Volume 21 Issue 12
Inside:
June 8, 2013
Local High Schools Graduate Nearly 800! See page 27!
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S.R. 54 Widening (E. Of Curley Rd.) Project Gets Mixed Public Reaction By Matt Wiley Despite the recent widening of S.R. 54 between I-75 and Curley Rd., traversing S.R. 54 can be a challenge once the busy roadway slims down to two lanes east of Curley Rd. However, what poses an even greater challenge right now is widening the two-lane portion of 54 to a four-lane divided highway, while appeasing public opinion in communities where access could potentially be restricted by medians. Inside the sanctuary of Atonement Lutheran Church, located on S.R. 54, on the evening of May 9, Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills residents crowded around large boards displaying aerial views of the future of this portion of S.R. 54: a four lane divided road stretching 4.5 miles from Curley Rd. east to Morris Bridge Rd. The 1.4-mile section from Curley Rd. to Foxwood Blvd. also will include an auxiliary lane in each direction, expanding S.R. 54 to a six-lane divided road. The project, which is estimated to cost about $37.8-million and funded by the Florida Department of Transportation
(FDOT), also will include four-foot-wide bike lanes, as well as a five-foot-wide sidewalk on one side and an eight-foot-wide paved walking path along S.R. 54 from Curley Rd. to Morris Bridge Rd. The FDOT public meeting was the first glimpse for most residents of the potential design of this section of the widened road. The design of the roadway, which is about 60-percent complete, provided a first-hand look for residents at how access to communities and businesses along S.R. 54 could be affected by the project. “We do these meetings for the public every so often to get their input,” said FDOT District 7 spokeswoman Kris Carson. “Tonight, the biggest issue has been medians and access. We’re just trying to let the public know what the design looks like. We can accommodate some requests, especially for businesses, but there are median spacing rules for safety.” While access to some communities and businesses may become more convenient, with turn lanes and breaks in the median, the opposite also is true for others, as access could become more difficult, in many cases
requiring a U-turn for traffic heading in one direction to be able to head the other way. In the current plans, on the south side of S.R. 54, communities that will experience a change in access include Ashley Pines at Smith Rd.; Country Crossings at Foxwood Blvd.; the Brookshire Estates at Brook Manor Dr.; the neighborhoods at Linda Dr. and Ernest Dr. and the new Ashton Oaks community at Ashton Oaks Blvd. This section of FDOT’s design of the widening of S.R. 54 between The change in access Curley Rd. and Morris Bridge Rd. demonstrates the right-turnoptions will restrict residents in, right-turn-out that Ashton Oaks and many other residents to a right-turn-in, right-turn- will be faced with when medians are installed. Photo: FDOT out onto eastbound S.R. 54. However, left turn lanes are included into tion bidding until the summer of 2015, the communities from westbound S.R. 54. with construction potentially beginning Although FDOT is showing plans to that fall. Zephyrhills resident Arthur Glennon the public for the project as it continues to said was neither surprised by the design, nor work to finalize those plans during the next several months, Carson says that the project isn’t expected to be put out for construcSee “S.R. 54” on page 34.
Tomas ‘Tommy’ Gonzalez To Be Pasco’s New County Administrator
NEIGHBORHOOD MAGAZINE!
Stacie Lenners Is Leukemia Society’s ‘Woman Wesley Chapel & Wiregrass Ranch High Classes Of The Year,’ WC Honorary Mayor Races Of 2013 Walk The SunDome Stage, Happy Kick Off, Weightman PTSA Treasurer Arrested Cow (Soft) Serves Up Smiles, Plus More For Embezzlement & More! Neighborhood Nibbles & Biz Bytes!
Pages 1-26
Pages 27-40
See “Gonzalez” on page 34.
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NEWS, BUSINESS, SPORTS & EDUCATION UPDATES
didn’t want it renewed or if it was the Irving City Council that decided not to renew it. Gonzalez currently is set to serve as interim city manager until October. “I just want to make sure he’s committed,” Mulieri said. Tomas (“Tommy”) Gonzalez “New ideas are good and new people can be good,” Mulieri also said later in the meeting. “And I do think we need a bridge. Gallagher is leaving. I think there has to be someone there who
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County, FL’s administrator, before his contract was terminated last October. “I think this process has been one that has been extremely transparent to the public,” said BOCC chairman Ted Schrader. “We’ve made every effort to distance ourselves from the internal candidate (Baker). I think that demonstrates the openness of this Board to make sure that our search led us to who we all feel like is the right person for this job. Procedurally, we obviously have never done this before.” Although Gonzalez, 46, was chosen by a unanimous 5-0 vote, several commissioners raised concerns and it seemed as though it would be a tough choice between Baker, who has worked for Pasco for 20 years (the past six years in administration) and Gonzalez. Johnson and Oliver were ruled out early in the meeting. District 2 Commissioner Pat Mulieri expressed concern that Gonzalez’s city manager contract in Irving had not been renewed and that it wasn’t clear whether he
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The debate is over and the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has chosen a replacement for retiring administrator John Gallagher: Tomas “Tommy” Gonzalez, who currently is the city manager of Irving, TX (near Dallas). Current Pasco chief assistant county administrator Michele Baker is serving as interim administrator until a contract is negotiated with Gonzalez.
On May 28, the BOCC met for a special meeting in Dade City with one order of business to discuss: replacing Gallagher, who has been Pasco’s county administrator for the last 31 years. A list of more than 60 applicants had been narrowed down to four, each of whom interviewed individually with the BOCC on May 25. Among the final four were Gonzalez, Baker, Hillsborough County director of strategic planning Eric Johnson and Randy Oliver, who previously served as Escambia
Dated Material Please Rush!
By Matt Wiley