The air conditioning was knocked out at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel Tuesday night, but technicians restored it in approximately two hours as the hospital returned to normal operations.
According to Pasco County public information officer Doug Tobin, Pasco Fire Rescue, Pasco Emergency Management and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of an explosion in the central plant at FHWC (2600 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.) around 6:20 p.m. There were no injuries reported.
FHWC did not reference an explosion on their Facebook page. “Earlier tonight, a chilled water pump failed and over pressurized, causing a small mechanical failure in the central energy plant behind the hospital,” it says on the FHWC Facebook page. “We worked very closely with Pasco County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services. Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel never lost power and did not need to go on generators. The hospital did lose air conditioning for about two hours. No patients were transferred.”
None of the hospitalâs patients needed to be evacuated.
The air conditioning was back on at around 8:30 p.m.
(l.-r.) WCCC CEO Hope Allen, NT Rotary president Brice Wolford, WCCC Board Chair Tracy Clouser and WCCC Ambassadors Craig Miller and James Carner at the signing ceremony held at the Chamber office to officially give the New Tampa Rotary the right to host the 2017 Taste of New Tampa on March 18.
I will admit that I was crazy excited to learn that the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) â our exclusive webcast partner for WCNT-tv â was getting ready to sign off on having the New Tampa Rotary Club (which meets Fridays for breakfast at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club) put on the next Taste of New Tampa.
Sadly, I thought that official announcement was coming a few months ago…and then, a few weeks ago.
Well, on Sept. 14, it became official. There will be a 21st Taste of New Tampa â and Wesley Chapel â on Saturday, March 18, 2017!
But somehow, the bigger news for all of us who plan to dive headfirst into bringing back one of our areaâs most popular single-day events than the fact that there finally will be another Taste is the location for the event â Florida Hospital Center Ice (FHCI)!
FHCI co-owner/developer Gordie Zimmerman may not have been able to be on-hand for the signing ceremony between the WCCC and the New Tampa Rotary, but Zimmerman stepped up to the plate in a big way by agreeing to bring the event primarily back indoors for the first time since the first Taste back in 1994 (when it was held in and outside of Hunterâs Green Country Club), instead of outside in what has too often been either sweltering heat or sideways-falling, driving rain.
The signing ceremony, held at the Chamber office in The Grove at Wesley Chapel, featured New Tampa Rotary president Brice Wolford and WCCC Board chair Tracy Clouser signing off on a document that took a little while to finalize, but will definitely prove to be worth the wait for both the organizers and the likely thousands of attendees who will be on hand to help raise money for the New Tampa Rotaryâs selected charities.
Also at the signing ceremony were Chamber president and CEO Hope Allen and WCCC ambassadors (and New Tampa Rotary Club members) James Carner and Craig Miller. Yes, that is the same Craig Miller of Full Throttle Intermedia who also is my partner on WCNT-tv.
Putting Together A TeamÂ
The New Tampa Rotary is already putting together a team of volunteers to help ensure the success of the event. I have agreed to be the Taste restaurant coordinator, while former Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel historian (who also has been a past Rotary District Governor) David West of Signarama of New Tampa, who is now a member of the New Tampa Rotary, will be the sponsorship coordinator. New Tampa Rotary member Karen Frashier will be among those responsible for marketing the event and more announcements will come in the future.
The 2017 Taste is only 25 weeks (a little more than six months) away, so the organizers need to move quickly to ensure that the first to be held since 2014 (on one of those sideways-rain days, when it was held in Primrose Park off Commerce Park Blvd. in Tampa Palms). I handled the restaurants for that event and there were 30 committed at one point, but the reports of likely bad weather that day caused numerous day- and week-of-the-event cancellations. That shouldnât be a problem inside the 150,000-sq.-ft. FHCI â which will be the largest skating facility south of New York when it opens.
âItâs a great opportunity to revive an amazing event,â Allen said after the signing ceremony. âThe Chamber is getting out of the business of putting on major events like these, so it was great that the New Tampa Rotary stepped up to bring back the Taste.â The Chamber also has divested itself of its own Fall Festival, which will have its 12th edition put on this year at The Grove shopping center the weekend of October 29-30. by Simply Events, which was introduced at the WCCCâs September business breakfast.
Look for more updates about the Taste in these pages, at WCNeighborhoodNews.com and on future episodes of WCNT-tv. We also will post information for those who want to help with putting on the event.
USF president Judy Genshaft and USF Federal Credit Union CEO Rick Skaggs toss the first dirt at the future site of the New Tampa branch of the credit union.
For the first time in its nearly 60-year history, the USF Federal Credit Union (FCU) is venturing off campus to open a new branch in New Tampa.
