Commissioner Davis >> here. >> Commissioner >> here. >> Commissioner Bird >> here. >> Mayor Prom Mercer >> here. >> And Mary Yates >> here. >> All right. This evening we'll have invocation led by Elder John Hullman of St. Paul Worship Center followed by the pledge of allegiance led by city clerk
Vanessa Castillo. Please stand if able. Will you bow your heads with me? Eternal God, first of all, we thank you for being so wonderful to us in the great city of Winter Haven that you allowed us to come together. God, we thank you for this opportunity to come before that throne of grace. God would that you
bless every city worker, city employee. Oh, God, bless every commissioner. God bless our mayor and all of those that hold position in this wonderful city on tonight's meeting God every decision that is made. I pray God that they would
think of those that are less fortunate God that the decisions will benefit all mankind. We need you in these trying times, these difficult times. God, I speak peace in this city. I speak togetherness and I speak love and harmony. God, we thank you for what
you're about to do. We give you praise and honor. And God, we end this prayer the same way we began it by telling you thank you in Jesus name I pray. Amen. >> To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it
stands one nation indivisibley and justice for all. [snorts] Mayor and commissioners, good evening. We have before you this evening um two proclamations
uh to present. One uh for lakes appreciation month, one for parks and recreation month. Mr. Carnival, our deputy manager, will present the lakes appreciation month. I believe Francis Hal Coleman and other members of our Lakes Advisory Committee are here to
receive that. So, if you all want to come to the podium to do so and MJ, take it away. Thank you, city manager. Good evening, mayor and city commissioners. And I think as I mentioned during the resolution on Wednesday evening, I think it's worth noting this is the 40th year that the Lakes Advisory Committee has
existed. So, that's pretty exciting. Uh whereas Winter Haven, Florida is part of a global community that desires to take action to create positive change, 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 Win Haven's lakes and recognize the need to protect
them for future generations. Now therefore, William Brian Yates, mayor of the city of Winter Haven, Florida, does hereby recognize July 2026 as Lakes Appreciation Month in the city of Winter Haven, and urge all citizens to visit a lake and consider what they can do to contribute to a healthy and sustainable future. In witness whereof, he is here
in Tuc said [clears throat] his hand and caused the seal of the city of Winter Haven, Florida to be affixed this 13th day of July, 2026, signed William Brian Yates, mayor, attest, Vanessa Castillo, city [applause] Lakes Appreciation Month is a nationally
recognized event, but here in Winter Haven, we celebrate our most outstanding unique feature, our chain of lakes, 12 months out of the year. We are truly blessed to live here. I'm certain that
our outstanding natural feature, our lakes, is a major draw for the flocks of people who are moving into the area. Now, this is an aside. I sometime wish our lakes were maybe a well-kept secret. Uh that's getting caught in traffic on
17 and Cypress Gardens Boulevard. Our natural resources division has prepared the 2025 annual lakes report. It is an outstanding scientific work which tells us where we are now and what the trends are for all the lakes in our
jurisdiction wholly or in part. This is an abbreviated summary of it which is invaluable. The entire report is over 300 pages. I don't encourage you or recommend that you decide it's an
afternoon read. There's way too much in there. try the executive summary and then maybe five lakes at a time. The read through that I did a couple of weeks ago took me several days and it impressed me once again with how the
characteristics of each lake determine the best path to rem to mediating the human caused accelerated utrification. By studying each lake closely, our guys
stand a good chance of determining whether it's a retention pond, whether it is street sweeping or conversion from septic to municipal sewage or something like alum treatments that would do the best job of keeping our lakes aesthetically beautiful,
boating and fishing good and wildlife friendly. and just a thought as to whether all of this is economically viable and well used by the public. That question will be answered by a visit to our nature parks like the South Lake
Highwood Nature Park on a weekday as well as a weekend. They are mobbed. Personally, I can't wait to see how our new property, the Northern Winterhaven Chain of Lakes wetland restoration project, turns out. We can't have enough
green space these days. On behalf of the city's 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 attractable, attractive,
votable, fishable, walkable, greenshaded community. And with your guidance and support, it's only going to get better. Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> I would like to say just a couple words. Um, I don't know if you realize,
hopefully you do, what a staff you have with the Lakes Division here in Winter Haven. They are unique, I think, in their scientific endeavors and their efforts to keep the commission and the city of the citizens of Winter Haven
appraised of what's going on. And I want to thank the city commission for their continued support of lakes education and for the uh project eagle and all of the other projects that we have supporting our lakes. Thank you so much, [applause]
>> Francis. If you and the group [clears throat] All right. 300 pages. >> I know one person that used to correct the grammar and
that's [laughter] hard. Mayor and commissioners, your next proclamation for this evening is in recognition of Parks and Recreation Month. I'd like to invite our interim director, Scott Eers, to the podium. And I know he's got a number of members of
our outstanding parks and recreation team um to join him. Hopefully, there are no air cannons launching t-shirts at you this evening, but >> yet >> yet. So, the proclamation reads as follows. Whereas Parks and Recreation
Month has been celebrated nationally since 1985 to recognize the vital role parks and recreation services play in enhancing the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities. And whereas the city of Winter Haven's
parks, trails, lakes, facilities, and public spaces provide opportunities for recreation, education, and community connection for residents and visitors of all ages. And whereas parks and recreation promote physical and mental
well-being by encouraging active lifestyles, providing access to nature, and creating welcoming spaces where individuals and families can gather, play, and thrive. And whereas the 2026 National Recreation
and Park Association Parks and Recreation Month theme, the power of celebrates the transformative power of parks and recreation to bring people together, foster belonging, and strengthen communities. And whereas
parks and recreation contribute to Winter Haven's economic vitality, environmental stewardship, and overall quality of life. And whereas the dedicated parks and Recreation professionals, part-time staff, volunteers, instructors, and community
partners who serve Winter Haven work year round to provide safe, accessible, and highquality programs, events, and facilities that enrich the lives of our residents. Now therefore, William Brian Yates, mayor of the city of Winter
Haven, does hereby proclaim July 2026 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 13th day of July, 2026. Signed, William Brian Yates, mayor.
Attest Vanessa Castillo, city clerk. [applause] Uh, Mr. Mayor, city commissioners. Uh just want to thank you guys for the proclamation and recognizing the parks and culture team for all of the positive impacts they make on the lives of the community of the citizens that live in
it. Thank you. [applause] All right. One, two, three. Okay. This evening we have no developments of note. However, we do have three five sets of minutes for approval.
>> Mr. Mayor. >> Yes. >> Move approval of all of the amendments. >> Thank you. Any discussion or questions on the minutes as presented? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Like sign. Motion carries.
>> All right. Comments from the audience. We did have one person sign up. However, they changed their mind. However, if you would like to address the commission, now's your opportunity. Anyone from the audience wish to address the commission?
