City Commission - Regular Meeting

City clerk. Yes.

Can we do a roll call, please? Yes. Commissioner Davis. Here. Commissioner Dollison. Here. Commissioner Birdsong.

Here.

Mayor Potem Mercer. Here. And Mayor Yates is not present.

The implication and the pledge will be done at Monday night's meeting and the Pledge of Allegiance. We have three presentations for Monday and the strategic plan for tonight and we'll be doing that at the end of the meeting. Also, there are no minutes to review. and there are no ordinances or second readings to review. So now we have the consent agenda, and the deputy city manager will walk us through these items. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor and city commissioners. So the first item we have on the agenda tonight is an agreement for transfer of public roads for Avenue K Southwest from 6th Street Southwest to 3rd Street. So this is down by Borden Dairy, and I will ask Public Works Director Britton Hart to present this one.

So Avenue K Southwest is a county roadway that extends from 6th Street Southwest on the western side to 3rd Street Highway 17 on the eastern side. This is a roadway that is currently owned by Polk County. However, all of the adjacent properties are located within the city's municipal limits. You can see on your screen that there is Borden Dairy, the Aldi's, and then there are businesses just on the south side. So Avenue K, southwest, consists of approximately 30.34 lane miles and is considered an excellent condition as Polk County just resurfaced this roadway in early spring of 26. The right-of-way includes sidewalks along the northern side and a portion of the southern side of the roadway, and the drainage infrastructure within the corridor was refurbished in 2025 when Polk County did a cured-in-place pipelining, and that is also considered to be in good condition. We've inspected this area and have found that the conditions are all good, as stated by Polk County, and this roadway could be taken over. If we do accept the transfer, we will be responsible for the maintenance of the roadway, the sidewalk, and the drainage infrastructure. So there's going to be no direct financial impact associated with this transfer. However, we're going to assume those responsibilities for the long-term maintenance. And we would incorporate this 0.34 lane miles into our roadway inventory and increase the total mileage used so we can get our share of the local gas tax revenue. And so with that, the staff recommends that the commission approve the transfer of Avenue K Southwest from Polk County to Winter Haven and authorize the city manager or his designee to execute that agreement and take any other actions necessary to facilitate the transfer.

All right. Thank you, ma'am. So the next item on the agenda is ITB 2615, Roosevelt Drive Complete Street Project. So this is a local agency program that we are partnering with the FDOT on to put a complete street project on Roosevelt Drive. And I will ask Todd Gooding, our assistant public works director, to kind of walk us through this one.

Good morning. Good afternoon, commissioners, Mayor Pro Tem. The Florida Department of Transportation awarded the City of Winter Haven a $1,211,102 grant to fund a portion of the Complete Street enhancements along Roosevelt Drive from SR 540 to Cypress Gardens Boulevard to Register Road. Following the award, the City entered into a lap agreement with FDOT after approval of Resolution R2540 and Resolution R2603. Kimberly Horn has worked closely with city staff to design the project, which includes extending the roadway to connect with Register Road, adding pedestrian facilities where none more currently exist, installing curb and gutter and rain gardens to improve the stormwater management aspect, and resurfacing the roadway to enhance drivability. The project also includes a significant water utility component consisting of the replacement of an existing asbestos sewer force main and potable water main, allowing the city to utilize a coordinated one-dig approach to minimize further disruption and improve overall efficiency. Following approval of the 100% design plans by both the city and FDOT, FDOT issued a notice to proceed with the advertisement, and the project was advertised for bid as ITB 2615 in mid-February of 26. Eight sealed bids were received and opened on April 8th of 26, and of the eight bidders, Ajax Paving Industries of Florida was determined to be the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. A recommendation of award was subsequently posted and no protests were received. Pending award by the City Commission and final approval by DOT, staff anticipates the construction will begin in late June 2026, and once a notice of proceed is issued, the contractor will have 275 calendar days to complete the project. For the financial impact, the total project cost was bid at $2,042,724, with the roadway portion totaling $1,218,652 and the utilities portion totaling $824,072. FDOT will reimburse the city a maximum of $1,211,102 for the construction of the roadway and pedestrian improvements associated with the project. The remaining balance of $7,550 for the roadway portion will be funded using funds budgeted for the project within our physical year 26-27 transportation fund. The utilities portion of the project will be funded using funds budgeted within the fiscal year 26-27 utility fund to allow for a streamlined administration and issuance of a single project purchase order. The funds associated with the utility portion of the project will be transferred from the utility fund to the transportation fund. This project aligns with the strategic pillars for infrastructure under goals 3.1 and 3.2 and also under responsible government for goals 6.1. Staff recommends the City Commission award ITB 2615 to Ajax Paving Industries of Florida and authorize the city manager or his designee to issue a purchase order in the amount of $2,042,000. $724.33. Transfer the funds associated with the utility portion of the project from the utility fund to the transportation fund and take all additional actions necessary to award the project and complete this construction. I'll stand for any questions.

