Pasco Fire Rescue Station No. 38 Is Now Open In WaterGrass

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For the second time this year, Wesley Chapel will soon be celebrating the Grand Opening of a newly-equipped fire rescue station, bringing the total to three stations that are currently serving one of the county’s fastest-growing areas.

Although Pasco County Fire Rescue (PFR) Station No. 38, located in WaterGrass (west of Curley Rd.), has been staffed and operational since last week, the official ribbon cutting is expected to take place in early August, heralding the arrival of one of the largest and most high-tech Pasco fire stations around.

“We have a group of citizens that live in that area and have followed this project for the last five years,” said Pasco fire chief Scott Cassin. “I’m sure they are very excited to see the station open — as are we.”

Station No. 38 will join No. 26, which is located on Aronwood Dr. in Meadow Pointe, and No. 13, which is located off of Old Pasco Rd. The all-new Station 13 opened after an extensive expansion,  renovation and relocation earlier this year.

Fire Station 38 is a 10,843-sq.-ft. facility, with four drive-through bays, versus the standard two or three bays that most other PFR stations have. 

The size of the station will help it expand to meet the needs of existing communities like WaterGrass and Epperson, as they continue to add thousands of new homes to the area.

On day one, Station 38 opened with a fire engine truck, as well as one of only two air trucks — or light and air units, which provide supplemental lighting and SBCA air bottles at the scene of emergencies — in the county (there is another one that serves the west side of Pasco).

The new station also will house an EMS unit and (by December) an ambulance crew will be stationed there as well, or maybe a ladder truck, special operations team or even a hazmat team.

“We’ve built the building with that expandable capacity in mind,” Chief Cassin says. “(Wesley Chapel) is going to continue to grow, and we’ve built a facility big enough that we can expand in the future and meet those future needs.”

A new PURVIS alert system has been integrated into the new building to help speed up response times. The current analog system, which sends out loud signals from dispatch via bell or alert tones, is being replaced with a digital system that Cassin says will produce better results.

The well-known, loud screeching sounds will be replaced by a series of tones that gradually increase in volume, “Which is really nice at 3 in the morning when you are asleep and you get a call,” Chief Cassin says, chuckling. “Now you have to peel me off the ceiling because it’s so loud it scares you. This is much more gentle on the cardio vascular system.”

Alerts also can be targeted toward only the firefighters needed for a particular call, and not the entire station.

Lights will help alert firefighters about how much time has elapsed. They are expected to be out of the station within 60 seconds, and the lights will change colors as time passes.

There also are display monitors that firefighters can use as a guide, and in the bay is a “rip and run,” which is a back-up printout of the call, in case the computer in the truck goes down.”

Another nice addition to the new system — it can alert all of the necessary fire stations at the same time. Currently, on calls that require more than one apparatus, the dispatch center has to call each individual station, in order of their proximity to the call or they type of equipment they have.

“With the new system, one push of the button will alert all the stations at the same time,” Cassin says. “It will shave off time. Even if it’s only 10 seconds, it’s still 10 seconds. It can make the difference.”

Those working in the station will be beneficiaries of a new Plymovent diesel exhaust capture system. Long yellow tubes will be connected to the exhaust pipes of the fire vehicles, so that when the vehicle is started in the bay, the discharge of diesel exhaust (carbon monoxide and the carcinogen Benzene) is collected into the system and evacuated to outside air. 

When the truck leaves, the tubes, connected by a system of magnets, detach at a certain point.

“We’re going to have very very clean air at that station (and reduce the cancer risk),” Cassin says. “We’re working on a plan to retrofit the rest of our stations with that system.”

The new station at WaterGrass helps fulfill PFR’s goal of having a station within five miles of every structure. Until No. 38 came along, those in WaterGrass and the surrounding area were outside that range — more than 8 miles from No. 13 and 10 miles from No. 26.

Cassin says not only does the station provide safety benefits, but homeowners should receive a premium reduction if they alert their homeowners insurance companies that a new station has opened close to their homes. 

Station No. 38 won’t be the last fire station for Wesley Chapel, which continues to grow unabated. Cassin says a station already is funded for the north end of Meadow Pointe at S.R. 54 — the land still needs to be purchased — with plans to build in 2022. And, Cassin says, the I-75 and S.R. 56 area currently is being studied as a future site as well.

New River Branch Library To Close For Remodeling In October

In the more than three decades since the New River Branch Library was built on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel, the only improvement the library had seen — until now — was just a little paint.

That will change in a dramatic way when the branch closes in October 2019 for about six months to receive a complete overhaul.

