e
good evening I'd like to call to audit the regular City Commission meeting for this the 10th day of February 2025 at 6: PM can I have a roll call please yes sir commissioner dollison here commissioner
Mercer here commissioner danler here mayor pmates here and mayor B song Here we will have our invocation by Pastor Spivy from The People's Church and the Pledge of Allegiance by Vanessa Castillo would you stand your favor please let's bow Our Father we pause this evening and we thank you for a city who who still invokes your
presence and your input here and so we pray this evening oh God that your presence would be here among your people pray that you would speak to and through our commissioners help them to make wise and prudent decisions on behalf of our citizens Lord we pray for every department head uh in our city and each each worker in those departments that your Divine protection and blessing would be over them we pray oh God
that you would shower our city with your grace for it's in the Name of Christ we pray all this amen amen flag of the United States of America and to the repic for which it stands Nation godice alliss would you join me
just trying to figure out the tie that mayor protm has on this evening okay on a more positive note
we have two proclamations this evening so we are going to start with uh our first Proclamation which is for Dr Jesse Owens Dr Owens if you'd like to come to the podium and uh I'll read our Proclamation which reads whereas the City of Winter Haven recognizes how diversity and inclusion are woven into the fabric of American life and solidify the foundation of strong communities and whereas in 2021 the City of Winter Haven began celebrating Black History Month by
recognizing Local Heroes who have made a significant ific impact on the community and whereas a group of community leaders came together and identified Local Heroes who blazed new trails while demonstrating passion dedication and compassion for the community and whereas one hero hero will be recognized each week of Black History Month 2025 and whereas Dr Jesse Owens is recognized as one of these Heroes and whereas Dr Jesse Owens is a native of Winter Haven a distinguished music educator
and so much more to so many people she continues to inspire the next generation of artists and musicians and whereas Dr Owen's motto is transforming lives through the Arts and these are words that can guide us all now therefore Nathaniel J Birdsong Jr mayor of the City of Winter Haven Florida does hereby recognize the week of February 17 2025 as Dr Jesse Owens week in the city of Winter Haven in recognition of her extraordinary achievements leadership and
dedication to advanc music education and Cultural Arts in our community in witness whereof he is here and to set his hand and caused the Seal of the City of Winter Haven Florida to be a fixed this 10th day of February 2025 signed Nathaniel J Birdsong Jr mayor ATT test Vanessa Castillo city clerk couldn't believe it the first time and the second time is really really sweet too but I
want to thank everybody for the confidence and my passion my dream that has become a reality for this community and I will continue to do it as long as God give me the health and strength and that's all I have to say thank you and God bless all of you thank you as Dr Owens makes your way to the uh to the Das for her photo share again
with the public that during the week of February 17th there will be a series of informational posts that we do recognizing her and her Banner is being displayed here along with the banners of our other four Local Heroes will be displayed along the light poles that surround Central Park in the heart of downtown
thank you Dr Owens our second Proclamation this evening is in recognition of Patricia saler so miss salary if you'd come to the podium please Proclamation reads as follows whereas the City of Winter Haven recognizes how diversity and inclusion are woven into the fabric of American life and do solidify the foundation of strong communities and whereas a group
of community leaders came together and identifi ified Local Heroes who Blaze new trails while demonstrating passion dedication and compassion for the community and whereas one hero will be recognized for each week of Black History Month 2025 and whereas Patricia salary is recognized as one of these Heroes and whereas Patric Patricia saler a native of winter Haven's Florence Villa Community a woman of faith and a devoted devoted educator has impacted many throughout the community and whereas Mrs Sal
would say if if I can help somebody then my living will not be in vain and these are words that can guide us all now therefore Nathaniel J Birdsong Jr mayor of the City of Winter Haven Florida does hereby recognize the week of February 24th 2025 as Patricia salary week in the city of Winter Haven in recognition of her lifelong dedication to service and the betterment of the community in witness whereof he is heing to set his hand and cause the Seal of the City of
Winter Haven Florida to be affixed this 10th day of February 2025 signed Nathaniel J Birdsong Jr mayor attest Vanessa Castillo city clerk good evening mad Nathaniel bur song City commissioners city manager other City officials and MLK committee I would like to thank Mrs Patricia Smith
fields for the nomination and the MLK committee for selecting me as one of the local black Heroes thanks for affording me the opportunity to receive such an award as this I am grateful and truly honored to receive recognition of this magnitude you have touched my heart immensely it is with great joy that I accept this award and honor not for me
but for my family you as role models and leaders in the wi Haven Community I have and will continue to lead by example to encourage Inspire and motivate Future Leaders we all must be a living example of what leaders are and do this award epitomizes me and the life I have lived I was raised in a single parent Christian home with my mother and brother Dr James Ammons Jr my mother the
late Mrs Agnes Ammons gave us a great foundation for us to build upon she knew our journey would be difficult and challenging at best so she worked diligently to instill moral values in us at an early age she taught us that we could be or do anything we wanted to in life if we reverenced God worked hard received a good education love ourselves
and family respect ourselves and and our elders treat people the way we wanted to be treated to love life and to give it to the fullest these things and many more helped shape my character and made me the person that I am today as I receive this Proclamation for which I am truly grateful I must say that today is really not about me or my life's journey but rather about each of you our
leaders and Future Leaders a humbly accept this award thanks so very much for this recognition I am honored and truly blessed by God thank you from the bottom of my heart and if Mrs Sal's family wants to join her for the photo certainly you're more than welcome to
city manager sir can I say something about both of these two ladies really quick while they're taking the photo Miss Owens Dr Owens was my course teacher at Dennison um I think that was about 96 997 and Miss salary was my guidance counselor at Lake Region High
