting,” said Fran Shiver, a Zephyrhills parent of a fourth-grade daughter at the school. “I think it’s something that just goes back to family. It’s so exciting to see the smiles on the kids’ faces. We really appreciate his service.”

For the school’s principal, Sister Alice Ottapurackal, the homecoming represents the very heart of Saint Anthony.

“We’re grateful that he is safe and coming back to us,” Ottapurackal said. “We do pray every day for him, and all the military people who are serving the country.

“We’re like a family, so we’re truly excited to see the children’s expressions.”

Indeed, as the hugs and tears continued before the school’s students, Quinn couldn’t have imagined a more poignant homecoming.

“This is the longest time we have been apart,” he said. “And they have been doing great helping mom out, and great in school. They have been a true blessing.”

Kelly Quinn couldn’t agree more.

“I just stood back there and I just wanted to see their reaction,” she said. “It was awesome.”

By Bryant L. Griffin

Published January 7, 2015

Connerton in early planning stages for 150-bed hospital

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Florida Hospital is inching closer to eventually building a new hospital in the Connerton community after developers there got initial approval for a 150-bed facility.

Pasco County’s Development Review Committee gave the initial OK last week for Connerton to begin planning its second phase of the project, which could include 3,600 more homes, 190,000 square feet of retail and 725,000 square feet of government space.

As Connerton continues to grow just north of Land O’ Lakes, entrances from U.S. 41 and State Road 52 will have to be improved, Pasco County officials say. (File Photo)
As Connerton continues to grow just north of Land O’ Lakes, entrances from U.S. 41 and State Road 52 will have to be improved, Pasco County officials say. (File Photo)

The revised plan adds another 110,000 square feet of medical office space, bringing that total to 200,000, doubling the nursing home beds to 100, and adding 150 beds for a hospital.

Despite the move, Connerton representative Stew Gibbons tells The Laker/Lutz News there aren’t any immediate plans to build a hospital at the Land O’ Lakes Boulevard community, located just south of State Road 52.

“What we’re doing with now is securing approval of the entitlement limits so that can decide what they can put there, depending on the market at the time,” Gibbons said. “It’s a great location, especially when Ridge Road goes through, which will give you access across the county. “

Florida Hospital — which operates local hospitals in Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills and the University of South Florida area of Tampa — owns about 34 acres of land in the county, purchased by University Community Hospital Inc., before that hospital chain was acquired by Florida Hospital’s parent. It was part of a $5.1 million land deal the hospital put together in October 2007, just as the housing market was starting to come apart.

For the second phase of Pasco’s “new town,” Connerton is looking to focus a little more on multifamily, with about a third of the proposed residential in that phase taking that route. The first phase was primarily single-family homes, with approvals for nearly 4,000 homes.

The second phase also would include Connerton’s employment center, which will be a mix of government, office, industrial and medical.

“This is an example of how Connerton always has been designed,” said Andrea Zelman, an attorney who represents the community. “We are on the road to creating those jobs.”

But to do that, some of the roads in and around Connerton will need to be upgraded. That would include turn lanes for the entrances off U.S. 41 and State Road 52, and also finishing the link with Collier Parkway that has been on the drawing board for years.

Pasco’s chief assistant county attorney David Goldstein put emphasis on the stretch of Collier Parkway, proposed to link from Ehren Cutoff, calling it a “crucial piece of roadway that we cannot ignore much longer.”

“I wanted to make sure the county people up here understand the importance of doing something about Collier Parkway,” Goldstein told the committee. “We have to find a way to build that missing gap of Collier, and get that connected up to the employment center.”

However, not everyone is for expanding Collier. Stephen Coogle, who owns a 6-acre home on Ehren Cutoff bordering the Connerton project, said neighbors to the development deserve more attention to ensure they don’t lose value in their homes.

“We need to have buffers,” Coogle said, which could come primarily by preserving existing tree lines that border his property. Also, drainage from a Collier Parkway extension would need to be properly taken care of, so that it doesn’t flood his property instead.

“Our property and wetlands are not being taken into consideration,” Coogle said. “Progress needs to happen, but we should not have to sacrifice what we paid for.”

