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Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Lake Patience Road

Boundaries recommended for Elementary B

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A boundary committee has recommended boundaries for a new elementary school being built in Bexley, a new subdivision being built in Land O’ Lakes, off of State Road 54.

The committee has selected an option that would include Ballantrae, Suncoast Meadows, Suncoast Pointe, Hayman/Fuentes, Meadowbrook/Sierra Pines, and all of Bexley, which are east of the Suncoast Parkway.

The new elementary also would include Swan View Townhomes, Ivy Lake Estates and Toscano at Suncoast, which are west of the Suncoast Parkway.

Courtesy of Pasco County Schools This rendering depicts what the exterior view of a new elementary under construction in Bexley, will look like.
Courtesy of Pasco County Schools
This rendering depicts what the exterior view of a new elementary under construction in Bexley, will look like.

The proposed boundaries would reduce crowding at both Odessa and Oakstead elementary schools, and would provide additional students for Lake Myrtle Elementary.

Students that would be shifting from Oakstead to Lake Myrtle live in these areas: Morsani, Woodville Palms, Cambridge/Lake Linda, Oakstead Area South, Cypress Cove/Village on the Pond, Meadowview/Country Close and Foxwood/Lake Heron.

While the committee recommends the boundaries, the Pasco County School Board has the final word on where the lines should be drawn.

Elementary B is expected to open in the fall, for the 2017-2018 school year.

It will have a capacity of 878 students, and is expected to have 706 students.

Oakstead, which had 1,095 enrolled students is expected to have 765 students, under the proposed boundaries. Odessa, which had 1,000 students, is expected to have 780, and Lake Myrtle, which had 587 students, is expected to have 616.

A parent meeting has been scheduled for Nov. 1, from6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the cafeteria at Oakstead Elementary,11925 Lake Patience Road.

At that meeting, staff for Pasco County Schools, will explain the proposed boundaries and will invite those attending to ask questions and provide feedback.

While the school district needs to draw boundaries for new schools, the issue is typically controversial. Some parents complain that they deliberately moved into the area because of the school they believed their child would attend. Others are happy with the school and don’t want their child’s education disruption. Potential issues with childcare, after-school activities and the parents’ ability to be involved at the school are other common complaints.

Dave Skanga, area superintendent for Central Pasco schools, said he understands that parents have concerns, especially about the unknown.

However, Skanga said, the district will do what it can to reduce parental concerns about having their children zoned to a different school.

He expects the principal of the new school to be named in November. He also noted that many of the teachers will be coming from schools whose students are being shifted into the new school, Skanga said.

“This is going to be a beautiful building,” Skanga said. It will be well equipped, too, he said. “It’s state-of-the-art when we open a new school.”

The school board is scheduled to hold its first public hearing on the proposed boundaries on Dec. 20 and its second public hearing on Jan. 17, when it is expected to make the final decision on the issue.

Published Oct. 19, 2016

Committee works on school boundaries

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A committee is scheduled to meet on the morning of Oct. 13 at Oakstead Elementary School to work on a recommendation for boundaries for a new Pasco County elementary school being built in the Bexley Ranch subdivision in Land O’ Lakes.

The new school, scheduled to open in the fall of 2017, is now under construction at 4380 Ballantrae Blvd.

It is intended to relieve crowding at Oakstead and Odessa elementary schools.

A new elementary school, now known as Elementary B, is under construction in the Bexley Ranch subdivision in Land O’ Lakes. It is intended to relieve overcrowding of Oakstead and Odessa elementary schools. (Courtesy of Pasco County Schools)
A new elementary school, now known as Elementary B, is under construction in the Bexley Ranch subdivision in Land O’ Lakes. It is intended to relieve overcrowding of Oakstead and Odessa elementary schools.
(Courtesy of Pasco County Schools)

During boundary deliberations, the district may also consider recommending a shift in the boundaries between Oakstead and Lake Myrtle elementary schools, to provide additional relief to Oakstead and to help increase Lake Myrtle’s enrollment. Lake Myrtle is operating below capacity and can accommodate more students.

Oakstead Elementary, at 19925 Lake Patience Road in Land O’ Lakes, has a permanent capacity of 762 students, with an enrollment of 1,095 students, and a total of 1,457 students living within its boundaries. That puts the school at 705 students over its capacity.

Odessa Elementary, at 12810 Interlaken Road in New Port Richey, has a permanent capacity of 762 students, but had 1,000 students enrolled last year, and a total of 1,058 students living within its boundaries. That puts the school at 296 students over its capacity.

Lake Myrtle Elementary, at 22844 Weeks Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes, on the other hand, has room to grow. Its permanent capacity is 736. It had 587 enrolled students, with 570 of those living within its boundaries. So, it is operating at 166 students below capacity.

