February Update from Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike MooreAvalon Park Sun Wesley Chapel February 2021 Edition

I hope you all had a great start to the new year in January! I greatly appreciate the opportunity to give the Avalon Park Sun these monthly updates from Pasco County.

Please make sure to continue following the guidelines from our health experts to fight the spread of COVID-19: wear a face covering when you cannot distance from others, wash your hands regularly, and avoid large groups.

Construction has begun on the new Overpass Road interchange at Interstate 75. Pasco County is paying for the new flyover diamond interchange and it will be built by the Florida Department of Transportation. This will significantly benefit Avalon Park Wesley Chapel by relieving traffic off the interchange at Exit 279 (State Road 54). On February 8th, the section of Overpass Road between Old Pasco Road and Boyette Road will close for approximately one year for construction. There will be plenty of signage for detours in the area. The Overpass Road interchange is expected to open sometime in 2023. This is in addition to the new Diverging Diamond Interchange under construction at State Road 56 and I-75.

I’m thrilled to let you know Moffitt Cancer Center is expanding to Pasco County! On January 26th, the Pasco County Commission approved a partnership with Moffitt Cancer Center for a new research campus in Pasco County! The Moffitt Pasco campus will be a magnet for biotech and life sciences enterprises and innovation. The work they will do right here in Pasco County will be transformational for our community economically while saving lives of people from around the world. Phase one of the project will include 128,000 square feet of space.

In January, Pasco County received our results from the 2020 National Citizen Survey. 74 percent of respondents said there is a positive quality of life in Pasco County, up twelve percent since 2009! County Commission District 2, which I proudly represent and includes Avalon Park, had the highest overall confidence in Pasco County government. I will continue working hard to make sure Pasco County is the premier place for our citizens to live, work and play!

In past columns, I have mentioned many Pasco CARES Act programs to help those who suffered financially from COVID-19 with mortgage, rent and utility relief. Through the end of 2020, Pasco County was able to assist over 2,700 households. I want to thank hard working Pasco County staff and our non-profit partners for their dedication in processing and verifying these applications.

The Pasco County legislative delegation held a meeting in January. I’d like to congratulate State Representative Randy Maggard for being elected Chairman and State Senator Danny Burgess for being elected Vice-Chairman of the delegation. The 2021 state legislative session begins in March and I look forward to working with all six legislators that represent Pasco County to benefit our citizens!

Are you interested in watching County Commission meetings? You can watch live and archived meetings on the Pasco County Government channel on YouTube. The County Commission normally meets twice a month.

For all the latest information, please make sure to check out Pasco County’s website at MyPasco.net. Remember, we will continue to get through this by working together!

About: Commissioner Mike Moore represents District 2 on the Pasco County Commission. He lives in Wesley Chapel with his wife and three children.