presentations, proclamations, they'll be done on Monday night. The 5C, which is for the agenda review only. We will take that one up at the uh end of the agenda review.
Then we have the minutes, comments from the audience. Then we'll have reorganization of the city commission which will be Monday night. So we will go directly uh
to the uh consider Thank you, Mr. Mayor uh and commissioners. We're going to have staff give uh presentation this evening on these items as they are certainly by far the the most expert on this item 11 A uh
through 11 C. I'll ask Gary Huard, our director of Winter Haven Water, to come forward and present on those items. >> All right. >> Good evening, mayor and commissioners, and happy new year. So, we're off to >> a great start. Um,
a lot of good things going to be happening this year. So 11 A, 11B, and 11 C, they're all related. The first one um is basically a time extension for an existing grant
agreement that was originally was uh D um authorized PRWC to administer grants and that was when PRWC was just getting started through the H Heartland headquarters. So this this one although
it looks very complicated with all the different amendments and everything, it's basically just a time extension and it was related to septic to sewer to fill you in on that. So the second one
is again this is uh an additional is combining an earlier grant with a then a later grant and doing the same time extension so everything matches up.
So basically, we had an existing grant for about $1.5 million for septic to sewer and then a subsequent grant for about $3.4 million. So it's combining those two sums of money and extending the time for the
grant. Any questions? >> Any questions? >> So then now we're really getting to the meat of it. This this item is the award of a construction contract to B&B
Utilities Underground Construction uh in the amount of uh 4,944,000 and some change. So, basically, this construction contract will be funded through the
grants that I just told you about with some additional monies left over to help residents connect to the system into in the future. Uh we'll begin in the the the south area will be the first under construction
and the total project time frame is approximately two years. It'll take about a year for each one of these areas, the the north and the south. >> Mayor and commissioners, just to to add a little context to this, you may recall
in in prior commission meeting, you had authorized improvements to a lift station. I believe it was 119. >> That is correct. >> Um that is located in this same area. And that improvement was done in advance
of this item that you're considering you'll consider Monday night which is the installation of the force mans and gravity lines and such. Um so that's the supporting infrastructure to go with it. One of the things that we are exploring
is um and we'll we'll do this going you know as we go forward the cost associated with connections and the plumbing aspect and the connection fees for residents to tie in identifying means to minimize that impact because
these folks are on septic systems now. Of course, the objective is to minimize the uh number of or reduce the number of septic systems throughout the entire community given their potential to negatively impact our lake systems. And
so that's one of the things Mr. Hubard mentioned in the grant dollars. There is some residual funding in there that will go towards that. And we are also exploring and will continue to explore other means to offset some of those financial impacts for when residents
ultimately tie into our system. And that's not too dissimilar to what we did in the bogggy bottom area about three or four years ago when we did the septic to sewer project out there. And besides installing the gravity sewer system, we'll be replacing AC water main also in
this area. So, we'll be improving um water water supply and water uh you know fire protection throughout this area. >> Right. Go ahead, >> Gary. Have we identified all those areas that need um subject to sewer?
>> Yes, we did a subject to sewer master plan about five years ago and we prioritized them. This was one of the high priority areas. So, this will be the first one. There'll be many more in the future coming. So, this is a good
test case on how this goes. >> All right. Any other questions? >> That's it. >> Thank you, Gary. >> Thank you. >> Uh, commissioners, the next item 11D, uh, Mr. Carnival will present this item. >> Good evening, mayor and city commissioners. Uh, behavioral health management services, which is Bayare,
has been our EAP provider. So this is uh when when we need counseling, they provide a variety of support services for us. Um has been our provider since 2020. That contract expired at the end of 2025. So we advertised RFP 2542. Uh
and two agencies submitted proposals for that. Uh they were all health all one healthwell LLC and Bayare Life Management. Uh held a public meeting on November 20th to review and rank the firm's responses. The evaluation committee unanimously ranked Bayare life
management as the highest ranking proposal and made a recommendation of award with no protests on that. Um so staff has proposed that we award that RFP 2542 to Bayare Life Management in the form of a service agreement and um
that is included in the HR budget for this fiscal year at $23,946 and if uh if renewed that would be included in future fiscal year's budgets. >> All right, questions. All right, next item is uh item 11E. This pertains to
our transportation improvement program. Britney Hart will give you some insights on a pretty significant roadway milling and resurfacing effort. >> Yes, good evening, commissioners. Um so we are bringing before you the 2526 transportation improvement program
recommendations. Um, we've identified 37 roadway segments across the four quadrants of the city that will total approximately 14 miles that we would like to resurface this year. They have a PCI, which is the pavement condition index score of between 20 to 30, which
means that they're in that poor to failing condition. Um, so we've recommended that those roads be uh have a mil and fill treatment, a 1-inch mil and fill treatment um put on them that will bring them into excellent condition. Um, and we will be able to see at least another 30 years out of
those roadways. Um, we would, uh, back into 2020, we did a pavement management toolbox. Um, Hubard Construction was awarded our pavement services in that agreement, and we are recommending that a purchase order be issued to them in the amount of
1,978,3357. And that would include the one inch mill and fill of all 37 roadways, which is about 14 miles, as well as the striping that will need to go on those roads. Um, with this uh treatment that we would apply, the majority of those tip dollars
that have been outlined in the budget would go to the mill and fill work this year. Um, this would be the first year that we focused the majority of our efforts on that. However, this would substantially improve our pavement conditions throughout the city. Um currently we're sitting about an average of 70 and we would be coming up to
nearly a 75 PCI condition average. Um we wouldn't have any roads in that failing um condition any longer. We would have just a few less than 1% in the very poor condition and those roads are either under design or under construction at the moment. Um, so once those roads are
finished or the design process is ended and we go into construction, we won't have any at that time in that very poor or failing condition. >> That's great. >> Yes. Very exciting. >> Britney, on the map that is displayed, can you give some context to that?
