Category: News

Pasco Seeking Sponsors To Help Keep DICK’s Lacrosse Tourney Here

lacrosse13 — The Pasco Lions of the WCAA were among the 73 teams to compete in the DICK’s Lacrosse Tournament of Champions last year.

Pasco County will end up writing a $90,000 check to support this year’s 11th Annual DICK’s Sporting Goods Lacrosse Tournament of Champions but, for the first time, county officials are reaching out to the community to help offset those costs and ensure that the popular tournament stays in Wesley Chapel.

Pasco has enlisted the help of the Greater Wesley Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) to find supporters of the event, which provides an estimated $3-million economic impact to the area’s restaurants, hotels and retailers, according to Ed Caum, the program director of Visit Pasco.

“We have (Florida Hospital Center Ice) opening (see page 42) and we will have an indoor sports complex coming, but we only have a finite amount of dollars,’’ says Caum. “We’ve kept the lacrosse tournament here on our own dime. We’re hoping to share that burden (going forward); it just makes more sense because (of how many local businesses benefit).”

The longest-running national tournament of its kind, put on by Colorado-based National Development Program (NDP) Lacrosse, the DICK’s tournament — scheduled every year for Thursday-Saturday, December 29-31— is going on its ninth year of being played at the Wesley Chapel District Park and nearby Wesley Chapel High. It previously was held at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA.

Last year’s event attracted 73 teams from 16 different states, including teams from New Tampa and the Wesley Chapel Athletic Association (WCAA) programs, although, in past years, the number of teams has been as high as 115.

The numbers were down 23 teams from 2014, due in part to a nearby lacrosse tournament at Bradenton’s renowned IMG Academy. “We need to win those teams back,’’ Caum says.

Pasco spent $100,000 on the tournament last year, and received $13,000 from the Florida Sports Foundation to help offset costs. Caum says the county is again asking the foundation for assistance.

“If we didn’t spend the tourism money the last 10 years, we would have lost the tournament,’’ he adds.

Last year was the last of a five-year NDP Lacrosse contract with Pasco County, but in May a new two-year deal, with an option for a third year, was announced. According to Hope Allen, the CEO of the WCCC, Pasco had to stave off challenges from other sites hoping to host the event.

“They approached us last year when the contract negotiations came up,” says Allen. “We were approached to step in and not let this amazing tournament leave the area, as there were other locations courting the event to host it. We realize the significant economic impact to a lot of our members, and wanted to see if we were able to help.”

Caum says NDP Lacrosse is adding a number of activities and events to the tournament, and the Holiday Inn Express on S.R. 56 is opening on Nov. 1, which will provide a new option for players and their families to stay closer to the event.

Although there are hotels on S.R. 54 itself that have been utilized in years past, Caum has said that as many as 60 percent of the rooms booked for the event have been in Hillsborough County (many in New Tampa). Wesley Chapel, however, is in the midst of a hotel boom, with plans for a Hyatt Place Wesley Chapel, Fairfield Inn & Suites and Hilton Garden Inn to be completed within the next three years.

“It’s going to make the drive time better for the families, so in that sense, it is very good for us,’’ Caum says. “According to industry (analysts), 15-30 minutes is all people want to drive. So, having hotels closer is excellent for us, not only for the bed tax but also the driving.”

Because so many of the DICK’s tournament participants turn the event into a Florida vacation, the growth in Wesley Chapel makes it imperative that those vacationers stay nearby and spend their money in our area.

“Within two years, that will make a major difference,’’ Caum says.

The success, and staying power, of the DICK’s tournament also plays a significant role in the success of another large, local lacrosse tournament — the Derek Pieper Memorial Cup, which was established in 2006, the year former WCAA player Derek Pieper was murdered.

The tournament is a qualifier for the DICK’s National Championship and drew 55 teams last year. This year’s Derek Pieper tourney is scheduled for the weekend of November 19-20 and will be played at the Wesley Chapel District Park.

For more information about the DICK’S Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions, visit NDPLacrosse.com. To learn more about the Derek Pieper Memorial Cup, visit WCAASPorts.org/derekpieper. For additional information about Pasco County Tourism, visit VisitPasco.com.

