Volume 22 Issue 03
Inside:
An Exclusive Look At Lake Jovita CC!
February 01, 2014
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 • Bridgewater • 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 • Watergrass • Wesley Pointe • Westbrook Estates • Williamsburg
Homes For Our Troops Sets Up Injured Vet In Cory Lake Isles By Matt Wiley
Nearly three years after the blast that left him paralyzed from the waist down while serving our country overseas, a Tampa U.S. Army veteran and his wife have moved into a new home in Cory Lake Isles that was built specifically for them by Homes For Our Troops. On February 27, 2011, Army Staff Sgt. Alex Dillman (originally from Town N’Country) was on patrol during his second deployment to Ghazni, Afghanistan, when the vehicle he and his platoon were traveling in struck an IED (improvised explosive device). Dillman’s spine was fractured in three places, causing him to lose most of the use of his legs, in addition to multiple other injuries. However, thanks to the nonprofit organization Homes For Our Troops, Dillman — a Purple Heart recipient — and his wife Holly, both 28, now have a home that caters to Alex’s special needs, right here in New Tampa’s Cory Lake Isles community, with multiple features that allow him to get around the house with ease and still be able to perform daily tasks that would be much more difficult in a normal home. The couple received the keys in a ceremony on December 5 of last year.
Alex explains that during the two years he was recovering n both the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, and James A. Haley Veterans (VA) Hospital, located south of Fletcher Ave. on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. Holly heard about Homes For Our Troops while staying at the Fisher House, the residence where the families of the injured vets being treated at Tampa’s VA can stay for free. “Holly was in the kitchen (at the Fisher House) and one of the spouses approached her about (Homes For Our Troops),” Alex explains. “We still weren’t sure what we were going to do when I got our of the hospital. So, one night she looked into it, and I met the criteria.” Homes For Our Troops offers a “New Home Program” to veterans who are retired or are in the process of medical retirement from military service and have been injured in combat sometime since September 11. The organization raises money, collects materials and arranges labor to build homes. In this case, the organization worked with Aziz Construction and several accessibility
(Left) U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Alex Dillman on patrol in Ghazni, Afghanistan. (Right) Alex & Holly Dillman have been in their new home in Cory Lake Isles, built for them by Homes For Our Troops, since December. equipment providers, including Mowen, a home is going to be built for you. The orHarmar and 101 Mobility. Alex says that ganization even provides a financial planner the level of his injuries also was a factor. to help set families up for success with items Holly says that the application process they must pay for once they accept the keys was very thorough and took several weeks. to the home, including paying home insur“I think maybe a month later, in No- ance and property taxes. Since Alex was still vember 2012, they called us,” Alex says. receiving treatment, Holly attended and “They invited us up to Boston for a confer- was able to pick out a floor plan. She also ence about building a home.” requested a lot in Cory Lake Isles after Holly says that getting invited to a See ‘Our Troops’ on page 14 conference is a pretty good indication that
Change In Federal Regulation Forces Removal Of Trees In Tampa Palms By Matt Wiley
Tampa Palms residents may notice more light coming through the trees along Yardley Way, as well as a much better view of the high voltage power transmission lines that stretch through the community on a vacant strip of property, as a Federal regulation now is requiring power companies to trim or remove trees and foliage that could interfere with those lines during a storm.
An April 2013 change to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)’s regulation entitled “18 CFR Part 40” strengthens a requirement for power companies to manage vegetation around highvoltage transmission lines, such as the lines that currently traverse Tampa Palms. By using a “zero tolerance” policy for vegetation management, the FERC reports that this will better safeguard the possibility of a major power outage, such as the 2003
Also Inside This Issue! News, Business, Sports & Education Updates
Neighborhood Magazine
St. Mark’s Breaks Ground On New Church, The Latest On The BBD Widening & The Shooting Death At The Grove Theater, Plus Lots Of Local Business Features & More!
Full Circle Pizza Brings Chi-Town Home, Sushi Raw Spices Up Shoppes Of Amberly, Lake Jovita Is Not Just For Members, Plus More Neighborhood Nibbles & Biz Bytes!
Pages 1-42
Pages 43-64
blackout in the northeastern U.S., which was determined to have been caused inpart by unmanaged vegetation near transmission lines. To comply with this regulation change, both TECO Power and Duke Energy have been trimming and removing trees and vegetation that either currently are coming into contact with, or have the possibility of coming into contact with, these Federallyprotected transmission lines. In addition to having the potential to bring down lines, trees in close enough proximity have the potential to cause “flashovers,” which occur when power lines touch one another and can cause the lines to short-circuit. “The transmission line in the Tampa Palms community is a critical part of the Florida transmission grid,” says Sterling Ivey, spokesman for Duke Energy. “Maintaining this line is vital to providing reliable See ‘Trees’ on page 14
Tree stumps, like the one pictured above, are all that remain of many trees that used to provide shade over a walking path near Yardley Way in The Enclave community of Tampa Palms.