City Commission - Regular Meeting

Monday, August 10th to order. City Clerk, may I have a roll call, please?

Commissioner Davis? Here. Commissioner Dollison? Here. Commissioner Birdsong?

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Mercer? Here. And Mayor Yates?

Here. Okay, we'll have invocation led by Reverend Jonathan Winfrey of Redeemer City Church, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by the City Clerk. Please stand to favor.

Good evening. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we give you thanks and praise for this beautiful corner of your world that we all get to call home. We praise you for things like sunshine and lakes in the Oaks that we get to see. We thank you for schools, hospitals, parks for our children to enjoy. And we also lament and ask for help and wisdom to fix broken things. Things like those struggling with mental illness or children who are homeless loneliness that often plagues the elderly or crime, just to name a few. We thank you for a city whose leadership cares for its people, places, and things. We thank you for our leaders. We pray you would bless them and their families. We pray, particularly tonight, you'd grace our city commissioners with extraordinary wisdom and insight and that they would serve humbly and courageously or continue to, I should say, not only looking to their own interests but also to the interests of those they serve. Would you protect them from operating or voting even from a place of selfish ambition or vain conceit? We thank you for our city manager and every single employee that reports to him and every single employee that reports to them. Give them energy and perseverance for the work ahead. We pray you would encourage them in their specific areas of service, that we as citizens would encourage them, as residents would encourage them. Give them pride in their work, that Winter Haven's flourishing would crown the achievement of many, many hours of tireless labor. Would you bless this meeting, Father, and continue to shine on our beloved city? This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

and indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Commissioners, you have two presentations from outside agencies this evening. The first one is a Polk County Law Enforcement Memorial Commendations presentation. I'd like to invite to the podium Ricky Newman, president of the Police Benevolent Association.

RICKY NEWMAN Good evening, commissioners, mayor, city managers. City of Winter Haven. Just for the record, I'm the president of the Polk County Fraternal Order of Police, not the PBA. You guys are going to get me in trouble in Tallahassee.

Sorry. There's a misprint on my agenda.

Little things matter. On behalf of the Polk County Law Enforcement Memorial, I am honored to recognize two members of your phenomenal law enforcement presence, your police department, one that I've known for over 25 years. I had the honor of working with him. I had the honor of working for him. Him having to manage me, he may have a different opinion. For many years, Chief Vance Monroe, when he was at the sheriff's office, he was just an amazing man. He coached my sons in football, and he's such an asset to the community. And when I was blessed and absolutely honored to be asked to take over the memorial this year, there was a couple things that I knew that I needed to do. First of all was to make this about the memorial year around the fallen heroes. I remember where my feet were at the exact moment the call came in when Johnny Patterson was murdered. We all remember that. It was our obligation as a memorial, it is the city's obligation, it's the county's obligation, and anybody that'll hear me talk to make sure that his name and all the other 38 heroes on there's name live on. This year, we added two names to the memorial to bring our total to 39. one of which was a Winter Haven Police Department officer, Sergeant Luther Thomas Howard, who died in the line of duty in 1958. And how he's not been on this memorial this long just breaks my heart. But thanks to an amazing detective that you guys have working for you named Ronald Jackson, we were able to locate all the details that we needed to go through, all the process that we had to go through to get him out of the memorial this year. And then we were honored to have Chief Monroe come speak at the memorial this year. If you've not seen the video, it's on YouTube, it's all over social media. Just a command presence, great speaker, and it was just an honor to have him as a friend and a counterpart there. My second obligation, my duty when I took this over, was to give the city's credit for all that you guys do. It just seems to me like there were so many cities that were involved in that and had so many moving parts and the logistics and just weren't getting the recognition that you all deserve. So as a retired law enforcement officer, my counterpart probably followed me to the podium. Another board member, thank you so much for everything that you guys do. Thank you for allowing us to have such amazing police department here in Polk County. And thank you for this beautiful city that you manage. It just keeps getting prettier every time I drive through it. It's such a great job, and that's a direct reflection of the management of the city. With your permission, I would like to bring up Chief Monroe and Detective Jackson as well and present accommodation and get a picture with you guys to go on the website. Would that be great? All right. Thank you so much.

Okay. We've got also an update from Hart for Winter Haven tonight. So sitting manager.

Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Again, it's a presentation on behalf of Hart for Winter Haven. I'd like to welcome Mr. Brad Beatty, uh, executive director, uh, who will take it from here.

Mayor, uh, commissioners, uh, thank you so much for having us back. I refer to us as an outside, uh, but we feel like we're celebrating our seventh year of partnership with the city of Winter Haven, so we're glad to be able to come and do that tonight. Just as a reminder for any new commissioners, the housing partnership of Winter Haven began in December of 2019 after the city requested a white paper study on the problem of student homelessness in Winter Haven schools. And since then, a total of 981 individuals who either faced imminent homelessness or were homeless have been helped just through our partnership. That includes 359 adults and 622 children who've been impacted. We're very proud of that. Also, the program has grown from the initial emergency financial assistance into a broader housing stability system that includes rehousing of existing homelessness, hotel stays, rental vouchers, and pretty extensive care management where we wrap around services like financial literacy training and jobs training. And how that works essentially is we, in very plain language, work to stabilize housing where people are struggling by preventing evictions, by providing those hotel stays and help families move from that housing instability into real stable housing. Likewise, to keep rent within reach. And so this is the newest program that we piloted just this past year, which is to bridge the gap between what families can afford and what the market needs. is at currently, so those long-term vouchers which give people margin to build their own financial stability and then get on their own. And then lastly, and I don't think this can be overstated at all, is just the personalized support that we give with one-on-one case management, housing navigation, goal planning, and connection to community resources. And I'll just sum that part of it up A quick story of Dee. She's a 40-year-old mom of three teenagers, if you can imagine. And the year before that she came to us, she spent living in her car with her kids. Has a history of drug addiction, of joblessness, and was really struggling. Since that time, when she got to move in, and she just completed her 12 months and is on her own now, But that happened because it gave her family that stable place to get well. She completed our Jobs for Life class. She has recently gotten a new job with Better Pay. Her landlord agreed to decrease her rent by $200 a month to allow her to come off the voucher. happy with her progress and wanting to support that. That's amazing. She's joined a church, she has community, and she continues to show up with us for both the mental health support we provide and additional classes we have. That's just one case, one family, but it's impacting three kids who are in our schools right now, and I think we all should be proud of those kind of outcomes. Are there any questions about the report before I move on to the next slide?

Okay. Mayor and commissioners, this is an item that we have funded in the past As Brett said, the past seven years we've been in partnership with Hartford Winter Haven, and that is included within your budget proposal for fiscal year 27 as well. And if there's consensus of the commission to proceed with that, that's a detailed item within the budget that upon execution and adoption of the budget in September, we would negotiate or execute a memorandum of understanding with Hark for Winter Haven to continue those services.

