Although the graduation events for both Freedom and Wharton high schools will already have been held by the time this issue reaches your mailbox, we wish all of our graduating seniors success in their future endeavors at the Summer of 2024 officially begins. In the meantime, there are some fun and some informative events on the upcoming docket.
Thursday, May 30, 5:30 p.m. — New Tampa Community Meeting with Dist. 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera. At the New Tampa Recreation Center (17302 Commerce Park Blvd., Tampa Palms). Join Councilman Viera and learn about the latest developments at City Hall, get some information about the city’s Parks & Recreation Dept. and ask the Councilman your questions.
Friday, May 31, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.. — The North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC) presents “Final Friday.” This free networking event will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel (26640 Silver Maple Pkwy.). For more information, visit NorthTampaBayChamber.com.
Friday, May 31, 7 p.m.-11 p.m. — R&B Night at The KRATE at The Grove Container Park. See story below.
Tuesday, June 4, 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. — NTBC Business Breakfast with Florida Senator Danny Burgess. At the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch of Pasco Hernando State College (2727 Mansfield Blvd., Wesley Chapel). $25 for NTBC members, $30 for non-members. For more information, visit NorthTampaBayChamber.com
Friday, June 7, 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. — NTBC Leading Ladies Network with author & motivational speaker Kiera Yore. At Florida Avenue Brewing Co.’s Private Event Room (2029 Arrowgrass Dr., Wesley Chapel). $15 per person. For more information, visit NorthTampaBayChamber.com.
Friday, June 7, 5:30-9:30 p.m. — The Market Elaine. At the Village at The Grove, with 150+ vendors, free admission & free parking. For info, visit TheMarketElaine.com.
Monday, June 10, 6 p.m.- 8 p.m. — Town Hall Meeting with Dist. 2 Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan. At the New Tampa Performing Arts Center (8550 Hunter’s Village Rd.). Join Commissioner Hagan for an informative evening of information and an opportunity to ask the Commissioner your questions.
Wednesday, June 19, 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. — Coffee Social at the Sara Vande Berg (SVB) Tennis & Wellness Center (6585 Simons Rd., Zephyrhills), hosted by SVB’s Che Sara restaurant. Free coffee, networking & light bites.
Saturday, June 29, 7 p.m.-11 p.m. — Jazz Night at The KRATE at The Grove Container Park.
Dozens Of Units Of Blood Were Donated To Honor The Wharton Grad Who Died From Leukemia
Sophia, Mahmoud & Lily Carolyn Hassan, with Gabriel’s Boy Scout uniform at the OneBlood drive on May 10. (Photos by Charmaine George)
A little more than three months after he passed away from leukemia caused by a rare ailment he had from birth called Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome (or SDS), the family of Wharton High graduate Gabriel “Gabe” Hassan held a community blood drive on what would have been Gabe’s 18th birthday — May 10 — at the Islamic Society of New Tampa’s Masjid Daarusalam on Morris Bridge Rd., just north of Cross Creek Blvd.
Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera (above) & Florida House Minority leader Fentrice Driskell (right) at the blood drive.(Photos from Luis Viera’s Facebook page)
There were three OneBlood Bloodmobiles on hand (photo) at the blood drive, which began a few hours before the regular services at the New Tampa Mosque.
Dozens of Muslim worshipers, plus members of Gabe’s Boy Scout Troop 148 and fellow Wharton students, as well as District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera and District 67 State Rep. (and House Minority Leader) Fentrice Driskell donated blood in Gabe’s honor and memory on his birthday.
Gabe’s mom Lily Carolyn (below left photo) and dad, Mahmoud (right photo), were among the 65 people who donated blood on their son’s birthday. Lily Carolyn, who shared her private writings about Gabe and his favorite things with us (see below), said it was the first time she had ever donated blood.
Lily Carolyn was appreciative of all of the support the blood drive received. “It’s been really difficult with the loss of Gabe,” she told me. “He was the little guy that knew how to light up the room.”
She noted that the Wharton High PTSA also previously held its own OneBlood drive, where 40 units were donated.
“My wish for his birthday was to equal or best it,” Lily Carolyn said. “God is great. We beat it by 25 units.” She also noted that the 65 units of blood collected could help save 195 adults or 390 babies.
“I also ordered 18 mini red velvet bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes for those who came early to the blood drive to celebrate Gabe’s birthday. It was his favorite.”
Speaking Of Favorites…
The first page of the journal Lily Carolyn has been keeping in memory of her son and his favorite things.
