Top Story

Town hall over elevated toll road descends into chaos

March 11, 2014 By Michael Hinman

The crowd was there to speak, not to listen.

After spending nearly an hour hearing why some Pasco County leaders like planning and development administrator Richard Gehring were still open to exploring the possibility of an elevated toll road along the State Road 54/56 corridor, hundreds of people gathered at a town hall meeting at Sunlake High School Monday night interrupted, shouted and booed over scheduled speakers.

Residents crowded into Sunlake High School's gymnasium March 10 to talk about the proposed elevated toll road for the State Road 54/56 corridor. (Photo by Michael Hinman) — Residents crowded into Sunlake High School’s gymnasium March 10 to talk about the proposed elevated toll road for the State Road 54/56 corridor. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

And their goal was clear: No elevated toll road.

“This needs to have community support, and the presentation (from county officials) was very demeaning,” one resident said. “Everything has already been decided.”

It was supposed to be just another one of several town hall meetings Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey had organized for constituents: She would bring members of the county staff with her to discuss various issues, and then listen to the attendees and get their feedback.

This meeting, however, served as a prelude to official public interaction over the elevated toll road and overall county transportation plan that’s set to kick off Saturday at The Shops at Wiregrass.

Even with a microphone, speakers like Gehring struggled to talk over the unruly crowd. When one man interrupted him after shouting from the audience, Gehring tried to keep some sort of order.

“Sir … could we have …” Gehring said before getting interrupted again. “Public dialogue requires civility. Let me try and ask you for it.”

International Infrastructure Partners, which submitted an unsolicited proposal last year to privately build the elevated toll road in Pasco County, has not even actually bid on such a project yet, and is still early in negotiations with the Florida Department of Transportation, Starkey said.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. “But we all need to know, at least in my mind, what our alternatives are” to the road if it’s not built.

Some of the talk from the crowd is to keep moving such an east-west connector north, just like residents in Hillsborough County have successfully done over the years. One idea would be to build a higher-capacity road along State Road 52, which virtually runs parallel to State Road 54 in the northern part of the county.

“We do have a problem: We have to have an east-west road,” said Christie Zimmer, a member of the Pasco County Citizens’ Advisory Committee. “I’m absolutely 100 percent opposed for that to happen in the State Road 54/56 corridor, but if we look at the 52 corridor, the cost is substantially less.”

Such a road, she said, would not just serve the travelers from Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, but it would help bring Hernando County into the fold on a road where not so much development has happened.

At one point, Gehring rebutted a comment that an elevated road would depress property values along the corridor, using the Selmon Expressway as an example in Hillsborough County. There, he said, property values are actually on the rise — a statement that was met with jeers from the audience.

While there was a lot of interruptions from the audience, it did seem at least one person was listening. Ken Littlefield, a Republican candidate for Pasco County Commission seeking to replace Pat Mulieri, failed to take a position on the elevated road during a Republican debate last week. But now, the former state legislator says he has all the information he needs.

“If there is one thing that I detest, it’s an unsolicited call,” Littlefield said. “Every evening, between 5 and 7 p.m., our telephone rings, and every now and then, I will not recognize the number and I’ll pick it up. They’ll start an unsolicited call, and I will hang it up.

“Ladies and gentlemen, what I think we need to do on this unsolicited bid is hang up.”

Read more about this meeting and this weekend’s transportation presentation at The Shops at Wiregrass in the March 19 print edition of The Laker/Lutz News.

More than 125 years of Benedictine service began with just four nuns

March 6, 2014 By B.C. Manion

Construction crews from Creative Contractors Inc., are busily erecting the future home of the Benedictine Sisters of Florida. They are building the new Holy Name Monastery on the south side of State Road 52 near Wichers Road. The project includes a chapel, private living quarters with 20 bedrooms, a library to house archives and spiritual books, and meeting spaces for large and small groups.

The Benedictine Sisters of Florida lived in a three-story, wood-frame hotel building from the time they arrived until a more modern monastery was built in 1960. A team of oxen moved the hotel building on 1911 from San Antonio to the current monastery’s site, west of Saint Leo University. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

The funds for the new monastery are coming from $3.4 million in proceeds from the sale of the current monastery and land to Saint Leo University, as well as a $500,000 capital campaign. So far, the capital campaign has raised slightly less than $175,000, which includes a $100,000 one-to-one match challenge grant. The sisters must raise $100,000 by June 30 to receive that grant.

The building, which was designed by Klar & Klar Architects, is well under way.

It’s possible that the sisters may move in as early as this summer, said Sister Roberta Bailey, prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Florida.

The sisters are leaving a massive multi-story structure where they have lived since 1960. That structure has become too large for the sisters and too expensive to operate, maintain and renovate.

