Roadway Connections Open House Apr. 18!

The oft-argued merits of a connection point between Wesley Chapel’s Mansfield Blvd. and New Tampa’s Kinnan Dr. is set to get a new look, but that won’t be the only route back and forth between Hillsborough and Pasco counties that the Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) plans on looking at in less than two weeks.

The MPO will hold an open house-style meeting on Tuesday, April 18, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., at Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC)’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, in order to gather public comments and other information to be used in the upcoming Wesley Chapel Roadways Connections Study.

The study is designed to evaluate the pros and cons of three potential roadway connections between Wesley Chapel and New Tampa (red circles on map above):

Mansfield Blvd. & Kinnan St., a long sought-after connection by many in the Cross Creek and K-Bar Ranch area, though it also has its share of opponents.

Meadow Pointe Blvd. & the Meadow Pointe Blvd. extension, which leads right into the planned K-Bar Ranch Blvd. and would provide easier access to Morris Bridge Rd.

Wyndfields Blvd. & the Wyndfields Blvd. extension, which would also connect directly to both K-Bar Ranch Blvd. and Morris Bridge Rd.

“We are just starting the process, and the purpose of the first meeting is to get public input about what issues there are on both sides,’’ says Pasco County transportation engineer Ali Atefi, P.E.

Kinnan St. and Mansfield Blvd. have been separated by about 50 feet of grass, trees and sometimes garbage, for years. In 2016, Pasco County District 2 commissioner Mike Moore and then-Tampa District 7 City Council member Lisa Montelione met to discuss connecting the roadways, but those talks stalled.

New District 7 City Councilman Luis Viera made the connection point one of the staples of his winning campaign, and continues to say he would like to push to bring the roads together.

“From both sides, we have had a request for a connection and, we’ve had people that don’t want to connect,’’ Atefi says. “But, these connections are shown on our long range plans and we want to do an in-depth study and figure out the positive and negatives.”

The open house, which Atefi says “is not a debate,” will include an MPO summary at 6 p.m., followed by an opportunity for those attending to examine area maps and to voice their opinions. Stations will be set up, and representatives from Pasco County Planning & Development, the MPO and the consulting team will be available to answer questions.

The public is welcome to drop in anytime between 5:30 and 7:30.

Atefi says other meetings will be held in the future, and the public will also be encouraged to take online surveys to help determine what, or if any, connections should be made.

The PHSC-Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch is located at 2727 Mansfield Blvd. in Wesley Chapel. For more information about transportation planning in Pasco County, visit the MPO website at PascoMPO.net.

Relay Recap and Bartell Spaghetti Dinner Coming

Congrats to my good  friend, ACS of the South Nature Coast of Florida (serving Pasco, Hernando & Citrus counties) senior market manager Robyn Liska and everyone else involved in the 2017 Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Relay for Life for another successful event, which was held at the Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) track on March 10 — a little earlier in the year than most of the other local Relays, which are held primarily in April and May.

A total of 33 teams and hundreds of participants helped the Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Relay raise about $50,000, a little below its goal of about $65,000, but the ACS Relay for Life is about so much more than just raising money. It’s about a community coming together to lift up those who have been affected by the scourge of our lifetimes — cancer.

This year’s Relay again started with a survivors lap around the track and also featured a free sit-down dinner for survivors and their caregivers, moving speeches, a beautiful luminaria ceremony, great music provided by the Troy Duncan Band and others and the feeling you only get when people come together with a common goal and purpose — like to eradicate cancer.

This wasn’t my first Relay and it won’t be my last. It also likely won’t be the last for Paul Bartell, who has chaired many previous Relays in Wesley Chapel. Paul told me he wasn’t going to be quite as involved in future Relays, as he and his wife Jamie have started the Sean Bartell Memorial Foundation, in honor of their son who died in 2014 from a rare disease called toxic epidermal necrolysis.

The Bartells’ foundation is hosting its annual fund-raising Spaghetti Dinner on Saturday, April 29, 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., at Trinity Church of Wesley Chapel (33425 S.R. 54). The suggested donation to enjoy delicious pasta — donated by Carl and Jessica Meyers of Little Italy’s Family Restaurant on S.R. 54 in Lutz (see ad on pg. 40) — is only $10 per person.

