Good afternoon. I'd like to call to order the regular city commission meeting for this the 14th day of July 2025 at 6 p.m. Can I get a roll call, please?
Yes. Commissioner Dison here. Commissioner Mercer here. Commissioner Dansler here. Mayor Pro Tim Yates here. And Mayor Bersong here. We will have an invocation by Father
Paul, head of the St. Paul Episcopal uh church and we'll be led in the pledge of allegiance by Latana Harris, CMP, deputy city clerk. Please stand if you stand.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, you have blessed us with the greatest form of government the world has ever known. At its best, we have a form of government that allows anyone the opportunity to succeed and achieve their
dreams and desires to be content and secure and find meaning and purpose in their life. At its best, we have a form of government where everyone is equal under the law. You have given broken humanity dominion over the earth. And you have told us
that if we call to you and seek your face, you will answer us and lead us in the way we should go. You will also stand aside if we choose to do it our own way. I ask your blessing on these our representatives whom we have given charge over our resources here in
Winterhaven. Help them be good stewards of the resources they have been given. Not only for your people today, but as a legacy for those who will follow us. Give them knowledge to know what they can do. Give them wisdom to know what they should do. And give them insight to
know the difference. I ask your blessing on this meeting tonight for those who will state their cases and those who will hear them. Let everyone work toward the common good. and let what happens tonight be a blessing to you and a benefit to your people. I ask all these
things in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible
liberty and justice for all. Honorable mayor and city commissioners, we have two proclam proclamations to present this evening. The first is for lakes appreciation month and I'll ask members of our lakes advisory committee and of
our natural resources division to come forward to accept this proclamation. Our proclamation reads as follows. Whereas Winter Haven, Florida is part of a global community desires to take action to create positive environmental change. And whereas 50 lakes are
contiguous to the city of Winter Haven, including the northern and southern chain of lakes. And whereas lakes are an important part of Winter Haven's way of life, providing social, economic, and ecological benefits. And whereas the city of Winter Haven has taken the lead in protecting and restoring water
quality to its lakes. And whereas in working towards a sustainable future for our children, we must also provide them the tools and experiences they need to solve the environmental problems of the future. And whereas through constant and friendly communication about environmental issues, citizens will tend
to be more creative, sensitive, experimental, and flexible in resolving the challenges faced. And whereas lakes appreciation month can draw people together in appreciation of Winter Haven's lakes and recognize the need to protect them for future generations.
Now, therefore, Nathaniel J. Birdong Jr., Mayor of the city of Winter Haven, Florida, does hereby recognize July 2025 as Lakes Appreciation Month in the city of Winter Haven, and urges all citizens to visit a lake and consider what they can do to contribute to a healthy and
sustainable future. And witness whereof, he is here to set his hand and cause the seal of the city of Winter Haven, Florida to be affixed this 14th day of July, 2025. Signed, Nathaniel J. Birdong, Jr., mayor. Attest Vanessa Castillo, city clerk.
Good evening, mayor and city commissioners. Uh really appreciate this moment. And before I give the mic to Miss Francis, I just um wanted to uh gush on on Miss Francis Coleman and all that she's done as a a citizen and a
resident and a member of the Lakes Advisory Committee. uh the dedication that she's shown um and continues to show with her involvement uh in the city and in natural resources conservation is commendable and uh her work that she's
done and helping us draft the annual lace report in which we'll have a presentation on that later. Um, but her review and I'd like to just joke that uh in her email that she sends to us with after her review of the annual lease
report, she has literally poured over every ounce of this document and has provided comments on page 294. If you look at this paragraph here and the work that she has done for us and for the city uh is commendable and uh the work
that she has done in wildlife conservation, natural resources conservation uh she has done more for uh conservation efforts than probably a thousand people would do in their lifetime. So with that, I'll kick over the mic to Miss Francis.
Let me just put it this way. It was my pleasure to read the report. I do not recommend that any of you sit down and try to go through the whole thing in one sitting. No way. But if you just gut up and say, "I'm going to do it 30 pages at
a time," which is what I did, it works. And it is a wonderful report. Okay. Now, with that aside, I think my reading the report is a reflection that I'm an old school teacher. Okay. I couldn't Yes. I
could not com I could not comment on the math or the chemistry, but I could comment on the readability. And I didn't want anybody reading this report to stop and say, "Wait a minute, that's not a complete sentence or that's a
misspelling." Okay? And sometime in spite of the fact that we rely on computers, they are not infallible. So, it's a combination of spellch check and old lady school teacher. Period.
Okay. All right. With that, I will get to my thank you for this proclamation. It is really a pleasure to be with you tonight to celebrate our lakes. Lakes Appreciation Month is a nationally
recognized event, but there is nowhere in this country that it is more relevant and meaningful than in our chain of Lake City. We have a lovely, interesting downtown that matches any other city in
Central Florida, but we are unique in that our chain of lakes tie it all together. I recently picked up a copy of the travel guide, Visit Central Florida. Okay,
you go through the first of it, page after page. Each community has a listing of their attractions and what have you, but then you get to page 28 to 33 and it's lake it the feature is lake life winter
haven and it's page after page of beautiful pictures and text going over everything from skiing to boat tours to paddle boarding, fishing, airboat riding, kaying. packing, waterfront, dining,
everything. Okay. All I can say is if our lakes were cho clogged with algae or if we had fish kills, all of that economic activity would not be happening. Our natural resources committee has prepared this 2024 annual
lakes report. It is an outstanding scientific work which gives us baseline and points out trends. This will help us to determine what remediation projects result in improvement. Again, it's not like reading, but I highly recommend
that you read the executive summary and then zero in on two or three lakes that particularly interest you. I found it fascinating to read how I mean, our lakes are different. It's not all one
sizefits-all, but it was so interesting to read that some lakes that are shallow have a real problem with sediment dispersal in high winds. Other lakes have a problem with legacy pollution because they were used
as waste dumps before we knew better. And so it's it's fascinating to read through and find out what the problems are and what the remediation efforts are happening on these individual lakes. Okay. I recently had a son visit from
California. What hiking did we do? Okay. Yeah. We went out to Circle B and then we made it a point to go to our nature parks here in Winter Haven and hike all of our nature uh parks. This was on a weekday
morning that we did the parks. In spite of the fact that it was a work day, there were loads of people out there enjoying walking these trails, walking around the retention ponds and what have you. Um
it's it's a marvelous thing for Winter Haven. I especially want to recommend that if you haven't been out to the latest one, Lake Conine, that you do it. It is a gem. really wonderful. Okay. On behalf of the city lakes advisory
committee, I want to thank you for this proclamation which is testimony to your commitment to protect our lakes. We are all justly proud of our attractive, votable, fishable, walkable, green shaded community. And with your guidance and support, it's only going to get
better. Thank you. Okay. So, I'll take this up, right? Mayor and commissioners, your second proclamation this evening is along the same lines. This is for parks and recreation month. And I'm going to invite Julie Adams and members of your parks, recreation, and culture team to
accompany her to the podium. Our proclamation reads as follows. Whereas Parks and Recreation Month has been celebrated nationally since 1985, and this year marks the 40th anniversary of recognizing the vital role parks and recreation play in enhancing the quality
of life in communities across the country. And whereas the city of Winter Haven is home to a vibrant and growing network of parks, trails, lakes, and recreational spaces that serve residents of all ages and abilities, offering places to gather, play, exercise, learn,
and connect. And whereas our city's parks and recreation professionals along with part-time staff and volunteers provide highquality programs and maintain beautiful public spaces through their dedication and service. And whereas parks and recreation are
