The classroom of Pride Elementary teacher Fonda Tolliver (2nd from right) was filled with mask-wearing parents and students when the school held its open house for the 2021-22 school year on August 6. (Photo by Charmaine George)
In June, there was hope and optimism. The number of Covid-19 infections were down, the battle seemed to be turning in the wake of vaccinations, and a return to a normal school year — after a year that no one was eager to repeat —seemed closer than ever.
In July, a variant of Covid, a stronger and even more contagious version called Delta, began popping up in news stories. Infections began to spread, and so did concern.
In August, with numbers higher than they have been at any point since the pandemic began, schools across Hillsborough County and New Tampa opened on August 10.
What a difference a few weeks makes.
“In June, we thought we would be starting the school year in a much more normal situation,” said Chiles Elementary principal Teresa Evans. “I think everyone’s a little disappointed to be back to something like last year….but our community has been very cooperative, and we’re expecting a great year. But, we’re not through this pandemic yet. There’s still challenges to rise to meet.”
Without a mask mandate this year, however, some teachers and parents expressed reservations about the new school year. Those fears are being realized as Covid-19 numbers in schools continue to rise.
On Monday, the Hillsborough County School District reported that 5,600 students have either tested positive or are in quarantine due to exposure. That number has jumped to 8,400 today, and includes more than 300 school employees
As a result, the Hillsborough County Public School Board will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday from 1 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. in the School Board Auditorium to discuss ways to mitigate the spread of the virus in county schools, which have only been open for five days.
Mask wearing is likely to make up most of the debate. Superintendent Addison Davis reversed course and required them for all students, but did allow for parents to opt their children out of the policy. The new requirement will be in place until Sept. 3, when it will be re-examined.
Local Realtor Jeff Miller gets ready to send his drone into the sky for his latest video of The Grove at Wesley Chapel. Miller has shot and posted more than 80 drone videos of locations around Wesley Chapel. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
Jeff Miller has seen a lot of things since moving to Wesley Chapel in 2004.
As a Realtor for Charles Rutenberg Realty, he has seen the market take off, then crash land, then take off again. He has seen the area grow and grow. He has seen neighborhoods evolve and new roads appear.
These days, however, Miller’s view has changed….to about 300 feet above the ground.
If you’ve been on the web looking for all of the new developments and businesses in Wesley Chapel, you may have come across one of Miller’s many drone videos, which are focused on all of the new developments in our area.
“I really love sharing the videos with everyone,” Miller says. “I think it’s pretty cool.”
Miller has been posting regular old ground-level videos on his YouTube page since 2017, but kept noticing more and more drone videos.
“They were unique and super visual,” he says. “What a difference.”
Miller bought his first drone — a surprisingly compact gray DJI Mini 2 — in February, and has since posted more than 80 videos, from local communities like Persimmon Park, Estancia, River Landing and Avalon Park to area favorites like the Crystal Lagoon at Epperson, the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County and the Wesley Chapel District Park.
The first drone video he posted was 47 seconds of footage at the Overpass Rd. construction at I-75, followed by 99 seconds of Epperson Ranch and its lagoon. None of Miller’s first five drone videos topped 100 views, but many of his videos since then have fared much better.
A video of the future Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. has more than 600 views, a drone tour of Winding Ridge by GL Homes has more than 1,000 and an update on the Overpass Rd. construction currently is his top drone video to date with 1,300+ views.
All of his videos combined have nearly 20,000 views.
While Miller started posting his videos as a hobby, he says it hasn’t been bad for business either.
“I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me because of the videos,” he says. “Especially the updates on the Overpass Rd. bridge, the parks and the malls. There are people interested in buying homes from out of state and I think it’s pretty cool they can see how the community has progressed.”
Jeff Miller’s drone videos focus on new developments like Avalon Park Wesley Chapel (top) and popular places Wesley Chapel is known for, like the Crystal Lagoon at Epperson.
Miller said the wealth of aerial video opportunities is a far cry from his first decade or so in Wesley Chapel.
“Back then, there was really nothing to shoot (here),” he says.
A 1993 graduate of Southern Connecticut State University with a degree in corporate video communications, Miller has long had an eye for photography and video. He says he started taking pictures when he was a kid and, when he moved to Wesley Chapel, he took on a role helping the former Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (now the North Tampa Bay Chamber) with social media.