Thank you, Todd. Just to recap on that too, that's a great example of our partnership with the state that we're getting all those roadway improvements. I think our share of that is about $7,000, and the state will put in about $1.2 million, and then we're able to make utility improvements along with that. That's just a great example of the way those projects can come together through those partnerships. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is purchase of an auto car, ACX64. This is a front-end commercial garbage truck, and Brittany will talk about that. So I'll ask her to present this one.

Yes, good evening again. So as you are all aware that our commercial solid waste division utilizes those front end loaders for garbage, commercial garbage and recycling collection services. Currently we have an aging fleet. One of our units, 6085, is a 2012 MAC front end loader and that is in need of significant repairs and has reached the end of its usable life within our fleet. So our staff is recommending that it be replaced to ensure that we can continue to provide seamless commercial solid waste collection. Florida Tampa Kenworth, who is a vendor under the Florida Sheriff's Association contract, has provided a quote for the purchase of a 2024 auto car ACX 64 chassis with a 28-yard Heil half-pack front-end refuse body. We currently operate at least three of these auto cars within our residential solid waste division, and we have six more on order that we hope to have delivered in October. that you approved earlier this year. They've proven to be reliable and consistent within our fleet, and expanding those into our commercial operation will just continue to support our standardization efforts. So that 2024 auto car chassis has already been completed and upon issuance of this purchase order will be upfitted with the Heil half pack front and body. And we anticipate that with the upfitting time, it's about 90 days and we should have this completed and delivered to us in August of 2026, which is most of you know is relatively quick timeline for a garbage truck turnaround. Those usually cost us about 18 to 24 months once we order them. So the total financial impact, the total cost is going to be $436,263. Of that, $341,356 is available within the capital depletion fund to replace that unit. We do have a balance of $94,970 that will be funded through the commercial solid waste operating budget, utilizing savings from projects that have been completed, as well as from budgeted funds that have not been expensed due to some vacant positions that we had within that division. For our strategic plan alignment, this aligns with the community safety pillar and the goal 5.2 to ensure the ability to meet service demands as our population grows. Staff is recommending that the Commission approve the purchase of this 2024 auto car with the 28-yard Heil half-pack front-end body and authorize the city manager or his designee to issue the purchase in the total amount of $436,263 to Florida Taylor Kenworth and take any additional actions necessary thereto.

Commissioners, any questions?

Yeah, I had a question. Will we, the units that are being replaced, will we savage them or get something out of them?

Yes, sir. So we will be sending 6085 to auction, and then whatever proceeds come from the auction will be reinvested for replacement of future commercial vehicles.

All right.

Thank you.

All right, the next item on the agenda should look familiar because I think everybody saw it as the CRA board, but I'll ask Eric Labby, our Director of Economic Opportunity and Community Investment, to present this one.

good evening so uh... back in march the florenceville advisory committee heard a development proposal from mister terry doodney for property located at the southeast corner of first street north and palmetto avenue north uh... he was approved for a development package uh... both through the advisory committee and the c r a board uh... to include a commercial improvement grant a small business development assistance grant new construction missing middle rental program uh... housing investment program which is a tax rebate and utility connection fee reimbursement the last two incentives the housing investment program uh... which is the tax increment rebate and utility connection fee reimbursement are approved through a developers agreement that developers agreement was approved by the c r a board uh... developers agreements also come to these uh... city commission uh... for approval so it is on your uh... consent agenda for final approval of that housing investment program and utility connection fee reimbursement.