essential to the health and wellness, social connection, environmental stewardship, and economic vitality by contributing to stronger, more resilient communities. And whereas the theme for 2025, build together, play together, reflects how parks and recreation
departments nationwide are working handinhand with residents to build inclusive, sustainable, and accessible spaces that serve current and future generations. And whereas the city of Winter Haven recognizes the lasting impact of parks and recreation opportunities, which help foster
lifelong memories, family bonds, and a shared sense of community pride. Now therefore, Nathaniel J. Birdsong Jr., mayor of the city of Winter Haven, Florida, does hereby proclaim July 2025 as Parks and Recreation Month in the city of Winter Haven, and encourages the
entire Winter Haven community to celebrate by visiting a park, participating in a recreation program, and acknowledging the dedicated individuals who make these services possible. In witness whereof, he is here to set his hand, and cause the seal of the city of Winter Haven, Florida to be
affixed this 14th day of July, 2025. Signed, Nathaniel J. Birdong, Jr., Mayor Attest Vanessa Castillo, city clerk. All right. Good evening, mayor and commissioners. It is my honor to stand before you this evening to really turn
around and focus on the team that's standing behind me and the rest of the team behind them that couldn't be with us this evening, but that we all represent. and that is your parks, recreation, and culture department who are proud to be able to accept this proclamation as a reflection of all of
the commitment that you all lead with. So with that, we'll move into the 40th year of celebration of the National Recreation and Park Association's Parks and Recreation Month proclamation. So like T. Michael said, build together,
play together. And speaking of building, we are no stranger to capital investment here in Winter Haven. And we are proud to be able to list some of the accomplishments that we have already opened to our
citizens and our residents and our visitors alike, but also to highlight some of the ongoing projects that we have within our parks, recreation, and culture department and to speak to some of the highlights that we have going on currently with the Lake Albert Trail. If
you've been by recently, you've seen that paving is happening and we're getting day by day closer to the conclusion of that project and opening up that space to residents to enjoy and have that be a whole other space for programming for us in and throughout the
community. If you drive by, you do see people that are already starting to enjoy the paved trail, which we love to see. At Willowbrook Golf Course, they have made some huge strides in the project there. They're working on the irrigation portion of that project. Lots happening in a short amount of time and
we're ready to welcome golfers back to a fully restored golf course sometime later in the fall. Chain of Lakes Park, we have up upright structures happening. Buildings are going up. It's really starting to take uh to take form and you'd be really able to see what it's going to be when it's finished. They're
doing great out there. And of course the Winter Haven Recreation and Cultural Center, which every time you drive by, they're making crazy progress. It has been such an honor to be a part of that project. And we speak to involve involvement with the community, and that is one of our hallmarks here with this
department in this city is ensuring that we bring in the community to anything that we're going to turn back out to them. Building a safer community. So here, taking an opportunity to highlight our aquatics operation. And Adam Butler's here with me tonight and representing
that team who taught it from July of last year of 2024 to July of this year as we stand today almost 2,000 swim lessons to the community. As you can see here in this video, we bring children in who at the beginning of sessions may be
afraid to even put their face into water. And by the end of the session with our talented team, they're able to safely navigate being in the water alone and having fun in the water, which is our whole goal. Play together. So although this slide
highlights some of our city signature events, that is one of the things that keeps us human together, and that's the element of play. We like to highlight some of these things that we do to bring in the community and celebrate that. These are our poignant celebrations and
our traditional celebrations, but I encourage my team and I encourage those of us around me to take a moment every day to play. That helps ground us and keep us on a human level that we all appreciate so much. I'm sure my team can speak to that a little bit.
And then also building together with the community. Listed here are some of our critical partners that we have throughout our community of Winter Haven and our neighbors as well that partner with us to provide such awesome, impactful, intentional experiences to
our community, to our residents, and to our visitors alike. And we couldn't do what we do without their support and and their teamwork here to continue to build something special together. Again, tonight has been about a snapshot
of what we do here in parks, recreation, and culture. I'd like to just remind you that the people that are standing behind me are a team of really, really special, grounded, forwardthinking, incredible people. I can rely on them every day to
show up with a smile on their face, trying to make this place 1% better today than it was yesterday. and I am so honored and impressed to be a part of their team and to be able to stand before you tonight. So, with that, thank you for your vision and for continuing to stay committed to parks and
recreation in Winter Haven. We're all going to be better for it and so will our kids and our grandkids and everybody down the road. So, thank you so much. Appreciate it. You're good. One, two, three. One more. I just have to say a word about Francis.
Francis Coleman. I've been on the Lakes Advisory Committee for 23 years. Person that beats me out is Francis. She's been a fixture forever today. And
I remember the old days when we when the lakes report wasn't what we have here. I remember people having to write it and put it together. And so my hats off to the Lakes uh
committee and and Francis uh we really do appreciate your your dedication and your your work on our committee. Thank you. All right. Okay.
We have no developments of notes. Note uh we have the minutes commissioners. Mr. Mayor. Yes. Motion to approve five sets of me minutes. Thank you. I will close the commission meeting. Open
the public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak to any of these minutes may do so at this time. Seeing none, close the public hearing. We open the commission meeting. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Opposes by the same sign.
Hearing none, the minutes are adopted. Okay. No one signed up to uh to address the commission. However, if there's someone that came in before we took the uh sheet up, you can do so at this time.
All right. Ordinance is second reading public hearing. Ordinance 02521. Would you read by Tyler only city attorney? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ordinance number 0-25-21, an ordinance amending ordinance 23-25, the 2035 Winter Haven comprehensive plan
by revising the future land use map series by amending the future land use on a parcel from neighborhood suburban future land use to neighborhood mixeduse hub future land use assigning neighborhood mixeduse hub future land use to an annex parcel. Repealing all ordinances in conflict with providing for the administrative correction of
scrier's errors and providing an effective date. The general location 807 Snively Avenue, the northeast corner of Snively Avenue and Eloise Loop Road. The area covered by this request is 33 plus or minus acres. Thank you. Thank you, city manager. We've had this
three times, so let us know. There are no changes to what has been presented on first reading or during your agenda reviews uh to the item. Staff recommends city commission approve ordinance 025-21
on second final reading. Thank you. Commissioners, Mr. Mayor, yes. Motion to approve ordinance uh 02521 um and um public hearing. All right. Thank you. I will close
commission meeting, open the public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak to 02521 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 of the motion, let it be known by saying
I. I. Opposes by the same sign. Hearing none. The motion passes. Ordinance 02522. Would you read by title only city attorney? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ordinance number 0-25-22, an ordinance amending chapter 21 of the code of ordinances of the city of
Florida by assigning commercial highway C3 zoning district to two NX parcels. repealing all ordinances in conflict you're with, providing for the administrative correction of scrimmers errors, and providing an effective date. General location 807 Snively Avenue, the northeast corner of Snag Avenue and Eloise Loop Road. The area covered by
this request is 33 plus or minus acres. Thank you. Thank you, city manager. This is just zoning and it changes. No, sir. No changes from first reading. This is an ordinance that assigns the zoning to the aforementioned property. Uh staff recommends city commission
approve ordinance 025-22 on second and final reading. Thank you commissioners. Mr. Mayor to approve on second reading 02522. Thank you. I will close commission meeting and open the public hearing.
