Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

95 years ago…

July 21, 1911 – During a special address to city council, Dr. Hiram Byrd urges Tampa to improve its sewerage situation. Byrd, the assistant state health officer of Florida, cites the need for adequate sewerage as the state’s greatest overall need. In Tampa, he said, nearly 5,000 people were not supplied with sewerage, a number equivalent to the population of Gainesville. Byrd enthralled the captive audience with information on germ carrying flies, unsanitary dairy conditions, septic tank usage, and the inherent risks of typhoid. The Tampa Morning-Tribune called Byrd’s address “probably the most masterly one ever given in Tampa on the question of sanitation.”

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.

Based on their pained expressions, it’s easy to see that Gasparilla Marathon runners are thirsty for something familiar.  You’ll notice those runners will just grab anything being handed out along the raceway.  But the result is always the same - once they taste that first sip, they throw the cup down in disgust.  What’s in those cups?  Probably Aquafina or Zephyrhills water.  Maybe even Perrier.  Fine stuff, to be sure.  But not what those athletes want.  What they really want is some regular old Tampa tap water.

Well, I have good news for those race runners.  From the City of Tampa Water Department:

Clearly Tampa bottled water is the same high-quality drinking water provided daily to Tampa residents and businesses by the Tampa Water Department.

That is right.  It is no longer necessary for you to stay home in order to enjoy the refreshing taste of regular city tapwater.  The Tampa Water Department has found a way to capture that reclaimed poopwater, so you can drink it on the run.  This is not a dream - you can find your favorite drink made from the beautiful natural resources of the Hillsborough River, packaged in easy-to-hold plastic containers.

But this water is not just good for Gasparilla entrants.  Not at all.  Imagine South Tampa housewives on soccer field sidelines no longer being forced to drinking water from some other place.  HARTline bus riders could use this refreshing, refined beverage, since they have to walk a couple miles to the closest stop.  Ravers would probably prefer these bottles of water too.

And of course, don’t forget - we’re in the middle of HURRICANE SEASON.  Picture yourself being shipped off to some evacuation center.  With your own case of Clearly Tampa tapwater, you would no longer have to stand in line for the tapwater fountain.

Alas, the alluring flavor of Clearly Tampa is not available for everyone.  You cannot purchase this stuff in stores.  You can’t even buy it from the city.  The only time you will see this stuff is during city-sponsored events.  Drat.

But you CAN get a magnet.

Editor’s note:  This stuff is not very exciting, but please read this entire post…  

Since the local history peeps brought up commuter rail, I thought I’d let you know what Tampa Bay’s best blog is up to. Tampa Rail is now showing an error page, but make no mistake. Dave Pinero is trying to make a point with his website:

Error 666

Telecommunications Fee Unpaid.

Your web provider has not paid us to allow access to this website at this time.

Please switch ISPs, or visit a paying provider such as FOX or NBC to view similar content regarding Tampa Rail issues in Tampa. Professional media networks are established institutions and can provide you much better news and information regarding urban rail developments in Tampa than David Pinero.

We apologize for this inconvenience, but eventually, you’ll get used it.

Further explanation can be found on his personal blog: 

I have taken Tampa Rail offline temporarily to demonstrate the impact of what will happen if Net Neutrality is not preserved. Last week the House of Representatives voted against protecting Net Neutrality. 

Tampa Rail is a small website that can expect to be blocked or severly (sic) degraded if your ISP does not pay the telcos the appropriate fees - even if it can’t. Your website or blog is no different. So if you don’t get serious and stand up to this threat, get used to the error message that led you here.

To learn more about Net Neutrality and the possible effects on small content sites like Sticks of Fire, visit Save The Internet.  According to the website, “No corporation, trade group or political party funds the SavetheInternet campaign.” They do list over 700 individuals and other small entities that support them. 

For an opposing point of view, check Hands Off The Internet.  Membership organizations include AT&T, BellSouth, and Cingular.

In theory, less regulation would be preferred. But that position assumes that corporations and individuals will always do the right thing. Unfortunately, we’ve already seen how companies react when given the choice between “good for consumers” or “good for the company” (AOL Blocks Critics’ Emails, all email from Gmail.com trapped by AOL spam filters,  more examples here).  Put simply, left to their own devices, AOL and other corporations will always put their own self interest ahead of the public interest.

Again, I know this stuff is not very exciting, but I encourage you to understand and get involved. Here’s how your representatives voted recently.  If you want to do something, there are some easy ways you can help. 

Reader & commenter Lou asked us if we know where to find any ethanol stations in the Tampa Bay area.  We assume Lou was inquiring about E85 – a fuel comprised of 85% ethanol, which seems to be the most likely mix, and some cars can already use.

