Pasco County Fire Rescue Breaks Ground On New Station No. 38

Photo by Orlando Negron

After having only one fire station for many years, it won’t be too long before the Wesley Chapel area has three. On Sept. 17, Pasco County Fire Rescue (PCFR) hosted a groundbreaking event for Fire Station No. 38, located on Overpass Rd., west of Curley Rd., near Watergrass Elementary.

The station shows the foresight of PCFR’s long-term strategic plan.

“Wesley Chapel is a booming population center,” PCFR public information officer Corey Dierdorff said. “With new developments like Epperson and Watergrass already populated and new developments north of the new station, like Ashley Groves, already being permitted and approved, it means higher call volume. Without more stations, higher call volume means longer response times. We’re looking at putting stations in ahead of (new) development.”

Longer response times also can mean the difference between life and death. That’s why the new four-bay, 10,843 square foot Station 38 will feature some state-of-the-art technology when it opens in about a year.

The PURVIS Fire Station Alerting System (FSAS) is an award-winning, IP-based solution designed to automate the process of alerting fire and rescue personnel, enhance communications and decrease response times. Station 38 will be the first in Pasco County to utilize the system.

“Let’s say calls for chest pain, shortness of breath and a car accident all come in at the same time,” Deputy Chief of Operations Michael Cassano said. “Right now, all three calls will stack and be dispatched one at a time. With the PURVIS System, they’ll all be dispatched at the same time.”

County Commissioner Ron Oakley Photo by Orlando Negron

The new system could cut critical seconds or even minutes off of response times. While Station 38 will be the first in Pasco with the new system, PCFR plans to retrofit the rest of the stations across the county in future years.

Station 38 also will employ new technology to keep its firefighters safer and better rested. To keep them safer, the new fire station will employ a Plymovent diesel exhaust capture system. Plymovent is a global leading supplier of products, systems and services for the extraction and filtration of polluted indoor air. What oftentimes happens in the bays is a truck idles while emitting both carbon monoxide (CO) and the carcinogen Benzene.

“A lot of our bay doors open into living quarters and the trucks are spewing Benzene all over the bays,” Cassano said. “With this new safe air system, it monitors the atmospheric conditions in the bay and can automatically turn on fans, regulate temperature and even open bay doors.”

Another benefit for firefighters at Station 38 will be how the PURVIS System alerts them. Currently, a quick blast is emitted over the station’s speaker system. With the new PURVIS System, the tones gradually increase in volume. Additionally, the alerts can be targeted toward only the firefighters needed for a particular call and not the entire station.

“We found that many firefighters endure sleep deprivation,” Cassano said. “When you wake up to a loud noise, it triggers catacholamine release (in your brain) and a fight or flight mindset. This was happening every time firefighters would get a call. It’s designed with the goal of being a more humane notification system.”

Station 38 marks the first additional fire coverage area in Pasco County since 2009 and the first new coverage area in East Pasco County since 2007.

Not far behind Station 38’s groundbreaking will be the opening of the new Station No. 13. Located off of Old Pasco Rd., the new station had its groundbreaking in March. The old Station 13 at 27329 Dayflower Rd. is an aging facility that has become inadequate to handle the population growth in the area.

When it opens in January, the new Station 13 will be 9,400 square feet, have space for a Pasco County Sheriff’s substation and three drive-through bays able to accommodate six fire vehicles.

“In Pasco County, county wide, we are issuing 300 residential permits a month,” Dierdorff said. “The growth is incredible but our aim is to provide the best fire and medical coverage.”

2018 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW CAPSULES

Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel are gunning for the postseason, while Cypress Creek looks to improve.

WIREGRASS RANCH BULLS
Head Coach: Mark Kantor
2017 record: 9-3 (4-2)Tonight’s season opener:
@ Zephyrhills
Returning players: Grant Sessums (Sr., QB, #10) Dylan Ridolph (Jr., LB, #40), Kasean Ridgel (Sr., DL, #52), Connor Lenczden (Jr., OT, #62), Mason Buie (Sr., RB, #24), Cameron Lee (Sr., LB, #30).
Impact newcomer: Keith Walker (Jr., ATH, #7)

THE SKINNY: The Bulls are arguably the class of Pasco County, but only only play three games against county competition because Class 7A, District 8 is Hillsborough County-based. Kantor touts his linebacking corps as being his best unit on either side of the football. Dylan Ridolph is emerging into an elite linebacker, while Lee and juniors Nick Gaziano and Tyler Hayes will bolster the 3-4 defensive front.

