Page 7 - 4-21-15 Tuesday's Edition

Local
Women’s Group Wants To Clear Up Confusion About Its Name
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
In 2009, an organization called “Women On The Move” was founded by Yvette Swain and Jache D. Holmes.
The mission of the organi- zation is to empower women to get involved in what’s going on in their community, and also to act as mentors for young fe- males.
Ms. Swain said they have had problems recently with others using their registered name to host different func- tions.
“We want to make sure people know which group they are working with. If they don’t see either my name, Mr.
Holmes, or Tonya Lewis’s name, they aren’t dealing with the right group.
“We’ve set up a website that has a membership page, and we have planned several proj- ects over the summer months and beyond.”
Because of the confusion with the name of the group, Ms. Swain said they have had difficulty with raising funds for a lot of their proposed projects.
“We ask anyone to visit our website, www.womenon the- movefoundation.com, and they will see everything we’re work- ing on, and how they can get involved.”
To learn more about
“Women On The Move,”
contact Ms. Swain at (813) 479-5950.
22nd Street/21st Street Enhancement Project To Feature New Streetscaping
As the 22nd Street (going north) and 21st Street (going south) corridors continue to be enhanced, the Florida Depart- ment of Transportation (FDOT) wants the residents, travelers and businesses in the area to know what new fea- tures are being added.
Aside from the changes in the street alignment, there will be 32 new parking spaces along the route.
Even more noticeable will be the inclusion of 158 new trees: 68 Wasingtonia Palm Trees, 16 Medjool Date Palms; 68 Lavender Crape Myrtles, and 6 Royal Ponciana Trees.
There will also be 8 new benches installed, 87 new 5- globe lights, and 37 new cans.
Among the street features will be: tree gates, brick cross- walks on all four approaches for signalized intersections and side street brick crosswalks all along 21st and 22nd Streets be- tween State Road 60 and Columbus Drive, granite curbs to either be reset or newly in- stalled all along 21st and 22nd Street within the Historic Dis- trict, wide sidewalks in blocks where on-street parking is not included, and a continuous bi- cycle lane.
The complete cost of the project is $8.3 million.
21st Street Looking South
22nd Street Looking North
Designers Working On Details For Next Phase
Of I-275 Expansion
TAMPA PRESBYTERIAN VILLAGE COMPLEX
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
Florida Department of Transportation spokesperson, Kris Carson, said their de- signers are still working on the details of the next phase of the I-275 expansion project. The next phase will begin at North Boulevard and go east to the Hillsborough River.
That phase of the project resulted in FDOT purchasing the Tampa Presbyterian Vil- lage Apartment complex.
“The Presbyterian Village property was purchased to fa- cilitate the construction of a noise wall. Once we saw the cost of putting up the barrier would be in excess of a million dollars, we decided it would make more sense to purchase the complex. Also, it didn’t make sense, because during the next phase of the con- struction, it would have been torn down, and we knew we’d need the property for future construction.”
Carson said they knew some of the Presbyterian Vil- lage property would be needed for the project, but they didn’t know how much.
“As it turns out, we will be
using a lot of the Presbyterian Village property. We are aware of Blake High School close by and we have no inter- est in going that far north.
“As far as the West Tampa part of the project is con- cerned, we’re still asking property owners if they are in- terested in selling their prop- erties. That won’t get started until May, because there are some discussions that need to be completed.”
Carson said the future project is huge and will go to Highway 60, to I-275 heading north, and to I-4.
“As far as the residents at the Presbyterian Village are concerned, we anticipate hav- ing all of them moved out by July 2016. It may happen sooner, as many have planned to be gone once the school year ends.”
FDOT’s proposal for Green Street is to convert it into three lanes, two lanes going west with one being a right turn and the other a left turn, and one lane going east from North Boulevard toward the river. That work will stop prior to curving under the in- terstate bridge.
No Injuries Reported In Duplex Fire
The Lealman Fire Department, in conjunction with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigation a fire. The fire was reported early Saturday.
Firefighters responded to 3710 58th Avenue, North shortly after 5 a.m., and discovered the rear apartment of the duplex fully involved in flames. Firefighters extinguished the blaze within 20 min- utes.
Officials believe that the building was vacant at the time of the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 7