Commissioner, is there any questions?

All right. And then Eric will present the next one as well. The Winter Haven Planning Commission membership. So we will be renewing, recommending reappointment and new appointment for some members.

Yes, sir. So the Planning Commission. uh... is appointed by the members of the planning commission are appointed by the city commission we do have uh... an available seats on the planning commission we had two applicants miss laura lease and mister andrew olsen apply for uh... that vacant seat uh... however mister olsen does not live her own property within the city of winter haven we did review laura leases uh... application uh... she She is a resident of the city of Winter Haven. She owns a number of commercial and residential properties within the city limits. She's a former teacher for Polk County Schools, and she is a recent graduate of City University. And so we are recommending her to fill The vacant seat, it is also a reappointment of a number of seats on the Planning Commission to include Mr. Mario Monago, Lorena Cordero, Wendy Venters, Colin Wells, Ed Smith, and Tina Summerlin. Those are all reappointments.

Any questions?

All right, so the next item on the agenda, 10F, I'd like to ask Steve Pruitt, our parks and grounds superintendent. You guys may not see Steve very often, but Steve oversees a lot of our athletic fields, cemeteries, golf course, parks, grounds. I mean, a lot of stuff that you see out there, Steve has a direct hand in the day to day of.

Good evening, Mayor and city commissioners. Tonight I'd like to come to you that the City of Winter Haven is in partnership, as you know, with Troon Golf Course Management for Willowbrook Golf Course. And we are requesting to replace three central pieces of equipment. With that would be inclusives that you see here in the picture.

The bottom left is our 5510 Toro Reel Master.

That unit is used primarily for the fairways, also our green approaches and the collars. The unit to the far right there on the lower right, that is our 4300 Toro Grounds Master. That unit is primarily used for the roughs. The larger common area, I mean not the common areas, but the larger rough areas of the golf course. And then the unit in the center is the Toro Z Master 5000, which we typically call our zero turn mowers. And that unit is also used for common areas around tee boxes. but primarily the common areas throughout the golf course or up around the clubhouse. Anywhere we have some tight areas that we can large, with large mowing as well. The funding is available through our capital depletion fund. It's supplemented also with equipment cost savings and reserve balance in the Willowbrook fund. The total cost of the equipment is $198,629.38. If we go ahead and replace these units now, we're going to continue to improve the conditions of the golf course with consistent maintenance and upkeep and keep the quality of Willowbrook Golf Course up to its standards. Staff is recommending that city commission approve this purchase and also authorize the city manager or his designee to execute any and all necessary documents for that.

All right. Thank you, Steve. Yeah, and these are really the frontline workhorses of the golf course here, so having them running kind of tip-top shape is pretty critical.

Do you have any questions? No. All right. Thanks, sir.

Next item on the agenda is our RFQ 2418s. This is the water resource facility at Pollard Road, and it's going into the second task order. And Gary Hubbard, our director of Winter Haven Water, will present that.

Thank you, Deputy City Manager. Good evening, Madam Mayor Pro Tem and commissioners. Good to see you this evening. This item on the agenda is a task order associated with the our contract with Wharton Smith. They're our contractor for basically all of our wastewater treatment facilities and how we're going to move from where we currently are with 50-year-old facilities to something a little more modern. So this work associated with this basically is how do we get plant two in shape where we can decommission it and get flow transmitted to Plan 3. So the work includes a new electrical building and a new disk filter for the facility to kind of hold us until we can actually decommission the facility. The new electrical building will be designed such that it can meet the future needs at the Plan 2 location, which will basically be a booster pump station for our reclaimed water system. but it will also have a master lift station there to transmit the flow to plant three. So that's kind of an overall summary of what this item is that we'll be asking for your approval on Monday. The total cost of this work is $1,627,097. That does not include the purchase of the new disk filter. We'll do owner direct purchase on that. So that's pretty much what this item is. We're asking for your approval on Monday evening. Any questions?