Gibbons said Connerton developers are working to address concerns of neighbors, but that many of Coogle’s concerns are premature.

“We are in the timing and phasing process, and we haven’t even designed anything yet,” Gibbons said.

When that process does begin, surrounding neighbors would be notified, and have a chance to express concern while those plans are drawn up.

Roadway improvements will be funded in part by a nearly $30 million contribution by Connerton, along with another $7.7 million in county incentives.

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Future is here: Body cameras coming to Pasco

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Many law enforcement agencies around the country continue to debate whether they should have patrol officers wear body cameras — but the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office isn’t waiting any longer.

More than 400 deputies and investigators will be equipped with body cameras in February, a movie Sheriff Chris Nocco said would make neighborhoods safer for deputies and the people who live in them.

Pasco County Sheriff’s deputy and field training officer Kristina Perez, right, demonstrates the new body camera that other deputies in Sheriff Chris Nocco’ department will be equipped with beginning in February. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
Pasco County Sheriff’s deputy and field training officer Kristina Perez, right, demonstrates the new body camera that other deputies in Sheriff Chris Nocco’ department will be equipped with beginning in February. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

“This is not the panacea,” Nocco said during a news conference last week. “This is not going to be the cure-all for all the issues of our world. But it’s a tool, just like any other tool that we use in law enforcement.”

The sheriff’s office is in the process of ordering 415 sets of Taser Axon cameras, which can be mounted on glasses, hats, shirt fronts, collars, lapels and other locations on a deputy. They record up to four hours of video and audio, and have a battery that lasts 12 hours.

Deputies will turn it on whenever they get out of their patrol car to interact with the public or investigate a crime, Nocco said. At the end of each shift, deputies connect their camera to a docking station to upload each video. Once it’s in the system, they cannot be manipulated, and deputies will not be able to edit them.

It’s the kind of system that will not only provide transparency in how deputies interact with people inside Pasco County, but it also could streamline the court system significantly.

“The criminal justice system’s job is to get to the truth,” said Craig Laporte, an attorney with Proly Laporte & Mulligan in Port Richey, who represents one of the deputy unions. “If an individual has, in fact, committed a crime, this provides evidence of that. This could reduce the number of jury trials … because the state attorney will immediately have information they can use.”

Cameras also could significantly reduce the complaints filed against deputies, each one of which must be investigated. By having an unedited video and audio record of the encounter, internal investigations would not have to rely on witness accounts alone, discouraging people from making false claims against the officer.

It also could stop a deputy from crossing any lines, making some of the problems police are experiencing in New York City and Ferguson, Missouri, a lot less likely to happen.

While the use of body cameras is something some observers have suggested after the officer-involved deaths in those cities, Nocco said Pasco’s plan has been in motion for quite some time, with field testing beginning last October.

“This started months ago because citizens are constantly pulling their phones out and taping deputies,” Nocco said. Those deputies were “looking on their own to get body cameras, and they were talking about buying them on their own. But I said to wait, because we have to come up with a policy.”

That policy includes when deputies are expected to have the cameras on, and how long videos will be stored before they’re deleted. The policy also makes it clear that the cameras can’t be used as “Big Brother,” Nocco said, referring to the novel “1984,” where supervisors can’t pull up random video just for the sake of disciplining a deputy.

The entire program will cost $400,000 a year — far less than what other neighboring agencies like the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is considering, Nocco said. Initial funds will come from federal forfeiture dollars, but future years will require funding through tax dollars controlled by the Pasco County Commission.

The cameras bring their own controversies to the table, primarily when it comes to privacy rights, Fourth Amendment protections of search and seizure through the U.S. Constitution, and how footage is used, and what is made available to the public. Nocco says he hopes lawmakers in Tallahassee will address body cameras this coming year, but in the meantime, he’s moving forward.

So far for the upcoming legislative session, only one bill has been filed in Tallahassee regarding body cameras. State Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, filed H.B. 57 on Dec. 4 that, if passed, would require every uniformed law enforcement officer primarily assigned to patrol duties to be equipped with a body camera by Jan. 1, 2016.