School uh from from 01 to 04 so the Local Heroes celebration is definitely a testament to how these Local Heroes have impacted this local community even me as I approach age 40 that kind of shows that hey these people are pioneers of our community and have been doing this great work for a very very long time so please continue to support the Local Heroes in
our MLK celebration and thank you all City commissioners for all you do in supporting that and we hope that you continue to support us at the committee um because these two ladies has definitely impacted my life very singularly and they've impacted hundreds of other lives throughout this community so thank you both one perfect thank you
we have no developments of note uh Commissioners you have the January the 22nd and the January 27th minutes Mr Mayor yes motion approve the minutes from January 22nd City commission agenda review and January 27th regular City commission meeting 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 reopen the city commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor of the motion let it be known by saying I I posos this by the same sign hearing none am minuts are adopted we have no comments from the audience so we have uh second reading 0253 which read by tile on City
attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 25-3 an ordinance amending ordinance 23-24 the 2035 Winter Haven comprehensive plan by amending the scheduled Capital Improvements portion of the Capital Improvements element of the city winter Heaven comprehensive plan revising Capital Improvements element policies 1.1.7 and 1.1.8 repealing all ordinances in Conflict here with providing for the administrative correction of sceners errors and providing an effective date thank you thank you city manager
americ Commissioners this uh item pertains to the adoption of our fiveyear schedule of Capital Improvements into the comprehensive plan it includes fiscal years 2425 through 2829 and is derived from the city's 2024 2025 operating budget uh only those projects with a minimum cost of $25,000 or greater and a minimum service life of five years are included total Capital spending for the proposed 5year schedule is approximately $482
million the policy 1.1.7 and 1.1.8 formally adopt by reference as well the current fdot 5year work program the P County five-year Transportation work program and the five-year work program adopted by the P County School Board um This Was Heard by the Planning Commission January 7th of this year and they unanimously voted to recommend approval staff recommends the city commission approve ordinance 02503 on second and final reading thank you thank
you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion to approve ordinance 02503 on second reading in public hearing thank you I will close the uh commission meeting and open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to O 2503 may do so at this time seeing none closed the public hearing reopen the C the commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor of the motion let it be known by saying I I I poses by the
same sign hearing done 023 I mean 02503 is adopted 0256 would you read by toner City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 25-06 an ordinance amending various provisions of article Roman numeral 3 chapter 19 sections 1968 through 1981 of the code of ordinances of the city of winen Florida regarding the city's Wastewater system specifically the industrial pre-treatment program also referred to as the
industrial pre-treatment ordinance by incorporating changes mandated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Andor the Environmental Protection Agency through revision of the city's Wastewater industrial pre-treatment regulations providing for codification the administrative correction of scrier errors severability and a repeal of conflicting ordinances and resolutions and providing for an effective date thank you thank you city manager mayor and Commissioners the city is proposing revisions to its Wastewater industrial pre-treatment ordinance in chapter 19 of the city's code these revisions stem from
D's March 2 7th 2024 audit of the pre-treatment fat oil and grease or fog division the proposed ordinance addresses D's recommendations for Regulatory Compliance clarifies language and corrects minor typographical errors we did receive D's preliminary approval of this ordinance on January 3rd 2025 staff recommends the city commission approve ordinance number 0256 on second and final reading and authorized city manager and or design to take all further necessary actions related there too
thank you thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion to approve ordinance 0 2506 on second reading thank you I will close the commission meeting and open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to 0256 can 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 I post by the same sign hearing none 0256 is adopted 0257 would read by to Lo the City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 25-7 and ordinance amending ordinance number 0- 23-54 appropriation of funds for defraying the expenses of the municipal government of the city winter heaven for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2023 providing for severability and providing an effective date thank you thank you city manager mayor
Commissioners per Florida St statutes 16624 the commission may amend its budget by ordinance to appropriate and expend funds that were not anticipated in the approved budget in July of fiscal year 2023 the city implemented incumbrance of purchase orders due to incumbrance roll forwards from the previous fiscal year being 2023 adjustments to fiscal year 2024 budget are required the general fund and the airport fund reflect a budget increase of 25,42
thou dollar and $238,400 respectively these are offset by encumbrances in the same amount for the respective funds staff recommends C commission approve ordinance 0257 on second and final approval uh approving a budget amendment for the encumbered purchase order roll forwards thank you thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion to approve ordinance uh
025 57 on second reading in public hearing thank you I will now close the commission meeting and open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to ordinance 0257 may do so at this time seeing none Clos 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 oppos this by the same sign ordinance
0257 is adoped it Commissioners you have the consent agenda Mr Mayor yes motion to approve the consent agenda in its entirety as presented 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 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 i oppos this by the same sign hearing none the consent agenda is adopted in its entirety all right we have uh no resolutions we have a couple of first readings uh the second reading will be on February 24th we will not be voting on these uh ordinances tonight ordinance first reading 0251 would you read by Tyler on
City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 25-01 an ordinance amending ordinance 23-25 the 2035 Winter Haven comprehensive plan 2035 future land use map series by revising the future land use map series by assigning neighborhood support future land use to one Annex parcel repealing all ordinances in Conflict here with providing for the administrative correction of sc's Errors providing for severability and providing an effective date the a general location is a parcel generally Lo generally located south of dundy Road