The sisters are celebrating their 125th anniversary of living and working in Pasco County.

The original quartet of sisters traveled from Elk County, Pa., to San Antonio, arriving there on Feb. 28, 1889. Another sister joined them a few months later.

“They were called down to be teachers of the children of the German immigrants,” Bailey said.

When they arrived in San Antonio, they lived in a three-story wooden hotel. A team of oxen moved that building in 1911 to the current monastery’s site, west of Saint Leo University.

After arriving, the sisters went straight to work.

By March 11, 1889, the sisters had assumed the administration and staffing of Saint Anthony School. A short time later they began to staff the school in St. Joseph and also opened Holy Name Academy.

The sisters opened St. Benedict’s Preparatory School for young boys in 1920, and that school operated until 1959. Holy Name Academy closed five years later. Both were boarding schools.

After they closed, the sisters directed their energies toward providing services for nearby Saint Leo College.

Over the years, the sisters have had a hand in many organizations.

They have served on boards for such charitable organizations as Sunrise Spouse Abuse Shelter, Saint Leo University Haitian Mission Project, Florida Association for the Education of Young Children, Catholic Charities, Coalition for the Homeless, Hospice, Habitat for Humanity and DayStar Hope Thrift Store and Food Pantry.

They have been town mayors and commissioners. And, they continue to have a hand in a variety of good works.

For instance, they provide a Thanksgiving meal to more than 200 people each year. They also give annual scholarship assistance to a few Saint Leo University students. They open their home to provide lodging and meals for religious women from developing countries who are pursuing their degrees.

The size of the religious community has gone from more than 60 sisters at one point to 13 sisters now, but they continue to play an active role, both in community life and spiritual support.

“We try to respond to what the needs are in the local area. It’s just that right now we’re so few that everyone wears many hats,” Bailey said.

They also call upon the power of prayer to help others in need. Anyone can call with any kind of prayer request, Bailey said, noting the requests often mirror what’s happening in society at large.

A parent might call with a prayer request for a child, or someone who is ill or injured may call in with a request, Bailey said. There are others who are going through a crisis of faith and ask for prayer to help them through it.

Sometimes, it’s a practical request, she said.

“Someone may call in, ‘I have a big test this afternoon, can you pray?’” Bailey said. “We have a book of prayer intentions that sits outside the chapel doors.” Whenever a sister passes by, she looks at the book and says a prayer for the people who have called in their intentions.

Despite their long history in Pasco County, the sisters’ work is not yet done, Bailey said.

“We’ve been here a good long time and we’re here to stay,” Bailey said.

To learn more about the Benedictine Sisters of Florida, visit BenedictineSistersOfFl.org, or call (352) 588-8320.

Published March 5, 2014

Affordable, available housing helps Wesley Chapel earn national spotlight

February 27, 2014 By Michael Hinman

There’s never a shortage of “best” lists circulating the Internet, ranking cities, beaches, hotels, schools … whatever might be good for marketing people. Typically, however, these lists are as scientific as the ones David Letterman might use in his “Top 10” comedy bit on “Late Show.”

Even before the housing industry fully recovered, Wesley Chapel and its surrounding areas were already breaking ground on new houses and new neighborhoods, all in an effort to keep up with demand of people wanting to live in the area. (File photo)

A new list released last week, however, compared some real numbers important to people looking for a place to settle down: availability of good homes that are affordable in an area with solid growth. And one of the areas that have excelled in all these categories is very close to home: Wesley Chapel.

The designation comes from NerdWallet, a San Francisco-based online financial services advice company that is run by, for a lack of a better term, nerds. Wesley Chapel was compared against nearly 180 other areas towns, cities and areas in Florida, and ranked the fourth best area for homeownership in Florida.

“The beauty of Wesley Chapel is that everything you need is right here,” said Hope Allen, the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce’s executive director. “Here you have a world class hospital, a fabulous shopping and dining experience, and it’s a great place to buy a home.”

Amenities are important, of course. But NerdWallet was paying close attention to slightly different questions: Are homes available? Can people afford to live there? And is the area growing?

The answer to all three questions was a resounding yes for Wesley Chapel. The median monthly income for residents in the area is $6,153, but housing costs are just under $1,700. That means people in Wesley Chapel are spending just 27 percent of their income on housing, a number that would make any statistician smile.

“Homeowner costs and the percentage of household income is a really important measure,” said Maggie Clark, an analyst with NerdWallet who worked the numbers for the Florida study. “Generally, anything under 30 percent is considered affordable.”

The area also had population growth of nearly 11 percent in a two-year period between 2010 and 2012, second only to Jacksonville’s Oakleaf Plantation, which also finished at the top of the overall survey.

And affordability is key to attracting new residents, not just from the Tampa Bay area, but beyond.

