Electric Co-op Today

There are more positive developments in a Florida co-op’s quest to rebuild a community it serves.

Work is progressing on three Habitat for Humanity homes being built by co-op volunteers. (Photo By: David Lambert)

Pasco County officials are allocating more than $3.5 million to revitalization efforts in Lacoochee, a once-thriving community about 50 miles northeast of Tampa that has fallen on hard times. The money remains from a federal Department of Housing and Urban Development loan that the county initially took out to restore another neighborhood.

Although no final determination has been made, the funds must be used for residential, rather than commercial, improvements.

Withlacoochee River Electric Co-op, based in nearby Dade City, has made revitalizing Lacoochee a priority. Among other things, the co-op has been spearheading efforts to build a new community center, and on June 21 there was more good news for that part of the equation: Pasco County commissioners approved $300,000 for the center. The co-op has a contractor who is willing to build the facility for $1.3 million.

“We are continuing to make progress,” said David Lambert, Withlacoochee’s manager of member relations. That progress also includes the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent decision to award Pasco County a $1 million brownfields grant to help clean contaminated sites. In a fact sheet, EPA said that includes “the Lacoochee-Trilby industrial area, where many vacant, abandoned, and underused properties are located.”

“We are continuing to see dividends being paid for our efforts in Lacoochee across the entire county,” Lambert said.

Meanwhile, construction continues on the first two Habitat for Humanity homes being built in Lacoochee by co-op volunteers. Completion is expected in a few months. Work has also started on a third house on the site.

Tags: Co-op News, Commitment to Community, Local Initiatives