On August 29, USF president and New Tampa resident Judy Genshaft, USF FCU President and CEO Rick Skaggs, Tampa City Council chair (and USF grad) Mike Suarez and a number of other school dignitaries stuck ceremonial shovels into a pile of dirt during a ground-breaking ceremony at the northwest corner of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) and Imperial Oak Blvd., in the Trout Creek area near Winn-Dixie.
âItâs a fabulous location, and we know that the population is growing soooo fast in this area of our region and of our state,ââ Genshaft told the crowd. â(The branch) is modeled after the Marshall Center (branch) that has been fabulous and so well-received.â
The first-ever standalone off-campus branch of the USF Federal Credit Union, which boasts 52,000 members, which will be located in front of the plaza that houses Winn Dixie and LA Fitness and across Imperial Oak Blvd. from Burger King, is expected to open in mid-2017.
âItâs the first off-campus building of the credit union,ââ said Skaggs. âWeâve had other offices (off campus), but this is the first one that will be a standalone facility, so itâs a big day in our history.â
USF Building Bigger, Better
The new credit union will go up just a few hundred yards from its current location in the same plaza.
The impetus for acquiring the land to build the two-story, 12,300-sq.-ft. credit union, in fact, is due in part to the success of that New Tampa office, Skaggs said, as well as the knowledge that this area is home to many USF grads and employees.
âWe 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,ââ Skaggs said.
He noted that there have been numerous studies done on the membership base located in New Tampa, and those studies also reveal that many graduates settle in the area after attending USF and would like to remain members. Suarez, for example, said at the groundbreaking that he still has the same account he started 30 years ago when he was a USF student.
New USF FCU, New Offerings
The new facility will allow the credit union to expand the services offered at other off-campus locations, like in mortgage lending and wealth management. There will be a large community room available for meetings and functions, Skaggs said, equipped with a large TV for presentations and multi-media capabilities.
There also will be drive-through tellers and âuniversal service reps,â who according to Skaggs, are like bank tellers of the future. Since many patrons use electronic banking and donât bother with the brick and mortar building for simple tasks like deposits and withdrawals anymore, universal service reps will be equipped to handle not only traditional teller duties, but also all of the other services offered by the credit union.
âThe concept is like an Apple Store,ââ Skaggs said. âIn the Marshall Center, the design we put in there has been very well-received. The open architecture feel, as well as all the electronic services, remote access, all of it, will be a totally different environment than a regular bank or credit union drive-through.â
USF FCU Highly Regarded
In July, the USF FCU, which was chartered in 1959 for the staff and faculty and began serving students in 1990, was named as the 2016 Credit Union of the Year by the League of Southeastern Credit Unions & Affiliates (LSCU) in the â$500 Million in Assets or Aboveâ category.
Its merger with Darden Employees Federal Credit Union, the renovation of the Marshall Student Center Branch and the executive internship program, which allows students to work at the Marshall Center location and earn college credit, were cited in earning the award.
Skaggs said USF FCU has more than $500 million in assets, 135 employees and lends in excess of $100 million per year.
Clearwater store manager Hector Mencia tells the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce that Costcoâs opening near the Tampa Premium Outlets will be delayed until Feb. 2017, due to rainy weather.
Costco manager Hector Mencia had some good news for local business leaders at the Aug. 25 Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) Economic Development briefing held at Pebble Creek Golf Club.
Costco, for one, is still definitely coming to Wesley Chapel Blvd. adjacent to the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO) off S.R. 56. And yes, it will offer its usual great prices and bountiful free samples. The largest retailer of fine wine in the world (a whopping $1.2 billion in yearly sales!) and second-largest auto retailer will continue to sell cheaper and better gas, millions of $1.50 hot dogs and drinks and the companyâs highly-rated Kirkland line of products.
Oh, and donât forget Costcoâs commitment to the local community, in addition to well-paying jobs (if youâre lucky enough to land one).
There was, however, one bad bit of news that Mencia, who manages the Costco in Clearwater, delivered: It wonât open near TPO until February of next year.
Though the ground has been broken and the initial work is well under way, Mencia said the planned November opening of the much-awaited Costco has been derailed by bad weather, setting builders back by at least two weeks. And, that was before last weekâs tropical storm.
Because Costco doesnât open stores in December and January, its peak months, the new store wonât open its doors until early February.
That is a big bummer for Costco fans, who currently have to drive to Brandon to stock up on paper towels and soft drinks.
But, those fans of Costco, which also is opening a store in the Citrus Park area at the corner of Sheldon Rd. and Linebaugh Ave., are likely still excited by the arrival of the membership-only, wholesale club giant, the second-largest retailer in the world after Wal-Mart.
