South Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association General Meeting April 22, 2025

Date: April 24, 2025

Time: 6:35PM-7:57PM

Location: Seminole Heights Library, Room 105

Board Members Present

• Jade Scott, Secretary

• Amy Scott, Neighborhood Watch Chairman

• Keisha Linebaugh, Delegate-At-Large

• Teressa Goldberg, Vice President

• Michelle Rice, President

Board Members Tardy or Absent

• Daniella Geoghan, Treasurer

• Marie Porter, Delegate-At-Large

• Diana Porter, Delegate-At-Large

General Members Present

• 6 Out Of 25 Paid Members Present

Highlights

• K. Linebaugh was elected to the board as Delegate-At-Large. She will also serve as Events Chair.

• Members would like to see Trivia Night, A Weekly Local Walking Club, Game Nights, and more events centered around young families 

• Bus Route 1 is now free courtesy of Transit Now Tampa Bay and The City Council. The Members Are Interested In Doing A Ride-ALong

• The Next General Meeting is July 22, 2025

• The Next Board Meeting is May 19, 2025

• A Happy Hour is tentative set for May 21, 2025

Call To Order

• M. Rice calls the meeting to order at 6:35PM

Presidents Report

• Board Meetings will now be held on the 3rd Monday of the month and general meetings will be on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. This was decided by unanimous board vote on April 14, 2025. The addition of new board members and the changing schedules of several current board members made this necessary. 

  • The next general meeting is July 22nd. 

  • Les Berty (current member): There are two different dates listed for the next general meeting on the website.

• We have sold 10 flags in the past month. M. Rice believes this uptick is due people preparing their homes for the Old Seminole Heights Home Tour. Red and Black flags are currently on sale ($25.00 instead of $40.00)

  • Flags can be bought at our website: https://www.sshca.org/category/all-products

• We are planning a Happy Hour on May 21st. Delegate-at-Large and Beautification Chair, Marie Porter is ironing out the details such as location and time.

  • The winner of the Spring Beautification award will be announced at said Happy Hour. 

  • Spring Beautification is open to all homes. Fall Beautification is open only to historic homes. 

  • Neighbors can submit candidates for Spring Beautification to southseminoleheightsca@gmail.com

Vice President Report

• We have a “Garden Of The Month” award that celebrates the best looking yard of the month. 

  • Candidates are emailed to us at southseminoleheightsca@gmail.com. Winners receive a yard flag which proclaims them “South Seminole Heights’ Garden Of The Month” and they get to display it for the whole month. 

• We are looking for ways to raise money so we can continue to have events. 

  • We are looking for a signature event. In the past it was Heights Unites, a local music festival, but after COVID the infrastructure fell apart and we currently do not have enough personnel to restart it. 

  • J. McGrew (current member) enjoyed the community that arrived during big events like Halloween or Easter. She would like there to be more community centered around families with young children that is not predicated on one big event. 

    • J. McGrew also offered to help pass out flyers and knock on doors the next time we need to tell the neighborhood about an upcoming meeting or event. 

      • Her contact information can be found in the sign-in log for this meeting. This log is kept by the secretary.

    • J. McGrew showed interest in filling the role of communications chair. 

    • J. McGrew mentioned that the board in Rivercrest park has yet to be updated with current events. 

      • M. Rice: Part of the structure in the park is broken and can not be opened to be updated. 

Parks and Recreation Update on Rivercrest Park- Presented by Amy Scott, Neighborhood Watch Chair

• There is a $1.1 Million Budget to update Rivercrest Park.

• The department is waiting on the approval of permits by several external government organizations before they can move forward. 

• According to previously presented plans, once the park is finished Rivercrest will have:

  • A new sea wall

  • A covered wooden fishing pier

  • A floating dock parallel to the shore

• We requested solar powered lights at our previous general meeting with the Parks and Recreation Department.

• The project was originally scheduled to be complete by the end of 2024, but Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which struck in November 2024, delayed those plans. It is now on schedule to be complete by the end of 2025. 

  • We need continued community support to put pressure on the city government to complete this plan in the stated time. At our last general meeting with Parks and Recreation we had two members attend (it was a rainy night).

• A fence was added in front of the playground facing N. River Bend Blvd.

  • There was an incident in which a young child nearly ran into traffic so the barrier was added in response. 

• We requested exercise equipment be added to Ignacio Haya or Rivercrest in the last general meeting with the Parks and Recreation Department. 

  • Akin to the machines found in front of the Julian B Lane Riverfront Recreation Center.

• We are still hopeful to get a water taxi stop once the dock is done. The city has already said they will help get us in contact with the owners.