While the district needs new schools to provide a place for students to learn, the practice of drawing boundaries for them always sparks controversy. Passions run high, as parents outline the various problems they envision if their child is reassigned to a new school, or — in some cases — is not. Sometimes the complaints are about academic opportunities, but often they involve day care or the ability to be involved in school activities.

Under district policy, when making recommendations, the school boundary committee should propose boundaries that:

  • Provide a balance of racial and economic diversity among populations served
  • Maintain school feeder patterns to the greatest extent possible
  • Provide room for future growth and the optimum use of schools within the proposed boundaries
  • Provide for safe and efficient transportations for students, to and from school
  • To the extent possible, incorporate complete neighborhood communities within the boundaries
  • To the extent possible, consider long-term construction plans to create as much stability as possible to areas affected by the proposed boundary changes

Anyone is welcome to attend the boundary committee meetings, but only committee members are permitted to take part in the discussions.

A parent meeting regarding the proposed boundaries has been scheduled for Nov. 1, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Oakstead Elementary School, 19925 Lake Patience Road in Land O’ Lakes.

The meeting will be in the school’s cafeteria.

Those interested are invited to hear the presentation, offer input and ask questions at that meeting.

School boundary committee meeting
When: Oct. 13 at 10:30 a.m.
Where: Oakstead Elementary, 19925 Lake Patience Road, Land O’ Lakes
All are welcome. Only committee members are allowed to participate in the discussion.

Parent meeting on proposed boundaries
When: Nov. 1, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: Oakstead Elementary School, 19925 Lake Patience Road, Land O’ Lakes. The meeting will be in the cafeteria.
Those interested are invited to hear the presentation, offer input and ask questions.

Published October 12, 2016

MPO keeps elevated road on county transportation plan

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A group that spent months successfully fighting a privately built elevated toll road through the heart of Pasco County got a bit of a setback last week. But its members seem to be OK with it … for now.

Jason Amerson, second from left, will fight any elevated road planned to run near his home off State Road 54 in Land O’ Lakes, but won’t challenge the county’s current long-range transportation plan as long as elevated roads don’t come up as a viable option. He was one of the leaders of a local protest group, Pasco Fiasco, that included, from left, Patrick Knight, Brian Narcum and Kristine Narcum. (File Photo)
Jason Amerson, second from left, will fight any elevated road planned to run near his home off State Road 54 in Land O’ Lakes, but won’t challenge the county’s current long-range transportation plan as long as elevated roads don’t come up as a viable option. He was one of the leaders of a local protest group, Pasco Fiasco, that included, from left, Patrick Knight, Brian Narcum and Kristine Narcum. (File Photo)

Pasco County’s 2040 Long-Range Transportation Plan is on its way to both federal and state authorities, highlighting the county’s plan for roads, transit and sidewalks over the next 25 years. And among the various needs the county’s Metropolitan Planning Organization included in that transportation plan are elevated roads along the State Road 54/56 corridor.

“We knew the (transportation plan) would still contain the elevated toll road,” said Jason Amerson, a Land O’ Lakes resident who was one of the key players in the elevated toll road protest group, Pasco Fiasco. “It’s not something we are worried about unless they start actively discussing it again at MPO meetings.”

Pasco Fiasco came together last year after some homeowners who live just off State Road 54 learned about a proposal by a private company, International Infrastructure Partners LLC, to build a 33-mile elevated toll road, stretching from U.S. 301 in Zephyrhills to U.S. 19 in New Port Richey. The company had said initially it would fund the estimated $2.2 billion project on its own, but then lost its negotiating power with the Florida Department of Transportation after it requested the state help finance it.

That killed the private project, but an elevated road option remained in the county’s transportation plan. While then Pasco County commissioner Henry Wilson Jr., vowed to help Pasco Fiasco and others against an elevated road down State Road 54 remove such projects from the plan, Wilson was defeated in an open primary election last October by Mike Wells Jr.

“It’s not a simple task getting it removed,” Amerson said. “Probably even a harder task now that Wilson is gone.”

The elevated road remains an option for the county between 2020 and 2040 along the State Road 54/56 corridor as an “alternative improvement.” That could include “premium transit improvements” like toll lanes, overpasses like those used on U.S. 19 in Pinellas County, and elevated lanes.

The elevated road stayed in the plan, but the MPO did make more than 30 other changes to the documents after two months of public hearings. The MPO conducted a 30-day comment period through Nov. 23, as well as public workshops throughout November. It concluded with a public hearing on Dec. 11 where the new transportation plan was adopted unanimously.

Many adjustments to the plan were minor, like name changes of some roads at Bexley Ranch near the Suncoast Parkway, and Mitchell Boulevard near the Little Road area.