Since the day he passed, Lily Carolyn has been making entries in a journal to keep the memory of Gabe alive. “This journal has all your loves and dislikes,” she wrote. “You were supposed to bury me. You were becoming the young man your daddy and I were starting to see. You wanted to go to USF and go into the field of biomedical engineering and help daddy with billing on the side.”
The next several pages are filled with Gabe’s loves and dislikes, including:
Favorite Foods — Pad Thai noodles, sweet sticky rice, sushi and poké bowls (especially from Bonefish), Ford’s Garage mushroom burger w/onion rings, calzones from Anthony’s NY Pizza, Panera tomato soup, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Chick-fil-A spicy chicken sandwich, cinnamon bun w/ vanilla glaze, Mom’s pancet w/mushrooms, Star Wars edge of the galaxy green shakes from Luke’s aunt…and many more.
Favorite Movie He Can Watch Over & Over Again — “Mario Bros. 2023”
Something He Has Done With The Hassan Family That He Will Never Do Again — Scuba diving
Other Favorites — Hanging with family & friends, eating at restaurants, hanging with his birds (Georgio, or “Gremlin,” Sim Sim & Flappy), going to Best Buy and going to movies with Popa Greg. He loved the Boy Scouts and hanging with his fellow Scouts, helping with service projects, food pantry/distribution… Gabe loved learning and was curious of the world. He loved life & his family.
Least Liked Merit Badge He Completed — Fishing, “Which is funny, as he loves eating fish. He just didn’t like the process of gutting & cleaning it out.”
Lily Carolyn also shared that SDS, which ultimately caused Gabe’s leukemia, afflicts only one person in 80,000. It also stunts normal growth as its victims age, “Even before he died, Gabe was only 4’-10” tall, shorter than his sister Sophia (Gabe called her ‘Soph Soph’), who is 5’-4” at only 12 years old.”
She also noted that in the photo above she sent me, Gabe and Sophia volunteered at Ronald McDonald House, “Not knowing we were going to be on the other side…the recipients. We taught them young the important value of giving back to the community.”
The parents of Gabriel (Gabe) Hassan, the Wharton High graduate who passed away on Feb. 6 of this year from a rare form of leukemia, shortly after receiving his diploma, held a blood donation drive at the Islamic Society of New Tampa’s Masjid Daarusalam on May 10, in honor of what would have been their son’s 18th birthday.
There were three OneBlood Bloodmobiles on hand at the blood drive, which began a few hours before the regular services at the New Tampa Mosque, located just north of Cross Creek Blvd., at 15830 Morris Bridge Rd.
Hundreds of worshipers, as well as District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera and State House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-Dist. 67), donated blood in Gabe’s honor and memory on his birthday. Gabe’s mom and dad, Carolyn & Mahmoud, were among those who donated blood in their son’s honor. Carolyn, who shared her private writings about Gabe and his favorite things with the Neighborhood News (look for them in our May 28 New Tampa issue), said it was the first time she had ever donated blood.
The Neighborhood News story in the May 28 New Tampa issue will provide additional pictures and information for this story.
If you travel east on K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. (past Sundrift Dr.; see map above), a little south of the Hillsborough/Pasco county line, you’ll come to a spot where the K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. abruptly ends at five perfectly placed bright red diamond signs.
To the left are gorgeous houses being constructed by M/I Homes around a freshly paved cul-de-sac, and to the right, a beautiful set of lakes where sandhill cranes are teaching their young how to forage for food along the banks.
As the sun lowers in the sky, walkers, runners and bicyclists begin to emerge and take advantage of this 800’ long section of road to nowhere, taking in the fading warmth of the sun. Straight ahead, past the signs, is a narrow stretch of cypress trees hiding Basset Branch, a tributary that flows south directly into the Hillsborough River. Many don’t even know the creek is there.
On the east side of this 300’-wide wetland lies Easton Park, a small subdivision which began building in 2005, but where the last house wasn’t built until 2014, due to the Great Recession of 2008-09. Since then, Easton Park has been the only K-Bar subdivision with access to Morris Bridge Rd., but a big change may be coming — thanks to a new developer planning to add new homes and townhomes in K-Bar Ranch.
In the distance behind the sandhill cranes, is where K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. currently dead-ends a just east of Sundrift Dr. (see map above). (Photos by Joel Provenzano)
Inside Easton Park are two strange intersection footprints, one along Pictorial Park Dr. and one along Natures Spirit Dr, which like the road in K-Bar, seem to go nowhere. But, there is a purpose to all of this seemingly wasted pavement. Although they are far apart, the end of K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. and these two random intersection footprints are all in line with each other.
