Well, let me being 5:45 this Thursday afternoon, I'll now call to order the town strategic planning wrap-up session. If everybody please make sure your phones are either
off or on library, please rise. As we gather here today to look at the future perhaps of Lake Placid, we ask your blessing upon those that'll be guiding this this community in the future years. And we give you thanks for the people who have spent so
many years just developing and working so hard in this community. We ask you to guide the discussion this evening. Help it to fall on eager ears that we might be able to accomplish the things that you have set before us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.
>> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
>> Jennifer Oh. Oh. Oh, it works. Sorry. Yay. Okay, there we go. All right. >> All right. Well, good evening. Um, all right. Well,
I'm Jennifer Cotto Salsbury. I'm with the Central Florida Regional Planning Council, and tonight is our final workshop for strategic planning um for the town of Lake Placid as we've worked to put together a draft strategic plan
for the town's consideration. Um this has really been developed over a series of workshops and um we really worked to be the town scribes and looking forward to hearing feedback. Again, this is a draft and
open to uh revisions and edits. Um but on that note, I'll get started and also wanted to thank all of the partners who came together. um the University of South Florida uh College of Business, um the Small Business Development Council
from the USF as well, Florida League of Cities. Um and and most importantly, the the residents here, the business owners, the faith-based organizations. Um I think when we say it takes a community, um this community here really
really is a great example of that. So before you tonight, we have the draft plan. We have copies um at the entrance for folks to pick up. Um and then I believe um we have provided the
electronic version uh for posting on the town's website if y'all would like. But if you don't mind, we'll walk through the plan. And uh Mary Beth Soderstrom and I are here tonight uh to answer any questions, get
feedback. So, we'll just take it from the top. Um, the plan itself uh has the core values on the cover, but within it, everything I'm going to show you is within the plan. But starting out with
what does this plan do? And the goal of the plan is to establish priority focus areas. Um, and what is, you know, what are the most important things you all are challenged with? um a lot of goals and never enough funding. So, this is a
guide to help with budgeting and capital planning decisions and supporting coordinated implementation. And sometimes projects are not just the town. It's it's partners that can come together to make things happen and then
accountability for tracking. Uh so in the plan towards the end we have uh concepts and implementation strategies. Um so next year at this time as you're having the conversation we can look back at some of those benchmarks to see how
we've done or also if the plan needs to be amended again. And this is a guide. Oops, wrong way. Uh so in there you'll also find uh the mission statement to preserve the small
town charm and character while delivering responsible governance um strengthening economic opportunity, improving infrastructure resilience and enhancing the quality of life for all residents. And the vision uh coming with
that is the town of Lake Placid is a vibrant town that creates opportunities for generations to come while our community spirit remains at the heart of everything we do. And again, these uh are provided you've got to start with
rather than a blank piece of paper uh getting language out there, but also you know any um comments, edits y'all have, we are your scribes. We continue to be your scribes. Uh this is uh a photo from one of the
workshops and just cannot thank the community enough. Uh it is so hard after a crazy day to show up for a public workshop um but the community of Lake Placid did um for all of the workshops that were held and with great
appreciation for that. So in the plan we provide um that this is a roadmap to help in guiding policy and investments and also um really strengthening the partnerships that are out there and open
to new partnerships. And again this was developed through um community engagement and also um there is a community survey which we'll talk about in a little bit. Oops. Someday I will get the right way to go. There we go. Um, so for public
engagement uh there was a hard copy community survey distributed also an online version and uh also uh city staff or town staff also um had door-to-door outreach to let folks know about the
survey and the workshops. And we had 198 survey participants online and we had four public workshops and again that that outreach and through this we um have captured and uh we have
a huge file of all the paper copies of where we were your scribes and um documentation of all of those workshops. Oops. Where are we going? There we are. Um so in the plan actually the the first page you'll see the core values and um
what we heard from the community was usually the first response when we talk about the town of Lake Placid is everybody treasures the small town character and charm and understanding that there will be changes and growth
but that goal of preserving that atmosphere. Um so that was really the first and foremost uh that we had provided and then secondly the core values which we heard time and time again is that integrity that foundation of the town
that's been built and the accountability as we go forward in making things happen. uh the economic opportunity and we heard from the the local business owners as well, but retaining the businesses we have and where there's