>> Yes. So, this map, um, what this is is a highlight of some of the roads that were in that category. Um, not all of them. There were still a few tweaks that needed to be made. As you can see, um there's some green and some yellow and things of that nature. The system that we use to measure the pavement condition
index, uh we've we've talked before. It's called RMT. It is a monitoring service. It's going on majority of our public works vehicles. We have them on garbage trucks and some of our administration fleet. They're driving the city roads every day and they're measuring based off of vibrations to
give us a score. um if we had the whole whole picture of it. Um anything that's in green or um yellow or orange is in good condition and anything that was in the red color was in the pore. Um there are some on this list that have already been improved um either with
microsurfacing or another treatment. Um and so needed to filter out a few of those. Um but this is a majority of what was left after um last year's treatment and and this treatment that would need to be improved. Um so this is a large majority of them. There is a few stragglers in there and we would have
that cleaned up for you on Monday evening um with an interactive map where you'd be able to zoom in on each specific road that is listed for improvements. >> All right, any questions? >> Okay. >> All right. >> Next up, item 11F. This is uh additional
licensing for our Excella permitting program. Eric Labby, who oversees our building division, give us a quick update on this. >> Yes, sir. Mayor, commissioners, you may recall about a year ago, we purchased the Asella building and and uh permitting software system. I'm happy to announce that that system is now live. We actually went live on Monday. Uh the
very first permit that was issued was a re- roof and it took about uh they submitted online, no issues. It was reviewed and issued in about 45 minutes. So, uh guy walked away with his with his permit. Um, we do need, however, to purchase uh seven additional licenses so
that all of our uh staff that are uh geared up to utilize this building and permitting software system um can fully utilize uh that. That includes our inspectors. It's mostly our building division staff and um some of our planning division staff. It's also a
license for our fire marshal, so he can log um his inspections uh in that system as well. 11. Um there were 11 licenses included in the initial contract. We need to purchase seven more. Um that is
a total cost uh for the remainder of year one of the contract and uh year two of the contract. Uh that is a total cost of $22,52. Uh that would come from the building division fund. And there are adequate
funds uh available to purchase those additional licenses. Does it use AI? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Does it use AI to review any of them or anything like that? >> I don't believe it uses AI. No, ma'am. >> It is a program, if I'm not mistaken,
Pulk County also uses this in some of the other cities in Pulk County. >> Yes, sir. Um, >> so there's a familiarity benefit to contractors who are doing work under multiple jurisdictions that it's the same process that they may be using elsewhere.
What is any impact to staff? Um >> uh makes it a little easier actually. It's what it does is um when they apply online and there are links on our building division page on our website um to go in the contractors can upload all of their information for the permit that
they are requesting. It gets automatically reouted to the appropriate reviewers. Um they they review it. They if they have any comments, they put those comments in there. If not, they approve it. Once it's all approved by all the approvers, it's there's an
automatic notice that goes out to the contractor saying your permit's approved. It issues the permit and then once the uh the permit is approved, the inspectors are notified that that construction activity is is a live activity and they will get automatic
updates on their iPads out in the field whenever that contractor schedules an inspection. >> Yes, sir. certainly creates some efficiencies for us but really I think more so for the customer which is where our focus is.
>> Okay. >> All right. >> Next item uh 11g. This is kind of a unique one uh that pertains to to me specifically mayor and commissioners. So the um ICMA, the International City
County Management Association has a global exchange program that allows and invites individuals from here in the states to spend time immersed immersed in local government in other local uh
across the globe to get some experience and insights into how problems we experience in our own community are being dealt with in other other places. Um I was extended an opportunity to participate in the 2026 global exchange
program which will take place from March 22nd to March 26th in Ireland. Um focusing predominantly in the areas of Dublin and Limmerch. Uh this program allows as I mentioned the members to interact directly with city and county
managers in that host country. Uh key topics that are to be covered in the 26 global exchange include climate change and action, smart cities, technologies and advancements, tourism, economic development and economy safety
initiatives, estuary management and and protective measures, energy, rural development, social issues, and key issues in local government from a national perspective. This is a a highly competitive program. Uh there are
approximately 60 ICMA members from across the United States uh who will participate in the program this year. There's funding available within our travel and training budget because of the timing of when other trainings would take place in the current fiscal year.
And so I'm asking for permission to participate in the program. Uh the cost uh to include the registration, the accommodations and travel uh is estimated at just right about $3,500 and those funds are available if approved.
Um and uh that's my space has been secured with and they're just waiting for me to execute following uh approval by the commission if so granted. >> All right, any questions?
