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Armstrong Street

Zephyrhills economic summit highlights industrial hub

October 23, 2019 By Kevin Weiss

It may now be famous for its crystal clear water and skydiving but, someday, the City of Zephyrhills also wants to be known for its industrial offerings and high-wage jobs.

The third annual Zephyrhills Economic Summit, held earlier this month, focused on the need to maximize both the use of the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport and the development potential of adjacent industrial property.

The event, at Zephyrhills City Hall, was presented by the Zephyrhills Economic Development Coalition (ZEDC) in partnership with the City of Zephyrhills and Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

The third annual Zephyrhills Economic Summit focused on the importance of developing an industrial corridor and cultivating high-wage jobs. Shown here speaking is Zephyrhills planning director Todd Vande Berg. (Kevin Weiss)

City officials are developing a 20-year master plan known as the Zephyrhills Industrial Corridor Plan.

The proposed industrial development hub encompasses approximately 9.76 square miles (6,248 acres) of land in the southeast portion of the city, around the Chancey Road corridor and municipal airport.

Roughly a third of the property is within city limits and the remainder in unincorporated Pasco County — representing the largest aggregation of industrial lands in the county.

Within that area is 442 divisible acres of what’s known as the Zephyrhills Airport Industrial Park, a build-ready site equipped with water, sewer and electric utilities, and accessible to natural gas.

While the corridor is still in preliminary stages, it ultimately will set the city up for long-term growth and economic sustainability, said Zephyrhills planning director Todd Vande Berg.

Possible targeted industries could include aerospace, aviation and defense; advanced manufacturing; light manufacturing; electronics and technology; logistics and distribution; life sciences and medical technology; telecom/data hosting centers; research and development; showroom; refrigeration/cold storage and other uses.

Vande Berg explained a built-out industrial corridor will yield more revenues for the city and create a better jobs-to-housing balance. He also noted industrial manufacturing uses less services — police, fire, water, sewer— compared to, say, residential or commercial land use.

All that, he said, will ultimately “raise the bar in quality of life” for Zephyrhills residents, allowing funds to be steered toward downtown redevelopment, recreational amenities and other community uses.

“We want to be economically diverse. We don’t just want to have family residential, we want to have a mix of uses,” Vande Berg said.

“If we bring in industrial, we’re going to be more fiscally solvent, and that ties in with being resilient. If we have the industrial there, we feel like we’re in a better position with the city.”

The city planner expressed confidence the corridor’s utility offerings and centralized proximity to Orlando, Lakeland and Tampa makes it an attractive spot for companies looking to relocate or set up shop.

“We’ve got a great location we feel like,” he said. “We have such an asset out there in the southeast quadrant of the city.”

The entire planning area is generally bound by Melrose Avenue to the north, the CSX Transportation railroad and U.S. 301 to the west, Pattie Road to the south, and Barry Road and the Upper Hillsborough Wildlife Management Area to the east.

Two CSX mainline railroads traverse the area and it is accessible to Port Tampa Bay and the CSX Central Florida Intermodal Logistics Center.

The local airport also is undergoing a $5.9 million runway extension and roadway improvements to accommodate larger commercial aircraft, and encourage aviation and industrial development.

Moving forward, Vande Berg said ongoing collaboration is vital between the city, county and state officials to have a coordinated plan on zoning and land use, and “to continue to improve transportation accessibility to this industrial corridor.”

He mentioned a more near-term priority is working with the Florida Department of Transportation to extend State Road 56 east of U.S. 301 to connect to Chancey Road. “Transportation’s huge, like anywhere,” he said.

Aside from transportation and infrastructure boosts to draw companies in, other speakers said the city needs more workforce development programs to develop skilled labor employees and then keep them in the area.

It’s already something holding back existing industrial businesses in the city, said Dr. Randy Stovall, president of the Zephyrhills chamber.

“They can’t find those people they want to hire,” Stovall said. “They want to hire them, but there’s not enough of them, so that is a challenge. We’ve had that (issue) for some time.”

Tom Ryan, economic development manager for Pasco Economic Development Council Inc.,  said having training programs and a baseline of skilled labor in place is “a huge component” for luring large companies to a particular area.

“We’ve got to have (workforce) inventory,” Ryan said. “We’ve got to have a plan to tell those companies, ‘Look, we want your jobs here, and we have a plan to help you bring those jobs here.’”

