Trilby Sees Silver Screen Roots

TRILBY - -- She had beautiful feet and a singing voice that would make you wince.

Trilby O'Farrell, the fictional character who posed nude, smoked cigarettes and lived in Bohemian Paris, made what might have been her cinematic debut Thursday night in the town that adopted her name.

About 40 people packed Trilby United Methodist Church for a screening of "Trilby," a 59-minute silent film made in 1915.

The movie was based on George du Maurier's 1894 book of the same title.

Scott Black, the Dade City commissioner and Trilby historian, bought the movie online about 18 months ago. Black and Richard Riley, who owns the movie and book, talked the crowd through the film, which offered occasional subtitles.

In the film, an artist named Little Billee, who lives with characters known as Taffy and the Laird, falls in love with Trilby but is disappointed to find her posing nude for an art class. Little Billee, Trilby and the other characters live in the same apartment building.

The lean, long-bearded and mysterious Svengali, a pianist and hypnotist also enchanted by Trilby, lives in the building as well.

Trilby agrees to marry Little Billee, but the scheming Svengali hypnotizes her when she complains of headaches. Under his spell, Trilby can sing like a professional, and Svengali takes her on a tour of Europe.

Heartbroken over the loss of Trilby, Little Billee attends a concert starring "La Svengali" with his friends. The star is Trilby, who is in a trance.

At intermission, Little Billee talks her out of the spell, but Svengali puts her back under. When Trilby returns to the stage, Svengali dies of a heart attack. Free from his power, she can no longer sing.

Trilby and Little Billee live happily ever after -- in an apartment with Taffy and the Laird.

Black said du Maurier's novel "took the world by storm" in the 1890s. After the community was named Trilby in 1901, several streets were named after characters in the book.

"I think it's pretty interesting," Andrea Hall, who has lived in Trilby about three years, said during intermission.

"I didn't know about any of this history."

Cemetery tour a walk through history

As the city grows and changes, Brooksville Cemetery becomes more important, say the people who care for and run it.

ROOKSVILLE - Kathleen Hudak was dressed in black and standing near a white gazebo on Tuesday morning in the middle of so many headstones in the historic Brooksville Cemetery.

"I would like for you to step back in time with me," she told the group of not quite 20 people who had gathered for one of her Founders Week walking tours.

A few of the folks in the group had digital cameras hanging from their necks.

Hudak stepped away from the gazebo with the cookies and the lemonade and started toward an area with some of the 19th century stones and the grass with dew.

"Cemetery ground is very uneven," she warned.

"Dirt," she said, "does shift."

Today is the last day of this city's Founders Week, which has included an array of events meant to pay homage to the way it once was: Victorian teas, horse-and-buggy rides, potato sack races and 50-cent hot dogs. But perhaps none of the festivities hearkened history in a more real way than Hudak's tours.

After all, this growing, changing state takes in more than 1,000 new residents on an average day. In this growing, changing county, the planning department updates the population figures every month.

For those reasons, Brooksville Cemetery is becoming more and more important, say the people who run it, love it and care for it.

This place is set on 511/2 acres covered with scrub pines and queen palms and majestic oaks that have been here for 200 years. It's the oldest cemetery in Hernando County and home to the oldest official burial. The headstones serve in some cases as the only remaining records of the families who first settled the county.

"We believe our history in Brooksville starts here," Hudak said on the Friday afternoon before Founders Week. "These are the founding people of our city."

Rich Howard is the longtime, cigar-smoking sexton who takes care of the grounds. He has an assistant, Ron Martin, a born-and-raised Brooksvillian who, Howard says, "can't drive by a stone without saying hello."

Hudak is a relative newcomer, a New Jersey native who moved to Hernando four years ago from South Florida - but now she lives in a house that's over 100 years old and comes out to the cemetery with a toothbrush to clean mold off stones.

"Time," she said Friday, "will evolve and destroy everything."

The names on the stones are the names on street signs and on the sides of old brick buildings: Hope, Varn, McKethan, Cobb, Lykes, Saxon, Bell, Ayers and Howell.

Buried there are early businessmen in the tangerine and turpentine trades, bankers, doctors and lawyers - and servants, volunteer firefighters and veterans of World Wars, the Spanish-American War and soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

The small Confederate flags - the stars and bars set on the bronze crosses by the traditional, peaked headstones - look different in the cemetery, somehow, than they do on the backs of pickup trucks or on some college kid's dorm room wall.

Reminders are everywhere.

Of history book hardships that once were much more real.

Women who died in childbirth.

Rows of infants from the same families.

But this cemetery is home, always, to hawks and cicadas, woodpeckers and mockingbirds and wild turkey.

Some of these extended families are gone. The fresh flowers, though, say some of them are still around town.

The "black cemetery" used to be in the rear. Now, though, because the cemetery has grown to meet the demand, it has a new location. Right in the middle.

And the stones themselves, Hudak said, are damaged by pollution and time. Some of the older ones are weathered to the point of being flat and anonymous.

"You can feel it," she said. "Run your fingers over them. It's not going to last forever.

