NPR NOTES

Commentary by Mayor Rob Marlowe

  • Home
  • About the Mayor
  • Get NPR Notes By Email

Archives for January 2018

The Real Future

Posted on January 29, 2018 Written by Rob Marlowe

I saw a TV commercial last week that used the phrase:  “The real future kind of sneaks up on you.”    There is a lot of truth to that.

We have seen that in New Port Richey.  Sometimes things don’t seem to change much from day to day, but the changes over time become significant.  Change involves quite a few moving parts.

The Hacienda is a great example.  With rare exceptions, not much seems to change, but we continue to make progress.  The latest fix is actually noticeable.  A crew rebuilt the historic east cooling wall on Saturday. 

What makes this a milestone in the rehabilitation of the Hacienda is the reason the original wall was built in the first place:  The Hacienda was built in the 1920’s, before the advent of central air conditioning.  The original wall was designed to keep the sand next to the Hacienda out of the morning sun.   Cool air was drawn into the crawl space below the structure, cooling the entire building naturally.

The new wall will provide the appearance of the original, even though we won’t depend on it to keep the Hacienda cool during the summer.

Look for the wall to receive a stucco treatment that matches the building itself.

One project that was delayed over a year, waiting on the feds to release the funds, is the dredging of Orange Lake.  This project is now well underway and should be completed shortly.  The dredging will remove all of the accumulated muck on the bottom of the lake, leaving the sandy bottom of the lake exposed to the water. 

The muck is pumped over the street via a rather interesting structure and then dumped into big bags where the water is extracted and returned to the lake.

The bags are sitting on the future site of The Central On Orange Lake, which should begin construction shortly after the dredging is complete and all the muck is trucked away.

Regan Weiss did a great video explaining what is happening.

There are quite a few other projects underway in New Port Richey.

The New Port Richey Recreation and Aquatic Center will celebrate the completion of its $1.8 million dollars in upgrades on Saturday, February 17th.  The renovations include an expanded fitness area, additional meeting rooms, and an indoor playground for the kids.

That commercial I mentioned was for a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.  (Click on the link to see the commercial.)  The Outlander PHEVs aren’t around here yet, but they will be and that will likely be sooner than you think.

I was at the Rec Center this afternoon checking out a project just completed by our Public Works Department.  As we were standing there admiring their handiwork, a Prius full of people drove by us VERY SLOWLY.  I strongly suspect they were focused on my son’s Prius sitting in the end parking space.   I was demonstrating how the brand new Chargepoint station works with a plugin vehicle.  Clearly, they had never seen a Prius plugged into a charging station.

The future is definitely sneaking up on us.  Nissan, Chrysler, and Chevrolet are all selling plug in cars in West Pasco.  Some, like the Chrysler Pacifica and the Chevy Volt have gasoline engines.  Others, like the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Bolt, are pure electrics with ranges that cover the needs of most people. These aren’t slow econo boxes either.  The Bolt has a 0-60 time well under 7 seconds and the new Leaf is a technological marvel.  The Pacifica minivan has an EPA rating of 84 MPGe!

I’ll be shocked if the other dealers don’t start stocking plugins soon.  Once the general public figures out how affordable they are to operate, demand is going to skyrocket.  A friend of mine went to Georgia to pick up a new Prius Prime.  She had been driving a regular Prius and wanted a plugin.  She loves her new car.  That was a sale that Sun Toyota could have had if they had had Prius Primes in stock.

New Port Richey also has a number of Teslas running around town.  I have heard that the docs are after the hospital to install Tesla charging stations.

Watch for more charging stations to appear around New Port Richey over the next year, particularly as businesses realize that their customers are driving plugins.  There are already Publix, Walgreens, and Whole Foods stores around Tampa Bay with charging stations.

As strange as it may sound, plugging your car in at night is an easy habit to get into and it sure beats regular trips to the gas station.  I expect my son to retrieve his Prius within the next year, so I’ll be looking for a new set of wheels.  At this point, I’ve decided that my next car will definitely have a plug.  It may or may not have a gasoline engine.

As the commercial says:  “The real future kind of sneaks up on you, until one day you find yourself plugging in your crossover, like its totally normal.”

Totally normal, Indeed.

 

Rob Marlowe, Mayor

Filed Under: Local Commentary

My Day Job

When I'm not doing mayor stuff, I spend my time at Gulfcoast Networking. I solve Internet issues, clean up infected computers, and build websites. I'm always happy to take a break from computers to talk about New Port Richey's future, so feel free to come by my office at 6335 Grand Blvd to chat.

City of New Port Richey

This website expresses my views and not necessarily those of the city.  If you are looking for the official City of New Port Richey website, you can find it here.

Recent Posts

  • A Matter of Scale March 10, 2023
  • New Year 2023 January 2, 2023
  • Happy Thanksgiving 2022 November 22, 2022
  • Ian Recap October 3, 2022
  • Stroads July 25, 2022
  • Celebrating Our Independence July 3, 2022
  • Road Trip – Durham, NC May 10, 2022
  • Dreams and Opportunities April 26, 2022
  • Chasco Fiesta – 100 Year Anniversary Edition March 23, 2022
  • March Update March 3, 2022

Recent Comments

  • Bonnie Martin on A Matter of Scale
  • Marc Yacht MD on A Matter of Scale
  • Joan Rees on New Year 2023
  • Chris Lineman on New Year 2023
  • Rob Marlowe on New Year 2023
  • Frank Starkey on New Year 2023
  • Rob Marlowe on New Year 2023
  • Ken Houghtaling on New Year 2023
  • Rob Marlowe on Ian Recap
  • Joan Rees on Ian Recap

Archives

  • March 2023
  • January 2023
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • July 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014

Copyright © 2023 · Rob Marlowe · · Log in