A Resolution By The Board Of County Commissioners Of Pasco County, Florida, Declaring May 2026 As National Historic Preservation Month In Pasco County

28:40Okay. Anyone else here that would like to address the a board under public comment? Okay, we'll close public comment. We'll go to resolutions, R S one.

28:53Mm-hmm. If you are here for National Historic Preservation Month, please step up to the podium.

29:02Hi, uh David Engel, Planning and Economic Development Director. Uh I'm here to uh uh accept uh a resolution from the board because this is National Historic Preservation Month and they wanted the oldest living fossil to be up here today. Um I take pause. We're entering into the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our great country. And it's it's certainly timely to also celebrate the wonderful historic history of Pasco County. We take Pasco County's

29:33historic preservation and preservation of archaeological structures and places very seriously. Doreen Roy is our historic preservation planner. Doreen has done a great job in doing an inventory of our historic sites and structures, and we do maintain a proactive preservation strategy to Preserve the cherished history of Pasco County. And it's really nice that we're here in the historic courthouse today, and we have historic structures and places from one side of

30:03the county to the other. Give me an example of the history of the county. Troby, a hundred years ago, was the largest city in Pasco County. It was blessed by commerce, stimulated from our agriculture. Agricultural tradition. We had the Cumra Mill in Lakuchi, which is one of the oldest cypress mills in the country. We had a very prosperity-driven area there. And coming on the west side, we have the Baker House, which is located on Louv Road. It was built

30:33in 1882. It's on the historic registry, and it's a very interesting structure because it highlights Florida Cracker Architecture. And in 1980, when they built Centennial Park, when the county did, they preserved the location of this historic structure. And in 1989, the county had it restored and preserved. So we have a breadth of wonderful opportunities to preserve our history and our heritage and also to celebrate what we've already done. Today, in support

31:03of this month, we have Dade City's representatives. City of Newport Ritchie, Town of St. Leo, San Antonio, City of Zephyrhills. We have two guest archaeologists from the Florida Public Archaeology Network. Morgan Dean from the County Attorney's Office was very helpful, and our facilities management team and planning staff. So thank you very much for sponsoring this month, and thank you, Commissioner Oakley, for bringing this forward. Mm-hmm.

31:32I think there's a reason why they chose me to present this. So the fact of it is I've been here eight decades.

31:42I was a young man living with grandparents because my mother passed away when I was ten and I was they lived in Lakuchi and that plant closed down sixty-six years ago. I happened to be be there at the time. So um the community, like you said in the beginning, David, was one of the oldest communities and largest in the town. County of Pasco County and a lot of history there. I was able to see a lot of that history in um

32:12cypress houses been they'd throw I don't know if you've ever priced Peky Cypress, but if if you ever price it, it's very, very expensive. Back in the day when they were making that back in in those early days. The fact of it is it was $5 a truckload. So Mr. Larkin which lived here in in the community Would go with truckloads and build rental houses all throughout Lacuchi. Some of them are still standing. And uh those historic

32:43housing that they were doing back then were made out of that pecky cypress that had holes in it. So they had a way of make it make it right. So but a very good homes. I even have a picture down in my office. I should have brought that up today, but uh of me when I was about three or four years old standing in front of in front of my grandparents' house that was si made out of cypress. So Yeah, it's very much needed that we take care of our history because historic courthouse, you cannot

33:13imagine how beautiful this building is and how many people that we have, because my office is here and Mr. Weightman's office is also here. The fact of it is we welcome people in here just to see this courthouse. Because it is a very beautiful landmark here in in the city of Dade City. And Talking about history. The east side of Pasco County has all the all the cities. Located within District One. So it's kind of strange when we have our meeting with

33:43cities and and county, they're all my cities. So uh appreciate all the citizens in all over Pasco County for they do so much to preserve what we have and the way of life we've had in the past. I know there's a lot of growth and all going on, but yes we struggle to to keep things going the right direction and also keeping things preserved for for the future. Okay. I'll uh join your fellow fossil.

34:11We need a motion.

34:12Do you want to motion? Do you want me to read it?

34:16Yeah.

34:20Oh

34:20yeah, maybe going to read it. All right. R resolution number all out

34:27of whack.

34:2926-207, a resolution by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, declaring May 2026 as National Historic Preservation Month in Pasco County. Whereas Preservation Month began as National Preservation Week in 1973 and in 2005, the National Trust extended the celebration to the entire month of May and declared it Preservation Month to provide an even greater opportunity to celebrate the diverse and unique heritage of our country's cities and states.

35:00And RAS, the first presidential preservation proclamation, stated, as the pace of change accelerates in the world around us, Americans more than ever need a lively awareness of our roots and origins in the past on which to base our sense of identity in the present and our directions for the future. ANRAS Pasco County continues to discover and celebrate the county's diverse cultural heritage found in irreplaceable places that hold the stories of all Americans.

35:44heritage of Florida. NRES, the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, benefits historic communities like Pasco County through advocacy, connection, education, and stewardship. NRES, by preserving our historic built environment, we have tangible and intangible assets such as community stories, traditions, and values. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, the said board hereby proclaims May 23. 2026 as National Historic Preservation Month in Pasco County and calls upon all Pasco

36:14County residents to join their fellow citizens across the United States in recognizing and participating in this special observance, done and resolved in regular session with a quorum present and voting this fifth day of May 2026.

36:28Move approval. All in favor say aye. Aye. I don't need to go back through everything I've already said since since I said it a little early, so but uh it is great to live in Pasco County and there's there's really um a great way of life here in Pasco that we have that a lot of people want and I think that's why you see a lot of people coming here 'cause they wanna have the same type of life that we all have. And uh We try to do our best to keep it as

36:58ruled as possible. But with all the demands that are out there. But I'll come down, we'll take a picture and then uh Go from there. Okay. The rest of you want to stand up there, I guess, because we got quite easy.

37:32What was the Yeah.

37:46Right.

37:53Yeah.