The Official Unofficial Seminole Heights Blog

By KATHY STEELE ksteele@tampatrib.com

Published: October 22, 2008

SULPHUR SPRINGS - A city project to replace 12th Street sewer pipes is on schedule, the contractor says, but a pocket park on Park Circle and surrounding streets will be closed to through traffic until March.

A portion of 19th Street at Mohawk Avenue, just off East Hillsborough Avenue, will be closed until late November. Workers are preparing to tunnel under Hillsborough to avoid closing one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares.

At a town hall meeting with about 20 residents at Sulphur Springs Elementary School, Mayor Pam Iorio fielded a question on the pace of the $19 million sewer replacement project.

Some residents have expressed concern that “it is going slower than anticipated,” said Christie Hess, head of the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association’s crime watch.

The approximately 4-mile route will stretch from Sulphur Springs to East Tampa and take about a year to complete. The pipes will replace defective 1980s pipes sold by a company that since has been sued out of business.

Replacement became urgent after two major sewer breaks within two years in Sulphur Springs and Seminole Heights.

“If we don’t get on that, the 12th Street sewer is old and they’ll be a geyser of sewer,” Iorio said. “Not on my watch.”

Representatives of CHRMHill Constructors said the company is sending letters to nearby residences to explain each phase of the work. Blue-vested field ambassadors are in the neighborhood to answer questions.

The neighborhood association also is sending e-mail alerts on the project’s progress.

Work began in September at Park Circle and will head to Hilton and Crenshaw streets before turning onto 13th Street. From 19th between Mohawk and Hillsborough, the route moves south toward East Tampa, ending at the intersection of 26th Street and 29th Avenue.

Among the final segments, workers will dig about 40 feet under the Hillsborough River to link pipes on Park Circle to the Sulphur Springs pumping station at 12th and Nome streets.

Residents also learned at the Oct. 14 town hall meeting that Sulphur Springs and West Tampa could be major beneficiaries of the more than $13 million the city will receive from a federal foreclosure relief plan. Hillsborough County will receive about $19 million.

A report on how the money will be spent and which properties will be targeted will be given to the city council Nov. 20, said Cynthia Miller, the city’s growth management and development services director.

Miller told the council Thursday that the city would sell abandoned or foreclosed houses to first-time homebuyers or repair them for rentals.

“This can be a major, major improvement to the neighborhood,” she said.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652.

From today’s Tampa Tribune. Looks like our neighbors to the South are working together as well.

By JOSE PATINO GIRONA jpatino@tampatrib.com Published: October 22, 2008 TAMPA HEIGHTS - While many are tucked in bed watching late-night television, a small cast of residents take on the role of anonymous crime-fighters. As part of the police department’s Mobile Patrol, they drive around the neighborhood’s streets and alleys, examining each locale with the concentration of research scientists peering into microscopes.

On a recent night, Gail Smiley-Dixon, her husband, Jon Dixon, and Mike Spokas cruised in search of suspicious activity. When something caught their attention, Smiley-Dixon slowed the car, and her husband used a flashlight to help investigate. They inspected vacant lots, the outside of boarded-up homes, alleys and empty parks. On this night, all is clear. But the patrol members are pleased to be making a difference. “We see change,” said Smiley-Dixon, a 10-year resident. “By us calling and communicating to the (police) officers, we see things get done.” She and her husband are leading the charge and trying to recruit volunteers for the patrol, which was formed recently in Tampa Heights. The program was spearheaded several years ago by Seminole Heights residents, said Officer Jason DeGagne, a crime prevention officer. Participants go through a background check and take a one-hour course with the police department, including tips on what to look for and how to approach their role. Volunteers wear police-issued T-shirts identifying them with the program, and cars must have identifying placards on the doors. Patrols notify the police shift commander when they start and end their shift. Participants patrol Tampa Heights and downtown once a week for two hours. Police recommend that volunteers carry a cell phone with a backup battery, never travel alone and stay in their vehicle. Their role: call police when they see something suspicious. “We can’t be everywhere at one time,” DeGagne said. “It gives us extra eyes and ears on the streets. “It sends a message to the criminal element that the residents are wanting to take back their neighborhood,” he said. On previous trips, patrol members have called to report a car parked in the middle of the street, strangers hanging out at night in front of a vacant house and a car in a dark, secluded park. “Hopefully, it becomes a deterrent,” said Jon Dixon, 42. Spokas, who has lived in Tampa Heights for six years, said patrolling is a way to perpetuate change in the area. “I see it (the neighborhood) as a diamond in the rough,” said Spokas, 36. “If everyone throws in the towel and leaves, it will never change.” ON PATROL For information about the police department’s Mobile Patrol program, call Officer Jason DeGagne at (813) 242-3810.

In honor of your support and membership, OSHNA is giving away free trees!  And did we mention, planting them too!

Laurel Oaks*
Live Oaks*
Winged Elms

(All trees are 20 to 30 gallon in size.)

* Choice of tree is based on planting location … due to city recommendations, oaks cannot be planted under existing power lines.

Watch for the postcard announcement in
your mailbox and join us at the next
General Membership Meeting,
Tuesday, October 28th, 7pm.
 
Bring your postcard for the drawing, and if you have a neighbor unable to attend the meeting, bring their postcard along with you.
 
Disclaimer:  You do not need to be present to win, but postcards do need to be presented for the drawing, only one tree per household, trees will only be planted within the boundaries of the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association and all winners will be announced during the meeting, via Bungalow Alert and by personal communication.
  
Postcards should be delivered via USPS starting today and they are bright yellow!