Pasco County Commission Chairman Ron Oakley pointed out that Zephyrhills and the East Pasco area are working to position the area to do just that.

Pasco County Schools plans to build a technical high school by 2022 near the intersection of Curley Road and Kiefer Road in Wesley Chapel that will hold nearly 900 students.

Meanwhile, Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative (WREC) plans to construct a 4,000-square-foot facility for AmSkills to teach manufacturing jobs.

Also, local business owner Kevin Bahr of Bahr’s Propane Gas & A/C is starting a teaching school to train propane service and HVAC technicians.

“The county is working very hard for jobs,” Oakley said. “Our county’s growing. We need jobs, and we need to teach them (the necessary skills).”

Elsewhere during the summit, State Rep. Randy Maggard commended Zephyrhills “for thinking ahead of schedule” in regards to its future and planned industrial hub.

Maggard, a Republican representing District 38, specifically applauded city leaders for this year putting a $2 million septic to sewer project at the top of their state appropriations request list.

The project includes decommissioning existing septic tanks to a residential subdivision and homes along Sixth Avenue and Armstrong Street, with potential for sewer expansion to additional properties in the future.

The project aims to prevent springs from dying because of nitrates from septic tanks.

“At the end of the day, if we don’t have water, none of this matters,” Maggard said. “We can talk about infrastructure, we can talk about a lot of things, but if we can’t provide water, it doesn’t matter at all.”

The elected official also gave this piece of advice for the city going forward: “You need to tell us where you want to go, and we need to help you get there in the long-term planning, funding, whatever it takes for us to be able to do that.”

Other summit speakers included Mohsen Mohammadi, chief operations officer for American Infrastructure Development; David Gwynn, District 7 secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT); and Danielle Ruiz, economic development manager for Duke Energy.

Published October 23, 2019

Filed Under: Local News, Zephyrhills/East Pasco News Tagged With: American Infrastructure Development, AMskills, Armstrong Street, Bahr's Propane Gas & A/C, Barry Road, Chancey Road, City of Zephyrhills, CSX Transportation, Curley Road, Danielle Ruiz, David Gwynn, Duke Energy, Florida Department of Transportation, Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce, Kevin Bahr, Kiefer Road, Melrose Avenue, Mohsen Mohammadi, Pasco County Schools, Pasco Economic Development Council, Pattie Road, Port Tampa Bay, Randy Maggard, Randy Stovall, Ron Oakley, Sixth Avenue, State Road 56, Todd Vande Berg, Tom Ryan, U.S. 301, Upper Hillsborough Wildlife Management Area, Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, Zephyrhills Airport Industrial Park, Zephyrhills City Hall, Zephyrhills Economic Development Coalition, Zephyrhills Economic Summit, Zephyrhills Municipal Airport

Zephyrhills presents draft budget, appropriations requests

August 21, 2019 By Kevin Weiss

The City of Zephyrhills has unveiled its proposed budget for fiscal year 2019-20 — totaling more than $67 million.

The $67,043,615 draft budget is based on a tentative tax rate of 6.35 mills previously approved by the Zephyrhills City Council. The draft budget was shared during an Aug. 12 council meeting.

The City of Zephyrhills’ $67 million draft budget is based on a tentative tax rate of 6.35 mills. A budget workshop is scheduled for Aug. 26. Public hearings on the proposed budget are scheduled for Sept. 9 and Sept. 23. (File)

Based on the 6.35 millage rate, the total budget for the new fiscal year will be roughly $16.4 million for the city’s 16 departments (city council, administration, economic development, finance, human resources, planning, information technology, police, dispatch, fire, building & code enforcement, library, equipment maintenance, storm water, streets, parks & facilities).

Remaining money necessary for the 2019-20 budget will come from other funding sources, including state revenues, county shared funds franchise fees, utility fees and grants.

The draft shows the city’s police department has the largest departmental budget at over $3.9 million, followed by the fire department at roughly $2.8 million.

A budget workshop is scheduled for Aug. 26. Public hearings on the proposed budget are scheduled for Sept. 9 and Sept. 23.