approximately 1,748 ft east of Overlook Drive Southeast and approximately 108 ft North of Highway 550 the area covered by this request is 0.11 plus or minus Acres thank you thank you city manager mayor Commissioners Regional Real Estate Management LLC requests the city assign neighborhood support future land use and Commercial Highway C3 zoning District to an annexed parcel the parcel was annexed into the City May 22nd 2023
the petition intends to develop this property with a small business office for his lawn care business property is located along the dun along the dunde road mixed use Corridor which consists of a mixture of industrial commercial and residential the property is surrounded by a vacant property Zone C3 to the west across an unimproved RightWay a vacant parcel owned by P County to the north across another unimproved right of way in one single family home located to the east and south supporting water sewer
and transportation infrastructure contain sufficient capacity to support the request however final concurrency determination shall be made at the time the property received site plan approval and is developed the requested C3 zoning district is consistent with the neighborhood support future land use designation the Planning Commission on January 7th 2025 voted to recommend approval there was one member of the public who spoke regarding Improvement to the adjacent right of way which
we had discussed during our commit agenda review this past Wednesday staff's conclusions are that the assignment of neighborhood support future land use and the C3 zoning district is consistent with the property's location along an Arterial Highway Corridor and with developed uses and City designations in the area there is sufficient public infrastructure capacity to accommodate the maximum theoretical development under the C3 zoning staff recommends the city commission Advance ordinance 02501 to Second reading to be held
on February 24th thank you thank you Commissioners the second reading as I previously stated would be on February 24th however if there's anyone or any questions about this audience you can do so at this time all right ordinance 0 2502 would you read by title only the uh City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0252 an ordinance amending chapter 21 of the code of ordinances of the city
of wi Florida by assigning commercial D Highway C3 zoning District to an Annex parcel repealing all ordinances in Conflict here with providing for the administrative correction of sceners Errors providing for severability and providing an effective date General location of parcel gener located south of dundy Road approximately 1,748 feet east of Overlook Drive Southeast and approximately 108 feet North of Highway 550 the area covered by this request is 0.11 plus or minus Acres thank you thank you city manager mayor
and Commissioners ordinance 025 2 is a companion ordinance to 02501 this one deals with the commercial Highway C3 zoning District again staff recommends the city commission Advance this to Second reading to be held on February 24th thank you thank you the second reading will be on February 24th ordinance 0 2508 would you read by title owner City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0-25 d08 an ordinance extending the corporate limits of the City win from Florida so as
to include therein additional territory lying contiguous and adjacent to the present boundaries of the City of Winter Haven Florida describing set additional territory repealing all ordinances and conflict here with providing for the administrative correction of scor's errors and providing an effective date General location 807 snively Avenue the area covered by this request is 32.3 n plus or minus Acres thank you thank you city manager mayor and Commissioners Arc Industries Inc request City commission Annex one parcel toting totaling
32.3 n plus or minus Aces the purpose for this annexation is to obtain City Utilities for future development the petitioner also owns the adjacent parcel which is located in the city limits and this request will bring both Parcels under the same jurisdiction for future development current taxable value of the subject property is approximately $55,850 a business impact estimate is not required for this ordinance staff recommends City commission Advance ordinance 025-32625-000 to be held on
February 24th thank you thank you second reading as was stated will be on February 24th I if there's anyone that would like to speak or address this ordinance you can do so at this time all right moving right along ordinance 02509 would you read by title only uh City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0-25 D9 in ordinance amending ordinance number 0- 24-44 appropriation of funds for fraying
the expenses of the municipal government of the city Winter Haven for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 providing for severability and providing an effective date thank you thank you city manager mayor and Commissioners the city has been awarded $200,000 from the trail go Grant through the office of Greenways and trails this grant funding is currently unbudgeted the commission authorized a budget amendment on January 27th 20125 2025 adding the $200,000 in Grant Revenue to the general Fund in
the offsetting of general fund expenditures in accordance with Florida Statutes 16624 um the governing body of municipality can amend the current fiscal year budget staff recommends the commission approve ordinance 02509 which will appr which will approve a budget amendment of $200,000 to increase general fund Grant revenue and to increase general fund expenditures within the parks and grounds cost
center we're recommending this be Advanced for second reading on February 24th thank you all right thank you is there anyone would like to speak to this second reading will be on February 24th all right ordinance 025 -10 would you read by tyone City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0-25 d10 an ordinance adopting and designa an updated official seal for the city wih in Florida providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances
providing for severability providing for the administrative correction of scrier errors and providing an effective date thank you thank you city manager mayor and Commissioners at its first meeting on June 22nd 1911 the Town Council of Winter Haven adopted a corporate seal the adoption appears to be an original action of the Town Council section 165.024 of Florida Statutes dictates the process for making any changes to a municipal steel state that the governing body
of a county or municipality May by ordinance designate an official County or Municipal seal city clerk's office proposes that the city commission designate an updated official Shield seal as shown in exhibit a which is displayed on your screens the updated seal mirrors the original very closely with the addition of the Incorporated year uh which is shown there at the bottom staff recommends the city commission Advance ordinance number 0-25 -10