“Before Facebook, that was pretty impossible,” he says. But, he would attend events, and send out email blasts with recaps and photos.
He says he helped start the Wesley Chapel Fall Festival and art show. In 2008, Miller even ran for the Chamber’s Honorary Mayor of Wesley Chapel. He hosted a wine tasting at the old Cork and Olive on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. hoping to attract voters, and one of his goals was to get signs up in the area that said “We Love Wesley Chapel.”
“I think I met everyone in Wesley Chapel that year,” Miller says, chuckling.
A long-time promoter of the community, Miller says he tries to get out and shoot something in the area every day. Although he says he graduated from college without even having used the internet or a cell phone, he eagerly dives into new technology.
“This technology is ridiculously easy to use,” he says. “It really gives me the chance to make awesome, shareable content. I hope people like it.”
Pasco County Schools superintendent Kurt Browning.
Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning made his usual rounds Tuesday morning on the first day of the 2021-22 school year, and was both happy and a little concerned at what he saw.
He told a gaggle of reporters at Cypress Creek Middle School that he was thrilled to see the classrooms and hallways overflowing with students and teachers — “some with masks, some without” — but he intimated he would have liked to see more of them wearing the protective face coverings.
“I want parents to know, I want the very best for their children,” said Browning. “I want their children safe. I want their children kept safe. This district is doing everything we possibly can with the hand that we’ve been dealt. We are doing social distancing where we can. We are taking extreme measures in our cleaning protocols. I’m strongly recommending staff and students, families, to mask up when they come into our schools.”
Browning cannot impose a mandate — that much has been made clear in recent days by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who via executive order has threatened to defund school districts and dock the pay of superintendents who mandated the controversial face coverings for their districts. Browning says, “I just wish he hadn’t done that,” and said he would have liked to have seen a more aggressive state-wide mandate.
“We would not be standing here having these types of conversations if there had been a state- wide mask mandate,” he added.
But Browning, who had his own three-week battle with a bad case of Covid-19, did say he may consider talking to his staff about requiring them to wear masks.
Only 47% of Pasco County residents are fully vaccinated.
“Adults need to set the example,” Browning said. “But then, when I make that pronouncement, or if I make that pronouncement, then I’m showing my political bias, apparently, because I think masks are a valid way to tamp down Covid.”
Concern was the theme of Browning’s press meet-up. Florida is the epicenter of the latest Delta variant Covid-19 outbreak, just as schools are opening. He worries about the future as the heavy and expanding cloud of the pandemic hangs over everyone.
More than 15,000 positive cases a day have been reported every day this month. Hospitalizations and deaths are at record-setting highs. Numbers are rising among the younger, school-age population, as well.
“I think we’re weathering the storm,” Browning said, when asked if there was any positive case number that would force him to change course. He also said that his hands were tied. “Last year, 5 percent (positivity rate for Covid) was a trigger for us. The last number I heard was mid- to upper-20 percent. That number, which is scary to me, really doesn’t have an impact on what we do, because of the executive order.”
Browning said the county is hoping the numbers drop in the next 10 school days, but the superintendent seemed to believe there will be a rise in the count.
“I think when we start seeing what happens to Covid numbers with kids in 2 weeks or 10 days, if there’s a spike, we’ll take a hard look,” he says. “Whereas last year, when we were having to close down classrooms, I am fearful that (this year) it may cause us to close down schools.”
Until then, Browning says the District will do everything it can to keep schools running smoothly and doing what they do best — educating the children. He thinks a return to classroom teaching is paramount — especially since last year’s eLearning option is no longer funded by the state and is therefore unavailable — and also says that the mental health issues caused by kids not being in class last year “were staggering” and also must be considered.
“We’re going to hang in there, play tough and we’re going to get through the first 10 days of school and see where we are and, at that point, adjust,” Browning said. “That’s the attitude that this District is taking to make sure we can accommodate our kids and staff…it’s a challenge.”
Pasco County Building Construction Services is stepping up to help customers burned by Olympus Pools, offering new tools and financial relief for those whose pool projects are in limbo due to open permits.