While the structure of the building won’t change, a spokesperson for Pasco County Libraries says the improvements within the walls of the library will be significant.

The children’s area will be enclosed with safety glass, so that children can make noise inside and not bother the rest of the patrons.

“Parents will be more comfortable,” says Angelo Liranzo, regional manager for Pasco Libraries. “We get a lot of requests from parents who feel embarrassed when their children make noise.”

A teen area also will be closed off with safety glass walls.

“With the glass walls, staff can see in,” he explains. “If teens are in there working on crafts or projects, we can go in there and help them, or we can bring out activities and make sure they have the books they need.”

Another big change will be to the restrooms. There will no longer be large restrooms with multiple stalls, but instead the restrooms will be for individual use and family use. This allows more accessibility for those with disabilities and helps parents who may be pushing a stroller or need to take small children to the restroom.

The library’s meeting room also will be enlarged, by about five (linear) feet, to provide more space. 

A vending area also will be added to provide snacks and drinks for library patrons.

Outside, a new drive-up book drop will allow patrons to return books without getting out of their cars, a convenience for when it’s raining or when the library is closed.

The main area of the library also will be reconfigured to be more open and inviting, with new furniture that moves easily to create a more flexible and more comfortable space.

“Everything is being redesigned,” explains Liranzo. “The staff area will get a little bit smaller to make more room for the public.”

Changes Outdoors, Too

The New River Branch Library already has a community garden, where people can be assigned their own plant bed to raise vegetables, fruits or flowers. At certain times of the year, library staffers will bring out plastic “children’s beds” to fill with dirt and help the library’s youngest patrons learn how to grow their own plants, as well.

The remodel expands the library’s outdoor offerings by adding a learning space. This covered area will provide a place for any activities that are messy or difficult to do indoors, such as playing with sand or making slime, or something like shooting rockets, which can be taught on the patio and moved out from under the roof when it’s time to see the rockets in action.

Liranzo says he expects new plant beds will be added with the remodel, as well. Currently, there is one that is raised for anyone who can’t bend all the way to the ground to garden; he expects additional raised beds will be added, allowing more people the opportunity to garden at the library.

“It really is a community experience,” he explains. “People reserve the beds for as long as they want to use them. They can come anytime for their individual use, or can also come when we have an activity, such as a master gardener talking about different plants or soils.” 

Because the community garden is such an important part of the library, it will be reflected indoors, as well, with a “green wall” and greenery added inside the library interior.

Programs To Go Mobile?

While the library is being remodeled, its programs will still continue.

“We’re going on the road with our programs while the branch is closed,” explains Danielle Lee, the New River branch manager.

Library staff will provide programs and services by working with community partners who are local and easy to find, to continue activities such as book clubs for adults and story times for young children and a drop-off location to return books.

“We’re not leaving the community, just because the building is closing,” says Liranzo. “We invite everybody to join us.”

Some programs are already held off-site, such as a digital book club for adults held at the Zephyrhills Brewing Co. in downtown Zephyrhills one Tuesday a month at 7 p.m.

But others, such as a ukulele jam held the first Saturday of each month, will look for a new home during the construction. Lee and Liranzo think it could be a win-win for a business to bring some new faces into its establishment and for the library to reach people who don’t typically visit the branch.

“For example, we host a “Vets Healing Vets” program, where we use crafts from Healing Vets of America to help veterans with whatever they’re dealing with and take their minds off things,” explains Lee. “We have been facilitating that in the building, and we would like to take it somewhere to reach more veterans, such as a community partner that attract veterans anyway.”

Liranzo and Lee say they are currently looking for locations to hold all the library’s programs during the construction time. If a local business is open to hosting a library program, please call the branch at (813) 788-6375 and ask for Danielle Lee.

How It’s Being Funded

The renovations have been made possible through funding approved by voters last November, through the “Go 4 Pasco” bond initiative. 

“The library remodeling passed with overwhelming support,” explains Liranzo. “Now, we are set out on a mission from the taxpayers to get the remodels going.”

New River is one of the first two branches to receive improvements. The other is the Centennial Park branch in Holiday.

New River is still Wesley Chapel’s only library branch. While Liranzo says he continues to hear from more and more residents who want another Wesley Chapel location, he wants to make sure the residents understand that the planning for that second library is not part of this project.

The New River Branch Library will be closed beginning on October 1 and should reopen in May, of 2020.

“This is a major, major remodeling,” says Liranzo.

Open For Business

Now that it has opened to traffic, the S.R. 56 Extension is expected to provide a boon to local businesses, as well as create a badly needed 4-lane East-West road crossing Pasco County.