Connected City Moving Towards Vote

After more than a year of debate since it was first introduced to local residents last fall, the Connected City project slated for northeast Wesley Chapel has passed its first test and is moving forward.

At the October 13 Pasco Development Review Committee (DRC) meeting in Dade City, concerns over some of the wording in the Connected City’s comprehensive plan were addressed, changed and then approved by a unanimous vote. It was the first vote held for the project, with many others yet to come.

The members of the DRC — comprised of county administrator Michele Baker, assistant county administrators Heather Grimes (internal services), Cathy Pearson (public services) and Flip Mellinger (utility services), vice president of the Pasco Economic Development Council John Walsh and Chris Williams of the Pasco District School Board — were satisfied with the changes made in the Connected City land development code, which proponents say will help expedite construction and eliminate unnecessary and costly delays in building, while attracting industry to the project.

The Connected City project was created by a Growth Management Bill (SB 1216) in 2014, which speeds up the process for creating city-connected corridors. Metro Development Group of Tampa, currently the only developer involved and owners of 30 percent of the land in the grid, is leading the planning for the project.

Pasco County — namely the Wesley Chapel area running north from Overpass Rd. in Wesley Chapel to S.R. 52 in San Antonio, and west from I-75 to Curley Rd. — was selected as a 10-year pilot program, although the build-out of the 7,800 acres is expected to be a 50-year project that could bring 37,000 homes and attract as many as 100,000 new people to the primarily rural (for now) area.

Bigger hurdles still await the Connected City, as the financial, master roadway and utility plans will be presented for approval on Thursday, November 10. Ultimately, the Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BCC) will have the final vote on the project.

The changes in land development code gives additional leeway to developers, but Ernie Monaco, the assistant planning and development administrator for the county, says there will still be oversight from the BCC. Monaco sees the new comprehensive plan revisions as a chance to try new, and possibly more efficient, ways to develop.

“Please keep in mind, this is a pilot program,’’ Monaco told the DRC. “We have the freedom to do things that we can change later. We a have better code that works for the (Connected City), but there are some elements that, if they work, can ultimately be carried over to the (entire) county.”

A key component of the project is an Expedited Greenlight Process, which creates a new process for fast-tracking construction approvals. The county already has an expedited process, but the new one written into the Connected City land development code will have incremental reviews and approvals, which will create timeframes for review that are shorter (due to less information in each increment).

Monaco said the incremental review process would save 4-5 months by allowing developers to begin on multiple portions of their projects that have been approved while waiting on other approvals that might normally need to be secured first.

“We have to experiment,’’ he said. “If it is more efficient and faster, we should consider extending it to the rest of the county.”

The Connected City promises to be an engine for economic and technological development in Wesley Chapel as the first-of-its-kind, built-from-the-ground-up gigabit-internet connected community in the country. There will be an emphasis on alternative transportation and integrated roadways, and the Connected City will feature amenities such as the first-ever man-made crystal lagoon in the U.S.

Part of the project already is under construction. Metro has begun work on a $100-million, 2,000-home residential development called Epperson of Wesley Chapel in the Epperson Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI), as well as a 4,000-home community called Mirada on the former Cannon Ranch property at I-75 and S.R. 52.

There was little public disagreement with any new land codes, but a few Wesley Chapel residents were on hand to express their displeasure with the project in general.

Jennifer McCarthy, who lives on Kenting Rd. in the south central part of the proposed project grid, expressed frustration that the parcel of land she had hoped to live on and ride her horses on for the next 50 years will soon undergo an urban transformation.

McCarthy also voiced her concerns at the Sept. 15 hearing. Other concerns by other residents have been raised in the last year as well, mostly concerning urban sprawl encroaching upon their rural lifestyles, people potentially being forced to sell property that has been in their families for decades, the potential for sinkholes during construction of the 8-acre crystal lagoon and the loss of nature.

The DRC noted that existing residents located within the proposed project overlay don’t have to join the Connected City corridor, but cannot enjoy all of its benefits if they choose not to participate.

