e e e e e e good evening I'd like to call to order the regular City Commission meeting for this the 24th of February
2025 can I have a roll call please yes Mr Mayor commissioner dollison here commissioner Mercer here commissioner danler here mayor protm Yates here and mayor bong here we will have an invocation
by Bishop Joe Holman of Greater Works Ministries and will be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Vanessa Castillo please stand if able good evening good evening Mr Mayor shall we pray kind father in in Jesus name we
come tonight thanking you for such a great city as Winter Haven thank you for our mayor and City commission city manager his staff we pray for our police Fire EMS who are on the streets making sure we're safe continue to bless Winter
Haven that it may be the city that we can raise our children and live a great life bless us and we we shall be blessed Keepers we shall be kept in Jesus name amen amen United States
America stand indice we have no presentations we have no developments of night commissioner you have the minutes Mr Mayor yes motion to approve
the minutes of February 5th City commission agenda review meeting and the February 10th regular City commission meeting minutes thank you I will close the commission meeting open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak or address us on these minutes they may do
so at this time seeing none close the public hearing reopen the city commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor let it be known by saying I I I opposes by the same sign hearing done the minutes are adopted comments
from the audience we have one person that has signed up BJ Manet would you please come forward state your name and address for the record and you have five minutes thank you very much my name is
BJ manx 6715 winet Gardens Road I'm joined by py Peggy Thro excuse me thr Kel from the Girls Inc of Winter Haven uh only the I'm the owner of Manx pools and grills here in Winter Haven have been for just under 26 years now um and years ago uh I learned very easily
how rewarding it was to give back to the community that gives to me I uh was able to do this with the very first organization that I uh was able to give back to was Girls Inc many years ago um and it became very rewarding and addicting um um it's uh very
rewarding so um I'm here tonight to speak to you about two events that I'm a part of uh throughout the year one is smoke off the water and one is uh we changed the name this year to grillfest it was Chain of Lakes eggfest um we as a
group have uh formed an 501c3 this year called Southern Charities group we are very passionate about these events we want to have three or four a year to raise money for local charities um this year smoke off the water event we're going to give proceeds to Humane Society
and of course Girls Inc Grill Fest which is March 29th we're giving all the proceeds to Girls Inc um we cannot do this uh without sponsorships so the reason I stand before you tonight is to see if we can get City of Winter Haven
to sponsor us um and I feel that uh it would be in a very small way from the city we rent the stages from the city every year um this year for Grill Fest it's $1,586 approximately and smoke off the water was
$1,985 we'd love nothing more than to have the City of Winter Haven be one of our sponsors for these events um with an inine sponsorship or donation if you will um to to be able to use these stages um so I don't think that was five
minutes but that's that's why I'm here first commission meeting so please don't beat me up thank you for your time all right thank you well I guess a request would have needed to have been made and is just a
first time that it has been requested this is the first this has come before the city commission um I understand Mr me can you come back to the podium for a moment if you would please I think he has uh spoken with uh staff from probably Natalie Wilson and
and Julie Adams one or two one or if not both of them regarding the event um city has you know leased or rented out those stages for past few years I I believe um normally we charge for for those those
assets when they're used outside of City functions so that would be um we don't really have a a procedure in place for sponsorship if that's something that the commission was interested in doing we can can explore that option at the
commission's request um yeah there's really just there there hasn't been a process for us to do that as a sponsorship we do sponsor a number of events around the community usually through a a cash
contribution um the commission does have uh some sponsorship dollars within their budget that we could you know know offset those costs with if you were so inclined a question yes the stage insurance I guess or is
that under the the the city's Master policy like if something happened to the stage or it was damaged or it's an insured asset okay and the fees is that what goes towards paying like the insurance on those things those fees offset the basically the depreciation on
that stage as well as the St in cost to set that up so whenever we issue out the particularly like our what we call our our XL stage um so going to see if if anybody from Parks and re was here that is the delivery of that stage the setup of it that requires Manpower so you're
offsetting both of those expenses um obviously the smoke off the water took the place of Smoke on the Water last year and that was kind of thrown together at the last minute but still a su success I believe and very much so um
both of these events the second one the eggfest the previous name obviously has been around for quite some time and um I'm fully confident in both of these events personally that that the money goes to um the correct causes and the
right people are putting this together and so I I'd make a motion that um we uh I move that we um um wave the fees in for a in kind
sponsorship for both events I have something yes um could he apply through the regular process for um funding for that so is a is a 501c3 most