Sam Turgeon, a broker and owner of Sunlight Realty in Lutz, said his home state of Connecticut is feeling the pinch of higher taxes and homes that are being priced out of many people’s range.

“Many of them are hitting retirement age and realize very quickly they can’t afford to live there on the pension and savings they have,” Turgeon said. “People started doing the math, and realized that they were going to outlast their money. So they’re selling their houses up there, and coming down here. And I think that is good.”

The only area in the Tampa Bay region that finished higher than Wesley Chapel was the Keystone area, located just outside of Odessa in Hillsborough County, at No. 2. Housing there is a bit more expensive — nearly $2,400 a month — but income is a little higher too at nearly $8,900 monthly.

What really pushed Keystone over the top, however, was the fact that 94 percent of its residents own their home, compared to just 75 percent in Wesley Chapel. In fact, the only other area that even came close to the high ownership rate was Jacksonville’s Fruit Cove area, which chalks up a 90 percent rate.

Yet a good mixture of owned homes and rental options means a solid, diverse community. It also means that someone looking to call Wesley Chapel home can do it whether they want to own a home, or just rent one. And when renters are ready to invest in a new home, they’ll likely stick with the area they’ve already been spending time in.

“Pasco County is just an attractive place to live,” Turgeon said. “The taxes are far less because you’re not in the middle of a city, you still have access to anything you might need, and you don’t have that same overhead cost as you would in Hillsborough.”

And Wesley Chapel will only continue to grow. More than 12,000 homes are ready to be added to the mix, the chamber’s Allen said, and statewide polls like the NerdWallet one can help make those homes fill up even faster.

“It’s another great highlight of the area,” Allen said. “You can tout something like this to people who are looking to grow and expand business in Wesley Chapel because their work force can have affordable housing with all the amenities.

“This is just another notch in our belt in getting more business here.”

To read the complete study from NerdWallet, click here.

Published Feb. 26, 2014.

Elevated road brings community together … to protest

February 20, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Author Margaret Mead once cautioned to “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world” because “indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

If a private company wants to build an elevated toll road above State Road 54, it will have to convince homeowners like Patrick Knight, Jason Amerson, Brian Narcum and Kristine Narcum, to do it. The four say communities like Stonegate, where they live, will be subject to noise and heavy traffic outside their quiet community. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Jason Amerson isn’t exactly looking to change the world. But he is building support to stop change along State Road 54 that could bring an elevated toll road in the future.

“I never imagined something like this was going to land right on my doorstep,” said Amerson, who moved into the Stonegate community west of Land O’ Lakes Boulevard five years ago. “That is why I am taking this so seriously.”

Amerson is one of a growing group of residents living just off State Road 54 opposed to International Infrastructure Partners’ plan to build a 33-mile elevated road between Zephyrhills and New Port Richey. Such a project could be visible from his neighborhood, currently shielded by trees and other homes, Amerson said, and the highway noise could destroy his property value.

So Amerson has joined a new community activist group known as Pasco Fiasco that has just one goal: Stop the elevated road.

“I am tired of seeing businesses go out of business around here,” Amerson said. “A road like this would force businesses and families to move, and it would be impossible for any of us to ever sell our homes here. We’re going to be kind of locked in here.”

Pasco County officials, however, disagree on that kind of impact. County planning and development administrator Richard Gehring insists the expressway portion of the road would be used by travelers who likely wouldn’t have stopped at businesses along the State Road 54/56 corridor anyway. By moving them up, local traffic will move easier on the lower roads, and actually help businesses rather than hurt them.

Some members of the newly formed Pasco Fiasco group made their first public appearance during a Pasco Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting last week in New Port Richey. They included Land O’ Lakes native Sharon Ogborn, who feels the elevated road is more about accommodating commuters from other areas than it is her Odessa community.

“We moved to our present home in Odessa for the country feeling and the rural setting,” Ogborn said. “It’s going to help Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.”

Pasco Fiasco has already received some support from the Pasco County Commission. Henry Wilson has already made his opposition to the project clear, and at last week’s MPO meeting, fellow commissioner Jack Mariano started to question the project as well.

Yet, the final decision lies not with county officials, but with the Florida Department of Transportation. And while officials there have said they’d want county support before moving forward with the elevated road project, they don’t require it since State Road 54 is just that, a state road.

“Ultimately, the FDOT probably does have the final say, but I think they are going to basically honor what the county commission wants,” Amerson said. “But if Tallahassee thinks it’s a great idea, and the FDOT thinks it’s a great idea, I’m not sure if they’ll listen to the county commissioners in the end.”

Amerson admits that growth in Pasco County is going to eventually require something be done with State Road 54. But he feels county officials have not exhausted all other options quite yet.