Sounds like a great opportunity. Um, if you uh really enjoy that. >> Last just as an example, the 2025 global exchange uh was in South Africa. >> South >> South Africa and uh and um the feedback
that I had received from some of those participants was extremely enlightening. So >> uh the next >> room for a commissioner or mayor? I can inquire, sir, but um the the assistant to the city manager who sits
outside my office was suggesting that just to manage my daily itinerary, she would need to go as well, but I don't think that's going to be necessary. Okay. Um the next items I'm going to ask Eric Labby to present. These are uh some
sheetated lots from the county and a PUD amendment as well as some comp plan items. Eric? >> Yes, sir. Mayor, commissioners, this is a resolution so that I can go to Ireland as well. Um, from time to time the uh Pulk County receives uh parcels through the
estatement process. Um, when they receive parcels through the estatement process for uh lack of payment of of taxes, um, they are transferred to the municipality if they are in a municipality's city limits. Uh Pulk County delivered five county deeds to
us. Um we are affirmatively accepting with this resolution two uh three of those county deeds. Uh two of them indicated that we only hold a 124th ownership in those properties. Um so as we work through the the details of that
with the city attorney's office and how we should deal with those, we will accept the three um that or were proposed to accept the three um for which we have full ownership. Um there there are maps of those uh indicated in
the fact sheet. Uh they are on Bennett Street uh Avenue D Northwest and there is a strange uh landlocked parcel uh just off of First Street between Quinton and Avenue Q. So this is
a resolution to accept those deeds uh from accept those deeds from Pulk County. >> Any questions? Go back to the one on Bennett Street. Bennett Street. second. All right.
Any questions? All right. Oh, this is uh first reading. >> Yes, sir. Um this is a request by Lake Ashton to CDD to amend uh a planned unit development. Uh this is the Lake Ashton
uh community. The petitioner's only proposed amendment is to add mobile food vending as a permitted use on the subject property for community events. Uh the PUD previously did not allow for mobile food vending within uh that PUD. Um this did go to planning commission on
December 1st. There were no members of the public that spoke. This is a very minor amendment to that PUD that would allow them to p pull food trucks in for community uh events within that community. They are still subject to our local uh ordinances regarding the mobile
food vending and subject to those provisions as well. >> All right, questions. All right, 13B. >> Uh this is something that we have to do annually by state statute. Uh section 166.041
sub4. Um, we have to amend our capital improvement element of the comprehensive plan um to update the five-year schedule of capital improvements. Um, we include in this update uh by reference the f the
5-year FDOT work program uh and the Pulk County School Board uh 5-year work program. Uh we include any capital improvements within our city budget that are over $25,000
uh and implement objectives and policies contained within our comprehensive plan. Um this also did go to the planning commission um and no members of the public spoke. We would recommend approval um to add this to our comprehensive plan.
>> Any questions? >> All right. 13 C. Um, this may sound familiar to you. Um, in 2025, last year, the the Florida legislature adopted Senate Bill 784.
This is the bill um that changed the platting process um and made it uh an administrative process. Um we adopted a policy um just a few months ago um regarding that so that we could
implement um you know that those provisions of Senate Bill 784. Uh this is an amendment to chapter 21 uh of our land development code to formally codify those requirements within our land development code. Any
>> questions? All right. 13D >> certified recovery re residences. This um is an ordinance that is also required um through the 2025 uh legislative
session. Um Senate Bill uh 954 was passed that requires local governments to uh amend their land development regulations to provide reasonable accommodations for certified recovery residences. Um we have drafted um an
ordinance uh for your consideration that would amend chapter 21 uh article 2 division 3 and the table of land uses uh table 2132A that would provide for the reasonable accommodation of certified recovery
residences. Um it requires it'll essentially require a special use approval for those certified recovery residences in all zoning districts. Um the only permitted zoning district that it would be um allowed in would be uh
public institutional which is the type of zoning district you you would typically see uses of of that nature. >> Eric did these planning commission >> question. >> All right. New business item one 148.
So, I'll kind of kick this off and then I'm going to ask uh between Eric, John, and John Murphy and MJ Carnival to uh elaborate on the three items. But it's kind of a a precursor. you're aware that there is a cold
storage facility that is under construction at the intermoal logistics park um for which the city was awarded grant funds from Florida Commerce believe in March of 2025
uh governor had come to Winter Haven actually out the old at the new spec building and and we got the big check for $1.5 million that ties back to this project. Those dollars are specific to the construction of a rail spur that
will come off of the existing rail lines owned by CSX and provide uh rail transit up to that fac that new facility that's under construction. So, we've got three items that are involved here. Eric, if you would elaborate on
item 14A, please sir. >> Yes, sir. Mayor, commissioners, the first item is the actual grant agreement with the uh state of Florida Department of Commerce. So, um as city manager mentioned, um as you as you recall, uh
we made application for um a grant from the state to help with the construction of a rail spur um out at the Intermo Logistics Center. We were awarded that grant. Um, the city, Chick-fil-A, and developer Trap Properties will jointly provide
project design and construction funds through a cooperation agreement, which is the next item um on the agenda. Uh, under that agreement, the city's responsible for $100,000 of the project cost. Department of Commerce will be expected to provide the 1.5 million in
grant funds and the remaining costs are the responsibility of Trat and Chick-fil-A. Um when the project is complete, the city will transfer ownership of the rail spur and its rights and easements within the rail spur um to a commercial
property owners association which is the the property owners association within the ILC um which will be financially responsible for all the ongoing maintenance and operations uh and expenses of that rail spur moving forward. Um
again the total uh amount of the grant is $1.5 million. It is a grant with Department of Commerce uh job growth grant fund. The the total estimated cost of the rail spur is approximately $3.3 million.
