Unincorporated New Tampa May Get Emergency Services From Pasco

After nearly 20 years of emergency services from nearby Tampa Fire Rescue (TFR) Station No. 21 on Cross Creek Blvd., residents in Pebble Creek, Live Oak Preserve, Cross Creek and the other communities located in unincorporated Hillsborough County may soon be looking across county lines for service.

While representatives from Hillsborough County would prefer that county residents in New Tampa continue receiving City of Tampa services, county officials are unwilling to pay the $1.1-million annual price tag Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is seeking.

“The Mayor is looking at where he can pull in new revenue, and that’s fine, but he needs to be fair about it,’’ says District 2 Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist. “The deal isn’t fair.”

Comm. Crist says the county is looking into other options, namely cutting a deal with Pasco County Fire Rescue and its Station No. 26 in the nearby Meadow Pointe Community of Wesley Chapel.

“The county is looking at all the options we have available, and what they will cost,” Crist says. “That’s not the only fire station up there that can serve us. We can cut a deal with the Pasco County Fire Department to provide the same services in the same frame of time.”

Pasco County Fire Rescue Station 26 is located close enough to unincorporated New Tampa to provide service, says Crist, adding that the county has already looked into the logistics of being serviced by Station 26, and have found them to be satisfactory.

The station is 1.6 miles from the entrance to Live Oak Preserve, 1.9 miles to the Pebble Creek Golf Club, 2.5 miles to the intersection of Cross Creek Blvd. and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., and roughly 5.5 miles from the Kinnan St. area.

Victor Crist

To reach those easternmost areas of unincorporated New Tampa, rescue units would have to cut through Live Oak or travel south on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. before turning east on Cross Creek Blvd., as there are few options to get there faster.

“It’s relatively the same,” Crist says. “The quality of the equipment, the quality of the service, the response time will all be relatively the same. (Residents) will see no difference.”

Hillsborough County has been paying the city $218,000 a year, but since negotiations began in January, the county has paid an additional $300,000 in adjustments related to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

So, instead of Buckhorn’s initial request to raise the price to $1.46 million, the total sought by the city is now $1.1 million.

That’s still more than twice what Crist says a deal Pasco County would cost.

“I’m not really sure how they got (that price),” Crist says. “I think they just pulled numbers out of the air. I have asked them to show me the rationale behind those numbers, but I (haven’t gotten) anything.”

Sonya Little, Tampa’s Chief Financial Officer, says the city’s numbers were derived from a simple Pro Rata share, based on proportion. According to Little, Fire Station No. 21 provided 7,309 hours of service in 2016, and 2,926 of those hours, or 40 percent, were provided to the Pebble Creek, Live Oak and Cross Creek communities.

Since the operating cost of Station No. 21 was $3,652,432, Buckhorn said originally the county should pay 40 percent, or $1,460,973 dollars.

The City of Tampa is facing more than $50-million in debt, due to a pair of bonds stemming from deals made in the mid-1990s that are coming due, with payments of roughly $14 million beginning in 2019.

On Sept. 28, the Tampa City Council reduced the tax increase Buckhorn was asking for, further reducing future revenues.

“The City is facing a lot of debt that’s coming on quickly,” Comm. Crist says. “The City Council did not vote to give him his tax increases. So now, he’s holding the county hostage for it, and it isn’t the right and fair thing to do.”

Crist says a deal with Pasco County could cost the county 25-50 percent of what the City of Tampa is asking for. Whether that gets the county and city back to the negotiating table remains to be seen.

“As of right now, there’s no more conversation,’’ says Ashley Bauman, the director of marketing and communications for the City of Tampa. “But that’s not to say there won’t be.”

Otherwise, Crist says a deal with Pasco County could be forthcoming.

“We’ll put a deal together with Pasco County, and tell the city this is what Pasco is willing to do it for, take it or leave it,’’ he says. “The bottom line is, were not going to significantly overpay for the service.”

County Making Moves On New Tampa Cultural Center & Local Parks

Hillsborough County completed a land purchase that could lead to new development in New Tampa. (Map: Blake Beatty)

The long-proposed New Tampa Cultural Center (NTCC), which will be built across the street from Hunter’s Green on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., could receive a financial boost from the state under a new idea that could see it transition into being built to serve not only as a home for the arts, but as a hurricane shelter for special needs evacuees, too.

“We made the decision, we’re going to a hardened hurricane shelter for special needs evacuees,’’ said District 2 Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist, who has spearheaded the project for years. “There is a regional need for that kind of facility.”

According to Comm. Crist, the shelter would serve as an evacuation spot for Tampa General Hospital and other hospitals in Pasco and Manatee counties as well. He cited hospital evacuation issues in Manatee County when Hurricane Irma came through in September

“It’s on high ground, it’s close to a medical hub and it’s on a major roadway,’’ Crist says. “It will be built at a very high wind standard.”