Seeing none, we'll move forward. All right, we've got no second readings this evening. However, we do have a consent agenda. >> Mr. Mayor, >> yes. >> Move approval of the consent agenda in its entirety. Okay. >> Motion's been made to approve the consent agenda. This time, we'll close
the commission meeting, open a public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to any item on the consent agenda? Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing, reopen the city commission meeting. Any further discussion or questions? All those in favor signify by saying I
>> oppose like sign. Motion carries. >> Resolution R26-9, city attorney. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, resolution R-26-9, a resolution of the city commission of the city of Winter Haven, Florida,
making findings, approving and adopting the 2025 annual lakes report, providing for severability, the administrative correction of scriveners errors, and providing for an effective date. Thank you, >> city manager. >> Mr. Mr. Mayor and Commissioners, I'm going to ask uh Deputy City Manager
Carnival to introduce this item and then I believe we have a presentation from members of the natural resources division who prepared the document. The lakes advisory committee serves in an advisory role to the city commission and the natural resources division. Each year, the LAC presents the annual lakes
report summarizing lake conditions and documenting the city's management efforts. In that evaluation, they look at water quality, hydraologic data, and biologic data. In 2025, 51% of the monitored lakes met the state of Florida's
regulatory thresholds. That represents a substantial improvement from 2018 when only 37% of those lakes met these standards. Many of the remaining impaired lakes continue to show improving water quality trends which demonstrates the long-term benefits of sustained science-based management.
Each lake each lake includes a water quality management plan identifying sight specific challenges, documenting current current management activities, and outlining future priorities. These plans serve as living documents, allowing the city to track progress, adapt to changing conditions, and refine its management approach over time. Since
2020, this report has also included an interactive online version, giving residents research, giving residents, researchers, and the public a visual, user-friendly way to explore data and lake information complementing that effort in 2025. You'll have that as well as the budget
in brief which is the document that Francis was referring to that highlights major findings lake health trends and management initiatives through photographs, maps, charts and other visualizations. Together these resources make lake management information more accessible to the public. There's no financial
impact associated with this item. Uh notable this is a specific strategy outlined in your strategic plan. So strategy 4.3.1 as publish and implement strategies within the annual lakes report and develop community education campaigns based on the information within it. Staff recommends city commission approve
resolution R2619 adopting the city of Winter Haven 2025 annual lakes report. >> So at this time we'd like to have a presentation from members of the team. So Dustin, Devon, and folks. And uh before before we hand off to them, I'd like to just make a uh take a
moment to recognize them. Um so follow up on something Tom mentioned that we just have an exceptional team here in Winter Haven. I just want to point out three thing three of the members uh of this team's achievements in the last year. So Olivia, who's not able to be with us this evening, she just graduated from uh the state of Florida's natural
resource leadership institute. So, if you guys have participated in leadership programs locally, it's similar to those, but with a very heavy effort on um facilitation, mediation, and resolving social challenges that can be presented when dealing with natural resource issues. Um, so congratulations to her
even though she's not here this evening. Uh, Savannah Win Stanley, who's a fellow alumni of that same program, is also about to graduate from the FSU certified public manager program. I think you guys are very familiar with that one as we have a cohort go through that program pretty routinely. And then Devin, who is one of the the main architects behind
the annual Lakes Report, uh just completed his master's degree with the University of Florida and his graduate work was heavily focused on progressive things we do here in Winter Haven related to developing green infrastructure projects. Uh and he's been working towards that for a while tonight. So I want to be sure we recognize that accomplishment. But these these accomplishments just add to the
exceptional uh expertise that the team here in the city of Winter Haven has. So with that, I will turn it over to Dustin. >> All right. Thanks, MJ. Good evening, mayor and city commissioners. I'm Dustin Everett, the city's natural resources manager, and I'm joined here with Devin Moore, uh, who will jump into this
presentation here in a little bit, but he is our senior environmental scientist, uh, with the city of Winter Haven. Over the next few minutes, we'd like to give you a brief overview of this year's annual lakes report, explain how we evaluate lake health, and share some of the trends we're seeing across
Winter Haven's Lakes. Before we dive into the report, I'd like to recognize our team and MJ um recognize some of the achievements of our team, but I'd like to um just point out that everything that you'll see in tonight's presentation is the work of this small dedicated group of
individuals. And throughout the year, they're out in the heat and the rain, collecting environmental data, monitoring lake conditions, managing restoration projects, overseeing storm water improvements, and connecting with our community uh through various
outreach and educational opportunities. Just to highlight some of those accomplishments that have have come in the last year, uh our team has continued its hydraologic monitoring throughout the city. We've examined the aquatic vegetation communities in all of our public lakes. We've advanced several
green storm water infrastructure projects, completed our required NPDS reporting, and worked with the lakes advisory committee to develop this year's annual lakes report. One particular accomplishment we'd like to highlight comes from our outreach
program where over the past year we've connected with over 3,600 residents throughout our school programs, festivals, kayak tours, fishing events, biob blitzes, and other educational opportunities. Protecting our lakes isn't always just about science. It's also about building
a community that understands and values our natural resources. through the local schools and summer camps we engage with. We often provide students with their first ever exposure to our lakes, providing them with different activities
like fishing, kayaking, and interactions with our ambassador animals. Um, you know, are fun and memorable. These are are fun and memorable activities for our kids. Uh, but the hope is to build a generation that understands and appreciates the importance and beauty of
our our lakes and our wildlife. One of the largest efforts that our team undertakes each year is the drafting and publishing of the annual lakes report, which is the city's flagship document for understanding lake health. Rather than focusing on a single lake or a single project, it brings together data
from across the city, summarizes current conditions, identifies trends, highlights, and highlights the management uh efforts underway to improve our lakes. to complete this report. We work extensively uh with Francis and Tom and Gigi who were up
here uh and the rest of the lakes advisory committee uh each year and their guidance has been instrumental in in shaping both the content and the presentation uh of the data within the report. So ultimately what makes a healthy lake?
Uh that's a very complicated uh question and uh is more difficult to to answer um than what you would think it is. But a lake can have excellent water quality but poor habitat. It can have healthy vegetation but declining water clarity.