Um and we are uh scheduled within this grant agreement to uh commence construction on or before March 15, 2026. I just want to ask uh you said the total cost is 3.3 and we're only having to put
in 100 >> and and it's contemplated that those will primarily be inind services as well. >> Okay. So that's what would take it up to the 3.3. >> So So our 100 our 100,000 will likely be inind services. In other words, services
rendered by city staff. Um >> we're managing >> we're managing the project itself. Yeah. The >> the procurement of the design. >> So So that that's that that cost is what is included in the 3.3. >> Yes sir. Yes sir. So the balance of
approximately 3.2 million will be borne upfront by the other parties. >> Right. >> And then upon the expenditure of those funds in the completion of the project, it's this is a reimbursement grant. So they will be reimbursed 1.5 million of
what was expended. >> So how long will this project take? >> So uh the the contract is has a completion date of uh June 30th. Is that right? >> June 30th. >> Yeah. June 30th. Um >> of 25th
>> of 26. And that is what when we bid the project out, which is uh an item further down on the agenda, that is what we included in our contract with the contractor that we're presenting to you is that it would be done before then. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. Any other questions? >> All right.
>> Next item speaks to the cooperation agreement which is again a major component within this is it outlines the responsibilities of the parties external of that grant from the state. Mr. Murphy has worked extensively on this and
including even today. Uh so he'll present this item. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor Commission. Um as the city manager noted, we are working on this and we still have some perhaps minor edits that may still come forward before your meeting Monday, but we'll keep you posted on that. This
cooperation agreement is um necessary because the contours of this transaction are going to look um similar to where the city is simply acting as a pass through. We have applied for the grant. We received the grant. The grant per the
agreement that was in the agenda item before requires the city to bid and construct this rail project. So therefore, we have to be involved and the city doesn't want to uh or isn't
prepared to financially undertake the full cost of the improvements which is approximately 3.3 million. We're going to be uh on the hook for approximately $100,000 as was mentioned. So therefore, we needed to have a cooperation agreement amongst the city,
Chick-fil-A's representative, and the trap properties representative. that this cooperation agreement articulates all of the the rights, duties, and responsibilities of the parties as it relates to this railspur project. It sets up an escro agreement where both
track properties and Chick-fil-A and its subsidiary entity will contribute or deposit into an escro agreement their agreed upon amounts as it relates to their share of the rail spur project. The rails per project uh includes oh I
want to say I don't know how much linear feet but it's about a mile and a half of rail and there's also a side rail that goes off that is specific to the Chick-fil-A project. So that's all included in what was bid for this
project. And so this cooperation agreement uh addresses that. It addresses budgetary estimates and how the escro agent is to disperse funds. And as was noted, the um this is this a reimbursement grant. So it is likely
these monies will be deposited up front by Chick-fil-A and TRAT as a that's part of the um what's contemplated in the cooperation agreement. And then the city will make application, you know, for pay requests at the
appropriate time when work is completed in accordance with the contract that we'll have with our contractor. And we don't know yet exactly when we'll get reimbursement, like if the state will say, okay, the first pay request may be 300,000
and then the second pay request may be another 300,000 or it may be a percentage. I don't know whether the the state will require it to all be spent before they'll give reimbursement for the 1.5 million. But in any event,
the cooperation agreement addresses that and it details what what do we do with those monies once we get them because once we get them, we will then deposit them into the escrow account and the escro account will agent will then disperse them as is agreed to the cooperation agreement. So, this is a
this this whole thing was originally um going to be a private project, but the city got involved and with the help of Bruce Lion and others, we were able to get the state capitalize on our good reputation
with the state and uh and and make an application to allow for this $ 1.5 million grant. The quid proquo for that was that if we're going to do the 1.5 million then the city you have to be this has to be a city initiated project. It's going to be built on lands that are
going to be the subject of a deed of easement from uh Evansville Western Railway which is a subsidiary of CSX and that is an attachment to the cooperation agreement as well. And that deed of easement as you may know runs to Trat Properties. It's contemplated that that
easement once the cooperation agreement is approved will be then assigned to the city for the duration of the project and then we'll convey back to the to the entity that will then own and operate the the rail. Once we once we're in and the project is done, we intend to
turnkey it over to this private entity um and provide whatever warranties or whatever things that we can for the uh so that the private entity will be on the uh operation and maintenance responsibilities. The other uh the cooperation agreement also articulates
indemnification insurance requirements and other typical things that you would um contract with. Uh, it allows for also um it makes reference to a sidetrack agreement which is a private agreement between Chick-fil-A's uh entity and the
tra properties and that deals with the um the the sidetrack that we I was referring to that that services just the Chick-fil-A site and other rail uh related components to the project. So um and then there's the estimated budget
that was contemplated by the private parties. That's an attachment. There's also a copy of the plans, the conceptual plans that Kimley Horn uh was able to uh draft um which ultimately are final now.