And I did want to point out too that this current fiscal year, we have about two thirds of the quarter left. and we anticipate another 15 families being able to be helped there. So it'll be right at 70 families this year, which is the most we've ever served, which gives us both pride in our ability to serve it, but also concern that the need continues to grow despite the help. This year has been particularly stressful on families. I just wanted to kind of highlight that a bit. Okay. In our original white paper study, and I think with the follow-up that Florida Homeless Coalition did, I think it was Florida Homeless Coalition, there was also this need identified for increased housing stock that was attainable for families. Not just affordable housing, that's part of it, but attainable housing for our working families. And part of what Heart for Winter Haven has done also has grown in those capacities as well. So while we are focused on helping those 527 children that experienced homelessness last year in our Winter Haven Public Schools, We also wanted to point out that over 1100 families have been helped in that same time. We've been building our capacity through other grants that was not a use of our Winter Haven funds. But it's allowed us to grow our transformational programs and our case management support to really start making data driven decisions and increase our own housing acquisition. So we now own Six unit of how units of housing that we can utilize for our families And I and we're we'd also like to think what we could be another step in our partnership I'd like to just cover for a second So Like to introduce you to the 7th Street townhome project the 7th Street Southwest if you know the area by Southside Baptist Church across from the cemetery There is a property that's been for sale. All the work has been done on it to prepare it for 13 units to be built on that, a mix of two or three bedrooms, about 1400 square feet. So all the site work's been completed and we have that under contract. What that looks like, the land acquisition itself is $775,000. Each unit of the 13 is approximately $150,000 to construct, which totals out to 1.95 million, a total project of $2,725,000. And how we utilize housing is to move through. So it's not, we actually do have leases, but we design it for more like a long-term transition for those families to provide them with stability, but also give them a reason or margin to grow. So when a family enters our program, they're up to 120% AMI. Most of them are below 120%. that we provide them with affordable rent and give them two periods of time to begin making changes both with their financial capacity and their ability to earn to give them more breathing room and then by participating in our programs and then to move into long-term housing. So the community impact, I think, is important to note. These are 13 new construction, attainable housing. 100% of the units will be below market rent for homeless families. We think 30 plus children, based just on our understanding of our homeless families, will be impacted. and it will be a new net inventory of affordable housing or below market housing in Winter Haven. And so the ask from us, we have a $350,000 CDBG grant from the county and we are here to seek a match from the city of $350,000 to help bring this online. This is just another slide of the project overview. So it's 13% of the total cost is what we're asking of that almost $2.4 million. So help us continue to grow in our capacity. This doesn't require additional money from the housing vouchers, the other programs we have. This allows us to have that stable housing and see those families have a place to grow. I didn't know, and I should have, that there's a city park that's adjacent to that piece of property that I think has been, I don't know, there's plans to redevelop that somewhat, and this would be really an ideal situation to move those 13 families in and have this beautiful spot for them as well. So that's my presentation. Is there anything you have, city manager?

Did you have another slide that showed the images of that location?

Yeah, some appendices. So this is what it looks like. It's hard to tell exactly. Can you all see that all right? So this shows the parking lot has already been laid out. And there'll be one five-unit building and two four-unit buildings. And then this is a rendering that we had done by, I think, Strang, Shorter Strang.

Commissioner, is there any questions or comments?

Is this a one-time funding?

yes we're just asking for one-time funding and i think it fits in that affordable housing inventory fund that was established yes um so this helps get families into their attainable housing is this in perpetuity or is this a program where they might transition out as they get maybe more structure or What does that look like?

Our design is that as they grow in their internal stability and their financial stability, that they can then move on to their own, either home ownership or just their own housing choice. This is very programatized, and it's designed for two 12-month periods, which can be extended if people are making progress towards those things. We want them to have the time they need to stabilize as long as they show that they're doing their part. We really work hard to make sure that they can leave with a relatively full bank account, enough margin to move and not feel the hit and still have the savings they need. So we have matched savings programs. We have job programs to help them grow in their income, as well as financial literacy to really help them have a better relationship with money and understanding of how to use that more effectively.

Great. a couple questions um so i and i understand the the model for heart for warner haven and i appreciate the fact that i think your philosophy is a little bit more hand up versus hand out in trying to get those individuals the right financial literacy training the right the right track to to move forward to potentially have owner home ownership one day but I know you mentioned the number of individuals that you've been able to help since the inception of this plan, and let me ask this first, and then I'll get to this project, but do you have an idea of, or have you documented how many you've been able to get better, get into more stable jobs, get into a more stable environment, Are those people being helped and then they've kind of moved out of the area?

So I think, yes, we are tracking those numbers and trying to understand that. There is some attrition just because people do move for a variety of reasons. So we are using that data and always trying to improve our ability to capture that to understand what are those long-term outcomes. Long term stability is what we're after beyond just that initial urgent situation or emergent situation. So our goal is at least 12 months. So like the family I told you about, she stabilized over the 12 months that she was on the voucher program, but we continue to track with her. And it's just a challenge, honestly, to do that. But our goal is to see that long term change in their situation. And some of those metrics, we just have benchmarks related to how much savings they have, where their income is, and do they have, does it seem like they have sustainability? That question of sustainability is always changing.

So I just would ask potentially when you come back, because I'd like to hear those numbers as well. Let's try to track and monitor. It's great that we can get them in the door and help them, but then what happens after that? So I think that goes a long way to ensure that. the funds are going to the appropriate places and the funds are providing the necessary help and not just potentially a stepping stone for an individual. While that may be good to get them off the streets or get them into a house situation, but are they staying here in Winter Haven? Are they impacting the community for the good? Because these are public tax dollars that are going towards these families.

I would love to make that presentation. I really would.

Excuse me, a couple other questions. So on this particular project, you've got 350,000 coming from the county. I think I heard 350 is what you'd like to get from Winter Haven, from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. That leaves a gap of about 75,000, I think. So that's money that you have available.

We've already raised that money.

Gotcha, okay. And once the... if you're able to obtain this land, what do you think the timeline is and are you doing them in sections? How fast do you think you can get the first set built? Do you have private commitments that are going towards those?

We have soft commitments. I don't want to speak to you out of turn on that. The donor's one step at a time. When we close on that, we've had soft commitments for enough to get started pretty quickly on one, probably four units building. I'm stepping out on the line. The chief operating officer might pinch me later, but I think before the end of the year, we'll be turning shovels and breaking ground on that.