"Stones move. Monuments move. They churn or sometimes they crack and fall.

"Everything moves."

Everything around the cemetery, of course, is moving much, much quicker.

The annexation of prime real estate ringing the city is about to change the population of Brooksville for the first time in what seems like forever.

Hernando County is a place where some people still give directions based on where things used to be and others order at the Dunkin Donuts drive-through in thick Long Island, N.Y., accents.

"That's why it's so important to maintain something like this," said Howard, the sexton. "Everything else changes. This is the common seed."

On Tuesday morning, toward the end of the tour, Hudak showed the group the statue of William Henry Varn. The boy was born on May 21, 1904, and died sometime in May 1913, but the exact date can no longer be read. The statue has sunk over the years into the earth below.

"That's what sometimes happens," Hudak told the group.

"The ground shifts."

The people in the group stood still and looked at the statue of the boy.

The dew was gone.

The sun was getting higher and hotter and coming through the trees.

Michael Kruse can be reached at mkruse@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434.

Oct 18, 2005

Trying To Save Florida's Endangered Citrus Industry

Because of these challenges, Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson says he needs an additional $83 million for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services next year.

Most of that money - some $60 million - would go to the citrus canker eradication program, which has proved vital to maintain the $9 billion industry and its more than 90,000 jobs.

Gov. Jeb Bush should include Bronson's funding in his budget request next year, and the Legislature should approve the investment.

Bronson is seeking a total of $108 million for canker - $76 million for the eradication program and $32 million to compensate growers and homeowners who have had to destroy their citrus trees. Scientists say the only surefire way to contain the spread is to remove all citrus trees within 1,900 feet of a contaminated tree.

Citrus greening, also known as yellow dragon, attacks the tree's vascular system and kills it. There is no known cure, but because it is spread by an insect, agriculture officials and scientists hope it can be controlled.

Greening is suspected or has been confirmed in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties. New finds were reported Friday in Hendry County and in Fort Pierce.

Because the agriculture department is essentially a regulatory agency, Bronson did not request money for research on citrus greening, but other federal and state scientists are busy working to find ways to contain it. They met Monday in Lakeland to discuss the kinds of questions they need to be asking, such as what to do with diseased trees and how to attract and kill the insect.

The uncertainty clearly worries grove owners. And growers aren't the only ones worried. Processors who take the fruit and make orange juice are concerned about supply. They'd like to know how to get growers, whose land developers covet, to plant more trees.

Bronson, whose leadership on growth management is lamentable, needs to invest more effort into finding ways to ensure the preservation of agricultural lands.

Oct 18, 2005

Dockery recognized for work on growth bill

Getting environmentalists, developers, farmers and the government to agree can be a daunting challenge. Factor in the issue of water and things become even thornier.

"If you had asked me what the chances were of having a comprehensive water bill that everybody agreed on, I would have said less than 10 percent," Dockery said.

But the Lakeland Republican saw a reason for hope in the sincere intentions among the parties and agreed to act as a facilitator for the effort.

The result was Senate Bill 444, a piece of legislation from that passed in the 2005 session with relatively little fanfare. Lawmakers hope it will help ease the burden of growth on Florida's finite water supply.

Now Dockery is being recognized by a Washington D.C.-based magazine for her role.

"Governing" magazine has selected Dockery as one of eight public officials from across the country to receive its Public Official of the Year award. The magazine keeps tabs on the policy-making in state and local governments. Dockery is the first Florida legislator to be honored with the award in its 19 year history.

Governing executive editor Alan Ehrenhalt praised Dockery for her work on the bill and her ability to build consensus among groups with a history of contention.

"What Paula Dockery did is unusual when there's so much partisan bickering and gridlock," Ehrenhalt said. "She cut through it."

Dockery's 15th Congressional district includes roughly two-thirds of Hernando County, mostly east of the Suncoast Parkway, and portions of Polk, Sumter, Lake and Osceola counties.

She spent a year working with various interest groups before the Legislature passed the bill with only one dissenting vote. Governor Bush signed the legislation in June.

SB 444, along with its companion SB 362, is unprecedented in that it combines several initiatives.

Dockery said the most important is the requirement for localities to have an adequate water supply before approving new development, a concept called concurrency.

She admits the policy comes down to common sense but this is the first bill that mandates it.

"If you want growth to happen, you have to develop an alternative water supply," she said.

The bill provides the plan and funding to develop those alternative water supplies -- such as desalinization, reuse and conservation -- to take the burden of growth off of Florida's aquifer. The legislation offers permitting and financial incentives to local water suppliers if they choose an alternative water supply project.

Dockery calls it a "carrot." Otherwise, local governments balk at the high cost of such alternatives and may be more likely to take the easy route to supply development by pumping groundwater.

The bills set aside $100 million annually and an additional $100 million this year to support water-related programs.

"She realized you could resolve the issue of developers trying to get water from springs and other natural systems by funding development of alternative water supplies," said Eric Draper, policy director for Audubon of Florida.

The parties agreed to share the burden, with local governments providing 60 percent of the funding for projects and the state and water management districts each contributing 20 percent.