definitely um Southern Charities group can apply for our grant and aid program um Girls Inc applies you you know as you know has been a one of our Legacy Partners or y agencies and receiving funds I don't know that they could apply
this year because those trainings have all occurred already but certainly going forward that could be an Avenue to apply for funding for those events as a 501c3 serving the local community my question is uh we have
several 501 c3s that do utilize the stage I know for a fact I guess if you establish a precedence here I don't know how you're going to because I like I said I know some and
I've been personally involved with it for years and we've paid it and we've others have paid it and so if you're going to establish that then that's what you establish going forward because if you're GNA pick and choose because all
of them are worthy all these there a whole lot there a host of of uh of organizations that do great work throughout our city I know I'm involved in a lot of them and I think it's a worthy effort and we've partnered with
the city I've had relationship before even being here and uh and we factor that in I'm sure they do too and the cost because we understand that the cost to the city and what you have to do in order when the stage was actually even
purchased um prior to that we had was that smaller one and then when they purchased the bigger stage so it's in high demand and the setup when you watch just the setup on that thing is quite extensive and uh Staffing that takes to even to make that happen so I'm just
simply saying if we establish that going forward this is what we're going to do then everybody comes in says hey I got a worthy effort and I want to give consideration to a partner with the city on that and that's what we'll do but you know that's that's going to be the
decision we have to make Mr Mayor yes I was going to kind of say the same thing I'm more comfortable with giving a grant than waving fees because it does set a precedent when we start waving fees we get asked all the time to wave the fees at at noro and these are worthy causes I
wasn't smoking the water myself and had a great time or smoke off the water and had a great time and big huge supporter of the Humane Society all that so has nothing to do with this particular charity it's just the precedent that we're setting and I've got no problem supporting these people
but I think we should do it through giving them a gift versus waving fees because we've always we've never waved impact fees we've never waved water fees you know everybody I remember when we went through this with uh mon Elementary or
somebody they wanted us to wave all these fees and we ended up giving them some money without waving it so I don't know how we square that Circle but I would rather give them some money let them pay the fee instead of the other
way around if that makes sense anybody help me understand if when there is a relationship or partnership with the city that uh there is a reduction in the amount there is a reduced amount or a
lower uh cost if I'm not mistaken or there's a nonprofit that utilizing one of our facilities we have a nonprofit rate okay that that's what I'm referring to that's what what I know most have are dealing with and you all are assumingly
dealing with that too that is the standard which we have now that creates that Level Playing Field for all the nonprofits to pursue so again if we if we actually move on this matter then I think we will set a new standard and I think it's
going to be a challenge for us because I promise you everybody's going to be here asking for the same thing it's true so what would if we appli that standard of that nonprofit is there is there something that we can apply to the
stage just like the buildings commissioner H I'd have to go back and research that I believe there is a nonprofit rate on that but I don't want to speak with certainty without having those figures in front of me and and just the reason why I made the motion tonight is I mean this is the first time
it's been requested for the stage in front of us the the events are right around the corner so you know I the motion's out there so um we can go with that and then could I offer some insight maybe on
this and I don't want to interject myself unnecessarily but maybe a good approach to this scenario might be that you um phrase your Motion in such a manner as to allow for there to be the
opportunity for this year only given the fact that this entity was unable to Advantage itself with the grant an aid process because of the trainings and what have you that are that are required
and that because of that it so this wouldn't be a precedent then that you would get rid of that and would that be something that you would consider Pro for tonight only in other words the reason why you're doing it is because it's kind of it's a matter of I say
emergency but it's a timing a timing issue and therefore in order to accommodate the request um that you would allow for there to be for this year only to give them an opportunity to get into the line or the queue for for the grant a process
yeah I'm fine with that as long as we can ensure that staff's going to get um Can can put into motion a nonprofit rate for use of the stage and I need again as I said I need to believe that there is one but I want to I want to verify that
okay to bring back to you I know I know that we have uh our organization has used that for years you know this our 30th year so uh even like I said before there was a stage you know so that is that is in
place now that is what we currently do uh is to give the nonprofit rate I'm not sure if you all been getting that or not that's the question I was just trying to look at this lengthy invoice because we we with smoke off the water we rented both stages and tables and chairs and so
I didn't want to be rude but I was trying to look on this to see if if there was a I believe that they do give us a discount every year um for the for the rental of the stages at least that would give the opportunity to avoid you know so if in