opportunities for their expansion and then the opportunities for new businesses as well. And that helps promote our long-term economic resilience, the quality of life that investing in the neighborhoods, um, public places,
and you have such a great foundation already, continuing to build on that. The environmental stewardship, the lakes that are here um, are amazing, those natural resources, continuing to
preserve them and increase their health. and that connectivity throughout the town from downtown which I know we've been talking a lot about but to those resources and it's about connecting neighborhoods and schools and parks that
great connectivity the collaboration um back to recognizing existing partnerships and potential for new partnerships. There's so many times when we're faced with challenges as a community and these
are tremendous resources and we learned a lot um from the organizations and the faith-based organizations and how this community has come together when one has seen a need and may not have um the solutions but has reached out to other
partners and together have figured out a path forward. Not everything can rely on government and that was certainly noted by the folks who attended. And then continuing that excellence in service, efficiency, professionalism and
responsiveness as we really implement services. Oh, I'm not going to get it right all night. There we go. Wrong way. There we go. There we go. Um, so in the plan you'll find goals. And the first goal is to strengthen identity and sense of
place. Again, preserving that small town character, but also looking at those opportunities. And this is a little bit of overlap of the downtown plan, but as we talk about wayfinding, um, acknowledgement of our key economic
areas, um, and then looking at facade improvements and branding. And then we have performance measures on the right and this is in the plan where we talk about opportunities for gateways um looking at uh reduction of vacancy rates
in uh the commercial properties in downtown and then opportunities for facade improvements. And the town has tools in the toolbox today, one of which is the CRA and there are um potentially others as well.
Got it right. Uh the second goal is promoting the economic vitality and uh living wage. Uh probably uh that's one for every community I think. Um but as we look at continuing to have jobs in
the community, uh looking at higher wage jobs, uh but also as part of that and as we look at development and redevelopment, looking for opportunities for that userfriendly development
process, making it clear and concise, um but also providing clarity for development review and permitting. And then looking for um partnerships as we talk about uh the future workforce and training. So performance measures of
course census keeps up with this in American community survey but uh median household growth um new businesses uh how many new business tax receipts do we have um and then the reduction in commercial vacancy rates as well. Those
are measures for that goal. Um the third goal is strengthening downtown um as the community heart. Uh so again we have a lot of um infrastructure in place already where we see that happening and in continuing to
increase that vibrancy. Um, so as you'll see here, there's um opportunities to uh really enhance uh the inner lake corridor that we talked about before connecting to North Main, but to the rest of downtown and then the the the
greater area of the town as well. Number four is the improvements to infrastructure and enhancing resiliency. Uh and one of the things that we had talked about and this is really townwide is um of course one of those key aspects
of infrastructure um is storm water planning and as we plan to make improvements we can also make that an asset in the town as well. um support families, uh youth and seniors as we talk about the community
holistically. And we heard in the community workshops um really that continued conversation about um really engaging all populations and addressing needs as well. Um and
some of the performance measures there are uh youth programs um and community volunteers. um so much opportunity which makes a stronger community. Um and looking at um increases in services for all
populations where there's a need um expand housing opportunity and affordability. Um and and that's kind of I think um nationwide at this point as we look at at housing. Um but providing
for that diversification of housing options and I think you're already seeing that in downtown is an example. Um but also looking at uh opportunities for um infill housing is another
example. Um and this is also consistent uh with Florida statutes but really creates an even stronger economic and tax base as well. uh improve connectivity and mobility. And these are also infrastructure
improvements as we look at sidewalk connections, um possible future trails, crosswalks, pedestrian safety, bicycle safety, um vehicle safety, and that's something the town works with as well. um for example
that bigger picture with the H Heartland Regional Transportation Planning Organization, but there's also um measures there as we look at um connectivity uh wayfinding which also helps direct pedestrians and and folks even in
vehicles as well. But the goal of closing infrastructure gaps and providing the connectivity again throughout the community. Um and then goal number eight is strengthening public service and
governance. And uh really the goal uh that the town continues to strive to deliver highquality uh municipal services through responsible financial management, operational efficiency, transparent governance, and proactive