Finally, the legislation also is a first in that it connects water supply with water quality, updating Florida law relating to the federal Clean Water Act requirement that states identify and set cleanup targets for polluted waterways.

Cathy Vogel is a lobbyist for the Association of Florida Community Developers, Inc., which represents builders of high-end developments. Vogel was part of the negotiations and said the legislation could head off an all-out water war.

"It's really going to help avoid competition and litigation in the future because we can get water for the environment and for people," Vogel said.

It wasn't easy, though. Up until about halfway through the process, there was virtually no agreement, Dockery said. She encouraged the group of roughly 100 people to break down into smaller groups to tackle the issues.

"I'm humbled and flattered that I was selected for recognition but the credit belongs to all those who through good faith efforts compromised to form a win-win comprehensive water policy for Florida," she said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be contacted at (352) 544-5286.

Apalachicola River dredging may end

State refusal to renew a Corps of Engineers permit pleases environmentalists.

APALACHICOLA - Environmentalists have won a major victory with the state's refusal to grant a permit for continued dredging of the Apalachicola River by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The corps, which is seeking a five-year permit, has not decided whether to appeal the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's decision, spokeswoman Marilyn Phipps said Thursday. It could appeal to an administrative hearing officer or in court.

The environmental group Apalachicola Riverkeepers called the permit denial historic because it "sends a clear message to Congress that Florida will no longer stand for the environmental impacts of a project with minimal economic benefit."

The dredging is done to keep the river open to barge traffic, which has declined in recent years. Some estimates put dredging costs at $30,000 per barge, making it one of the nation's most expensive waterway maintenance programs.

Environmentalists and U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, whose district includes the river, have tried to eliminate federal funding for the dredging. They contend it diverts the Florida Panhandle river from its natural channel, ruining it as a fish and wildlife habitat and harming endangered species.

In the Oct. 11 permit denial, DEP wrote that the corps failed to maintain or restore sloughs. The agency also noted that most of 150 sites where the dredge spoil is piled are near the shoreline and below the top of the natural riverbank.

"Sand often migrates downstream along the riverbanks to the mouths of sloughs, springs and other tributaries of the river where it collects and creates a sill," DEP officials wrote. The sills, if not removed, eventually block access by recreational vessels and fish during low water conditions.

Zoning Change Proposed For Laura Street Revival

PLANT CITY - In his typical low-key style, Community Development Manager Jim McDaniel is promoting an ordinance he considers key to reviving the Laura Street neighborhood east of downtown.

On the surface, it's just another zoning change. But McDaniel sees it as having far-reaching implications.

The ordinance survived a public hearing Monday night, when Mayor John Dicks balked briefly at some of its provisions and community activist Margaret Cyrise questioned the direction it might take the area.

The final hearing is scheduled for the next commission meeting, at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at city hall, 302 W. Reynolds St.

The zoning change covers an area east and south of the CSX tracks, north of Alabama Street and west of Maryland Avenue. It creates a zoning overlay allowing property owners to build on lots smaller than the minimum size specified under existing zoning.

It also reduces setback requirements.

In return, lot owners would have to dress up their homes with a front porch and three out of 12 design features such as dormers, recessed entries, special siding, bay windows and in-line, attached garage.

Dicks is not a fan of mandated design features. For one thing, he said they would be a lot of trouble to enforce.

Former city manager Phil Waldron also suggested reducing the side setbacks from 7 feet to 5. Otherwise, he said, some lots would still be too small for anything but a "shotgun house," which are long, narrow homes arranged with one room behind the other.

Cyrise, a lifelong resident of the neighborhood, wanted to be reassured that the overlay would not zone out duplexes and mother-in-law suites. Also, she worried that the neighborhood might become purely residential.

"We need doctor's offices, lawyer's offices, hairdressers," she said. "We need entrepreneurship as well as home ownership. Where are the jobs to pay for the homes?"

Cyrise also suggested extending the overlay to other parts of Lincoln Park, where similar small lots exist.

Senior planner Phillip Scearce, who was presenting the ordinance, said the zoning allows other uses besides single-family residences, and McDaniel backed him up.

He said the overlay is one piece of a puzzle he has been putting together for years. It covers the area from Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Boulevard south to Alabama Street, between Lake and Allen streets.

The area is anchored to the north by a recently completed 10-acre lake, stocked with fish and surrounded by a winding walking path.

The plan, based on reports from consultants, envisions a neighborhood something like the downtown historical district, with brick pavers and street lamps adorning sidewalks, single-family homes and town houses, two indoor malls bustling with vendors and customers, and the restored Bing boardinghouse providing a window to the area's past.

The malls would be at the southeast corner of Collins and Laura streets. One is the former home of a frozen food company, the other is occupied by an electrical company.

They would act as "incubators," McDaniel said, providing a start-up place for small businesses and vendors who might later expand.

To be developed, both properties would have to be purchased. Both are zoned industrial and would have to be rezoned.

McDaniel smiles when he points out those obstacles.

He has been overcoming obstacles for two decades as he patiently put the Laura Street puzzle together.

