Category: News

Pasco Commissioner Seth Weightman Talks Car Washes, Road Projects & More

*Dist. 2 Pasco Commissioner Seth Weightman (below left)* *is proud of Pasco’s new ordinance to limit new car washes to no more than one every 1.5 miles. (Above)*

District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman says he has learned a lot about the inner workings of the county government since he took office in 2022.

Weightman also says that listening to his Dist. 2 constituents has had him working to solve county problems — such as limiting the ability for new car washes to open countywide, but especially in the Wesley Chapel area, where there already are 25 or more…with more still to come.

“I’m proud that, at our September 17 Board of County Commissioners meeting, we passed (by a 5-0 vote) a new ordinance limiting new car washes to no more than one in a Master Planned Unit Development (MPUD) and to keep them at least 1.5 miles apart,” Weightman says, noting that already approved (and built) car washes would not be affected by the new ordinance. “I agreed with my constituents that this needed to get done.”

After seeing the overwhelming number of car washes in the Wesley Chapel area, Weightman asked the county staff several months ago to come up with a map showing the existing car washes, many of which were so close to each other the labels for them were on top of each other on the map. He also hopes to create a similar map showing all of the storage facilities in Pasco (there are at least 12 in the Wesley Chapel area).

“The problem is that businesses like these take up a lot of area but don’t really bring a lot of new employment to the county,” he says. “We want our commercial land to be home to businesses that are employment centers.”

Weightman, who attends the openings of as many new such employment centers as possible (including the Grand Opening of the new downtown building in Avalon Park), also has been keeping tabs on all of our area road projects, especially the widening of both Old Pasco Rd. and Wesley Chapel Blvd., a new traffic signal at the intersection of S.R. 56 and Lajuana Blvd., and intersection improvements at S.R. 56 and Meadow Pointe Blvd.

The long-awaited Old Pasco Rd. widening (sign above) is proceeding apace, especially the grading of the land (below) along Old Pasco Rd. (both north & south of Overpass Rd., including in front of the new Sanctuary Ridge subdivision). The contract for the widening was amended in July to add a 6-ft.-wide sidewalk on the west side of Old Pasco Rd. heading south from Cypress Creek Middle & High Schools.

Old Pasco Rd. — Weightman says that in July, the $22-million contract between the county and B.R.W. Contracting was amended (it is now a nearly $30-million agreement) and the length of time was extended (by an additional 400 days) to extend the project further north of Overpass Rd. and to add a 6-ft.-wide sidewalk on the west side of Old Pasco Rd. to provide “connected pedestrian and bicycle facilities and needed roadway capacity to the Cypress Creek school campus, improving safety for all roadway users. The amendment results in substantial time and cost savings to the County by precluding the need for a separate solicitation for the shorter additional length of road.”

Wesley Chapel (WC) Blvd. — Although we had originally heard that the $69.4-million WC Blvd. widening was going to begin sooner than later (we reported an expected August start date in our May 14 issue), at our press time, we hadn’t seen much, if any activity — not even utility work.

Because WC Blvd. is a portion of S.R. 54, Weightman says that the Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT) is responsible for the project, but that he was going to find out when the actual work was set to begin.

“What we do know is that once this project starts, a lot of people who live along Wesley Chapel Blvd. are going to be affected,” he says.

The three-year project will impact those living from south of Lexington Oaks (including in Grand Oaks, The Oaks, Cypress Estates, Stagecoach and others), “but the sooner it starts the sooner it can get done,” Weightman says.

S.R. 56 at Lajuana Blvd. — If you check out the local Facebook communities, there is agreement that one of — if not the most dangerous — intersections in the Wesley Chapel area is the intersection of S.R. 56 and Lajuana Blvd., which is the road with Cooper’s Hawk on the west side and the Audi Wesley Chapel dealership on the east side.