long-term planning. And the strategic plan is a a good strong step forward as we look at shortterm and long-term planning. Um but there we have the objectives and then the performance uh measures as well. Um but some examples of that are
um looking at uh training uh transparency uh and again not only the five-year budget but the long-term budget as well as examples. And those are the the key eight goals
from the strategic plan. And then the guiding principles um that came forth through the engagement is preserving the character while planning for intentional growth. Strengthen the heart or the downtown is
the community's heart. Um eval elevate the arts and cultural identity. Improve connectivity and safety. promote quality design and reinvestment, advance infrastructure resilience, support families and vulnerable
populations, and maintain accountability and implementation capacity. And then these are the the tools again, the budget alignment with those those key projects, capital planning,
uh land use decisions, economic development programs, and community partnerships. And and that's really the the overview. I think probably this last slide captures a lot of what we had heard but
also looks at tools or ways to make those things happen. Um so that is a quick overview. I know this is the first time you're seeing this and so we wanted to provide that overview. Um I know we'll be back Monday
night to present this where you've had more time to absorb it. But again, we are your scribes and this is again the draft for your consideration and we're continuing to be your scribes and what you expect of the plan and what
what else or what changes you would like to see. >> Any questions? >> I have comments. I want to thank you and the staff because this is what the fifth the fifth meeting. We had four workshops and this
is the fifth of summary. Um for engaging the community in the business and then also the surveys. Um so there's a lot here. This is very strategic. It's very professional and
it's very clear. So, you know, I like how you've laid it out in the different buckets because each one's going to be difficult, right? It all gets back to funding and the staff and the resources, but it also on different people's
interests and needs, right? That's where you get into somebody wants this, somebody doesn't want that, and you kind of wrestle your way through it. I'm I'm curious as to the online surveys, kind of the results of those
and how it fits into kind of the workshops feedback because a lot of people couldn't attend the workshops, right? They're 5:30 at night. You guys did a great job of two hours and we're done. So, I think that that was helpful. So, can you speak to the online surveys?
Um I don't think we have the results and and what that feedback was and how it fits into the workshop participants comments. >> Sure. And um I apologize. We absolutely will provide those results. Um I will
say they were pretty consistent with what we had heard in the workshops and I'm going to look over to my right in case I misspeak. Um but the the feedback that we received uh was consistent. Um, again, preserving the small town charm,
um, looking for opportunities, um, improving our our parks, um, street lighting, um, so, but I would say what you have in here and what we heard in the workshops was consistent with the surveys, but
we'll provide you with a summary report. I'm apologize we hadn't done that. And then my curiosity with your experience on a strategic plan like this for a small city, right? We're a small city of 2500 citizens, but we've got the
larger area, the larger area. So, how do we incorporate with the county, right, the county commissioners? These is a lot of the feedback because these are county people that have also weighed in with very good ideas that we're not going to
be able as a little town necessarily be able to implement them all. But to your comments earlier, there's a bigger outreach that we can do. So, I'm just curious as other areas that you've done, how do you recommend incorporating
to the county commissioners to see what assistance the awareness number one and then what assistance and directions they may be able to participate with. Well, this is is a road map. This plan
is non-regulatory, but I I think if and you of course are the town councils. Uh so uh if you see any revisions, but it it is a a nice step forward and this will help also guide your comprehensive
plan update for example and as you look at opportunities like hey we have a 200 foot sidewalk gaff but part of that is in county right ofway. It helps facilitate those conversations where there could be dollars that might be
applicable both to the unincorporated area and the municipal area as an example, but also bigger picture as far as other sources of funding whether it's state or federal. So, I don't know if I'm answering your question, but we have
a a first step in setting those goals. But like in any project that you currently do, um I I know that you all look at you know what are funding sources and how can we work together on that and and then in the town in the county you already have a joint planning
area. It is the Lake Placid Regional Plan and it was originally created and I know not everybody loves every part of it but it was created seeing a bigger picture. those areas that are not in the town now. But the um the folks the
founders of that plan back oh my goodness 2006 with 80 meetings with property owners and stakeholders saw that if they didn't take a step forward others were going to plan for them and the county and the town already have
taken a huge step in both adopting that joint planning area. Um, it may evolve over time and and change, but you all have already taken a huge step forward in that coordination with the county.