Ridolph and Gaziano led the team with 89 tackles last year. Ridgel isn’t a mammoth at 5-foot-10, 275 pounds, but Kantor claims he creates more disruption than anyone on the team. A re-vamped secondary will feature sophomore Noah Biglow and junior Julian Gonzalez on the outside.

Senior Dorien Green, a defensive back with an offer from Northern Illinois, will likely take over at safety. Walker adds a bit of homerun speed that graduated when Jordan Miner left for Penn State. Mason Buie will also work the backfield. Sessums (pictured above) completed 56 percent of his passes last season for 1,483 yards and eight touchdowns.

The experience will go a long way to helping the Bulls get back to the playoffs for a third straight season.

CYPRESS CREEK COYOTES
Head Coach: Mike Johnson
2017 record: 0-10 (0-0)
2018 preseason opener 8/17:
vs. Citrus Park Christian
2018 regular season opener 8/24:
@ Gulf
Returning players: Devin Santana (Sr., WR, #2), Logan Bercaw (Sr., OL/DL, #75), Trevor Maxwell (Sr., QB, #8), Jehlani Warren (Jr., ATH, #9), Jalen Warren (Jr., LB, #3), Tim Ford-Brown (Sr., RB, #5), Quinton Spears (Sr., UT, #1)
Impact newcomer: Cedric McBride (Sr., ATH, #18)

THE SKINNY: There were little to no expectations for the Coyotes in 2017, their first year. They won their first game against Gulf, but it later had to be forfeited due to an ineligible player and the Coyotes were outscored 470-28 the rest of the way.

There are, however, a few expectations in 2018. It looks as though Maxwell is going to be the guy at quarterback, and he’s going to have plenty of talent around him. Santana (pictured) is a top-flight receiver, and newcomer McBride is a nice pass-catching complement. Tim Ford-Brown, the Warren twins (Jalen and Jehlani), as well as Colorado transfer Jovanni Addison, make for a talented and crowded backfield.

The question marks, typical for young teams, are up front and on defense. Bercaw is a solid defensive end with good size and will swing around and play tackle on offense, but the Coyotes are going to need more to be successful in 2018. Coaches are pretty excited about their linebackers in Jalen Warren and Addison, but the spots in front of and behind them need to be solidified. There are definitely a few winnable games on Cypress Creek’s schedule this year.

WESLEY CHAPEL WILDCATS

Head coach: Tony Egan
2017 record: 6-4 (4-3)
Tonight’s season opener: vs. Sunlake
Returning players: Jelani Vassell (Sr., ATH, #10), Fletcher Martin (Jr., PK, #36), Owen Libby (So., QB, #12), Seth Petty (Sr., C, #68), Kiaus Collins (Sr., RG, #50), Tyler Wittish (Sr., TE/DE, #9)
Impact newcomers: RT #70 Sean Hunter (Jr.) & RB Kris Chandler.

THE SKINNY: The Wildcats lost a lot to graduation, AND even more to Cypress Creek when it opened two years ago. The team’s numbers dwindled down to bare bones in the spring but have rebounded slightly, heading into fall.

Athlete Jelani Vassell returns for his senior campaign and he likely will not come off the field. All-Conference senior Seth Petty moves over to center from tackle and is the leader of the group and its best blocker. He’ll have some help, however, as senior Kiaus Collins returns at right guard and Apopka transfer Sean Hunter sets up at right tackle.

The biggest question mark for the Wildcats is at quarterback. Sophomore Owen Libby is the guy getting the call and, while he’s completely unproven and inexperienced, he has great size, especially for a sophomore, and coaches like what they’ve seen through the summer and fall.

The guy to keep an eye on for Wesley Chapel is Wittish (pictured), who will line up at tight end and defensive end. He’s the team’s best blocker, probably their best tackler and their fulcrum of leadership. The Wildcats are still likely going to be looking up at River Ridge and Zephyrhills in the Class 5A, District 8, but it only takes upsetting one of them to put them in the playoff picture.

Making The Grade

Wesley Chapel High senior Kris Chandler wasn’t sure he’d ever see the football field. But, fortitude overcame frustration and he’ll start Friday’s season opener for the Wildcats.

Hidden in what could very well emerge as one of the top rushing attacks in Pasco County is a back that you’ve probably never heard of.

Hitting the holes has never been a problem for Wesley Chapel High (WCH)’s Kris Chandler. Hitting the books, however, has.

But, no longer.

