The Laker/Lutz News

Legislature

Moffitt to add Pasco campus?

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A proposal by Moffitt Cancer Center to boost its share of the state’s annual cigarette tax money would support expanded cancer care and research, both in Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

The new location in Pasco County would be near the Suncoast Parkway and State Road 52, and is being viewed by local leaders as having the potential to be a catalyst that would transform the Central Pasco landscape.

Moffitt is asking for an increase to its current share of 4% up to 10%, with the increases coming in two phases.

Moffitt Cancer Center is seeking an additional share of state cigarette tax revenues, to support the project depicted here that would be built in Hillsborough County, and a new facility in Central Pasco County. (Courtesy of Moffitt Cancer Center)

The first phase would increase Moffitt’s share of the tax from 4%, up to 7%, which would generate $11 million in additional annual revenue, said Yvette Tremonti, executive vice president chief finance and administrative officer for Moffitt Cancer Center.

The second increase would boost Moffitt’s share from 7%, up to 10%. That increase also would generate an additional $11 million in annual revenue for Moffitt.

The first increase would take effect in 2020, and the second one would take effect in 2023. Both would last until 2053, Tremonti said.

The primary driver for the request is Moffitt’s need for additional space for both clinical care and research.

Moffitt is currently operating at or near capacity for both clinical and research purposes.

“We have patients that receive a cancer diagnosis that aren’t able to get into Moffitt, as timely as they need to be,” Tremonti said.

Revenues generated from the first increase would be used for a new clinical and research facility in Hillsborough County, with the goal to start that in July 2020, Tremonti said.

That project has been designed in two phases.

Moffitt will be spending about $332 million on phase one; and the increase in the cigarette tax would allow it to build out phase two, she said.

Revenues generated from the additional increase in Moffitt’s share of the tobacco tax funds would go for a clinical and research facility in Pasco County, Tremonti said.

That project is intended to meet future demand for cancer therapies and to create a research park. The goal would be to start that in July 2023, the Moffitt executive said.

Regardless of what happens with its request, Moffitt plans to pursue the new clinical and research facility in Hillsborough County, Tremonti said.

If Moffitt doesn’t receive its request to boost its share of the tobacco tax revenues up to 7%, it would not be able to build out phase two of its Hillsborough plan.

And, if the increased funding from 7% up to 10% did not happen, Moffitt would have to delay its expansion into Pasco County, Tremonti said.

Because of its research and the novel treatments it has developed, Moffitt serves patients from all of Florida’s 67 counties, from all 50 states and from other countries, too, Tremonti said.

Moffitt is ranked one of the Top 10 cancer hospitals in America and best in the Southeast.

Pasco County is attractive because of the area’s tremendous growth, Tremonti said.

The site’s proximity to the Suncoast Parkway and Tampa International Airport are pluses, too, she said.

Moffitt’s proposal is drawing a positive response from elected leaders and local officials.

State Sen. Ed Hooper, a Republican representing District 16, which includes a portion of Pasco County, said Moffitt’s request is “not an inappropriate ask.”

He’s not sure whether the Legislature will support Moffitt’s full request, but he said he would.

“I’m just a fan of Moffitt Cancer Center, and I want them to be able to have the tools necessary to be successful to find a cure for a variety of cancers,” Hooper said. “Cigarette revenue is the most appropriate of all funding sources, as a known cancer causer. How better to use that money to find a solution to that disease?”

Rep. Amber Mariano, a Republican representing District 36, also supports Moffitt’s request.

“I think it makes total sense,” Mariano said, especially using cigarette tax “to treat the disease those products create.”

She said Moffitt’s new campus in Pasco would be transformative.

“It’s going to open up that whole area,” Mariano said. “They’ll be able to bring in more companies, health care, startups.

“With the growth that we’ve already got going on, it’s just the perfect fit,” she said. “I couldn’t be more thrilled that they’re coming.”

Bill Cronin, president and CEO of Pasco Economic Development Council Inc., said the proximity to Tampa International Airport makes it a “wonderful ‘fly-to’ site for businesses all over America, as well as international clients and partners to visit their campus facility.”

Besides attracting additional companies to locate near them, Moffitt also can be a magnet for talent, said Cronin, via email.

State Rep. Randy Maggard, a Republican representing District 38, characterized Moffitt as “a great research institution” and said it “wants to bring jobs to Pasco.”

But, he said he needs more information before taking a position on the request.

“I’ve just got to really dive into it and just take a look at it, and make sure that this is good for the citizens of Pasco. That’s the bottom line, at the end of the day,” Maggard said.

Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles said a new Moffitt campus in Central Pasco could have a profound impact.

“You hear the term ‘game changer’ a lot and it seems that, over the last decade, it seems to be overused,” he said. However, he added: “I don’t have another word to replace that.”