Although many locals believe that the speed limit also needs to be reduced on S.R. 56, Comm. Weightman says that, at its Sept. 17 meeting, the County Commission acted to help try to fix the problem at this intersection with a new traffic signal. The $139,590 project was awarded to Kissinger Campo & Associates Corp.

“There’s no doubt that this is a huge deal and really needed,” Weightman says. “I’ve been pushing for it ever since I first came into office. We got that expedited. That is definitely a dangerous intersection, so I’m excited that it’s finally happening.”

S.R. 56 at Meadow Pointe (MP) Blvd. — Although this item was passed in July, Weightman also says that improvements are coming to the intersection of S.R. 56 and Meadow Pointe (MP) Blvd. (see graphic on this page).

The big news with this item is that a much-needed second left turn lane will be added for the traffic heading eastbound on 56 onto MP Blvd. northbound. In addition, a second left turn lane also will be added for northbound traffic on MP Blvd. to turn west onto S.R. 56. The project also will include signal modifications.

County Budget — “With the passing of this budget (also on Sept. 17), we cut general operating millage and, with me being the budget guy, I always want us to be very measured in taxes on folks. We dropped the road maintenance MSTU (Municipal Services Taxing Unit) from 0.5 mills to 0.4 mills. Among the items in this budget are several intersection improvements in the Meadow Pointe/Union Park area and those, by government speed standards, are going to be coming along pretty quickly.”

Unfortunately, those planned improvements were not presented as line items in the budget, so I can’t provide specifics as to what those improvements will be until (most likely) next issue.

Live Local Update — Although he says that there has not yet been any significant change in the plans for the previously commercially zoned parcel being called the ”Woods at Wesley Chapel” (or, as some still refer to it, the previously planned Lowe’s Home Improvement) site off S.R. 54 at Curley Rd. attempting to re-zone for apartments under the so-called “Live Local Act,” Weightman says that there has been progress made on the other Wesley Chapel site that had considered rezoning under Live Local, on Overpass Rd. at Old Pasco Rd.

“They are not using Live Local, but they are now proposing a different mixed-use site plan with residential components on it that currently aren’t there (in the approved zoning) today,” Weightman says. “There is still conversation and activity around that, so even though they’re not using Live Local, they are proposing something that isn’t in the zoning the Board approved a couple of years ago. In other words, ‘We won’t play the Live Local card if you approve this kind of project instead.’ At least it’s collaborative and not hostile.”

Celebrating The Opening Of The First Building In Avalon Park’s Downtown!

Developer Cuts The Ribbon As The First Mixed-Use Rental Apartment & Retail Building In Wesley Chapel Opens!

Avalon Park Wesley Chapel developer Beat Kahli (with scissors) was joined by his entire development team, all of the tenants who have signed commercial leases at the new “downtown Avalon Park” mixed-use building, Dist. 2 Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman (to Kahli’s left) and North Tampa Bay Chamber president & CEO Hope Kennedy (to Weightman’s left) on Sept. 19 for the ribbon-cutting and unveiling of the first-ever “neotraditional” retail and residential building in Wesley Chapel. (Photos by Charmaine George)

So, whether or not it’s actually Wesley Chapel’s “downtown,” there’s no doubt that the Grand Opening and unveiling on Sept. 19 of the new nearly 17,000-sq.-ft., three-story building in Avalon Park Wesley Chapel is the start of at least that community’s downtown — and the first true mixed-use (residential and commercial), urban-style (some would call it “neotraditional”) building in all of Wesley Chapel.

*Avalon Park Wesley Chapel developer Beat Kahli doesn’t hide his excitement about the new 17,000-sq.-ft. first building (below right) in Avalon Park’s downtown district.*

“This is long in the making,” said developer Beat Kahli, the founder, president and CEO of the Avalon Park Group, the developer of both Avalon Park Wesley Chapel and Orlando. “We were lucky, in 1988, to find 1,800 acres in Pasco County, owned by the Brown family — it was called the Brown Ranch —and when Mom Brown died, the IRS came in and said, ‘You have to pay a lot of taxes because you have 1,800 acres and here is your tax bill.’ And they said, ‘We’re just farming here and we don’t have that money at all.’ We bought the land for fair market value (at that time) and told them, ‘You still need to farm here for a long time.’”