After three years of high school, with each of those football seasons spent practicing with the Wildcats but unable to compete because of academic requirements, Chandler will start tonight’s season opener against Sunlake in a great comeback story.

Chandler originally attended Wharton High in New Tampa, but transferred to Wesley Chapel (WCH) after a semester. That first year in high school after moving from Alabama, however, put him in an academic hole he thought he’d never climb out of.

“My first semester at Wharton was hard,” Chandler said. “We had just moved from Alabama and I didn’t like it here. I was resentful, mad, my whole focus was on going back.”

There was no going back, however. So, Chandler had to move forward. He came to WCH with a 0.7 GPA, making him ineligible to compete in high school sports. While he was still allowed to practice with the team, he could not suit up on Friday nights for games.

Head coach Tony Egan took an interest in Chandler, because he saw enough raw athletic ability that he thought the running back could one day play his way into a college football scholarship.

“I’ve always thought he was good enough to play D1 football,” Egan said. “Athletically, he’s a little raw but he’s as strong as can be. You should see him in tackling drills, he’s just a beast.”

First things first, Egan told Chandler. The coach got with his player’s teachers, sat down with Chandler in front of guidance counselors and helped put him back on track to attaining eligibility.

Egan admits that it was an uphill climb from 0.7. Chandler’s sophomore year went by, but his grade-point-average slowly climbed.

He took summer classes, online classes and retook classes through Apex, an online virtual school. He was still ineligible as a junior, but he kept showing up for practice, and kept showing out in the classroom.

Halfway through his junior year, he had raised his GPA to 1.78. By then, the Chandler project was taken up by his teammates and teachers. He credits science teacher Susan Cullum and SSAP/graduation enhancement counselor Celeste Richter for helping turn things around. Then-teammates Dexter Leverett, Malik Melvin and Isaiah Bolden encouraged him. Assistant coaches Nelson Vazquez and Delroy Lewis worked with him after school.

It turned Chandler’s attitude toward schoolwork on its head.

“I would turn my work in early, so my teachers could check it and make sure I had done everything right,” he says.

This past June, at the end of his junior year, Chandler nervously awaited his grades.

“I went in to the library to check with Ms. Richter, to see if I would have to take summer school again,” he said. “She was sitting there behind the computer, smiling. She told me I had done it. I asked her, ‘Are you sure?’. She turned the computer around and showed me.”

He had climbed all the way out of his hole. The computer monitor displayed a 2.3 GPA.

Chandler left the library and immediately sent his mother a text with the good news. He also sent texts to his sister, older brother and dad. He ran over to the weight room to tell his coaches.

Chandler was cleared to play in 2018, so he could take the summer off and focus on conditioning with the football team.

“It took a lot of weight off my shoulders,” Chandler said. “I think about it every day. I promise you, there’s no danger of sliding back now.”

It’s no secret what Egan likes to do on offense — run the ball down your throat, and Chandler could be his battering ram in 2018.

Egan coached offensive line at River Ridge High when the Royal Knights rushed for more than 3,000 yards in both 2014 (3338) and 2015 (3166). As head coach at WCH, Egan guided Leverett to consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, with Melvin serving as a dangerous complement in the rushing game, building one of the area’s most productive ground attacks.

Chandler’s one year of high school football will be a big one, as he steps into the role vacated by his former teammates.

Egan says that Chandler squats 450 pounds, bench presses 320 and can power clean 285. He also runs a 4.4-second 40-yard dash. Chandler looks like a high school version of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin — short, with a compact frame and tree trunks for legs. What’s more, Chandler has an awful lot to prove, not just to himself but to all of the people who helped him get to where he is.

He got to pull a game jersey over his head on August 7 for the team pictures. On August 17, as we were going to press with this issue, he saw his first live game action in a preseason matchup against Land O’ Lakes.

But tonight, it’s for real.

Tonight, Chandler officially makes it all the way back.

Tendercare Pediatrics Keeps Adding Convenience And Comfort For Children

At Tendercare Pediatrics, owner Lalitha Raguthu, M.D., above, takes pride if being accessible to parents and children, while offering a multitude of services that include physicals, allergy testing, urgent care, weekend appointments and even ear piercing.

Lalitha Raguthu, M.D., is in the business of making young people feel better, and she says her job makes her feel better, too.

The owner of Tendercare Pediatrics (in the Summergate Professional Park behind Sam’s Club off S.R. 56) says she is proud of the relationships she has built in a short time at the practice she bought two years ago. She posts smiling pictures of children on her Instagram page, and takes great pleasure in providing a wealth of services in a convenient manner.