the future those that are using this stage and the not for-profits that apply for the grant and aid they could take that into consideration and that we would from a policy standpoint we're not waving the fee but you're permitting the payment of these funds I think this is really a good time
to have this discussion because truthfully the I remember having this conversation with Joyce Davis Believe It or Not vo from the past about how they did it at the chamber and it's probably something that we might want to consider too is having a formal application because what's going to happen is if we
pass this you're right everybody in the world's going to come up to that Podium and ask us to wave these fees so for the rest of the year yeah for the rest for one time only or whatever it is so they're going to watch what we do so but if we have an application you know a formal
application that whatever wants us to wave the fee or give them money or whatever and then if it's going to be asked to us to vote on it then we need to have an application I think I need to have something in writing I can read I'm familiar with smoke off the water because I go every year but all the rest
of them I'm not necessarily familiar with so if we can see what they do the people what their money blah blah blah and then we can make an informed vote and because because this is what we're doing we're Now setting ourselves up here to to have these votes from now on when people want us to weigh the fee and
I'm just cautious I'm just warning you guys because that's what's coming if we do this you know because people have it doesn't cost them anything to come over here and spend five minutes and ask us to wave a, fee but it if we have enough application and we can talk about it at
a planing session then we can actually do it or not you know that's my thought Mr Mayor if I could be okay if I could just comment on on what commissioner dancer said I think what the what the City attorney has offered is a good
approach in the sense that the grant and aid program is a allocation of Grant dollars to sponsor nonprofit functions within the community we have any given year 40 50 of those applications that
come in some of them are for ongoing services for example not singling body on kids pack is one we just recently talked about that is an ongoing service that they provide some of them do come in for a specific unique program a point
in time program to deliver some event that is an existing vehicle that you have and you have a committee that you've appointed to vet those and review those based upon the legitimacy of the of the nonprofit agency that they are
local and it's providing a service back specifically within the Winter Haven Community I think think that um for the uh the southern Charities group they certainly would qualify for that they're an established F1 C3 they have a a
sunbiz establishment within the state so they can qualify and apply for that as I said that the downside for this year we're actually looking at the dollars to go forward to next year so the those folks that will apply in March of 2025
would be getting awards for fiscal year 25 5 26 okay so you you would have had to have gone through those trainings which we just wrapped up this last week right um in order to apply Girls Inc has gone
through that training so they can apply um on their behalf for that that sponsorship within their application if so chosen um but it doesn't solve the problem for what they have this year now smoke off the water has already occurred two three weeks ago so what they're
looking at is the grillfest event that remains um you could look at that on a singular oneoff case that stands before you and direct them towards the grant and aid process going forward but again I don't I don't have an answer for that
you know what do you do for next fiscal year because they haven't gone through the trainings that have been completed this year so they would be ineligible to apply for that until they went through that training and those won't happen again until next January February do you main society going through it um I don't know if they have or not
commissioner Girls Inc could ask on their behalf yep Girls Inc could certainly ask on their behalf safe Humane Society's the other one they could ask on their behalf to that would be a easy that would be certainly a pathway for the 2526 FIS Year yes sir and that could just be
included and Girls Inc submits an application annually and could certainly do that they could carry that application is having gone through that training I I just think that uh what we are faced with
tonight is trying to come up with perhaps a solution that will not did not set a presidents because even if we say one time this is a one-time
deal uh that's not going to stop others from coming in what I would like to see is if uh if we're truly interested in this
particular event our events seeing if there's a way that uh we could join as a sponsor and not set it up as
waving our fees okay I like that I'm fine with that I would like that more as a way forward and then I just I just have really uh when we set when we set a standard or
presidents then even though we say it's a one-time deal for one organization that's not going to prohibit other organizations from seeing what we did here tonight and say well us one
time and I said Mario we put if we give them money we sponsor we get our name on the banner and that gives us a little bit of publicity that we're supporting this charity I think that's a good idea I you would have gotten that anyways but um I I'll if it's simpler
I'll just withdraw the motion and I'll make a motion that we um contribute $1,000 to each charity event we're talking about one event one event that remains for
this year well there's two there were two event I mean one is one's already happened but there's still a bill outstanding and you could make the argument that maybe well the bill outstanding is for rental so
yeah can't right I tried make a motion for the $1000 sponsorship on the event to come is there any discussion second well we don't really
