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Veterans Affairs

Development is ramping up in Zephyrhills

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Except for some weeks throughout March and April, the COVID-19 hasn’t halted much new development within the City of Zephyrhills.

That’s the word from Zephyrhills Planning Director Todd Vande Berg, who outlined a number of citywide projects during an East Pasco Networking Group virtual meeting on June 23.

Perhaps the most notable setback, Vande Berg said, involved a slight delay in court installations at the forthcoming Sarah Vande Berg Tennis and Wellbeing Center, due to some extra safety and travel precautions taken from Miami-based construction crews.

However, the nearly $5 million project on Simons Road is proceeding well, with a grand opening scheduled for mid-to-late August.

Zephyrhills Planning Director Todd Vande Berg was the featured guest speaker at an East Pasco Networking Group virtual meeting on June 23. (File)

Aside from that, the planning director said, “I haven’t heard of a lot of slowdown, at least in our community.”

Underscoring the point is the myriad projects and initiatives Zephyrhills has in the pipeline — mainly in regards to new residential construction.

Larger single-family developments underway include The District at Abbott’s Square, Zephyr Lakes, Hidden River, Links at Calusa Springs, plus various expansions to the Silver Oaks and Silverado communities, respectively.

In other words, the city’s real estate market is “very hot right now,” Vande Berg said.

He explained, “I don’t know where all these people are coming from, but these housing subdivisions are selling homes for over $300,000 with HOAs and CDDs. I wasn’t sure how that’d work in Zephyrhills, but you drive up to Silverado and before the lot infrastructure is completed, you’re seeing a ‘Sold’ sign, so it is amazing.

“Even through this COVID-19 environment the residential housing…has really stayed very strong, which helps the city from a budget and revenue standpoint.”

Vande Berg added another 550-plus residential development is being planned around the new tennis center and should be underway a year or so from now.

The Lennar project will feature one-story villas, two-story townhomes and three different lot sizes. “It’s going to be a unique project,” Vande Berg said, adding, “we’re just beginning the due process on that.”

The planning director touched on a number of commercial developments, too.

Much is contingent on the addition of two signalized intersections on U.S. 301, Pretty Pond Road and Medical Arts Courts.

Funding for the $2.3 million project is in the state budget for this fiscal year. The aim of the traffic signal project — already out to bid — is to speed up potential commercial development in the northeast and northwest corners of U.S. 301 and Pretty Pond, and to improve access to the Merchants Square and Townview Square shopping centers.

The project will “spur a lot of development” along the intersection, Vande Berg said.

Additionally, a slew of light industrial businesses have recently set up shop at Park Place Center — an industrial park situated on Chancey Road south of Skydive City. That development is funded by a group of local investors.

“There’s a lot of activity going on in there,” Vande Berg said. “If you get a chance, go back there and drive around in that industrial park and you’ll see everything that’s going on in there.

Zephyrhills will join more than 100 other cities and water treatment facilities across the country in a federal lawsuit that is going after various companies that manufactured firefighting foam containing chemicals found to contaminate water wells. (File)

“We’re always excited when we have new, quality industrial manufacturing coming in, that creates jobs, they don’t require a lot of city services, and they generate a lot of ad valorem revenue for the city, so it’s always very positive, and you see that happening, to help diversify our community economy, and just good business overall,” Vande Berg said.

Another visible construction project underway is the rebuild of Jerry’s Crystal Bar on Gall Boulevard. The bar had been a community landmark downtown for over 60 years, until a fire destroyed the building last May.

The project will fall under the requirements of the city’s form-based code for the U.S. 301/Gall Boulevard corridor area, whereby the facade is aligned right up to the street with a wide sidewalk and all parking is situated behind the bar.

The planning director described the new building as “a big improvement” from beforehand, adding future projects within the corridor will be required to meet form-based code — a tool used to regulate new development in a manner compatible with the community’s vision.

For example, Vande Berg noted a builder is looking to erect townhomes on Seventh Street, so those structures likewise would be situated right up to the street with backlot parking.

Vande Berg observed of the zoning regulations: “You’ve probably seen that in other communities where it’s been pretty successful, so we’re doing the same thing here.”

Another anticipated project moving along is a new 14,000-square-foot Veterans Affairs clinic, at 378727 Eiland Blvd. Construction broke ground last June, but work halted after last-minute changes to modify the facility’s design and layout.