And and one of the key components of that is to acknowledge there will be growth, but wanting to preserve the character of the town in that area as well. Which is why you have architectural design guidelines. uh the
way it will develop with new roads, landscaping, a multi-use trail, all of that. Um there's already been work laid. So that will this might help revise that as well in that partnership. Could I add a few comments? Um one of
the areas that we were looking at were in the housing capacity and talking about the building permits. So there's just been a lot of behind the scenes. So to kind of shed some light on that, we did receive some recent information for the time frame from January 1st, 2020 to
December 31st, 2025. Leisure Lakes had 145 housing permits. Placid Lakes had 281. Highlands Park Estates had 64 and Sun and Lake Placid had 112.
112. And so combined that's 602. And so then when we looked at that for the town of Lake Placid from 2013 to 2025 we had a total of it was like 19 when we looked
at it. So in comparison when you when you compare that to the growth and then the the impact that's having on the town of Lake Placid as a whole because those individuals that live in those areas call the town of Lake Placid home. Those are the things that we're talking about
thinking about. How do we increase our capacity? Because they call Lake Placid home. They're using our infrastructure. They're shopping at our stores. They're doing all of those things. So, how are we going to grow the town of Lake Placid in a responsible strategic manner so that we can offset the cost that it is
costing us to maintain? So, there's been a lot of discussion that we have had behind the scenes that as we go into the planning process. So for when we looked at it that that's for the town is only about 3% compared to the greater Lake Placid area at 97%. So that's a huge
difference. So those are some of the conversations that we've been having. What I love about this is you didn't just give us the the feelings back, but you put together a road map with and way
we can see how we're progressing or not hopefully progressing. So, I really like that there is an action section to this and not just regurgitating feelings. And um I see on this one under land use decisions design standards
something in my mind is that I would have to look at the existing codes but if we want to maintain the feeling of this town the atmosphere we have to be able to say no to
something even if it right now it meets all the current checks all the boxes we might be losing the feeling of the know that would be on my to-do list. I think that's why the vision and the mission are so important. I've never
seen that statement and and to me that's so important. The very first chart she had the vision statement and the mission statement and once we agree with that then that's where a lot of this falls in line or you change that. So, if you want to put that up there right there, that
mission statement and the vision are critical. Yeah, exactly. Preserve the small town feeling. Um, so if something comes in, let's say, let's say a big box wants to come in and it checks all the boxes according to the
current planning and code, what do we do? We we don't want it, but what do we do? >> It doesn't. In our growth management plan, we don't allow even Publix's had to get special permission to have the size store they have right now. We
already have that built in. >> And if I could jump in, this is a a guide. Uh the strategic plan, it is not regulatory. um you still fall to your current regulations in place. Just for clarification,
>> I just want to say I' I've um known you for a very long time and um no matter what you do um you always do it with a true spirit and the best you can do. And I see that doing this and it's
not been easy taking all this information. In fact, I'm thinking of things that happened during the strategic meeting that we still need to talk about as a council. Um, things that came up that we could pursue. I'm really happy that we have some example
applications of what we can do moving forward. Um, but I just want to thank you because I know that this knowing you pouring your spirit and heart into this thing, you've tried to do the best job you can given all the
information you have and I really appreciate that. This isn't an easy task and definitely it's a moving it's a moving growing work. I mean, we're going to have to work on the strategic plan and make it our own and um taking this
guidance and I keep thinking of things I heard during the meetings. I'm sure you all heard things that you know we need to talk about about what good information that we got that um we need to remember and move forward on. So, I
just want to say thank you. >> Thank you for the opportunity. I will say there were a lot of details and this is high level and you're exactly right. There's so much more. >> Yeah, I really appreciate all the work that everyone has done on your staff.
