Imagine this happening in Tarpon Springs ...

Just imagine Tarpon Springs looking like this someday …

By Jim Bouldin

Candidate, Tarpon Springs City Commission, Seat 4

I had the pleasure of meeting two very active Tarpon Springs community leaders recently, and they were kind enough to share with me their insight into local politics as well as their take on the issues that we face as residents of Florida’s greatest small community.

I left their home with a renewed determination to do everything I possibly can to earn the trust and confidence of those responsible residents who will cast their vote on March 12^th for Tarpon’s newest City Commissioner in seat four. I feel this new energy because I feel I have what it takes to do the job.

Okay, enough campaigning …

One of the items I acquired during the meeting was a brochure that featured details on a promising new project, which was introduced about a year ago. This project, the Sustainable Environment Research Foundation (SERF for short) is the brainchild of Steve Hickock, who recently gained an official IRS 501-C3 Non Profit tax-exempt status. This project is for real – and it’s really exciting.

What’s SERF all about? This is where the imagination comes in …

Picture this in your mind: A new, two-story 36,000 square foot Zero-Energy Base building located in the shadows of the Sponge Docks, in Tarpon’s northern industrial area. The front door opens to the Anclote estuary – the back door leads to the Gulf of Mexico. Is it hard to imagine this being the perfect environment for a marine research facility?

Below the ground floor is a watertight Geothermal Basement, which uses the soils in the ground to reduce energy costs with ground-cooled temperatures ranging from 72-74 degrees F. Nearby is a large-capacity rainwater cistern, which is used to harvest fresh water and is reused to improve water quality. Imagine taking this geothermal energy engineering concept one step further, where one research team explores new and exciting ways to dramatically reduce the cost of air conditioning by creating a new way to harness this geothermal energy concept. Can you imagine just how much national, even global, attention we would receive by being the home of such technology and innovation?

Now I’ll get to the really exciting part …

Just imagine this SERF facility being the working environment for engineers, innovative for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations and students – yes, I said students, who would apply to qualify for the SERF Educational Program, one of the most sought after environmental science and research institutions in the southeastern United States. Those accepted into the program would learn from the brightest practitioners of modern science and industry our modern times have to offer. A learning synergy would be formed with cooperation and guidance from St. Petersburg College, Eckerd College, USF and other interested colleges, universities and career centers.

Just imagine these students, faculty members, research types and entrepreneurs – who we will from here on out refer to as “Serfers” – heading off to work each morning from their Victorian era loft apartment located above a thriving downtown business storefront. Or, perhaps they are riding their bike, golf cart or just walking from their affordable living quarters located along or around Tarpon’s newly-designed walk/ride way that links our city residents to its most desirable work, shopping and leisure locations.

Just imagine this surge of young and fertile imagineers who will provide our city with a much-needed base of prospective permanent residents, who would serve to ensure that our future is not left solely to a graying society.

This sound far-fetched to you? A little too big a stretch of your imagination?

Well, dream on, folks, because the ball is already rolling on this project. As I mentioned above, SERF has already received tax-exempt status from the IRS and a scaled-down version of this grand plan is in the works. And I’m here to tell you that by thinking outside the box, with an eye toward a long-term plan for who we are and what we hope to be as a city, we can create this environmental-friendly atmosphere for learning and prospering.

I feel this is possible – and I am still imagining the many possibilities …