He can finally see it taking shape.

Oct 16, 2005

Builder Receives Another Chance

MOON - LAKE -- You might say the Rosehaven development in west Pasco has been a thorn in the side of county officials.

Developers have amended their plans for the 89-acre wooded tract east of Moon Lake Road and north of Wonder Avenue numerous times, proposing 150 mobile homes in 2002 then 82 duplex-style villas in 2003.

County planners pored over each set of plans and determined the plans were too dense for the property. Commissioners finally settled on 63 units along a 2-acre lake. About half of the property is composed of wetlands.

Now, developers are seeking 96 more units, for a total of 159. The property, which is designated for six residential units per acre, is surrounded by mobile homes and condominiums.

County planners and advisory panels recommended approval of the new plan. But at a meeting this month, something didn't sit well with County Commissioner Steve Simon, who represents Moon Lake.

"Do you remember this one?" he asked County Administrator John Gallagher. "I think it's too dense."

Gallagher nodded.

Simon recalled a room full of objectors who were on hand when commissioners reviewed Rose Builders' plans for the first time. Residents were worried about stress on wells, wear-and-tear and traffic on their already damaged roads, particularly nearby Coronado Way. A compromise was reached to build 63 homes, and the issue seemed settled.

The board at this month's meeting voted 4-1 against the latest plan to add 96 more homes, with Commissioner Ann Hildebrand casting the lone vote in favor of the plan. Commissioners said they could not support a development with higher density.

Then Simon reconsidered.

He received a call after the meeting, he said, from an advocate who said the board "did the applicant wrong." He reviewed the plans and decided the caller might be right.

At a Tuesday meeting in New Port Richey, Simon asked the board to reconsider the plans, which he said may not be as objectionable as he thought. Developers deserve another chance to argue their case before the commission, he said.

"I don't do this very often," Simon said. "But we laid one on him. I want to make a motion to reconsider. If we're of a mind to still do it, we can do it. If not, the end result will be the same."

County officials will advertise the proposal again and set a new hearing date. The developer, in essence, will get a clean slate, and the saga of Rosehaven will continue.

The Florida Times-Union

October 16, 2005

Duval County's 50 dirtiest waters

By CHARLIE PATTON
The Times-Union

The St. Johns riverkeeper calls it the "list of shame."

The state Department of Environmental Protection goes with the less melodramatic phrase "impaired rivers."

But by any name, the St. Johns River's 50 polluted tributaries in Duval County don't smell so sweet.

The 50 streams are on the list because of consistently high levels of fecal coliform, a form of bacteria involved in the digestive process of mammals, including humans.

While fecal coliform bacteria are not a health risk to humans, their presence is an indication that other bacteria, which are a health risk, may also be present.

Besides, whatever the health risks, no one relishes the idea that the waters in which they boat, fish, ski or swim are contaminated with human or animal feces.

"There's a good chance that if you are recreating in a stream in Jacksonville, there are probably going to be high levels of bacteria," said Neil Armingeon, the St. Johns riverkeeper.

In fact, Armingeon said, if the same level of pollution consistently found in those 50 rivers were found in the ocean, the ocean would be closed to swimmers. Generally, anything above a 200 measure is considered reason for caution for swimmers, while anything about 800 is considered a definite health risk. Those on the impaired rivers list are there because they consistently were measured above 400. The testing standard measures bacterial colonies per 100 milliliters.

The city's Environmental Quality Division measures fecal coliform levels at about 100 sites across the city every three months. In the spring quarter, the last for which data is available, 30 sites measured above 1,000, many considerably above. Willowbranch Creek, where it passes under a footbridge between Azalea Terrace and Willowbranch Avenue, measured 150,000.

A city plan for cleaning up the polluted rivers submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection in 2003 estimates it will take 14 years to address the problems in all 50 rivers on the state list.

Close to home

Until the city posted signs in 2003 at nine public sites where high fecal coliform levels are found, many people had no idea they were living close to such highly polluted waters.

"We kind of always wondered," said Nancy Apple, whose Miramar Terrace home backs up to Miramar Creek as it runs through Greenridge Road Park. "It looked pretty scary."

And sometimes it smelled pretty scary as well, she said.

But it was only after the city posted a sign in the park warning of high levels of bacteria that the Apples decided to forbid their three children from playing in the stream.

"They used to play in it every day," she said.

Michael Darragh, who lives on Craig Creek, which runs through Hendricks Avenue Park, said he has known for at least a decade there were problems with sewage getting into the creek.

But his neighbor Michael Munz, who worked as a senior adviser for former Mayor John Delaney, said he was surprised no one had ever notified him of the problem.

"When it floods, like it did this week, the creek is my back yard," Munz said.

Darragh said the city has done a lot to fix problems with the sewers and improve drainage in the area. But numbers compiled by the city's Environmental Quality Division indicate that high levels of fecal coliform are still present in Craig. Since last fall, samples taken in Hendricks Avenue Park have shown fecal coliform levels ranging from 1,700 to 93,000.