need one but what I'm just close the commission meeting and uh open the public hearing again so is there anyone that would like to speak to the motion that has been made
I'll close the uh public hearing we open the city Commission meeting all those in favor of the motion let it be known by saying I I I opposes by the same sign motion passes thank you all very much all right for clarification if I could Mr Mayor that motion was to offer a
$1,000 sponsorship to Southern Charities group for uh their expenses associated with the 2025 Grill Fest yes okay and and I'll just add I I get at
what everybody's saying but I where I have trouble with at the end of the day I mean and as all of the facilities that we have I mean it's the people's stage it's the People's Building this is the People's City Hall and you know I I get that there's you know um there's a
there's a line there to be drawn somewhere and it it's often find difficult to find what that line is well we have service is with that too we have people involved that you know we pay their salaries
also well the the pro the only the only concern problem that I have is that uh there are just a lot of agencies that and just like we have to
uh with the Grant in Aid we as a commission we have have to set a limit on what we will do and uh so I'm in this particular instance I some suggestions
has been made that I think are very uh upfront and will serve us well and so I'm I'm fine with it very well all right thank you okay
[Music] okay we have um some ordinances for second reading 02501 would you read by tyon City attorney thank you Mr Mayor commission ordinance number 0- 25-01 an ordinance
amending ordinance 23-25 the 2035 Winter Haven comprehensive plan 2035 future land use map series by revising the future land use map series by assigning neighborhood support feature land used to one Annex parcel repealing all ordinances in Conflict here with providing for the administr shed
correction of sceners Errors providing for severability and providing an effective date General location a parcel generally located south of dundy Road approximately 1,748 ft east of Overlook Drive Southeast and approximately 108 feet North of Highway 550 the area
covered by this request is 0.11 plus or minus Acres thank you thank you since this is our second reading said the manager we've heard it three times in no changes nothing has changed sir staff recommends uh approval ordinance
02-01 on second and final reading thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion approve ordinance 0- 25-01 thank you I will close the commission meeting open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to
02501 may do so at this time seeing none close the city commission Mee close the public hearing and reopen the city commission meeting all those in favor Let It Be know by
saying I I post this by the sa sign hearing none the uh ordinance passes 0252 would you read by Ty lony City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0-2-2 an ordinance amending chapter 21 of the code of ordinances of the city of
winter Heaven Florida by assigning commercial D Highway C3 zoning District to an Annex parcel repealing all ordinances in Conflict here with providing for the administrative correction from scers errors providing for separability and providing an effective date General parcel General location a parcel generally located
south of dundy Road approximately 1,748 ft east of Overlook Drive Southeast and approximately 108 feet North of Highway 550 the area covered by this request is 0.11 plus or minus Acres thank you thank you same applies city manager yes sir
this is the companion ordinance that deals with the assignment of the commercial Highway C3 zoning District staff recommends City commission approve ordinance 025 -02 on second and final reading thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor
yes um motion to approve on second reading 0 2522 oh 252 all right thank you all right I'll close the uh commission meeting open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to
0252 may do so at this time seeing none I close the public hearing reopen the city commission meeting in a discussion all those in FA let it be known by saying I I poses by the same sign hearing none o
2502 is adopted 0258 would you read uh by title only City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 25-8 an ordinance extending the corporate limits of the City of Winter Haven Florida so as to include therein additional territory
lying contiguous and adjacent to the present boundaries of the city of winter Heaven Florida describing set additional territory repealing all ordinances in Conflict here with with providing for the administrative correction of sc's erors and providing an effective date General location 807 snidle Avenue the area covered by this request is 32.3 n
plus or minus Acres thank you thank you city manager mayor Commissioners this is uh Second and final reading on an annexation proposed by Arc Industries Inc is shown on your screen this partiel total is 3239 plus or minus Acres
petitioner owns the adjacent parcel which is located in the city limits and this request will bring both Parcels under the same jurisdiction for future development staff recommends City commission approve ordinance 02-08 on second and final reading thank you thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes
a motion to approve on second reading ordinance 0258 all right thank you I close the commission meeting and open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to 0258 may do so at this time seeing none I'll close the public hearing reopen the
city Commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor let it be known by saying I I posos this by the same sign here done 0 2508 is adopted o
259 would you read by T loness City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 25-9 an ordinance amending ordinance number 0- 24-44 appropriation of funds for defraying the expenses of the municipal government of the city witer Haven for the fiscal year commencing October 1
