September Update from Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike Moore

August was an important month for Pasco County, and I appreciate the opportunity to update you on everything that is happening in our community. I hope you stay safe and I urge you to join me in continuing to follow the guidelines from Department of Health to fight the spread of COVID-19: wear a face covering when you cannot distance from others, limit large gatherings, and wash your hands regularly.

August 27th was the grand opening for the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County. This was a significant day for our community as we opened a facility that will bring increased economic impact to our area. The WRSCPC is a true public-private partnership with the land and facility owned by Pasco County with a private day-to-day operator. The land for the sports campus was donated to Pasco County by the Porter family of Wiregrass Ranch. Weekends will see amateur youth sports tournaments fill local hotel room nights with families and athletes spending money in our local restaurants and local stores. Local programming will be available during the week while the facility is also an event space. Prior to construction, we went through detailed studies and reviews of potential uses for this site, it was clear that an indoor facility focused on youth sports and travel tournaments would have the biggest impact for our citizens and economy.

The weekend after the grand opening saw the first travel basketball tournament in the facility, which was expected to generate 500 hotel room nights in Pasco County. Due to COVID-19 capacity restrictions, we had to scale down our plans for a large community celebration to open the facility, but please check out the Pasco County government YouTube page for video highlights. We know people are still hurting and there are many programs available to assist. Operation Feed Pasco, a partnership between Pasco County and the United Way of Pasco County has now served over 84,000 meals. This program is utilizing 11 local restaurants to help provide food for 16 local non-profit food banks or soup kitchens. A similar program focused on food-insecure seniors has served over 31,500 meals since it began in April. I’m proud of these programs keeping our restaurants open while providing our non-profits an extra source of meals when there is a great need.

There are many other programs out there, from reimbursement grants for Personal Protective Equipment and training on how to properly clean facilities for businesses to Pasco CARES program to help with bills for individuals. Please check out MyPasco.net for the latest information and eligibility for these programs. The deadline for self-response to the 2020 Census is now September 30th. Please make sure you fill out the Census, it only takes a few minutes and will help ensure Pasco County receives a fair share of state and federal funding over the coming decade. You can take the Census online at 2020Census.gov or by phone or mail. Pasco County’s response rate is slightly ahead of the statewide response rate.

Remember, you can always find the latest on the Pasco County website at MyPasco.net. Please stay safe by following the guidelines provided by our health experts. We will continue to get through this by working together!

About: Commissioner Mike Moore is currently the Chairman of the Pasco County Commission. He lives in Wesley Chapel with his wife and three children.