Uh and so this um this cooperation agreement is the contractual ent u mechanism that makes this all work. Um and we wanted to make sure that we did this in this order. So the grant agreements approved first. The grant
agreement allows for the duties and responsibilities of the grant to be assigned after the grant monies have been paid. Um again all of this is subject to further acquiescence by department of commerce as well as Evansville Western but the grant
agreement first cooperation agreement second and then the final item is the actual recommendation of award to bid um you heard us say that the project needs to start by March and it needs to be done by June. Well, that that's
certainly our contemplation, but it is probably also something that we're going to be asking the Department of Commerce to allow for maybe a slight extension of the finish date of when we have to expend the funds or complete the project
just so we have some buffer. Um, it has it has been a rather involved negotiation with the private parties to get here. Um and so we're very glad we're here, but um it may be that we just in full disclosure, we may, you
know, need to seek uh an extension from the Department of Commerce, which by the way has been very good to deal with. Um they've been very cooperative and um so I don't anticipate any hiccups along the way there, but um that's where we are. But anyway, that's the cooperation
agreement. So if you have any questions, happy to answer them. >> Any questions? >> Okay. Thank you. >> And the final item is the contract. >> Yes, sir. 14C is uh So, this is the award of the contract. So, we put it out
to bid. Um we had three biders and the lowest responsible bidder was RW Summers Railroad Contractors right here in Pulk County. I believe they're down in the Barto area. Um their bid came in at $3,330,22. Again, we've talked through the
financial contribution piece of that and how that'll flow. Um, so we are recommending award of this bid and we would be ready to move forward with that well ahead of that March deadline. >> So I guess we don't have to worry about uh
coming in costing more than what the contract is. >> We've addressed that in the cooperation agreement m Mr. mayor commission to the extent we anticipate or things happen in the project or during the project there is a change order process and that will be address that is addressed in the
cooperation agreement. >> So which would require the deposit of additional funds by the private parties into this escrow agreement. Um so every step of the way the city will have protection um because ultimately the contract will be between for with RW summers will be
between the city and RW summers. So, we're going to be on the hook to pay the the the cost of this project. So, that's why we need the cooperation agreement. >> Okay. All right. Good. Any questions? >> So, this is our first real uh venture
into building rail. So, it's kind of exciting. I think if we can figure out maybe a helport or something out there, we can do the planes, trains, and automobiles thing because Logistics Parkway is also presently under construction and being built as we speak. that final leg down from the
north through the wastewater treatment plant three. So, a lot of activity happening out there. >> All right. >> Well, and Mr. Mayor and Commission, Mr. Mayor, you certainly will recall when we entered into this transaction in 2006 originally when we sold the property to the Evansville Western, you know, the
CSX subsidiary. I think it was always contemplated at some point uh when we sold the 932 acres that we would hopefully have some kind of a rail spur. Yeah. >> Um and so here we are now fast forward to 2026 and uh that is becoming a reality and
that that's that's you know it's an awesome thing because you know the rail it it it maximizes the the economies >> well it sentence >> you know all of the things that were
Bruce knows >> projected with the CSX interotal logistics center. Goodness gracious is really coming >> Yep. >> to fruition. Really something. I mean, we went and
looked at some other uh interotal logistic centers and said, "Man, if this could happened in Winter Haven, we'd be uh running on rails." So, that's what we're doing. All right. Thank you. So now
we're at the u the strategic pillars. >> Actually, Mr. Mayor, before that there I do have one item under the city manager report. Um if I could do this uh first and that is the uh we have a RFQ 2618
that has been released. This is for the utility administration facility design build uh effort. the this is the project that you uh we recently brought to before you some other items tied to utility extensions out to the Bradco
Farms project and we did a um a uh contract with Dubberry engineers to create the design criteria package for the design build project. We are we've gotten the work back from Dubberry and are ready to push out the uh design
build bid which will actually design and construct the new water administration facility the warehouse and the related infrastructure and and and uh elements of that project. So we're looking for a commission liaison if the commission is
so inclined to appoint one for that. I'm doing it. You don't want to. >> I won't. >> Okay. >> Okay. So, um, >> who's doing it? >> Uh, Mayor Mayor Birdong has accepted that. And Gary, if you would be, uh,
communicate that to Bethany. Owen, I appreciate it. And then one other item um just to get some guidance from from the commission on you will have an agenda review looking ahead in January
uh at calendars. Uh you have a commission meeting on January 26th which means that the normal date for an agenda review would fall on Wednesday, January 21st.
All of the commission will be traveling to Tallahassee that Wednesday uh for Pulk County Day with our state delegation. So, just wanted to get some guidance on what you
would would like to do with that January 21st agenda review session. Uh options would include uh you could cancel it if so inclined. Um, you could schedule it for earlier in the day. We have done
that in the past. Uh, it is potential for holding it the day prior. We would have to uh perhaps adjust some schedules on our side to accommodate that, but those are really the three options we would have at this point. Um, if if you
still want to have an agenda review or you could just cancel it. Well, I I wouldn't want to have it on the 21st. So, either we council or have it on the 20th would be my
>> I think so too. I agree with that. >> Have it on the 20th. >> Yeah. Or not have it. >> So, we can do either whatever the the flavor of the commission is. >> How much adjustment would it require for you? Um if we get Drew or somebody to
sit in for it. >> Have to have someone. Yeah. >> Yeah. We I think the main issue is that the attorney has a conflict that evening, but we can have one of the assistant city attorney sit in for that. >> Might be >> and do it >> and do it on um Tuesday the 20th. >> Well, let's just count.
>> Okay. >> Or do we have anything that has to have the first reading and second reading or >> what you have on second reading tonight or on first read? You have a number of first reading items as Mr. Labby presented this evening. Those would all go to second reading. So, you'd already have familiarity with that. Um, we'll
look at the construction of that agenda and if there's things that we can um that are not timesensitive and we can push those, we will always try and do that so you have plenty of time to be appropriately uh brought up to speed on those.