Okay. would you be opposed to if we were to take this under consideration to provide 350 000 from the affordable housing trust fund a developer's agreement which would include a clawback so that if the property did not move forward or were to sell or something happened that was unforeseen that we could have that that in the in the agreement that if the property were to change hands or I'll leave it to the attorney to draw up the specifics, but that the City of Winter Haven could replenish those funds back into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund if things did not project the way you intended.

Absolutely. We have similar things with our CDBG grant from the county, and we own five units on Avenue F that has a similar arrangement with the county. Absolutely. We're doing this to help solve a problem and not just to to build inventory, although I say this is 13 additional units on our goal of 50 total units of attainable housing that we would like to bring back, bring into the community because we think that's gonna make enough of a dent long term to get us to that functional zero. Because our goal still, we're still committed to ending childhood homelessness. Every single child has a home in Winter Haven by December 31st, 2030. Somebody made us aware of how many, that's 52 months from now. 52 months, we still believe that that is an attainable goal for us. And along that way, this is just part of that strategy.

I know federal housing laws, I get the stank eye for every time I talk about trying to make sure that families locally are impacted first, but federal housing laws oftentimes prohibit that and you've got to open it up to everybody, which I get. But do you have local families on deck that you could foresee populating these units if you had them today?

We do, and I mentioned the increase that we've had with the number of families we're serving this year. Part of that is because we entered an agreement with Polk County Schools to have a care manager located at Winter Haven High School, and we think we're going to be able to expand the Lake Region this year. It's our two biggest schools for homeless students. But we absolutely, because of how we do our housing, it's reserved for those families that we are serving. So if they're currently homeless or imminently homeless, they have to be here in Winter Haven. So we don't have people moving from out of state to get our housing in this case because it's not funded through HUD, frankly.

okay that's all i've i've got so a couple questions for staff if we did decide to bring this back before the commission what what do you need do we need to just have a consensus tonight to bring us back a developer's agreement to review and potentially approve or Is that something that staff can work on and then bring it back to us? What do we need to make happen?

I think consensus from the commission that you want to see this come back to you in some form of agreement is sufficient for us. We've begun with Mr. Labby's team putting together what would be an agreement consistent with what we've done recently with another project similar in nature. And recognizing the commission's certainly wanting to mitigate any risk there, that clawback provision in the form of a lien on the property. as well as an immediate repayment if the project, if the land didn't close and the project didn't advance. So we've begun kind of preparing what a boilerplate for that would look like and it will not take, I think, much effort to get that to a final form. And if the commission's so inclined, we would bring that back. This would, as you noted, come from the affordable housing trust fund that we have that has sufficient dollars well beyond this project's cost for these types of projects.

uh commissioners i'd like to ask for if we've got consensus to have that staff work on that bring it back to us and and we can obviously discuss that and vote on it at a later date but i know dealing with real estate time is of the essence oftentimes dealing with contract dates and whatnot so i would think we could have it for you for your next meeting great is that okay with everybody yes good did you have something else yeah i just wanted to give a few more comments sure um

i share the mayor's concerns but i think we all want this to be very successful um and so and i also thank you for for putting in the effort to put this project together i think that's a great location uh for that i think both the the uh proximity to you know the park as well as the church across the street that there is a real opportunity for for this project to be there uh... and so i i also share the concerns of making sure that we have some some sort of protection in place uh... you know should should the uh... you know this anything happened in the project isn't just going forward with the way we intended to go that were able to protect those the city dollars but i i have faith that you'll you'll pull it off and just shameless plug it next friday i'm going to be guest bartending at savage with proceeds going too hard for winter haven Uh, come, come out and have a drink and, and, uh, leave big tips and we'll make sure. Thank you.

Yeah. Okay. You talked about, uh, the white paper that was done, uh, initially kind of where are we today? What, what are the trends and what are we seeing, uh, with regards to, uh, you know, homelessness, uh, houselessness in, in this area? We also recognize there was a, in Miller Haven, we saw a number somewhat of a decrease in the numbers in regards to that. We initially brought this several years ago, as you may remember. and that pretty much was a grassroots effort in order to really deal with the challenge that we have in this county. At the time, we were dealing with over 5,000 students who were homeless. Just looking at today, where we are with some of the initiatives, certainly with what you have presented and what you all have been doing for the last few years, what do you see and what's happening today? Where are we, pretty much?

We answered on two levels. One, where are we today in our progress towards that hearth number getting down to zero and where are we today in terms of what we're feeling and seeing in terms of our metrics this year. To start with that first one, we're seeing an increased need. for help and we are trying to capture that need as well to bring that not just to your all's attention but to attention of other funders that we have and grants because it it seems like it's growing um the need is growing we continue to serve more and we'd anticipate as we have the last four or five years seeing a decrease in winter haven's proportion of the overall homelessness so We keep hearing from Ben Roush, Hearth Director, that we're in Winter Haven making improvement while the rest of the county seems to be, the problem is getting worse. I'm wondering if that's going to happen again this year just because we're seeing such an increased demand for help. So we're in a kind of wait and see moment, but I... I think also by us going to the schools, we may see an increase in reporting of homelessness, because what we've found is that a lot of families and students don't know the definition for homelessness that Hearth uses. So there are more families, I think, that are going to start becoming aware that, in fact, because they're sleeping with an uncle or aunt or neighbor, that they're homeless, even though they have a roof. Does that satisfy you? Yeah, pretty much.

I think that satisfies that. Do you, I guess throughout the county, with other municipalities, your cohorts, you have others who are doing, or this type of work being done in other cities.

Not, not yet, but they're, they're increasingly are calls from other cities saying, how can we address this here? Which I think is, uh, hopeful. There have been, uh, small efforts to do that, um, in, in ways other than that direct assistance that I think are, are really impressive. Lakeland High School, there's a group that goes and just brings lunch to their hearth students on a regular basis and gets to know small individual needs. They're not changing the homelessness, but they are providing some community support in other ways, which I think is beautiful. But right now, we're the only ones that are specifically focused on homelessness for families and how that impacts students. Our goal, and I talked to County Commissioner Santiago, As we have those lessons learned and see how the long-term metrics look, how can we take that across the county? So there is interest on the county level, at least with her, to expand, whether it's us or somebody else, but to take that model and use it throughout our county. Do you work with... Some of the residents of the Talbert House as well. We do. We do. Yeah. And that's they're they're great. You know, this continuum of care is still a need. So sheltering, transitional housing and permanent housing are all part of the ideal situation to move people out of. off the streets out of homelessness into into you know more more stability and so talbot house they're filling a need that is just huge so our hope is as those ladies and their kids move out of that we can kind of take them to that next level and then you know and then and be you know contributing members of society which is what the end game is but they're a great partner i wish we had a lot more of those bets

I think we've got consensus to hopefully we'll take a look at some numbers and documents here towards the end of the month and look forward to seeing you back.