Years before the K-Bar Ranch was annexed into the city and Easton Park was ever even started, Hillsborough County planners knew that they wanted a future east-west road to someday connect to Morris Bridge Rd. all of the communities that would be built upon this sprawling pasture land. Early on, they planned its path and set aside the land for future right-of-way. Back then, there was a dirt path that crossed over then-tiny Basset Branch allowing ranchers to get from one side of the property to the other, and there were no wetland trees around that crossing.
The county decided the future east-west road path should go there, to minimize environmental impacts, but when the eastern half of that land was sold to make Easton Park, for whatever reason, that dirt path and old culvert pipes underneath were removed. After a few flooding rains, it didn’t take long for now-much-wider Basset Branch to carve its way through and start to expand.
The New Project
Now, more than 20 years later, this former dirt-covered crossing has grown into the 300’- wide wetland where K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. will need to punch through in order to connect to Easton Park, and ultimately extend to Morris Bridge Rd. But, this former county vision is no longer a pipe dream, as the Eisenhower Property Group (EPG) submitted a preliminary plat to the City of Tampa on March 1 of this year for a project which is currently being referred to as “K-Bar Ranch Homestead Parcel Phase 1.” This area was annexed into the City of Tampa in 2002 in anticipation of its development.
The city issued comments for this proposed community (to be located on the east side of the wetland, immediately north of Easton Park) and referenced that rezoning will need to be completed and accepted before the project could move forward as proposed. Even so, there may still need to be some changes to the plans to satisfy all city departments.
The rezonings — REZ-24-02 and REZ- 24-03 — still need to go before the Tampa City Council, so District 7 Tampa City Council member (and New Tampa resident) Luis Viera could not, by law, comment about the rezonings for this article, and city staff says that neither rezoning has been scheduled yet, but that EPG is targeting June or July for both.
The main change proposed in both rezonings, from the previously approved zoning, is a change in orientation of the main north-south “Collector Road,” which was previously approved as a loop road. Instead of a loop, it would be straightened (as shown in the map above). Also proposed is a minor change in the number of dwelling units to a maximum total of 500 single-family and 188 townhomes.
The project plans currently consist of 484 single-family home sites (363 sites of 50’x120’ and 121 60’x120’ lots) on an approximately 400-acre site. This is slightly below the maximum 500 single-family homes being requested in the rezoning. Where the proposed K-Bar Ranch extension intersects with Morris Bridge Rd., both of those corners are labeled as “Future Commercial” in the plans (see map).
Coincidently, EPG also is developing the master-planned community on the other side of Morris Bridge Rd. from Easton Park, known as Two Rivers (which we told you about in a previous issue). For that project, EPG acquired the first 6,000 acres inside Pasco back in 2021 and the remaining 2,000 acres inside Hillsborough about a year ago.
The Important Part
The most important part of this latest EPG K-Bar project (for many local residents) may not be so much the homes, but the roadways shown in the proposed plans. The existing portion of K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. that dead-ends at Sundrift Dr. is labeled “Segment F,” and the new extension that will connect it out to Morris Bridge Rd. is labeled “Segment G, Transportation Improvement,” which is a proposed 120’ -wide right of way (R/W) “Collector Road – 4 Lane Divided.”
The sign marking the intersection of K-Bar Ranch Pkw. and Sundrift Dr.
The K-Bar Ranch plans state that, “Transportation Improvement G [K-Bar Ranch Parkway Extension] shall be constructed prior to or concurrent with Homestead Parcel Phase 1 [the main project].” This extension will connect with each of those two strange intersection footprints in Easton Park, allowing those residents three potential additional ways to get in and out of their community:
1. Westbound toward Kinnan St. via K-Bar Ranch Pkwy.
2. Eastbound toward Morris Bridge Rd. via K-Bar Ranch Pkwy.
3. Northbound towards Pasco County, where the proposed north-south “Collector Road” through the new community is slated to connect with Wyndfields Blvd. in the Union Park community in Wesley Chapel.
This also will inversely allow K-Bar Ranch, Union Park and Meadow Pointe residents easier access to Morris Bridge Rd., giving more route choices for local residents and greatly reducing distances to get around the area. These additional connections could improve safety, too (see below). City staff says that EPG is responsible for constructing both the K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. extension and the north-south “Collector Road,” as both are required under the developer’s 2018 agreement with the city.
Safety First?
Councilman Viera said he had first learned about this proposed community project from city staff when he was looking into the issues and potential solutions surrounding too-long emergency response times in K-Bar Ranch, New Tampa’s northeasternmost and most remote community.
“I have been pushing for a fire station in K-Bar but was told there was not enough calls for service in that area,” Viera says.