Wiregrass Ranch gets relief, GGG gets a zone with proposal

rezoning — These are the new zones proposed for Wesley Chapel for the 2016-17 school year.

Wesley Chapels newest high school is set to open off Old Pasco Rd. next fall. While High School GGG may not have an official name yet, it does now have a proposed zone with a pool of students to draw from in order to fill its hallways.

Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel high schools, as well as Dr. John Long and Thomas Weightman middle schools, are getting some much needed relief, and Seven Oaks, a vocal community in the process, survived unscathed despite concerns from residents it would be chopped up to achieve the county’s goals.

A third meeting to determine the new schools boundaries was held on Thursday morning in Wesley Chapel Highs media center, with the Pascos School Boundary Committee (SBC) debating 14 options. It swiftly moved through most of the options before option 12 emerged as the choice.

GGG will draw from a swath of homes that line the west side of I-75, extending from north of Old Pasco Rd. all the way down to County Line Rd.

The most congested school in Pasco County is Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH), which currently has 2,495 students (which means it is at 153 percent of its capacity of 1,633), and its primary feeder school, Dr. John Long Middle School (JLMS).

JLMS, with 1,870 students, currently is at 147 percent of its capacity of 1,327. And, both schools are located in the fast-growing Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI), so something had to be done to accommodate an ever-growing number of students.

The option adopted reduces WRH by 782 students, or 31 percent. That leaves it only 80 students over capacity, and would eliminate the need for 10-period schools days, something the school had to resort to beginning in 2015-16 because of overcrowding.

JLMS is reduced by 612 students, or 33 percent, putting it 69 students under capacity.

WCH, which was already over capacity, gains 45 students, and is at 114 percent capacity, while TWM picks up 43 students, and is at 126 percent capacity.

To get to those numbers, WRH and JLMS students currently zoned for those two schools but living in communities on the western edge of the current boundary like Country Walk, Fox Ridge, Meadow Pointe III and IV, Wyndfields and Union Park will now be re-zoned to attend Wesley Chapel High and Weightman Middle.

For some students, such as those living in Meadow Pointe III and Union Park, that means a much longer drive to school, which was considered.

Wesley Chapel principal Hetzler-Nettles and Wiregrass Ranch principal Robyn White say the hardest thing about the process was trying to consider future growth in the plans. An Epperson Ranch development as part of of potential Connected City project could bring major growth to Wesley Chapel, while the Wiregrass Ranch area continues to expand as well.

“You just don’t know,” White said. “It’s hard to look into the future without knowing who will be in all these new locations.”

The SBC, which is made up of staff representatives from every school as well as parents from each and led by the director of planning for the Pasco School District, Chris Williams, will present Option 12 to the public on Tuesday, November 29 (where parents will be in attendance and allowed to weigh in) before the Pasco County School Board can vote to approve them or not.

“I thought it went well,” said Hetzler-Nettles. “I came in thinking one way and ended up choosing an option that wasn’t even on the table in the second meeting.”

Hetzler-Nettles said her only surprise was that it passed unanimously.

Roughly 25 parents were on hand to watch the process, most from Seven Oaks. When Option 20, the last one to recommend re-zoning Seven Oaks, was voted out, a small, collective sigh could be heard.

A group of residents called Seven Oaks Voice submitted a six-page recommendation at the Sept. 29 meeting, and revised it for Thursday’s meeting, hoping to spare their subdivisions which are located east of I-75 and north of S.R. 56 from being broken up.

According to maps provided by the county, 20 percent of the current WRH population, or 509 students, live in Seven Oaks, and 22 percent of JLMS enrollment, or 414 students, live there as well. If the plan is to reduce the student bodies at those schools, an examination of Seven Oaks was unavoidable, and in fact, 10 of the 14 options called for either splitting up the community or re-zoning it for GGG or WCH.

In its proposal, Seven Oaks Voice suggested beginning the rezoning process with communities located west of I-75 (Westbrook Estates, Lexington Oaks, etc.), as well as those east of Meadow Pointe Blvd. (Union Park, Windsor, Country Walk and the Double Branch Elementary zone).