Yeah. Thank you very much.

Okay. We've got a couple of sets of minutes for approval.

All right.

Questions have been made to approve the minutes. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed, like, sign. Motion carries. Comments from the audience. We do have two individuals who have signed up. One has a non-agenda item, one has item 13A. So the 13A will call upon you at that time. But for now, Beulah Lockhart-Thomas? Yes, ma'am. You'll just state your name and address for the record, and you'll have five minutes.

My name is Beulah Thomas. My address is 2327 Twin Lakeview Road, Winter Haven. I have five minutes. I want to give two disclaimers. I'm not represented by a law firm or anything. I'm using my own terminology that I found that was appropriate for the circumstances. I have five minutes. I really need 10, so I'll be back for part two. Um, I'm Beulah Thomas and I live in Florence Villa and I say that because I'm here to speak on a deed that the city executed to sell the right away to a property in Florence Villa and on one of those deeds, cause they're actually three deeds, a deed, a specialty deed, a deed, um, to grant a land grant deed, and then the quick claim deed, and I looked at the deed, and I saw the people signed off on the deed, and some of you should have recused yourselves. So when I heard the slogan, My City, Winter Haven, I got so excited, I said, that is so inclusive, that means me and everybody. And I soon found out, It depends on what side of the property line you're standing on. So my goal tonight is to get answers to two essential questions and to introduce you to the other people on the other side of that property line who are related to me. So the first essential question, and I really want you guys to answer that for me. Why did my city, Winter Haven, engage in aiding and abetting one citizen in Florence Villa in a collusionary scheme or strategy to acquire, buy, or steal the property of his neighbor? That property is 111 Avenue P Northeast. The second question, why did the city annex and sell for $100, could have been $1, what the appraisal office told me, without transparent notification? I know you used the Florida Register. I sat here and listened. I know you used the Sun. When I looked at it, it has case numbers. But what you did one mile down the road when you were changing the zoning at first street northwest and i think it's avenue y or u everybody along there got a letter there was a posted notification but on one mile down the road when you annexed executed three deeds to give somebody the right of way that was connected to somebody else's property. You didn't have the, I don't know what you call it. I know you didn't have to do it in the sunshine because I used my phone. So when you do things in the sunshine, what's excluded is real estate negotiations. So you operated in the shadows. None of us on that end received a letter. Nothing was posted. Nobody knew. until the person who received the deed, the three deeds that you executed, because I went to the courthouse, I have copies of the deeds, and on one of those deeds you said it was in keeping with your vision of Florence Villa. Who gave you that vision? And who gave you that right? The people on the other side of the deed, on the other side of the property line, They worked hard for that land. He has asked to buy that property for years. And my sister said, it's for my son. He was 35 when he died from COVID, but he was 15 when he started working at Publix. He was number 55 when he got on the list to drive trucks, because I want you to know, I know because he was so excited. And he did drive those trucks for Publix. And my sister and her husband, that's my time. I'll be back.

I can give you an extra minute if you want to.

I want you to know my sister and her husband. She was a school teacher. He worked as a maintenance person at one school and worked his way up to working for the county. When they died, And they all died. When they died, they owe nobody nothing for nothing they had. Everything paid for. But they left a granddaughter and a daughter who has the right to that land. And I'm here because this is the last thing I'm going to say. I won't have to come back. When I asked the appraisal office, what does that mean they sold the right away? Well, you have to ask your city what that means. Well, what can they do with it? Well, I have since figured out a lot of things that can be done with it. But you have no right to do it without transparent notification. That's not right, my city, Winter Haven. That's not right.

Okay.

Thank you, ma'am. If we can, like staff, to reach out to Ms. Thomas, discuss these concerns further. I remember that, I think. If I remember correctly, the property owner directly to the east of the parcel she's referring to was contacted. I think I remember that correctly, but I don't want to speculate, so I think best at this point for staff to double check, make sure everything was done correctly, and we'll follow back up with your concerns.

Can I just tell you one thing, Mayor? Okay. got a letter on that end of the street about that property. Because I own property across the street. The laundromat guy didn't know. And the two properties behind me, they didn't know.

If I remember correctly, it was only the adjacent property owners who were contacted to purchase that parcel. So we'll let staff research, and somebody will be back to just get your information, and then we'll follow up with you. Okay? Thank you. Okay, I don't have anybody else signed up. However, if there is anybody else that would like to speak, now's an opportunity for you, if it's not something that's within the agenda.

right seeing none we'll move forward to ordinances second reading ordinance 028 or excuse me 026-18 city attorney thank you mr mayor commission ordinance number 26-18 an ordinance of the city commission of the city of winter haven florida relating to utilities amending sections 19-80 19-150 and 19-151 of the code of ordinances of the city of winter haven florida Adopting a revised schedule of charges and fees for the reimbursement of cost to the city for the treatment of industrial wastewater Providing for an automatic increase of up to two and one half percent of such industrial charges and fees on the first of each October without the need of hearing for hearing clarifying the applicability of certain rates, fees, and charges to industrial users subject to the industrial pretreatment ordinance, eliminating obsolete industrial cost recovery program requirements, and deleting sections 19-176 through 19-180 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Winter Haven, Florida, providing for the repeal of conflicting ordinances for severability, for codification, and for the administrative correction of scrivener's errors, providing for an effective date. Thank you.

City Manager?

Mayor and Commissioners, Ordinance 2618, this is on second reading for your consideration, pertains to the city's industrial pretreatment program. We've had presentations on this and multiple discussions during first readings and workshops. Staff stands available to answer questions you may have at this time. I'm happy to go through the fact sheet again if you like, but I think we've done that I think now at least three times. I agree.

Commissioners?

Mr. Mayor. Yes. Move approval of ordinance 02618 on second reading public hearing.

Motion's been made to approve 026-18. We'll close the commission meeting, open the public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to this item? Seeing none, we'll close public hearing, reopen the city commission meeting. Commissioners, any other questions or comments on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries. Consent agenda. Mr. Mayor? Yes. Move approval of the consent agenda in its entirety. Motion's been made to approve the consent agenda. We'll close the commission meeting, open public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to this item? Seeing none, we'll close public hearing, reopen the consent agenda, or reopen the, excuse me, commission meeting. Any other questions or discussion on any item within the consent agenda? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries. We've got no resolutions. However, we do have an ordinance first reading. There'll be no vote on this tonight. The second reading will occur on August 24th. Ordinance O-26-19, city attorney by title only, please.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ordinance number O-26-19, an ordinance amending Chapter 21 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Winter Haven, Florida, by rezoning six parcels from Commercial Heavy C4 Zoning District to Plan Unit Development, PUD Zoning District, providing for the administrative correction of scrivener's errors, repealing all ordinances in conflict therewith, and providing an effective date. General location, 717 6th Street Southwest. The area covered by this request is 4.24 plus or minus acres. Thank you.