Gehring, however, said the county explored 18 alternatives to move traffic east and west in Pasco County. And even if State Road 52 is expanded into multiple lanes, and the expansion of Ridge Road is completed, the best plan to move the large volume of traffic projected along the State Road 54/56 corridor in the next decades is an elevated toll road.

The project most likely wouldn’t have been necessary if homeowners in Hillsborough County didn’t successfully protest road expansions there — like the proposed Lutz Expressway blocked by area residents — that could’ve helped move traffic to the south. And Amerson is interested in taking a little from that playbook.

“Each time they have tried to do this somewhere, it gets beaten back by the people,” he said. “I don’t feel what we have here is any different. I think we really can stop this.”

In the meantime, Amerson has teamed up with Richard Connors, and they are recruiting more people to challenge the elevated road. They are finding people through neighboring communities thanks to a social network site called NextDoor.com that connects people online based on their geographic proximity. Brian Narcum, a Stonegate resident opposed to the road, said it’s helped bring in hundreds of people in just a couple weeks.

And the focus, for now, will remain in lobbying county commissioners against the project, hoping that will be enough to discourage both the FDOT and the private builder IIP from moving forward.

“If you want to bring our area up to the next level, you have to be attractive to businesses and keep that interest in our urban development,” Amerson said. “You can’t put something like this elevated road down the heart of our county that is going to scar the road, and still expect people will want to move here and be next to that.”

To learn more about the local efforts to oppose the road, visit PascoFiasco.com.

Published Feb. 19, 2014

Pasco’s top teacher says he’s ‘living the dream’

February 13, 2014 By B.C. Manion

When Pat Connolly was in high school, he thought he had his future mapped out.

He planned to become an engineer and had even been accepted to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Pat Connolly jots out a problem during his Advanced Placement calculus class at Land O’ Lakes High School. Connolly recently was named Teacher of the Year for Pasco County Schools. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

All that changed, however, after he began tutoring some high school peers.

As he worked with them, Connolly saw the light bulb go on in their heads when they understood what he was teaching.

“I felt then that I’d been given a gift, and it became my moral responsibility to the universe to use that gift,” said Connolly, recently named Teacher of the Year in Pasco County Schools.

Instead of going to MIT, Connolly headed to the University of Chicago where he earned a degree in mathematics and picked up some classes in education. Even then, Connolly said he understood that there’s both an art and a science to teaching.

It’s not enough to have mastery of the material one’s teaching, said Connolly, who teaches mathematics at Land O’ Lakes High School. It’s also essential to able to convey it in a way that connects with students.

“They (students) trust me to take them on this ride called education. And, without that trust, I can’t do what I do,” he said. “I think I have earned that trust from them. I’ve shown them that I care about them. I’ve shown them I have interesting things to teach them, and that I have faith that they can learn it.”

Even after decades of teaching, Connolly still delights in seeing that light bulb go on when a student finally catches on after struggling with a concept. He often sees that light go on when he’s introducing new ideas.

“They’ve got no clue what you are talking about,” he said. “Then, after five minutes, you get a bunch of them nodding. Then, you finally get this one kid, after 15 or 20 minutes, he’s like, ‘I got it!’”

Watching students become confident in their ability to learn is satisfying, Connolly said. Students in his Advanced Placement calculus class describe him as a teacher who is not only in full command of the material he’s presenting, but also can relate mathematics to just about anything in life.

“He knows like everything,” said Carlos Osorno, the high school’s senior class president. “Anything we talk about, even random topics that come up in class, you really don’t know how he knows everything.”

Classmate Andrea Slouha agreed. “Any subject you ask him about, he seems to always have an answer for it. I don’t think he’s ever said, ‘I don’t know’ to anything.”

Vincent Trang, who has taken Connolly’s classes for two years, described him as a teacher who wants his students to succeed.

“He’s a really helpful teacher,” he said. “There are some times when I don’t understand a concept. He would take the time to make sure I understood it.

“I think he loves teaching,” Trang said.

Robin Hanna, another AP calculus student, said she took the class because of Connolly’s good reputation, and he’s lived up to the billing.

“He has turned out to be really interesting,” Hanna said. “There’s never a dull day in this class. I have learned a lot — not just about math, but about how certain things work and about how math can be applied to real-life situations. Just a lot of random facts, too, because he can go off on tangents.”

Another student, Ryan Kova, said Connolly is tuned into students and can tell if his lessons are getting through to them.

Connolly has been teaching in Pasco County Schools since 1989, first at Ridgewood High School, then transferring to Land O’ Lakes two years later.

His wife Sherri is a teacher at Centennial Elementary School, her school for 25 years. They live in Zephyrhills and have three adult children, Shanna Harper and Sara and Shane Connolly.