He expressed concern about the 12-minute travel time for emergency vehicles from Tampa Fire Rescue Station No. 22 on Cross Creek Blvd. to reach the back of K-Bar Ranch. With the proposed extension of K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. out to Morris Bridge Rd., those travel times could be cut in half — to only six minutes — potentially saving lives.
Viera says he feels very strongly about connecting roads and communities together. On the other side of K-Bar, he pushed hard to try and fully connect Kinnan St. with Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe for regular traffic but said, “Pasco has not been amenable to that, there’s been a block from the Pasco side…but I was happy we at least got the emergency gate,” which was installed in 2020. He says his intent is to still get that connection fully open to regular vehicular traffic someday.
K-Bar Ranch was finally connected to Wesley Chapel when Meadow Pointe Blvd. was extended south to meet K-Bar Ranch Pkwy, something Pasco did agree to, making Viera happier. The thing that isn’t certain now, however, is who exactly is going to physically connect the north-south “Collector Road” in this new K-Bar community project with Wyndfields Blvd. in Union Park. Wyndfields Blvd. currently ends 540’ north of the county line The currently submitted plans do not call out exactly how that will be accomplished or who will be responsible for it, although city staff believes that ultimately, that responsibility will fall to EPG under the development agreement.
District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera (far right in photo above) says that, as the only still-growing community in New Tampa, he would prefer to hold his Town Hall meetings in K-Bar Ranch at least twice a year. But, even though his last Town Hall in K-Bar was a year and a week before, Viera did return again to the Amenity Center in K-Bar on Mar. 20 to provide updates to the residents of the community.
And, while about 50 K-Bar residents showed up at the meeting to voice their concerns and, in some cases, complaints about speeding, traffic and other issues in their community, Viera not only took the time to address those and other concerns — plus some of his own — he also brought director Marilyn Heldt and manager Miray Holmes from the city’s new Customer Experience Department to show the residents the best (and fastest) way to get their concerns to the right people.
One thing Viera brought up during his opening remarks was about his idea to place a “mobile” emergency vehicle in K-Bar.
“Among the major issues that I see out here are public safety and especially, fire safety,” Viera said. “There’s not a lot of calls in K-Bar — only maybe 100-150 a year, thank God, but when there are calls, we want to make sure that we can get to them on time. The challenge isn’t the number of calls out here, it’s the time it takes for us to get here. So, one of the things I’ve been trying to get out here is some sort of a dedicated ‘modular’ station actually in K-Bar Ranch, but Tampa Fire Rescue (TFR) chief Barbara Tripp is not on board with that right now.”
He added, “But, one thing that is going to happen is that there will be a dedicated rescue vehicle for K-Bar Ranch at Station No. 22 on Cross Creek Blvd. near Morris Bridge Rd., so that’s going to help. The challenge with it is that this dedicated unit will still have to go all the way to Kinnan- Mansfield to get into K-Bar Ranch and that is going to take time. And, one call that takes 12 minutes and someone loses their life or suffers a catastrophic injury is too many.”
He also noted that the other thing he’s working on with not only the city, but also Hillsborough County and TFR, is a possible cut-through on Morris Bridge Rd. that would take that fire truck or EMS vehicle from Station No. 22 up Morris Bridge and into K-Bar on K-Bar Ranch Pkwy.
“That would first have to be approved as a re-zoning by Tampa City Council, which could take anywhere from a year to a year-and-a-half,” he said.”As a long-time private sector guy before being elected to City Council, that’s one of the things that’s hard to deal with — how long things take when the government gets involved. It’s just something you have to deal with, though.”
He also provided an update on the long-planned K-Bar Ranch park. “It’s one of the things we did get into the proposed (fiscal year 2024) budget,” Viera said. “We’ve already gotten the New Tampa Rec Center expanded and added the All-Abilities autism park (both in Tampa Palms), so the third thing I want to get working on is the K-Bar Ranch park. It’s something that’s in the CIT (Community Investment Tax), which means it’s in the plans for the budget, which at least gets the ball rolling.”
Viera also said, “K-Bar Ranch is kind of the center of development in zip code 33647. The good news is that there isn’t much more new development coming to New Tampa. The bad news is…we’re full.”
Improving Customer Experience
Before turning the meeting over to questions from the residents, Viera introduced Holmes (left in photo below) and Heldt (right) to provide the residents with an update on the new Customer Experience department, what it does and how it can help the residents get their concerns in front of the right people in city government, and follow the progress of those concerns as they go through the governmental process.