Anyone wishing to speak to 022 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. Hearing
none. All 2522 is adopted. Commissioners, you have the consent agenda. Mr. May, yes. Motion to approve the consent agenda in its entirety. Thank you. I will 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, I close the public hearing. We open the commission meeting. Is there any discussion? All those in favor of the motion, let it be known by saying I.
I. I. Opposes by the same sign. Hearing none. The consent agenda is adopted in its entirety. Resolution R2535 would read by Tyler Lley, city attorney. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Resolution
R-25-35, a resolution confirming the acceptance of a portion of the improvements, infrastructure, and dedications in favor of the public s of Winter Haven as notated on that certain platin titled Lake Deer Town Homes recorded in the office of the clerk of the circuit court in for Poke County, Florida, and
platbook 216. pages 4 through13, public records of Poke County, Florida, and confirming the continued possession of a performance bond posted to guarantee completion of required improvements in infrastructure that remain uncompleted for this subdivision and providing for an effective date. General location
subdivision is generally located east of 35th Street Northwest, north of Reer Highway, and south of Lake Deer. Thank you. Thank you, the manager, mayor, commissioners. May 27th of this year, the commission approved resolution R2526 platting the Lake Deer town home
subdivision, which consists of 51.7 plus or minus acres, also contains 304 building lots and 10 common lots. The developer submitted a performance bond in the amount of 1,976,3 237.50
to guarantee completion of all required infrastructure and improvements. While TBHG, Inc. platted Lake Deere Town Homes as a singlephase subdivision plat, they chose to break the installation of required infrastructure into two phases.
At this time, they have completed the required infrastructure for phase one and are now seeking the city's acceptance of those improvements to be dedicated to the city. City staff has performed inspections of the improvements and found them ready for acceptance. The city will retain the performance bond submitted as part of
the subdivision plat approval process. As work is incomplete for phase two, the bond issued in the amount of $1.97 million will continue to be held to ensure completion of the infrastructure in that area. Staff recommends the city
commission approve resolution R25-35 and authorize the city manager or designate to take necessary and appropriate actions related there too. Thank you. Thank you, commissioners. Mr. Mayor motion to approve a resolution R2535.
Thank you. I will close the commission meeting, open the public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak to R 2535 may do so at this time. Seeing none, close the public hearing. Reopen the 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. Hearing none. Resolution R2535 is adopted. Resolution R2536, would you read by Tylon uh city attorney? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Resolution number
R-25-36, a resolution of the city commission of the city of Winter Haven, Florida, making findings, approving and adopting the 2024 annual lakes report, providing for severability, the administrative correction of scrier's errors, and providing for an effective date. Thank you.
Thank you, s manager. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm going to invite uh Dustin Ever from the Natural Resources Division to come and and assist in this presentation. As an introduction, each year the lakes advisory committee presents the annual lakes report, which summarizes the
current condition of area lakes and outlines the city's ongoing and planned management strategies. The 2024 report includes assessments for 37 lakes selected based on criteria such as public accessibility, data availability, and connectivity to the Winter Haven
chain of lakes in the Peace Creek Basin. In 2024, 54% of the monitored lakes met the states the state of Florida's regulatory thresholds for nutrients. While this percentage remains unchanged from the prior year, it reflects a continuing upward trend from earlier
years. With that, I'll hand off to Mr. Everett and his amazing team that are here with him to give further insights. Thank you, sir. Honorable mayor and city commissioners, thank you for allowing my team and I to present before you information from the latest uh annual
lakes report. This report, which can be found online at the city of Winterhaven website, gives a thorough and comprehensive review of our lakes and focuses on water quality, hydrarology, and ecology. I'd like to start by introducing our
dedicated team. Savannah Winstanley is the ecosystem and asset analyst. Devin Moore is our senior environmental scientist. Mary Thornnehill right behind me is our natural resources specialist.
Genevieve Stutz is our scientific aid. And Olivia Husk is our environmental scientist. Over the past year, our division has achieved several key accomplishments. Uh we increased our hydraologic monitoring of
the lakes with additional surface level sensors and continue to deploy more and are um working to add additional uh rainfall and groundwater monitoring stations uh through the throughout the city. Uh with Winter Haven Water, we've refurbished
existing rain gardens and completed construction on 12 additional rain gardens and began work on the Lake Elbert Trail project. Uh that includes uh additional rain gardens there. Uh throughout this past year, we spoke
with uh nearly 2,000 people, many of them children, uh through various educational outreach events. We reached an additional 300 people uh over the previous year. So, continuing to expand our outreach capabilities. Um we added
some new events like lakeshore cleanups, kids fishing derbies, and uh our schools out camps that we uh put on in in uh conjunction with parks and wreck activities. We've managed public lakes shores and natural areas. Uh removed invasive
plants. We've planted native vegetation uh in lakes like Lake Martha. Uh we've partnered with the Lakes Region Lakes Management District to remove tusks, which is a floating island uh type of invasive vegetation mat that can cover our lakes.
In addition, we also successfully completed the NPDS report and now the annual lakes report. And with that, I'll turn it over to our senior environmental scientist, Devon Moore. Good evening. Thank you, Dustin. So, I'm just going to go into a few
details as part of the report. Um, first being the metrics that we evaluate the report by. Um, as Dustin mentioned, we you focus on three main categories of metrics. These include water quality, hydrarology, and ecology. Each category encompasses several key indicators that
function integrally to drive the health of our lakes. While we could easily just focus on one component like water quality, uh understanding how each of these affects one another and the lakes as a whole is important to planning effective management strategies of our
lakes. So digging into each of those categories, the first is water quality. Um water quality is a critical aspect of lake health. We assess it using metrics like chlorophyll or the amount of algae in the water column. uh total nitrogen and total phosphorus the core nutrients
that drive the growth of plants and algae and uh water clarity which is the amount of suspended material in the water column. The city relies on water quality sampling collected quarterly by PK County natural resources. We then analyze these data points and track
annual changes in water quality. In 2024 as stated 20 of the 37 area lakes were meeting regulatory water quality standards that is not impaired. Of the 17 that are impaired, over half exhibited significant improving trends in at least one of those four water
quality metrics. Moving on to hydrarology, which is the study of how water moves through our environment. We focus on metrics like rainfall, lake levels, and groundwater levels. The city utilizes a network of hydraologic stations, weather stations,
groundwater monitoring wells, and lake level surface level sensors to track these metrics. This hydraologic network is comprised not only of Winter Haven devices, but Southwest Florida Water Management District and Pulk County devices, all working together to provide a detailed view of the water quantity in
our area. In 2024, our total rainfall uh was slightly below the annual average of 52 in. However, an active hurricane season left the lakes and aquifer at or above their average levels towards the end of the year. Generally, higher lake levels and aquafer levels tend to equate
to better water quality in our area, mostly due to increased turnover of the water column, increased flushing of excess nutrients, and increased um connection to adjacent wetlands that can help to filter the water in our lakes. This is why water conservation efforts and practices that promote groundwater
infiltration are so important in our area. For ecology, it's all about the plant and animal communities that live in our lakes. Our primary metrics focus on aquatic vegetation abundance, species composition, and uh diversity. Healthy plant communities contribute
significantly to overall lake health by providing habitat space for fish and wildlife, nutrient filtration, and sediment stabilization. The city conducts one of the most robust aquatic plant monitoring uh programs within the state, tracking vegetation abundance through sonar mapping and species
composition through sampling efforts. Each lake is monitored at least once annually and we also collaborate with PK County and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to plan invasive plant removal efforts using this data. While these biological metrics can vary considerably from lake to lake, overall
aquatic plant abundance was high in 2024 and our invasive species populations were at an all-time low, indicating that we're having some success in managing the aquatic vegetation in our lakes to healthy native uh populations. So pulling all of these categories together, uh we've developed a custom
metric for evaluating our lakes called the lake health index. Uh this provides a numerical objective value for evaluating lake health. Um comprised of eight individual criteria that is the water quality impairments, the trends in chlorophyil, nitrogen, phosphorus and
water clarity, aquatic vegetation abundance, invasive species presence and aquatic diversity. All of these criteria are scored on a range from zero to three with three being the best. Uh we then average each of the individual criteria scores to
calculate the overall lake health index value for each lake annually. These scores can be used to prioritize management efforts and track changes in lake health to over time to gauge our effectiveness. To that point, the table you're viewing
here um represents the annual criteria and lake health index scores averaged across all 37 lakes in our study area. What we've noticed since we began evaluating the lakes this way is that on the whole they have been gradually improving over time.