• T. Goldberg: We should petition to make this section a no wake zone. It’s dangerous. 

  • A. Scott: What I am learning is that there are different jurisdictions for everything. The Hillsborough River might be under the county or the state. 

    • K. Linebaugh: On Easter Sunday there were two very official people monitoring and talking notes, but they were making note of the pace of the boat. We can inquire about that. 

    • T. Goldberg: Did they change their mind on the lights?

      • A. Scott & M. Rice: They are considering solar lights.

The Voting In of Kisha Linebaugh As A Delegate-At-Large

• K. Linebaugh has lived in the neighborhood since 2010. She previously served on the board. She would join as delegate-at-large and also help as events chair. 

  • She was unanimously voted onto the board. 

At Approximately 7:00PM We Joined The Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association Meeting To Hear:

Hart Route #1 Fare Fee Pilot Program- Presented by Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak.

• Lynn Hurtak is the Distrcit 3 At Large Council Woman. She is a part of the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization (Hillsborough TPO), which deals with everything relating to transportation in the city. 

  • One of Hillsborough TPO’s priorities was creating an arterial bus rapid transit. 

• Transit Now Tampa Bay is a transit activist group that is focused on getting more public transit funding for the city.

• The city intended to allocate $1.65 Million (raised from parking fees) to EV charging stations. L. Hurtak motioned to reallocate the funding so that the Route 1 could free and have 15-minute frequency at peak weekday times.

• Bus Route 1 Facts:

  • Route 1 is the longest and most used bus route in the city. 

  • It is the model they want to see for bus rapid transit in Tampa.

    • Bus Rapid Transit depends on dedicating a full lane for buses only. If Route 1 was turned into a BRT it would have fewer stops to increase its speed. 

    • The Sunrunner in St. Pete has elevated BRT stops so that people walking and biking can easily get on. 

  • 32,00 residents and 56,000 residents are within ¼ mile of Route 1.

  • $500,000 is to make it free. $1,000,000 goes to making it arrive every 15 minutes. 

• Since the program started there has been

  • A 33% increase in monthly ridership (3,000 daily riders to 5,000 daily riders). 

  • An 11% increase in monthly ridership. 

  • An 8% increase in on-time performance. 

• Councilman Luis Viera is the current chair of the HART Board.

• Lynn Would like to do a ride-along to acclimate people to the bus system. 

  • “We’re not saying get rid of your car. We are saying if you need to get something from downtown, you can park on a side street and catch a bus….learn how to use a system. So, that’s what we’re doing. We’re incentivizing people to learn the system.”- L. Hurtak

  • “One of the best ways to get involved, if you have a passion for transit, is to find Transit Now Tampa Bay.” - L. Hurtak

• Easy Sunday Morning Bike Rides

  • This is an urban bike riding seminar hosted by Councilwoman Hurtak. On Sunday they start at Henry and Ola Pak and she teaches you how to bike in urban bikeways and introduces you to new urban bike routes. The next ride is next Sunday (April 27, 2025) morning at 9am.

There Was A Brief Q&A Section

• Q: Will we be able to continue the free fare once this program is done?

  • A: We didn’t get the All-For-Transportation funding at the last HART board meeting. They are talking about ways to expand. [HART is] funded through the ad valorem tax. They are funded up to $250,000. Transit Now Tampa Bay is actually debating that question now. In my opinion the frequency is more important than the cost. I am less concerned about the cost than getting people on it. 

    • Context: The All-For-Transportation Tax is a one-cent sales tax championed by the All-For-Transportation group. Approved by 57% of voters in a 2018 county ballot referendum, the money collected from the penny tax was meant to improve transportation in Hillsborough County. It collected about $600 Million over the course of two years before County Commissioner Stacy White filed a lawsuit claiming only the county commission could decide how the revenue was to be spent, instead of the appointed oversight committee. In 2021 the Florida Supreme Court ruled 4-1 that the All-For-Transportation Tax violated the state constitution. The $600 Million collected in the tax’s short lifetime was distributed to Hillsborough County in 2024 in the following ways: $256,402,280 for resurfacing the county road system or the city street system within Hillsborough County; $161,911,105 towards suspending the local sales tax; $170,934,853 to reimburse for legal fees and expenses, promote claiming a settlement for anyone who paid into the tax, and process the valid refund claims.

