The Laker/Lutz News

Pasco County Tourist Development

Dade City has location for downtown splash park

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The Dade City Commission has approved a land purchase that may finally bring a splash park/bike hub to the city’s downtown area.

The city has targeted a 2.23-acre parcel that borders the Hardy Trail on Eighth Street. The property, at 3772 Church St., is owned by local businessman Otto Weitzenkorn.

This is a preliminary concept plan for a splash park/bike hub in downtown Dade City. The recreation project calls for a multi-use water splash pad, bike-share shelter, amphitheater, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)-accessible playground, open space, and concession area and other amenities. (Courtesy of City of Dade City)

The real estate’s 2018 appraised value is $1.168 million, but city officials say the Weitzenkorn family is willing to sell it to the city for $800,000.

At their Oct. 22 meeting, commissioners voted 4-1 to proceed with the purchase. Commissioner Nicole Deese Newlon dissented.

The city has until the end of the year to close the transaction per terms of the presale agreement, according to City Attorney Thomas Thanas. An onsite inspection, suitability study and new appraisal will be needed, too, he said.

City leaders have discussed building a splash park/bike hub for the past few years.

Finding an ideal location had been another matter, until the Weitzenkorn family approached the city in August.

A preliminary concept plan for the recreation project calls for a multi-use water splash pad, bike-share shelter, amphitheater, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)-accessible playground, open space, and concession area and other amenities.

Dade City Manager Leslie Porter indicated during the meeting the city plans to use reserve funds and Penny for Pasco revenues for the land acquisition, then apply for a series of Community Development Blocks Grants (CDBG) to fund park amenities. Pasco County Tourist Development also has allocated $250,000 for the recreational project.

Porter said the splash park project “has a lot of possibilities to take Dade City to the next level.”

Commissioners concurred the initiative can help revitalize the downtown business district while offering another recreational outlet for local youth, residents and visitors.

Commissioner Jim Shive said “it’s time to start thinking outside the box, bringing some things here to make things lively for the downtown and help pick up things.”

Commissioner Scott Black called the project “a good investment.”

Black added: “I think it’s something that future generations will appreciate the foresight that we had in doing this. It will be a really nice complementary to our downtown area, and I think that’s going to be a great thing.”

Mayor Camille Hernandez likewise supported the project as a community asset and possible tourism draw.

Hernandez said the project falls in line with the city’s ethos of building a healthy and age-friendly community.

“This is huge for Dade City in so many ways,” she said. “This will definitely help us to promote our business district, to help our CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) and to do all those things that we need to do.

“I believe this is another thing that will help to bring people here for our festivals, for our downtown, our community markets and all those other events,” the mayor said.

In casting the sole negative vote, Newlon said she’s a proponent of a splash park, but she expressed several reservations about the discussed property and project in general.

Newlon said she was “very concerned” the city would be tapping into reserves to pay for the Weitzenkorn property. She also pointed out the parcel contains a house with asbestos, which the city would be responsible for removing — therefore increasing the project cost.

She estimated the splash park/bike hub project could cost more than $2.5 million to $3 million, and added “that’s probably a conservative number.”

“I’m a little concerned about where that money’s coming from at this point, and it makes me uncomfortable to rely on the prospect of grant monies, when we really don’t know,” she said.

The city commissioner also said she thinks the new park location might take away from nearby Price Park, which is about a block away on Magnolia Avenue and recently has undergone upgrades.

“I’m concerned that we’ve put a lot of money into Price Park, and that park is almost going to be kind of an afterthought,” she said.

Plus, she took issue with the preliminary rendering, which shows a smaller, scaled-down splash pad overshadowed by other amenities and features.

“It feels like to me, we’ve lost the point of this exercise, which was the splash park. The design to me lacks that appeal, beyond the pricing issue,” she said.

Published October 30, 2019

Dade City sets tentative millage rate

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Dade City residents will not see an increase in their property tax rate for the coming year.