WHEN PLANS were originally made to extend S.R. 56 all the way from Meadow Pointe Blvd in Wiregrass Ranch all the to U.S. 301 in Zephyrhills, they included a lane in each direction.

Wesley Chapel’s growth, however, rendered those original plans moot.

“That wasn’t going to be enough,” said District 2 county commissioner Mike Moore.

So after some creative management and a wealth of cooperation between the Florida Department of Transportation, Pasco County, the City of Zephyrhills and multiple landowners along the proposed extension, the eastward expansion of S.R. 56 officially opened for traffic on July 10 as a freshly-paved, scenic, six-mile, four-lane road winding through pastures, in between trees and alongside ponds, while connecting Wesley Chapel to Zephyrhills.

“It’s a beautiful road,” said FDOT District 7 secretary David Gwynn, against the backdrop of four lanes running into a horizon flanked by nature. “Not just the road, but the surrounding area as well.”

City officials from Zephyrhills, all but one of Pasco’s county commissioners, the media and a number of other local dignitaries were given a sneak preview of the road on July 9, driving it from U.S. 301, through a signalized intersection at Morris Bridge Rd. and past Meadow Pointe Blvd.

Moore said no one was more excited about the extension than he was. The day it opened to everyone (June 10), he says he drove the length of it twice — once for work, and another time to visit his mother, who lives in Zephyrhills. He said the drive cut 15-20 minutes off his typical travel time in that direction, along the two-lane S.R. 54 (which also is in the process of being widened to four lanes).

He also touted the access to Polk County and even Orlando (via I-4) that the extension will provide, allowing residents in the area an alternative route.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Moore said. “I think people are going to love it. I was on Facebook, and I saw a lot of good comments from people who are definitely happy about it.”

In fact, a Neighborhood News Online video about the opening had more than 15,000 views in less than 24 hours, with hundreds of likes and mostly positive comments about the new road on Facebook (search “Neighborhood News”).

Among those who are happy about it is Ann Marie Schumaker, who lives in Zephyrhills but works at Soriano Insurance in Wesley Chapel. “I love the 56 extension,” she says. “Now I don’t have to take the dreaded Meadow Pointe cut-through up to 54 and sit in traffic during rush hour times with all the construction going on to go into Zephyrhills….it saves me 20 minutes every morning and evening on my daily commute to work. Being a single mom and having to make pick-up times is stressful. So, any extra time I can save is great. I’m overly excited. I’ve been waiting so long for this extension to be done.”

The extension is expected to provide an economic benefit to businesses in Wesley Chapel. Residents in Zephyrhills should find visiting the Shops at Wiregrass and Tampa Premium Outlets, as well as the many surrounding businesses in the area, to be a much easier and quicker trek. 

The only option to go from Wesley Chapel to Zephyrhills has been driving on one lane westbound on S.R. 54, which is roughly a 25-30 minute trip in light traffic, and even longer during morning and evening rush hours, especially when the snowbirds are in town in the winter and spring. The new extension will make those jaunts significantly shorter.

Currently, the road remains a nice trip through what District 1 commissioner and lifelong county resident Ron Oakley called “old Pasco.”

It can be enjoyed by bicyclists looking to take advantage of a generous 7-foot-wide bike lane in either direction, as well as pedestrians who can walk along a 10-foot- wide multi-use trail on the south side or a 5-foot wide sidewalk on the north side of the new 56 extension.

The completion of the project gives Pasco County it’s first 4-lane road from U.S. 19 to the west to U.S. 301 to the east, Oakley said. 

“I’ve spent my entire life in Pasco County with only two-lane roads,” he said.

How It Happened

Moore said the county was smart to look ahead and make a deal to extend S.R. 56 with four lanes. He said too many times roads are constructed, only to need widening or other work to accommodate growth 10 years later, when the costs also will be greater.

To get the extension changed from two to four lanes was monumental, Moore said, and no easy feat.  

The BOCC had to approve seven different agreements in 2016 to come up with a plan to repay a $22.7-million loan from the State Infrastructure Bank (SIB), which provides investment funds for surface transportation projects. That loan will be repaid with money from the county, the City of Zephyrhills and via mobility fee surcharges to developers of Wesley Chapel Lakes, Wyndfields, River Landing and Two Rivers Ranch, all of which will eventually have communities along the road.

Most of the $59.7-million total cost (plus another $7-8 million in interest) to build the extension came from FDOT, which contributed $35 million.