All right, next one is Mr. Hubbard's as well. The East Winter Haven Aquifer Recharge Restoration Project. This is our Bradco Farms project, as we refer to it as, and consulting design services with Res.

That's correct. Thank you, Deputy City Manager. So we've been working on... What is our first gem of the sapphire necklace? You know, we purchased the Bradco Farms property in December of 2023, and since that time we've been evaluating what is the best way to implement this project. We've gone through that evaluation, and you're going to have a short presentation this evening that shows you what it's possibly going to look like. And then we'll talk about these task orders that are coming up before you on Monday, the work that's going to be needed to begin moving in that direction. So with that, we have our RES team here. We also have our project manager, Ms. Ainsley Tilley.

So the rest of you want to come up?

This is Matt Thorn. Do you want to introduce your team? I sure do.

Thank you, Gary, and thank you, commissioners. It's a pleasure to be back in front of you. I think it's been almost a year now or so since the last time I got to address the commission, and I'm excited to get to do that tonight. We're here with an update on the status of the Sapphire Necklace project, at least the initial project in that process. Oh, I can control it, right? There we go. If y'all will recall, the project is part of the overall Sapphire Necklace project. trail system and Aquifer recharge project and what differentiates I believe the sapphire necklace from other projects similar to it throughout the country that I get to work on is just the the additionality the Charles project carries that we don't see for other managed aquifer recharge projects throughout the country and Sapphire necklace not only includes a significant groundwater recharge a component for water supply resilience But it also includes floodplain and stormwater storage wildlife habitat Passive recreation opportunities for the citizenry and then also ecotourism opportunities for folks who are visiting the fine city of Winter Haven Just to remind everybody I'm I'm not from around here, you can probably tell by my accent. So I'm from Houston, Texas. I'm representing our company Resource Environmental Solutions corporate office in Houston, Texas who has a, this is what we do. We do these types of projects all over the country and we're starting to do them in other countries as well. So they want to assign someone in corporate as the project principal but our local team is made up of our esteemed project manager Angel Wynn, who's in Tampa, and also TJ LaRue, who's a little more local here in Lakeland. The Bradco Farms project, which is the initial gem in the sapphire necklace, we are nearing completion of our due diligence period. That was our alternative analysis and all of our preliminary engineering reports that we put together for the city, and we're ready to move now into the design phase of the project. And those are the tasks that are on the agenda for Monday's review. And with that, I'm gonna go ahead and turn it over to Angel to walk through those tasks.

Hi, good afternoon. I'm Angel Nguyen. I'm the project manager for this project. And as you're aware, we have three items on the agenda for review and approval. And the first item is the water line and wellhead proposal, which is known as Task 4. And this is the first step in getting the system up and operable. It includes the design, permitting, construction, and sampling of the water line and wellhead. And this task amounts to approximately $2.4 million. Our second item up for review is the pre-permit design proposal, which will be known as task five. And this is the stage in when we take the design of the wetland and aquifer recharge system to 60% and begin the permitting process. This task amounts to approximately $1.7 million, and RES will be contributing a half a million dollars of grant money towards the funding of that portion of the project. The third item up for review and approval is a proposal for the boundary surveys and phase one environmental site assessments. And this will be task six. And this includes landowner negotiations and preliminary due diligence activities as the project footprint is solidified. And this task amounts to approximately $80,000. And with that, I'll turn it over to our lead engineer, TJ LaRue, who will give more detail on the design and conceptual plans.

Thank you.