While there have been some up and down fluctuations in several metrics, one of our more striking takeaways is how we have had multiple impaired water bodies begin to meet those regulatory water quality standards. Um, specifically lakes Conine, Deer, Fanny, Otis, and
Relle uh from 2018 to the current times are now meeting those standards, which is phenomenal. This is a huge accomplishment uh that not many communities or lake management teams can boast. So, how are lakes actually doing in 2024? Um, while that is a complicated
answer, um, what we can generalize is that 27 of the 37 lakes or 73% are currently uh having lake health index values in the good to very good range. Um, a handful are in the fair range, whereas we only have one lake, Lake
Idol, that is currently uh in the poor range. So what do we do with the lake health index values once we calculate them? We prioritize management action on our lakes. Uh we focus on those exhibiting poor water quality or uh declining
aquatic vegetation communities. Um and while I mentioned that the 17 lakes that aren't currently meeting regulatory standards um exist, the majority of these are actually showing statistically significant improving trends uh in water quality. Only a handful of lakes are
actually undergoing declines in water quality or overall lake health. But our top priority list include Lake Idol, which has uh poor water quality and declining trends and a poor aquatic vegetation community. Lakes Hamilton and Partridge while having good vegetation
communities are currently impaired and are trending in a downward direction. Whereas lakes Elbert and Martha are not currently impaired yet. However, they're trending that way. um and their aquatic vegetation communities are less than stellar. With this latter group, it's important that we focus on these to try
to correct them before they reach that critical point of impairment. So, with that, I'll turn things over to Savannah, let her explain some of the things we're doing to try to turn these lakes around. All right. So, going off of that, um there are some ongoing lake management
efforts that we have to improve those priority lakes. um specifically on Lake Hamilton uh which is being administered by PK County. Uh they have a water quality improvement plan that's in place that focuses on uh several storm water improvements uh a wetland park
um and some bofiltration of the storm water inputs to that lake. Uh on Lake Idol, the city has a water quality improvement plan in place that will also focus on improving the storm water inputs to that lake. uh as well as a sediment inactivation project which will
take some of the legacy sediments out of that lake and improve some of the uh nutrient loading going on internally. Uh Lake Martha we have um engaged in several aquatic vegetation planting projects uh hoping to boost the aquatic
plant community in that lake. Um around Lake Albert, uh we've the recent Lake Albert trail project includes several storm water improvements including uh rain gardens and different green infrastructure elements such as that. Uh our street sweeping program is uh not
only a aesthetic boost for the city but also focuses on removing those pollutants before they get to the lakes. Um the miles that we include in that program are specifically targeted for lakes that are either trending poorly or are impaired. Um, and that way we can give them the boost that they need. Um,
and we also have several green stormwater infrastructure projects. Uh, Lake Conine Nature Park, which was recently completed, was one of those. Um, and we have three other nature parks throughout the city, uh, that help filter the water before it gets into the lake. Um, and our final management
effort, uh, we have a huge focus on public outreach and education. Uh ultimately the citizens of Winter Haven are our biggest actors in improving our lakes's water quality uh helping to reduce uh pollutant loading from
fertilizer use and things like that. Um this is just a handful of the things we do. If you uh use the full report um you can see a full detailed overview of the different management strategies we have going on for each lake. Um so this year's best lake is Lake
Daisy. Um it had the best overall lake health score. Um and this is thanks to its improving water quality metrics as well as native aquatic plant growth. Um other lakes that are doing very well include lakes mirror mod and winter set.
Uh so with that um the annual lakes report is a ginormous effort that we go through each year. Um the full report is over 300 pages now I think. Um and any detail that you could possibly want on a lake is in there. Um but we also have
several other formats available. Um so you can get get as high level an overview as you need and dig in from there. Um this year as well as the uh web app version of the report which we have on the city's website. Uh we are also providing a report in brief which
is a short 12-page document that condenses the highlights from 2024 lake conditions and uh highlights different different management milestones from the year. Thank you commissioners. I'd just point out a
couple things um in followup to to what the team has presented. If you noticed on the improvements in overall lake scores, the metrics that they had shown, I think one of the biggest concerns we have when we talk about new development
that happens in Winter Haven, obviously we're concerned about traffic and we're concerned about crime and and the other things that that can come about as negative impacts from growth. Well, certainly, you know, degradation of the environmental condition is certainly comes into play. Yet, despite all the
growth we've seen over the past five years in particular, you saw that the condition of our lakes has improved. And that speaks um in my opinion volumes to the work that the natural resources division does. I'd also point out that the report that
you have before you is probably one of the finest documents that you will ever come across uh as it speaks to our local limnology. And if we were to contract out for someone to produce something of this magnitude, one, the historical information is hard to come by if you
haven't been a part of the process all along. And then the annual data collection in the that culminates in this report. You're easily looking at about probably a $200 to $250,000 study of your lakes.
um we're able to produce that in-house thanks to the expertise and the uh the hard work of this team. So I just that that is not lost on me. The the quality of that document I think you could put up against anything that's produced anywhere in this country and people
would be in awe that we have a staff that's able to do that. Outstanding report. Yes, I got some questions. Go ahead. Um thank you for this. I keep this at my desk office and um
and uh I do appreciate it very much. It a couple of questions. If it were just all about money and you had unlimited funds, could you add more lakes? I the reason I'm asking is like I love Lake Bess and Lake Ruby that's surrounded by Winter Haven. Lake Lake Myrtle, which is
Lake Ashton, is surrounded by Winter Haven people. As we move more and more in the southeast area, we're deproving three and 400 lots all the time on all those lakes. I think it'd be nice if we could somehow consider maybe adding some of those lakes because of the population
at Winter Haven's moving out that way. And is it just a function of money or is it something else that that precludes us from like I I keep want to see Lake Bess on here because that's where I live, but I just keep thinking is it just a funding issue or what what's stopping us from doing other lakes? Well, there's
there would be some permitting issues as well if you're just creating um lakes for recreational purpose or or something of that nature. Um the the short answer is is we are creating lakes depending upon what your um definition is of
lakes, whether or not it's purchasing a large property like um Bradco Farms and then making some giant wetland cells or open water cells that are used to hold water. some of the um things promoted by
our Winter Haven water in um bolstering up the Sapphire necklace with water supply and creating some of these water storage areas. That's essentially what we would be doing is is creating lakes. Can I add um and so traditionally we have also
used the state's requirements of um looking at public water bodies for which lakes we would um study. So that would be so on like Lake Bess and Lake Myrtle for instance, there's not improved public access. Um so when it comes time to apply for grants like we did on Lake
Idol uh to make a water quality improvement um those lakes wouldn't be eligible because they aren't widely accessible to the public. I mean like Lake Ashton which is like Myrtle that doesn't have public access for people down there. It's a private boat ramp within the Lake
Ashton community. Yeah. and Lake and Lake Bess or Lake Ruby's got lots of boat ramps but they're all private. So that precludes them from being studied and it precludes them from state dollars also. So it's money. It's basically it's a funding issue. Yes. That's what I'm trying to get to.