There's all sorts of different factors that that pour into uh the health of a lake. Looking at only one measurement doesn't tell the whole story and can't describe the health of the lake. Just like a doctor doesn't look at uh a single vital sign when they're
determining the health of a patient. That's why we evaluate lakes using the health uh that's why we evaluate lake health looking at three major components. Water quality, hydrarology, and ecology. When most people think of lake health, water quality is usually the first thing
to come to mind. We measure things like nutrients, algae growth, uh water clarity to see how each lake is performing. This year, as MJ mentioned, uh over half of our lakes met all state water quality standards, which is actually a really
big deal. Um, and the lakes that did not meet water quality standards, over half of those are showing improving trends. A lake doesn't have to be perfect to be improving. And while those lakes may not yet meet every regulatory standard, they're moving in the right direction,
which tells us that many of our management efforts are having a positive effect. and on to hydrarology. Uh that helps us understand how water moves through our environment. We monitor rainfall, lake levels, groundwater, and storm water uh runoff because all of those things
influences the health of our lakes. In 2025, Winter Haven received about 45 inches of rainfall. Every inch of rain that falls across our landscape has has to go somewhere. Some of it evaporates, goes back into the atmosphere. Some of it soaks into the ground and recharges
our aquifer. And some of that carries nutrients and pollutants and flows into our lakes. Understanding those natural water movements helps us distinguish between changes caused by weather and changes caused by other factors, allowing us to make better long-term
management decisions. While rainfall isn't something we can control, understanding how it affects our lakes helps us manage the things that we can control. And finally, the the last parameter that we look at in determining lake health is
ecology. Healthy native aquatic plants provide habitat for fish and wildlife. They improve water quality and they help stabilize our shorelines. Our goal isn't simply more plants or fewer plants. It's maintaining the right balance of healthy
native vegetation while controlling the invasive species in our lakes so that our lakes remain both ecologically healthy and enjoyable for recreation. With that foundation in place, I'll turn things over to Devin who will explain how those factors come together in our
lake health index. >> Thank you, Dustin. Mayor, city commissioners, um try to keep this brief, not in the weeds, so to speak. U the Lake Health Index was developed by staff as a tool to evaluate our lakes from a more holistic perspective. The
index is comprised of individual scores and eight different criteria. Each of these are scored on a relative scale from 0 to three with zero being relatively worse and three being generally better. The eight criteria which cover aspects of both water quality and ecological health include
water quality impairment. Doesn't mention whether or not those lakes [clears throat] are meeting those regulatory targets. The higher the score, the less impaired a lake is. Water quality trends would indicate whether a lake is exhibiting improving or deteriorating trends in those four water quality parameters that
is chlorophyll, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water clarity. Aquatic plant abundance, which indicates how much vegetation is growing in a lake. And since aquatic plants provide fish and wildlife habitat, as well as help to filter pollutants, generally higher vegetation abundance equates to a
healthier lake. Invasive species presence indicates the relative proportion of harmful invasive plants present in the given lakes's community. A higher score in this criterion equates to a lower invasive presence. And finally, diversity, which is a measure of how many unique species
there are, but also how evenly they're distributed. Higher diversity equates to a healthier ecosystem, more robust ecosystem, and generally receives a higher score. We then take the average of all these criterion scores and generate an overall lake health index value that can be used to compare lakes
changes over time and also to generate management priority rankings. It should be noted that the lake health index score is not an applesto apples comparison and should not be relied on to indicate which lakes are inherently better or worse than one another. Rather, it helps us to prioritize those
lakes that require more management action. As mentioned, one of the great strengths of the lake health index is the ability to track changes in our lakes over time. This table represents the composite lake health scores average across all 37 lakes in our study area. Looking at the
individual criteria, we can tell that which aspects of lake health have improved or declined over time. One area where we've seen the most improvement has been impairment. As Dustin mentioned, in 2018, only 15 of our 37 lakes were meeting those regulatory standards compared to 2025 where we
added four additional lakes to the unimpaired list. This might not seem like much, but it's actually a huge achievement uh to get lakes removed from the the state's impaired list and something that we cherish in the fact that our management actions are having a positive impact. We've also observed
marketked improvement in vegetation abundance and invasive species presence scores implies that our vegetation communities are increasing in abundance, but also that this increase is due more to the growth of native plants than invasives. This may be at least partially due to our early detection
efforts and monitoring, but also our partnerships with agencies like FWC and PK County who go out and treat those invasive plants in our lakes. Water clarity trends is one of those criteria that has actually exhibited decline over the years. Um while clarity
isn't a definitive measure of lake health or water quality in general, it is important for plant growth and of course for the aesthetics of our lake our lakes and we are examining this decline in greater detail to determine which root causes are are leading to these impacts.
The important thing to know is that our lakes have generally improved over time which is something that few communities can boast of. You can see this map in front of you depicts the 2025 lake health scores for our 37 lakes. Just a few quick statistics on these numbers. 65% of our
lakes scored in the good to very good range. And 12 of our lakes actually exhibited an increase from the previous year, which is good news. That said, not all lakes are doing well, at least not as well as the others. Those with the lowest lakehouse scores
are placed on our high priority list. The top five lakes on that list are Lake Idol due to its water quality impairments, deteriorating trends, and generally poor aquatic plant community. Lake Hamilton, which also is impaired and experiencing water quality declines. And then there's Lakes Link, Martha, and
Ned. While they're not impaired, uh are exhibiting some water quality uh declines and have less than stellar biological communities in areas that we want to focus on in order to prevent them from becoming impaired. In addition to tracking how the lakes
are doing, this report includes information on the management strategies we employ to improve lake health. A few of the main highlights in 2025 include produc pollution reduction plans for lakes Hamilton and Idol. Uh Lake Idol's pollution or 4E plan uh I described in
detail at last week's agenda review session. Um some of the the big projects included in that are the uh storm water improvements in to the north of Lake Idol as well as the sediment inactivation project. Lake Hamilton's 4E plan is actually being coordinated by PK
County and with with some input from us as well. In 2025, we also completed the Lake Elder Trail project which included some storm water green storm water infrastructure as well as started the South Lake Howard Nature Park expansion. Both of which had helped to reduce pollutant loading in each of those
lakes. And last, the city also constructs conducts uh annual street sweeping um around the majority of our lakes to capture those pollutants. And we're also engaged in various public outreach and education campaigns as Dustin mentioned earlier.
Landing on a high note, we just wanted to highlight Lake Mariam for exhibiting the greatest amount of lake health score improvement from 2024 to 2025. This was mostly due to a significant decrease in the amount of invasive plants detected as well as a sharp increase in species diversity.
Now, I'll hand things back over to Dustin to provide your closing thoughts on the lakes report. Thank you, Devin. I'll finish with just a few closing thoughts. Uh, one of the things that makes Winter Haven special is that our lakes are not just a part of
our landscape. They're a part of our identity. They shape our neighborhoods, support recreation and wildlife, attract visitors, and contribute to our quality of life. The annual lakes report gives us a science-based way to understand how those lakes are changing, where we
should focus our efforts, and whether our management decisions are making a difference. Most importantly, it reminds us that protecting our lakes isn't just a one-year project. It's an ongoing commitment and one that requires good data, thoughtful management, and
continued investment. the full report which all of you guys should have received a a hard copy in your mailboxes uh is and that is available to everyone in the public online on the natural resources uh city of Winterhaven
website. Uh there is also the report in brief uh which I think Miss Francis uh showed when she was up here for the proclamation. uh that is another way to digest information from that report as well as the uh online interactive version which has a lot of pictures and
and figures and is really a lot easier to scroll through uh than the main report. So you have the the big report which as Francis alluded to would take three days to read through. The online interactive uh version will take about
uh maybe three hours to really pour through and understand. and then the the lakes report in brief. You can uh read that in 10 or 15 minutes. So, thank you for your guys' time this this evening and for your continued investment uh in our natural resources and in our lakes.
And with that, uh Devon and I'll stand for any questions. >> Questions? I just want to say that uh we have really
just an outstanding natural resources staff and this report uh is just not a report. what's happening
in the city of Winter Haven with our natural resource people. They are actually working to improve our lakes and sustain our lakes and not
with just uh fancy words scientifically they're working hard. So, I mean, I've been a member and a part of the the the Lakes Committee for over 24
years. And uh I mean, every year I make sure that I'm still on that committee. So, commissioners, y'all, y'all can't supplant me. I got at least one more year. U But they do an outstanding job job. And I've seen it firsthand. I've
seen I've witnessed it. I've lived it. I've seen what they've been able to do. And I'll uh not only as a commissioner, but I own the lakes
and I can recall and I'm I know I'm not going to go long, but I just want everybody to know the job that they're doing. early on. I can go back about 15 years when I was fishing the chain of
lakes and one lake in particular. I I took a group of people out and we were night fishing and we were in Lake How and they said,
"Erone, are the fish in this lake any good? It's all green on the top. I said, "We're working on it and the fish will be good." So, that's just one example, but I just wanted to say to
you all that uh I for one and I know the commission and I know the residents really thank you even though they just enjoy it. They may not know what's happening behind the scenes, but just want to say publicly that uh you all are
doing an outstanding job. and continue to do it. And one final note, I took [clears throat] some kids uh for a natural resources uh field trip.
And uh I can say to you all that there are kids there are kids that live and grow up in Winter Haven that have not been on a lake, have not kayaked,
don't know anything about the ecology and the natural resources surrounding our legs. In fact, my group Thursday is their last day of our summer program. They were more attentive
at the natural resources tour than I have seen them all summer. One of the kids even let him put a snake around his neck. So, I mean, uh, it was really good. So, I'm I I just want to thank you
all and uh I thoroughly enjoy it because I don't get to kayak but once a year and so I went kayaking and uh so I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner.
