On April 17, 2019, CONA will hold its last regularly scheduled meeting of the year at the New Port Richey City Hall. This month's special guest is Detective Sgt. S. Soto with the PSO's Missing Persons Unit.

OnOn May 15, 2019, CONA will be hosting a Round Table Breakfast at the Spartan Manor. Past guest speakers, CONA sponsors, and other Pasco County businesses and indivuals will be in attendance to celebrate the end of another successful season, and to discuss important topics that affect our communities with our membership. This event will be free to current CONA members,members, and $20 for non members. Check out our website, Facebook page, or latest eblast for more information.

THE COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS IS A NON-PARTISAN ORGANIZATIONCONAPASCO.ORG | INFO@CONAPASCO.ORG | FACEBOOK.COM/CONAPASCOCOUNTY

Jack Mariano, a Pasco County commissioner and part-time insurance salesman, has a new line on his resume: Developer.

MarianoMariano paid $900,000 in a cash deal for an undeveloped 8.37-acre parcel fronting the Gulf of Mexico in a transaction that closed March 8. The land adjoins the Gulf Islands Beach and Tennis Resort on Sea Ranch Drive and is zoned for a multi-family high-rise.

MarianoMariano said the land will be developed as a condominium complex of a five-story building atop a two-story parking deck. It could contain between 50 and 88 units depending on the final design.

TheThe property will be owned by a newly formed company called Sunset Phase 4, comprised of Mariano and his investors: Rod Kielty of R.J. Kielty Plumbing; physician Krishna Ravi; William Woodward, president of Coastal Aluminium; engineer Elie Araj, president of Applied Sciences Consulting, and Thomas Giroud.

MarianoMariano reported his net worth at $174,000, according to his most recent financial disclosure filing, and listed an income of $115,306 from his commission salary and his work at Barrett Harding Insurance. He said he put up the $45,000 down payment and will retain 51 percent ownership of the new company.

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The Council of Neighborhood Associations

MARCH 2019

The Voice of Condo, Civic, and Homeowner Associations of Pasco County

THE COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS IS A NON-PARTISAN ORGANIZATIONCONAPASCO.ORG | INFO@CONAPASCO.ORG | FACEBOOK.COM/CONAPASCOCOUNTY

A new I-75 interchange is coming to Pasco County. State and local leaders hope it will relieve traffic on State Roads 52, 54 and 56.

TheThe interchange will be added at Overpass Road, located between State Roads 52 and 54. Right now, there is a roughly six-mile stretch without an exit or entrance to I-75 between the two roads. The new interchange would cut that in half.

““Pasco County is really booming right now,” said Kris Carson, FDOT spokesperson. “These improvements are needed.”

Overpass Road will also be revamped. FDOT says the road will go from two to four lanes between I-75 and Old Pasco Road. The road will expand to six lanes between I-75 and Boyette Road.

BlairBlair Drive will also be reworked to connect with Old Pasco Road. McKendree Road will be redone to connect with Boyette Road.

“The bridge is there so now it’s just a matter of building the interchange around the bridge,” said Dan Biles, Pasco County Administrator.

WWork is happening behind the scenes to make sure crews will be able to break ground on the $65 million project in 2020.

The area near Overpass Road will also look different in coming years. Pasco County is working to transform county-owned land near the interstate into a business park.

ThisThis project will follows the diverging diamond planned for I-75 and SR 56. Construction began earlier this year.

A Hudson company will continue to drive the advertising dollars for Pasco County's bus fleet, commissioners decided on Tuesday.

InIn a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Kathryn Starkey dissenting, commissioners overturned a recommendation from senior staff members and County Administrator Dan Biles that favored MAD Graphics of Tampa for the county contract. Instead, the commission majority sided with Black Jack Media Group of Hudson, which protested the staff’s decision and appealed directly to commissioners.

TheThe company found a receptive audience, particularly among Commissioners Jack Mariano and Mike Wells Jr., who said they believed MAD Graphics didn’t meet the minimum qualifications of having prior experience with a mass transit system.

PPasco began the program in 2011 to generate money for transit operations without bumping fares. The partnership has generated more than $1 million in revenue to the county over the past seven years, said Black Jack’s attorney, Steve Booth.

But,But, the relationship has been bumpy. Less than two years into the contract, the two sides bickered over Black Jack’s missed payments that totaled nearly $94,000 by early 2014. The company argued the county wasn’t keeping its buses operational, which forced Black Jack to offer advertisers’ refunds for wrapped buses parked in a garage.

EEventually, the two sides settled their differences, but Black Jack Media Group CEO Amanda Hart stated in her appeal that Assistant County Administrator Cathy Pearson, a member of the evaluation committee, showed a lingering bias against the company.

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THE COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS IS A NON-PARTISAN ORGANIZATIONCONAPASCO.ORG | INFO@CONAPASCO.ORG | FACEBOOK.COM/CONAPASCOCOUNTY

Charter schools in Florida are publicly funded and privately operated, but they’re also sponsored by school boards that hold their contracts.

As a result, they need to get permission — even if it’s largely ministerial because of state requirements — to do things like increase their size. Such requests usually come in the springtime.

ThisThis year, three Pasco County charter schools are seeking School Board approvals for the 2019-20 year.

TheThe biggest ask comes from Learning Lodge Academy, which needs a charter renewal to remain in business after its first five years. Learning Lodge is a west-side elementary school that enrolls just over 200 students, and has earned mostly A’s and B’s in the state grading system.

DistrictDistrict officials have reviewed the charter school’s performance in 30 academic, financial and management areas, and found it to be fully or partially compliant with its expectations. They have recommended the board approve the request. If the board accepts the recommendation, it would still need to negotiate a new contract with Learning Lodge.

DDayspring Academy, the county’s oldest charter school, has asked for another expansion of its enrollment capacity. Currently at about 825 students, the K-12 school wants to add another 75 more seats, a 9 percent increase.

DistrictDistrict staff noted Dayspring has met the state qualifications as a “high performing” charter school, and as such is entitled by law to increase its enrollment once annually beyond the capacity in its contract, so long as it does not exceed its built space.

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If you live in Pasco County, double check your receipts. Another business was found to be charging too much in sales tax.

Pasco County tax collector Mike Fasano can’t understand why there’s so much confusion.

“It’s the store's fault. It’s no one else's fault,” he said. StoStores in parts of Pasco County were found charging 8.5% sales tax instead of 7. They are in areas that share a zip code with Hillsborough County but should not be charging Hillsborough’s higher rate. “Th“They are miles outside of Hillsborough County," said Fasano. A state review found 33 Pasco County businesses in Lutz and Odessa near the county line were assigned the wrong locations. SoSo their higher sales taxes were going to Hillsborough County. The problem was fixed and the state is sending more than $620,000 back to Pasco. But this week there are more issues.

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