And, although the original New River Township portion of Avalon Park Wesley Chapel has been around for more than a decade and there are now around 2,000 single-family homes built or under construction (with a population of about 5,000 people) in the entire development, Kahli said Bill Brown and his family were able to continue farming the vast majority of their land for “more than a quarter of a century. We would have surveyors and engineers come out and they’d call me to say, ‘Hey, there’s a guy with a shotgun here saying it’s his property. And, we’d have to tell Bill, who was a great guy, ‘Please don’t shoot our surveyors and engineers.’”

Kahli said that unlike in Orlando, “where we basically had to build the town from scratch, there was already a two-lane (now 4-lane), paved S.R. 54 here.” He also recounted the first homeowners association meeting in Orlando, when there were only about 30 homes, with the people asking him, “What’s the philosophy of the development here?,” to which he replied, “The goal is to build a town where people can live, learn, work and play. If you don’t want to leave, you don’t have to leave — and that’s the same philosophy here (in Wesley Chapel). We’re taking a big step forward with this almost-17,000-sq.-ft., $21-million building , which we have completed now, so we are having the ribbon cutting today.”

The native of Switzerland also pointed to the “A”-rated Pinecrest Academy charter K-8 school and the adjacent church and likened it to life in Europe, “Where towns are basically built around a church and a school.”

He also said that by having a place where people live, learn, work and play, “Some of you will become triple or even quadruple stakeholders — someone who lives, works or has a business, has kids in school and entertains, all here in Avalon Park, where we have events that already have 5,000 people attending, sometimes 25,000 in Orlando now [like the annual 4th of July celebrations]. So, the goal is to create a sense of place, a place where people feel at home and feel safe.”

And, although Kahli said he didn’t miss the mountains or especially the snow where he grew up in Zurich, the largest city in his native country, “I missed having what we are opening here — a lifestyle where you can live somewhere, get in the elevator, sit in a coffee shop or restaurant where you don’t have to get into your car for whatever you do. And, you can have your kids walk to school, which is how I grew up.”

He then thanked his entire Avalon Park Group (APG) team, as well as Dist. 2 (which includes Avalon Park) Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman and North Tampa Bay Chamber President & CEO Hope Kennedy for their support.

Weightman said, “I’m just incredibly honored to be standing here with all of you to represent the commissioners. This is a testament of the partnership between Avalon Park Group and Pasco County to build something great.”

APG senior VP of marketing & community relations Stephanie Lerrett also thanked the county, Kennedy and the NTBC, the Pasco Economic Development Council and all of the commercial tenants whose businesses will be located below The Flats at Avalon Park apartments.

After the ribbon-cutting, attendees were treated to samples of Rudraksh Indian Cuisine’s kabobs, Tallo Restaurant & Bar’s Caribbean-style sandwiches and Rita’s Italian Ices (plus food provided by Vesh Catering) and were able to meet the tenants who are all opening businesses on the ground floor of the building — ISI Elite Training, Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming, Prime Barbershop, Vet Check and dentist Dr. Hetvi Patel of Dream Dental Studio.

There also were tours of the beautiful 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments (there are 40 total) in The Flats, which are competitively priced with other luxury apartments in the area.

For more information about Avalon Park Wesley Chapel, The Flats apartments and the new downtown building (at 4424 Friendly Way), visit AvalonParkWesleyChapel.com, call (813) 783- 1515 or (813) 851-4228.

Avalon Park Avalon Park Wesley Chapel Beat Kahli Downtown Avalon Park Wesley Chapel grand opening Seth Weightman Wesley Chapel

Helene Update!