Before arriving in Pasco County, Connolly taught for five years in Missouri, followed by six years as an instructor at the Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando, as well as two years at the Naval Academy Preparatory School.

Connolly had considered retiring at the end of this school year, then seeking out a teaching job overseas. But he put those plans on hold to instead run for president of the teacher’s union.

If he wins, he’ll finish out the school year and take on that role. If he loses, he’ll stay on for another year at Land O’ Lakes High and pursue overseas teaching opportunities the following year.

For now, though, he’s enjoying the privilege of teaching. He said people think he’s joking when he says he’s “thrilled to be here” or that he’s “living the dream.”

But he’s serious.

In his application for Pasco’s Teacher of the Year, he explained his love for teaching by describing a scene from the movie “City Slickers.”

In that scene, a character named Curly explains the key to happiness is finding the one thing that really matters to you and sticking to it, no matter what.

“It seems teaching is my one thing,” Connolly wrote.

Published Feb. 12, 2014

Latest industrial construction to boost area jobs profile

February 6, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Central Pasco County continues its bid to become the high-technology hub of the Tampa Bay region with the start of a 135,000-square-foot office center at ComPark 75. And last week, development owner Larry Morgan welcomed Gov. Rick Scott and other dignitaries for a ceremonial groundbreaking at his latest $15 million effort.

Larry Morgan, center, chief executive of Morgan Family Ventures, stands with Gov. Rick Scott, left, and Ross Kirk, executive managing director of Cassidy Turley, in front of Building C at ComPark in Lutz. Lawmakers labeled the construction off Wesley Chapel Boulevard the first major commercial construction in Pasco County since the start of the economic recession. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

“There is something else much more important going on here than just the construction of these buildings,” Morgan, chief executive of Morgan Family Ventures and former owner of Tires Plus, told the crowd outside of his Building C on the chilly, damp morning. “The American way is for the people to have the opportunity to invest their money and time and things of that nature, and that entrepreneurial spirit certainly exists here at ComPark.”

The walls for Building C are already up, with the larger Building D planned to be built not far behind it on Pet Lane. Both buildings will offer more than 30 office units ranging in size from 3,030 square feet to 5,175 square feet. Three of the units in Building C have already been leased, including the Pasco County Tax Collector’s office, which signed on after a Wesley Chapel location at The Grove fell through.

Getting the building off the ground required more than 30 permits, but the bureaucratic red tape has not been as restrictive as it once was, Morgan said. The county has come a long way.

“I have been a critic of regulation my whole business life, but things are definitely getting better in Pasco,” he said. “The whole county organization is getting better.”

The construction project has employed nearly 600 people, and will create more than 250 jobs once the units start filling up. Many of those jobs, Morgan said, would be high-waged.

And that could give a local boost to Scott, who is facing a tough re-election this year potentially against his predecessor, Charlie Crist, and working to raise what has been consistently low approval ratings.

“We all care about what happens to you,” Scott said. “We want jobs. The most important thing we can do is create an environment that will get to work.”

Sen. John Legg, R-Lutz, says he can only see growth in Wesley Chapel’s future thanks to projects like ComPark.

“Wesley Chapel is the hotbed of economic opportunities in the state of Florida,” he said, adding that government can help developers by getting “out of the way.”

“It’s an honor to get out of your way and let you do your job,” Legg said.

ComPark 75 is 60 acres of developable land just off Wesley Chapel Boulevard to the west of Tampa North Aero Park.

Only three units remain available in the first phase of ComPark’s construction of two nearby buildings that total a little more than 100,000 square feet. Morgan also hopes to build a four-story office building on the eastern side of the property fronting Interstate 75.

New State Rep. Amanda Murphy, who succeeded Mike Fasano in the Florida Legislature, was the only Democratic lawmaker on hand at the ceremony. She said the ComPark project would help the entire county, although she did wish it was in her district.

“I am a little jealous because the other side of the county doesn’t get something as wonderful and beautiful as this,” said Murphy, who is based in New Port Richey. “But it benefits all of Pasco County, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Published Feb. 5, 2014

As classes begin, PHCC becomes Pasco-Hernando State College

January 30, 2014 By B.C. Manion

Pasco-Hernando Community College has changed its named to Pasco-Hernando State College.

The new name reflects the college’s broader mission as it prepares to offer bachelor degree programs. The college’s board of trustees approved the name change at its Jan. 21 board meeting.

Students fill the walkways on the first day of classes at Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, a new satellite campus for Pasco-Hernando State College. (Photo courtesy of Stephen John Photography)

The vote follows the December approval by board of directors of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to authorize the bachelor degree programs.

“Our new name signifies enhanced opportunities for our current and future students,” John DiRienzo Jr., PHSC district board of trustees chair, said in a release. “This is a pivotal moment in our college’s 41-year history. The transition to a state college is reflective of the college’s enhanced mission to provide accessible, affordable, quality higher education that meets the needs of our local residents and employers.”

