Inside:
Volume 21 Issue 11
New Tampa ‘Relay For Life’ Shatters Records!
May 25, 2013
See Neighborhood Magazine!
The Direct-Mail News Magazines Serving New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Since 1993! THIS INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY NEWS MAGAZINE IS DIRECTLY MAILED TO: NEW TAMPA: Arbor Greene • Cory Lake Isles • Cross Creek • Easton Park • Grand Hampton • Heritage Isles • Hunter’s Green • Hunter’s Key • K-Bar Ranch • Lake Forest • Live Oak Preserve • Pebble Creek • Richmond Place • Tampa Palms • The Hammocks • West Meadows WESLEY CHAPEL: Aberdeen • Belle Chase • Brookside • Chapel Pines • Country Walk • Lexington Oaks • Meadow Pointe • New River • Northwood • Pinewalk • Pine Ridge • Saddlebrook • Saddleridge Estates • Saddlewood • Seven Oaks • The Lakes at Northwood • The Villages of Wesley Chapel • Wesley Pointe • Westbrook Estates • Williamsburg
Next Segment Of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. Widening To Begin In Early 2014 By Matt Wiley Although one segment of widening construction along the busy Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. recently wrapped up (except, of course, for the segment between Palm Springs Blvd. and Dona Michelle Dr. under I-75), Hillsborough County officials are now looking ahead to the next segment. The county, which just recently finished its portions of “Segments B & C,” from Pebble Creek Dr. south to Palm Springs Blvd. in Tampa Palms, will begin widening “Segment A,” the 3.58-mile stretch from Palm Springs Blvd. south to E. Bearss Ave. sometime early in 2014, pending any delays caused by the acquisition of land needed fot the widening. “We’re in the real estate process right now,” says Steve Valdez, a spokesman for the Hillsborough County Public Works Department. “We’re meeting with each property owner to negotiate the right-ofway acquisitions.” The right-of-way is the land that runs on the side of each direction of the road that the County must purchase in order to
widen BBD from a four-lane divided road to an eight-lane divided road. Segment A of the project is expected to cost about $30 million. However, Valdez says that the final number could change depending upon the actual construction costs when the project gets under way. “(Segment A) is not like the current section,” Valdez explains. “It’s much easier to acquire the land and build on it because there are very few businesses already built in that area, so there’s more right-of-way available.” Valdez says that the county is doing its best to negotiate with the property owners along BBD to acquire the six parcels of land that are needed to finish the next segment of widening. He says that, so far, there have been very few problems. But, he adds that if negotiations fall through with any of the property owners, taking the right-of-way land becomes an eminent domain issue and the case will be dealt with in court. The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives the government the power of eminent domain, or the right to take the property, as long as it can prove the property is nec-
essary for public use and that the owner is compensated justly. Of the six parcels along Segment A of BBD, a county spokesperson says that two are owned by the Tampa Palms Community Development District (CDD), one each is owned by Grace Episcopal Church, the Giunta Group, LTD, and the City of Tampa, and one is a construction easement, which allows the County to perform construction without owning The 3.58-mile section of BBD in yellow (between Palm Springs/Tampa Palms Blvd. & E. Bearss Ave.) is ‘Segment A,’ the next step in the BBD the property. widening project. The roadwork is expected to begin in early 2014. The next segment of construction will disrupt traffic overnight keep it flowing,” Valdez says. In some cases, through the only artery into Tampa Palms he says, traffic could be squeezed down to from the south, but Valdez says that com- one lane in each direction along BBD durmuters can expect to still have four lanes of ing night work. The section of BBD-widening through traffic during daylight hours. “With the amount of traffic moving Tampa Palms is unique in that Tampa through the area, we realize that we have to See “BBD” on page 14.
NTJWC Donates $7,000 To Tampa Police Department’s R.I.C.H. House
NEIGHBORHOOD MAGAZINE
County To Automate Waste Collection, Rep. Danish Finishes First Legislative Session, Freedom Softball Falls In State Title Game, Lots Of Local Business Features & More!
Happy Cow Frozen Yogurt Offers Unique Options, Our Exclusive Summer Movie Guide, Habitat For Humanity ‘Raises The Roof’ At Wiregrass & Neighborhood Nibbles & Biz Bytes!
Pages 1-36
Pages 37-52
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NEWS, BUSINESS, SPORTS & EDUCATION UPDATES
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Also Inside This Issue!
and arts and crafts supplies to video games. “We knew that we’d be a recipient of a donation from the club, but we had no idea what the amount would be,” Boles says. “(The donation) is going to uplift the quality of life (for these kids) in so many ways.” When NTJWC chairwomen of the event Michele Small, Carmela Johnson and Jolie Frankfurth filled out the check, Boles says that the Members of the GFWC NTJWC presented a $7,000 donalook on her face was that of tion to the TPD R.I.C.H. House in Sulphur Springs to go toshock and awe. ward improving the quality of life for local kids. “They were super excited,” says Small. “When we started writing out the big check, we saw that jaws were dropping. It’s going to make a huge impact for the R.I.C.H. House.” See “R.I.C.H. House” on page 14.
Postal Customer
Neighborhood kids gather at a house in central Tampa, but it’s not because they live there. Instead, they come to this house in Sulphur Springs after school to do activities, play video games, make friends and even enjoy a meal, rather than wander the streets of this neighborhood in transition. This is the Tampa Police Department (TPD) R.I.C.H. (Resources in Community Hope) House, a “Safe Haven” for the children of Sulphur Springs, and thanks to the
GFWC (General Federation of Women’s Clubs) New Tampa Junior Woman’s Club (NTJWC), the shelter now has $7,000 to improve the shelter. “In my 11 years here (at the R.I.C.H. House), this is definitely the largest single donation I have seen,” says TPD Master Patrol Officer and director of the Tampa R.I.C.H. House Debbie Boles. “It feels tremendous, knowing how much this will do for the kids.” Boles says that the money will go toward everything from after-school snacks
Dated Material Please Rush!
By Matt Wiley