2024 providing for severability and providing an effective date thank you thank you city manager mayor and Commissioners as we you recall the city was awarded a $200,000 Grant from the trail go grant program which is within the office of Greenways and trails this
was this grant was not budgeted in the current fiscal year so the city commission authorized a budget amendment on January 27th 2025 adding $200,000 in Grant Revenue to the general fund as well as the offsetting general fund expenditure staff recommends City
commission approve ordinance 0- 25-9 amending the budget on second and final reading thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion to approve ordinance 02509 okay thank you I'll close the commission meeting open the public
hearing anyone wishing to speak to 02509 may do so at this time seeing none close the uh public hearing reopen the city Commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor of the motion let it be known by saying I I
opposes by the same sign 0259 is adopted 0 2510 would you read by title on the City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 25-10 an ordinance adopting and designating an updated official seal for the city of wien Florida providing for
repeal of conflicting ordinances providing for severability ility providing for the administrative correction of scri errors and providing an effective date thank you thank you city manager mayor and Commissioners again this is uh the third time this has come before you in discussion so this is
in reference to the city seal of the city of winner Haven this was originally adopted June 22nd of 1911 so 114 years ago there about um in order to address an update to the seal which will include the date of incorporation as shown on
your screen at the Bott bottom of the seal does require per state statute uh the passage of an ordinance to do so the only change to the to the seal is that addition of the incorporation 1911 I've
provided at the dis for you uh an image cut sheet that has at the top the current city logo or city seal as it was and then beneath it the Black and White Version which is how most of your documents would appear sealed or or or
embossed by the city clerk's office and then also the colorized version for print on documents that reflects the city's current color palette staff is recommending City commission approve ordinance 0 25-10 on second and final reading I just have a
question the uh the seals look like those are oranges that have fallen off the tree I I don't know know what they were thinking in 1911 Mr Mayor you can see the top one has them as well positioned
differently um know maybe that's if there's if there's ever a chart or amendment to add two more seats to the to the dis maybe that's what that's for I don't know okay all right I was just wondering if maybe someone has some insight no I don't entertain a motion Mr
Mayor yes um motion to approve ordinance 0 2510 City SE thank you I close the commission meeting open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to 0 2510 may do so at this time seeing none
close the public hearing reopen the commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor say I I oppose Us by the same sign hearing none we have an updated City seal all
right consent agenda Commissioners you have the consent agenda Mr Mayor yes motion to approve the consent agenda and its entir thank you I'll close the commission meeting open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to any item on the consent
agenda may do so at this time seeing none close the public hearing we open City the commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor let it be known by saying I I poses by the same sign hearing n
consent agenda is adopted resolution r2507 would you read by title only City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number or pardon me resolution number r- 25-7 a resolution confirming the acceptance of improvements infrastructure and dedications in favor
of the public city of Winter Haven is notated on that certain platin titled Peach Crossings recorded in the office of the clerk of the Circuit Court in for Poke County Florida in plat book 2011 Pages 18-9 public records of Pope County Florida and authorizing the city manager to release the performance bond posted
to guarantee completion of required improvements and infrastructure General location subdivision is generally generally south of Eloise Loop Road West of Po Road thank you thank you city manager mayor and Commissioners LGI Homes Florida LLC requests the
Commission accept certain improvements and dedications in favor of the city as not noted on the plat for Beach Crossings this subdivision consists of 13.6 Plus plus or minus Acres it contains 52 building lots and seven common Lots all water lines sewer lines
reuse water and related infrastructure will be owned and maintained by the city however the internal roadways which are contained within 40 foot rights of way are dedicated to Peach Crossings homeowners association on July 28th 2023 the city commission approved resolution
R23 D40 platting the Peach Crossing subdivision LGI Homes Florida submitted a performance bond in the amount of 1,244 6684 to guarantee completion of all required infrastructure and improvements
for the subdivision recent inspections by staff found all incomplete improvements are now complete and the water Wastewater and reuse utilities can now be accepted by the city and the aforementioned performance bond released there's no direct Financial impact as a
result of this request staff does recommend the city commission approve resolution r- 25-0 s thank you thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion to approve resolution r2507 thank you I close the commission
meeting open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to r2507 may do so at this time seeing none close the public hearing reopen the city commission meeting any discussion all those in favor say I I opposes by the
same sign hearing none resolution R-25 07 is adopted resolution r2508 would you read by title only City attorney thank you Mr Mayor resolution r- 25-8 a resolution approving that certain PLA and title