PHSC plans to begin offering a bachelor of applied science degree in supervision and management, and a bachelor of science in nursing, both in August.

“These two baccalaureate degrees are in high demand fields that will provide advanced career opportunities in fast-growing, stable industries,” PHSC president Katherine M. Johnson said, in a release. “While the word ‘community’ no longer appears in our new name, the college’s commitment to serve the higher education needs of residents from all of our communities has never been stronger.”

The nursing bachelor’s degree is designed to prepare graduates of associate’s degree nursing programs — who already have a registered nursing license — to obtain additional skills in management, leadership, theory and research to succeed and be promoted within the nursing profession.

Prerequisite courses for this program will be offered at any of the college’s campuses. The bachelor’s degree in nursing program will be offered only online.

Published Jan. 29, 2014

The bachelor’s degree in supervision and management is designed to meet the needs of students with business, technology and workforce-focused associate’s degrees. Several courses in this program will be available at every campus and online, with the full program initially offered at the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch in Wesley Chapel.

Besides getting a new name, the college boasted an opening day enrollment of 1,600 students at the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, according to campus provost Stan Giannet.

While classes have begun, construction work continues at the campus, Giannet said, adding that the ongoing construction work will not disrupt campus operations.

To learn more about Pasco-Hernando State College degree and certificate programs, visit PHSC.edu, or call (855) 669-7472.

Published Jan. 29, 2014

County waiting on feds to start Overpass Road expansion

January 22, 2014 By Michael Hinman

In just a matter of weeks or even days, federal officials are expected to give the final green light to an Interstate 75 interchange project that will forever change one rural country road in Pasco County.

Big changes could soon come to Overpass Road, especially with the point where it crosses Interstate 75. Plans are to expand the road to four lanes, and build an interchange, connecting it to the interstate. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Despite its proximity to Wesley Chapel District Park and the future site of a high school, Overpass Road is typically a quiet one, connecting Old Pasco and Boyette roads over the interstate. But work could begin as early as next year to turn it into an important Pasco County traffic corridor, alleviating some of the congestion at State Road 52 to the north and State Road 54 to the south.

“Over time, you’re going to see more access points coming into this portion of the county,” said James Edwards, transportation planning manager for Pasco County. “Overpass Road is a $50 million project, and the county is going to have to come up with a funding plan to make it work.”

Once the county receives approval from the Federal Highway Administration through the Florida Department of Transportation, it has just eight years to construct the interchange. If it fails, then the entire planning process would have to start again.

“When we get approval is when the clock starts ticking,” Edwards said. “You don’t want to miss that window, because basically you’d be starting from scratch with your planning studies. And that could put you back two or three more years.”

Immediate plans are to widen Overpass Road to four lanes, with the ability to expand to six in the future. Eventually, the county is interested in using an expanded Overpass Road to connect Old Pasco Road and U.S. 301 in Zephyrhills.

The area might be quiet and rural now, but it’s not expected to look that way over the next 20 years, Edwards said. Studies show that the population will explode 400 percent to 218,000 people in 2035. Right now, just fewer than 60,000 people live in that area.

Capacity on I-75 also will increase through that area from the current 51,000 vehicles daily between State Roads 52 and 54, to 165,800 in 2040. That volume will completely clog up the existing interchanges in San Antonio to the north and Wesley Chapel to the south, and could even back up State Road 56 just north of the Hillsborough County line.

Some officials already have speculated that the State Road 54/56 corridor could some day be forced to expand to 20 lanes, which has prompted one private group to propose an elevated toll road to create express lanes between Zephyrhills and New Port Richey. While the expansion of Overpass Road would be just nine miles compared to the 33 miles of the elevated road, traffic going back and forth between the interstate and east Pasco could at least have another road alternative, Edwards said.

The county has a chance to have state and federal highway construction dollars offset the Overpass Road project, but first officials have to show they can fund it on their own, Edwards said. County officials use money primarily from gas taxes, Penny for Pasco and mobility fees to fund construction. But those funds have not necessarily been plentiful in recent years, especially after county commissioners rejected an expansion of the gas tax last year.

Raising money through bonds is another possibility, Edwards said. That could be more costly in the long run because the county would have to pay interest on the bonds.

Pasco County has already started to earmark funds for this particular project, however, with $15 million, Edwards said. And there’s a chance the new Penny for Pasco that starts in 2015 could generate some money for this project.

“Whether the state or federal government will put in any money, you can’t depend on that,” Edwards said.