Those site plan changes were recently approved by the city’s review committee, Vande Berg said, “so they should be getting along with that pretty soon, we anticipate.”

In the arena of new eateries, Zephyrhills is set to land Chipotle and Chick-fil-A franchises in the near future.

Chipotle has been approved by the city for a small commercial outparcel in the Zephyr Commons Shopping Center and construction should begin soon, Vande Berg said.

Chick-fil-A, meanwhile, will be located at the northeast corner of U.S. 301 and Pretty Pond Road. The franchise is likely waiting until the new traffic light project is a go before construction gets underway, Vande Berg said.

Some other updates and happenings for Zephyrhills the planning director shared:

  • An extension of Kossik Road is complete, to service the Abbott Park residential development.
  • The city is working with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) on continuing State Road 56 east of U.S. 301 with four-lane alignment alternatives, as well as one-way pairs on Gall Boulevard.
  • The city received a $15,000 grant from Duke Energy toward the long-range Zephyrhills Industrial Corridor master plan.
  • The city has applied for a $15,000 grant from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) to revamp the housing element of its comprehensive plan.

Published July 08, 2020

Pasco Sheriff’s Office hone crisis intervention skills

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Pasco County Sheriff’s Office deputies recently spent a week learning how to use the power of words to de-escalate situations that have the potential to turn dangerous.

In one role-play scenario, Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputies Breanna Chandler and Lindsay Steward intermediated between a mother and her teenage daughter with oppositional defiant disorder.

In another scene, deputies Ricardo Ortiz and Jose Vazquez-Trujillo sought to calm a schizophrenic man who had paranoia and homicidal ideations about a next-door neighbor.

In one mock scenario, Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputies Ricardo Ortiz, left, and Jose Vazquez-Trujillo are tasked with calming a schizophrenic man who had paranoia and homicidal ideations about a next-door neighbor. The practice exercise was part of the agency’s crisis intervention training to better equip law enforcement officers with verbal de-escalation techniques in dealing with citizens in various mental states. Crisis intervention instructor Tom Kelley plays the role of the man with schizophrenia disorder. (Kevin Weiss)

Other mock scenarios had deputies and corrections officers encounter inmates or juveniles with suicidal thoughts, or, deal with someone with severe substance abuse. There was even a situation that exposed deputies to someone with low-functioning autism.

There weren’t any takedowns, hands-on combat nor use of nonlethal force.

Rather, this type of police training simply required conversations to resolve problems.

For each participating law enforcement officer, the objective was to have a better understanding of mental health in crisis and to learn how to better respond to de-escalate a situation during a call for service.

It was all part of the agency’s recent Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training program at Pasco Safety Town in Shady Hills.

The weeklong, 40-hour CIT program is a collaborative effort between the sheriff’s office and many local behavioral and mental health community partners. It is held four times per year within the agency.

Throughout the week, deputies received instruction on various subjects, such as signs and symptoms of mental illness, co-occurring disorders, addiction, dementia, trauma informed care, and juvenile and veteran response.

De-escalation techniques centered on maintaining positive body language and tone of voice, along with active listening skills to appropriately reflect upon a subject’s feelings.

Deputies then put those techniques to the test with role-play scenes, which were written out by a licensed mental health counselor in collaboration with a law enforcement officer. Volunteer actors played the various roles of persons in crisis.

The mock exercises required deputies to determine whether or not to detain a subject for an involuntary mental health evaluation, otherwise known as the Baker Act; provide a referral to various behavioral health services and resources; or, simply offer someone a shoulder to lean on and to listen to a subject’s personal problems.

One of the instructors and role play actors was Tom Kelley, a former law enforcement and military officer, who operates a consulting firm specializing in crisis intervention and crime prevention.

In traditional law enforcement academies, trainees are taught to enter situations with authority in voice and action.

In the crisis intervention program, however, Kelley instructed deputies to find a softer, more inviting tone when dealing with people undergoing a mental crisis.

Kelley put it this way to a classroom full of deputies: “Let them know that you’re there and you care. At that moment, they need to feel like you’re the most caring person in the world, because they are at their worst.”