And and we also look at um the other piece of that is the storm water side, right? So lakes that we contribute storm water to are lakes that we have a requirement to understand and improve as part of our MPDS permit. Um, so, so that's that's another factor in there.
And those are lakes that don't get that contribution. Well, it just so happens we're having budget discuss discussions right now. That's why I'm asking if you guys were to get an extra $300,000 in your aotment or whatever, would that mean you just to hire another employee? How how can we get this this expanded? Because, and I'm
not doing it just for myself, but I'm talking about other lakes that that I would love to see reports on, even though there may not have a ramp on them, a public ramp. That's what I'm trying to get to is that if it's just a funding issue or the state doesn't give us money, if we don't
have public access, that's a funding issue. You know, there's six of you guys. If you had seven, could you add another 20 lakes? I don't know. I'm just trying to get I'm trying to understand the situation. That's all. So I think access to our ability to access the lake as as
government employees um when there is not a public access to it that makes it very difficult uh to do that. And then um the question would be well where do we draw the line? If you have one land owner that uh owns the entire lake and
then he wants us to spend our time and resources going out there and studying that one particular lake for him and we're serving the community at large with with taxpayer funding. I think that that would raise some some questions there. I think that there's a lot of work that can be done in the future with
regards to the city looking at acquiring property potentially on some of these private lakes and increasing public access to private lakes, which would then make the lake public and would open up opportunities uh for our staff to be able to go out and and monitor these
lakes as as public uh water bodies. And I I think there's a lot of opportunities for that, especially as our population expands and and we uh need more recreational lakes and opportunities for our residents. So, it's a public access issue as much as
that's that's really where the rubber meets the road on the lakes that we work on. Are they are they publicly accessible? Um that is not the only defining thing. There are some um you know circumstances where we might be um
studying a smaller lake. Uh if we have storm water that goes um you know some of our infrastructure or storm water uh impacts that lake or or pond, we may um you know have some some uh ability to study that then
and and an agreement with a homeowners association at Lake Ashton wouldn't count. if you could somehow get some sort of an agreement with them to where you could access the lake through their ramps or like I'm just trying to think outside the box a little bit to give you guys access. I get it if there's no
public asset, but I think the question could be raised by somebody in the public as to why are they studying a lake that I can't access? Um, you know, why why is my uh taxpayer money going towards studying a lake that anybody from the general
public would not be able to access? I think Brad, um, Commissioner Dans, if you can liken it to private roads versus public roads, you know, you couldn't very well spend money to improve a private road in a subdivision that's gated. Well, analogize that to a lake.
I get all that, but we have probably a thousand residents in Lake Ashton that pay Winter Haven taxes that would love to have their lake clean. And we're going to have a lot more out there eventually that are going to all we're annexing all this property out there. We need to we need to take care of those lakes as well. That's what I'm trying to
get to. I get it. Public roads. That is a very valid point. And that might create an environment where the city could acquire a piece of property to create a park and a boat ramp on these lakes that um with being able to
open up that access and and secure not only uh city um research and and tools there, but also on a state level, they would be um they would be able to get vegetation management activities by the state of Florida and elsewhere. So, like
it would be a very important thing I think in the future if there's a lot of work that needs to be done on a private lake for it to to become public. And there's been several cases across the state of Florida where that has indeed happened. Um cases where a private lake
uh that several different homeowners live on, it becomes completely choked up with an invasive aquatic vegetation like hydrillaa. And some of those hydraula treatments can cost, you know, upwards of a million dollars and then they quickly want their lake to become public
when public funds can become available to treat public water bodies. That happened on Lake Bess. I was going to say that we had that and we we raised the money and bought the fish and there's no hydrilla left. Alternatively though, um, on Lake Otis, there was a similar situation and they took that funding
that they had raised collectively and put it into purchasing property that they then donated back to the Lakes Region Lake Management District to create improved public access, which then allowed it. And and I think in the strategic plan, we also identified increasing public access to water bodies throughout the community. So, I think,
you know, those are things that we're looking at. Okay. And what's the deepest lake of all of all the ones you studied? I'm just curious, which one's the deepest? Where's the deepest spot? Lake Silver right right here behind Lake Silver. Yeah, it's it's very deep. Very crater-like. Okay,
that's it for me. I think it's often you can't win for losing because I think if you if we did that and we said, "Okay, well, let's put a boat ramp on Lake Ashton. Fill this room up. Don't put a public access on Lake Ashton." That's so many times you
just can't win for for trying. But my my question is and I I think I had the same question last year and I can't recall the answer but still the same concern is when you look at something like a lake Otis and a Lake Elbert and you've got
that connection between the two lakes and in potentially losing water quality in Otis because you're pumping water from Elbert. What is the realistic possibility of that happening? Does that happen? Do you do you risk the health of
one lake to bring up another lake or That's that's a valid question. And in the case of Elbert uh to Otis, no water can currently get from one to the other. Now, we have a proposal out there and a grant with FEMA to be able to secure a
pump that would allow us in emergency situations to pump water from Elbert, which has no natural outlet, to be able to go underneath the street and over to Otis. And that would be done probably in times of emergency when water levels um
necessitate that. And so the short answer to your well there is no real short answer to your question, but the the thick of it is that if done regularly and you're taking water from a a a bad water quality place and putting it in a place that has good water
quality, you do run the risk of reducing the water quality if it's done excessively and over a long period of time. But even then, it's not necessarily guaranteed. If you look on um on the map of of lakes that we have, the very I hate to use the word worst
lake, but the the lake with the poorest condition within Winter Haven is Lake Idol. And that lake naturally flows into Lake Buckeye, which has really good water quality. And over the years, um it's not that Lake Idol has recently
become bad. Lake Idol has has been struggling for quite a long time, which is why it's on under an alternative restoration plan. We've not seen a great decrease in the water quality at Lake Buckeye uh because of that. So, I I
think it it really depends and I think it also depends on what what the water quality issues are within the lake. So, in Lake Idol, many of the issues there are from um nutrient cycling within the sediments that are contained in the lake. And as long as those sediments are
still contained within the lake, as long as you have it's just water that is going from uh idle to Buckeye, you're not going to see a reduction in water quality. So, sorry to give you a fivem minute answer to your question, but it's not a straightforward. I I thought we discovered in one of the
recent storms that there was a connection between there is there is a pipe connection, but the the pipe cannot flow. it it the water would have to essentially flow uphill to a point or it's the pipe is at a height that the water level will never
be able to get to without kind of really threatening structures within the lake and it was put in after Hurricane Donna I believe in the 1960s. Uh and the way that the system was designed is that it had to have an active pump to pump the water out of the lake and into this uh
box chamber which then could gravity flow. Uh, but it has to be at a height high enough for it to gravity flow to Lake Otis and the water just won't it will not get there unless it comes up about 8 to 10 feet. So,
um, that's the system is there, but we're working on trying to get a pump, but even then the pump would only be done in times of uh, emergency high water. And since 1960, I think we've only discovered that we would have needed that pump um just back after
Hurricane Ian after that really wacky year that we had there. So it would not be something that would flow regularly. And I can affirm that Mayor Pro Tim that's that structure was put in after Hurricane Donna. Um it never flowed and and very few people had any real
insights on it. It wasn't until um we had hurricane Ian with such excessive rainfall leading into that storm like Elbert came up uh and and started to get to that point of if we continue to get heavy rainfall through traditional storms, we would it could potentially um
further degrade the lake itself by the the highrise of that water getting closer up to structures and and the roadway itself. So, we put in a a bypass pump to to suck water from Elbert and push it through that pipe to come out and I forget what street it's at, but
it's it's um right at the northern edge of Lake Otis is where it comes out in kind of a a very unique well system. Um that took us a long time to even figure out how that worked and where it was. But um you know in terms of moving water
from Elbert into Otis, keep in mind so much of the work that we're doing with the Lake Elbert Trail include storm water mitigation efforts in there to improve what's flowing into the lake. So kind of um catching pollutants before they ever get there to hopefully see
significant improvements in water quality so that there wouldn't if you ever did have to make that pumpage of water over that it would be even less impactful. Is that night street where it comes in down there? I think it's night it's right behind Dr. Susach's old house and that's nice street.