They have launched a dedicated webpage to help customers navigate the permitting process, as well as providing answers to any additional questions in this FAQ. Best of all, the county is waiving all fees associated with Olympus Pools permits through Dec. 31, 2021, a move expected to help hundreds of customers left with unfinished pools.
“We hope this action will help ease the financial burden on our customers who choose to seek other permitting options,” said Assistant County Administrator Sally Sherman.
Olympus Pools customers have three options for open pool permits:
Oversee the project yourself.
Hire a new, licensed pool contractor.
Cancel your pool permit.
To choose an option, just fill out the form found HERE and e-mail to BCS@MyPasco.net.
The county says over the past two years, Olympus Pools has pulled hundreds of permits for pool projects in Pasco County, and most remain unfinished. For more information on your options, please visit the county’s new webpage: bit.ly/OlympusPermits.
One month after being kicked off the Diverging Diamond Interchange project at S.R. 56 and I-75, D.A.B. Constructors has informed the Florida Department of Transportation it is voluntarily defaulting on the S.R. 54 widening project as well.
On July 28, “FDOT received letters from DAB informing us that they are financially unable to perform or complete the performance of the work as prime contractor, which constitutes a voluntary default…,” FDOT spokesperson Kris Carson wrote in an email.
But it isn’t just the S.R. 54 widening project, which was supposed to be completed by the end of the year, that D.A.B. Constructors is walking away from. There are five other projects in Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties:
C.R. 580 Sam Allen Rd. from S.R. 39 to Park Rd.
US 19 Widening from Green Acres to W. Jump Ct
US 19 Widening from W. Jump Court to W. Fort Island Trail
US 19 Resurfacing from Hernando County Line to Green Acres
SR 52 Widening from Suncoast Parkway to US 41
“FDOT will be working with the Surety Companies to take over and complete the projects,” Carson says.
D.A.B. Contractors issued a statement, signed by president Doborah Bachschmidt and executive vice president Bill Bachschmidt, earlier this week, published in the Citrus County Chronicle, saying that “After over 33 years as a small heavy civil construction firm based in Inglis, Florida, D.A.B. is winding down all operations and putting the completion of ongoing projects in the hands of our bonding companies.”
D.A.B. essentially says the DDI project led to it pulling out of its other projects due to financial strain.
FDOT’s actions in regards to D.A.B. being behind schedule on the DDI which was made public last fall, were a “deathblow” to the company. D.A.B. says it accelerated construction without payment from FDOT to meet milestone dates.
“When D.A.B. achieved the milestones to the extent feasible under the FDOT-furnished defective plans”, the company wrote, “FDOT moved the goalposts. We suffered a classic domino-effect, as our acceleration efforts had diverted resources from other ongoing projects and drained the company of millions of dollars such that operations cannot be sustained.”
It wrote it has been in a 15-month tug-of-war with FDOT due to errors in the design.
“Despite the existence of a significant errors in the project design provided by FDOT and the recommendation of an independent Disputes Review Board that upheld D.A.B.’s contentions regarding the existence of the design errors and the resulting impact to the project schedule and costs to complete, FDOT has declared D.A.B. in default.”
Last month, in a letter dated June 25, D.A.B. Constructors told FDOT they were “demobilizing” from the DDI project, two days before it was defaulted on the project by FDOT.
D.A.B., which says it is the only remaining woman-owned prime contractor in the state, says it cannot continue to self-finance FDOT projects while it waits on the outcome of court action.
Carson says D.A.B. Constructors filed a lawsuit against FDOT on July 1.
“We very much regret the inevitable inconveniences to the traveling public as D.A.B.’s ongoing jobs are transitioned to others for completion,” the Bachschmidts wrote.” We are working cooperatively with our sureties to expedite take over and completion work. Likewise, despite what we’ve encountered with FDOT, we intend to continue to cooperate with the department.”
That is disappointing news for Wesley Chapel residents, who just a few months ago were expecting the DDI and 54 widening to be completed before 2022. That now appears unlikely.
The 54 widening is a $42.5-million project to transform S.R. 54 from two to four lanes east of Curley Rd to east of Morris Bridge Rd., a 4.5-mile stretch. A sidewalk will be built on the north side of the road and a 10-foot wide multi-use trail will be built on the south side.