In this role-play exercise, Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputies Breanna Chandler, left, and Lindsay Steward try to calm a with teenage daughter with oppositional defiant disorder. It was part of the law enforcement agency’s recent weeklong Crisis Intervention Team training program. Volunteer Brittany Graniero, a licensed mental health counselor, plays the role of the defiant teen.

Pasco Sheriff’s Lt. Toni Roach has been the agency’s CIT coordinator since 2016.

She said the objective of crisis intervention is twofold.

First, it’s to reduce potential injury to citizens and responding deputies.

Second, it’s utilized to help divert people with “potentially criminal behavior or disruptive behavior” away from the jail system and into a mental health system where they can get proper diagnosis and treatment.

Roach explained: “The idea is to use your words and de-escalate rather than quickly resorting to force when the people you’re interacting with become nervous or scared, and are apprehensive to do what the deputy asks them to do.”

The training is vital for law enforcement personnel, the lieutenant said.

Roach put it this way: “We want to make sure that we can serve our public and provide them with good resources, and then hopefully we interact with them in a positive manner, so that, especially people with mental illness who have a fear of law enforcement, we can reduce that level of fear and have a good relationship with our community.”

Twenty-nine sheriff’s office personnel graduated from the recent spring class.

Upon graduation, each deputy received a pin for their uniform indicating they’ve had advanced training in crisis intervention.

Roach said about 50 percent of patrol deputies are CIT certified, also noting the public is able to request a CIT trained officer in a call for service. The agency is striving to have all of its deputies CIT certified in the future, she said.

In addition to the sheriff’s office, organizations that assisted in facilitating the CIT program were the National Alliance on Mental Illness, HCA Florida Hospitals, Rogers Behavioral Health, North Tampa Behavioral Health, BayCare Health System, Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services, and Veteran’s Affairs clinics.

Published May 08, 2019

Van delivers services to veterans

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The Pasco Mobile Vet Center rolled into the parking lot at the neighborhood shopping center in Zephyrhills, ready for a day of outreach to military veterans.

By 10 a.m., five veterans had stopped by to check out the mobile van and learn about resources they could tap into as they transition to civilian life, seek help with employment or find a place to live.

Julie Hayes, veterans’ representative with CareerSource Pasco Hernando, and Frank Jones, van driver and veterans’ outreach program specialist at the Pasco County Vet Center, brought services to veterans aboard the Pasco Mobile Vet Center. (Staff Photo)
Julie Hayes, veterans’ representative with CareerSource Pasco Hernando, and Frank Jones, van driver and veterans’ outreach program specialist at the Pasco County Vet Center, brought services to veterans aboard the Pasco Mobile Vet Center.
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)

It was a typical day of outreach for Frank Jones and Julie Hayes. Jones is a mobile van driver and veterans’ outreach program specialist with the Pasco County Vet Center in New Port Richey. Hayes is a veterans’ representative with CareerSource Pasco Hernando.

The van travels to various locations throughout the state. On average, it makes 10 to 12 stops a month.

“The idea is to take services to veterans in rural areas who don’t have access to services,” Jones said.

Services are offered to combat veterans and their families, but no veteran is turned away, Jones said.

The mobile vet center also provides help for first responders who are combat veterans.

Services include screening for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), referrals for sexual trauma counseling, marital/family counseling, bereavement counseling, information and referrals to community resources, and referrals for benefits assistance.

All information provided by veterans is confidential.

Whether they are still on active duty or are in transition, Jones said, “They don’t have to worry about their commander finding out.”

Often, there are no serious problems, Jones said. Sometimes, he noted, “They just want to talk about their issues.”

Jones has an easy rapport with veterans. He has been there.

He served as a U.S. Army medic in Cairo, and was diagnosed later with noncombat PTSD.

In 1999, he was a homeless veteran, and had a drinking problem.

Today, Jones is a 12-year recovering alcoholic who is married and buying his own home.

“I kind of know where they are coming from,” he said.

Hayes is based at the Dade City CareerSource site, and works with veterans in Pasco and Hernando counties.

“I help them get job-ready,” said the woman who served more than four years in the U.S. Navy in a noncombat role during the Gulf War.

She assesses what veterans need to re-enter the job market, helps with interviewing skills, job training and referrals to Pasco-Hernando State College.

“A lot of it is skills they are missing,” she said. “They do have a unique set of skills they bring to employers, but a lot of times employers don’t recognize that. They aren’t seeing the whole picture of the veterans.”