Thank you. Commissioners, any questions? Or excuse me, City Manager.

Mr. Mayor, I'm going to ask Mr. Labbe, Director of Economic Opportunity and Community Investment, to give a high-level overview of this request.

Yes, sir, Mayor, Commissioners. Lake May District JV LLC is the petitioner. They're requesting a rezoning to a planned unit development or PUD zoning district. It's at 717 6th Street Southwest. The property consists of the Marina Supply Boating Center and Marina on Lake May. The proposed PUD provides standards for permitted uses, development standards, marine structure standards, and parking requirements. This is consistent with the comprehensive plan and it was heard by the Planning Commission on July 9th, 2026, who unanimously voted to recommend approval of this request. Based on staff's review of the proposed rezoning from commercial heavy C4 to plan unit development, it is consistent with the primary mixed use hub future land use designation and will not increase the property's maximum development potential. The PUD does provide a framework for continued operation enhancement of the existing marina while establishing development standards for future improvements and complimentary commercial uses. This request also compliments concepts that are contained within the 2003 urban lakefront study and the 2022 downtown CRA plan. Staff does recommend approval of ordinance 02619.

Commissioners, any questions or discussion on this item at this time? Seeing none, again, second reading will be on August 24th. New Business, SHIP, City Manager.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Again, Mr. Labbe, with support from his team, will present the State Housing Initiatives Partnership, or SHIP, program annual report.

Yes, sir. Mayor, Commissioners, this is the annual report that we are required to file every year to the state regarding the SHIP program. The City of Winter Haven is an eligible local government to receive these funds to provide housing services for very low, low and moderate income families. The city received a state allocation, a state annual distribution amount of $626,236 for fiscal year 2023, 2024. This is the annual report for that fiscal year. In addition, the city also received interest payments and program income and carryover from the previous fiscal year for a total of $736,252.44. 18 Winter Haven residents were assisted with these funds to include 13 owner-occupied rehabilitations and five down payment assistance applications. The ship program is available to eligible households citywide, uh, of the 18 households assisted in this. And in the fiscal year, 23, 24, 14 were located in the Northeast quadrant of the city. One in the Northwest quadrant and three were located in the Southeast quadrant of the city. There is no financial impact to the city associated with the filing of this report. and related authorization to do so. However, failure to submit this report could result in withholding of the annual ship distribution to the city. This is consistent with the quality of life strategic pillar and staff does recommend the city commission approve the ship annual report for closeout year 2324 and interim years 2425 and 2526 and authorize the mayor to sign the certification form, directing staff to submit the report to Florida Housing Finance Corporation.

Thank you. Commissioners?

Mr. Mann. Yes. Motion to approve the State Housing Initiative SHIP program annual report.

Thank you. Motion's been made to approve. We'll close the commission meeting, open the public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to this item, which I know we have at least one person, Sean Wilson. You'll state your name and address for the record, and you'll have five minutes.

Good evening. Sean Wilson, president of Blue Sky Communities with offices at 180 Fountain Parkway North in St. Petersburg. We're the owners of the Florence Place Affordable Housing Community and want to, of course, thank the city again for your support on that. I think we continue to try to be good neighbors and really do the best for our residents. I would point out that of the 88 families, 70 of them listed Winter Haven addresses as their prior address when they first moved in. So I think that we're doing a good job in that regard too. I mainly wanted to just congratulate the city on successfully closing out your recent ship allocation. that's great that you're able to provide assistance for 18 homeowners and even some down payment assistance. And I'd love to find a way to, if we can identify some folks at Florence Place maybe that are ready to take on home ownership where we could provide, where Blue Sky could provide some financial training. and even some down payment assistance where we would match the city to get one of our residents into home ownership. That would be really special for us. So thank you very much, Mayor and Commissioners and staff.

I applaud that program, so let's fire that up, absolutely. All right, anyone else wish to speak to this item? Seeing none, all those, we'll close the public hearing, reopen this commission meeting. Any other questions or discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, signify by saying aye. Opposed, like, sign, motion carries. Item 13B, fire assessment study. Seeing none, Andrew.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Bear with me one second if I can get technology to work for me here. In July of 2026, the Commission held a special workshop to discuss what has become now known as Amendment 3, or property tax reform that will go before the voters of the state of Florida in November of this year. and the impacts that such would have for the city of winter haven specifically with its initial increase of the homemade homestead exemption up to 150 000 in calendar year 2027 and to the full amount of 250 000 the following year As part of that discussion, the commission was in consensus for staff to work with a consultant and outline a scope of work for performing a fire assessment study necessary to consider an initial assessment resolution. Just speaking back to 2015, the city commission at that time also expressed interest in doing so. And as a result, section 17, article five of the city's code of ordinances was adopted, which outlines the city's authority and process for implementing a fire protection assessment. Staff worked with Raftelis Financial Consultants, and we have with us this evening Mr. Joe Williams, who is our resident consulting expert on fire assessments. And Joe and his team prepared the requested scope of work, which is broken down into two phases, as we had discussed this past Wednesday. Those would each be issued as separate task orders if the commission desires to pursue such. and builds off the city's work completed to analyze the fire protection assessment back in 2015. The second phase would only be initiated if the city commission decided to actually move forward with its implementation. And I'm going to ask Joe to come to the podium so that he can answer questions that you may have. But as I explained Wednesday evening during your agenda review, the first portion of this is really to set a baseline, identifying which costs can be legally recovered through a fire assessment fee. There are certain statutory limitations that prohibit you from recovering certain expenses associated with your fire operations. It would also identify the development of a methodology for determining what that fire assessment fee would, how it would be calculated out. Looking back to what we did in 2015, it was based upon call volumes and then identified by the types of properties. Single family homes with multiple tiers based upon size, multi-family residences, commercial property, industrial property, agricultural lands, and vacant lands. This would result in a draft report to the commission. The second phase of the project, which would not be executed until sometime in the spring if the commission's desire is to move forward with an assessment, would be an update of that analysis. from this fall that would be completed, the preparation of the ordinance, if necessary, and resolutions, noticing their support in our noticing to residents, the adoption hearings, and then the final assessment rule delivery. Phase one would be presented back to the city commission before the end of 2026. And phase two, if the commission decided on implementation, would take approximately four to five months and likely begin sometime around May. Key elements within that phase two would be the preliminary budget for fiscal year 28 specific to the fire department. along with the updated tax rolls that we received from the county from the property appraiser in June, the preliminary rules are presented to us. And then the City Attorney has reminded me that also in December, actually coming out probably in November and December, would be a notice of intent that would need to be published. I think it's four times consecutively over four weeks to our residents, alerting them to the consideration of implementing a fire assessment. That notification does not require the Commission to move forward with it, but it is a requirement that if you are going to move forward, that you have provided that notice. So with that, I'm gonna ask Joe to fill in any missing spots within that that may need clarification.

