January Update from Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike Moore

Happy New Year!! I hope you and your families had a great Christmas and holiday season. 2021 was a great year for Pasco County and more exciting things will come in 2022.

Vaccine rollout is continuing with all Floridians of age now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Please check out the Florida Department of Health in Pasco County’s website at pasco. floridahealth.gov for all the latest information, including on COVID-19 booster shots.

Monoclonal antibody therapy treatment is now being handled by local healthcare providers. Monoclonal antibody therapy treatment is for individuals who have contracted or been exposed to COVID-19. You can find treatment locations online at Florida- HealthCOVID19.gov.

On December 16th, I had the privilege of presenting 100 Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Paula Stano, founder of the Stano Foundation. These hats will be sent in care packages to our military units overseas. The Stano Foundation does a great job making sure our local units know our communities are thinking about them while they are deployed. Thank you to the Bucs for donating the hats!

Pasco’s tourism is still strong! In Fiscal Year 2021, tourist development tax collections, paid by visitors staying overnight in hotels, was up 17 percent over our last fiscal year before COVID! This is great news and a strong endorsement of the strategy and work done by the team. I am proud to be the Chairman of Pasco’s Tourist Development Council!

In December, we had two tourism related ribbon cuttings. First, The Spoke in Dade City is a cool partnership between the City of Dade City and Florida’s Sports Coast as Pasco County’s tourism Destination Management Organization. The Spoke is a visitor information center focused on cyclists along the Hardy Trail in downtown Dade City. It will have information, local products, and a place for the thousands of cyclists come through Pasco County every year to learn more about our community!

Next, the new Residence Inn by Marriott held a ribbon cutting ceremony in December! This is adjacent to the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County and on land donated to the county by the Porter family of Wiregrass Ranch. This new hotel will focus on athletes and their families coming to the sports campus. It will also have Wesley Chapel’s first rooftop bar, expected to open in mid-January!

Please check out Pasco County’s website at MyPasco.net for all the latest information.

Have a wonderful and healthy start to the new year!

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