“We’re not fearful of being a leader out there,” Nocco said. “There’s always going to be bumps in the road, and there is always going to be tweaks.”

Cameras like this already are in use in different parts of the United Kingdom, and those police departments provided a significant amount of data on how the cameras were used. For example, one town in Scotland found that 70 percent of cases that involved body cameras were less likely to go to trial. Closer to home in Rialto, California, complaints against law enforcement officers dropped from 24 to just three.

Published December 17, 2014

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County commission cancels baseball park agreement

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Pasco County’s business partnership with James Talton to build a massive baseball park in the Wiregrass Ranch area is over. At least for now.

The county commission voted unanimously to terminate an agreement with Talton’s Pasco Sports LLC after the company failed to provide necessary paperwork to show it had $3 million available to help with the design stage of the project that would’ve built nearly 20 baseball fields as well as dormitories to attract the youth baseball camp industry to Pasco. Talton and retired Major League Baseball player Gary Sheffield wanted to build the complex on 100 acres of land, not far from Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, which they said could become a significant youth sports training destination.

The county will now explore the possibility of advertising the land to a new private developer, and work out a different deal that could still focus on baseball, but maybe other amenities as well. County administrator Michele Baker, however, still left the door open for Talton and Sheffield, saying it’s possible for the two to come back to the table under a new structure.

“We can all look at this not as a failure, but as an opportunity for us to find something that is going to be a perfect fit and a mix for Pasco County,” commission chair Ted Schrader said right before the vote late Tuesday. “We have a great asset that is not going anywhere.”

The Wiregrass Ranch area and the potential to do something with the land there, Schrader said, is exciting for the county, because it “is the corner of Main and Main, and we are blessed and fortunate to have such a fine opportunity to do that.”

Finding private financing for what was at one time a $70 million project has been troublesome under the current agreement with the county, Talton has said, and he was willing to move forward with the project without the county’s involvement, or its $11 million in pledged tourist tax dollars.

“In our minds, this is just another step in the process, and we have every intention of getting this project completed,” Talton said last week. “The current agreement is being terminated. I literally cannot work based on the current financing environment. We will negotiate new terms and have financing in place upon execution so we can move forward immediately.”

The biggest stumbling block was land, Talton had said in the past. The county would continue to own the land that was deeded to it by the Porter family — the developers behind Wiregrass Ranch. However, one sports consultant told county officials Tuesday that there may be a little more to it than that.

“He didn’t have the proven track record,” Dev Pathik, chief executive of Sports Facilities Advisory, told commissioners of Talton. “The potential partners, while they expressed interest, they were not ready to sign on and take any risk.”

Land, Pathik said, does not hold the collateral value with investors it used to.

“The banks have learned they don’t want to own dirt,” he said.

As Pasco appears to go back to the start in planning a potential sports complex that could attract visitors to the county, Hillsborough County has teased some thoughts about possibly partnering to build a competing facility to the south. J.D. Porter, who represents the land holdings of Wiregrass Ranch, says Pasco officials shouldn’t worry, and not rush into anything because of what others might say.

“Every single time this comes up for a vote, Hillsborough County says they are going to do something,” Porter said. “Have they? They haven’t. We have played into that as a county for a long time, and we have been a little step-brother.

“They haven’t delivered. You have your own asset that far outweighs anything they have in their portfolio, and you have to look at that as having a chip they don’t possess. You are ahead of the game, and you are taking steps right now that has much more of a reality of a business plan that is not a pipe dream.”

In fact, Porter said if he was sitting in a Hillsborough commission board room right now, “I would be a lot more fearful than you guys should be.”

The original agreement signed a year ago called for Pasco Sports to provide the county verification of $23 million in financing necessary to design and construct the park by last summer. However, that agreement was amended in July to give Talton and Sheffield a 90-day extension.

It was during that period that Pasco Sports provided a $3 million commitment letter from Hallmark Mergers & Acquisitions LLC, along with a letter from Florida EB-5 Regional Center LLC saying it was committed to raising $20 million in funds.