Kumquat Festival aims at old-fashioned, down-home fun

January 15, 2014 By B.C. Manion

Somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 people are expected to head to Dade City on Jan. 25 to attend the 17th annual Kumquat Festival, one of Pasco County’s most popular events.

The festival that pays homage to the diminutive orange fruit had humble beginnings. Phyllis Smith, Roxanne Barthle and Carlene Ellberg were looking for a way to help inject new life into downtown Dade City. They put their heads together and decided to have a festival to honor the kumquat.

John Moors holds a poster promoting the 17th annual Kumquat Festival presented by the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce. He thinks the event will draw between 40,000 and 50,000 to the East Pasco County city this year. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

The inaugural festival was on the lawn of the historic Dade City Courthouse. It included a few vendors, some food and some kumquat growers.

This year, there are 430 vendors offering fine arts, craft items, food and other services — and that’s after about 150 vendors were turned away, said John Moors, executive director of the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the event.

There also will be two entertainment stages, a car and truck show, children’s activities, and a health and wellness section, Moors said.

The festival is a magnet for visitors and has raised Dade City’s profile. It was heralded by the Pasco County Tourism Board as the Pasco County Event of the Year in 2012 and has enjoyed the distinction of being named a “Top 20 Event” by the Southeast Tourism Society, which selects premier events in 13 Southeastern states.

It gives the community a chance to show off its old-fashioned charm and gives event-goers an opportunity to enjoy a family-friendly event, with free parking and admission, Moors said.

Offering the event without charging an admission means that organizers must cover costs from vendor fees and sponsors, and drum up support from volunteers. Fortunately, the festival enjoys the help of the city, county and state governments, as well as corporate sponsors. Community volunteers play a vital role, too, Moors said.

Volunteers from Calvary Assembly of God Church, for instance, help set a friendly tone for visitors by doling out bottles of water to people who park in the satellite lot at the Pasco County Fairgrounds.

Getting ready for the festival requires thorough planning and some elbow grease, starting a year ahead of the event to make sure all of the logistics are covered, Moors said.

On festival day, volunteers are up well before sunrise to pitch in.

“We have hundreds of local volunteers that start at 4:30 in the morning to get all of the vendors in and get all of our things in and set up,” Moors said. “By 9 o’clock, which is the festival opening time, we’re all ready to go.”

There’s plenty of parking with the satellite lots, but last year organizers discovered that those using the shuttles had to wait too long. So, this year there are more shuttle buses, and the bus routes have been tweaked to prevent long waits.

Moors expects the festival to attract 5,000 to 10,000 more people this year because of increased marketing efforts. This year, event organizers are making a bigger push to try to entice people from Sun City Center, The Villages, Wesley Chapel, New Tampa and the Nature Coast in Pinellas to make the trip to Dade City.

The event has a regional impact, Moors said. Using the same formula Visit Florida uses for fairs and festivals, he believes $1 million exchanges hands over the course of the festival.

Of course, much of that money goes to the vendors, but the event has an impact in Dade City, too, he said.

“I’ve had restaurants tell me that they do one week’s worth of business in that one day,” he said. “Our merchant’s association is geared up. They know that if they don’t make a sale on that day, there’s a good possibility that they can make a connection for somebody to come back and visit again and perhaps buy because they like what they see.”

The king of the event is the kumquat. Described as the “little gold gem of the citrus industry” by kumquat promoters, the fruit can be found in virtually every form at the festival.

Vendors will offer kumquat pie, kumquat salsa, kumquat jam, kumquat jelly, kumquat preserves, kumquat ice cream, and even kumquat lotions and soaps.

It’s easy to understand why the event attracts big crowds, Moors said.

“It’s a wonderful, wonderful family experience and experience for mature adults who enjoy a good, old-fashioned, down-home unique Florida experience,” he said.

EVENTS:
WHAT: Miss and Mr. Kumquat Festival Pageant
WHEN: Jan. 18 at 3 p.m.
WHERE: Calvary Assembly of God Church, 13544 U.S. 98 Bypass
DETAILS: Contestants in various age categories will be judged on their poise, personality, communication skills and overall appearance.

WHAT: Kumquat Growers Open House
WHEN: Jan. 23 and Jan. 24, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
WHERE: 31647 Gude Road, Dade City
DETAILS: Visit a farmer’s market, tour grove houses, view antique equipment and sample kumquat products.
COST: Tours are free
INFO: Call (352) 588-2761, or visit KumquatGrowers.com

WHAT: 17th annual Kumquat Festival
WHEN: Jan. 25, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: Historic downtown Dade City
DIRECTIONS: Take Interstate 75 and go east on State Road 52; or take U.S. 301. Follow signs.
COST: Free admission, free parking and free shuttles from remote satellite parking lots at the Pasco Fairgrounds on State Road 52 approaching Dade City, or near Jarrett Ford, 38300 Dick Jarrett Way.
INFO: Visit KumquatFestival.org, or drop by an information booth at the festival. There are information booths at Third Street and Meridian Avenue, and at Seventh Street and Meridian.

Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch is ready for students

January 8, 2014 By B.C. Manion

When Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch opens its doors to students on Jan. 13, it will mark a new chapter in Wesley Chapel history.

It will be the first time that students in that community will be able to attend college, without having to commute.

Stan Giannet is the provost of Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, a new satellite campus of Pasco-Hernando Community College set to open its doors to students on Jan. 13.

Stan Giannet, provost of Pasco-Hernando Community College’s fifth campus, is fired up about the campus’ inaugural day of classes.

“We’re ready. We’re poised to open successfully,” he said.

Porter Campus will have a beginning enrollment of about 1,300 individual students, which is within the college’s projections, Giannet said. Its inaugural staff consists of 48 full-time positions, including 15 faculty members and 33 staff members. There also will be a large number of adjunct faculty members.

Officials theorize students come from Wesley Chapel, choosing the Porter Campus over the college’s East Campus in Dade City and West Campus in New Port Richey. At the same time, the college also expects to pick up some enrollment from nearby counties.

“We also know that many students in Wesley Chapel might not have been going to school,” Giannet said. “There’s no doubt that we’ll be bringing in students from Hillsborough, maybe even Polk.”

Porter Campus officials won’t be able to pinpoint where the enrollment is coming from, however, until they do a ZIP code analysis, expected to take place after the semester begins, Giannet said.

The campus, at 2727 Mansfield Blvd., is situated off State Road 56, about two miles east of Interstate 75, in the heart of Wesley Chapel. It is across the street from the planned Raymond James financial services office park, next to Wiregrass Ranch High School, down the road from The Shops at Wiregrass and around the corner from Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel.

In addition to offering a two-year degree program, the campus plans to launch two bachelor’s degree programs in the fall. One is a bachelor’s degree in nursing and the other is a bachelor’s in applied science, focusing on supervision and management.

In keeping with its new baccalaureate offerings, the Pasco-Hernando Community College board is scheduled to vote on Jan. 21 on a proposal to change the college’s name to Pasco-Hernando State College.

As it opens, the Porter Campus is offering about 160 bricks-and-mortar, face-to-face sections and about 15 hybrid sections, which includes online and face-to-face instruction, Giannet said.

“That’s not counting our nursing courses. We’ll have several courses in our nursing program, which is a limited access program,” he added.

Courses being offered run the gamut from microbiology and human anatomy, to psychology and sociology, to cinema and literature.

The campus also will be the only PHCC location to offer two new certification programs. Those programs are for surgery and pharmacy technicians, both fields where workers are in high demand.

Porter Campus has six buildings, including a seven-story classroom building — said to be the tallest structure in Pasco County. It consists of a three-story parking deck, topped by four floors of classrooms and labs.

The nursing lab on the fifth floor simulates a hospital ward. The equipment is so current that the mannequins there can talk and breathe, officials said during a November preview tour.

Porter Campus boasts a beautiful architectural design, Giannet said, but it won’t truly come to life until the students, staff and faculty are using it.

“We want to create a milieu, an ambience, that will be conducive to a totally meaningful experience — from the learning perspective and from the working perspective,” Giannet said.

He wants the campus’ staff and faculty to enjoy being at the campus, serving students and he wants students to enjoy being there, too.

“We have small classes, “ Giannet said, enabling teachers to know students by name.

He also plans to have an open-door policy.

“Students can come to the provost office at any time,” Giannet said. “If the student perceives that he or she is valued, they feel more invested in their education. The research is unequivocal: The more connected that students feel to the campus, to the faculty, to the events on campus, the greater the likelihood that they’ll be retained and will succeed.”

The college will work closely with guidance counselors at Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel high schools, he said. Besides being able to earn college and high school credits through dual enrollment programs, students also will have a chance to have their questions answered about degree programs available through the college.

Giannet said he’s gratified by the warm reception that the new campus has received.

“The community has shown a tremendous interest in the campus and in the programs we are going to have,” he said.

He expects the college to forge close relationships with businesses and organizations in the community. It already has established a relationship with Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel.

“We’ve developed a partnership for our students to have their clinicals on that site, for our nursing students and some of the other Allied Health. That’s already in the works,” he said.

Work also is under way to create opportunities for Porter students at the North Tampa Behavioral Health center, a new psychiatric hospital on State Road 56.

“As a psychologist, I’m very excited about that,” Giannet said.

The campus was named to honor the Porter family, which donated more than 60 acres for the facility. It is the same family that sold the land now occupied by The Shops at Wiregrass and Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel. The family also owns the land expected to become the site for the Raymond James office park.