Oakley said that the beautiful terrain the extension cuts through previously has only been seen by local ranchers, and that those who are now using the road should enjoy it while they can. In 8-10 years, he said, that definitely could change, as Wesley Chapel Lakes, Wyndfields, River Landing and Two Rivers Ranch are expected to add as many as 10,000 new homes to the corridor. 

Businesses, parks and new schools also are expected as well.

But for now, the extension of S.R. 56 is a scenic convenience.

Try New Tampa’s Authentic Mediterranean Cuisine At Al-Sham Palace!

Although I always loved gyro sandwiches, which are known more as Greek food anyway, and the occasional falafel when I lived in New York, I never really sampled any authentic Lebanese, Syrian or Jordanian food until I lived in the Tampa Bay area.

Here in New Tampa, a couple of Mediterranean options have hung around, while others have come and gone, but one that might just have some staying power is Al-Sham Palace, located in the Pebble Creek Collection on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.

Samer Aljajeh, the owner-chef, and his general manager, Hadil Simreen (one of his wife’s friends), are both from Syria, but Hadil says that most Middle Eastern food is similar, because it all traces its roots to Turkey, which at one time occupied Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.

Wherever Al-Sham Palace’s culinary roots are from, I will tell you that I already have several favorite dishes.

First of all, the falafel is green inside, which I’d never seen before, because chick peas aren’t generally green, but Hadil says the green is parsley. The falafels are served with a savory tahini sauce made from crushed sesame seeds, garlic and lemon juice. Yum.

“Almost everything we serve is made here,” Hadil says. “A lot of people follow the Mediterranean diet these days. We have everything you need for that diet here.”

I also loved the shawarma chicken salad, especially with Samer’s lightly spiced vinaigrette dressing. 

As for entrées, my two favorites so far have been the lemon chicken and the mixed grill of beef shish kababs, shish kefta (ground beef with onions and spices) and shish tawook (chicken) pictured above. The hummus served on the side was slightly addictive and the veggies were nicely seasoned and the grilled onions served with the mixed grill are almost sweet.

Al-Sham Palace has all of your other authentic Mediterranean favorites, including fried kebbie (lamb or beef with onions and spices), gyro sandwiches, grape leaves, mtable (eggplant with tahini sauce), baba ghanouj, tabouleh, fattoush salad, as well as onion rings, fried or grilled fish (tilapia), cheeseburgers, Philly steak or chicken sandwiches and more.

There’s even Mediterranean breakfast items available, including Foul mudammas (fava beans, garlic, parsley, tomato, olive oil & spices) Qalaya (meat with tomato sauce) and Fateh (pureed chick peas, with pita, tahini sauce and lemon juice, as well as friend eggs and unique egg omelets with ground beef and spices.

 Delectable Desserts, Too!

For those who love baklava, Al-Sham Palace’s is homemade and delicious, but my favorite dessert so far has been the warbaat with walnuts and milk cream — and I don’t really like walnuts. The milk cream is like halfway between liquid and cream cheese and the triangular pastry shell is crisp, flaky and delicious. It’s like the best cheese croissant in town. Top either of those desserts (or haraseh or kunafa) with a cup of super-dark Turkish coffee (they also have American coffee and tea) and you’ll understand why I so enjoy Al-Sham Palace, even though I’m not Middle Eastern.

“About half of our customers are Americans,” Hadil says. “We are welcoming to everyone and hope everyone will come in and enjoy our authentic Mediterranean food.” 

Al-Sham Palace is located at 19651 BBD Blvd., and is open every day for lunch and dinner. For more information, call (813) 907-8233, search for “Al-Sham Palace” on Facebook or see the ad in one of our latest issues. The ad has a coupon for $5 off any purchase of $30 or more (limit one per table). Go and check out our area’s most authentic Mediterranean cuisine and please tell Hadil and Samer I sent you!  

NTP’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ Ready To Be ‘Part Of Your World’

Before Disney chose Halle Bailey to play the role of Ariel in the live-action version of “The Little Mermaid,” Patty Smithey of Land O’Lakes (above) had already been chosen for the same role in the New Tampa Players’ production, which opens tonight.

When Disney announced recently that Halle Bailey, a teenage African-American actress, was going to play the lead role as Ariel in the live-action remake of  “The Little Mermaid,” Patty Smithey thought that was really cool.

The idea, she figured, made perfect sense. And why wouldn’t she? After all, before Disney chose Halle Bailey, the New Tampa Players chose Patty Smithey.

An African-American actress herself, Smithey has been working hard to perfect the role of Ariel, which she was selected to play in the upcoming New Tampa Players (NTP) production of the 1989 Disney animated blockbuster.