County officials, however, didn’t feel that was enough to meet the terms of the agreement, and the commission then gave Talton and Sheffield until Dec. 5 to at least show they had $3 million available for the project. That deadline passed, however, with a letter from Talton proposing a new plan that would eliminate the need for the $11 million county contribution — but also remove payouts to the county after it’s built — but nothing in terms of the $3 million.

That prompted Baker to recommend the entire deal be cancelled.

Talton told members of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce last October that his project — consisting of 19 baseball fields, dormitories and other sports-related amenities — could create an estimated 8,000 jobs and a $318 million annual economic impact boost to the county.

Wanted: New bikes to spread Christmas cheer

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What began as one couple’s attempt to teach their daughter about the struggles that many families are faced with has broadened into an effort to bring new bicycles to children who have little prospect of ever owning a new set of wheels.

Todd and Cindy Caroline of Lutz began providing new bicycles to children from less fortunate families about six years ago. They wanted their daughter Zoye, now 9, to understand that not all families are as blessed as theirs has been, Cindy Caroline said.

Todd Caroline gets ready to deliver new bicycles during a previous Christmas Bicycle Drive. Caroline and his wife, Cindy, began giving new bikes to children from less fortunate families six years ago. (Courtesy of Cindy Caroline)
Todd Caroline gets ready to deliver new bicycles during a previous Christmas Bicycle Drive. Caroline and his wife, Cindy, began giving new bikes to children from less fortunate families six years ago. (Courtesy of Cindy Caroline)

Over time, the effort branched out.

At first, the Carolines simply asked people attending their annual Christmas party to bring a new bike to help brighten a child’s holiday, Caroline said. Then, they decided to shift the effort over to their company — Caroline Contractors LLC — so they could reach out to their suppliers, business associates and other members of the community to help.

This is the fourth year that the company has had its Christmas bicycle drive. Each year, it collects at least 100 new bicycles, or the family makes up the difference.

But this year, it has a substantially more ambitious goal. It wants to collect 1,000 new bikes.

Caroline knows that that’s more of a dream than a goal, but she’s open to miracles.

In the past, the couple has given the bicycles to other charitable groups, Caroline said, and those groups have distributed the bicycles primarily to children living in East Tampa communities.

This year, the focus has shifted to helping local children, Caroline said. She attributes the switch to a conversation she had with Suzanne Beauchaine, an account manager for The Laker/Lutz News.

Beauchaine had asked her why the new bikes didn’t go to local children, and Caroline responded it was because she didn’t have a local event. That prompted the Lutz woman to consider staging a local event to give away the bikes.

Buoyed by Beauchaine’s encouragement, Caroline began making telephone calls. First she contacted local schools — Schwarzkopf Elementary in Lutz and Myrtle Lake, Pine View, Connerton, Oakstead and Odessa in central Pasco — to see if they could help identify children from families in need.

Then, she began calling around to local organizations and businesses to see if they could help.

Caroline called Chad Hudson at Hungry Harry’s Family Bar-B-Que, who stepped up in a big way. The popular Land O’ Lakes restaurant is providing food and the use of its Lake House for a party on Dec. 21 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Charlene Ierna of the Lutz-based Ierna’s Heating & Cooling is providing a bounce house for the party. The kids will get free haircuts, too, courtesy of Star’s Organic Spa as well as Cameo Salon & Spa.

Caroline still is trying to line up live entertainment, but at the very least, she said she will have holiday music over a loudspeaker system.

She’s also trying to collect turkeys and other holiday foods to give to each family.

“We just want to be able to bless these families because life is very hard every day for them,” Caroline said. “They struggle. I’d really like to be able to give the families a Christmas dinner.”

Besides the local groups that already have stepped up, Caroline said she’s reached out to members of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce and is hoping they come through to help ensure there are enough bikes for each child to take one home.

“Our office used to be right next to the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce, so our heart is Land O’ Lakes,” Caroline said. “My husband grew up here. He went to Land O’ Lakes High, so he’s homegrown here.”