>> Two two quick questions. Can you um the biom bio volume heat map? Can you just help me understand that? I I may have probably asked that in years pass, but red is bad, blue is good or
>> no. So that's just basically showing where the vegetation is. And red can be good if if it's assuming it's not hydrilla or an invasive vegetation. Uh it's just essentially showing where that
vegetation is. So you would on most of our lakes you'll see those those colored zones along the shoreline along the latoral shelf where the lake is is shallowest and that's where you get a lot of vegetation growth >> but that could be hydrillaa buildup
>> and it doesn't really clarify which >> on the heat map it doesn't but in the mapping that we do we we know what the um what the density is of the species that are out there because in order to map the aquatic vegetation on the lake
we do transsects across the lake, multiple points on each transsect. So you're talking about depending upon the size of the lake, it may be 50 lines straight up and down across the lake that and and you're taking points at specific intervals on there. And not
only is are you using sonar to actually map out the lake bottom and the vegetation density, but then you're you're we're actually pulling up the vegetation that's underneath the boat uh using uh a special type of gear called a frousise. Throwing that in the water,
pulling up the vegetation and counting identifying the species of vegetation that are there, counting them, and then coming up with a relative abundance based upon the sample that we've pulled up. So, it would be alarming to see a lake that
would be all blue with with a heat map because you want to have some vegetation within a lake, right? There's it's a fine balance and coming up you know the the question that was I posed in the presentation of like what makes a good
lake what's what's a good quality lake it's also some of that to some degree is in the eye of the beholder right because you have some people that like to water ski and like to swim and for them vegetation is horrible and you have some people who like to go fishing and
recently like to duck hunt uh and vegetation is very important for uh hunting and fishing activities because it's good fish and wildlife habitat. >> And if we if we see that there's a big buildup in let's say the negative the
hydrillaa or something like are we reporting that to the county or the FWC and requesting spray on that or >> Yeah. So we're we're requesting management which typically results in in the use of herbicide and that's going through the state of Florida. Uh
however, the county does cooperate with the state of Florida and has kind of an extension where the county is able to treat some areas under the the guidance and permission of the state of Florida. So FWC is the principal agency that's in
charge of the of vegetation management within state water bodies that we have here. >> Okay. And last question on the recent um freeze that we had six months ago now, seven months ago
are I think the date that I consistently saw in here was around August is when we're out there primarily testing these bodies of water and and doing >> we're we're out there year round. So water quality samples are being taken
monthly, but we have the the aquatic vegetation. Um, you know, you'll find my team out on a boat uh when it's really cold in January and you'll also find us out there um at the heat of the summer. So, we're mapping we try to keep the lakes that we map um you know, we're
we're we're mapping a lake each week. We have several lakes about, you know, almost almost enough to do one a week. And um we try to keep the timing of those samples the same. So, we're, you know, if we're mapping Lake Howard, we'll do it in July because we did it in
July the year before and July the year before. So, we're comparing apples and apples when looking at year-to-year changes and those kinds of things. I'm really glad that you brought up the freeze because that's that's something that we saw alter some of our water quality initially uh after that freeze
because it killed off a lot of vegetation around our lakes and as that vegetation broke down a lot of nutrients went into the water and the very first thing to pick up those nutrients when you have a huge influx of nutrients is algae because it's a very simple
single-sellled plant that can pick up those nutrients and grow really rapidly and so we saw algae blooms in some of our lakes and that nutrient cycling takes a little while to finally cycle through. The algae dies off and then those nutrients are picked up by growing
plants like larger rootbased plants uh that we see in our lakes. Uh but it did have uh at least a temporary effect on the nutrients within our lakes. >> That was my question is is if we'll see a spike in the numbers, you know, going
forward post that but then they'll kind of >> So that'll be >> level >> that'll be part of our our 2026 annual lakes report and it's just too soon. Um you know some of the water quality data has already been collected obviously from the the winter months that we've
had but we haven't had time to analy put all the data together from this year because we're still in the process of collecting data this year. And so it will be interesting to see whether or not there's any kind of micro changes to some of the water quality parameters
that we check. >> Thank you. >> I certainly appreciate the uh the coffee table top edition, but can we possibly get that abbreviated one? >> I would like I would like to have that personally so we can review. Uh this is
quite a read, but uh we'll take that and spend time with that, but we don't have that. one. >> So, they should have went in your mailboxes. Um, we had a hang up in the printer, so they got printed off late today. Okay. >> Um, we actually we had placed the order
several weeks ago and they were supposed to be um prepar I won't name the business that they were supposed to come from, but we have not received the main shipment, but we did have a a special run printed off today and uh those are available. We actually have some some
prints here if you haven't gotten them yet, but um they should be in all all of your mailboxes. >> Thank you very much. >> Yes. >> Um I just want to say thank you to all your efforts um in uh keeping the lakes
um I guess you'd say um healthy, enjoyable, scientifically healthy um and also in monitoring and tracking all this data. It's a wonderful document. I compare my lake every year.
I've had several of these. Also, the CHN uh coastal heartland estuary, national estuary um program. Uh they're always interested in this document also. I attend that uh on representation I guess for the city.
So, there's a lot of people there and even the county goes to that. It's in Port Charlotte. Everybody goes. I guess that's >> the Heartland people. >> We always present the annual lakes report here every year and and it's
really great. But some of you guys who have not been in scientific documents don't really have anything to compare it to as far as what other municipalities are doing and can you go to Lakeland and get the same style report. Uh it it's very rare to find a report of this
quality in really any municipality. I've I've yet to find a city and this kind of a self-s serving statement and I I should be a little more humble but the the work that is being performed and the the report that is being done um we we
share these reports with some of our colleagues in other places and some of the comments that we re like you guys did you guys didn't hire a consultant you guys wrote this and kind of some wonder and amazement because there's a tremendous amount amount of work that
that goes into uh creating this report. Um, but it's it's very important for us to do so because it it really helps us track where we've been and where we're going as a city as we manage [snorts] our lakes.
>> Add a comment to that if I could. This you you hit it on the head, Dustin, that this is this document is often mistaken for a high paid consultant that you would bring in a research entity to to
produce this. U MJ mentioned that Devon received his master's degree. I think this type of document, they should have given you a PhD personally. Um this is one of several things that comes
out of this unit that is a benchmark and a um an aspiration for many other cities. The other is the NPDS annual report that we do. That is a requirement of our MS4 permit that this team puts
together that we've had used as a sample by DP and others to other agencies of what a quality report looks like. Um, I say it time and time again, you have some of the most accomplished and qualified and and productive staff of
any city around. The natural resource division exemplifies that day in day out. True true professionals. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> commissioners. We need a motion on R26-9.
>> Mr. Mayor, move approval of all resolution R2619. Thank you. Motion's been made to approve R26-9. We'll uh close the commission meeting, open a public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to this item. Seeing none, we'll
close the public hearing, reopen the city commission meeting. Any other further questions or discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Oppose like sign. Motion carries. All right, we've got some new business.