Um, everyone has been very engaging and easy to talk to and I think you everyone kept the the uh the groups moving and participating every time we had one of those uh planning sessions or visioning sessions. Um, I like what you came up
with and I think it is a true uh a true thought, a true revelation if you will of what people think and how they feel about our town because they did participate well in those things and you brought them back um without any personal prejudices. They just you
brought back what they brought to us. Now, it's going to be our job to try to kind of set these parameters and work within these parameters as we think about design sets and and you know, design
um regulations and facade grants and and all of our things that we have in heaven forbid planning and all that type of thing. but um that we continue to work within these standards so that the people's wishes in this regard are kept
and that we can get to and keep our the charm of Lake Placid that we don't get off on some tangent. You know, we want to try to keep our charming town. Thank you. Are there any questions from the
audience? Any comments? Yes, sir. This is very comprehensive and I appreciate all the work that's been done. But I think there's one key element that will bring all this together and that is better
communication from the town of Lake Placid to the residents and to the surrounding area. I've been in this community 38 years. I've been pastor in this community. I spend more time in town than I do in my
home in Placid Lakes and I do not receive much information from the town or the police department when there is a crisis going on. And I counted up here there are nine churches within
what you would consider the downtown area of the church of the town. And we do meet regularly. We meet next Thursday, as a matter of fact, and we can combine to be able to meet needs
that the community has that has never been tapped into. We support Mana Ministries was started by the what was the Methodist Church. I don't know what they're calling themselves now, but there are different little things going
on in the community. Even what I heard at that last planning session broke my heart when it was so cold out. The laundromat was the only place that opened up for a cold shelter for anybody that didn't have a home. Any one of our
churches or any one of your government buildings could have been opened up to house this. And this is a critical thing because I feel now you may not be aware of this but they re they kind of rescended the Johnson amendment that
prohibited churches from endorsing candidates for political offices. We have a political say in what goes on in the politics in our communities now. And I think we as churches should be more
included rather than excluded in some of the decision-making processes that go on that we can be helpful in. There are a multitude of people who go to our
churches who are very well equipped to do a variety of different things. And I think we need to tap into that. And I think the town has to stop looking at churches as annoyances
and look at them as an asset. We can't even put out directional signs saying that this is where you turn to get to our church. I go through that intersection down by Turnal Plaza six times a day.
That is a disaster. I've been run off the road there more times than not. If you do not want people making a left-hand turn there, you need to put up a sign three times the size you got there. Now, and nobody
pays attention to the lights. I stop every time I see those lights. I try to be a good citizen. The church tries to be a good partner in the ministry. And I think as you look at your planning, you need to look at all aspects of what
makes Lake Placid the community that people want to live in. That's my two cents. And I don't mean I'm not angry. I'm just trying to that's my pastor voice. So, okay. Thank >> Yeah. And and we had talked a little bit
before and I told pastor that my hope was that we just don't post things on Facebook, but we allow people to make it a push a push notification like the sheriff's office has that if people sign up, they will get the notifications
automatically. Reverend Norris, I've known you for a long time as well, but I just wanted to let you know I I don't disagree with everything you just said, except for we did move this meeting. We had originally planned consistently for a very long
time to have this on Wednesday nights. But when we had the strategic meeting with the churches, they said, "Well, you're pl Yeah. And so they said, we're you're planning these meetings. I know you're planning these meetings on Wednesday nights and we can't come." So,
we changed the meeting to Thursday just for that reason. I mean, we're I I think we did try to respond in some way, but I do I do understand what you're saying. I'm just saying please recognize we we did that and we changed the whole setup
for these meetings that have been set up for a long time so that not just the pastors can come, but the people that go to Wednesday night meetings can come as well. We did hear that. I would just like to add to and thank you for those comments because that
comes out a lot the communication and everybody isn't on Next Door, they're not on Facebook. In addition to the churches, we have a lot of the communities, the subdivisions, the homeowners that they have distribution lists of the people. And so there's
simple solutions of setting out push information through email to larger organizations with them pushing it out further. So there's some I'm going to say relatively simple solutions to try to get the communication out in various
means and I really appreciate you know that the not just the comments but the recommendations you have >> Ken Leblanc. Um yeah I think this is a great start. I think um you know it identifies a lot of great positions categories and all that kind of stuff