Yeah, thank you for the introduction. Joe Williams with Raft Ellis. Just brief and then happy to answer any questions on details or other things you might be interested in at the start of this. So back in 2015, 2016 timeframe when we were looking at it, there was really one primary methodology that was approved, widely accepted. It was the call for service approach, which is what we had looked at. really around that time frame there was another method getting tried through the florida court system went all the way up to the florida supreme court and was upheld it's called the availability method and it's it's different there it kind of creates a two-tier fee where you take a portion of the costs that are recoverable and you allocate them across every single property doesn't matter the size of the property or the class of the property on a per fee availability approach fire service is available your property is benefiting by being in the city you get a fee the second tier goes into the building the value of the buildings on the property and it scales by typically every $5,000 of value is identified as a unit. So that fee really scales more for those homes or businesses with larger values of buildings on their property. It gives you the ability to scale a bit more. So during our phase one analysis, we would look at both of those options. We'd bring back different example properties within each of those options and then all the way up to your maximum funding down to 10 percent of what could be funded we can look at different rates that would be resulting in revenues generated for the city from those variations of programs it's going to be a fully dynamic model I imagine we'll probably even have the ability to bring a live model and change some assumptions here if people wanted to see it. We could run a bunch of examples beforehand and provide examples. So phase one is really gonna be exploratory. Here are the methodologies you can work within. Here's the outcomes, the results that you can pull these certain levers, think of different outcomes for different types of properties. So happy to answer any questions.

Commissioners?

I have a question. So the properties that are included, is it all properties within the corporate city limits both for profit and non-profit yes that everyone is considered okay and then we would we could determine once we if we implemented it whether or not we're going to uh exempt non-profits

that is an option that you have and the nuance on exempting certain properties is that that potential revenue really has to be made up by other city sources i get that but yes you have the ability to exempt them trying to get the parameters

mayor commissioner berson just i want to follow up on that so i think i try to explain this on wednesday but if it's as you look at all those different classifications of properties if you remove one or you exempt it from the fire assessment the revenues that would not be received from that are not then assigned or folded into an increase for everybody else they are just i'll call them lost revenues

from the assessment standpoint as mr williams said you would then have to make those up through other municipal revenue sources to backfill that lost revenue the uh the premise for the fee you can't base that on the fact that we are not getting avalon revenues that does not You can have that as something that we're looking at, but you can't implement a fire assessment fee based on that. At least you couldn't back when we were talking about it before. So you basically, because all of the revenues that are generated are specific for the fire department, that sort of thing. So is that... Is that still the case?

So it is slightly nuanced. There is the newer availability method, which again has a base fee that goes to every property, no matter what type or how many calls you generate, base fee for every property. The tier two fee component does look at the value of the buildings on a property. and it scales for every $5,000 increment of building value that you have. It's much closer to an ad valorem outcome, but it is distinct and separate from being an ad valorem-based assessment. It does result in a more progressive fee, similar to how you're currently collecting funds through ad valorem. It's something that we're gonna show you some outcomes, some options that you can, and again, it went all the way to Florida Supreme Court, was approved. The people on our team were the ones who pursued it through the court system. They developed it, they know it. and we're happy to run it as an option to look side by side.

Cause that was not in our previous plan.

That was not presented when it was kind of going through the court system at the same time. Okay. We did that study. Okay. So it was not fully approved.

And that's why we would have, um, Ms, uh, shuttle, uh, Shetley, uh, the, the special legal counsel, if we have to make any amendments to our existing ordinance or adjust anything legislatively by this body, we'd be in a position to do that if we needed to.

Okay. Then that was the, the, I think you stated it earlier, uh, in order to, if we are going to implement. of fire assessment fee. That has not changed. There are certain things that you have to do. You can't just Say, I'm gonna do it.

You gotta do notices. Correct, but what the city managers are referring to is if we wanna use the non-ad valorem assessment role process, which is the most expedient way to assess these types of services, rather than sending a bill out through our utility system or some other form, then we would have to do a notice of intent that we are going to use the non-ad valorem assessment process and that's required by a separate statute, 197.3632. Then after that is accomplished, you then have to do notice and provide property owners with the proposed fire assessment that would be assessed against each property parcel within the whole city. So it's quite an undertaking. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, but we'd have to provide notice through where we would generally, the first year we have opted in 2015, for example, we provided notice to every single parcel owner within the city. We did not use the trim notice. That is how we inform residents about our millage rate and our public hearing for the budget. But we could use that trim process down the road if we wanted to. But yes, you'd have to notice everyone yet again of the amount of the fire assessment. I think I'm correct on that.

Yeah, for this upcoming year, if you decided to pursue it further past the initial development of potential methodologies, you're gonna be sending a mailed notice to every single property owner of their potential fee, when resolutions are gonna be read, for establishing the rates. You're gonna have to pass, at minimum, two resolutions, an initial and a final, to establish the rate. You may have to update an ordinance, just depending on legal review of the situation. So there's gonna be, many opportunities where we're back here talking about what the rates are, the methodology, where you're noticing the residents that this potential assessment is happening. It's gonna generate a lot of discussion and activity.

Okay, I have, I guess, one final question. So this whole process, from where we are starting now and where we would ultimately end up. My question is, is what time frame would the fire assessment fee be implemented for revenues?

The intent is to have a fire assessment generating revenue on the November 2027 tax bills.

November 2027. Okay. All right.

And Commissioner Birdsong, to kind of couple that, so if Amendment 3 were to be voted favorably by 60% in this November, those tax bills that go out for November of 27 would reflect that change. So this is, that's why the timing of this was brought forward that if you're looking to replace revenue lost from ad valorem via fire assessment, they're happening at the same time.

Okay, I got it.

Let me get Commissioner Davis first. Follow-up to Commissioner Birdsong. If I'm understanding correctly, even though we may have the property value method, it still has to be tied to the actual cost of services. We're not just saying make up $10 million in revenue through an assessment. That's my understanding, that it has to have a rational basis to the actual services provided. And I think that's a key distinction for the voters to understand that what we're talking, this whole issue is shifting the conversation on how we're funding government. So if the voters decide they want to amend their constitution to try to get an outcome like this, uh... what they're saying you know the the talking point we don't want to pay rent to the government where you're not you're paying for the cost of the services and in this case it sounds almost like an insurance you're paying for coverage you have a your property values of a certain amount and you want those covered by fire you know your your fire insurance is kind of how you might look at that assessment and and that's fine if that's where we're going to go I see the timeline we're looking at October, November for phase one. Um, my, my whole issue with this amendment is I really want the voters to be as informed as possible to kind of know what they're voting for. Um, and to know what the alternatives may be. Do you, do you know, is there, do you know how fast we might like it when in October, November, could we have some sort of speculation we can start talking about before voters start casting their ballots? Um, obviously there'll be different mail ballots and stuff, but before the actual November election,

I believe we can.