We've got uh an appointment of legal counsel. So, we'll leave uh I assume that's going to go to uh city attorney to kick this one off. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Commission. As we discussed at the agenda review workshop meeting last week, um we're seeking the
ratification of the retention of outside legal counsel for matters relating to Blue Line Aviation LLC at the airport. On June 17th of 26, the city issued a formal notice to Blue Line Aviation regarding their defaults under the September 15th, 2023 land lease
agreement as amended and the resulting automatic termination of the agreement pursuant to its terms. The notice also addressed the pending automatic expiration of the temporary land lease agreement between the parties. Given the complexity of the matters associated therewith and the potential for
litigation and other legal proceedings arising there from the city manager executed a letter of representation retaining outside legal litigation council with Campbell Trone and Ronda a law firm in Lakeland Florida that are board certified civil trial attorneys to
represent the city's interests in these matters. As it has turned out, a lawsuit was filed by Blue Line Aviation at beginning of the month, July 3rd, and um Mr. John Mark Tamayo has entered a notice of
appearance on behalf of the city. That litigation has been filed with the Poke County Circuit Court. It's currently pending in front of Judge Keith uh Spotto, Circuit Judge, and the uh verified complaint as well as a motion
seeking a temporary injunction are pending and we'll provide further information as we learn of same regarding that. But uh at this point we are asking for the city commission to author uh to ratify and confirm the
retaining of the law firm of Campbell Trone to Mayo and Ronda under the terms of their representation as outlined in the attached letter of representation which provides uh specific hourly rates as well as um protocols regarding their
undertaking representation of the city in this matter or these matters. And uh we would ask that you um authorize the city manager and the city attorney or our design to undertake any other actions that are necessary and related
to these matters. Thank you, >> Commissioner. >> Mr. Mayor, >> yes. >> Motion, I guess. Are we requesting a motion to proceed with this? Proceed with the legal counsel.
>> Okay. Motion's been made. Uh we'll close public hearing or excuse me, close commission meeting. Open public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to this item? Seeing none, we'll close the uh public hearing. Reopen city commission meeting. Commissioners, any questions,
discussions on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I oppose like sign. Motion carries. All right. Uh, item 13B, discussion of commissioner's compensation. City manager.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, this item's coming before you this evening. This goes back to the May 26, 2026 regular meeting. Um, at which time Commissioner Davis had asked that this come back before you all for further discussion.
It's pertaining to compensation for city commissioners. um and is being placed on the agenda or was placed on the agenda this evening for discussion by the commission in any subsequent direction to me as staff to proceed forward. So I
will hand it off to Commissioner Davis and allow you to discuss. >> All right. Thank you. So um I brought this up because um I had heard when I was running for office that we were
underpaid for for a city our size. Uh I looked at the ordinance. I think that it was last done about 15 years ago and it set the salary just under $12,000 a year for commissioners. There is a cost of living adjustment with every year. Um
and so I wanted to uh oh also around the time when I started thinking about this, one of our sister cities was looking at increasing their salaries um considerably. So, uh, I I was concerned both that we were undervaluing the work
that we do, um, and for the size of our city. And so, I wanted to have a study done to see exactly where we are at. Um, you know, personally, this this is a job to me. I know it's it is to all of you as well. Um, and it is one that we take very seriously. Uh but there are some
some demands in our time and uh for for those of us that have a full-time job, especially as a public employee working for the school district, I I c I have to take time off to um to do the job during the workday. And as those uh demands increase, I want to be able to continue
to do that, but I've pretty much exhausted a lot of my paid time off. I'm getting to the point now where I'm about to take unpaid time just to be able to to uh continue to focus on this job. So, I wanted to see um what the numbers show. Uh and what I found, I I presented
to you all a memorandum back in uh May. Uh I took the numbers provided by the city manager. I figured out what the per capita rate is for PK County and then I, you know, multiplied that by our population. I kind of saw that the population
drives the amount of work we have to do. That's my opinion. Um you know, whether it's uh you know, increased number of events that we're attending, constituent issues that are coming up or even just managing it. I mean, we have a lot more uh decisions to make as we have more people coming into our city. Um so what
what I found though was that uh the number I thought was maybe a little bit too high. Um, you know, we're currently making our salaries around 17,000 and if I did just the per capita rate for the entire county, uh, it actually would bring our rate up to about uh, 27,500
and I thought that would be just a little bit too much um, for a jump and also, you know, I don't think the public would really appreciate that or or accept that. So, what what I looked at, I found a lot of the smaller cities, their per capita rate was much larger because they had a smaller population.
So, that, you know, say a salary of $6,000 are still making considerably more per capita. So, I took out all of the um small cities that had under 6,000 people in their cities and and then found took the rate and what I found was a little more manageable, but it is
still supported by the data and that was an increase to around $24,000 um for our salary. And then I also looked at the mayor's rates and uh using that same per capita rate, it actually would increase the the mayor's salary um
to uh 32,000. But I thought that you know I looked at what our current differential is. I think it's around um sorry looking at my numbers here. Uh we currently uh pay our mayor about 16% more than than what we make. So, by adjusting it
to 16% uh that lowered the mayor's salary um to I think it was just under 28,000. I thought that was more reasonable as well. So, that was that was my my line of thinking and I wanted to bring it here for a a conversation with the rest of you to see what you thought, see if you're even interested
in um pursuing this. I think we'd have to do this as an ordinance. >> Yes, sir. >> So, I guess out of our conversation tonight, we'd want to discuss if we even wanted to move forward. If we did, then we'd give some direction to the city attorney as to what we'd like to see in that ordinance to come at a later date.
>> Commissioners, >> I guess the question is nothing triggers this or is this pretty much at our decision or the deciding for the most part? So you said it's been since 200 >> the ordinance took effect I think 2009
from the reading of it. So it would have been before that probably 2008 >> that was establishing what that particular set amount >> the base amount and then [clears throat] if I may there so >> I'm just trying to understand a little bit of the history. And what we have done um what our practice has been is
that whatever cost of living adjustment we have done for our workforce that has you are all considered employees you know in the sense that you're you receive a pay uh paycheck from the city. We applied that um cost of living
adjustment to those as well. So that compounds yearover-year based upon whatever that cost of living is. And I think as um Commissioner Davis stated, I'm trying to look through the memo here if it had the exact amount that it is now. Commissioner Davis, I think you had
it. You referenced it 17. Uh yes, I have I have your document here. Um the current salary is $17,525 for commissioners and $20,917
for the mayor. There has not [clears throat] been a substantial revision in the uh city commission salaries over the past 15 years really.
I mean that's just that's what it's been. It's gone up based on what uh the city manager just said, but uh the base has not pretty much changed
the starting point. And I can say that I've been here all the time. So, but the time increases. You've been here a long time. I'm not I've been here a little while, but not [snorts] not nearly as long. Uh but the time
requirements in that time have increased of course uh I'm assuming you from the early days back then compared to now because this you know with I guess with the volume of and activity and things that are pretty much taking place in the
city. >> Well things have evolved over time. uh in the the first few years that I was on the commission, we did not have any agenda reviews.
