Volume 25 Issue 21 October 6, 2017
Inside:
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Pebble Creek, Cross Creek & Live Oak Could Lose City Fire Services By JOHN C. COTEY
john@ntneighborhoodnews.com Since it opened in 2002, Tampa Fire Rescue Station No. 21 on Cross Creek Blvd. has not only serviced City of Tampa residents in New Tampa, but has also been contracted to respond to the homes in the New Tampa communities located in unincorporated Hillsborough County. That city-county agreement, however, is in peril. While it may not be time to call 9-1-1 on the negotiations just yet, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn says that unless the county bridges the gap between what it has been paying and what the city thinks the county should be paying, Fire Station 21 — located on Cross Creek Blvd. just west of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. — will no longer respond to calls from residents in Pebble Creek, Live Oak, Cross Creek and the other communities located in unincorporated Hillsborough County. “Effective Dec. 31, if some accomodation is not reached, the city is not going to be providing service to Pebble Creek anymore,’’ Buckhorn told the Neighborhood News on Sept. 29. The county is paying the city $218,000 a year, plus any adjustments related to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), to service unincorporated New Tampa, Buckhorn says that total should be closer to $1.46 million. “We have told the county, ‘Look, we are not doing this anymore’,” Buckhorn says. “You can pay us what we think we are owed and deserve, or you can go provide the service yourself or contract with Pasco County. We don’t care
Also Inside This Issue: News, Business & Sports Updates Kinnan-Mansfield Gets Boost Of Cash; New Tampa Rec Center Survives Budget Debate; Buckhorn Says New Tampa Should Be Pleased With 2018 Budget; Hurricane Relief Comes In Many Forms; Local Couple Helps With Mentoring; Girl Scout Collects Books To Help Kids; Freedom Football Finally Beats Wharton In Football; Plus, Multiple Local Business Features!
Pages 3-38
Neighborhood Magazine
Ciccio Cali Proves That The Impossible Burger IS Possible; Our New & Improved Reader Survey & Contest!; Cappy’s Pizza Keeps Doing What It Does Best; Plus, More Neighborhood Nibbles & Business Bytes!
Pages 39-52
(which one). We’re happy to be here for you, but we’re going to do it at a rate that compensates us appropriately.” Without a contract with the city, Hillsborough has limited options. One, according to Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Chief Dennis Jones, would be to stand up some kind of a response unit in the area. Another would be to contract with Pasco County, whose nearest fire rescue station is No. 26 in front of the Meadow Pointe I community in Wes- The City of Tampa and Hillsborough County are in a dispute over usage of Tampa Fire Rescue Station No. 21 on Cross Creek Blvd. (Photo: John C. Cotey) ley Chapel, about six miles away from the chief financial administrator Bonnie Wise. easternmost part uniAccording to the letter, Tampa has calcucorporated New Tampa. The nearest Hillsborough County fire res- lated the annual operating costs of Fire Station cue station is No. 5 on E. 139th Ave. in the 21 at $3,652,432, and 40 percent of that number is $1,406,973. University area. “In these tight budget times, we’re lookThe best option, according to Chief Jones, is reaching some agreement with the city. How- ing at every agreement we have and making sure ever, it is requesting that the county to pay 40 we are being fairly and adequately compensatpercent of the annual costs to operate Station ed,” Buckhorn says, “and this is one that is so 21, City of Tampa chief financial officer Sonya glaring and so out of line, we just said enough.” Jones said the county found the $1.4 milLittle wrote in a letter to Hillsborough County
lion figure “shocking.” According to numbers he says are from the city, less than two calls a day to unincorporated New Tampa are handled by Fire Station 21, or approximately 40 minutes a day (or 2.78 percent) of service. “We thought that was a little bit of a jump without some rationale behind it,’’ Jones said. “We measured calls and amount of time, and it’s a very small number for us to pay that amount of money.” Buckhorn doesn’t agree, however. “The frequency of the runs have increased significantly,” Buckhorn said. “We calculated down to the man hour, down to the cost of the vehicle, to be 40 percent of our time up there out of Station 21.” Jones says the City of Tampa is seeking money for everything from the cost of the building to vehicle depreciation to uniforms. “Basically all the costs to run the fire station,’’ he said. The county, however, is arguing that many of the costs the city wants to reimbursed for have nothing to do with the contracted services provided. Jones said the county is more than willing to make up for any CPIs that may have been missed in the past, and to pay its share of the operating costs of the fire vehicles used, as well as the materials and supplies associated with the calls to unincorporated New Tampa. But the city, Jones says, built the fire station for the residents of New Tampa, not to accommodate any contract with the county. It owns the station, and the land it’s on, and Jones doesn’t think costs associated with that should be passed on to the county.
See “Fire Station 21” on page 15.
Wesley Chapel Jazz Festival Returns To District Park October 21! By GARY NAGER
Although it always features a little more than “just” great jazz, it’s hard not to have a soft spot for the Wesley Chapel Jazz Festival, which returns to the Wesley Chapel District Park on Boyette Rd. (two miles north of S.R. 54) on Saturday, October 21, noon-8 p.m. Event organizer and promoter Tim Hancock of Jazz Tyme Productions has previously survived events where the heat index seemed to reach 120º and one cancelled by torrential rain as the headliner hit the stage. But, through it all, Hancock has brought great music, some excellent food and other vendors together for all-day shows that are appropriate for families but still allows adults to enjoy adult music and to a location only 15 minutes or so north of the Hillsborough/ Pasco county line. Hancock, who always seems to be flying by the seat of his pants but who has consistently delivered great events, did not send us the list of this year’s performers prior to our having to go to press with this issue.
Even so, bring your lawn chairs and/or blankets and grab the kids for some fun activities just for them. This year’s Jazz Festival sponsors include the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, Rubenstein Law, DeSigns Signs & Printing, Serenity Village Insurance & Consulting, Kaptain Krab Seafood, Jazz Tyme Productions and the New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News. Food vendors already announced for this year Jazz Tyme Productions is proud to announce that the Wesley Chapel include JB’s Sweet Ad- Jazz Festival will return to the Wesley Chapel District Park on Boyette dictions, Anthony & Son Rd. on Saturday, October 21, noon-8 p.m. (File photo from 2016) Catering, Momma’s Empanadas, The Tea Jug, T-Momma Catering & Kaptain Krab Seafood. For more info about the latest Wesley Chapel Jazz Festival, visit JazzTymeProductions.com.