to Second reading to be held on February 24th thank you thank you all right the second reading will be on February 24th however if there's anyone would like to speak to this audence she can do so at this time I have a question yes commissioner Mercy is there significance to the five circles is that five Commissioners or what is the five significant circles if we look back to what was actually in and and Vanessa and her team did the the research on
that that that first meeting um it stated that it was to be a to have the the W the statement of Winter Haven Florida in the margin of an orange tree in a in the center field um it doesn't say anything about the number of oranges or anything like that so I don't know that there's any true significance to the count was curious I like your thought though there's never been any other change to
it except it's not been changed at all since 1911 you can make the motion that we adopt that commission prob getan vote any other questions all right we have one item of uh new business the cdbg
2025 2026 funding support and public comment city manager thank you Mr Mayor the US Department of Housing and Urban Development administers and distributes the Community Development block grant funding program Nationwide locally PK County administers the city of winter Haven's funds and program the anticipated fiscal year 2526 cdb allocation for Winter Haven is $279,200 modernization
design pild uh design build project was previously identified as a priority for modernization and enhancement staff is presently finalizing the request for qualifications for design build services for this initial phase funding for this project is included in the fiscal year 25 Florence Villa CRA budget Additionally the city assigned the fiscal year 2425 cdbg funds to this effort staff has Rec recommending that the
fiscal year 2526 cdgb funds also be assigned to the project to further supplement the Florence Ville of CRA funds and the prior cdgb cdbg allocation a requirement of the proposed cdbg application is a city commission endorsement as well as an opportunity for public comment regarding the utilization of these cdbg funds towards the project staff recommends the city commission open this agenda item for
public comment and endorse utilizing the fiscal year 2526 Community Development block grant allocation towards the neighborhood service center modernization design build project thank you thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion to approve the cdbg 2025 2026 funding support thank you and at this time
I will uh close the commission meeting and open the uh public hearing anyone from the public that would like to speak to this particular item may do so by coming forward state your name and address for the record seeing none I'll 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 poses by the same side thank you Mr Mayor all right all right are we to the commission lerson reports already we've been here a long time it's too early it can't end soon enough commissioner Mercer would you lead us off okay um I attended uh Chief emy's retirement and we welcomed in a
new fire chief and um uh at his swearingin ceremony um I also attended the public hearing scheduled for State Road 444 lucern Park Road uh attended the neighborhood service center second annual all red Gayla and I also attended uh the one Water Commission and that's all I have because I left my phone in the car and I don't have the rest of meetings on all right commissioner dancer not a
lot to report on I to attended Chief emy's retirement and stuck my head in the human trafficking Symposium and sat in the back I didn't sign up for it but sat back in the back and some good things were coming from there and uh also went to the Smoke off the water um and I also want to make a quick comment you know we have a very good-look commission up here for those of you that don't know it and some of us look better than others and I was trying to figure out what commissioner Yates had done to look so good tonight and he lost some
weight so his his suits fitting maybe a little better maybe he's growing hair I don't know what it is but something that's really made him good looking tonight and then all a sudden I realize it's that tie he is wearing that tie and it made him smell good and made him look good and made him look thinner so Brian you know Bravo for for standing up to your end of the BET and it just looks good on you and I just hope you you're welcome to keep the tie if you'd like to wear it whatever you want but it does make you
look a lot lot better so thank you well unlike Mr May unlike other politicians I'm a man of my word none up here none up here just others commissioner doson good evening Mr Mayor um I had the opportunity to uh share in the retirement and uh also for the swearing in of our new Chief and uh
really excited I believe that Chief new brand is going to do an outstanding job uh just enjoy his energy and uh just his uh uh demeanor in terms of uh I think his interactions with uh citizens and also with the staff will be just phenomenal also was able to attend the uh Black Market Festival oh um that was uh quite an event um amazing the weather was uh was iffy but it was just
perfect really in the sense that there was Heavy overcast uh and the uh two young ladies we actually did get proclamation to here uh spent a little time talking with them about you know their their vision for this uh event and uh we have a similar event but we've been doing it for 30 years celebrating her uh Heritage day and uh so I wanted to even partner with them to uh look at how we can even expand and do some things even uh cooperatively I also was able to to
uh share in the uh neighborhood service center uh Gala and uh this was the second uh Galla that they've had and uh commissioner Mercer was there and we uh it was a lot of people there I think about 400 so many that they ran out of food so uh that was not a good thing but uh but it was a great time and uh just a wonderful uh celebration uh just one wonderful to see the ne neighborhood
service center really back up and flourishing at this time I think also what was uh mentioned about the well what we proposing for the cdbg to uh for the improvements will certainly be greatly uh uh appreciated and and needed there uh also able to uh attend the public hearing for uh State Road 544 uh that was quite uh quite an interesting uh just study just to
understand uh just what they're going to do proposing and a lot of questions from the audience citizens and a lot of were very good questions and they didn't have an answer for them either so and uh uh but they're going to take those in consideration therefore uh they will be uh considered as they move forward this is a very very costly situation um and uh we don't know whether or not the funding will be a available or not
it perhaps will be uh I think there are concerns about whether or not it will help uh with some of the traffic challenges that we are experiencing now uh if you spend that kind of money I hope it does something uh that would be a total waste otherwise uh tonight we honored two very special uh shirros as I would call them uh Dr Owens uh and also Patricia salary I've had the honor priv