Anabel Estates for filing in accordance with chapter 177 Florida Statutes with specific conditions providing for the administrative correction of Governor's errors and establishing an effective date the general location subdivision is located the northeast corner of old BTO Lake Wales Road and McLean Road thank
you city manager mayor and Commissioners erpc peace Creek LLC is requesting F final plat approval for Anabella States this is a 95.3 eight plus or minus acre subdivision which contains 324 building
lots and 12 common Lots all water and sewer utilities will be owned and maintained by the city while all con drainage conveyances internal roadways and Street lighting will be maintained by the CDD a performance bond in the amount of 860,000 6
2245 has been submitted to the city to cover the cost of the remaining infrastructure items to be complete which include sanitary sewer potable water off-site improvements and Engineering certification Annabelle Estates was developed according to the requirements contained in PUD ordinance
02245 Water Service to the subdivision will be from the Winter Haven water system and Wastewater will be treated at the wastewater treatment plant 3 there is adequate capacity in these systems to serve the subdivision access to the subdivision is from old Barto Lake Wills road and mlan road these roadways have
sufficient capacity to serve the subdivision on buildout staff recommends uh City commission approval of resolution R 25-8 thank you thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion to approve the resolution
r2508 thank you our close the commission meeting open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to r2508 may do so at this time seeing none close the public hearing reopen the city commission meeting in a discussion all those in favor say I I I oppos this by
the same sign hear none R-25 d08 is adopted we have no ordinances our first reading we have one new business item city manager thank you Mr Mayor and Commissioners Excel is a cloud-based
permitting and Licensing software currently utilized by P County and other counties and cities across Florida for the application submitt permitting plan review and Building Inspections Excel will improve efficiencies and provide better more responsive customer service for our citizens and our Builders excela
partners with a complimentary Software System called selectron that inte integrates with Excel to include additional options including the scheduling of inspections and proactive communication with contractors and homeowners via text messaging and web-based map Centric inspect ction
management tools that bring all activities in the field into a single dashboard to assist with workload balancing the final component to the software solution is burn burn is an IT firm that implements Excel provides training and provides ongoing Support
Services P county has off which also uses the system today has offered to partner with the City of Winter Haven along with other municipalities by allowing the city to utilize templates of configurations that were established by P County by doing so uh the city's implementation
costs will be greatly reduced from anywhere from 200 to $300,000 to a cost of just over $80,000 that use using that same configuration also creates consistencies for our developers not only between the city and P County but all the other
cities within P County that utilize this when developers are doing business in P County they're using a common familiar configuration and platform for everything they're doing within the permitting field Fu total maximum cost for the implementation of the excelis
electron and burn solution is $527,000 this is spread out over a five-year window as depicted within your uh your fact sheet there's a table that that shows that amount the first Year's amount of is $194,500
year one is currently budgeted in the building division's fiscal year 2425 budget years 2 through 5 will be budgeted accordingly within that same budget as we go forward keeping in mind that we can only use building fees that we collect for expenses that are
incurred within the provision of building service related uh services and programs staff recommends the city commission approved the purchase of excelus electron and burn permitting and Licensing software Solutions in the amount of $527,000 one20 payable over the
five-year window utilizing currently uh budgeted funds from fiscal year 2425 within the building division fund and available Revenue to be budgeted in years two through five so again this I think this is a a very proactive
approach to improve how we permit how we interface not only with homeowners who are doing permitting but also our development Community creates consistency between the city and the county uh provides a tremendous communication and management tool for that process and at the end of the day
makes doing business in the City of Winter Haven much more efficient and effective thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion to approve the purchase of the software thank you I'll close the commission meeting open the public
hearing anyone wishing to speak to new business business item 13A may do so at this time seeing none close the uh public hearing reopen the city commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor say I I oppos this by
say no hear none 13A is passed we have now our commission Le on reports start with you commissioner danor uh not a whole lot to report on I
was under the weather all last week so I did attend the friends of the library reception at the Winter Haven Library it's an annual reception that they do every year and I went by and said hello to everybody and gave greetings and um but that was basically it for me for this last two weeks all right
commissioner doson uh good evening uh nothing to report tonight commissioner mercel um I attended the pope uh TPO meeting and uh I also took the orientation for um being on the
TPO as a third member I guess um I also attended uh the ridge League uh in hannes city and I attended the kanan's Pancake Festival um they focus on services for the children they have a