She’s also looking for a source that can provide free or discounted helmets, worrying about the children being safe as they ride their bicycles.

Donations from the general public also are gratefully accepted, Caroline said. It typically costs $50 to $80 for a new bike, depending on the size.

“If I can get a bike for every child that comes, I’ll do it,” she said. “If I can’t, I’ll do a lottery-type system.”

Some people may wonder why the focus is on providing new bikes, instead of food or other items.

“You go out on a bike and you forget all about whatever the troubles at home,” she said. “I want them to have fun.”

Ways to help
Here are four ways you can help to make a child’s Christmas special:

  • Drop off a new bicycle at Caroline Contractors, 19003 Apian Way, Lutz; or Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce, 2810 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Land O’ Lakes.
  • Purchase a bicycle and have it picked up.
  • Order a bicycle online from Walmart or Target and have it shipped to Lutz, where it will be picked up.
  • Contribute money to purchase a bicycle, which range in cost from $50 to $80, depending on size.

For more information, or to schedule a pickup, call Cindy Caroline at (813) 931-4611, or email her at .

Published December 10, 2014

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In Print: Big land buy in Wesley Chapel, magnet school going up

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What would you do with 1,000 acres of land if you had a chance to buy it?

A small group of owners are experiencing that first-hand in Wesley Chapel right now after a bunch of agricultural land just west of Quail Hollow was gobbled up in a $4.2 million land sale.

If more than 1,000 acres of land purchased last week west of Quail Hollow is ever developed into homes, roads like Mangrove Drive could require some upgrades. (Michael Hinman/Staff photo)
If more than 1,000 acres of land purchased last week west of Quail Hollow is ever developed into homes, roads like Mangrove Drive could require some upgrades. (Michael Hinman/Staff photo)

Will it become homes? A new commercial center? Or will it stay as grazing land. Bill Eshenbaugh, the owner of Tampa’s Eshenbaugh Land Co., wasn’t a part of this deal involving 1,000 acres off Mangrove Drive, but he knows the owners — Charles Bruck through his SoHo Dayflower company, as well as the Aprile family.

“The Apriles are good dairymen, and they can work that land just the way it’s been for the past few decades,” Eshenbaugh told reporter Michael Hinman. “They really have nothing to lose on this. It’s one of the lowest prices I’ve seen.”

However, Bruck is known for his development work, originally planning to build a 260-acre corporate park on State Road 54 near the Suncoast Parkway that is now part of the Bexley Ranch project.

What do these owners have planned? And are there clues in the recent past on what could go there? Find out in this week’s print edition of The Laker, available now on newsstands and driveways throughout the region. Or you also can read the full story online for free through our e-edition, available right here.

Not terribly far from this land purchase, Pasco’s first magnet school continues to come together quickly.

Sanders Memorial STEAM Magnet School — which focuses on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — already is being flooded with applications from potential students, and even more are expected before the Jan. 15 deadline.

“As a district, we know we must compete for the students we serve,” Pasco County Schools superintendent Kurt Browning said, as reported by B.C. Manion.

The campus is being built on the site of the old Sanders Memorial Elementary School at 5126 School Road in Land O’ Lakes, and is expected to be open for the upcoming school year next fall.

Want to see and learn more about the new magnet school? Then check out this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, available for free now. Or read it online in our free e-edition: just click here.

And not every school needs to be new to get attention. The Old Lutz School is back in the news, thanks to its annual celebration of Christmas.

The 18th annual event will have everything: music, cookies, hot chocolate, trains and plenty of Christmas-themed decorations, including nutcrackers and trees.

“We never miss it,” Suzin Carr, a two-time Lutz Guv’na, told reporter Michael Murillo. “We make it part of our holiday.”

How can you make it a part of your holiday? Read this week’s print edition of the Lutz News, available now. Or check out our online e-edition by clicking here. And yes, it’s free.

And finally, photojournalist Fred Bellet has some great pictures to share from the 35th annual Lutz Arts & Craft Fair hosted by the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club. See it online by clicking here.