of knowing both of these ladies for many years I've worked with them sat on committees with them uh planned many activities and events throughout our community and they are both just Stellar uh citizens in Winter Haven and uh so it was a great opportunity just to acknowledge their their great work and body of work so that's all I have tonight Mr Mayor all right thank you mayor Pro tamam Yates well I also say that I haven't lost enough weight because
I tried to button my coat in the pictures and cover up the tie but it was way too snug so got to still work on that um few things I wanted to talk about this evening um one was attending the ribbon cutting earlier today for the new agricultural building out at Lake Region High School um great loal project there got them a a dedicated a space right next to their Garden area and their uh goat house
and they've got some plans to to have some cattle out there as well so um that that's a pretty awesome program they've got uh getting put together out there at Lake Region so kudos to them was great facility and great to be out there this morning uh my primary thing I wanted to talk about this evening was I did attend the fast Flyin uh last week with the Florida Le of cities uh trip up to DC and I've said this before before but I
mean these things they are just so fast you you get up there and you're turn around you're flying home before before you know it but they are packed full of of meetings and conversations with our elected officials and leaders up there and had the opportunity uh to sit down and meet with um Congressman Franklin's staff primarily but he did uh come in while we were there so I had a chance to talk with him a bit on the
side also spoke with Congressman uh Soto's office and Webster's office and U Buchanan's office and and several others uh up there and all very positive meetings primarily it it was a continuation of of what we've asked for in the past and and reinforcing number one with uh fhi the flood maps and getting those drawn up and making sure that Florida
isn't a donor state Florida pays out more premiums U but has the fewest amount of claims obviously we we buck that Trend last year with the storms but on average uh Florida is a donor State when it comes to flood insurance and so that's something that we need to get an even playing field throughout the country on um and that's something that we uh really lobbied for up there as well uh the other item was posos and again just continue continuing to ask
for that liability protection for municipalities U but the number one item that that Rose to the top this trip was the tax-free Municipal bond issue and apparently there was a a list of items that uh was leaked from the house chamber offices and uh taxfree municipal bonds was on the second page of that list as possibly something was going to be cut um from our
tool boox essentially for for municipalities and so I was able to highlight with all of our meetings what we've been able to utilize tax-free municipal bonds for which is the recreation centers three new fire stations um the future need uh for taxfree bonds when it comes to the wastewater treatment plant uh the infrastructure projects the purchase of land for the sapphire necklace and so we had a lot of projects that we were BAS
able to put front and center in all of these meetings where we use tax-free municipal bonds and all of the meetings that we had none of the Congressional leaders said gave any indication as that would be on their chopping block but it's something that we still need to be cognizant of because as we all know there may be packages that are presented with X Y and Z items and the taxfree imun issue comes up um a as a
way to pass the other items so something that we need to continue to be aware of um but on the Senate side Senator Scott he he didn't know anything about it so it was really more on the Congressional side up for discussions but it seemed like everyone that we met with um was supportive of taxfree municipal bonds and the other part I made um a point to mention was if you take that status away and you make it more expensive for cities to borrow funds and pay for
their own projects that just means more cities are going to go up to Washington DC or Tallahassee looking for Grants and looking for additional funding sources there which um you know I think the city of Warner Haven we're we're growing we're we're moving along and we're paying for that growth uh responsibly so something that probably just needs to be on everybody's radar um but that's what um Rose to the top the other item I wanted to mention
was Congressman Franklin is putting on a zoom call on February 20th at 2 o'clock um I'll be getting that invitation which I will then forward to the city manager we need to be sure that um the person that fills out our grant applications and potentially a few others are on that call um because they're going to help you know really provide some guidance um to uh applying for Grants at the federal level so may pet is that specific
to the uh Congressional Community uh grant program yes I believe that's spec part of it yes thank you yeah that's all I have this evening okay all right I have a few things um attended a uh black history um what was called a um religious singing bowl featuring The pum cookman choir
from Daytona Beach at Zion Hill Miss Missionary Baptist Church on Saturday uh and actually gave a welcome to the to the community um attended the Lake Region uh ribbon cutting for the a building along with uh M proam Yates uh Chief uh new new Brand's uh oath of office swearing in
which was really good and state R 544 there some things that um that we actually uh with the staff uh question and would like to be improved upon and uh so there's no need for me to voice those here but uh we did do it and Sean was
there and um basically just some things that we think would make it better um attendant the neighborhood service center uh second annual red Gaya um tenant the retirement for chief uh emry and attendant my Lakes advisory committee meeting which I really
really do love and um and finally I I gave a a welcome uh at the uh human trafficking syposium that was held at uh nor Hall and um it was quite well attended and um so that was good and a
follow up to that I one of the groups that was there was tobac of free Florida so I was cor today to meet with them about uh what we were doing and what could we do to promote and legislate
uh a tobacco free city as it relates to our we well we already have it in our municipal buildings but we don't have it in the parks in fact uh commissioner y I think you brought it up about uh the marijuana and that sort of thing in the Parks but that's right along the lines of tobacco as well now the county has
a policy the state has a policy so can we are actually hope within if not the next meeting on February 24th the first meeting in March that we will have uh an ordinance for consideration by the city commission Julie Adams our director of parks recreation and culture along with her staff Mr Murphy with the city attorney's office have been working on that um benchmarking against some similar ordinances to include P counties so that we