The recommendation said the current Seven Oaks DRI provides stability and wont be a future strain due to limited future growth potential, while the other communities are in high-growth areas. Seven Oaks Voice also suggested that established communities should have priority over newer communities with the same proximity to JLMS and WRH.

Also, by leaving Seven Oaks in its current school zone, the county also can avoid transportation issues, as it claims the subdivision is one of the furthest away from GGG.

The SBC was charged with considering socio-economic balance, maintaining feeder patterns, future growth in certain areas (especially in Wiregrass Ranch), transportation and subdivision integrity before finalizing a proposal.

New Community Health Center Open At Hunter’s Green Elementary

Giana gets checked out by nurse practitioner Evie Roque at the new Community Health Center, which is located on the campus of Hunter’s Green Elementary, but available to all students.

After spending the weekend moving from Naples to Heritage Isles, Shane (who asked we use only his first name) walked into Heritage Elementary to register his daughter Giana for fifth grade. He brought a stack of paperwork with him, trying to guess what he would need.

Turns out, he guessed wrong. He didn’t have her record of vaccinations, and he didn’t have a record of a recent physical.

“To get into school in Hillsborough County, or anywhere in Florida, you have to have a physical,” says Evie Roque, MSN (Master of Science in Nursing), a nurse practitioner who works at the new community health center located on the campus of Hunter’s Green Elementary. Shane and Giana were referred to the health center to get her physical and immunization records so that she could start school.

“I called her doctor in Naples five or six times and I never got a call back,” Shane says. “If it wasn’t for these ladies, I would still be trying to get her shot records.”

Being new to the area, Shane didn’t yet have a primary care physician for Giana. The referrals he had gotten from her pediatrician in Naples didn’t pan out, and he wanted to start her in her new school as soon as possible.

Dr. Maria Russ, supervisor of school health services for Hillsborough County Schools, says Giana’s situation isn’t unique.

“Sometimes we see kids who are out of school three or four months waiting to enroll because they don’t have access to healthcare to get their school physical and vaccines,” she says. “So, our health centers are a surrogate for people until they find a permanent medical home.”

Roque explains, “We’re not primary care health providers. We don’t do treatments, and we’re not prescribing medications. Our goal is to get students into school, so we do physicals and make sure immunizations are up to date.”

While they don’t provide immunizations, the health care professionals at the clinic have access to statewide immunization records, and they refer people to the State of Florida Health Department if immunizations are needed.

Hunter’s Green Elementary has been the site of a school-based health center for more than 10 years, but the building it was housed in was dilapidated. Dr. Russ and other school officials wrote a grant to request money available through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as authorized by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They received $500,000 for the construction and outfitting of the new, modular building.

It was officially opened on August 19, when Hillsborough County school officials gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“We had the support of the superintendent and the School Board for this project,” says Dr. Russ. “And, (U.S.) Representative Kathy Castor and Senator Bill Nelson were instrumental in that money being appropriated for this project.”

Dr. Russ also says that every high school in the county has a health center, but the Hunter’s Green Community Health Center is unique. It is one of just a few located at an elementary school, and most health centers are within the school campus. The Hunter’s Green health center is housed in a stand-alone modular building on campus, but completely outside of the school, so that it is easily accessible to families who need to use its services.

The grant even paid for additional parking spaces right outside the building.

Inside, the clinic features a waiting room, four treatment rooms, and a classroom equipped with smartboard technology for training nurses. Registered nurse Angella Eikenberry does patient intake at the health center, and also is responsible for training all new Hillsborough County Schools nurses in electronic medical records.

While a student doesn’t need a referral to visit the health center, many school principals and registrars refer families to the school-based health centers, including the one at Hunter’s Green.

“It can be an obstacle to being in school if parents can’t afford co-pays or have gaps in their insurance,” says Dr. Russ. So the staff at the clinic helps with needed services and connects families with health care providers.