Dade City Commissioners unanimously voted 5-0 on July 23 to set the tentative millage rate at 7.14 mills — the same rate as last year.

Under state law, once a tentative millage rate has been set, the city cannot raise it before the start of the fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. The commission does, however, have the option to reduce the rate before then.

The Dade City Commission set the 2019-2020 tentative millage rate at 7.14 mills, the same property tax rate as last fiscal year. (File)

At the tax rate of 7.14 mills, ad valorem tax revenues in the city’s general fund are anticipated to decrease by $40,850 for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, according to Dade City Manager Leslie Porter.

Because of that, Porter recommended the commission choose a higher tentative tax rate “to allow us the flexibility as we see what comes into the budget.”

The recommendation included the rollback rate of 7.3297, which Porter said would result in a $50,000 swing and thus increase ad valorem revenues in the general fund by about $10,000 compared to 7.14 mills.

The rollback rate is the millage rate that would collect an equivalent level of ad valorem taxes in the next fiscal year as in the current fiscal year.

Traditionally, the commission has voted to use the rollback rate as the proposed millage, while instructing city staff to set a lower rate for the fiscal year.

However, that was a non-starter for commissioners, who pointed out residents have already seen increases in water and sewer rates, along with a stormwater fee assessment.

“I think we just need to work within the budget and make the cuts where we need and see how it rolls out,” Commissioner Jim Shive said. “I think residents in Dade City are paying more than enough in taxes. …I talk to constituents every day about taxes and a lot of them are very concerned with the amount of taxes we have to pay.”

Other commissioners concurred.

“I think we need to live within the means that we have,” Commissioner Nicole Deese Newlon said. “I don’t want to give us the opportunity to try to make 7.3297 (mills) work. I would rather stay within 7.14 (mills) and if things have to be cut to stay within 7.14 then they have to be cut, so I do not want to raise taxes.”

“We’re going to have to make it work,” added Mayor Camille Hernandez of setting the tentative 7.14 millage rate. “I think we’re all hearing every day from citizens and we’re just responding to what we are hearing out in the community.”

A budget workshop preceded the city commission meeting. Discussions focused on some reorganization, specifically creating a development services department and related additional staffing changes. Major general fund capital requests included several new vehicles (four police vehicles, shop truck, safety services truck, grapple truck), rehabbing the city’s old police department building, Hardy Trail improvements and Morningside Drive extension studies.

With some of those projects and initiatives on the docket, Commissioner Scott Black warned concessions may have to made with a 7.14 millage rate.

“We do need to keep in mind we do have some basic needs here in the city that need to be met,” Black said, noting the city’s millage rate hasn’t changed in “probably seven or eight years.”

“A lot of those things that we’re saying that we need to do, they’re going to have to be funded somehow.

“We’re not waving a wand with our budget. If we want certain things, there’s going to be some disappointment I think in some things we’re indicating that we would like to see happen,” Black said.

In other business, Dade City is still searching for a finance director since Leslie Porter was officially promoted to the role of city manager in May.

In addition to city manager duties, Porter is still serving as acting finance director until a full-time replacement is found.

She told commissioners the city may elect to use a temporary personnel agency to fill the vacancy and then re-advertise the job posting.

“We really have not been receiving a response to the ads, so we’ll keep moving forward,” she said.

Elsewhere, city officials have targeted a location for a bike-share hub/splash pad/pavilion recreational project that’s been in talks the past few years.

Porter said the property is centrally located in the downtown area, near The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce on Eighth Street.

Porter said city officials plan to enter negotiations over the next month with the property and local business owner Otto Weitzenkorn.

The Pasco County Tourist Development allocated $250,000 for the recreational project.

Published July 31, 2019

Dade City Mayor provides ‘state of the city’ talk at chamber breakfast

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Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez is bullish on the future of the community she governs.