>> Okay. >> All right. Good enough. >> Okay. So, we will we will take the necessary action to uh to post notice that that has been cancelled. And um with that, we'll certainly pass it back to you for our strategic pillar presentation. You ready for that? >> We ready.
>> Okay. So, we have a couple new faces perhaps for you this evening. Um this is and for the benefit of of Commissioner Elect Davis who happens to be with us this evening, welcome sir. Um, every
first agenda review of the month, we provide an update on actions and activities and initiatives that align with one specific pillar of the six that we build our strategic plan around. Some of these may be items that are identified within the strategic plan
themselves, but they may also be just everyday things that we're doing that we we think of have value and and communicate what we're doing in this specific area. So, for the month of January, our focus uh with this presentation is on environmental stewardship. I always like to point out
that when we talk about environmental stewardship, a lot of people immediately think we're just talking about lakes, but obviously it's about all of our environmentally sensitive areas. It's also about how we address waste management, litter control, some of our code compliance matters, land use
planning comes into this, as well as sustainable practices. So, this evening, we're excited to provide you updates on uh snipe signs. This has been an item that's been of of discussion as of late with the commission and also perhaps something that you're not as aware of,
and that's donation boxes. Uh we'll provide an update on our household hazardous waste collection day that just happened in December as well as our holiday recycling collection efforts, the ongoing partnership with PK County. Keep PK County beautiful as well as an
upcoming collaboration that we are excited to introduce. And then from our natural resources folks, an update on the northern chain wetland restoration project. Mr. Mayor, you just did a an interview on that today, so you're very well versed on that as well as some
insights on the chain of lakes park uh nature trail that goes along the lakes. So, with that, I'm going to turn it over to our director of safe neighborhoods, Tanya Ays, to get us going. >> Good evening, commissioners. I am happy to be here tonight to talk to you about
snipe signs and donation boxes. And the way that these two items directly relate to environmental stewardship is litter, illegal dumping, and creating safe environments within our community. So, we'll start with snipe signs. Snipe sign
is a term that we use in code compliance referring to temporary signage that's usually placed on public rights of ways and utility poles without any type of authorization. They're usually there for advertising goods and services. Usually, but not always, they're made out of
corrugated plastic and they're placed in the s in the ground using metal stands or plastic stands. City ordinance prohibits snipe signs on rights of ways and utility poles. And in addition to them being litter and blight
within our community, they also create a public hazard. And this is through whenever, like I mentioned, they have the metal stakes. So whenever they're left on the rights ofways, they prevent the mowing of rights of ways. They damage our equipment. They can blow out
into the streets and damage vehicles. And they also become projectiles during high winds. Historically, the code compliance division has removed about a thousand of these types of signs from the rights of ways each year. Last year, we added a
new code compliance technician. She removes signs every Monday, usually about a hundred signs each time she goes out. Um, in 2025, we were able to remove 3,500 signs. So, we increased it from
a,000 a year to, you know, 3,500, which is a really um exciting. So, and it also bears to be uh bears noting that we do not pick up signs that are on private property.
Political signs are generally addressed through our city clerk's office. We don't have a lot of those that end up on our rights of ways, but sometimes supporters don't know where to put them and they place them, you know, a little bit too close. So, we usually reach out to our city clerk's office, they reach
out to the candidate and we get those removed. We don't tend to have a lot of issues with those. Um, whenever we have signs in front of a business and they clearly belong to that business, we go in and we talk to that business about relocating their signs. It's education.
A lot of times they don't know. They don't know that they can't put them in the rights of ways. Also, once we remove signs from the rights of ways, they are disposed. They are litter. They are put in the dumpster, disposed of the same as we would any litter that we pick up along the rights of ways. I am excited
to also say this year we will be teaming up with the public works litter coordinator to in our efforts to remove the signs from the rights of ways with a goal of keeping our city looking beautiful and inviting as people come through and to make it safe for our
pedestrians and for vehicle traffic and for us to maintain those rights of ways. Okay, donation boxes, they've been around for a really long time. Um, but in the last few years, we've really seen a proliferation of them and they're
really showing up a lot now on public and private property, including rights of ways without any kind of authorization. We're seeing them in our public parks. Um, they are creating a nuisance because of their placement,
like I said, on rights of ways. Um, as you can see in the photo, they attract illegal dumpings. There are items that clearly don't fit inside those boxes that people leave. A lot of times they they are not being maintained. They're not coming back to collect these materials. They're not picking up all of
the items left out around the donation boxes. And we've also discovered that quite a few of them that are out there now are they're not for charity. So what they're doing is they are putting these boxes out. They're getting these free goods
and then they are taking them to other areas and sometimes other countries and reselling them for profit. So we are public works and safe neighborhoods are working together to identify and address these donation boxes both on public and private
property. The ones that are on public property if we're able to remove them then we do that as quickly as we can. We do try to contact these companies um often with very little response. We're also working with the planning division to create an ordinance that will address
the placement and maintenance of these boxes uh going forward. So, um guess that's it for the donation boxes. Uh so, I'm going to turn it over now to our solid waste service coordinator, Bobby Watson. And while she's coming up, I just wanted
to make a note that the removal of these um what she's referred to as snipe signs is um it's interesting to note that is without regard to what the content of the sign is. So it doesn't matter what the message is. We don't look at the message. It's just in the location of where it is. So we don't care what it
says. And that's important because I think that's constitutionally important in order to enforce that. So I just wanted to make that aware. >> Thank you. Good evening, mayor and commissioners. My name is Bobby Watson. I am the solid waste coordinator for
public works. On Saturday, December 6th, we held our hazardous waste collection event in participation with uh Pulk County and keep Winter Haven Clean and Beautiful at the Ruben Williams Sports Complex.
