Temple Terrace Chamber To Honor 2019 Citizen of the Year

TEMPLE TERRACE, — The woman responsible for installing a Water Goat on the Hillsborough River has been named Greater has named Temple Terrace’s 2019 Citizen of the Year by the Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce.

Sue Drenberg championed the installation of a Water Goat at Riverside Park on the Hillsborough River to filter out hundreds of pound of trash before it enters the river.

A Water Goat is a system placed around stormwater outfalls to collect litter before it enters the waterways and, eventually, the ocean. Composed of a floating surface net around a stormwater outfall, floating litter is trapped by the net and stopped from traveling down a waterway. Typically, once or twice per month, volunteers bag the litter for proper disposal.

A similar Water Goat installed in McKay Bay to capture trash from Ybor City collected more than 1,800 pounds of trash in its first few months of operation. Another Water Goat in the Temple Crest area of Tampa has amassed more than 2,000 pounds of trash.

To finance the device, Drenberg sold calendars with scenic photos by photographer Bob Luce, raising $3,000. The 65-foot-long Water Goat was then installed by Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful.

City employees scoop out the trash once or twice a month, collecting anywhere from 100 to 300 pounds each time.

Drenberg will receive her award at the 56th annual Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce Awards & Installation Banquet Thursday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m.

Additionally, the chamber will honor its 2019 Business of the Year finalists and name the winners in four categories.

Nominees are:

Small business category: Greene Image, Mojo Home Group and PamElla LeePhotography

Medium business category: Express Employment Professionals, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and
Traditional TaeKwon-Do Center of Tampa

Large business category: Caspers Company McDonald’s Restaurants, Republic Bank and Stepp’s Towing

Nonprofit finalists: Special Needs Family Hour Inc., Temple Terrace Arts Council and
University Area CDC.

The banquet will take place at the Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club, 200 Inverness Ave.

The event is sponsored by Republic Bank, Tampa Electric, AdventHealth Tampa and Edward Jones-Perry Jacobsen.

Tickets are available by calling the chamber Office at 813-989-7004 or online.