Hurricane Helene has been upgraded to a Category 3 storm, with sustained winds of up to 120 mph. That’s the bad news, especially for Tallahassee and the rest of the Big Bend area of Florida. The good news for people living in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel — 25-30 miles or more from the nearest coastline — is that as of 4 p.m., Helene has been a non-event for us.

But, please — don’t assume that the storm is over or that our area isn’t going to suffer any effects from it. We already have had wind gusts of 40 mph or so and not only has the storm not yet come close to bypassing us, it also is HUGE!, with tropical storm-force winds extending out more than 300 miles from its center. As Helene passes our latitude 100+ miles out in the Gulf, we are definitely going to get hit with strong tropical storm winds (up to 73 mph) and periods of strong rain that likely will knock out power in at least some of our communities. Thankfully, Helene is moving quickly (at 20 mph or more), so it won’t be a huge rain event for us (like Debby was), but there will still be enough water to cause significant flooding in areas prone to pooling water. And yes, the storm’s path can still tick a little to the east, which would increase our area’s possible impacts.

You also should be aware that unless you know how deep the water is on a road if you are driving through it, you need to please proceed with extreme caution, especially if you’re in an electric vehicle — as the batteries can catch fire. If you lose power and have a portable generator, please never run that generator inside your home or garage. And of course, as with any major storm, beware of downed trees and especially power lines. We have seen this kind of damage in the past, without one of the largest hurricanes ever to hit the Gulf going by, so please continue to be mindful of possible local impacts from this storm.

Photo is a screenshot from meteorologist Denis Phillips of ABC Action News.

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Marc Price, aka ‘Skippy’ From ‘Family Ties,’ To Visit SideSplitters At The Grove Sept. 27!

Stand-up comic & actor Marc Price today (below left) and (above) as “Skippy” on “Family Ties” (with Michael J. Fox). Price brings his stand-up show to Sidesplitters at The Grove in Wesley Chapel for one night only — ***Friday, September 27. (Photos are from IJoke.com)***

One of the things I love about my job is that I have gotten to meet — and interview — a little more than my fair share of famous people — from sports celebrities like Pete Sampras, Wade Boggs and the late, great Lee Roy Selmon to entertainers like Tom Petty and actress Kathy Bates to public figures like former Vice-President Mike Pence, General Norman Schwartzkopf and yes, Saddebrook Resort founder Tom Dempsey.

But, I was surprised — and a little starstruck — to receive a phone call a few months ago from Marc Price, the actor, writer and stand-up comic who played Irwin “Skippy” Handelman on the hit NBC-TV show “Family Ties” from 1982-89. And, while Marc may not be the most famous person I’ve interviewed, his character — the best friend of star Michael J. Fox’s Alex P. Keaton — is someone with whom I felt a kindred spirit. I also was a little nerdy in high school, wore glasses until I finally got contact lenses at age 14 and my closest friends were always smarter and more adept at “getting the girl” than I was.

Our first conversation was very brief, but Marc told me then that he was coming to perform at Sidesplitters at The Grove in Wesley Chapel and would call me again to try to help promote his one-night-only show — which is scheduled for Friday, September 27, at 7 p.m.

And, he was true to his word. Marc called me a few days before we went to press with this issue and we had a great conversation, which was a stroll down memory lane for both of us — as I realized that, when compared with him, I’ve really hardly met anyone.

“My father and mother were both in show business,” Marc told me. “My dad was a ‘Borscht Belt’ comedian in the resorts of the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York from the 1930s through the early ‘80s. He performed under the name ‘Al Bernie’ and he did his stand-up routines frequently on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’ ‘The Mike Douglas Show’ and ‘Merv Griffin.’ My mom was a night club singer and recording artist who went by the stage name ‘Joy Mann.’”

He adds, “My dad loved show business. My mom hated show business…and she hated my dad.”