“I am really happy when I am able to connect with a young kid’s outlook on health,” Dr. Raguthu says. “And, since we have been here, we have been very warmly received. It has been very nice.”

Dr. Raguthu and her husband, Durga Chintakayala, M.D., or “Dr. Chinta” for short, own the practice together. The pair also own Blossom Pediatric Care on E. Martin Luther King Blvd. in Tampa, where Dr. Chinta has been in solo practice for the last five years, with Dr. Raguthu occasionally covering for him. Now, she is the primary doctor at Tendercare, and he covers for her at the Wesley Chapel location as needed. “One of us is always here,” Dr. Chinta says.

Dr. Chinta and Dr. Raguthu have been married for 24 years and have two children.

Both doctors have long and varied resumes. The couple moved to New Tampa in 2013, when Dr. Chinta accepted a position in the spinal cord unit at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa. At the same time, they opened Blossom Pediatric Care, and Dr. Raguthu began working at Night Owl Pediatrics on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa.

Prior to that, the couple lived in New York City, where Dr. Raguthu spent three years working in the emergency room at the Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn and one year in Urgent Care at Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx, NY.

She had previously earned her MBBS degree (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery; equivalent to the M.D. degree in the U.S.) from the Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College in Gulbarga, India. She did her residency at Brookdale University Hospital & Medical Center in Brooklyn and served a one-year fellowship in Neurology at New York University in Manhattan, NY.

During their time in New York, Dr. Chinta worked at the VA New York Harbor Health Care System and also worked as an emergency room physician and urgent care doctor at Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx.

Dr. Raguthu has worked to transform the Wesley Chapel office into a comfortable space that can fill a variety of patient needs.

It begins with accessibility. Dr. Raguthu, who also is trained in urgent care, has expanded her services to include any urgent care needs — like emergency issues such as acute asthma or lacerations — and she accepts walk-ins and same-day appointments, and even Saturday appointments, which she says the parents love.

The rare instances when she is not available to talk on the phone, she says she will always return calls the same day.

“I love that we can get ahold of her anytime we need her,” Christina Bettin says. “It is very convenient to have walk-in or same-day appointments. I really appreciate that there is a nursing room. We highly recommend Tendercare Pediatrics.”

Traditional & Holistic Medicine
Although she is a highly trained M.D., Dr. Raguthu says she does take a holistic approach to medicine, and that she is empathetic to parents who have concerns, for example, about vaccines. She says she tries to accommodate and work with them when other pediatricians won’t.

“Dr. Raguthu is the pediatrician you want to have for your child,” writes Tasnouva Habib. “She is very respectful of how I want my child to be treated and does not (prescribe) medication unless absolutely required. I extremely appreciate the holistic approach she has towards care, which shows me that she cares about the well being of my child in the long run and not just a quick fix. I wish I found her sooner.”
Tendercare Pediatrics also offers school and sports physicals, and Dr. Raguthu can administer allergy testing as well.

“A lot of pediatricians don’t do allergy testing in their own office,” Dr. Raguthu says. “You will have to wait and schedule something at a specialist’s office. This makes it more convenient.”

She is proud to show off the new play area she created in the waiting room, so little ones don’t get antsy if they have to wait a few minutes to see the doctor. She also is thrilled with the great response she gets from parents when they visit her new room for nursing mothers.

“A lot of mothers are breastfeeding, and that’s very important,” says Dr. Raguthu. “We want to give them privacy and encourage breastfeeding, so we created a nursing room just for them.”

Dr. Raguthu is always thinking of more ways to accommodate her patients, even when they ask something as simple as where they should get their child’s ears pierced. It’s a question a lot of parents ask, and the answer is usually the mall.

“One of the mothers asked me, and I said I don’t know…but let me go ahead and start doing it,” Dr. Raguthu says of ear piercing.

Now, she offers the service in her office. Where better to take a child for a procedure that requires a needle, some blood, a little pain and that can be momentarily traumatic for a younger child? And yes, she says she uses a numbing medication to make the procedure as painless as it can be.

Tendercare Pediatrics has grown since Dr. Raguthu took over, and continues to do so. She is accepting new patients, and accepts many insurance plans, including Medicaid and Staywell, which provides managed care services to Medicaid-eligible beneficiaries.

“(Dr. Raguthu) is one of the greatest (pediatricians) I’ve been to,” says Illeana, another satisfied parent who brings her children to Tendercare Pediatrics. “She shows so much compassion when she’s checking our babies. We love her and her office as well. I’m so happy we found her.”