Root of the problem

The causes of polluted tributaries are various, with septic tank failure and what is known as sewer system overflow among the leading factors. Sewer system overflow can result when sewer lines break or when they become clogged or overloaded and back up.

For septic tanks, there are still about 140,000 in use in Duval County with more permits being issued.

Wastewater treatment plants also cause problems when they don't operate efficiently. That's why since 1987, 375 small wastewater treatment plants have been eliminated, with the sewer lines connected into regional facilities.

Animal waste also can contribute to the high fecal coliform levels, especially in rural areas. But most of the problem is caused by human waste, experts say.

Armingeon argues the existence of the impaired rivers list needs to be better publicized. At a minimum, he said, the list should be posted at every marina and boat launch in town.

But there are only nine places in Jacksonville where warning signs have been posted. They were posted in six city parks and at three public boat ramps in 2003 after the riverkeeper organization pressured the city. Two of the posted streams, Willowbranch Creek in Willowbranch Park and Little Fishweir Creek in Boone Park, aren't on the impaired rivers list. Apparently it's because they are too small to make the state's master list of identified water bodies.

The other seven places that are posted are Miramar Creek, Craig Creek, McCoy's Creek in Hollybrook Park, Hogans Creek in Confederate Park, Big Pottsburg Creek at Hogan Road, Cedar River at San Juan Avenue and the Trout River at the U.S.1 boat ramp.

But even where they are posted, the signs may not be having that much impact. Several boaters at the public boat ramp on the Cedar River said they hadn't noticed the sign.

Even people aware of the sign probably don't pay much attention, said boater Pat O'Brien of Murray Hill.

A starting point

Armingeon said he is encouraged by one recent development -- the Tributary Assessment Team project, a multi-agency effort spearheaded by the JEA. The project will develop a standard approach to identifying polluted streams, finding the source of pollution and dealing with the problem.

The project is being funded by money the JEA agreed to pay for failing to repair in a timely manner a broken pipeline that was allowing wastewater to flow into a canal off the Ortega River.

As part of a settlement in which it agreed to pay a $201,000 fine, the JEA agreed to spend $350,000 on environmental projects, including the Tributary Assessment Team project.

That project, which began last summer and will continue through July, will look at six tributaries and develop a way for evaluating pollution sources. The six were chosen partly because they were considered among the most polluted.

They are: Miramar Creek, an urban creek with a suspected pollution source already identified; Butcher Pen Creek, an urban creek that flows into the Ortega River on the Westside with no obvious pollution source; Deep Bottom Creek, a suburban creek in Mandarin with a suspected source; New Castle Creek, a suburban creek in Arlington without an obvious source; Terrapin Creek, a rural creek near a cattle farm north of Dames Point; and Blockhouse Creek, a rural creek in Ribault Hills with no obvious source of pollution.

Awareness and response

While pollution is always a concern, Armingeon noted that from a historical view, the city is doing a much better job of controlling pollution of its waterways than it did for the first two-thirds of the 20th century.

When Hans Tanzler became Jacksonville mayor in 1968, there were 77 outfalls putting raw sewage directly into the St. Johns River. Cleaning up the St. Johns became a Tanzler priority. In 1977 Tanzler, in a symbolic gesture publicizing the fact he thought the problem was solved, went waterskiing through downtown Jacksonville with a group of performers from Cypress Gardens.

In 2000 the City Council passed an ordinance that established a procedure for identifying and ranking areas where septic tank failure is a problem. The bill allocated $80 million to help pay for bringing city sewer service to the six top-ranked areas. As a result, about 6,500 septic tanks have been removed from service.

Dana Morton, of the city's Water Quality Section of the Environmental Quality Division, said he's encouraged by recent developments. But, he said, progress comes in small increments.

"It's slow, it's painful sometimes," he said.

In the meantime, people like Nancy Apple live with the consequences. Having a babbling brook in your back yard can be a beautiful thing.

But with what she now knows, Apple said, "I don't even want to put my foot in it."

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Ask for help

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the presence of unusually high levels of fecal coliform indicate the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria, viruses and protozoans. Health risks in such creek conditions can come from:

Swimming

Eating shellfish

Ingestion of water, including through the ears, eyes, nose, cuts and skin

Report pollution

Florida State Warning Point: 800-320-0519 (24 hours)

Jacksonville: (904) 630-3635

Florida Department of Environmental Protection: (904) 807-3300

U.S. Coast Guard: (904) 232-2648

St. Johns Riverkeeper: (904) 745-7591

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (fish kills): (352) 732-1225