Heldt, who said she had been working for the city for about seven years in the technology department before being named the director of Customer Experience “about a year ago,” said, “I’m more of the interpreter between the technology team and our other departments. That is my background, but improving customer experience is my passion.”
She also explained that when the city came up with this initiative, one of the big parts was strengthening resident services.
“To improve the customer experience, the first thing we needed to do was to replace the software, which was 20+ years old,” Heldt said. “It didn’t even have a mobile component…it was awful.”
Heldt also said that although her department and the software being used are still new, “We started out trying to think of what the citizens of Tampa wanted and how we can provide that for them. We want to be the city with the best possible customer experience. Some retail companies are good at customer experience, but government…not so much.”
She added that her department is coming out with a “robust training program this fall for all of our employees. Next, we want to figure out where the ‘pain points’ are for citizens — what’s taking too long. So, when you put in a service request to have someone come out to fix a pothole, we’ll offer an initial survey to ask you how your experience was putting in the request. Then, when the request closes out, we’ll survey you again to see how the process was for you getting that issue resolved.”
Heldt also noted that in order for her department to get the data they need to see how the city is responding to its customers, “Citizens have to use the system. Then, when we have enough data, we can start making those improvements.”
Holmes then handed out cards with a QR code so those in attendance at the meeting could access the new system to get registered and see how it works. Holmes said that the new system went live in November, “and since that time, we have had more than 12,000 new ‘Tampa Connect’ system requests, of which almost 1,000 are from 33647, where the number one request for service had to do with water. That makes sense, because when you move into your home, you have to connect to our water.”
Holmes then asked if any of the residents in attendance had used the new Tampa Connect system and one resident named Nick (in yellow in photo below) said he called to complain multiple times about speeding on Bassett Creek Dr. near Pride Elementary, but had not yet received a response. “The principal of Pride also called about it, but it doesn’t seem like anything has been done.”
To that, Holmes responded that her department can talk to the city’s mobility department to ask them why there hadn’t been a response. “But someone should have gotten back to you.”
Holmes also said that, for example, when you have a pothole on your street, “take a picture of it and upload it to the Tampa Connect system. The system will locate it and then ask you a few questions and once you upload your contact information, someone will respond about that pothole. Once you’ve uploaded your information, you’re given a case number and then, you’re able to track that request through until it is resolved.”
Other Issues
Viera then noted that although he’s OK with sending taxpayer dollars to help people in need, he was the only “No” vote when City Council voted to give $25 million in taxpayer funds to the Straz Center for the Performing Arts and $10 million to the Tampa Museum of Art, “not because I don’t value the arts but because our roads are falling apart and that money would be better spent improving our neighborhoods.”
Nick, who said his father was a Tampa Police (TPD) Officer for more than 20 years, also asked about why the 911 call system still doesn’t automatically connect to someone who can dispatch help, apparently because of all the new homes in both New Tampa and Wesley Chapel and the cross-jurisdictions of Tampa, Hillsborough and Pasco. He also noted that although Meadow Pointe residents successfully fought connecting Kinnan St. to Mansfield Blvd., now that Meadow Pointe Blvd. is connecting to K-Bar Ranch Pkwy., “We have a lot of people coming from Pasco and there’s a lot more speeding on our roads.”
Viera said he is trying to arrange a meeting with Dist. 2 Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman to discuss those jurisdictional line issues, not only in K-Bar but also along County Line Rd.
One resident who didn’t give their name also complained that although Tampa Police officers are out with their radar guns during the day to give K-Bar residents speeding tickets, “they’re not out here at night when there are people drag racing on our streets.”
Another resident who didn’t give her name asked that when Viera meets with Comm. Weightman if they could again discuss opening Kinnan-Mansfield and the possibility of putting a roundabout at the location. “We also need a roundabout at Bassett Creek Dr. at Kinnan to slow folks down, because stop signs don’t slow folks down.” That resident thanked Viera, “You’re a good listener. Thanks to you, we have gotten stop signs, we’ve gotten lines on our roads and speed limits reduced the last two years.”
Another idea Viera had to help cut down on speeding, thanks to a new law passed in Tallahassee, is to install speed cameras in school zones. He said, “I’m against speed cameras in general, but not in school zones, during school hours. I proposed passing that ordinance to City Council.”
After taking questions for almost an hour, Viera said he was going to try to get set up a call with himself, five of the people at the Town Hall meeting and Vik Bhide from the city’s Mobility Dept., to discuss all of the road issues in K-Bar. He also plans to come back to K-Bar in June to meet with Tampa Palms resident and Hillsborough School Board member Jessica Vaughn to discuss the traffic situation around Pride.