While Tendercare Pediatrics accepts patients from birth to age 21, it may also be expanding those services with Dr. Chinta as a family doctor.

“We are looking into accepting adult patients, too,” Dr. Raguthu says.

Dr. Raguthu also says that she believes that her own personal journey has helped her to be a more empathetic practitioner. She has battled back from a stroke, and has suffered through heartbreak.

“I love kids,” she says. “My husband and I were in medical school when we lost our infant baby, who was three months old. That’s where my interest in pediatrics really started. I can feel the pain of every mother who calls with a concern. I never brush them off.”

Tendercare Pediatrics is located at 27432 Cashford Cir., Suite 102, in the Summergate Professional Park. The office is open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information about the practice, call (813) 973-9900, visit MyTendercare.com or see the ad on page 42 of this issue.

Rec Center & Sensory Park Both Taking Shape As Plans Are Revealed

The fruits of this year’s New Tampa-friendly budget are beginning to ripen, as meetings in June and July presented visions of the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center (NTRC), as well a sensory-friendly park, which will be the first of its kind in the Tampa Bay area.

Kevin Smith, senior vice president of FleischmanGarcia, addresses those gathered to hear about the expansion progress.

On July 11, the City of Tampa’s Parks & Recreation Department hosted a community meeting at the NTRC to present its plans for a 7,825-sq.-ft. expansion of the overcrowded Tampa Palms home of one of the Tampa Bay area’s most sought-after gymnastics and dance programs.

The popularity of the programs has resulted in thousands of Tampa and Pasco County residents being placed on waiting lists for years.

However, those waiting lists should dwindle a lot, thanks to $1.95 million allocated in this year’s budget to creating more room for more programs at NTRC — which could double — says Brad Suder, the superintendent of planning and design for Tampa Parks & Rec.

The expansion will add another multi-purpose room similar to the room currently used and there will be a new preschool gymnasium. Currently, the preschool program uses the main multi-purpose room.

Suder said the NTRC also will have a new training box, a 1,760-sq.-ft. rectangular room that can be used for a variety of training regimens. In addition, Suder said, there will be more windows so parents and family can watch the gymnastics and dance programs, as well as six new bathrooms.

One of the bathrooms will have an electromagnetic lock, so it can be open on the weekends for those using the outdoor areas when the NTRC is closed.

The expansion currently is in the design stage, and bids are expected to go out in October. Suder said he expects construction to begin in January, and for the expansion to be completed for the summer of 2019, or a year from now.

Public Shown Sensory Park Plans

At another public meeting held in June, more than two dozen residents and City of Tampa officials gathered with design architects at the NTRC to share ideas and their vision for a 5-acre sensory-friendly park that will be located behind the B.J.’s Wholesale Club on Commerce Palms Dr. in Tampa Palms.

David Conner, president of David Conner & Associates, showed some preliminary plans to area residents. Conner heads up the planning, landscape architecture and urban design firm that is being paid $49,400 (of the $90,000 budgeted by the City of Tampa) to begin designing the sensory-friendly park.

Attendees looked over a series of display boards (left) showing examples of other sensory parks in the U.S. — which are created for children and adults identified as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and are focused more on soothing and serene activities — with some additional ideas for the New Tampa park.

Those who are on the autism spectrum can take in information from their five senses just like everyone else, but cannot process it the same way and can become overwhelmed, which makes them unable to communicate and interact because they are overcome with anxiety.

Sensory-friendly parks focus on incorporating easier-to-process activities and sights. They are, however, still accessible to everyone.
Proponents of the park say as many as 40,000 children in and around the New Tampa area are likely to use the park each year.

The displays showed photographs of potential amenities that could be part of the park, like slides, swings and jungle gyms. Residents were asked to place “Like” and “Love” stickers (above) on the amenities they liked the most.

District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, whose older brother Juan has autism, spearheaded the effort to get the study and design of the sensory park funded in this year’s city budget.

Several residents voiced their excitement and approval during a short presentation by Conner and Brad Suder of Tampa’s Parks & Recreation Department.

“We live in Stafford Place (in Tampa Palms), like one block away from the park,” said Jeff Chacon, who said that he is eager to take his two-year old grandson, Finn, to the park. “I want to be able to walk down there with my grandson. We’re excited. It’s good for the neighborhood and good for the City of Tampa.”

Freelance writer Andy Warrener contributed to this report.