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New start times for some schools By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
The Pasco County School Board has approved school bell times for the 2017-2018, and those times include some changes for schools within The Laker/Lutz News coverage area. Here’s a look at which schools are getting new starting times, along with an explanation that was provided in a news re-
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APRIL 12, 2017
lease from Pasco County Schools. • Bexley Elementary, 4380 Ballantrae Blvd., a new school, will begin its school day at 9:40 a.m. and finish the day at 3:50 p.m. • Cypress Creek Middle/High School, 8701 Old Pasco Road, also a new school, will begin its school day at 7:25 a.m. and finish it at 1:50 p.m. • Land O’ Lakes High School, 20325 Gator Lane, will begin its day at 7:25 a.m. and end it at 1:55 p.m.The school’s starting
time is five minutes earlier to provide additional time for passing between classes.The additional time is needed because the school will be undergoing a large construction project. • Charles S. Rushe Middle School, 18654 Mentmore Blvd., will begin its school day at 7:25 a.m. and finish it at 1:40 p.m. Rushe’s school day previously started at See START, page 15A
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Dignitaries prepare to throw a shovel of dirt to signify the beginning of construction for a new freestanding emergency room for Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, expected to open in Land O’ Lakes in January 2018.
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This is what Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel’s new emergency facility, being built off State Road 54 in Land O’ Lakes, will look like.
Emergency medical help coming to Central Pasco By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel is again expanding its services, this time setting up a freestanding emergency department in Land O’ Lakes. The facility, which is expected to be completed by January of 2018, will bring emergency medical assistance closer to residents of Central Pasco County. The new 18,000-square-foot center will be near the entrance to Bexley, a new community being built off of State Road 54, just east of the Suncoast Parkway in Pasco County. The facility will offer full-service emergency care, 24 hours a day, and will be staffed by board-certified emergency medicine physicians and nurses that are highly
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trained in emergency care. The 24-bed facility also will have state-ofthe-art on-site imaging services such as X-ray, ultrasound, CT scans and laboratory services. Dignitaries gathered at the site for an April 6 formal groundbreaking ceremony. Speakers included Denyse Bales-Chubb, president and CEO of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike Moore and Pasco County Fire Chief Timothy Reardon. “Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel is committed to our mission of extending the healing ministry of Christ,” Bales-Chubb said.
“With that mission, we need to make sure that we have emergency services that are convenient to where our community lives and works. “This facility will provide the same quality care that our patients receive at our main campus,” she said. Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike Moore enthusiastically welcomed the addition of the new facility to Central Pasco. “It seems like yesterday that we were just breaking ground at the expansion of the Wesley Chapel Florida Hospital facility,” See MEDICAL, page 15A
Committee looking at Task force on traffic issues ways to fund schools starts up again By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
By Kathy Steele ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
The Pasco County School Board is seeking to nearly double impact fees charged to new residential construction to help foot the bill for new schools, but a committee studying the issue wants to know about other possible sources of funding before making a recommendation. There’s no doubt that Pasco County’s residential B.C. MANION growth is generating in- Bexley Elementary, which is scheduled to open in the fall, creased enrollment, will alleviate crowding at Oakstead and Odessa elementary outpacing the school dis- schools. trict’s ability to pay for new schools. But, the 10-member School Infrastructure Maryland-based consulting firm, Tischler Funding Committee wants more information Bise. before making its recommendation to the The impact fee study calls for increasing Pasco County Commission on the school school impact fees on new homes from board’s proposed impact fee hikes. $4,828 to $9,174 for single-family detached; The county commission, not the school from $1,740 to $3,693 for single-family atboard, has the authority to impose impact tached; from $2,843 to $5,634 for mobile fees. homes; and, from $1,855 to $5,382 for multiThe school board justifies the need for an family. increase by pointing to an impact fee study See FUND, page 15A it commissioned that was completed by
A 17-member volunteer task force will pick up where two previous task forces left off — drilling down into the details of tackling traffic issues along State Road 54/State Road 56. Much of the discussion is expected to center on traffic issues at State Road 54 and Little Road, and at State Road 54 and U.S. 41. Little Road is seen as more typical of congested intersections in the county. The U.S. 41 intersection, however, stands out because more than 100,000 vehicles pass through daily. “It’s the most congested one in the whole county that we have,” said Ali Atefi, transportation engineer with Pasco County’s Metropolitan Planning Organization. This is the second of a three-part study to find traffic solutions to ease congestion, improve safety and increase mobility along a corridor that has been a magnet for new residential and commercial development. The entire study area includes the State Road 54/State Road 56 corridor, from Bruce B. Downs Boulevard on the east and U.S. 19 on the west. See TRAFFIC, page 15A