During a recent Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting, Hernandez told the audience about newly proposed planned residential developments, to projects aimed at improving the city’s infrastructure and recreational projects,

“I am enthusiastic about Dade City,” Hernandez said, addressing the chamber audience at Florida Hospital Dade City.

Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez, the featured guest speaker at The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce’s October breakfast meeting, gave the audience a look ahead at coming projects in her city. The breakfast was at Florida Hospital Dade City. (Kevin Weiss)

“We’re finally at the point where we can put our emphasis on what I call some sexy things —

some things you can actually see (and) some things that will attract businesses and really make it worth their while to come in and call Dade City home.”

Hernandez has been Dade City’s mayor since 2012 and was reelected in April.

One of the city’s chief priorities is to address its lingering stormwater problems, she said.

Bids will go out next month — and work will begin in February — for the city’s downtown stormwater management system, to alleviate flooding that’s plagued Pasco Avenue and Seventh Street.

Over the past two years, the city has received a total of $1.8 million in state appropriations to use for the stormwater project.

That work, Hernandez said, “is so important for all of our folks working in the government offices, and all our retailers and businesses that we’re trying to attract in town.”

Another ongoing stormwater project is the Beauchamp Pond Expansion, whereby the city is combining two ponds located at the southeast and northeast corners of 17th Street and Beauchamp Avenue, which aims to address chronic flooding in that particular area.

Plans call for the area near the pond site to ultimately become a passive park that would include a boardwalk, trail and landscaping.

Hernandez also mentioned that several residential developments and subdivisions have been proposed within city limits — marking another progression for Dade City’s long-term future.

Two of those developments — Abbey Glenn 2 and Suwanee Lakeside — total more than 400 homes and will be located across the street from Pasco High School.

About 700 more dwelling units are planned in several other developments, the mayor said.

“That’s really going to have an impact,” she said.

Impacts from those projects include an expanded tax base, additional city services and more traffic coming to downtown Dade City.

Hernandez also noted that Dade City is starting to gain a positive reputation for its eclectic mix of farm-to-table restaurants.

And, she noted that city officials will continue to promote and market its various food initiatives and agricultural lands “to draw folks to Dade City.”

“I think we finally are learning kind of what our niche is and where we want to go,” Hernandez said.

Park and trail improvements were another talking point for the mayor.

Hernandez mainly discussed the northern extension of the existing Hardy Trail, from Church Avenue to Lock Street.

Work on that extension is expected to start in early 2019 and be completed by the end of that year, said Hernandez, noting that the project is benefiting from $1.1 million in state funding.

The trail is part of a larger trail network planned for the U.S. 301 corridor extending from south of Zephyrhills to north of Dade City. Ultimately, it will extend to the Withlacoochee State Trail trailhead.

“It fits right in with what we promote here in Dade City — quality of life, healthy lifestyles, health and wellness — so we’re very excited it’s finally a reality for us here,” the mayor said.

She also pointed to another initiative in the recreation arena: A bike-share hub to be built in Dade City. The Pasco County Tourist Development allocated $250,000 for that project.

However, the mayor noted that the city is still working to choose a location, which would encompass not only the bike hub, but a splash pad and pavilion, and other features that could be used to host festivals and other community events.

The mayor also noted there will continue to be “up to the year maintenance” on its local park system — namely, Price, Watson and Agnes Lamb parks.

Elsewhere, Hernandez touched on the city’s recently passed $16.4 million budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

Hernandez said the budget is about a 12 percent increase from the prior fiscal year’s budget of $14.6 million, due mainly in part to rising personnel costs and health care premiums. The millage rate of 7.14 mills remained the same as last fiscal year.

Highlights from the new city budget include 3 percent raises for all city employees, with an extra “Years of Service” salary bump for longtime city employees.

The city also raised its retirement contributions, ranging from 4 percent to 8 percent, for all employees.

“One of the things that we try to do is we want to take care of our employees,” Hernandez said.

“That was something we wanted to do and felt that was important to do for our employees.”

Published October 24, 2018