All of these stories and more can be found in this week’s The Laker/Lutz News, available in newsstands throughout east and central Pasco County as well as northern Hillsborough County. Find out what has your community talking this week by getting your local news straight from the only source you need.

If The Laker/Lutz News is not coming to your door, call us to see where you can get your copy at (813) 909-2800, or read our free e-edition by clicking here.

Moore takes aim at sexual predators with new ordinance

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New Pasco County commissioner Mike Moore wasted no time settling into his office, nor cementing his relationship with county sheriff Chris Nocco, proposing an ordinance Monday that could be one of the toughest in the state against registered sexual predators and sexual offenders.

Moore wants to introduce a draft ordinance at the commission’s regular Jan. 13 meeting that would expand existing state law requiring registered predators and offenders to not live within 2,500 feet of where children might congregate.

It’s modeled after an ordinance already in place in Miami-Dade County, and that already has been challenged in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union. That ordinance prohibits predators and offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school.

Moore’s would go beyond even that. He wants nearly a half-mile separating predators and offenders from not only schools, but also bus stops, day care centers, libraries, assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

“Anywhere that our most vulnerable citizens congregate,” Moore told reporters Monday at The Shops at Wiregrass, where the sheriff’s office maintains a field office.

Considering the number of bus stops in Pasco County number more than 6,500, that alone could make it nearly impossible for someone who is a registered predator or offender to move into or live in the county. Nocco said he had no problem with that.

“It’s not a bad day if they all leave the county,” he said.

For details on Moore’s proposal, check out the Dec. 10 print edition of The Laker/Lutz News.

Baseball complex in jeopardy? Developer misses deadline

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An ambitious plan to bring a major youth-oriented baseball complex to the Wiregrass Ranch area of Wesley Chapel might be coming apart.

Pasco Sports LLC, a partnership between Blue Marble Strategic’s James Talton and retired Major League Baseball star Gary Sheffield, missed a deadline to file a financial plan with Pasco County officials Friday, a little more than a week after county commissioners gave them a little more time to get money together.

“I am very disappointed that they were unable to obtain the financing by today’s deadline,” Pasco County administrator Michele Baker said, in a statement. “However, we still believe very strongly in the concept. Youth sports are an important component of our tourism plan, and the Wiregrass location is geographically well positioned for the region. We look forward to continued dialogue with interested parties in order to bring a sports complex like this to Pasco County.”

Pasco Sports was looking to get $11 million in county funding to help construct the project, along with $23 million of its own money. However, getting a financial backer to front the private side of the deal has been problematic for Talton and Sheffield in recent weeks, which initially was a $70 million project.

The cost and scope of the project was reduced in recent weeks while Pasco Sports tried to bring in financing.

The key to the deal was a $3 million pledge to guarantee loans on the project, something Sheffield told commissioners just before Thanksgiving that he would be willing to front himself if need be.

“I talked to my bankers, and at the end of the day when all this is said and done, if nobody comes in and does this, I’m going to use $3 million myself to take care of that note,” Sheffield said at the time.

It’s unclear whether Sheffield was still pledging that amount, or if it was enough to help Pasco Sports meet the deadline. Talton, however, told The Laker/Lutz News in an email Saturday that he’s not giving up.

“We have to go through this process in order to structure a deal that will work for our lenders and investors,” Talton said. “In our minds, this is just another step in the process, and we have every intention of getting this project completed.”

Talton told members of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce last October that his project — consisting of 19 baseball fields, dormitories and other sports-related amenities — could create an estimated 8,000 jobs and a $318 million annual economic impact boost to the county. Even the $11 million Pasco is investing would come back quickly, he said, as the project is estimated to pay the county $9 million in taxes and other costs.

Commissioners wanted to make a final decision on the $11 million investment at its January meeting, but in order to do that, the developers needed to have paperwork submitted by the end of the day Dec. 5. That would then give county officials time to review the paperwork before it was presented to commissioners.

Getting more time seems unlikely, at least based on what commissioners told Talton and Sheffield last month in Dade City. New commission chair Ted Schrader said there would be no more deadline extensions.

Story updated 12/6/14 at 11:42 a.m., to include comments from James Talton.