In previous years, we held the event at the Chain of Lakes complex. However, due to their high demand, we had to find a facility that could accommodate our, you know, a high flow of traffic and the Ruben Williams complex has proven to do
so because we've had our um sandbag distribution events there in the past. So, we knew it would be a great choice. We had 112 participants this year. We were able to collect 10 fire extinguishers, 38
propane tanks, 25 gallons of paint, 37 batteries, 152 fluorescent bulbs, 135 gallons of motor oil, antifreeze and gasoline combined. And to put that in perspective, it feels like three full
bathtubs. We collected 67 tires. And that doesn't sound like enough a lot, but it it is because it keeps it off of the street. And to think about it, it will fill five pickup trucks um full-size pickup trucks.
The city also provided holiday recycling containers at three locations this year. WG Row, Fire Station 3, and Rotary Park, collecting a little over eight tons of recyclables with Fire Station 3
receiving the highest volume. We started this initiative thanks to Commissioner Mercer who saw how well it worked in Clearwater as a crime deterrent. It's a great way for residents to get rid of packaging and to help reduce the risk of
theft. And it also keeps our streets clean, which is something that really benefits the whole community. So, thank you. And I now I'll hand it over to Britney. Good evening, gang commissioners. Uh, so we are going to talk a little bit about
our collaboration with Keull County Beautiful. As you may remember, we started to partner with them on a number of events. One of them being the adopt a road program. We are excited that that has been fully announced and launched. We've started the install of some of those signs. You can see them around town. There have been some that have
been installed around Lake Elbert. Um, as everybody's enjoying that nice new beautiful trail, they can see those signs encouraging them to adopt that road. You're also going to see them going in. Um, in other places, we are working on installing on Unity Way, 21st Street over behind South Lake Howard
Nature Park, and some other highly trafficked roads that could use adoption. Um, in addition to the adopt a road and adopt a park programs that we've partnered with them on, we're going to work on another collaboration which will be hosting a free tire collection event. They will be hosting
that in the Ruben Williams Sports Complex. Like Bobby mentioned, we used that for the hazardous waste day drop off. It's just a really great location for drive-throughs, for pickups and drop off events. We use it for our sandbag sites as well, and it really works well to accommodate a large amount of traffic and keep them flowing. So, we're going
to use that site on January 24th from 9 to 1 to do a free tire collection event. While they have titled the the event the Florence Villa Tire Collection, um it's open to anyone in Winter Haven. It's open to anyone in the county honestly um to be able to dispose of up to 24 tires
for free at their event and they'll be there from 9 to 1. So, we're really excited to be able to partner with them again on this and bring this uh disposal event to to the city. I'm really looking forward to to that
one because people throw tires at Florenceville CDC and I mean we don't so I got a ton we've got a ton of them behind the building that we've just been waiting for this
>> noted. Well, if if you need assistance, you can dump them at the uh the tire collection event, but if you need assistance with that, I think we uh have abilities to collect that in the city as well. With that, we will turn it over to Dustin and he can talk a little bit about the purchase of the the property
towards the Northern Chain. >> And and Mr. Mayor, while Dustin's coming up, just want to reiterate that um if you transport the tires, as I understand it, to the collection day uh event, you can only take 24 because once you take
20 more than 24, I believe you're considered hauling hazardous waste and there's commercial licensing and liabilities that come with that. So, if you have if you have more than 24, just use multiple vehicles to make sure they get that. I don't I don't want to I
don't Thank you. >> I really do appreciate that. >> Good evening, commissioners. Um, I'm really happy to report tonight that under your leadership and the hard work of people like John Murphy, we were able to acquire uh finally the astute
financial uh property on Highway 17 on the north side of town. That property is 152 acres. A good majority of that, about 130 acres of that is wetland. And this is critical wetland habitat uh that goes in between Lake Pansy and Lake
Rashelle. And why this wetland is important is because the natural flow of water, you can see on that map, Lake George off to the northwest. And there's a couple other lakes up there as you get to Lake Alfred. The flow of water likes to go to the south across underneath uh
US Highway 92 into Lake Pansy and then through that wetland and underneath Highway 17 to Lake Relle. All the while that water is moving through there and moving downstream. And eventually the the furthest point downstream it can get is Charlotte Harbor way downstream. But as that water
is moving through that wetland, it's being the water is uh being filtered by all the wetland plants that are in there. And it's it's providing clean water to go into Lake Relle and the rest of the northern Winter Haven chain of lakes. So, us being able to purchase this property and preserve it and
protect it and to prevent it from being developed is a a really big win for the residents of the city of Winter Haven. So, this um this property we have um some meetings and things scheduled uh to
discuss internally some future plans for the property as far as recreational components and developments there. But the property is under conservation easement which does restrict our development of of huge buildings and things of that nature. It's conservation
use. It will allow us to use um to develop recreational amenities out there. Think um walking trails, uh boardwalks, maybe some mountain biking paths or other things. uh we'll look to make amenities um that hopefully will be
uh different and um give some different opportunities uh in addition to the four nature parks that we have here as well. Another thing that I'm excited to talk about is uh the chain of lakes complex and the the nature trail, the walking
trail that goes around there around the storm water pond and around the shoreline there at Lake Lulu. Uh if you guys recall, uh we uh had looked at clearing out that shoreline and there was a tangle of exotic vegetation that
was there and it was very unsightly. Uh we were looking to kind of activate that shoreline and we received a permit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to go in there and remove the undesirable vegetation. You can tell from how much was cleared, there was quite a bit of undesirable
vegetation that was there. So, this has been um a very beneficial thing not only for us aesthetically, but also for the fish and wildlife that actually use that area. There's been people uh that have come along that shoreline fishing. We've seen a lot of waterfall and waiting
birds uh that have utilized that as well. We expect this uh nature trail to be opening up somewhere around March after substantial or final completion of this project. And then there's also discussions with PK County. Pulk County
has a large parcel um just to the south along Lake Lulu and they're looking at putting recreational trails uh there and being able to link up that trail system um with that trail uh sometime uh in the in the future.