Paul promises there will be a special ceremony at 5 p.m., the magic and entertainment of Scott Barhold and local business vendors and that proceeds will benefit scholarships for students at Wiregrass Ranch, Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills high schools.

For more information about the ACS Relay for Life or to make a donation, visit Relay.ACSEvents.org/site/TR?fr_id=81704&pg=informational&sid=209325. For the Spaghetti Dinner, search “Sean Bartell Memorial Foundation” on Facebook.

Janelle Wells New Tampa YMCA Volunteer of the Year

The New Tampa Family YMCA on Compton Dr., just south of Tampa Palms Blvd., offers plenty of ways to not only get a good cardio physical workout but also to grow the heart through volunteering.

Janelle Wells will attest to that. Wells was recognized February 16 as the New Tampa Family YMCA’s “Volunteer of the Year” during the Tampa Metropolitan YMCA’s annual Community Impact Dinner that highlights the work of numerous volunteers from all 15 Tampa-area YMCAs.

“Not many people know that the YMCA is a nonprofit, four-star charity (as rated by Charity Navigator), focusing on youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility,” says Wells, who has been volunteering at the New Tampa YMCA for three years. “They are committed to uniting all walks of life to create positive social change.”

There’s certainly plenty of choices in New Tampa for people who want to exercise, ranging from 24-hour corporate chain fitness centers to private trainers who deliver the tough love of a boot camp drill sergeant. Wells says the YMCA offers something none of those other options can offer:

“Even with the trend of privatized youth sports and boutique for-profit health fitness clubs, the Y has stayed true to its mission of serving the community, and that speaks volumes to me,” says Wells.

Wells serves on the New Tampa Family YMCA’s advisory board and is its current chair. She coaches teams and assists with community events such as the Fall Festival and Healthy Kids Day. Wells also helps with YMCA programs in communities outside of New Tampa as a member of the Tampa Metro YMCA Oversight Committee.

Volunteering at the YMCA also gives Wells — who has a Ph.D. degree in Health and Human performance from the University of Florida in Gainesville — a chance to combine her love of sports and healthy living with her professional expertise. She currently also teaches in the Sport & Entertainment Management program at the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business.

“I developed service-learning projects for my Sport & Entertainment Management M.B.A. and M.S. students, where each individual is encouraged and expected to volunteer 20 hours,” says Wells.

Some of the YMCA’s activities Wells and her students have been involved with are drowning prevention and the Y’s Teen Achievers and Teen Leadership development programs, as well as its Veggie Van, that sells low-price vegetables in neighborhoods lacking a nearby supermarket.

The contributions of time and energy that Wells and other volunteers make are appreciated, says Tampa Metro YMCA communications director Lalita Llerena.

“The Tampa Y is committed to strengthening the community, but we couldn’t do this without the help, support and guidance of our volunteers,” she says.

Wells cites, “compassion, courage, commitment, and service,” as principles guiding her volunteer efforts and daily living. Describing herself as “a working mother of three,” Wells says volunteering and serving others is its own reward and considers the opportunities to do so with the YMCA as another way the organization benefits her family.

“The Y has shaped my life through (its) spirit of service and connection,” says Wells. “It’s a haven that allows me the opportunity to live healthy, engage with my family and serve the community.”

Since opening in 2001, The New Tampa Family YMCA has become a go-to place in New Tampa for residents wanting to engage in not only fitness routines, but in other activities as well. Members can swim in the City of Tampa’s only 50-meter full-Olympic-size pool, get a workout in the indoor wellness facility that’s equipped with everything from weight machines to treadmills, or find a group activity such as aerobics, basketball and so much more.

There’s even a rock wall available for indoor mountaineering. Youth sports such as basketball and a variety of camps are available for children, as well as classes providing instruction in swimming, martial arts and more.

For more info about recreational activities and volunteer opportunities at the New Tampa Family YMCA, located at 16221 Compton Dr. in Tampa Palms, visit online at TampaYMCA.org or call 866-9622.                         