lot of other programs that um they um do such as every child is swimmer and and some of that so uh that was it for me I think all right thank you may Pro Tim yes thanks thank you just one thing I
want to um talk about and it was really derived from the P TPO meeting um so I asked the TPO staff to kind of give me a little bit more clarity on um the Thompson Nursery Road widening project
and um my understanding is that there's two layouts potentially being proposed for that um Eastern side of of it uh closer to the lake whal side and that is one is the traditional layout with bike
pass that um are part of the travel lanes and then the second item that was presented was a multi-use path that's separated from the travel Lanes both layouts fit within the available space
um but for some reason and Dot um supports the multi-use path separated from travel Lanes making it more safer for residents to Traverse that area but the County Commission is not wanting to hear that or to discuss that they want
to stick with the uh first layout which is putting those Lanes within the travel Lanes so just curious if staff had any um indication of what's going on on the county level with that project because it does affect residents of the City of
Winter Haven out there Eric do you have any insights on Thompson nury Road you can share um I know that Shan buers and our office planning manager had attended a few meetings regarding Thompson nury Road and I'll follow up with him but we had heard the same thing um and I think from
a staff level perspective we would prefer the multi-use trail as well I'm just I'm just not getting a clear understanding and I don't know maybe it not that it would do anything but if a letter of support from the city commission went to the county to say Hey
you know we we would support uh multi-use Lanes separated from the main travel Lanes if that would have any bearings on on on what but I just it's it's safer with the amount of traffic that's out there and pedestrians competing in those same traffic Lanes it
just not it's not safe Mr Mayor k i I want to thank commissioner y because you're very you're very right I live out there and I see how fast people drive and I feel so sorry for those people on Cypress Gardens Boulevard that don't have a separate sidewalk they have to ride their bikes and walk out there with
people driving 60 down Cypress Gardens Boulevard it's going to be the same thing out there so um I think a letter of of of support for a separate Lane would be good it has to be a money issue that's all I can figure they're just not wanting to spend the money for it but I think we should definitely support that
uh and thank you for bringing that up because I was not aware of that and you know we all got letters recently um in regards to the the road going through Bok Tower and I don't know if we want to weit in on that issue as well but they I
think it was Mr Dr buts maybe wrote wrote the letter to all of us think we all got a of it but he made some very good points and I'm a big user of of mock Tower and they're all concerned out there about what's going to happen to that place if that road one of those configurations there's several
configurations and again we as a as a body may want to wait in we may not but if we do we probably need to do it pretty soon to where they don't just destroy that place out of Buck Tower so so that came up as well and I made the recommendation and after some some
lengthy discussion on it they can go with with different segments of those suggested areas so my suggestion was take a all the way up to Dundee and then
Dundee can pick up the B C D path of of travel at that point that clearly navigates all the traffic away from bacht or uh and and the the historic Gardens over there that was my suggestion and I think again probably a letter of support would probably be
warranted along those same lines is to to pick up that a which is off of off of 60 kind of um it be well well west of 27 a is the furthest west um connection to to start heading north and then you take
that a on up to the dund D area and then that can then pick up the BC or D pass there from there that's a great idea i' support that if we want to go if we want to do it as a board I'm all I'm on for it so what um what I might suggest if I
if I could if if the commission's in agreement for both of those actions um two separate letters one to uh P County BC and and the T with uh copying that to the TPO on Thompson
Nursery Road because that is a County Road and then a separate letter supporting decisions on the Eastern leg of the pulk parkway bypass whatever the official name of that road is that have
the least impact on Bok Tower Botanical Gardens and that would likely Go Eric to the TPO and the is that the Turnpike Authority or do the Turnpike Authority um presented those four different it's the Turnpike
Authority but there's a there's a manager at dot that is a project manager so two different recipients of that we can copy certainly the county on that one to on on the pke parkway piece so that they're they're informed with that as well I think those are two different
letters and if the commission is is supportive of us preparing those for your signature we can can get that done rather quickly I am I am Mr Mayor is there consensus to do both letters yes consensus yes we all good yes anything
else you have the letter where we all sign it right yes sir yeah we'll have should be able to prepare that by the end of the week okay all right I just have uh two things I chair the central Florida Regional planning
Council and um also a special call meeting of the uh cooperative and uh the special call meeting for the Cooperative had to do with imminent
domain and where our deep whales and the plant is being built right down from there the lines that they want to run people that own the
property is fighting it too th Hil they don't want it so uh we had to have a special meeting to continue to pursue the uh imminent domain so uh that was it for me
City attorney nothing this evening thank you city manager a few things if I may Mr Mayor first off um we have a complete Street design RFQ request for qualifications that will be released for