So you heard a little bit about snipe signs and the unsightly donation boxes, the hazardous household waste day uh collection, our collaboration with keep pulk uh county beautiful northern winter haven chain wetland restoration project
that's the financial property and the chain of lakes uh nature trail. And with that we will stand for any questions if you have questions. the little parcel that was above all the land that you got. Um I'm going back.
Yeah, there uh over 92 the rest of it is can is that available or can you get that or? >> So we can look into that. Um I'm I'm not sure who owns it currently and and whether or not that would be available,
but that would certainly be um worth looking into to to see what opportunities exist there. the donation boxes uh on public property. Um so how long uh can they
uh how long you tolerate that or how long do we have to deal with that? Um, is that something that uh I mean if it's if it's there, it's not there uh with permission then are we just letting it stay there for a
period of time or >> No, sir. When we identify them on public property then we put that in Access Winter Haven. We notify our public works staff and then they go out and they remove them. We actually had one of these uh
Commissioner Dawson at the on the east side of Lake Howard right there where there's a small boat launch next to Tom Jennings office. >> Happened to be going through there one day and there's a there's a donation box. It was dropped in the parking lot
of our park with no authorization to do so. Um and as Miss Ayer said, you know, our first effort is to contact person and say you got to get this out of here. we'll give them, you know, 24 hours to remove that because obviously some of these have some some value to them
depending upon how they're constructed. Otherwise, it's abandoned property on public land that we're going to get it out of there. Uh, one, it creates a a tremendous blight issue within our parks, but and in our public rights of way. Uh, can also create the safety
hazards and the illegal dumping that comes along with it is just horrendous. Once you It'd be interesting to to check back with you in a couple weeks. Um, you know, once you see these popping up as you drive around, it's amazing how many are out there. Yeah.
>> Just in shopping plaza parking lots that a lot of times I I personally didn't observe those until I became aware of them on our own properties and then I start seeing them everywhere. >> Yeah. When they're green, they don't stick out as much particular, you know, if it's in a area like that. But another
question I guess relative to individuals who uh when they put this these boxes on on um private property the assumption is that you know the owner is aware but are there instances where they are not aware
and and people are putting these on private >> most of the time whenever we find them on private property we'll go into it's like say CVS parking lot we'll go in and we'll talk to the manager we'll ask them did you give them permission to put it
there. And 99% of the time, no. They just show up and they don't know what to do about it. >> And so what do you do then? Is that the owner's responsibility or will you will the city remove it? Who whose responsibility is it then?
>> When it's on private property, then it's going to be the responsibility of whoever owns that property. In that case, we talk to them. We work with them. will give them a period of time to figure out how they want to address the issue because we do have codes that
address it on private property. Well, to an extent, it's usually because of the junk that surrounds them is what we're citing or the placement. If it's placed in a parking lot or it's a visibility issue, then we're going to cite that. >> How often how many legitimate situations
do you run up against? As of right now, I only know of two personally that are Red Cross owned that were legitimately placed and I've confirmed with the Red Cross that they did indeed put them there and the property owner said yes, we agreed to have them there and we want
them there. >> You say two. >> Two. >> Well, that's all she personally knows. >> Yes. The majority the majority of the time we do try to contact these companies but we can't get an answer. They don't return phone calls. So we we
we do make that attempt before we remove them. It's just they're usually nonresponsive. >> This something that many cities are continuing with. >> Yes, it is a problem. Yeah. Throughout the state of Florida. I I'm certain
probably nationwide as well. And I do know that there are some cities that have ordinances. Unfortunately, right now we have what is it SB80 that's prohibiting us from creating ordinances that would address this. But we do have it being worked on so that whenever
we're able to bring it forward to you, we'll have that ready to go. >> Thank you. >> And that concludes our presentation for this month. Um when we come back in February, we'll be updating you on infrastructure. Uh certainly uh be
giving you anticipate some some really good insights on utilities and and roadway projects that are underway at that time. So that concludes uh our presentation for this evening, mayor and commissioners. Happy to answer any additional questions you may have on any other items. Right.
>> Are there any other questions or concerns? Sir, >> motion to adjurnn. So move. >> Thank you. We stand a