have that to prohibit the use of it's basically a clean air type ordinance for our public spaces so we look forward to bringing that back to the commission for consideration and further discussion okay thank you yes sir all right that's all I have uh City attorney no I'm just working on that clean air ordinance thank you that's all I have to know thank you thank you Mr Mayor and Commissioners uh couple things things if I could uh
you mentioned city um the legislative items and uh certainly I had a chance to visit with mayor PRM upon his return and I think while he was in DC as well on some of those items that we are we are watching closely we are putting the finishing touches on our legislative platform which I've shared with the commission we will be submitting by the end of this week our appropriation requests for the Florida legislature those are due I believe on Friday
and we are submitting through uh representative Albert's office and Senator Burton's office we have spoken in person with uh with Senator Burton we had an opportunity to discuss with her last week and our primary appropriation request is tied back to willbrook road so that also speaks to your public hearing on State Road 544 because that has potential to be a uh significant relief valve for the traffic that that we're experiencing there and that is to
primarily get that project to a 60% design phase in a 5050 match with the city if we're at 60% that is the equivalent to having a project that is shovel ready so when there are Grant dollars that come available and they're looking to advance things quickly a lot of times the the federal government the state government are looking for shovel ready projects and that will be uh well positioned for that to go forward um so we
will submit those this week and uh certainly that will be in our talking points when we travel to Tallahassee in March for p County day the other thing I want to share with you this evening and I'm gonna ask Katrina if she can pull up a video wanted to share with you this is what is happening at chaina Lakes Park right now I don't know if you've had a chance to be down in that area but you can see that all of our fields are turfed in you can see a lot
of the concrete work is the sidewalks anyway are being constructed some of the sidewalks will be done with crushed concrete just so we can have the sa the space safed up as we welcome Russ Matt towards the end of this month um had a chance to go down today and they are building some of the L screens and the the turtle cages for these fields these are absolutely gorgeous and that uh field the one that is closest to
the lake there is just one of the most picturesque areas you could ever ask for you can see a little bit of how that Lakefront was cleared out rustat as I mentioned will come in at the end of this month there is a small tournament that happens before them uh in a weekend or two coming up we will do a ribbon cutting here and we're working with Parks and Recreation in the county to arrange for that so we can properly commission these fields for use there is a
lot of work that will take place once this project is rounded out um if you happen to go down there during Russ matat you'll see a lot of areas that will be mulched over uh those mulched areas will ultimately be concreted in we just don't have the time to do that prior to that tournament starting but we do want to work to get the dust levels down haven't had a whole lot of rain so it's it's pretty pretty dirty down there right now but I'm going to tell
you I've been to countless athletic facilities around the country and I would put this up against any one of them it is absolutely gorgeous and you can see just how it fills that whole site Katrina if you can advance to one of the Stills before you do that I want to ask ask a question the Y go ahead go to the still if you would that may be easier to see it from okay yeah no I want to see the big picture when you when you look at
the uh uh the areas behind the fields that goes all the way around to the lake what is that what's going to be that surface so that is uh that is the trail surface uh the trail Corridor and Julie can you come to the podium please and talk a little bit about that trail Corridor that will be paved that is as yes oh okay asphalt or concrete I'd have to confirm either one yes just I was just wondering and you can see the um Katrina if you can navigate your mouse just to the retention pond in the upper
corner there so that is what used to be the lower fields and that is about a 15 foot uh elevation change between the bottom of that pond and the top of the berm or the Dyke that goes around it there was always a dyke there that separated the lake from those lower Fields but because the lowness of that area that is used for all the retention on the site um some of those areas it's it's being SED in and landscaped but these are areas will be finished out
once we get through the tournament you also have a number of build or one main building that will go uh kind of in the center of where the fields are that is not going to be constructed until after we get through rust mat so while that tournament's going on they'll use temporary restrooms uh they've got some uh hookups for a variety of food trucks to come in and and serve the The Spectators that are there you can see the parking that is in the on the leth hand side of the screen this was taken
these are as of last weekend so this is like two days ago and you can see we're already using that parking area it is not finished out but we're able to park in there which gave us grass um some of it's paved some of it's grass it's a mix and so that gave us a little bit of relief for an event that was happening at the at the Fieldhouse this past weekend um but certainly there's more parking to come in with this but just a something I hope you know I know that the commission is proud of and I'm sure
our citizens will be as well this is going to be a tremendous economic driver once it's up and and operating the other thing I want to point out if you look at the swimming pool you can see about half of that pool the liner is down in the in it already so it's a a Scott is a vinyl liner so um I had a chance to to tour the site couple hours ago that entire pool is now the liner is complete they're putting in the racing lines that
go across the bottom and the wall targets uh all the the deck is being paved and just an absolutely gorgeous site so when these will both kind of round down about the same time the pool is to be up and operational right before spring break so we've got about a month to finish it out about that same time we'll be into the first round or two of of rust matat um come Midsummer this entire site should be wrapped up and
and just rocking and rolling so very excited I just want to share this with you you have to look at it from this picture and kind of hold on to that I can tell you tomorrow it will look different it is moving that fast uh T where is the seating I don't the seating at the um so it's kind of hard to see from these pictures Julie if you want to navigate to where they are they're and all the seating has uh awnings over
it like um Shade Sails okay you can't really see yeah you can see yeah okay all right but there is seating there some of these fields particularly like field three and field four that's the one closest to the lake and the one closest to the reention pond those fields sit gosh I'm going to say probably two to three feet below the elevation of The Spectator area so you're kind of elevated and there's a there's a retaining wall the field kind of sits down beneath you so it