Zephyrhills City Manager Billy Poe shared budget highlights during the meeting, including these items relating to employee benefits and compensation:

  • Total employee health care costs increased 9.7%
  • A proposed pay increase of 3.5% for all employees
  • An increase in cost of 15% for worker’s compensation costs
  • An increase in cost of 11% for property casualty expenses
  • Tuition reimbursement up to $2,500 annually, up to a maximum of $15,000 in total, for city employees

Big ticket items in the budget include:

  • Six fully equipped police vehicles totaling $310,000 funded through Penny for Pasco
  • A $300,000 side-loader truck for sanitation
  • A $267,000 final installment for a new fully outfitted fire truck, which has a total cost of $457,000

With talks ongoing with Pasco County regarding the possible consolidation of the Zephyrhills Fire Department into Pasco County Fire Rescue, the city manager told council members the new fire truck will be part of those broader negotiations, possibly to help offset MSTUs (Municipal Service Taxing Unit) levied through any merger.

“The budgets were prepared as if the (fire) department is staying,” Poe said. “We don’t know which direction we’re going this moment, so it was budgeted to purchase that truck and that will be part of the conversation with the county. They’re aware of it, so we’ll continue that conversation.”

Councilman Alan Knight told Poe the fire truck “ought to be a real strong thing in our negotiation” with the county.

“We contracted it. We put our name on it. We’ve got it. We’re going to have to eat that, so we’ve just got to understand that that’s going to be part of our negotiations,” Knight said.

Councilman Lance Smith said he’s pleased that the budget has more funds allocated toward employee education.

“I am glad to see more money put into training employees,” Smith said. “I mean, I think that’s something really important. I think that’s something we haven’t been doing, and I think the more educated an employee is, I think the more productive they’ll be.”

A push for more police training
Along those lines, Council president Ken Burgess questioned whether the Zephyrhills Police Department allocated enough funding for more advanced, hands-on training.

Zephyrhills Police Chief Derek Brewer said his department has invested in instructor training within his department and is able to offer more in-house training.

The draft budget shows $22,000 for police training programs.

“I bring it up every year about the police training. Especially in light of recent events, I want to make sure that in our training, we do more than just get on the computer and click a few buttons,” Burgess said.

“There’s a lot of things that can happen that we don’t want our officers to experience that for the first time in real life,” he said.

Zephyrhills Police Chief Derek Brewer pointed out training opportunities are often trust funded or free, but said the issue is more about being able to manage overtime associated with training.

The department has sent a handful of sworn officers to receive instructor training, so it is able to offer more in-house training programs, the chief said.

“Whether it’s advanced, in service or online or whatever it is, I can tell you we’ve been actively trying to send people to as much as we can,” he said.

Brewer also told the council the police department is considering participation at an active shooter response training center in Arizona.

“We were looking for something a little closer, but, of course, if that’s what we’ve got to do then that’s what we’ll use,” Brewer said.

In other action, the council approved the submission of three appropriations requests for projects to be sponsored by State Rep. Randy Maggard and State Sen. Wilton Simpson in the Florida Legislature:

  • $2 million septic to sewer project to a residential subdivision and homes along Sixth Avenue and Armstrong Street, and decommissioning existing septic tanks. The project will affect 67 existing properties with potential for expansion to additional properties in the future.
  • $1.2 million for an indoor/covered tennis facility at the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center site. The indoor facility would also be used for other sports, such as soccer, and banquets and ceremonies.
  • $2 million for the purchase of roughly 1.3 acres of land at the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport for the extension of runway 01-19. The cost also includes relocating Skydive City’s existing RV parking east of Skydive Lane.

The city also is considering a fourth appropriations request for $2.5 million, to be used for U.S. 301/Pretty Pond Road intersection improvements. Those improvements would involve the relocation of a traffic signal that is currently located at Merchants Square and Townview shopping centers to a new location, at the intersection at Pretty Pond Road.

Council members discussed that topic at length. The aim of the improvements would be to speed up potential commercial development in the area.

Published August 21, 2019

Filed Under: Local News, Zephyrhills/East Pasco News Tagged With: Alan Knight, Armstrong Street, Billy Poe, City of Zephyrhills, Derek Brewer, Ken Burgess, Lance Smith, Pasco County Fire Rescue, Penny for Pasco, Pretty Pond Road, Randy Maggard, Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center, Sixth Avenue, Skydive City, Skydive Lane, U.S. 301, Wilton Simpson, Zephyrhills City Council, Zephyrhills Fire Department, Zephyrhills Municipal Airport, Zephyrhills Police Department

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01/23/2021 – Adult craft

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