Many are degree-ready or they may have military-based skills in communications and technology, but Hayes said, “They don’t have up-to-date certification as a civilian. They don’t have that piece of paper.”

Though Jones is based in New Port Richey, the mobile van covers much of central and south Florida. Another mobile van, based in Jacksonville, travels through northern Florida and into southern Georgia.

Nationwide, the veterans’ affairs department operates about 300 community-based vet centers, according to the department’s website.

About 80 vans also provide services to demobilization active military bases, as well as National Guard armories and Reserve Centers, and do local outreach at shopping centers and other community locations.

Each van is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including laptops, telephones, remote data view, satellite televisions and video conferencing.

Jones said the van can handle one-on-one interviews or groups of up to about 10 people.

The vet centers and mobile vans are part of the care provided through the veterans’ affairs office, and are separate from the veteran’s hospitals and health care system.

The vet centers were launched in 1979 as outreach to Vietnam veterans.

“It’s evolved now to all combat veterans, not just Vietnam veterans,” Jones said.

Veterans’ Affairs rolled out the mobile vans about four years ago.

They sometimes are mobilized for national tragedies, including the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Recently, three mobile centers traveled to Orlando after the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Staff members helped with bereavement, notifications to families and counseling for anyone struggling with loss.

On the agenda is a “Stand Down” event on Sept. 29, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at the Veterans Memorial Park in Hudson. These multiday efforts provide a range of services including clothes, hot meals, showers, counseling, dental cleanings, Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, and court services to homeless veterans.

Jones expects to roll his van into the park.

“We travel where they need us,” he said.

For information, visit VetCenter.va.gov, call Pasco County Vet Center at (727) 372-1854 or the Combat Call Center at (877) 927-8387.

For information on CareerSource, visit CareerSourcePascoHernando.com.

Published August 10, 2016

Bilirakis to host veterans town hall

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U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis is planning a town hall meeting to have what he is calling a “candid conversation” with veterans the general public about the potential of a new consolidated Veterans Affairs clinic in Pasco County.

The meeting is set for Aug. 27 at 5:30 p.m., at the West Pasco Government Center, 8731 Citizens Drive in New Port Richey.

“I have spent the past several years fighting for a new consolidated clinic in Pasco County,” Bilirakis said, in a release. “Our veterans deserve the absolute best health care possible, and consolidation of the five VA clinics will enhance the accessibility to a centralized and convenient point of care.”

President Obama signed H.R. 2320 into law which created the new VA clinic for the county. However, the fate of where it will be located is up to VA officials. Yet, Bilirakis said he feels it’s his duty to “solicit opinions from veterans and their families from within our community. This clinic is for them, and their considerations should be taken into account.”

Bilirakis hosted a town hall meeting for veterans in June at the New Port Richey city council chambers, listening to concerns people had with VA hospitals.

Bilirakis to host veterans town hall meeting

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U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis is inviting veterans to attend a town hall meeting for what he’s calling a “candid conversation” about their experiences with local Veterans Affairs offices.

The event will take place June 5 at 10 a.m., at New Port Richey City Hall, 5919 Main St., in New Port Richey. Although it’s focused on veterans, it is open to the public.

Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, said in a release that he wants to hear directly from veterans regarding access to care and any delays they may be experiencing from VA hospitals. That feedback will then be used to “inform his legislative approach” in trying to improve those conditions in the future.

VA hospitals have been under fire recently because of long delays in care, and reports of “secret waiting lists” where some veterans waited longer to see a medical professional than what was reported to the federal government. Bilirakis and other lawmakers, primarily Republican lawmakers, called for Veterans Affairs secretary Eric Shinseki to resign. Shinseki did that Friday, citing his presence to being a continuing distraction that could hamper efforts to correct many of the problems there.

The overburdened hospitals have dated back to before the Obama administration however, and have only become bigger problems with the influx of new patients stemming from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“I have spent the past several months participating in oversight hearings in Washington regarding the failures of the VA throughout the country,” Bilirakis said, in a release. “Having spent a great deal of time at facilities in our community over the last several years, I know that there are many wonderful public servants at our local VA offices. However, I need to hear directly from those who matter most, our veterans and their families, in order to get the clear picture regarding how these systemic national problems may be impacting my constituents.”