The show opens tonight at 8 p.m. at the University Area Community Development Center (CDC) at 14013 N. 22nd St. in Tampa. There are two showings on Saturday, one on Sunday, and then showings the weekend of August 2-4.

For the past month, Smithey, who lives in Land O’Lakes, has been rehearsing with the rest of the NTP, a local acting troupe, at the CDC.

An acting hopeful in middle and high school, Smithey set aside her thespian dreams when she went off to college at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Smithey earned a degree at FSU in International Affairs, studying abroad in places like Panama, Prague, Poland and Croatia, as she focused on human rights. 

The acting bug, however, never went away. And, at the age of 25, Smithey is returning to her first love.

“It’s my big comeback,” Smithey says, with a chuckle. “I definitely feel honored I was chosen for this role.”

When she auditioned in May, she considered herself a longshot for any role. “The Little Mermaid” wasn’t exactly a movie rich with non-white characters.

On the paperwork for NTP, she put down a number of roles she felt suited to play, like Ursula, or one of Ariel’s sisters, or, she jokes, “maybe a fish in the background.”

She also, on a whim, wrote down Ariel.

Nora Paine, the president of NTP, says the troupe didn’t go into the audition process looking for a white actress to play the role of Ariel. She says that is never part of the process. “We looked for the person who could best embody the character,” Paine says. “For Ariel, we were looking for that innocence, a teenage kind of spunk, for lack of a better word.”

Because the movie revolves around a mermaid’s yearning to explore a new, forbidden world, the role had to be filled by someone who embodied Ariel’s way of looking at that world with total awe. 

“Patty had the facial expression of Ariel, the innocent and the curious face,” Paine says. “She did really, really well.”

Not to mention the voice. Smithey took on the movie’s iconic ballad, “Part of Your World,” for her audition, considered one of the best Disney songs ever, and nailed it. 

The role of Ariel was filled by someone who had the complete package that director Derek Baxter, choreographer Anne Tully, musical director G. Frank Meekins and Paine were looking for all along.

“I knew I could sing,” Smithey says. “But, when I got that call, wow, it was just amazing.”

Smithey’s enthusiasm for her role, and the significance of being a black Ariel, has not been tempered by some of the backlash Disney has received in social media for also picking an African-American for the role.

There have been hurtful memes passed around, and the hashtag #NotMyAriel actually trended on Twitter.

“I saw some of that on social media, and I was shocked,” Smithey said. “I mean, where are these people coming from, that they would be that upset about this mythical creature (being played by a black woman). Some of the stuff I saw was very negative.”

Smithey hasn’t received any backlash, and instead prefers to think of it as inspired and inclusive casting by Paine and the NTP.

The controversy over Disney’s decision has been noticed by Paine as well. While she admits that NTP may have smiled a bit when Disney made the same decision NTP did while casting, she says the debate over inclusivity in theater is a good one. She said diversity was a strong theme in many of the speeches at this year’s Tony Awards as well.

“We’re really glad it can be a national conversation, and a local one as well,” Paine says.

She says the NTP has always strived for inclusivity, no matter the production, no matter the role. The troupe has hosted productions like the Penguin Project, which provided opportunities for those with special needs, and inserted a host of actors into non-traditional parts for other productions.

In 2016, NTP reached out to residents in the University Area, where most of the troupe’s productions are performed — until their new home in New Tampa is completed — and asked them what they wanted to see. Residents in the area, which has a large African-American population, told the NTP they would love for their children to come to productions that had actors that looked like they do.

In 2017, NTP heeded that advice and did a production of the “The Wiz”, which re-imagines “The Wizard of Oz” with a primarily African-American cast.

Choosing Smithey was nothing out of the ordinary for NTP.

“ I think it’s great how they are modernizing the role,” Smithey said. “Maybe other little girls and little boys can see that anyone can be a princess or a prince.”

Smithey will lead 52 other castmates in what will be one of NTP’s biggest productions yet.

NTP is bringing in a choreographer from the Shinobi School in Temple Terrace, which focuses on acrobatic performances relating to parkour (movements used in military obstacle course training), ninja warriors and the circus arts.

“It’s going to add a circus twist to Disney,” Paine says.

Long pieces of silk cloth will hang from above to provide the illusion of being underwater, with performers artfully working their way around the silky streams.

“This is new, as far as I can tell, combining a traditional Broadway musical and circus arts done by a non-professional company,” Paine says.

“The Little Mermaid” opens Friday, July 26, at 8 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit NewTampaPlayers.org.