Yeah, it's and it's there's a huge slope there and it's a very unique well system is how it feeds in the lake. about that. I was just going to add one other thing, Commissioner Yates. The uh you know when when you would operate that pump would be at the times when the lake level has
gotten extremely high for some reason. And so keep in mind a lot of the numbers that you're seeing here are reflective of long-term trends. So when the lakes really really high like that, you have a massive dilution going on. So if you were to sample all of the things that we sample at that point in time, they might
be very very low to begin with. Um this is this is representative kind of long-term trends. I think that's just important to keep in mind. I can remember growing up every dock was underwater on Elbert at one point in time, but you also got to think too if it's that high then Otus is that high
too to some degree. So, but Otis of course has a natural flow way out through link through Miriam through the canal system that takes it all the way up into the Hartridge system and then out the Peace Creek. Yes.
Um can I ask a question? Um, Lake Idol, do we use alum in that lake? We we do not use alum in that lake. Our uh alum injection articles. So, yeah, our alum injection systems are located on May uh Lulu and Howard.
We have um on Lake Idol, we are looking at different um things to improve that basin. We brought to you guys last year uh the alternative restoration plan which outlines some management activities. Many of those are going to be outlined in the annual lakes report.
And I'm I'm happy to report um that we were notified last week that we were awarded a $360,000 grant from D to perform some storm water improvements within that lake idol lake idol basin and which will be um you know bringing
that before you guys uh to review the uh grant agreement sometime here in the next few months. Idol U is u and Lake Buckeye are they is there an open there was a breach uh some time ago um between the two a significant one
yeah there's a there's a connection um over on the east side of Lake Idol there's a structure that there that is maintained by the lakes region lakes management district where water can flow from Lake Idol uh to Lake Buckeye I think there was a breach in there they
had to repair it was it was it wide open there for a while and they had to go in and actually uh I guess I know at various times that they've they've had repairs and issues um in there on that structure, but I haven't heard of any like really large breaches
where there was any significant water lost from Lake Idol. Yeah, it was it was a very significant one. Yeah. Yeah. Uh and I get the lake is not very the depth of it is and is very shallow. we had the drought. It basically almost
dried all the way up and uh I call it turtle lake because you see more turtles in there than anything. Uh but I guess you're saying what they can do to that is I mean it's so shallow. What pop what else can be done in order to you improve it? So, one of the things that we've talked about
internally, and this is just at some really initial discussion stages, is because of the connectivity with that lake, there is the potential that you could pump all of the water out of Lake Idol uh downstream to Buckeye. You'd have to go through the permitting process through the state of Florida.
It's not something we could wake up and do tomorrow, but there is the potential that we would be able to dewater the lake. And once you dewater a lake, especially a lake that has mucky sediments like that, the the sun and the wind and the oxygen would oxidize that
substrate, which would provide immediate benefits once the lake reflooded if even if that was the only thing that you did. However, if you did dewater the lake or do a do a substantial draw down where you could access with some heavy equipment to scrape some of that muck
off and remove it. um similar to dredging, but being able to do it on dry ground is a whole lot easier than hydraulically trying to move the muck while the water's still on top of it. Um that that would be a viable option and that's something that my team and I are exploring. Um different grant
opportunities that may allow us to do that. Um but there would be some substantial permitting uh hurdles to be able to jump to do that. But I think if that's possible at any one of our lakes on the chain, it would be that one. report.
Anyone else? Mr. Mayor? Yes. Motion to approve resolution R-25-36. Thank you. I will close the commission meeting, open the public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak to R2536
may do so at this time. Seeing none, close the public hearing. Reopen the commission meeting. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. opposes by the same sign hearing. None. We have adopted the lakes report. Great
job. We have um three ordinances. First reading. The second reading will be on July 28th. August
July 28th, not August. Ordinance 02519. Would you read by Tyler, city attorney? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ordinance number 0-25-9, an ordinance amending chapter 21 of the code of ordinances of the city of Winter Haven, Florida by amending a portion of plan unit development ordinance O-22-23
provided for the administrative correction of scriven errors, repealing all ordinances in conflict with and providing an effective date. General location the northern portion of a parcel generally located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Cypress Gardens Boulevard and US Highway 27. The area covered by this request is
50.94 plus or minus acres. Thank you, city manager. Mayor, commissioners Timothy F. Campbell request the city amendment of a planned unit development under ordinance 022-23. The property is located at the southwest corner of intersection of Cypress
Gardens Boulevard and US Highway 27. Contains approximately 50.94 plus or minus acres. The current PUD permits up to 300,000 square feet of commercial space on the subject property. The southern portion of this parcel would remain under PUD 2223 and continue to
allow for 313 multif family residential units. The petitioner is proposing to develop the subject property with up to 550,000 square feet of commercial, which is an increase of 250,000 square feet from the current PUD.
The subject uh property is designated as a combination of regional mixeduse hub and conservation future land uses. The proposed PUD is consistent with these designations. Planning commission on June 3rd, 2025 during their regular meeting voted to recommend approval of
this request. No members of the public spoke. Staff's conclusion is that the increase in commercial square footage along with the minor changes to development standards does not create a significant amendment to the PUD. The proposed changes are consistent with the development pattern in the area and of
that contemplated by the regional mixeduse hub future land use designation. Staff recommends the city commission move ordinance 02519 to second reading on July 28th. Thank you. Thank you. All right.