Crist says the county is contributing $5.8 million to the building of what is expected to be a 30,000-sq.-ft. NTCC, and the developers of the adjacent public-private (P3) Hunter’s Lake project are contributing $2.5 million.

The county will ask the state for matching funds of $7.5 million, getting the NTCC to the $15-million figure Crist has said would be required to build a state-of-the-art facility that can serve the entire Tampa Bay arts community from the beginning.

“The state has made it clear they will be focusing on hurricane and natural disaster preparedness,” Comm. Crist says.

Developers of the site are proceeding with permitting, so the pad on which everything will be built can be finished, although it has recently asked for a 90-day extension as it waits for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval.

“They still plan to deliver the pad by October of 2018,” says Josh Bellotti, the county’s real estate & facilities services director. Ground would be broken on the NTCC project shortly after that.

Branchton Park Project Another P3 Possibility?

Hillsborough County also cleared the way for another possible P3 project down the road, completing the acquisition of 10 acres of land in the Branchton Park area off Morris Bridge Rd. and Cross Creek Blvd.

The county paid Jimmy Gardner $1,175,000 to acquire the four parcels, totalling 10 acres. The land was appraised at $800,000, and Gardner was asking for $2 million. The closing on the purchase helps the county complete a long-sought-after deal to complete its holdings in the Branchton Park area.

The county had purchased three parcels of land totaling 13.18 acres for roughly $3.1 million in 2005 to expand Branchton Park. Attempts then to acquire the 10 acres owned by Gardner were unsuccessful. The property, which fronts Morris Bridge Rd. and is surrounded on three sides by the park, became available again and the county re-engaged and was able to close the deal.

“It completes the assemblage with the adjacent property and looking ahead, we are now able to do some kind of P3 (public-private partnership),” Bellotti said.

Bellotti said the county has no specific plans for the property, but will play a role in how it is developed. Hillsborough will send out a request for proposal (RFP) to see if there are any interested developers.

Bellotti said the project could be something similar to Hunter’s Lake which, in addition to the NTCC, is also adding apartments, a green grocer, a restaurant, a shopping plaza and a dog park.

District 5 County Commissioner Ken Hagan said that in addition to Branchton Park, the county also is working on a park project in K-Bar Ranch.

“We’re excited about both,’’ he said. “We’ve made significant strides in bringing both in for a landing.”

The 55-or-so acre K-Bar park project has been in the system for years, but a deal is getting closer for what would be the first-ever co-located county-city park, Hagan says.

The specific amenities haven’t been determined, but Hagan says he is confident the partnership between the city and the county will finally yield positive results, soon.

“There’s a little more work we need to do there,” Comm. Hagan says.

Hagan and Dist. 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera will host a New Tampa Town Hall on Thursday, November 16, 7 p.m.-8 p.m. at The Venetian on the grounds of St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church at 9724 Cross Creek Blvd.

New USF Federal Credit Union Is Open

The New Tampa USF Federal Credit Union branch opened on October 30.

Deborah Clark took a behind-the-scenes tour of the new branch of the University of South Florida (USF) Federal Credit Union (FCU) last month, and it left her eager to share the new facility with the rest of New Tampa.

“It’s beautiful,’’ says Clark, who is the chief marketing officer for the USF FCU.

On Monday, the New Tampa branch, located at the northwest corner of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and Imperial Oak Blvd., in the Trout Creek area in front of Winn-Dixie, opened for business.

The Grand Opening is Nov. 15.

It won’t be fully functional until the end of the year, however.  While the retail side of the branch will be ready to accommodate customers, Clark says that will be “just the beginning,” as other departments, like the contact center, collections and lending and real estate teams move in from their current location on the USF campus.

“By the end of the year, everything will be there,’’ Clark said. “We’re moving a lot of different departments to that location.”

While the USF FCU has six other branches off campus, the New Tampa location is the first standalone off-campus branch. The location, Clark says, was chosen in part to service an area that is rich in USF employees, students and alumni. She says roughly 5,200 alumni living within three miles of the new location.

“We have a lot of faculty and staff that live in this area as well, and going back from here to the university might as well be like going to St. Petersburg, so this is going to be a nice hub for us,’’ USF FCU President and CEO Rick Skaggs said at last year’s groundbreaking.

The two-story, 12,300-sq.-ft. credit union features an open-architecture feel, and has a community meeting room that Clark says can host large events with up to 30 people. The larger credit union also will be able to expand its services.

“We think our customers are absolutely going to love it,’’ she says.