Uh we would we would have some workshops. So I mean the time has increased some but because we have uh we have evolved as it relates to our
efforts and what we are doing for the city and the size of the city. When I got on the commission, the city was under 30,000 people and so now we are over somewhere close
around 60,000 people. So >> if I might add also since I've only been on now for a few months, but between our Tallahassee trip, our DC trip, our League of City trip that's coming up, I mean that's um you know if if you're like me and you get two weeks paid
vacation a year, you're eating into a lot of that. So, um I think this also has an impact. You know, we have an election coming up next year as we every other year. Uh folks that might be looking to run. This is definitely something that they consider. It's not this isn't something that I mean, it's a
part-time job. You know, this is paying as a part-time job. It's not something that's supposed to enrich us. But there are folks like me who maybe have a full-time job and have to consider and weigh out the cost. you know, am I actually going to take a pay cut because of all the pay unpaid time off I have to take to devote to it, or am I just going
to attend the agenda review and the commission meetings and not make the effort to attend anything during the day, any of the other uh workshops that we have or events um or even meet with constituents. Um so, so that those are those are the factors that were kind of weighing in on my my request to talk
about this. >> I guess you know from the I've I've kind of shared a different opinion on this on this matter. Um I I I understand where you're where you're coming from as as a as it being a
job. I I guess I've never looked at it that way. I've always looked at it as being a public servant, as me giving back to my community and my my hometown where I grew up. and the fact that I I
do get a stipen along the way of of um of of time compensation, if you will. I mean, that it's very much appreciated, but I would sit up here and do this job for nothing. I mean, it it's not, you know, I kind of knew what I was getting
into when I ran. Um if if so elected to serve on the commission, I kind of knew that, you know, hey, this is is going to take up personal time. It's going to mean I'm going to have to take vacation time on on certain city trips. It's means that,
you know, I'm going to need to have an employer that's uh willing to work with me and and support me in this endeavor and and a family that supports me as well. So, I'm so thankful that I have all of those things. Um we are in the
the dawn of a a very tough budget cycle. We are in the in the crosshairs of of um of of Tallahassee. Um and I just you know this is I I could not see
myself um you know supporting an increase in salary just because you know again this is this is a public service that I'm offering and and giving to my community. Um, and and I'm proud
to do it and and um so that's that's kind of where I feel on on this subject. >> No, I would I would concur with a lot of that with the exception that I don't devalue what we do either. U I think
that uh I know my time is is important to me and I value that uh to whatever I give it to. Um time is all you have. you don't get it back. And so when you give your time and we all serve and it's
it's great to serve and to give that time but I think at the same time the value of what we have ran for what we uh stood for and uh the fact that we are trying to one help advance this city in
every way and that I think that it at least uh garers some consideration at least to be looked at. I think, you know, having not looked at it that long with a time is interesting to me that, you know, we we just haven't even we
just set that aside as we increase everything else that has gone up. And uh and I think that is something too that would have to be looked at at least at least considered for that. Uh again, I didn't do it for the money. In fact, I didn't know what they paid. I didn't
look at that. wasn't even consideration I guess at the time for me because I I looked at it pretty much like the mayor said. I was really looking at from the service standpoint of it until they called me uh to HR and said, "Hey, you got to sign some papers." Then I found
out really what what it was. I'm glad I didn't find out beforehand because then I probably would have made think a little differently about it. But again, the whole point of it was to uh serve serve the community and be a blessing to the community in some way. And uh what value
that is, you know, I think all of us believe that. I don't know what you make per hour. I think all of us we look at the what the cost of living currently is even in Winter Haven. Uh I think all of us up here work outside. None of us do
this only. And uh Certainly this would not be able to compensate or help you uh make a living but uh I think that uh it is is worth the time and effort to at least take a look at it and give consideration
and uh thoughtful consideration to it and make some kind of a a decision about it. >> I've been in public service for god knows how long now. 40 years might pass that. Um,
and I didn't, you know, I didn't do it, didn't take it with money concerns. Didn't even think about it. Um, the I know we're headed for some pretty rough times budget wise. Um, it's going
to affect a lot of a lot of people, a lot of things. Um, and so sometimes, you know, we have to be one, we have to be the one that leads the way. We have to be the one that [laughter] um sets the
example for others to follow. So um so I'm you know I wouldn't be for any increase at this time. >> So I don't know that we need a motion on this because there's not an action item here, but a consensus I think is
probably what's being looked for from the city attorney. So, um, we can we can form that in the one by one vote if if that so pleases the commission and on and I think the the ask here is if um
you want a u ordinance to to come back before the commission on a on a pay increase and if you just give a yes or no to that then u we'll we'll move forward on that. >> Well, Mr. Mayor, just in addition to that, if that's I think that you framed
it well, is if you are talking about a compensation increase, is it in the amounts that have been suggested? >> I don't want to assume anything. >> That's the next step. We can get a consensus first and then have that conversation. >> It's up to you all, however you want to
do it. >> I will say that the the data that I provided prior would be the equivalent of compensation study that you would base that upon. I wouldn't I don't know
there's a a value in hiring a consultant to go gather the exact same data that's already been produced. This is not like a a workforce compensation study. >> All right. Uh Commissioner Davis, >> yes, please. >> Commissioner Dawson,
>> yes. >> Commissioner Berton, >> yes. >> Commissioner Mercer, >> Mayor Pro, I apologize. Uh, and I would be a no. So, it's 32. So, we'll look for an ordinance to come back at a later
date. Um, you know, I guess my suggestion would be Commissioner Davis made the recommendation on the numbers, come back with that, and then then we can have the dialogue at that point >> on those numbers up or down.
>> Very well. Very much. >> Does that work for everybody? In light of the the number of items that we have in in the works right now, that would likely be sometime in August. I don't know if we can get it done for the first meeting in August, but because it'
be an ordinance if it's passed upon its first reading, come back as a second. >> Okay. >> All right. Uh we'll move forward to city manager report. the 2026 Florida League
of Cities voting delegate designation. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, so one of the items that you had approved this evening was for the travel of the city commissioners along with two
members of my team to attend the Florida League of Cities 2026 annual conference that will be held in Hollywood, Florida in August. uh is part of that conference. Each member municipality
that descending delegates is asked to designate one official to vote at the annual business session which will be held Saturday morning, August 15th. Election of lead leadership and adoption of resolutions are undertaken during that meeting. Many of you have attended
and participated as our delegate in years past respectively. [clears throat] So, this is requesting the commission authorize and designate one of those that are attending uh to stand for the vote during that session. >> Commissioners,
>> has that been typically the mayor? >> No. >> No. >> I did it last year. >> You did last year. >> And the year before you were the mayor the last two years. [laughter] >> Answer my question. [laughter] I I don't I mean >> believe I believe may I believe the
mayor is a member of the Florida League city board of directors as well. >> Yeah. Yeah. So you should do it. I agree. >> Happy to do that. >> Yeah. I agree. >> I think it'd be appropriate for a motion just so we're clear. >> So move that the mayor be out voting uh
delegate. Motion's been made. Um, I don't even think we need a public hearing for that, but the motion's been made. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> Opposed, like sign. Motion carries. >> So, we will communicate that back to the Florida League of Cities so they have that for their official record.