Okay. I just think that's an important messaging point that, um, you know, voters are, are thinking it through.

And yes, I just, I'll make sure I'm clear with understand what you're asking. So their understanding of what this fee could potentially be is they vote on amendment three, right?

If I would think if I owned a property that, um, I might see a little bit of homestead exemption, but it's above the threshold. And then I also own buildings on that property that are of a certain value, knowing that they're going to be assessed at a higher rate possibly than some others. That may give me a little pause before I start just assuming that my bill's going down. um or if i if i have a property that's under 250 and i think it's going to you know eliminate my or i can decrease it considering the schools are still getting their taxes but then all of a sudden i find out that it's going to be tacking on a certain amount i know we're not going to have exact amounts and that we're looking at you know we're gonna have different numbers to look at in phase two if we move forward with it but i think it's a part of the conversation and it's not it's not necessarily i mean obviously we're not part of the campaign we're just having the conversation voters can hear us have the conversation and have a better understanding to know that they're not voting themselves into free government they're not shifting into somebody else is just going to pay for it for this case for fire assessments we're going to be charging you what it's going to cost the city to provide those services for those properties

I think my main point there was just the clarification that fire assessment is not a ballot issue. Amendment three is the process of public hearings and the like is

uh the means by which absolutely that yeah thanks for clarifying that i i just mean that as they're thinking about how they want to vote um they are aware that this is the conversation we're having and um you know it it it may equal out depending on i mean the many factors but just knowing that they're still gonna be paying something um because that's just the cost of having a property you want covered by fire

Yes, I just have a question about lots and how you would be calculating vacant lots.

Vacant lots would be, it depends on the approach. So calls for service, there would be a bucket of funds of potential calls or allocated costs based on those percentage of calls to vacant properties. and they would pay a fee per acre generally under the other availability method each vacant property would pay the base fee that every other property would be assigned through that process so there is going to be some level of cost assigned towards those vacant properties okay and if you don't pay the fee

um it's on your tax bill yeah if you don't pay the fee uh commissioner dollison the method of collection that we are proposing would be through your non-advalorum assessment so that means that if you don't pay your tax bill that it could be uh it could be um go through a tax deed sale And so you would have the taxing authority would have the method to collect or impose, I guess, the lien. It becomes a lien that enjoys the priority of taxes. So that's why it is most usually the NAVA role is used because it allows for the collection to be through the foreclosure process of the tax. If you don't pay your taxes, or the tax bill, I should say, that's rendered in November, you then it goes through a process and if come out the other side on may or june it's delinquent um then it gets you know there's a process sure and that makes sense i just because this is something new yeah i wasn't sure exactly how you would collect similar to how we currently do code enforcement um like our nuisance abatement, like when we do a demolition or a lot clearing or, and you've done this before as the equalization board, we're not doing it this year by happenstance, um, but you've done that in the past where you've assessed, uh, those types of costs that benefit those particular pieces of real property and, um, they could collect.

So it puts a lien per se on the, on the property.

Yeah. Via the tax bill. Okay.

So for me, this study is really about just having all the information so that we can make the most informed decision going forward. It does not mean that guaranteed we're going to implement a fire assessment fee. And if we were to go down that road, and this is for really a discussion at a later date, but as I've said before, I would not be in favor of supplementing any potential loss due to the Amendment 3 solely by a fire assessment fee. To me, the fire assessment fee could potentially be used as one of the many pieces to the puzzle to put this thing together. I think that there is a potential to make some changes within the city budget, make some cuts, make some adjustments, but I also think that those adjustments will not get anywhere close to the full loss of what we could potentially see if Amendment 3 passes. Again, if Amendment 3 passes by the will of the voters, that's the will of the voters, that's fine. Then we'll figure out how to continue to ensure that public safety is first and foremost the most important thing we move forward with, and then everything else falls behind that. So I think if we don't do this study, we just simply will not have the information that we need to make educated decisions moving forward. That being said, if Amendment 3 does not pass, I don't think this is a wasted study. I think there is a potential for an effort to reduce the overall millage rate. Again, making some of those same cuts and coming in line to potentially have some sort of fire assessment fee. But again, without having the knowledge, without knowing what we could be looking at, we can't have those discussions and we can't move forward with educated decisions. So that's my thought on this and why we should move forward. But again, we are a long ways from implementing this, period. So with that, commissioners, is there a motion?

Mr. Mayor. Yes. Move approval of the scope of work for Rattagas Financial Consulting Group Incorporated to proceed.

The motion's been made. We'll close the commission meeting, open public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to this item? Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing, reopen city commission meeting. Commissioners, any other further discussion or questions? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries.

Thank you. Okay.

So we'll move on to Commission liaison reports. Commissioner Davis, you want to take a stab at it first?

Sure. I'll keep this quick. The two events I attended since we last met, the fire versus police basketball game, that was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun to watch and be able to cheer for both teams. So every time someone got a basket, I was able to cheer them on. And I especially enjoyed watching the children that were there to cheer on their family members. That was really cute. Then I also attended the Winter Haven Police Back to School event at Christ Community Church. That was very well attended, and I did not know that we were giving out free haircuts. I thought that was really neat to see the kids getting their hairs cut for approaching school tomorrow. I guess it starts tomorrow, but there are some that started yesterday, private schools, and then some others will start later this week. uh wishing all of our families a great first week of school and i mentioned it earlier um next friday i will be participating main street winter haven has their cocktail classic it's from august 21st to the 29th and i will be guest bartending at sauvage from 5 to 8 p.m and all proceeds will be going to heart for winter haven so please come out and see me and support heart for winter haven and that's all i got commissioner dollison all right commissioner birdsong

Yes, I had a few things. Central Florida Regional Planning Council meeting, the State Association of Regional Advisory Council meetings attended that as well. The PRWC, and one thing about the PRWC is they have basically closed on 99% of the parcels that have been required for the water to be distributed throughout the county, which is really an amazing accomplishment. So I'm really pleased about that. And basically, that's it. I attended the Visioning 2070 program that was put on down in Huachula and they had a very good panel and one of the topics was data centers. And so one of the things that was said there is that data centers don't have to use all the direct portable type water. That's contrary to what I have been told. They say it's like a derivative of water, like antifreeze, so that was stated there. But it was just a discussion that they were not trying to sell data centers, but it was a very good discussion. And there were probably, I wanna say there were at least probably a couple of hundred people that attended that event that was put on by the staff of the Central Florida Regional Planning Council. So it was good. And then at my FRACA meeting, the state meeting, There's a company, and I talked to Gary about this, there's a company that has a process for all of the biosolids. that they are taking those in and the plant is being built, multi-million dollar plant being built in Indian Town. So they're taking all the biosolids and making them into fuel. So to generate electricity, so I don't know if that's, that's, but Darryl told me what we do with ours. So, uh, we're not, uh, uh, a candidate to try to get our bottles filed. It's all the way there. Anyway, very interesting. That's it.