The USF FCU was chartered in 1959 for staff and faculty, and started serving students in 1990. It has more than $500 million in assets, more than 130 employees and lends in excess of $100 million per year. The New Tampa branch is located at 20610 BBD Blvd. For additional information, visit USFFCU.org or call (813) 569-2000.

Wesley Chapel Resident Alexandra Joyce Proves She Has ‘The Voice!’

Alexandra Joyce performs during her Battle Round on The Voice on Oct. 23. (NBC photo)

Standing backstage just moments before she would begin singing Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” on NBC-TV’s”The Voice,” Wesley Chapel’s Alexandra Joyce didn’t have a care in the world.

The 16-year-old Wiregrass Ranch High junior had prepared for that moment since she was a little girl. She was in the All-State chorus in the fourth grade, competed in talent shows at John Long Middle School, taught herself to play the ukulele and guitar in high school and a day doesn’t pass without Alexandra showing off her pipes.

“I don’t think there has been a single day of her life that music hasn’t been an important part of for her,” says her mother, Adrienne Reed.

So, Alexandra had convinced herself this was just another performance.

Alexandra filmed her audition in June, and waited months to reveal to Wesley Chapel how she fared.

“I felt a lot of pressure on me, for sure,” she said. “An immense amount of pressure. I had to prove something to myself.”

“But,” she added, with a laugh, “right before I went on I was cool as a cucumber, I was chilling.”

Then, the doors opened and everything changed. Her heart stopped, she says, and her breathing grew heavy as she walked towards the backs of four large red chairs.

“Nothing really prepares you for that,’’ she admits.

After quickly composing herself, Joyce began singing, trying not to focus on the chairs in front of her. Then, one chair turned — “You could hear a little excitement in my voice,’’ she confesses — followed by two others. She finished her audition with three judges smiling back at her — Academy- and Grammy-award winner Jennifer Hudson, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine and country crooner Blake Shelton.

Whew.

While Levine and Shelton offered some encouraging words while mentioning pitch issues (due to nerves), Hudson didn’t say much. Her nerves now settled, Alexandra wanted to know why.

“She just kind of said to me like, you know, I can’t really compete with the other coaches, so good luck,’’ Alexandra says. “And I ended up calling her out and kind of saying, ‘Well, you haven’t said anything to me. What do you have to offer to me?’”

Hudson perked up and told Alexandra that she saw the drive in her, and the passion. She told the young Wesley Chapel resident that no matter who she chose as her coach, she had the right stuff to succeed.

“Right when she stood up and really started to get passionate about it, that’s when I knew that was where I needed to go,” Alexandra says of joining Hudson’s team.

Alexandra’s journey on the show ended when she lost in the Battle Round to her teammate, Jeremiah Miller, as they both performed “One Call Away” by Charlie Puth.

Alexandra’s Battle Round, like her audition, only aired as part of a montage, so her television time was limited after a an excruciating wait.

“They don’t tell you when the show will be on, they just tell you to watch,’’ said Adrienne, who took her daughter to the initial audition for the show in Baltimore, MD, earlier this year.

Adrienne, who runs a yoga studio in Land O’Lakes, says the experience has been memorable for her daughter, who sent in a video submission to get the initial invitation to Maryland.

In Maryland, she auditioned and was given a “maybe” by the show’s producers. Two weeks later, she received an email telling her the show was going to pass this time, but would keep her in mind for the future.

Two weeks after that, another call came — shockingly informing Adrienne that her daughter was not only getting another chance, but that it would be at the blind auditions in Los Angeles.

“Is this a prank call?,’’ Adrienne asked the caller.

It wasn’t, and when she called Alexandra, she told her to sit down before she broke the news.

“There was a lot of screaming and jumping around,’’ she says.

Adrienne said appearing on a music competition has been a long-time dream for Alexandra, who would often as a child come singing and sliding down the foyer in socks and into her mother’s home office ready to put on a performance.

“We used to watch those shows when she was little,’’ Adrienne says. “When she turned 16, the (young) age limit for the show, she decided she wanted to go ahead and do it.”

Alexandra, a junior at WRH who will graduate early next spring, describes her style as folk indie, but she says she can sing a little bit of everything. Ed Sheeran is one of her biggest musical influences, inspiring her to teach herself the guitar at the age of 13.

And of course, there’s Adrienne, who encouraged Alexandra every step along the way.

“I’ve never really had a music teacher,” Alexandra says. “If anyone, my mother has been the biggest rock for me. When I first started playing guitar, initially I didn’t think I was good enough, and she said ‘Yes, you are.’ She built me up, I really owe that to her.”

Alexandra said the experience has been awe-inspiring.

“I think its definitely been kind of a stepping stone for me,” she says. “I know I have this assurance that I can do this. I have a single on iTunes; I never in a million years thought I would have a single on iTunes.”