Local Business: Models Are Open At New Communities, New Spin Studio

Discovery Village at Tampa Palms (photo above), which touts itself as “Resort Style Senior Living,” is located across Commerce Park Blvd. from Freedom High at 17470 Brookside Trace Ct. The new assisted living and memory care facility won’t be fully open until December of this year, but now has model rooms available for touring.

Discovery Village will offer 10 different floor plans, ranging from 345-sq.-ft. to 944-sq.-ft. There will be three floor plans for memory care — a 345-sq.-ft. studio and two different two bedroom, two bath apartments (804-sq.-ft. and 944-sq.-ft.). Assisted living at Discovery Village will offer four floor plans, with three 1-bedroom, 1-bath apartments  with 541, 595 and 639 square feet, respectively, and a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 823-sq.-ft. “executive” apartment. There also are two supervised “independent living” suites of 543-sq.-ft. and 595-sq.-ft; both of which are 1-bedroom, 1-bath.

Owner/developer Discovery Senior Living is headquartered in Bonita Springs, FL, and manages twelve other communities in Texas, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

For more information, see the ad on pg. 23 of this issue, visit DiscoveryVillages.com or call 605-2400.

STAFFORD PLACE MODELS OPEN: Stafford Place, a new community of 118 single-family homes starting from $316,990 and touted as one of the last opportunities to buy a brand new home in Tampa Palms (off Tampa Palms Blvd., behind BJ’s Wholesale Club), now has two model homes open for prospective buyers.

The CalAtlantic Homes community will have houses ranging from 1,866-sq.-ft. to the luxury Bedford model that is 3,644 sq.-ft. and starts at $404,990. There are eight one- and two-story floor plans to choose from.

The models are located at 6209 English Hollow Rd. For more info, call 605-1515 or visit CalAtlanticHomes.com.

NEW SPIN STUDIO NOW OPEN: Avid spin cyclers Steve Woody (of Woody’s Pizza & Wings in the Wesley Chapel Village Market) and business partner Jim Upchurch have opened Cycology, a new “spin” (indoor cycling) studio located in the Shoppes of New Tampa at Wesley Chapel plaza on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just south of  S.R. 56, in Wesley Chapel.

Cycology is in the space previously occupied by Pura Cycling. Woody and Upchurch, who opened Cycology in January, are hoping to transform the indoor cycling studio into a more vigorous exercise space.

Upchurch says Cycology has been able to retain 90-95 percent of Pura Cycling’s former clients, as well as adding 50-60 new spinners since opening. “We’ll have more classes, we will be open more and will have the best of the best spin instructors,’’ says Upchurch, who says he has been a serious spinner himself for the past 4-5 years.

Upchurch also says he is currently going through permitting in the hopes of adding showers in the back, making it more convenient for people getting a spin class in before having to go to work in the morning.

Cycology, which offers 3-, 6- and 12-month agreements, is open until 7 or 8 p.m. on most nights, except for Friday-Sun. It offers spinning classes as early as 5:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays,  and also offers yoga, pilates, Zumba classes and semi-private personal training sessions as well.

Sometimes, Upchurch says, the bikes are even moved out onto the patio in front of Cycology for an outdoor workout.

To check out the class schedule or for more info, visit Cycologyspin.com, or call 907-8710.

Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Mmm Mmm Good!

Florida Hospital Center Ice Provides The Perfect Venue For The Triumphant Return Of The ‘Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel!’

Congrats to all of my friends in the Rotary Club of New Tampa (which meets Friday mornings at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Cub) for successfully bringing back “The Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel,” in partnership with the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC).

An estimated crowd of about 2,000 people came to sample the wares from the 49 restaurants and beverage providers my restaurant committee assembled for the event, which was held on March 18, inside surprisingly not cold Florida Hospital Center Ice off S.R. 56.

The food and beverages were awesome — my favorites being the seared ahi tuna from the People’s Choice 1st place-winning Bonefish Grill, the fresh sushi from Olde Heights Bistro, Little Italy’s meatballs, the angus burgers from OTB Café, the short rib sliders from Twisted Sprocket Café, Wok Chi’s spring rolls and pot stickers, gnocchi ricotta from Noble Crust (the 2nd-place People’s Choice), chocolate bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes (3rd place) and The Cake Girl’s double chocolate brownies.