gives a really unique perspective if you remember chain Lakes Park is it was the infamous padded wall on the outside I thought we'd forever be done with those pads well the inside of all these fields have that same padding that blue vinal coated padding around the inside retaining walls to protect the players so just a phenomenal site um it's like I said it's hard to get down into it and and see it firsthand but this gives you uh some idea what's happening there and I don't
have photos to show uh of Winter Haven Recreation and Cultural Center just yet but we'll make sure we have those for next Wednesday's um agenda review if you've happened to have driven Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard the walls are going up and it's you we just broke ground on that or did our ceremony on Jan January 3rd I believe it was and here we are about a month later and probably I don't know 40 to 50% of the exterior
interior walls of that building are in place standing up and it is amazing this morning at 8:00 there were about five extra- large semis with all these um metal I guess post and everything I mean tilt wall supports yeah ton of them in in the center lanes turn Lanes so traffic you could go through but you weren't making too many turns into the schools and that mayor I got a question can you get that picture back
up there Julie on the or um Katrina what on the top right there's a there's kind of a white square what is that exactly that's what I was wondering so that area that is um so that whole area over there is part of the multi-purpose field area it's like large green space that we could do events on you could set it up for uh you know whether it's um dog competitions or makeshift soccer or you anything that you would need a a turfed area for
it can also serve as overflow parking the reason you see that area stand out immediately uh to the side of that closer to the to the Fieldhouse that is a lot of the dirt that's been excavated and a lot of the vegetation that's come out of the lake that's still being hauled off so that's why it's so pronounced right there and uh commissioner Daner if you look at the at the shoreline Katrina is there one more photo I was going to compliment you on
The Cattails being removed yeah well that's give that to Julie and and to the folks in natural resources our staff has done a a great job working with the contractor but you can see how much of that Shoreline has been cleared out um it just really has opened it up the the the cypress trees are very pronounced down there now um just really a a goodlook site the other thing I'll point out is you can see where Cletus Allen comes in uh off of um Landings
Boulevard there that roadway will sweep through there and connect with the parking lot that is just to right there y so as you come into the site there'll be a connection Road through all of that couple other things Julie one thing on that little overflow area that we were talking about as somebody that went to a ton of Little League baseball tournaments with my son having a area where you can set up a tent and the and the players can gather between games just having a place to kind of get
away from it that's grass or that would that people would be willing to pay for 20 bucks a day or something to leave their tent where the kids could go back in there and eat their hot dogs or whatever so like a VIP area something um but that's great that you got that I think you'll you'll use that quite a bit and Mr Mr dson real quick just to point out we also have some team Pavilions that are scattered around these fields that are also designed for that that you know you come off the field with your game you need to get your team together kind
of away and it's covered shaded they can you know have lunch whatever so we we factored that in Katrina could you go back one more and we'll look at the pool I a question on the pool so um what about the pools coming along I've been watching it and what about shade structures around the pool because you wouldn't think you need shade when people are swimming but the so the the existing shade structure that was removed for construction covers the concession area out in front yeah and uh kind
of a neat twist to that as well is with this project previously there was a slope in front of the concession area that came down and because of drainage and the way it was constructed now we've leveled that out and it's a much smoother transition for everything around that area underneath that shade structure that will go back up once the construction is completed we're looking into now how we can provide some additional shade opportunities around the pool that would are not a part of this project but we will see that
existing shade structure be put back in place after construction completes you'll never have too much shade out there I can promise you I understand and that grass area around it is that going to be areas where people can set up tents and you know families can have a little sure that's what that's going to be used for sure mainly okay when you have um swim tournaments swim meets that are there and all the teams come in that's exactly what they use that for bring in all their team tents in that concession area I would say it's probably maybe two-thirds the
size of this room when that shade structures up because it comes all the way off it's anchored back to the main building and covers that that kind of tea offed area that'll have you know tables and and seating maybe in future budgets you might can come up with some money to put some some of those shade sales around that grass area that not terribly expensive but that would be so appreciated I promise you so but I love it I've been following it watching it and I'm so impressed with what you've done with the lake golly I
never thought we were G to make are there going to be any fencing so the the the baseball facility proper is fenced in you can you'll still have access to all the walking trail around it but we are controlling access onto the fields um that is something that we have learned through the experiences of our peers that if you don't secure those fields than
the likelihood of people accessing them without proper Footwear because these are these are astur fields and one I just talked with the folks from the county today and I know that Julie and Scott have had a lot of conversation on this as well when Russ mats here before those players take the field one of the things that the officials are doing is checking their Fe their Footwear because you cannot take you know a a natural grass cleat onto this surface without causing damage right just wondering
I I you can't see fencing yeah I know this is very very very rough yeah do you have any idea what what would is the distance around that trail I do know that I don't have it off the top of my head but I can get back to you with that information so I know coming over the the overpass there on 17 I mean it looks incredible now but the only thing that comes to mind is when you come over that overpass 8:00 at night one night and this is all