She says her favorite part has been the people she has met on this journey, which has been highlighted by being coached by the likes of Hudson.

“That’s just freaking insane,” she says. “Absolutely freaking insane.”

Starbucks, Chick-fil-A & CubeSmart Among The New Businesses Coming To The Area

Updating The Map Of Wesley Chapel Along S.R. 54, From I-75 To W. Of Curley Rd.

  1. Developers are seeking approval for a 110,000-sq.ft. self-storage facility and a 160,000-sq.ft. hotel to be located directly behind the Walgreens at the intersection of S.R. 54 and BBD. The brand of the hotel isn’t determined.
  2. Wesley Chapel’s second Wawa location was approved in Oct. of 2016. Ground just started to be moved near the site where the 6,119-sq.ft. convenience store will be located.
  3. Land is currently being cleared for Chick-Fil-A’s proposed 4,877-sq.ft. restaurant with indoor play area & drive-through.
  4. The 4,000-sq.ft. Heartland Dental office is under construction & will be going vertical by the end of the month. It will share its location with a 4,200-sq.ft. stand-alone building that is still seeking a tenant but has suitors.
  5. Starbucks is expected to open early next year, and the 2,330-sq.ft. coffee hotspot will be flanked by at least three other retail tenants occupying another  5,700-sq.ft. One of those tenants will be a Pizza Hut. 
  6. The Racetrac convenience store, expected to be 5,411-sq.ft. with a 771 sq.ft. patio, is still going through the approval and permitting process, but is planned for the northwest corner of Vandine Rd. &  S.R. 54.
  7. CubeSmart will provide self storage in a three-story, climate-controlled 80,000-sq.-ft. facility, which will be surrounded by 14,000 sq. ft. of single-story storage.
  8. Nail & hair salons are two of the future tenants signed up for Nye Commons, which has 14,000-sq.ft. of space and is hoping to possibly add a restaurant and as many as four other tenants before opening by the end of the year.

After years of developer attention along the S.R. 56 corridor, which has included the debut of the Tampa Premium Outlets, the opening of a plethora of new restaurants and stores like Costco  and the continued growth in the southern portion of the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI), things appear to be turning north.

In and around the intersection of S.R. 54 and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., which had begun to show its age since it was widened a few years ago, ground is being moved as a number of new projects begin to sprout up.

Included in future plans at the intersection and westward on S.R. 54 is another  Wawa, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Racetrac and a number of commercial strip centers that will potentially provide office space to everything from small restaurants to dentists and doctors.

“Everything’s moving north, and that is consistent with our growth pattern,’’ says Hope Allen, the CEO of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. “You’re starting to see that northern progression.”

The interest in SR. 54 is likely also the result of the saturation of the market along S.R. 56. In fact, Kim Lohry of Berkshire Hathaway says that there are now 27 restaurants located in the S.R. 56 corridor between Wesley Chapel Blvd. and Mansfield Dr., and “it’s a natural progression” for developers to look for other areas more ripe for new development.

Lohry is involved in a project bringing a 4,000-sq.ft. Heartland Dental office to the north side of S.R. 54, between the Walgreens and Wesley Chapel Nissan, as well as a 4,200-sq.ft. free-standing building which will share parking with the dental office. She says she has already fielded a number of inquiries from potential tenants.

Much of the area currently beginning a developmental phase lies south of the so-called “Connected City” project, including Florida’s first two lagoons by Crystal Lagoons in the new Mirada and Epperson Ranch housing developments. The Connected City is expected to add thousands of new residents, and many businesses and jobs to the area over the next 20 years.

While this stretch of 54 has been anchored by Publix and recently added a Wal-Mart Supercenter, the influx of new businesses will find plenty of customers located within a 10-mile radius.

That, along with the widening of S.R. 54 east of Curley Rd. — expected to begin this year or early 2018 — makes this area of Wesley Chapel an attractive target for potential businesses.

“It’s most certainly a prime area for development,” Allen says.

“I sure hope so,’’ says developer Brent Nye of Nye Commercial Advisors, whose retail strip center on BBD just south of the Wells Fargo bank is expected to open by the end of the year. Nye says he already has contracted with a nail and hair salon, and plans to add a restaurant as well. He adds that the 14,000-sq.-ft. plaza, where his business also will be based, could accommodate as many as eight tenants.

Nye also says other projects — like a Racetrac and Bay Breeze Car Wash on S.R. 54 and Vandine Rd., as well as the CubeSmart Self Storage nearing completion on the southwest corner of S.R. 54 and Wesley Chapel Loop — are signs that the stretch of S.R. 54 from BBD to the entrance to Meadow Pointe will soon become populated with businesses.

“I think this is the next area you will see a lot of growth in,’’ he says. “You are already seeing it.”