Temple Terrace Public Meeting # 2

The second public meeting I covered talked primarily about the Temple Terrace River Watch Task Force, which oversees the water that is being used and makes sure it is regulated. The Task Force Chairman, Jack Westberry was present, along with two members of the unit.

First off, Dr. Marty Kelly from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as “SWIFTMUD,” gave a report on how the Temple Terrace water supply is currently fairing. He gave rough data of how much water is flowing through the Temple Terrace dam every day. Slightly more than 200 million gallons of water a day is passing through the dam and the total amount of water being spread out between canals in the area suggest that nearly one billion gallons of water is flowing per day.

The next topic discussed was about the work being done on the Fowler Avenue Bridge. The Task Force Liaison, Joe Gross, explained that the bridge will eventually be widened, but that workers are in the beginning stages. Gross said that the borings and drillings were completed to get an idea of how the bridge would be supported. However, Gross added that the final completion of the bridge is a few years away.

Afterwards, Gross talked about a new topic, area water use. He recapped a water use panel workshop that took place at the University of South Florida on February 15, and explained what new ways to conserve water in the district. Gross also mentioned that Tampa Zoning is considering adopting dock regulations to ensure FEMA compliance with seawalls and structures. Later, Gross talked about a new idea called “watergoat.” It was developed by a group known as New Earth Industries and seems to be a cost-effective idea. Watergoat, as Gross explained, is a basin device that has the ability to clean out debris in lakes. Gross concluded that this idea would be talked about more in the coming meetings.

Finally, Temple Terrace marine officer Richard Scilabro stressed the number of speed zone violations he had been encountering on rivers in the area. The talked about new ways to discourage boat speeding violations, such as boat ramp fees, stricter fines for speeding, and more patrol officers out on the water. The Task Force committee, which included Chairman Westberry and two other members, suggested that Scilabro make his boat striped so that other boaters know that the water is being patrolled. They also suggested the construction of more signs, which in turn, would show boats who may be speeding, that the area which their boat is in is either a “no wake zone” or a slower speed zone.