>> I get an extra ribbon on my name tag. >> All right, city manager, you have anything else? >> Uh, just two things if we're at that point. So um >> I skipped the liaison reports but you go ahead and then we'll circle back to liaison reports. >> Thank you sir. I just want to put on on
the calendars uh when we come before you at your next meeting in two weeks obviously next Wednesday we'll do a the budget presentation to you and then you'll have for consideration at your next commission meeting the tenative
millillage for the 27th fiscal year. Um, you also have to set the date of your first hearing for the budget. As you know, we cannot have budget hearings on the same dates as either the city, the school board or PK County Board of County Commissioners in researching the
calendars of their respective meetings. There is a conflict on our normal meeting day, which would be September 14th. Uh, I'm going to request that we move that meeting to Tuesday, September 15th. that would be the next closest day where there wouldn't be a conflict. Uh
there is a Main Street Winter Haven event that evening, but I think the budget certainly is the most important thing we deal with and trying to keep that in check with our schedule. So, just want to put that out there, make sure everybody's comfortable with that. We won't advertise anything on it, but
as we prepare the fact sheet for your next commission meeting uh to take action in setting that date, we want to make sure we have that date set. Right. So, city attorney is reminding me that because of changes in legislation
that if we are establishing a millage rate uh that is in excess or above the roll back rate that it will require um at this at the level that we're at presently to have uh an affirmative vote
of of four of the five in order to establish that millage rate. So, we want to make sure that we have preferably all five commissioners here to vote for the budget on September 15. So, um, the only other thing I had for
you this evening is a reminder that I will be away from the office beginning late Thursday afternoon, probably early evening, uh, and all day Friday joining the Greater Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce is exeicio for their annual
board retreat and I will report back on anything of significant that comes from that. Mr. Carnival will handle things in my absence. >> All right, that's all I have this evening, sir. >> Okay, let's circle back for liaison reports. Mayor Pro Tim Mercer, let's
kick it off with you. >> Um, we I did the um city's July 3rd celebration rock and freedom. I'd like to thank staff. They do a wonderful job on no matter what they have to do. We had a little rain that kind of disrupted
some things, but uh they were the best fireworks I've seen so far from the city. Um so they were they were quality fire. >> I would like to take a moment of privilege and recognize Natalie Wilson who's in the back and Scott Eers and
Katrina and members of our team that made that event happen. That is a massive massive undertaking and most uh most of the public are not aware of the the planning for security and emergency
management that goes into that. Every detail they had thought of. The one thing Natalie cannot control is mother nature. Um yet it what we what we managed through that what her and the team managed was keeping everybody safe
and that's the ultimate >> it went off just like clockwork. I mean it was really fantastic. So um really well coordinated. Um the other one is that we did uh I did attend the um golf cart parade uh the
4th of July at Lake Ashton. Um, however, we weren't in a golf cart. We're in air conditioning. So, and then, um, I think we had the workshop for property tax budget and impact fee re
uh, meeting. So, that was about it for me. >> Commissioner Dawson, >> I too uh, enjoyed the Iraq uh, freedom fest. It really was a uh, well attended. You know, rain came extremely hard. A lot of people had to scram out of there,
but they came back and we were wondering whether or not it would kind of but it it really came back strong and uh and again the fireworks were fantastic. Uh they kind of got us at the end with that delay and uh but it came back >> kind of got us too. >> Yeah, everybody was kind of getting
ready to walk all of a sudden, you know, but it was a great uh uh just a great moment just to experience that. Uh also uh it's been mentioned as well, Miss Angeli Katon Davis will celebrate 100
years of life on this uh Saturday and uh she was brought before the commission as well. She happens to be a member of church where I serve and um an amazing lady and uh she knows a lot of people been here a long time serving in this
city loves our city as well. So just give recognition and acknowledgement to a great citizen of our city. Uh also uh the story of the uh veteran uh really touched my heart. I I uh Zach and and
Winter Haven Chevrolet uh that was just phenomenal story. I was you know happy to hear that. And I'm I'm a car guy, particularly vintage cars, and you know, took an old Buick and uh fixed the air condition, had it in I think was what that same day or the following day. I
mean, they they took care of it, you know, real quick. And uh but just, you know, the extent of that kind of uh support for one who has served our our nation. And also the backstory too was really interesting to read to know that.
Also uh also want to say to the Lake Ma uh cemetery. We call the Lake Ma project now because and I want to give a certainly accommodation to the city of Winter Haven for one maintaining the the
cemetery. Many may or may not know the story of Lake M cemetery, but in the days where there was uh segregation and um there blacks could not be buried in other place in other cemeteries that
whites were buried in. In fact, even Arbendale, I remember uh doing a funeral there, there was a fence that went across where uh the whites were buried and where the blacks were buried. They made a mistake and and buried had to had
buried open the grave on the one side when it was a was a black person. They did it on the white side and everybody was like what do we do? Well, take the fence down. One thing [laughter] >> would be the easy way to do it, you know. But it was just amazing you know to think you know in a time uh the lake
mod cemetery 1924 uh was basically one of the citizens the inmans in fact actually uh you know gave the property to the citizens and another black and that cemetery actually was filled in the 50s and came to the commission and asked
commission to help establish another plot or place where they could actually establish another cemetery and that's how Brown came into being in 1958. And so today, uh, the committee is doing
a great job. They they there's actually, uh, a movement across the nation because there are many African-American cemeteries. I know many of my ancestors are on on individuals property that, uh, you have to even try to get to to find
the graves of of my great great grandparents and and others. And uh, just wonderful to know that uh the city has worked cooperatively. Uh the state did uh fund some of the activities for the the uh Lake M cemetery. $50,000
award was given. They also applied for another grant as well. They went to Groveland and Groveland uh was an amazing example of Groveland when they came back and shared that with me that the fire chief there basically took upon that responsibility along with
another citizen and just so happened that the fire chief is uh is Caucasian and uh but he worked tirelessly to work and make and and today they have a uh kiosk even to enter into the cemetery.
you know, they have uh just a wonderful amazing facility. Almost $2 million have actually been put into that and uh you can pull up individuals that our cemetery now we don't know uh a lot of the graves are unmarked and so we don't
know exactly who's in each plot. So, one of the things we're going to do is the uh the sonar kind of thing where they come in and basic, you know, uh survey the ground and uh do all the studies. That's where the money will be spent. But uh so we're looking forward to seeing many other things that will be
done in order to uh one bring back uh one I'll tell you this we have the founder of our church is actually buried in that cemetery. The first African-American man male came was brought to Winter Haven. Uh Dan Larmore is buried in that cemetery along with
his first wife. Uh that's just the name of a few others but they're world war veterans uh in that cemetery as well. So uh great stories that I'm looking forward to hearing and knowing about some amazing people that lived in this city and made Win Haven what it is
today. So again, thank you so much for the great job that the city has done working with them. >> Thank you, Commissioner Davis. >> Okay. Um, so the Winter Haven Chamber hosted me for an event um as the new commissioner to kind of introduce me to
some of the chamber members and I believe we had 40 people signed up to attend and nearly that many people did attend. Uh, I was very grateful uh and humbled really by the turnout. Very engaged group of people, asked a lot of good questions. Uh, so I really enjoyed
that opportunity to get to meet some of our business owners. Um, I also attended a private budget meeting with staff um to kind of introduce me to the budget process and and our current budget and how how it's broken down. I have a newfound respect for how that works,
especially how our, you know, majority of our budget comes from our utilities and and and how that can kind of give context to to the numbers when you're looking at them. Uh, also the Rock and Freedom Fest, that was a wonderful event. um you know, you can't help the
rain, but it did cool things down a little bit and I was just so glad that the community came back out. I wish the the folks that got there earlier um had stayed. I believe we had a greater number before the rain started, but still a lot of people attended that and it seemed very wellreceived. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I thought that was the