done and they're out there playing ball that's field of dream stuff I mean that's literally what what comes to mind is you you're just going to see that glow you're going to see the ball players out there hugely impactful very excited to see that and mayor PM it should be a very minor glow there are minimal there are minimal lights on these facilities um I think there are four lights per Pole if I'm not mistaken and I think there's
six poles per field it is all low profile uh it's uh an LED light system that is designed to not have spill so it should just be a a little hum is all you see out there you be able to see great is it gonna be possible to like on the on the on that green open space in the upper right hand corner Corner what that'll be can we put
more lights potentially there to light that area at some point yeah I don't know what's included in our plans for the the initial construction to go in there certainly there's lighting along the the roadway coming in um if we were to activate that space we would likely do it with the uh the temporary lighting that we use for events putting in permanent lighting you got to figure out what your configuration would be based upon what the the demand of use of the space
is so that you can adjust it accordingly I just know the county is focused on redoing all of the fields out at simmers young and that's going to displace a lot of Youth Athletics once that really starts unrolling I'm I'm sure they'll those U uh groups will be reaching out to us for help and that might be a great spot to facilitate some practices or even games the other concern was though it does appear on the field Fieldhouse that we're starting to get some fading
on that paint yes so um staff had requested to paint that building last year um being somewhat Frugal and fiscally responsible I put that off for a year um it is on the darker colors that we see that fade so I expect that that will be part of our budget this year primarily looking at the the blues and the teals that are on there uh particular on that South Wall coming in yeah the total acreage of this property this project
is now what what is is it taking 65 to 70 Acres but it is a it's an absolute Gem of a site it's come together in I'd say really four phases between the Fieldhouse and then the improvements we did to the old building is a second phase these ball fields is a third and then the renovation of the pool is
a fourth um I'm following some projects in other cities around the country that are making large Investments to develop a site like this all at once and the just the amount of money it's taking to do that we're we're blessed that we had some really good bones to start with so and just from a a Perpetual care and maintenance perspective we've been doing our homework diligently along the way um even back as as ear as me joining the team this was
a discussion and we began working with our colleagues across the state and across the country frankly about challenges to overcome about equipment needed about everything that we need to do to make sure that we're the best stewards and and caretakers of of this new amenity to make sure that it lasts as it's supposed to and intended to for years to come how much Staffing do you anticipate it'll take to run this we currently have added additional Staffing that are in the budget um for what we have earmarked and done our
research on and so we're going to run with what we have now which is an additional staff um of part-time staff to be able to help win those tournaments influx Etc uh we added an additional four part- timr to the crew that we have currently we've been again researching to find out what we're going to need in in the future but with what we have this year we're going to be able to earmark and see what that looks like for our request for for future years because is a Turf uh surface
we anticipate that it will be uh less with what we traditionally have known as maintenance but we also know that there will be some curveballs come at us and we're prepared to handle those as we need to moving into future requests so there will be a designated person full-time person that will manage this this whole complex so yes okay that person has already been we have that on team already that's with with um Mike Shimmel as our assistant superintendent parks and grounds and we have
crew leaders that take care of our Athletic Field locations and they're working to identify what that schedule's going to look like now with this onset of the new facility and commissioner doson just to follow up on that so when this was a grass facility with really six Fields you you're mowing you're fertilizing you're doing all that maintenance we don't have that responsibility in the same way now um you know when these fields turn over from one game to the next we're not out raking clay and
watering down spaces that we were when we added on the Ruben Williams Sports Complex so one of the things we were able to do is we've added some facilities we're able to flex those staff into some of those other areas so you know we were able to kind of reduce the Manpower demand for this site which allowed us to accommodate the Manpower demand for that site you know what I I would be remiss if I didn't remind this commission and
anybody else look at how beautiful this is and it's by Providence that this is not a Target and a bunch of out parcels and thankfully the real estate market crashed in 2008 2009 thankfully I'm you know I'm saying that tongue and cheek of course but this is the place where Target wanted to be and uh now Target's probably going to go across the street hopefully but when I look at this I am so thankful that this this is what we have here instead of Target and
some out parcels and maybe some housing I said it a million times I said it I'll say it was it was it's Prime Property everybody kept saying well such Prime Property look at all that Lakefront it was Prime Property 60 years ago and it's Prime Property now why can't we let the public own it well the public owns this and this is a jewel and we're proud of it and we've done the right thing and I'm really proud of it in Providence is the real estate market went down otherwise who knows what this would have actually turned turned out to be but goly I'm so glad we have
this so you know Kudos everybody that caught this vision and made it happen and finally it's here so good job got the best of both worlds you got a Chick-fil-A and you got to keep oh the people love the three restaurants the targets still G to come in they're just gonna go across the street hopefully so you know anything else did manage it just uh watch your calendars and AJ will reach out to you once we have some uh timing for that that ribbon cutting uh I have a feeling it may be at the very end of this
month um and we'll make sure that you're all lined up for that that's it that's it thank you sir thank you the deputy city manager is out uh city clerk I just want to wish commissioner Dan sler an early happy birthday his birthday is a Thursday when is it 13th oh all right it's a couple days Vanessa brought me some ice cream if any might wants any so thank you for that you're welcome deput clerk emergency m
is not received for this agenda motion to adjin Val so