This is the kind of project, Biles said, that 50 years from now when people living elsewhere hear the name Pasco County, they’re going to think: “That’s where the Moffitt Research Center is.”

Published September 25, 2019

Ridge Road permit coming soon, administrator says

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A permit to clear the way for the construction of the Ridge Road Extension is expected to be granted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers within the next four weeks to six weeks, Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles said.

That would signal the end of a two-decade effort to secure the federal permit needed to create a new 7.6-mile east-west connection from Moon Lake Road in New Port Richey to U.S. 41, in Land O’ Lakes.

The only way for the county to be absolutely sure it will receive the permit is for the Corps of Engineers to issue it, Biles said.

Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles
(File)

“They won’t ever tell you that you’re going to get the permit until they sign the letter on the permit, giving you the permit. They’ll never tell you, ‘Yea, you’re going to get approval on the permit’ until then. That isn’t the way the Corps works,” the administrator said.

That being said, it appears that everything is lining up toward the county obtaining the permit, Biles told those gathered at Sept. 17 breakfast meeting of The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce at Scotland Yards Golf Club, on U.S. 301 in Dade City.

While the county awaits the permit, it is preparing to move ahead with the project.

The first phase of the project, which is funded, is from Ridge Road in New Port Richey to the Suncoast Parkway. The second phase of the extension, not yet funded, will provide a link between the Suncoast Parkway and U.S. 41 in Land O’ Lakes.

Biles told the breakfast crowd: “The construction project is actually on the street today, so we can bid that and start work the day I get the call from the Corps.

“We’ve got it set so that, I get the call from the Corps, I call public works, I call the project manager. They get our consultant out there and start removing the gopher tortoises off the right of way.

“Our surveying crew is already working on surveying the right of way,” Biles added.

The contract includes three milestones, with bonuses available to the contractor if the work is completed within certain timelines.

The Pasco County Commission approved the approach.

“It’s pretty unique. It took a lot of work in the county attorney’s office to set it up,” Biles said.

The first milestone involves providing a secondary access to River Ridge High and River Ridge Middle, before the school year begins in August 2020.

To achieve that, Biles said he would need the permit in hand, and a contractor notice to proceed, by Dec. 1.

“That’s a goal to hit that, and we can do it,” Biles said.

The second milestone is to have two lanes of Ridge Road open to the Suncoast Parkway, and to have the interchange operational before Hurricane Season 2021, Biles said.

“So, we’re going to get there, open up two lanes, we’re going to breathe and relax for about 30 seconds, then they’re going to finish the other two lanes, finish the project by the next hurricane season,” the administrator added.

Biles said he wants to get the first two lanes open as quickly as possible, to get traffic onto it to the Suncoast Parkway.

That will provide another hurricane evacuation route, and will open up the west-central area of the county to within a “commutable distance” of downtown Tampa, Biles said.

It also would be good timing, in conjunction with a new $191 million expansion campus that Moffitt Cancer Center wants to create in Pasco County.

Moffitt recently announced it would be asking the state Legislature to increase Moffitt’s share of the state’s cigarette revenue from 4% to 10% to support an expansion of its facilities in Hillsborough County, and to provide for a new campus in Pasco County.

The project would allow Moffitt to meet future demand for cancer therapies, create a research park that would be a magnet for biotech partners, and expand its services in the Tampa Bay region, according to information provided by Moffitt.

Published September 25, 2019

Weatherford honored by statewide chamber of commerce

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The Florida Chamber of Commerce has named outgoing state Rep. Will Weatherford its 2014 Most Valuable Legislator.

Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, was honored along with 40 members of the state Legislature during a recent meeting in Miami.

The Florida Chamber presents the awards to lawmakers it says fought for pro-jobs initiatives to help make the state’s businesses more competitive while creating more economic opportunities for Florida’s families.

The Most Valuable Legislator award honors a single lawmaker for his or her outstanding legislative leadership and willingness to take a stand for free enterprise. The Distinguished Advocate award recognizes lawmakers who championed key business agenda legislation as determined by the Florida chamber.

“Early during the 2014 legislative process, the Florida chamber encouraged lawmakers to build on efforts to transition Florida to an innovation-based economy by putting the long-term health of Florida ahead of short-term politics,” said Mark Wilson, president and chief executive of the statewide organization, in a release.

During that session, lawmakers passed 17 Florida chamber-backed pro-business, pro-jobs bills, and defeated dozens of what the chamber said were anti-business bills.

Weatherford championed difficult, but necessary, issues like lawsuit abuse reform, pension reform and educational opportunities for students, the chamber said.

Local Distinguished Advocate award recipients included:

• Sen. John Legg, R-Lutz, for championing digital learning, career and professional education academies, and school choice legislation as a means to improve the state’s school system.

• Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, for his work on state pension reform efforts, water policy initiatives and wage protection legislation.

• Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, for advocating Florida chamber healthcare priorities, including telemedicine and scope of practice reforms.