But there also were some larger changes as well. They included:

  • Moving up the six-lane expansion of State Road 52 from Interstate 75 to Pasco Road from 2040 to 2019.
  • Delaying another 10 years to 2040 projects like Livingston Avenue from State Road 54 to Collier Parkway, Eiland Boulevard from Handcart to Dean Dairy roads, Curley Road from Wells Road to Clinton Avenue, and Lake Patience Road from Sunlake Boulevard to U.S. 41.
  • Keeping the State Road 56 expansion from Meadow Pointe to U.S. 301 two lanes instead of four by 2019, but possibly expanding it to four lanes by 2030.

That last proposal angered city leaders in Zephyrhills, who wanted four lanes leading into one of its key commercial areas, the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport. Lawmakers like new state representative and former Zephyrhills mayor Danny Burgess said they would work with the city to try and restore funding for a four-lane segment.

The MPO also made a number of changes to Tower Road, which runs primarily east to west in Pasco, just north of State Road 54. They include developer-funded improvements like a two-lane stretch from Bexley Ranch to Ballantrae Boulevard, and an expansion to a two-lane road from U.S. 41 to Ehren Cutoff by 2040, paid for by the county.

The Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Florida Department of Transportation will now review the plan, and work with the county to help implement it.

To read the complete plan, visit Mobility2040Pasco.com.

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MPO keeps elevated toll road on long-range county plan

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Pasco County’s 2040 Long-Range Transportation Plan is on its way to both federal and state authorities, highlighting the county’s plan for roads, transit and sidewalks over the next 25 years. And one transportation feature that made the cut? Elevation roads along the State Road 54/56 corridor.

A group of residents successfully fought a proposed private elevated toll road that would’ve stretched from Zephyrhills to New Port Richey earlier this year, but once they stopped that project, they vowed to remove any mention of elevated roads from the transportation plan. Yet, among the more than 30 changes made to the plan after two months of public hearings, none of them included deleting references to an elevated road.

In fact, it remains an option for the county between 2020 and 2040 along the State Road 54/56 corridor as an “alternative improvement.” That could include “premium transit improvements” like toll lanes, overpasses like those used on U.S. 19 in Pinellas County, and elevated lanes, like was proposed by International Infrastructure Partners LLC in 2013 that could’ve cost upward of $2.2 billion or more.

Pasco’s Metropolitan Planning Organization conducted a 30-day comment period through Nov. 23, as well as public workshops throughout November. It concluded with a public hearing on Dec. 11 where the new transportation plan was adopted unanimously.

Many of the changes to the plan were minor, like name changes of some roads at Bexley Ranch near the Suncoast Parkway, and Mitchell Boulevard near the Little Road area. But there also were some larger changes as well, including:

• Moving up the six-lane expansion of State Road 52 from Interstate 75 to Pasco Road from 2040 to 2019.

• Keeping the State Road 56 expansion from Meadow Pointe to U.S. 301 two lanes instead of four by 2019, but possibly expanding it to four lanes by 2030. Zephyrhills city officials are working with state lawmakers to get that timetable moved up.

• Delaying another 10 years to 2040 projects like Livingston Avenue from State Road 54 to Collier Parkway, Eiland Boulevard from Handcart to Dean Dairy roads; Curley Road from Wells Road to Clinton Avenue, and Lake Patience Road from Sunlake Boulevard to U.S. 41.

The MPO also made a number of changes to Tower Road, which runs primarily east to west in Pasco County just north of State Road 54. They include developer-funded improvements like a two-lane stretch from Bexley Ranch to Ballantrae Boulevard, and an expansion to a two-lane road from U.S. 41 to Ehren Cutoff by 2040, paid for by the county.

The Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation will now review the plan, and work with the county to help implement it.

To read the complete plan, visit Mobility2040Pasco.com.

Ariel Homes plans Lake Patience townhouse community

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Ariel Homes has waited long enough to start developing a small stitch of land off Lake Patience Road, where the developer hopes to build 51 townhomes.

The Odessa-based builder has scheduled a meeting later this month with Pasco County officials to build the units on nearly 7 acres of land not far from where Lake Patience and Drexel roads intersect, north of Glendale Villas not far from Vienna Lake.

Ariel Homes, as A-Investments Development Corp., bought the land in 2004 for $250,000. It already is zoned for multifamily.

Ariel only owns a handful of property in Pasco through A-Investments, primarily single lots in Wilderness Lake Preserve. The townhomes planned for this larger piece of land would be single-story, created by Tampa Civil Design, according to documents filed with the county.

Ariel Homes is primarily a smaller-scale developer, founded by Ariel Quintela in 1990, according to the company’s website. Quintela has lived in Tampa since 1972, and concentrates most of his work in Hillsborough County. However, the lots his company owns in Wilderness Lake Preserve are listed as high as $500,000.