the Sixth Street Southwest project this is generally in the area of venue 650 in the Winter Haven water department one of our DOT funded complete streets and we're looking for a liaison to uh be assigned to that the commission so chooses to have one again this is just
for the the design RFQ process of selecting the The Firm to to provide those Services all right we have a volunteer thank you commissioner Mercer um second thing this Thursday is the PK County
legislative delegation uh meeting that we hold it's held every year in advance or going into session for the county the municipalities the school board other governmental entities and nonprofits and
uh citizens to share concerns and comments to the delegation that is being held this Thursday February 27th at 1M at the board of County Commission building in Barto uh commissioner Yates is uh
representing the city to speak at that we we are on their agenda as as typical and in several of you have spoken at that in the past it will focus around our our legislative agenda which we have shared with you in in Prior meetings um
and just really getting ready for the the legislative session to kick off there's a number of bills that we're tracking in addition to what's in in in our legislative platform we're staying very much AB breast of what is in the governor's budget proposal which speaks
to some of the funding that we've talked about for programs like Florida Community trust Florida Recreation development assistance program arts and culture Grant programs those are presently within the governor's budget and we will continue to Advocate that those remain in the final budget that's
produced so like I said mayor protim Yates will be speaking at that and we will follow back up with uh any comments from there this Saturday for those of you that are able to to make it the uh first pitch ceremonial kickoff opening
of the chain of Lakes Park Baseball facilities will take place beginning at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning for those of you that are able to attend we ask that you report no later than 8:45 those ceremonies will take place on
field three which is the picturesque field that has the Outfield is Lake Lulu um it will include comments from mayor bird song as well as from commissioner Santiago from the board of County Commissioners
and there will be a a ceremonial first pitch and followed by the kickoff of of games that facility did open this past weekend we had a smaller tournament for Saturday and Sunday which gave us a good test run on the facility the final round
of games were played Under The Lights everything seemed to go very well with that there is a lot of work that is yet to be done out there but certainly the fields are playable in tiptop shape um and we were able to accommodate not only that tournament but also a volleyball
tournament and the opening of a show on the small stage so a lot of activity happening at the complex and the parking seem to function pretty well so looking forward to a great weekend down there this is the kickoff of the uh the Russ matat tournament so we'll have those
folks in town for several weeks along with a whole slew of Collegiate softball players that will be competing at the diamond Plex facility throughout the month of March so hotel rooms and restaurants will be bustling here in in Winter Haven and through throughout P
County for the the remainder of the month and and through uh March certainly uh tomorrow I travel out of state to attend the icma local government reimagined conference I'll be back into uh Winter Haven sometime Sunday during
my absence MJ will be available to address any com any concerns that come up or any issues that need to be navigated by the city manager's office office along with assistant city manager Charlie Bert and I think that is everything I have for this evening sir all
right Deputy uh city manager good evening mayor and City commissioners I do have one thing tonight so obviously there's a lot happening at the federal level that we are tracking um the one that's hitting closest to home in the this week is Grants uh we receive a lot of federal funding for airport projects
Transportation projects cdbg funding um fire department grants and a number of other programs uh We've started we have stop temporary stop orders on most of our grants that we received the week before last I think it was and we started to receive actual terminations
uh last week the first of which was for our urban forestry Grant uh that the city received um so it's disappointing that money is gone uh but the city has money budgeted that budgeted at 50% match on that they have contractors on board um
so staff is continuing to push ahead with those efforts it'll just be at a diminished level uh from what what it was for the time being so we'll continue to work on other funding strategies there but um that took a pretty big hit the others that we're watching really closely right now are the microtransit funding that we had uh lined up for
downtown as well as the Safe Streets for all grant that we were looking at for uh creating pedestrian improvements in school zones things of that nature um and then our Congressional Appropriations that we've received those are those are kind of the ones that we're watching very closely right now um so
not a lot of good news on that but we're paying attention to it and uh you know pivoting as as these things come in I think the main point with that mayor and Commissioners is that you know Winter Haven is a community of 60,000 people we we're feeling the pain just like
everybody else is of what happens at the federal level so hopefully um you know where we're paused on some grants those those continue to move forward but when we get a termination letter of a specific Grant that's certainly something we want to make sure you're aware
of okay thank you city clerk nothing from me this evening thank you Deputy city clerk all right um emergency matters not receed for the
agenda motion to adjo motion no motion I said we stand to join