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Duval tributary watch

At a little more than 100 sites, water quality in the tributaries of the St. Johns River is monitored every three months by Jacksonville's Regulatory and Environmental Services Department. The state also has targeted 51 of these worst offenders. Following are fecal coliform bacteria levels based on bacterial colonies per 100 milliliters. Generally, anything above a 200 is considered a reason for caution for swimmers, while anything about 800 is considered a definite health risk. "N/S" is "not sampled."
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Arlington River Basin Location April-June Red Bay Branch at Lone Star Road 1,700 Strawberry Creek at Lone Star Road 80 Strawberry Creek at Arlington Road 220 Silversmith Creek at Arlington Road 800 Big Pottsburg Creek at Belfort Road 20 Bennett Branch at Salisbury Road 3,000 Big Pottsburg Creek at Hogan Road 260 Big Pottsburg Creek at Parental Home Road 80 Little Pottsburg Creek at Art Museum Drive 700 Little Pottsburg Creek at Bedford Road 800 Broward River and Dunn Creek Basin Location April-June Broward River at Biscayne Boulevard 270 Dunn Creek at Faye Road 6130 Terrapin Creek at Alta Road 700 Dunn Creek at Dunn Creek Road 800 Rushing Branch at Alta Road 2,800 Terrapin Creek at Faye Road 800 Cedar River Basin Location April-June Butcher Pen Creek at Wesconnett Boulevard 3,000 Wills Branch North Branch at Old MIddleburg Road 1,300 Cedar River East Branch at Stuart Avenue 130 Cedar River West Branch at Stuart Avenue 1,300 Cedar River at Lenox Avenue 90 Williamson Creek at Hyde Park Road 1,100 Cedar River at San Juan Avenue 110 Wills Branch at Lane Avenue 17,000 Julington & Durbin Creek Basin Location April-June Sampson Creek at Florida 210 40 Durbin Creek at Race Track Road 80 Durbin Creek at U.S. 1 80 Cormorant Branch at Julington Creek Road 340 Julington Creek at U.S. 1 260 Julington Creek at Old St. Augustine Road 1,700 Big Davis Creek at U.S. 1 500 Oldfield Creek at Julington Creek Road 900 Miscellaneous Rural Tributaries Location April-June Brandy Branch at U.S. 301 20 Deep Creek at U.S. 90 40 Thomas Creek at U.S. 1 80 Yellow Water Creek at Normandy Boulevard 210 Yellow Water Creek south of Sal Taylor Creek 120 Ortega River Basin Location April-June McGirts Creek at Shindler Drive 1,790 McGirts Creek at Normandy Boulevard 1,300 McGirts Creek at Old Plank Road 670 Ortega River at Kirwin Road-Argyle Forest Boulevard 170 Fishing Creek at Timuquana Road 20 620 Ortega Rriver at Collins Road 160 Fishing Creek North Branch at Wesconnett Boulevard 490 Pablo Creek/Intracoastal Waterway and Greenfield/Mount Pleasant Creeks Location April-June Sandalwood Canal at Kernan Road 340 Greenfield Creek at Atlantic Boulevard 20 Mount Pleasant Creek at Mount Pleasant Road 80 Sherman Creek at A1A Bridge 20 Hogpen Creek at San Pablo Road 210 Open Creek at San Pablo Road 2,400 Cradle Creek Branch at Fairway Lane 2,200 Hopkins Creek at Kings Road 140 Third Puncheon Branch at Butler Boulevard 40 Cedar Swamp Creek at Glen Kernan Parkway 220 Puckett Creek at Wonderwood Drive 700 Sherman Creek at Wonderwood Drive 170 St. Johns River Minor Tributaries/Mill Cove Arlington Area Location April-June Jones Creek at Monument Road 110 Ginhouse Creek at Monument Road 800 Cowhead Creek at Fort Caroline Road 330 Fairchild Branch at Edenfield Road 9,000 Newcastle Creek at Fort Caroline Hills Road 2,200 Unnamed stream at Ferber Road 5,000 St. Johns River Minor Tributaries Downtown Area Location April-June Big Fishweir Creek at Hershel Street 140 Willowbranch Creek at Azalea Street 160,000 Little Fishweir Creek at Park Street 3,000 Little Fishweir Creek at Greenwood Avenue 800 Deer Creek at Talleyrand Avenue 300 Deer Creek east of Haines Street 170 Hogan Creek at First Street west of Laura Street N/S Long Branch at Wigmore Street3,000 Long Branch at Evergreen Avenue 140 McCoys Creek at Myrtle Avenue 800 McCoys Creek at Leland Street 3,000 St. Johns River Minor Tributaries Southside Area Location April-June Miller Creek at Atlantic Boulevard 4,235 New Rose Creek at San Jose Boulevard 220 Christopher Creek at San Jose Boulevard 1,100 North Creek off Plummers Cove at Scott Mill Road N/S  South Creek off Plummers Cove at Scott Mill Road 455 Deep Bottom Creek at Scott Mill Road 1,635 Tacito Creek at Scott Mill Road 315 Unnamed creek at Mandarin Road and Loretto Road 565 Unnamed creek at San Jose Boulevard 1,700 Goodbys Creek at Sanchez Road 270 Miramar Creek at San Jose Boulevard 2,000 Craig Creek in park at Hendricks Avenue 3,300 Trout River Basin Location April-June Nine Mile Creek at Trout River Boulevard 80 Trout River at Bert Maxwell boat ramp 90 Moncrief Creek at Lem Turner Road 500 Trout River at U.S. 1 at boat ramp pier 1,400 Ribault River at Harborview boat ramp 700 Six Mile Creek North Branch at Imeson Road 160 Creek at Palmdale Street at Lake Palmdale Overflow 110 Little Six Mile Creek at Pickettville Road 1,620 Moncrief Creek at 33rd Street 3,500 Highlands Creek at Broward Road 80 Blockhouse Creek at Leonid Road 700 West Branch at Capper Road 60 Six Mile Creek South Branch at Imeson Road 220

1,100-acre slice of Connerton purchased

Lennar, the nation's third-largest home builder, will construct about 1,500 homes in the seniors-only section of the massive development.