Quintela’s group is set to meet with county officials Dec. 15.

Refinery problems freeze gas prices

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The dream of gas under $3 may have to wait a little longer, at least in Florida.

Refinery outages in both Canada and Texas put a halt to the summer-long decline in gas prices, and even went as far as pushing prices up in some places, like Pensacola.

“Refinery maintenance, especially in the Gulf, is causing the tightening of supplies in some areas,” said AAA spokesman Josh Carrasco, in a release. “As a result of these refinery issues, the downward pressure eon gas prices motorists saw earlier this month has stopped.”

Several companies in the Gulf region — home to more than 40 percent of U.S. refining capacity, announced an unplanned maintenance, AAA said, which reduced gasoline output in this areas. Those outages occurred the same time as other refineries in the region are conducting seasonal maintenance.

Oil prices also are rising again, with West Texas intermediate crude rising $1.13 to $93.54 a barrel on Friday.

“Overall, motorists are still seeing value at the pump,” Carrasco said. “Gas prices are at a seven-month low, and we expect gasoline to continue trending downwards in the coming months.”

Prices in Florida held steady this week at $3.29, but was down 8 cents from a month ago, and 6 cents from a year ago.

The cheapest gas in Land O’ Lakes was $3.16, and found at a few stations in the area, including the Hess on State Road 52 and U.S. 41, as well as the RaceTrac at State Road 52 and Silver Palm Boulevard, and another RaceTrac on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard, near Lake Patience Road, according to GasBuddy. The most expensive gas reported to the site was $3.29 at the Shell station on the corner of State Road 54 and State Road 56.

In Wesley Chapel, prices ranged from $3.12 at Sam’s Club near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, and $3.29 at a Shell station nearby. Lutz gas was as low as $3.16 at the Chevron and Sunoco at State Road 54 and Collier Parkway, and as high as $3.39 at the Shell on North Dale Mabry Highway and Van Dyke Road.

Gas prices in Zephyrhills climbed a little bit to a low of $3.15 at the Marathon on Eiland Boulevard and Geiger Road, as well as the Mobil on State Road 54 and Allen Road. The most expensive was reported at the Cumberland Farms on Gall Boulevard and State Road 39, where gas was $3.26.

The cheapest gas in Dade City was $3.13 at Clark, on U.S. 301 near Long Avenue. The most expensive there was said to be at Chevron on the corner of Fort King Road and Clinton Avenue, were prices came in at $3.24.

Gas prices fall in Zephyrhills, Dade City

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Gas prices have now dropped for six weeks in a row. And those prices could fall even lower yet, especially after the price of oil is at its lowest point since May 2013.

“Motorists should continue to see a discount at the pump,” said AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins, in a release. “High domestic oil supplies, a decrease in global demand, and the easing of geopolitical tensions in Libya and Iraq are keeping downward pressure on gasoline prices.”

Beginning Monday, refineries will no longer need to sell summer-blend gasoline, Jenkins said. Winter-blend is cheaper to produce, which will help push prices even lower in the coming months.

The price for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel in Florida was $3.32 on Sunday, compared to $3.36 a week ago. That’s down 16 cents a gallon from a year ago.

The price for a barrel of oil settled at $92.27 on Friday, down a little more than a dollar from the previous week. It’s at its cheapest level in four months.

The price drop came as the International Energy Agency decreased its 2015 oil demand forecast late last week, where it estimated that global demand will rise just 1.3 percent next year.

“The bottom fell out of oil prices this week,” Jenkins said. “U.S. domestic oil production is set to hit a 45-year high by next year. Barring a major weather event in the Gulf, or overseas geopolitical tensions, we should continue to see oil prices fall.”

In Zephyrhills, gas is cheaper than most other places in the county, with six gas stations checking in at $3.15. Yet, the Citgo at Gall Boulevard and Chancey Road reported prices of $3.34. Dade City saw a range of $3.15 at the RaceWay on U.S. 301 and McDonald Road, to $3.29 at a BP station at the U.S. 98 Bypass.

Four locations in Land O’ Lakes offered gas at $3.19 on Sunday, according to GasBuddy.com. They included the RaceTrac on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard near Lake Patience Road and on State Road 52 near Silver Palm Boulevard, as well as the Citgo station on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard near Lake Patience Road as well, and the Mobil station on State Road 52 near the Suncoast Parkway.

The most expensive reported was $3.30 at a Sunoco station on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard near Causeway Boulevard.

In Lutz, gas prices Sunday ranged from $3.21 at the Circle K on Van Dyke and Old Tobacco roads, to $3.39 at two Shell stations near Van Dyke.

Wesley Chapel prices were the lowest at Sam’s Club at State Road 56 near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard at $3.16, and reportedly the most expensive at a Shell station nearby, where gas sold for $3.29.