While Costco will have plenty of competition, with fellow wholesalers Samâs Club (on S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel) and New Tampaâs BJâs Wholesale Club (on Commerce Palms Blvd. in Tampa Palms) both within seven miles of the newest club, it is likely to find success, due to its religious-like following.
âWeâve been trying to get in here for quite a bit in this market,ââ Mencia said. âItâs a great location. Itâs amazing what that area is turning into.â
Hector Mencia
Mencia shared with Chamber members the benefits of Costco, clearly drawing positive reactions from the crowd. He played a five-minute video filled with clips of Costco being mentioned by celebrities, including Rosie OâDonnell saying: âI go in with a list and a mission, and I come out with a trampoline and a case of corn nuts.â
Another clip showed massive crowds at various openings, including places like South Korea, Spain and Australia, and long lines for jobs at many locations.
If youâre wondering about your chances of landing a gig at Costco â where Mencia said the average pay is $21 an hour and cashiers start between $13 and $13.50 an hour â well, they arenât great. According to one clip, an Indiana store received 22,000 applications for 200-275 jobs. You might have a better shot finding a Willie Wonka Golden Ticket.
Mencia, who has been with Costco for 27 years, said there is a low turnover at the wholesaler, and that the store will begin marketing six weeks prior to opening for those looking for memberships.
Those members will have a ton of choices, he says. Costco carries roughly 3,800 products, and rotates 1,500 or so to create a âtreasure atmosphereâ at least 14 times a year.
And last year, on a single day, three days before Thanksgiving, Costco sold more than 70 million dinner rolls, 1.6 million pumpkin pies, 471,000 apple pies and 252,000 pecan pies.
For more information about Costco, visit Costco.com.Â
John Phillips has lived in Cross Creek for more than 10 years with his wife, Cristy, and their two dogs, Princess and Zack. After a career and quite a bit of international travel, he finally checked a long-standing item off his bucket list.
Heâs now the published author of a novel, entitled The Dark Hurts.
âAbout 14 years ago, when I was doing a lot of international travel, the story developed in my mind,â says Phillips. âI wrote the first three chapters one night in Japan when I couldnât sleep.â
Itâs a fictional book, set in San Francisco. Phillips describes it as being about the many different emotions in life. He says itâs the story of what a disaster can do, not only to a city, but also to a particular family.
The Dark Hurts Offers Some Light
In the process of promoting his self-published book, he was contacted by Focus on Women magazine, a Baltimore-area publication. He says his book was chosen to be featured on the magazineâs website by a panel of its readers. The Dark Hurts will be featured in the magazineâs online bookstore, and proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the Afghan Womenâs Fund, a charity the magazine supports with its sales.
The Dark Hurts
âIâm pleased theyâre using my book as a tool to raise money for a good cause,â says Phillips. âIâm more than happy to have a part in helping these women who have been through horrific experiences â theyâve been raped, mutilated, kidnapped and taken away from their families. Itâs my understanding that the Fund has returned several Afghan women to their families.â
Phillips is originally from Southern England and has a son and grandchildren in England. He says he moved to the U.S. in 1998 and is now a U.S. citizen.
Writing Now A Lifelong Goal
His life is now dedicated to being a full-time author. He has two more books in the works, including The Piano Man, which will use the Polk County Sheriffâs Office as a setting. Phillips has met with Polk Sheriff Grady Judd to learn about the agency, and Sheriff Judd even sent Phillips a picture of himself with The Dark Hurts.
âIâm delighted with the response to my book,â says Phillips. âIt was released six weeks ago, and has several five-star reviews on Amazon.com in both the USA and the UK.â
He says the reviews help him to see that his book is having its desired effect on readers, including one that says, in part, â[Phillips] has a gift for writing emotion onto the story. He is descriptive and thorough, without stalling out the story. There are layers here that intertwine into an awesome tapestry, solid and masterful. It is a great read and I look forward to more.â
To learn more about the book, or to enter the authorâs selfie contest to win prizes such as a travel voucher and an Amazon gift card, visit Facebook.com/authorjphillips.
The air conditioning was knocked out at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel Tuesday night, but technicians restored it in approximately two hours as the hospital returned to normal operations.
The signing ceremony, held at the Chamber office in The Grove at Wesley Chapel, featured New Tampa Rotary president Brice Wolford and WCCC Board chair Tracy Clouser signing off on a document that took a little while to finalize, but will definitely prove to be worth the wait for both the organizers and the likely thousands of attendees who will be on hand to help raise money for the New Tampa Rotaryâs selected charities.