His parents split up when Marc was going through his formative years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and he says he had to make a choice: either stay in New York and live with his mom, “who wanted me to go to Cornell, have a family and follow in the footsteps of my doctor stepfather, that sort of thing. Or, I could move to Hollywood with my dad, hang out at The Comedy Store and try to be in showbiz. So really…my mom’s plan never stood a chance.”

When they moved to California, Marc says, “My dad’s goal was to make it on a sitcom — and that wouldn’t have been absurd ten years before that because they were using people his age in the ‘60s and ‘70s. One of my dad’s best friends was Phil Foster, who played Laverne’s grumpy dad (Frank DeFazio) on ‘Laverne & Shirley.’ So, it wasn’t a crazy idea that my dad could get a part on a sitcom.”

But, he adds, “By the time I moved out there with him, there was a shift on TV sitcoms to only young people who would become big stars. ‘Family Ties’ was a great example of that — it was about a family but it was really focused on the kids. And, it was very clear early in the show that he (Fox) was the breakout superstar of the show. And I think we all appreciated it.”

Marc credits Foster for helping him land the part of Skippy.

“Uncle Phil brought me to Paramount Studios one day and asked me, “Do you want to watch how we make ‘Laverne & Shirley’ and ‘Happy Days?’ And I was watching them figuring out how to make that physical comedy work and it just blew my mind.”

He says he, “always knew I wanted to be a stand-up comedian, but here was this whole new world — acting — and he could see it in my eyes and said, ‘Hey, you wanna come back and watch this all week?’ If any of the security people gives you a hard time, you just tell them that you’re Phil Foster’s nephew.’”

But then, Marc says, “I started wandering around the studio and was on the set of ‘Bosom Buddies’ and Tom Hanks came over to juggle and do his shtick for me. And, it was only a few years later when he was on ‘Family Ties’ (as “Uncle Ned”) on the same set as me. Same thing with ‘Mork & Mindy’ and ‘Taxi.’ I got to watch them all getting made, watched the process.”

Because of that experience, he says, “I’d like to think that a couple of years later, when I was auditioning for ‘Family Ties,’ I was a lot more comfortable on set than the average 13- or 14-year-old. Sure, I was nervous, but it wasn’t like a complete freak-out. It kind of felt like home.”

Marc says that one of the best things about being on the show was watching Fox just explode as a mega-star. “Michael was always super-cool to me and to this day, he remains an inspiration,” he says. “So, we raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation at every stop on our tour because I believe that I might not even be on tour if it wasn’t for him. People can go to TeamFox.org if they want to make a donation for a really great cause — Parkinson’s disease research.”

About His Stand-Up Show

Marc says his comedy “follows in the footsteps of my dad. I would hang out backstage at his shows when we lived in New York and I met so many famous comics and actors — including George Burns, Joey Bishop, you know, the old-school greats, I even pitched Milton Berle a joke before I was 12 that he used in his stand-up act.”

But then, when he and his dad moved to L.A., “There was a Comedy Store near where we lived. This wasn’t the famous Comedy Store on Sunset Blvd., because it was hard for a kid under age 14 to get into, but the one in Westwood, near UCLA, which was for those college kids, so they didn’t serve hard alcohol, just wine, beer and food, and you could get in at any age, like a restaurant.”

He also remembered that when “Family Ties” was on the air, “none of the stand-up guys who went on to become the biggest sitcom and TV stars in history even had a TV show yet — Jerry Seinfeld, Drew Carey, Jay Leno, Paul Reiser and the list goes on. Yes, Seinfeld and Leno were the best-known stand-up comics in the country. And yes, they were famous, but Jay didn’t host ‘The Tonight Show’ yet and Jerry didn’t have a sitcom. And I was working doing stand-up with these guys and they wanted to know about sitcoms, about my (other) world. They gravitated towards me.”