The vaunted Sticks of Fire research team found only two in the entire state of Florida, and both are private facilities – not available to the general public.

But knowing the limitations of our research team, we also checked with Randy Bly, Director of Community Relations for AAA South.   Randy says AAA, which knows these things, is unaware of any in the area, and most ethanol services stations are in corn country in the Midwest.  According to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, there are 27 stations in Nebraska and 40 in Iowa.

Randy also says transporting ethanol is tricky business.  Because the stuff can be compromised very easily, ethanol cannot be piped like gasoline.  At this time, ethanol must be delivered by truck.  And it’s a long haul from Nebraska.

There are plans to build an ethanol plant in Port Sutton or Port Tampa (part of the Port of Tampa), possibly using orange peels or sugar cane!  When (if?) this plant comes online, I’m certain you’ll see it at a service station near you.  In the meantime, check with NEVC to see where you can fill up around the country.

Update 10:31am:  Cognizant of the fact that Port Tampa (extreme SW Tampa) and Port of Tampa (Palmetto Beach/Palm River area) are two completely different places, I still screwed it up to continue years decades of confusion.  It should now be correct.  Thanks to comments from (reader) PortTampa. 

105 years ago…

April 28, 1901 – Tampa’s Peninsula Telephone Company announces plans to extend long-distance telephone service down to Braidentown (Bradenton) and Manatee within the next six months. The company accomplished this by buying up the service in those areas and consolidating them into their own.

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.

80 years ago…

March 4, 1926 – A fire started in the garage of the Tampa Coal Company results in the loss of 12 trucks, office equipment, and damages totaling nearly $75,000 (over $792,000 in today’s dollars) to its waterfront headquarters.

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.

90 years ago… 

February 3, 1916 – Hundreds of Tampans celebrate the opening of the city’s new water reservoir with a party in the large underground basin. According to a story in the Tampa Morning Tribune, “tables and chairs were placed on the floor of the reservoir and punch and clear Havanas were served to the invited guests.”

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center

There is a little more to the increase in fees developers will pay the city of Tampa to cover the cost of new water pipes. In a St. Pete Times article, Kathy Castor uses the subject to dig at her fellow officials:

Hillsborough County Commissioner Kathy Castor, who represents South Tampa, has tried without success to get commissioners to raise impact fees on new homes that would help pay for new schools.

“This shows Hillsborough County that other jurisdictions are addressing growth,” Castor said. “It’s more fair and equitable for new development to pay than for longtime residents to pay. This sends a message that developers need to pay their fair share.”

(emphasis mine)

The piece includes a lot of hand wringing by various people who wanted to be consulted on it first. An article in the Tribune is all whine, all the time. Developers may have had their feelings hurt, but the fact is new development has caused this need for more pipes.

And seriously, if builders have to go to their lenders and ask for more money they can do so easily. The $1,500 per residence fee will be passed on to buyers. One of the developments mentioned is “New Port,” off of Gandy. Homes in this community will start at over $300,000 and run up to $2 million, so complaining about this fee is like bitching about the price of the souvenir hats at a Ferrari dealership. If you can afford to be there you ain’t sweatin’ the small stuff anyway.

The mayor instituted the water fee as a temporary measure. Payments for pipe construction will go on for years and years, so the City Council will have a say in how long it lasts.

Meanwhile, the city is running out of room for schools, too.

Both the Trib and the Times carry stories today about water fees that Mayor Pam and the city are slapping developers with. I’m trying to imagine a stunned look on a developers face and to be honest it is pretty funny. I have a hard time feeling bad for people that are going to sell their smallest condo for $300k (pre-construction, mind you). None of these places are even under contract yet so the cost will be passed along to the buyer.

“To pop it out with no notice is totally absurd. It’s poor government,” said Joseph Narkiewicz, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association.
“When such things occur, the building industry is usually involved in the front end of the process.”

Yeah, involved to try and push the cost onto the back of existing taxpayers.

Residents will not see increased water bills, but developers could pass on their increased costs to home buyers.

Ron Weaver, a lawyer who represents developers, said his clients certainly will try to pass along those costs.

“The good news is the new development will pay for itself,” said [Councilman John] Dingfelder, chairman of the public works committee. “The big price tag will not be passed on to our current taxpayers and water customers.”

Average income of Tampa households, according to CNN/Money data from last year is $43k and the average sales price for homes was $150k. Should these people be responsible for paying increased water cost due to new homes they cannot afford?

I am kind of suspicious of the CNN numbers. Even though they are for last year, I did a search this morning on realtor.com and only find 47 out of 3900 homes currently listed for under $150,000, and another search page shows only 35. The CNN figures may include sales between family members that are recorded with the tax appraiser. These sales are typically far below market value.