Mayor person.

um i'd just like to make go back in history a little bit at the wastewater treatment plant at one point in time and i'll go back to before csx was put on the land they wanted to purchase some land and they wanted to use They would use reclaimed water. That's one type of water that they would use for cooling. And we happened to be in, when the power, when we had brownouts, you know, you were on for 45 minutes and off for 15, and we had the energy crisis, I guess, before. And so part of that was in that where they were gone, we were in between two major electrical companies and they could go in the middle between that and somehow sell power And I don't know, anybody here from wastewater? There, okay. You can ask some of the older guys about it, they probably remember it. And so we were thinking about doing some of that against probably some of the advice of the wastewater people because the concentrate keeps coming back in with more salty brine and whatever and it just really upsets that biological process at the wastewater treatment plant. So I'm kind of glad at that time I was over some of that and I'm kind of glad that we didn't participate in that. That was just some history for you guys, but I don't have anything this past two weeks.

All right. You've been over my head. A couple things. So I wanted to let the commission know that the Florence Villa CRA chair has changed. The CRA voted Joey Hilliard to be the chair of the Florence Villa CRA board. So he'll do a great job, I'm sure. I attended the Public Safety Oath of Office. Unfortunately couldn't stay for the entirety of the event, but I was glad to be there and attend and see what I could. Couple of questions. So there were two big items that I solely found out upon by seeing social media. and one of which was the havendale boulevard remodel from the dot which is a dot project did the dot reach out to us at all or did did we know that that was happening yeah we've gotten their notices for their public meetings okay um i don't know if that went through tpo in any format i don't remember seeing any

You did? We get the notices and the blast emails out from DOT that they're doing a public meeting for their repaving.

Okay. Will we have representation at that meeting?

We will.

Okay. Yes. So I know I can't attend the date that it was scheduled for.

There's, there's two DOT meetings coming up that we'll have representation at, um, that one. And I believe one for state road five 44, uh, Lucerne park road. Yes. Okay. So we'll have Public Works and Planning staff at both of those.

And so if we get emails from citizens, can I forward those to you? Yes, absolutely. And then we make sure that our representation there has a voice to.

I saw one of those come through today, as a matter of fact.

Okay. Just wanted to make sure. And then the roundabout at Cypress Gardens Road, which is a county project, $1.9 million, Not in the city limits of Winter Haven, but in Winter Haven. Everybody thinks we're doing it. We're not. I didn't get any notice of that one either, so... Did we know that they were considering that?

I heard about it last week, but I can't speak for staff if there was an awareness of that. It's a county road. I think that's at the intersection of Lake Ned Road and Cypress Garden.

Holy Cross Church, I think that is. so just so everybody knows out there if you don't like roundabouts or you're complaining about a 1.9 million dollar expenditure that you know i was on a so-so intersection give your county commissioner a call are the ones that voted on it um which yeah we won't go into that we won't go any further than that but um i was a little surprised because it i i've never seen an accident at that intersection and it did seem kind of like a little silly but i'm not on the county commission so with that uh that's all i've got city attorney nothing this evening thank you enjoy the uh florida cities conference yes We probably won't talk about property taxes at all at that conference.

Okay, take care of your word for that, Mayor.

I'm guessing that's going to be the main focus, but that's fine. We'll learn.

City Manager? Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and I appreciate your question on the awareness of those projects. We do receive a number of communications on DOT road closures. I think every Friday we get a statewide report. I don't know if that is sent out to you all via the TPO, but be happy to forward any of those on that come through. Certainly when they're projects that have an impact on Winter Haven, we are making sure that we have staff attending those so that we, you know, the concerns that we know coming in from residences, as you mentioned, we received an email that was forwarded to my office today concerning a potential median closure on Avondale Boulevard. And that is the purpose of those meetings is for public input and to consider options there. So we can certainly make sure we're getting every one of those out to you as they come in. I did not happen to see anything on that roundabout project. I don't travel that way too often. but we can certainly find out more and get that to you. Tomorrow is the start of Polk County Public Schools 26-27 school year. So just ask on behalf of the staff and parents and students and faculty and all the folks associated with schools, exercise a lot of patience. School buses are going to be running tomorrow. Kids are going to be standing out at bus stops. Parents will be taking a lot of kids to new schools that maybe they haven't attended before. Typically, we see what I'll call heavy congestion around our schools for about the first two, possibly three weeks. That also includes some of the private schools and some new private schools that seem to have come online this year. for tomorrow we will have a rather large complement of city employees out in school zones with our our vehicles with strobes on and flashers to help bring greater attention to the fact that these are school zones and that not only to welcome the students back on behalf of the city but also create an awareness for people to slow down and watch out for students in faculty, teachers, staff, parents, et cetera. So you'll see that beginning tomorrow morning. The commission will be traveling beginning, I believe, some Wednesday night or early Thursday morning to South Florida for the annual Florida League of Cities Conference. We have provided communication to Florida League of Cities for the voting delegation of Mayor Yates for the annual business meeting. And you all have a very lengthy agenda, I know, while you're there. Accompanying you will be Deputy City Manager Carnevale and our Director of Public Affairs and Communications, Katrina Hill. I do want to mention that Ms. Hill is presently at the Florida Public Relations Association's conference, and we will celebrate this a little further upon her return, but today was presented three President's Awards. for her efforts in serving as the president of the Dick Pope slash Polk County chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association. So quite an accomplishment. Super proud of the work that she's doing. on behalf of the city to create effective communications out to our greater community and beyond. And then finally, I will be away from the office on Friday attending a family member's wedding services and in my absence, Assistant City Manager for Public Safety, Charlie Bird, will handle all matters that are emergency in nature and certainly be available by phone and email as need be. Thank you.

Deputy City Manager?

Nothing this evening, sir. Thank you.

City Clerk?

Nothing this evening.

Deputy City Clerk? You good?

All right.

With that, we'll adjourn.