      • Fate Of Hillsborough Transportation Tax In Judge’s Hands- WUSF by  Bradely George March 31, 2019

      • Hillsborough Transportation Tax Is Unconstitutional, Florida Supreme Court Rules To Stacy White's 'Delight’- WUSF by Bradely George February 25, 2021

      • State lawmakers a step closer to releasing $600 million in All for Transportation money to Hillsborough County- ABC WFTS Tampa Bay by Jada Williams March 5, 2024

      • For Further Reading: https://www.wusf.org/tags/all-for-transportation

• Q:  If I can not get to the 1 without a car where can I park safely?

  • A: You can’t park within 10ft of a driveway. But by and large, as long as you are not parked in front of or across from a driveway, you should be fine. You can park on the E. Side of Florida (Like by the C-House). If you want to park somewhere and you’re not sure, send an email to the president of Old Seminole Heights. 

• Q: Does this mean that Route 1 needs more funding to improve?

  • A: HART is the worst funded transit system for a city our size in the country. When the state did an audit they found that HART managed their money so wisely that they couldn’t do anything to damage it.

• Q: You can only store two bikes on the front of the bus. What do you do for bike storage?

  • A: If we did Bus Rapid Transit, that would be a way to make sure there is more space for bikes at the stops. You can always bring folding bikes or scooters on the bus. 

• Q: What is the road to getting BRT? There is also a lot of discussion about expanding the streetcar. What is that like?

  • A: Expanding the streetcar is astronomically expensive. They are talking about possibly expanding up to Columbus, but to Palm Ave. for sure. They will be discussing that in April 24th’s city council meeting, which is open to the public. The idea [for BRT] is coming, but Route 1 is critical. Marion Transit Center is one of the busiest hubs. It is where you get on Greyhounds and Flix buses, it will likely remain that hub. We have to show consistent ridership of 6,000 a day to start seriously paving a path to BRT. Since the program is already at 5,000 riders a day since the program has begun we are getting to a good place. 

• Q: What can we as citizens do to support?

  • A: Ride the bus. Join Transit Now Tampa Bay. In August we have to argue for the continuation of this, and the community has to make the decision. Transit Now Tampa Bay lists open positions on their website.

• Q: Is the Florida Ave an express route now?

  • A: It is not currently an express route. Route 400 (on Nebraska) is. It has less stops, but it is not free.

• Q: How long does the 6,000 ridership have to last to get the BRT?

  • A: BRT would have to have local funding for operations, but FDOT can fund the building of it. They may be able to help with a couple of layers of funding but it depends on the city of Tampa. The streetcar is about $1 Million. Transit Now Tampa Bay has a goal of $10 Million a year for transit. HART is currently operating on a budget of $5 Million. 

• Q: Have they thought about using the transportation to get to the stadiums? There should be a transfer opportunity so you don’t pay through the second connection.

  • A: You pay a maximum of $4.00 on any day, and if you are a senior you pay $2.00 max a day. It tracks you through your [Flamingo] Card which you can get at Marion Station and use through the app. So, for example, if you were to take Route 1 to MLK and get on Route 32 to the airport (Route 32 will drop you off directly onto airport property and it is easy to navigate from there) it would track your card so if you were to get on another bus that day you would not have to pay. They also have a frequent user program.

At Approximately 7:30PM We Returned To Room 105 To Continue Our Meeting

Neighborhood Watch

• We had 32 crimes in 2024. 

• We have had 14 crimes in the neighborhood since January 2025.

• Southeast Seminole Heights has seen an uptick in home burglaries, so please lock the doors. Do not leave guns in a car with unlocked doors.

• Lock your doors and if you see your neighbors door is open tell them. 

• There is going to be a new green spine through Ola (from Ola to downtown). This is a protected bikeway, akin the the one present at Cass St near the Straz center.. This project  is to be done in 2025-2026. 

• There are new sidewalks down Highland. FDOT took one of the two bike lanes to make the sidewalks wider and ADA accessible . The fines for speeding have doubled down Highland. 

Treasurer's Report

Business Share Account	$10,0084. 96
Business Checking	$2,924.98
Heights Unites	$5,700.32
Cash Box	$295.00
PayPal	$495.24
TOTAL	$19,205.50

What Do Members Want To See?

• L. Nottingham: “In St. Pete our neighborhood hosted a game night at a bar and did a walk every Saturday morning.” She also suggested that SSHCA make people more aware of what is happening in private business and invite people to those.

  • OSHNA currently hosts a dog walk on Saturday mornings. We would have to do Saturday in order to not compete. 

• K. Eichorn: Trivia Night.

  • She is not getting the emails nor are a majority of our members.

• Les: Put the events on the event calendar on the website. 

Closing

• M. Rice called the meeting to close at 7:57PM