Melanie Hall, executive director of the Family Healthcare Foundation in Tampa, says, “The Hunter’s Green clinic is ideally situated in an area that has a high concentration of uninsured children who need access to care.” She says that, according to data from the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, the 33647 ZIP code has just under 9% of children who are uninsured, and the greatest number of uninsured kids in Hillsborough County are in the neighboring zip codes, 33592 (Thonotosassa) and 33559 (Lutz).

“We’ve found that school grades go up when kids are in school,” says Dr. Russ. “That’s our focus, to keep kids in school.”

It worked for Giana. After being referred to the Hunter’s Green center, she and her dad were thrilled with their experience. “These ladies are so personable,” says Shane. “Giana is afraid of the doctor, afraid of the dentist, but they made her feel so comfortable, and the way they interacted with her made me comfortable, too.”

And, that paperwork he needed?

“They were so helpful,” he says. “Angella came out from behind the desk and sat down with me and helped with each thing that needed to be filled out.”

And best of all, Giana was able to start school right away.

Health Center Hunter's Green Elementary

Cory Lake Isles Resident Yogi Goswami Inducted Into FL Inventors Hall of Fame

Thomas Edison. Henry Ford. Yogi Goswami.

These three are among the 20 inventors who have been inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame since its inception in 2013. Only one, though, lives in New Tampa.

Yogi Goswami, Ph.D., P.E. (Professor Emeritus), is a University of South Florida Distinguished Professor and director of the university’s Clean Energy Research Center. The Cory Lake Isles resident is one of seven inventors honored at an induction ceremony and gala at the Inventors Hall on the USF Tampa Campus on September 16.

Dr. Goswami has lived in New Tampa with his wife Lovely for 10 years, since he left his position as director of the University of Florida’s Solar Energy Research Lab in Gainesville. He came to USF because he says it gave him, “more opportunities for doing groundbreaking research.” For example, Dr. Goswami says, “To establish a new research lab, you need space to do that, and USF was able to give me that space. Because the university is newer, it is open to a lot of things that may be harder to do at a (more) well-established university.”

The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame chose Dr. Goswami for his work in solar energy and indoor air quality. “I have 18 patents,” he says. “Some are related to solar energy, some to energy storage, and six are related to indoor air quality and the technology to disinfect and clean air.”

He says the key to being chosen for this honor is for those patents to be in use and helping people.

“My inventions are being used around the world,” Dr. Goswami says, “especially my invention to disinfect

When his now-grown son, Dilip, was much younger and suffering from allergies and asthma, Dr. Goswami began to look for a way to help him. He used his expertise to develop the technology that actually destroys the pollutants in the air that were making his son sick.

“The air inside homes and offices has a lot of pollutants, not just bacteria, viruses and mold,” says Dr. Goswami, “but also volatile organic chemicals that come from paints and other materials we use inside our buildings. Those things make us sick. Before air conditioning was so widely available, we used to have open windows so we would have fresh air. Now, these pollutants concentrate inside. This technology is the first on the market that destroys them.”

Dr. Goswami and Dilip co-founded Molekule, the company that is now producing an indoor air purifier that uses this technology. The first two production runs of the device, also called Molekule, have completely sold out, and the company currently has a waiting list for the next batch of air purifiers, which are expected to be available for sale in November.

He says many of his other inventions are related to making solar energy conversion more efficient, to bring the cost down.

“Costs have come down quite a bit over the last few decades in solar energy,” says Dr. Goswami. “We can make it more efficient and bring the cost down even further in the future.” He also has inventions related to storing energy more effectively, since solar energy is “intermittent,” meaning it’s not available at night or when it’s cloudy. His work in this area is directed toward large- scale power plants that produce solar energy.

“The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame is very prestigious,” says Dr. Goswami. “I feel honored to be inducted, especially seeing the people who were inducted before me, such as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Dr. Robert Cade, the inventor of Gatorade.”

The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame is located in the USF Research Park at 3702 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 165, and is online at FloridaInvents.org.

For more information about the Molekule air purifier, visit Molekule.com.

Florida Inventor Hall of Fame Yogi Goswami