LAND O'LAKES - Home building giant Lennar has bought a chunk of Connerton, one of the Tampa Bay area's biggest and most heavily promoted housing developments.

In a deal that closed in June, the nation's third-largest home builder paid $25-million for about 1,100 acres southeast of State Road 52 and U.S. 41.

Lennar's plans center on a 55-and-over active adult community that would take in the northwest corner of the 4,800-acre Connerton. Its 1,500 homes would encompass single-family houses, villas and townhomes.

Lennar and sister company U.S. Home have built about 50,000 active adult homes, many under the Heritage and Greenbriar brands. Pasco's Heritage communities include Heritage Springs in Trinity and Heritage Pines in Hudson.

Calling itself the region's only "new town," Connerton is projected to have 8,700 homes anchored by a walkable downtown crammed with stores, offices, apartments and public buildings.

The first village in Connerton, known as the Arbors, is under construction 3 miles south of the Lennar parcel. Eight model homes and a 3,800-square-foot welcome center grace the entrance east of U.S. 41.

Lennar's section is labeled Village Five and would have its own gates on SR 52. Village Five isn't contiguous with the rest of Connerton. It's separated by a state-owned nature preserve created from 3,000 acres of the former Conner Ranch.

The lead developer in Connerton, Terrabrook in Dallas, has long predicted it would hand development of the seniors-only section to another company.

Based on other Lennar projects, Village Five would have a clubhouse, a swimming pool, tennis courts and other amenities. Terrabrook removed a golf course from the community's master plan, citing waning demand for golf and Florida's water shortages.

Connerton's selling point is relaxed natural living - witness the three-dimensional pink flowers that project from area billboards - and Lennar prides itself on building near woods, lakes and conservation land.

Lennar is the No. 1 selling builder in Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. In 2004, it sold 2,557 homes: 1,526 by U.S. Home and 1,031 by Lennar Homes.

Neither Lennar's regional president Larry Peebles nor Terrabrook's general manager Stewart Gibbons could be reached for comment.

Ordinance might end crackers for quacks

The state law against feeding alligators is the model for the Muscovy duck feeding prohibition.

County commissioners listened as the assistant county attorney soberly laid out the possibility that justice could be achieved for the victims.

"From what I've heard today, there will be videotape, which makes my job pretty easy," Kristi Wooden reported.

The offense: feeding the ducks.

In west Pasco neighborhoods stricken with flocks of Muscovy ducks, there is hardly no graver infraction than scattering bread crumbs that fatten their numbers. The black-and-white birds with warty red flesh around their bills leave driveways covered in feces, sometimes creating respiratory problems for residents.

"There are 83 petitions on file from residents of Jasmine Lakes seeking relief from the public nuisance caused by Muscovy ducks. We specifically requested an ordinance that would prohibit feeding the ducks," resident Pamela Boccaccio wrote to the Times recently.

So Wooden told commissioners Tuesday she now has "a draft of a draft" of a proposed county ordinance to outlaw the feeding of Muscovy ducks. It's modeled after state regulations that outlaw the feeding of alligators under penalty of a $500 fine.

If commissioners eventually approve the duck ordinance, it would be the first of its kind in Florida, according to county research.

One stumbling block might be when a case is taken to court and county attorneys are forced to prove that the perpetrator "intended" to feed a Muscovy duck, and that the duck is indeed a Muscovy, Wooden said.

Mallards, it turns out, are regulated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission because they are a native species. Muscovies, an "exotic" species from Central and South America, do not receive wildlife agency protection.

But work on the ordinance's wording continues amid allegations of clandestine feeding stations; and "there was a lady I talked to yesterday that has an injured duck and is going to keep on going on with the feeding," Commissioner Jack Mariano said at Tuesday's televised commission meeting.

Said Wooden of the feeding station: "That is very helpful from a prosecutorial standpoint."

Garrett Therolf covers Pasco County government. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6232 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6232. His e-mail address is gtherolf@sptimes.com

Lamenting loss of Adams and his lack of explanation

WEBB E-mail: Click here

Gary Adams resigned unexpectedly Tuesday after 16 months as Hernando County administrator.

Too bad, Gary. We hardly knew ye.

But for what it's worth, I liked what I did know. Adams came here with the best of intentions. He was genuinely excited about the possibility of helping a community prepare for its rapidly evolving future. He was aware there had been a leadership void in county government, and he was eager to fill it.