He adds, “And I got to meet and hang out with all of the comics on the circuit at that time — Andrew Dice Clay, Sam Kinison, Tim Allen, Jim Carrey. Jim was a few years older than me but he was the youngest guy working regularly at the Comedy Store. The host the first night I met Jim, my friend Freddy Asparagus, introduced us and said, “Marc, I want you to meet Jim. He’s young, too, but we expect big things from him. So, I guess he was right.”

He says that because his influences in comedy were so varied — from Milton Berle to Sam Kinison — “I don’t think you can say I’m ‘like’ any other stand-up, maybe to my own detriment. I’m not a very specific comedian, I’m kind of all over the place. There are parts of my show that I like to think are smart and parts that I think are silly. And there are parts that are crazy, wacky, jokey, and there are parts where I deal with my true life and things that are very real to me. It’s like what some people say about the weather — if you don’t like something, wait a few minutes and it’ll change.”

Marc did just a little of his act for me. “I love Florida because I live in L.A., where when you’re in your 50s, you’re a dinosaur. But then, I go to Florida and I hear, ‘Oh…spring chicken.’”

He admits he also enjoys a lot of today’s young comics, “Even though none of them know who I am.” When I mentioned that I just saw Taylor Tomlinson in Vegas, he said, “I’ve been trying to get on that show she does — ‘After Midnight’ — because they mix it up. They actually have folks from my world on it, too.”

In fact, he says, “I was actually on CBS in that exact time slot — 12:30 weeknights — but for only one week. It was when Pat Sajak was an epic failure as the big competition for Johnny Carson. So then, they tried something different called ‘The Midnight Hour,’ where they had a different host each week for eleven weeks as a summer replacement. One of those hosts was Bill Maher, and CBS should have picked him up, but they missed on him. And then, I got the eleventh — and final — week, at about age 19. When those shows aired, we were up against David Letterman. At the end of my week, the network executives asked me, ‘What do you think of this David Letterman?’ And I said, ‘Are you kidding? He’s amazing!’ So, I like to think that I got him that job.”

For tickets to see Marc Price at Sidesplitters at The Grove (6333 Wesley Grove Blvd., in the B&B Theaters, Theater #7), visit SideSplittersComedy.com or call (813) 723-2170. For more info about Marc Price, visit IJoke.com.

comedy Family Ties Marc Price SIdeSplitters Skippy stand-up comedy Wesley Chapel

AdventHealth Wesley Chapel Breaks Ground On Expansion Of Main Hospital

*AdventHealth Wesley Chapel president Erik Wangsness at the groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital’s expansion*. *(Photos by Charmaine George)*

When AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (AHWC) opened as the first hospital located in Wesley Chapel almost a dozen years ago (when it was called Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel) with just 83 total beds, the community was told that the plan was to eventually expand the number of beds to 300.

Since then, AHWC has done a lot more than just go through a name change to AHWC in 2019. First of all, two medical office buildings have opened (the AHWC Wellness Plaza in 2013 and the Outpatient Cancer & Research Center, in partnership with the Moffitt Cancer Center, in 2021).

In addition, the hospital more than doubled its original 83 beds to 169 in 2016, which also included increasing from four operating rooms to 12 and from 20 emergency room (ER) beds to 35.

But, along with the recent establishment of the new family care residency program and the freestanding emergency room in Meadow Pointe (as we reported last issue), AHWC held a groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital’s upward expansion on Aug. 15. Although Jannah and I were not personally able to attend that event, photographer Charmaine George did attend and made sure she recorded all of the proceedings for me, so I could write this story.

On hand for the event were District 54 State Rep. Randy Maggard, Pasco Commissioners Jack Mariano (Dist. 5), Seth Weightman (Dist. 2) and Board Chair Ron Oakley (Dist. 1), and Pasco Fire Chief Tony Perez, as well as members of both the hospital’s Governing Board and its Foundation’s Board and the AdventHealth Division office. AHWC president Erik Wangsness also introduced Bill Porter of the Porter Family Trust and Scott Sheridan of Locust Branch, LLC, the developer of Wiregrass Ranch, “since we are located on the Porter family’s land,” Wangsness said.