Commissioners, any questions? All right. Ordinance 02520. Jere Long, the city attorney. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ordinance number 0-25-20, an ordinance amending chapter 21 of the code of ordinances of the city of Winter Haven, Florida by reszoning one parcel from mixed use MX zoning
district to commercial highway C3 zoning district, providing for the administrative correction of scrier errors, repealing all ordinances in conflict with, and providing an effective date. General location. A parcel generally located 250 ft east of First Street south and north of Avenue H southeast. The area covered by this
request is 0.24 plus or minus acres. Thank you. Thank you, city manager. Mayor, commissioner Sharon M. Watson request the city reszone a parcel from mixeduse zoning district to commercial highway C3 zoning district. Parcel contains.24 plus or minus acres. The
western portion of the parcel is currently utilized as a parking lot for the adjacent commercial property located to the west. The uh petitioner owns the adjacent commercial property and intends to develop the property consistent with the C3 zoning district. The current future
land use of the subject area's primary mixeduse hub. The requested commercial highway C3 zoning district is consistent with the primary mixeduse hub future land use. There's no direct financial impact to the city with this request. The planning commission at its June 3rd,
2025 regular meeting voted to recommend approval of this request. No members of the public spoke in favor or against. The re uh staff's conclusion is that the resoning to the C3 zoning district is consistent with the property's location and with the developed uses and city
designations in the area. And as the primary mixeduse hub future land use designation will remain, the maximum development potential is unchanged. There's no increase in potential infrastructural demands beyond what is currently allowed. Staff recommends city
commission uh move ordinance 025-20 to second read to be held on July 28th. Thank you. Thank you commissioners. Any questions, concerns, discussions? Thank you. Ordinance 026 for jone city
attorney. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ordinance number 0-25-26 an ordinance extending the corporate limits of the city winter Florida so as to include therein additional territory lying contiguous and adjacent to the present boundaries of the city winter haven Florida describing said additional territory repealing all ordinances in
conflict or with providing for the administrative correction of scrier errors and providing an effective date general location a parcel located at the southwest corner of the intersection of 8th street northwest US highway 17 and avenue x northwest the area covered by this request is 0.34 four plus or minus
acres. Thank you. Thank you, city manager. Mayor and commissioners, this is a request by Candace Ducking in Listen Etienne for the the commission to annex one parcel totaling.34 plus or minus acres as described by the city attorney.
Current taxable value of the parcel is approximately 29,972 and based on the city's current tax millage rate, expected annual tax revenue will be approximately $197.52. Staff recommends see commission approve ordinance 025-26
in effort to move it to second reading. Thank you commissioners. Any questions, discussion? All right. Second reading will be on July 28th. We have one new business item, the developers agreement
with LWG Florida Properties LLC. City manager. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. On October 23rd, 2023, the city commission approved ordinance 2339, a PUD zoning ordinance for the property subject to this developer's agreement. The developer LWG
Florida Properties LLC is has opted to commence construction on Lake Ruby Drive West as required by the ordinance 2339 prior to commencing construction upon any of the property associated with the PUD ordinance.
All such utilities associated with the construction of Lake Ruby Drive West are required to be placed underground. However, placing the existing overhead electric utility lines underground now prior to development of the parcels associated with the PUD ordinance places
a significant financial burden upon the developer which may affect the ability to further develop a parcel subject to that ordinance. This developer's agreement provides that the developer may temporarily relocate the existing overhead power lines and associated poles within the rightsway of Lake Ruby
Drive West until such time as any of the property subject to the PUD ordinance submits plans for building permits and/or site approval. At that time, the developer shall submit plans for the undergrounding of all electric utilities along Lake Ruby Drive West. This
proposed developers agreement runs with the land and enures the enures to LWG Florida Properties LLC's heirs successors and/or permitted assigns. Um staff recommends the commission approve the developers agreement with
LWG Florida Properties LLC and authorize the city manager andor designate to take all necessary actions related there too. So, the the land to be developed for the residential project is what you see in red outlined on your screen. Uh, going
directly north from that, you can see what appears to be a roadway coming down from the top of your screen. That is Lake Ruby Drive West. Um, and going back to the east to the left hand side, that is where that trail section would be required to be built as part of the PUD
as well. So the road is going in now and this will just allow them to maintain above ground utilities for electric until such time as they're ready to move forward with the development of the parcel. Thank you
commissioners Mr. Mayor. Yes. Motion to approve the developers agreement with LWG Florida Properties LLC. Thank you. I close the commission meeting, open the public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak to this particular item
as it relates to the develop agreement with LWG may do so at this time. Seeing none, close the public hearing. We open the commission meeting. Is there any discussion? All those in favor of the motion, let it be known by saying I.
I poses by the same sign. Hear none. The developers agreement is approved. City Commission Leon reports. Commissioner Mercer, I don't have Oh, um the I don't have anything to report on that, but I do have a couple of things I wanted to say.
Um I like the uh report and I like this shortened version too, but I was going to ask the deputy city manager, is this something that I should take to the CHN that report, the full report?
Yes, that's a good question. Um, yeah. I mean, I think I think bringing I would bring them a copy of the report in brief and we can get those for you. Um, and that that directs them to the full report. Okay. But I think that's a good example of what we're doing here. And I think it's um it's something that could be modeled throughout the wershed, which is what
the national estray program would be interested in. And the other thing I wanted to thank Parks and Recre for all of their um uh services that they provide to the public and all of to the outreach that you do to the kids and uh all the projects that
you're managing. That's quite a few. So, thank you very much. That's all I have. Commissioner Dler, um not a lot to meet talk about. Um had my budget meeting with T. Michael and staff as always. very professional and
appreciate the effort that all of you guys do to make me comfortable with the budget. Um, al like all of us or some of us, we all went to the Rockham Freedom Rocking Freedom Fest and the fireworks display did go off on time. Very good fireworks
display. Um, I still throwing down the gauntlet on why the mayor did not ski in. I thought that was a tradition that we started a few years back that the mayor would start the ski show by skiing in, but I didn't see that happening this time. So, you're not trying to get rid of me, are you? No, I'm just I'm just saying we have a
tradition or we had a tradition, but uh um Folk Visioning board of directors. Uh and then last but not least, the arts, culture, and heritage. Uh we we awarded our grants. Um we give away over $2 million to arts, culture, and heritage organizations.
The line winner for Winter Haven was Theater Winter Haven. They ended up getting over $400,000, but they were the only organization in Winter Haven that got money that didn't that applied. And I've been the chairman of that thing for 10 years now. And it breaks my heart that the Winter Haven
charities uh and and arts and heritage organizations don't apply for this money because it is serious money. And if you have any influence with some of these organizations, they need to put their name in because we had 55 different
organizations this year that applied. And look at Dan. Dan got four over $400,000 now. He and he and Bock Tower are sort of like the gold standard in terms of bringing people in and how good their applications are. But I mean, everybody was getting this money and I'm
looking at the list and it just breaks my heart that Winter Haven doesn't do it. So, help me spread the word because it just it hurts. And I've been in a position where I could help these things along. And we just have to get the we have to get our arts, culture, and
heritage directors and leaders to take advantage of this funding because it's serious money. So, that's it. So, Commissioner, uh, not much. I just um you know had opportunity to um you know spend a
little time with new employees and to you know for their introductions and uh have lunch with them as well. It's always exciting to see new uh uh new people come in and you know get involved in uh doing a great job for the city. Uh I am also extremely impressed
with the report from our lakes as well as our park and recreation. uh to echo um uh you know that the cultural center uh every day you drive by and it's uh it's really impressive and a lot of
people are excited about uh what will uh I think be a beautiful uh facility within our city and uh also the uh rock freedom fest was uh was enjoyable. my family came out. My uh only grandson uh
when the fireworks went off, he was standing up just clapping his hands. So that was pretty exciting. That was his first fireworks. So he seemed to like it pretty well. So as far as he was concerned, it was excellent. But thank you so much for uh just doing outstanding job. Also the budget uh as I
shared with uh staff and and appreciate the uh opportunity to this my will be my second opportunity to deal with the budget the first year. Uh I must tell you as I told you that it was all Greek to me and uh now I actually understand
this stuff and I appreciate it very much and uh you also made it u such that I'm I'm able to grab hold of it and make sense of it and to recognize that the city's doing an outstanding job of being good stewards over what uh what you have
to uh to spend and and be able to run the city. So thank you very much. May I pro Tim, thank you. Um, so I was traveling internationally the past few weeks. So it's really good to be back state side,
be back in United States of America and Winter Haven. But I tell you, I visited seven countries. I think it was seven countries altogether. And there was one common thing between their those seven countries and Winter Haven or Orlando Tampa or anything.