that we need to think about. So, but the key now is what do we do from here forward, right? We have to implement these things and and come up with a plan of implementation and I suppose some of it might get implemented from the council, from the CRA, from workshops or
something. Um, you know, you were talking about Main Street. Um, yeah, I mean, I I think that we need to consider possibility of doing a Main Street project from the Journal Plaza all the way down to Inner Lake or even beyond um in the future. I mean, of course, that's
a eight-year plan, right? Anything you start big like that starts slow and then it just takes, you know, find finding funding and getting plans and all this stuff, but um but the the key now is is implementation. So, I suppose, you know,
um their project is now done and then the implementation part comes on the council and the uh town staff to move forward and decide how to implement this stuff, right? Yeah. Okay. But I think it was a great
job. Yeah. >> I I just think one of the neat things that came up about in one of those planning workshops was we were sitting around a table and somebody said, "Well, I've got food, but I can't get it delivered." And somebody said, "I have volunteers." And they don't have
anything to do. And and you know, just two and two came together. I think we need a lot more of that that that we can figure out and we too can know what the needs are because sometimes we don't know what the needs are. People out in the audience, they know about all these needs, but they don't communicate to us
either. So, it's got to go, you know, both ways. So, I think just in general, more communication between everyone is going to u to to make us be in a lot better place. Since Margaret's here, I want to I want to say this while she's here and we were
having conversation about how in one of the um group sessions and Carlton Carl's here from SBDC. Thank you. And we talked about strengths of some of the members that are in the community and where we have people who have really great strengths and they can help bridge the
gap. And so we talked about how the chamber functions off of a very small limited volunteer base. than the town staff. We are a very small staff and we don't have the ability to be able to create the mechanism so to speak to keep up with it as it should. Margaret is
very good about the social media presence and she tried to initiate that very early on. However, we didn't have a mechanism to be able to bring everybody together. And so Carlton said, he says, "Hey, that's a really great idea where we bring them together." And so we need
a hub, so to speak, where everything filters into this one individual or entity, and then how can we distribute it out? So, it really did start getting some of the conversations going and now we've just got to be able to pull it together. And kin to some of your
comments as we um develop the strategic plan which ties in with our downtown revitalization plan and all of these different plans. We do have opportunities for grants that we can apply for where we have um entities. It's there's one called retail
strategies and that's actually what they do is they come in and they look at the plans that you have and they help you develop a path forward. So they would then be able to pick up the next part of this as we and they have commerce grants is where we apply for those. So there are things in place where we can keep
this ball going. It's just going to be up to the council and how how fast and how quick we can make those things happen. So just wanted to add some comments especially since everybody has been dedicated and showing up. So thank you. and Mary Beth isn't she's not saying
anything but she's worked really hard on this as well. So just again kudos to Central Florida Regional Planning and also to Carl with the Small Business Development Council for coming to be partners with us in this project. We greatly appreciate it.
if if they have um comments or anything of that nature, do they just email them directly to you with some of the revisions or any things that they may have before our meeting on Monday because she'll bring forward the resolution on Monday and then we'll do another recap of this as well.
>> That that would be wonderful if you all would be willing to do that. Um I would like to offer I have another slide and we can do the same thing for the the strategic plan if you all would like. Wait for it. Maybe.
Nope. Oh, I'm so sorry. We're almost there. No. Ah, thank you. Wait, I got to go back. This is more fun than your computer screen because you can see it all up there. um the downtown
master plan that we presented Monday night. We have um a website with the kind of the key concepts from that and under each concept you can put your your comments in. So, we're hoping the public
will utilize that as we finalize the draft of the downtown plan. What I'm saying is we can take this plan before you tonight and tomorrow morning we can do the same and have that up for um anybody's comments as well. And then
from town council, yes, if you all would be willing to provide comments, but um we'll do the same with the strategic plan before you um and have a link to the town's website for folks to and for you all to comment. So hopefully that will help. Thank you.
So, that didn't answer your question. That was a very long answer to yes, yes, and but wait, there's more. So, and I I communication did come up several times and um I was writing as you all were
speaking um but I do plan to add um under two of the sections in the plan communications. So when you receive it on Monday night, you'll uh anything that we received will highlight uh as potential underlying strikeout for your
consideration. Is there anything else to come before council? Oh, just a quick reminder, remember uh Dow Hall Boulevard, Tower Street, the uh median will be closed starting
tomorrow for 10 days. It's it's it's going to be a mess. I just ask everybody to be patient and we'll get we'll get through this, but it's it's just going to take a little while. So uh if there's nothing else
meeting ajourned.