From the outset he worked long hours. Days, nights, weekends. He accepted just about every invitation extended to him to give speeches or hand out awards. And he worked those extracurricular events into his already hectic schedule of meetings and managing one of the largest work forces in the county.

He was the most accessible administrator the county has ever had. He would meet with anyone, any time, and if he could not, he would make sure someone from his staff did. He offered his private telephone numbers and answered his own phone after his executive assistant went home.

He was a good listener and he never dodged a question. He would look you straight in the eye and choose his words carefully when he responded, even when he didn't know the answer. Sometimes he'd make a note while he listened and if he did, you could count on a followup call or e-mail the next day.

His management style was evenhanded and his temperament was kind and composed. No one could accurately accuse him of being anything less than a nice guy.

Adams was, to use a cliche, willing to think outside the box, always looking for better ways to do things even when others told him it could not be done or that it had been tried before.

When he came across a wrong that needed to be righted, he would light a fire under the people who needed to address the problem, whether it was a member of his staff or an outside agency. If he promised he was on it, you could believe him.

Adams, a former elected official as well as a municipal administrator, did not like it when politics interfered with his job here. He was frustrated by commissioners who were unwilling to tackle controversial issues because they feared angering segments of voters or special interest groups. Even then, he would express his disappointment only in private, tactfully avoiding naming names. That's what you do when you're on a team.

To counter what he called misinformation and a negative image, he tried to educate the public about county government's processes and promote its successes. He appeared on television and radio shows and he met regularly with newspaper editors.

Add it all up and you see a composite of a man who is a capable, dedicated public servant and, until he decided he needed to move on, held the best interests of the county in his heart.

Now he's on his way back to whence he came, a small city in Illinois. According to his resignation letter, he's leaving partly for personal reasons (a small pay raise and an elderly relative who needs him), and partly because he does not believe he can be effective here.

Fair enough. Everybody has a right to try to better themselves professionally and an obligation to make family their top priority. But Adams' claim that his ideas were quashed calls for an explanation.

In the coming weeks, there will be much debate and speculation on this page and elsewhere in the community about why Adams is leaving and who will replace him. That dialogue is inevitable and necessary.

But before it unfolds, let's agree that regardless of his reasons, Adams' departure is Hernando County's loss.

However, if he cares about our community as much we hope he does, Adams can help us, and his successor, by being more specific about why he threw in the towel.

Reach Jeff Webb at Webb@sptimes.com or 754-6123.

Oct 12, 2005

Reporter Christi Stevens can be contacted at (352) 544-5271.

Plan calls for 999 homes near Inverness

The development, which would be built on 425 acres of land, would also include an executive golf course.

INVERNESS - A developer wants to build a 999-home development on 425 acres west of U.S. 41 S and 2 miles south of the Inverness city limits.

The land, historically used for cattle grazing, belongs to Albert Rooks Jr. of Floral City.

Coastal Engineering Associates Inc. of Brooksville has filed an application with county government to create a planned development overlay, but it's unclear whether Rooks or some other entity would be the developer.

According to the application, the deed-restricted community would contain up to 999 single-family lots. It would also include an 18-hole executive-style golf course.

The proposed project would span across five parcels.

The land was appraised at $1,785,300 in 2004, according to the Property Appraiser's Office.

The county's review of the proposal is on hold while staffers await a required traffic study, senior planner Joanna Coutu said. Once that study is in hand, staffers will schedule workshops and hearings before the Planning and Development Review Board and ultimately the County Commission.

The project would not require any zoning changes on the property, which is currently designated for low-density residential development. But developers are requesting a reduction in minimum building setbacks and accommodations for the golf course and a model home center.

The development's main entrance would be at its northern boundary: E Watson Street.

Wetlands, including a portion of Magnolia Lake, will be protected, the application says.

Earlier this year, Coastal Engineering helped prepare the plans for a proposed 4,800-home subdivision in Hernando County. It is also working on the 411-acre, 925-home Cascades project on the southern edge of Brooksville.

The county is currently considering several other large-scale projects on property owned by longtime county residents.

Last week, the Planning and Development Review Board approved the proposed 810-home Allen Plantation project, planned for 213 acres in Lecanto owned by Phillip Allen and David and Margaret Haley.

The board also held a workshop to discuss a proposed 207-acre RV park on property off State Road 44 E that is owned by Inverness attorney John Eden IV. The park could eventually have up to 1,100 RV pads.

Rooks and representatives from Coastal Engineering did not return calls requesting comment.

Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309.

Panel is storm wise not house foolish

Re: Panel rejects development, Oct. 11 Times:

The Hernando County Planning and Zoning Commission is to be commended for rejecting the Hernando Beach housing project. Florida, this "Eden" of ours, can be as ideal as the name implies for six months of the year, and a hurricane menace for the remaining six months.

The Planning and Zoning Commission was correct in reminding us of the unstable nature of hurricanes and our desire to live and build in places where we shouldn't. Hernando Beach has not been the target of a major storm; but one day it will happen, probably in our lifetime.

We should respect the obvious and not continually challenge nature by our propensity to do what is unnatural. It's a fact: Nature always wins.