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Gary’s 2013 Local Dining Favorites!
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Pasco Administrator, Clerk Address Community In Respective Meetings By Gary Nager & Matt Wiley
Although I had never formally met Pasco County administrator Michele Baker before my January 8 Wesley Chapel (Noon) Rotary Club meeting at Ciao! Italian Bistro in the Shops at Wiregrass mall, I actually had two opportunities to hear the former longtime assistant to former administrator John Gallagher speak in two days. At the Rotary Club meeting, Baker, who replaced Gallagher (first as interim administrator, later taking the top job) in June 2013, was talking about the new printed Strategic Plan 2013-17 (for more info, visit PascoCountyFL.net). she and the county staff prepared. The printed material was informative, but the plan didn’t offer specifics as to what changes we could expect to see in the year(s) to come in Wesley Chapel. So, of course, I had to ask — what is on the horizon in Wesley Chapel? Baker, who also spoke to the Pasco Alliance of Community Associations (PACA) on Jan. 9 at the Land O’Lakes Community Center, told the Rotary Club members in attendance that the Cypress Creek Town Center developers will soon be widening the last two-lane section of Wesley Chapel Blvd. (S.R. 54 between its junction with S.R. 56 and I-75). The expansion of Wesley Chapel Blvd. is part of the transportation impacts required to finally build the longawaited outlet mall project, which has final-
ly gotten past its legal hurdles and can begin going vertical soon. Speaking of transpor tation impacts, Baker also noted that although there has been a lot of Wesley Chapel Rotary president Eric Johnson & discussion about Pasco County administrator the possible 33mile elevated toll Michele Baker. road along S.R. 54 between U.S. 19 in New Port Richey and S.R. 56, “that project is still in the infancy stage. The county responded as it should to an unsolicited bid, but it takes us 5-7 years to build a major roadway. It’s possible that we may only start with a first phase of the elevated project, stretching from the failed intersection of Collier Pkwy. and 54 to S.R. 56, which is the busiest section of the road today.” The good news is that the Florida Department of Transportation has given its initial approval for the elevated roadway to begin lease negotiations with International Infrastructure Partners, LLC, which could close on the project as early as 2015. If it moves forward, the corridor would be
the first privately designed, constructed, operated and maintained elevated tollway in the state.
Paula O’Neil Addresses Pasco Republican Club
Pasco County clerk of court and comptroller Dr. Paula O’Neil, who was elected Pasco’s first female clerk in 2008 and again in 2012, stopped by the January 9 meeting of the Wesley Chapel Republican Club (held at Wesley Chapel Hyundai) to speak to local Republicans about what exactly it is that she oversees across Pasco County. Not only is O’Neil the clerk and comp- Wesley Chapel Republican Club president Mike Moore welcomes Pasco County clerk of court/ troller for Pasco, but she also was elected comptroller Paula O’Neil to the club’s Jan. meeting. president of the Florida Court Clerks & Among those are official court records, Comptrollers last June, serving as the face of applications for passports, marriage licenses that professional association. O’Neil also recently has been known as and weapons, mortgage and deed records the face of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel and especially traffic citations. In fact, all (FHWC)’s “Pink Army,” a breast cancer Civil court documents have been filed elecawareness group. The popular clerk was tronically since April 2013. “As we get more electronic, more is able to proudly begin the meeting by telling members about her recent victory over expected of us,” O’Neil explained. “We’re the deadly disease, having undergone her last getting your tickets processed much more quickly now.” chemotherapy treatment in December. Currently, O’Neil is in charge of 350 “(Getting breast cancer) is not a path I would have chosen, but I’m thankful for the employees working in six buildings across experience,” she told the club. “It was un- the county. However, although the Wesley Chapel area may presently be the fastestcomfortable, but not intolerable.” O’Neil said that she was blown away by growing region of Pasco, don’t expect to see the loving embrace and support she received a clerk of court office opening in the area from the community after publicly announc- anytime soon. O’Neil explained that even though the area is rapidly expanding, 68 pering her diagnosis. She also gave a rundown of the clerk’s cent of the county’s population still resides office’s tasks, which have become almost en- west of U.S. 41. However, she said that she hopes to add Saturday hours to her offices by tirely electronic. “We are now electronically filing almost April, the closest to Wesley Chapel being in Dade City. — Matt Wiley all of our documents,” she said.
Wesley Chapel Rotarian’s Company To Appear On ‘Shark Tank’ Tonight! By Gary Nager
Although there are a lot of successful local business people who are members of the Wesley Chapel Rotary Club (which meets Wednesdays at noon at Ciao! Italian Bistro in the Shops at Wiregrass mall), we’re pretty sure that no local Rotarian had ever had his or her business featured on the hit
ABC-TV show “Shark Tank” before club member Ben Alexander and his company Balloon Distractions’ appearance on the program, which actually is being shown tonight — Friday, January 17, 9 p.m. But, even though I told Ben I would agree to not reveal whether or not the show’s “sharks” agreed to invest in his bal-
Also Inside This Issue! News, Business, Sports & Education Updates Our Exclusive Tour Of The PHCC Porter Campus, Our Editor Pays Some Respects, Road Rage Leads To Gunshots, Lots Of Local Business Features & More!
Pages 1-30
Neighborhood Magazine Full Circle Pizza Brings Chi-Town Home, Our Editor’s 2013 Local Dining Favorites, Vallarta’s Does Mexican Right, Plus More Neighborhood Nibbles & Biz Bytes!
Pages 31-40
loon entertainment franchising company and national talent agency that sends entertainers out to restaurants and other venues in 30 cities across the U.S., all I can say is that the promo for the show, which had billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner and media superstar Mark Cuban yelling at Ben to “Shut up!,” is reason enough to watch. And, plenty of Ben’s fellow Rotarians and other friends are expected to be in attendance to actually watch the “Shark Tank” episode together at 8 p.m. at PrimeBar in the Shops at Wiregrass. It should be a packed house for this unprecedented event. Even though he obviously already knew whether or not the group of sharks were going to invest in his company after the taping of the episode, Alexander himself, always the pragmatist, has worked hard to ensure that his website would have
enough capacity to handle all the hits — an average of about 500,000 — every “Shark Tank”-featured business’ website receives, whether the sharks invested in them or not. For additional information, visit BalloonDistractions.com or ABC.Go. com/shows/shark-tank.