They all have traffic problems. traffic problems in every one of them. So, the traffic problems in Winter Haven are not unique to Winter Haven. They're they're international problems. Um, but uh I was I was bummed that I had to
miss the fireworks this year, but I I did stream them. I saw them on Facebook and so got to got to see a little bit all the way over in Italy. So, um I will ask one question as it relates to traffic problems though and I don't need an answer tonight. Um, but I just am
curious because we, you know, we got the um, Sixth Street done, excuse me, First Street done. And so now we're moving or we we had talked about kind of continuing to move east and First Street would be one of those next
problem areas to look at. And so we don't have school's not in session right now, but man, that traffic backs all the way up from Cypress Gardens Boulevard to Avenue K. So, it's just looking for hopefully an update or I mean, as
Commissioner Dancler mentioned earlier, you know, it's budget time and I know uh budgets thin, but just kind of curious uh as the direction or or next steps that we may be taking to improve um uh Sixth Street. So, again, don't
don't have to answer right now, but just want to put that on the radar. Let me get with staff on that. you know that we did improvements on Sixth Street several years ago with the help of DOT. Um they identified that as a kind of a connector road between State Road 542
and 540 and we're able to support some improvements mostly on pedestrian facilities and uh some somewhat of a complete street project in there. Um capacitywise it's somewhat limited without taking property and that's the last thing we ever want to do there. But
um that may be one that more so from um signal timing through the corridor from central all the way back to to Cypress Gardens Boulevard. But let me get with staff and see what kind of analysis of data we may have available at this point and report back or potentially alternative routes that
you know we can do something there because really Sixth Street's the last street. I mean you there's not a lot a lot of other options. So, anyways, I appreciate you looking into Yeah. And keep in mind, we um we're going through the due diligence effort right now to acquire a piece of property
at the corner of of 8th Street that will allow us uh to work in partnership with DOT to realign that intersection. Um and I think that that could have a significant impact on traffic flow through that area. But we also must
always be mindful that if you move it from one road to another, doesn't really solve the problem. It just spreads the problem out over more people. So, we got to be, you know, mindful about how we approach that. That's it. All right. Uh, I had a few things. The
the Rocking Freedom uh fest was really great. Fireworks were good. The weather cooperated. Oh my goodness. Did it ever. Um, I gave a welcome to about
probably about 350 to 400 uh, Christians from all over the state at uh, First Baptist on Avenue
G. For those that I have to say this, these were the white Christians. Not that there should be a black or white Christians, but I just want to make the make that analogy. But it was
they were shocked that I stayed after my uh welcome to them. I stayed through two sermons. They had two ministers that preached. So, I was there for a couple hours and
uh that was quite an experience. I'm not used to certain things. And so, but I did it anyway. So, they're going to come for you. Well, or you or you or you next time. All right.
All right. Or you a preacher, so you you can relate to it. Um, I just want to thank the the city staff for for a a great presentation to my summer youth kids. Uh,
a lot of those kids don't get to see and be in a place like this. And so, uh, I just really want to thank you p publicly. We took them not only here, they went to the, uh, police department.
they went to the airport and to the uh fire department. And so it really makes a difference. And so I really want to thank you. In fact, uh we actually took them up to uh Daytona Beach for the 150th uh birthday
celebration and the reopening of the Mary McCloud Mthun uh museum. And so, uh, they're really having, these kids are really having, uh, uh, an
impactful summer experience. And so, I want to just thank you all for, uh, making yourselves available to to do that for uh, for these kids at the Florenceville CDC. Um
the budget meeting was good as as usual and um I see we're going to have a session coming up where we're all together and and and next Wednesday and that is I was going to mention that Mr. mayor that that is a
special city commission workshop will begin at 5:00 p.m. and that will be to uh review the the budget in public forum um in advance of the commission voting on tenative millillage on July 28th.
Okay. And I just have two more things that I did. I went to a um an emergency room uh groundbreaking out on Havenale Boulevard. And it's not
Bayare and it's not Advent Health. It's HC L I think it is. HCA HCA Health. HCA. HCA. HCA. They're doing um an
emergency facility out of Havenale, which is just um east of um where the the new Publix supermarket is going in. Um so I thoroughly enjoyed that. And
finally, um, uh, CS CSX Interotal logistics center received a, uh, a designation as a select site
and it when when they came and pres and and talked about it, uh, It's a big deal. And it's a big deal because
uh I just recall when the discussions were about bringing CSX, there was a lot of push back from that. In fact, uh two groups from
the city uh toured some uh interotal logistics centers. Some went to uh Texas and I actually went to uh Georgia. And the thing that impressed me about
those uh logistics centers is that uh housing were being built around them. So people were going to them. But this is this is this is the criteria and I'm going to
read this. I I think it's it's good for the commissioners to know um what this is. It says that the CSX select site program identifies
prequalified rail service properties that meet the strict criteria requirement to accommodate companies with aggressive timelines for expansion or relocation.
Each site undergoes rigorous third-party evaluations to confirm infrastructure readiness, appropriate zoning, and immediate development potential. So, I mean,
what's going on out of CSX? There's up to 12 million square feet of industrial development. the bill to suit opportunities from 200,000 to 2.6 million square feet.
Direct CSX rail access we all know is in proximity of US 27 and state road 60. And this is where we come in. full
access to city utilities, TCO, Duke Energy, fiber and natural gas, onsite trucks to reduce the cost and enhance efficiency of operations. So, hey, it's a winwin for us. And then finally it
says uh this recognition is a result of strong public private collaborate collaboration among key partners including Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida Department of Commerce, Florida Department of Transportation,
Pulk County, the city of Winter Haven and the Winter Haven Economic Development Council CSX Taff Properties and Florida Public Utilities, Duke Energy, Antico. So, they
they were very honored to be named a uh select site. And so, we have a golden spike that's in the uh mayor's office that uh that was presented. So, it was a great honor. So, with that, city
attorney. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Commission. Um since our last meeting, um the governor did uh signed Senate Bill 180 into law. That was, if you may recall, y'all vote sent a letter to the governor asking him to veto that uh Senate bill, but he he
did enact it. So, we'll have to sort through those issues. That's the legislation that um sort of tries to go back. packets. It was an emergency management um bill, but it included a number of issues that prohibits government select city Winter Haven from
adopting or enforcing ordinances that are more restrictive or burdensome than what was in place as of August 1st of 2024. So, um we'll have to sort through what those what that means, but I just wanted to inform you that that that did happen. you may have already read about it or
heard about it, but that is uh that's an ongoing thing that we'll look at as well as all the other legislation that was signed into law and has gone into effect or will go into effect and I'm working with city staff and the city manager's office and others to help the city as always remain current and compliant.
Thank you. Thank you, city manager. Uh just one thing this evening, mayor and commissioners, I will be out of the office on Friday uh joining other members of the Greater Winter Haven Chamber board of directors for their annual strategic planning retreat. Um
and we will also be discussing with them or I will having uh their president and CEO Betsy Cleveland come and give a presentation to the commission at some point in the next few weeks just as an update on what's happening with the chamber. During my absence, Deputy City
Manager Carnival will be available to address any operational needs as they come up. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy City Manager. Nothing this evening, sir. Thank you. Deputy City Clerk. Nothing, sir. All right. Uh, emergency man is not
received for the agenda. Motion to adjourn.