perfect way uh to celebrate with our water skiers and the fireworks are great. Uh and I was particularly taken by the surprise finale. we there was a little bit of a delay there and we were wondering is that it and then we got yeah two that just kept coming and coming and I thought it was wonderful
for for our 250th celebration. So um and then finally I I also want to touch on the email we got from Gary Clark. I don't know if that story has been been made public but we got a really nice email from Gary Clark. If you don't mind I'll read it real quick. uh Gary Clark, who if you don't know, he's the chairman
of the Pulk County Veterans Council, and he had emailed us uh saying that on Wednesday, June 24th, we were notified that a World War II veteran, a Battle of the Bulge survivor and Winter Haven resident, was in need of assistance. The air conditioner in his 2003 Buick had failed, and with the extreme summer
heat, reliable cooling was essential for the self-sufficient, independently living veteran. The repair estimate exceeded $1,000, an amount he simply could not afford. As we do whenever a veteran needs help, a message was sent to our network of roughly 10,000 contacts requesting support. Almost
immediately, Zach Drum of Winter Haven Chevrolet responded and gener generously offered to repair the vehicle at no cost. The car was delivered to Winter Haven Chevrolet on June 25th and returned to the veteran the following day, fully repaired and detailed. This hero was deeply moved by the kindness and respect shown by this Winter Haven
business. On behalf of the P Veterans Council, we extend our sincere gratitude to Zack Drum and Winter Haven Chevrolet for their compassionate support. Their actions demonstrated in a meaningful and heartfelt way their appreciation and that of this community for our veterans. And one more note, Sergeant Irv Landis,
our World War II veteran, celebrates his 102nd birthday today, July 9th of 2026. So, I was moved by that email. Um, I responded to Gary and said, "I'm actually not surprised by the generosity and I but I'm very proud of it." And so I just wanted to recognize that publicly
and share with everyone else so you too can be inspired. That's all I got. Thank you. >> Uh Mr. Mayor, following up on that, I I shared with with the group that Zach Drum did start off as a city of Winter Haven lifeguard many years ago, but Gary Clark, if you don't know, Michelle
Clark, who's out in the audience, one of our key volunteers for many, many years, is the other half of that team of Clarks. Uh Gary is also who helps coordinate the uh honoring our heroes event that we do every September 11th uh with Jamie Brown, members of our public
safety team. So he's he's a wonderful wonderful man. Does great work and obviously the uh the other veterans and and those who served in our armed forces answer that call. That's what makes Winter Haven a special place. >> Thank you,
Commissioner Bird. >> All right. I'm I'mma start off with the question. Uh the rocking uh freedom fest feast was it was great. The one thing that was cancelled that I was going to participate in was the watermelon eating
contest. When are y'all going to reschedu it? That's what I It was really great. I thoroughly uh enjoyed it and uh really was looking forward to the band. my uh medical doc,
Dr. Ford from uh Guest's clinic was uh interested in coming to hear that band. In fact, he say he's traveled several places to hear that band play. So, I was looking forward to that, but
maybe next year. But anyway, thoroughly enjoyed the the event. uh also participated in the uh Lake Ashton uh parade and [clears throat] enjoyed that too.
did the ribbon cutting on the Roadhouse, Texas Roadhouse restaurant and um glad to see that open and um I did a an open house on and I didn't know
that we even had one of those places in Winter Haven, a plasma center. Uh I didn't know it and u so I went and did the tour and there were people there
that was it's a big place. It's uh over uh where in the big lots parking lot for those that may not know where it is. And so uh very very very in the cooler where they keep all the plasma. I
mean, I'm saying, "Wow, >> wow." >> Donation, >> huh? >> Did you leave a donation? >> Uh, yeah. They wanted to stick me, but I said, "Uh, I'm not quite ready yet." U, but, uh, it was really good. It was really good. U, so I thoroughly enjoyed
that. And I'd like to finally say uh uh Mayor Yates uh I've been up here for 24 years and I would have done it if I didn't get paid one dime. Would have got I I would do it and I would do it
because I love giving back and being a public servant. But the other side of that coin is the time and the effort that you put in. you also need to be compensated and I'm not saying that uh
that that what that compensation should be but I do believe that over time it should be given some consideration and that's my point is that we haven't done that as a commission because I know it I've been here 24 years and so I know
what it is but I want to say that the record reflect that I would do this job for free. I want all y'all to know that I do it for free. And uh some say you almost have done it for free when you
look at the time and effort you put in, but I just wanted to make that clear. Thank you. >> Okay. Uh the Yeah, the fireworks were incredible this year. Um the rain I I mean, yeah, was an inconvenience, but it sure did cool
things off. um made it a nice evening. Um so we'll we'll take that. >> We'll order some for next year and then it won't come. >> Yeah. Yeah. Um but no, it was it was fantastic event. that it's another um
you know signature event of our community and the staff did just a phenomenal job and uh keeping everyone safe uh keeping everybody entertained. Everybody had a good time and so I I appreciate that very very very much um
and in all the efforts that that pulled that event off. Um, I also wanted to just mention real quick the Florida League of Cities uh hosted a call earlier today as well as a I was on a separate call last week as being part
of the board. Um, and just an overview of where things currently stand with property taxes. Um right now it's it's if if uh it's concerning um the numbers
line up the way that they poll right now 59% um would would would approve the uh the increase to to homestead exemption. and based upon the numbers and the
undecided, they said that's that's virtually a guarantee that it that it would pass. Um, so between now and then, it's it's really just about an education of um where your tax dollars go and how
they're spent. And that's really the efforts that the league is undertaking. Um, and they recommend that that municipalities um take that stance as well. It's just an opportunity um to educate. I I see
it, you know, pretty frequently out there and and and people talk about it and it's just like I just don't think they hear the sound bite and the sound bite is phenomenal, right? It it's it's it's uh it's going to save me money and it
and it will. Um, but there's a cost to those savings and there's a cost to running a municipality. And there are some municipalities quite frankly that don't do it as good as Winter Haven. And that's the part that frustrates me the
most about Tallahassee is they choose to um take those bad pockets and paint the brush with everybody rather than focusing in on those bad pockets. Um so we'll we'll roll with it. We'll deal
with it. Um whatever the voters decide on in November um one way or the other that's fine. And uh but like I said, it's just really if you have the opportunity um I I keep the our budget and brief handy uh just in case someone
wanted to have a budget conversation. That's always a great leave away uh for him to take and just say, "Hey, just just take a moment to take a look." And um and you know, the chips will fall where they may. So with that, um just
continue to be viligent on that and um do what we can. So, with that, uh, City Attorney Murphy. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Commissioner. And just a a follow-up note, that budget and brief was not prepared [snorts] for the purpose of any kind of communication to the taxpayer. Um, it was prepared in the
ordinary course um well before any ballot measure was before you. And I don't believe that that information would constitute what is prohibited under Florida statute. No. >> By way of communication, factual or otherwise, >> to the uh voters. So, somebody would
call us on that. So, it's a good good point. We that that came out long before even the discussion and we we've been doing that for multiple years now. >> Well, and I Yeah. And I think that's an example of something that is probably very appropriate, frankly. Um for
notwithstanding ballot measures or anything else that you're talking about, I think it's it's probably an appropriate information piece. >> If they taught civics in high school, I would take a stack of them to to the high school. Yeah. And I also um was very inspired by the by the uh what Gary
Clark did um or what he effectuated. Um it reminds me of my father would he would have been 101 in February of this year and he was a World War II veteran and um you know just goes to show you how important it is to maintain
those you know our veterans that are that are I'm shocked the gentleman was still driving. Kudos to him. Um the other thing and I'll be quiet that is I wanted to give a shout out to Dustin and the crew. Um the natural resources
division is um another example as the city manager said of exemplary professional um very efficient and u just good staff. We're very fortunate Winter Haven all around and um tonight's uh Lakes report
was no no exception. Um, and it's it's just uh very proud to be associated with that. So, thank you. >> Deputy City Manager. >> Nothing this evening, sir. Thank you. >> City Clerk, >> nothing this evening. >> Mercedes.
>> Mercedes, you good? >> We'll adjourn.