Wangsness also thanked those involved in the design and construction of the hospital expansion, including the AdventHealth Office of Design & Construction, architects HuntonBrady, design engineers Smith Seckman Reed, Atwell civil engineers and general contractor Batson Cook.

“This hospital is not yet 12 years old,” Wangsness said. “It opened in 2012 with 83 beds but was designed to grow with the community. We’re at 169 now but this expansion will allow us to add 72 inpatient beds, which is important for us — even though there are other facilities opening around us — since this community continues to grow in a meaningful way.”

*Several different groups took part in the groundbreaking. This photo includes State Rep. Randy Maggard (far right) and three Pasco County commissioners, as well as the hospital’s management team.*

“Case in point,” he added, “We have around 20 patients waiting at our Emergency Department this morning for admission. We need the [additional] capacity to continue to serve this growing community. And, the development isn’t going to stop, so it’s time for us to continue to grow.”

In addition to the inpatient beds, Wangsness said the expansion will add a couple of additional operating rooms, endoscopy suites, pre- and post-op beds, additional imaging, a PET-CT (positron emission tomography-computed tomography) suite and a hybrid lab (a traditional lab that also can double as a surgical operating room), “that will help us grow in the severity of the patients we can serve. I want to thank all of you for joining us on this warm, muggy morning.” Wangsness also said the expansion should be completed by the end of 2025.

*Also on hand were Bill Porter (left) of the Porter family & Scott Sheridan of the Wiregrass Ranch development team.*

Wangsness then introduced Rep. Maggard, who said, “We all know how important it is for Advent to be doing this for our community. I can truly say that when I go to Tallahassee, people know [there is] no district like we have, District 54, with the community partners we have here. It is special and I feel very honored to be able to help in any way I can to help this area grow.”

Rep. Maggard also mentioned Pasco Hernando State College and its nearby Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, which recently expanded its nursing program (as we reported last issue). “We can see a future that’s bright for our area.”

He also mentioned that the need for health care facilities will continue to grow. “We expect a 20% population growth for Pasco County by 2045,” he said. “If you think the traffic’s bad now, just wait.”

Comm. Oakley also said he was honored to be on the Foundation Board for AdventHealth, and to be on-hand for yet another major event for the hospital, “which is such a great community partner.” He also said that AHWC’s competition, with one additional hospital built and 1-2 others being built, means all of the hospitals “will be competing to be number 1. The benefactors of that competition are the people of Pasco County.”

Wangsness said that because Comm. Oakley mentioned AHWC’s competition, “I just want to say that we’ve been recognized by Newsweek magazine three years in a row as one of the ‘World’s Best Hospitals.’”

Comm. Weightman, whose Dist. 2 includes the hospital, then also thanked the Porter family for its vision for Wiregrass Ranch.

“It wasn’t long ago that this was all wide open… with cows roaming around…and Bruce B. Downs was a road to nowhere. But, we’ve grown in incredible leaps and bounds over the past decade. The vision of Wiregrass Ranch and AdventHealth…it’s just such a fantastic place to be for our community. The investment that Advent continues to make…and the jobs… it’s just phenomenal.”

Speaking of vision, the final speaker before the groundbreaking was former University Community Hospital president and long-time AHWC Board member Norm Stein, whom Wangsness credited with having the vision for the need to build a hospital in Wesley Chapel.

“It was Dec. 14, 2010, when we had another groundbreaking,” Stein said. “The late Don Porter had walked into my hospital and told me of his idea to build a hospital in this part of Pasco and to have a college that could provide nursing students for that hospital. And, he wanted to see both of those institutions come together on his property. And you know what? It wasn’t easy, but it happened.”

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