All right. Appreciate everyone's time today. So what our due diligence period has allowed us to do is look at a permitting pathway and refine the design of the system. And what we've learned is that through the use of surface water from the Peace Creek drainage canal and the reclaimed water, we do have a feasible project here. And what we're able to do is reroute some of the water from the Peace Creek drainage canal down to the central area of the project. And this is important because through the due diligence period we ascertained that the best location to have the aquifer recharge well is where it's shown there in the middle of the project area. And so to get the water there to ensure that we can meet the project goal of two million gallons a day on an annual average was key. And so what we were able to do is to do this in a manner in which there can be active and passive recreation on the site. And to combat the possibility of any flooding issues, we have some emergency overflows in place to prevent that. On the southern wetland side, we're looking at also using the surface water and reclaimed water to hydrate those wetlands. even during the low flow conditions. In the middle of the project near the well, you can see that there is a proposed structure there, and that will allow water to move between the north and south wetland, depending on the water availability to ensure that there's enough water to maintain the health of the systems. With that, here's some little closer views of the northern wetland system, and you can see in better detail the grading that has gone into the plan and where we stand today, as well as the aquifer recharge location there on the bottom left of your screen. And then again, on the southern end here, you can see the southern wetland system as well as that connection point and our grading plan there. And with that, I'd like to pass it back to Matt, who's going to take you through some visualization of the project beyond the engineering design.

And I'm borrowing these images from a presentation that was put together, an actual graduate project that was put together by Eric Gomez for his advanced degree. Eric now works for Catalyst Design Group, and Catalyst is part of our team for the design phase of the project under Task 5. Eric did a really good job as a student, and I can't wait to see what he does when he updates these images. as part of our design team and now a professional landscape architect, just visualizing what the project could encompass, the elements that it could bring to bear as we move into the actual implementation of the project. Folks that are on our team our local team drum and carpenter is going to support us with the actual water quality and Treatment of the water before the water goes back down into the aquifer recharge Well to meet state and federal water quality requirements Phillips is on our team as a value-added member of our team They will be informing our design as we move forward as far as the actual construction logistics where material would have to go how we would get in and out of the site and for the actual construction phase of the project. Ducks Unlimited is part of our team as well to inform the final habitat design. They have been informing us all along on the preliminary work that we've done. And then, of course, Catalyst who provided these initial early visualizations of what the project could look like when Eric did his graduate work. And with that, we'll wrap it up and take any questions. Thank you all.

If I could just expand a little bit. So the concepts that we're looking at, I'm going to go to the northern wetland. This includes two additional major properties. The Muncie property is to the north on this diagram. It's about 100 acres, and in between there is the King property. We'll be coming back to city commission later this fiscal year to actually purchase the Muncie property and the King property will be in easement. But these properties were crucial to make this project more desirable, I think, for our citizens. And it's very close, if you can remember what the original concept plan looked like, this is very close to what we imagined this project would look like. So the RES team has done an outstanding job with this, and I'll be happy to take any questions you might have.

I never thought I'd see you today.

I know that.

I wanted to highlight something from the financial impact section. When you add all these task orders up, overall it's about $4.2 million. When you start backing out the credit from Coke and you back out grant funding from FDEP, the city's portion of that ends up at about $1.3 million. That's another example of a place where we're taking our local dollars and leveraging it against state dollars and private dollars to try to bring a project like this to the community.

Yeah, that's a great point. We have $2 million from Pepsi. Res brought with them $1.5 million from Coca-Cola. a half million of that will go towards this initial task. The remainder will go towards construction. We have 6.375 million from Resilient Florida to go towards this project in the future, so that's going to be used also for land acquisition and construction. And the remainder of the balance of the project, when we get to that point, will be funded most likely through a revenue bond.

Gary, I just have one question. I thought I saw some structures on, I don't know that this one is the one, but when it was going from one to the other, is that like an over, there it is, is that like an overflow?

So that will actually be a pump to pump from one side to the other side. And you can see our utility complex over there on Buckeye Loop Road. So we're going to be backing right up to this project, and it's just going to be incredible. We envision that we'll have people that will come into our parking lot just to get access to the trail system that will eventually be here to really enjoy this project. So we're pretty excited about this. We would think that construction of the actual project, because of permitting, probably would be looking, Ainsley, what are you thinking? Yeah, so mid-2027 start of construction. We get to that point, we're already drilling the well. If you happen to go out that way, the drilling rig is on site now, so we're drilling the recharge well. So we're making good progress on this project.

Thank you.

All right. All right. Next item is also utilities related. So this is with the Polk Regional Water Cooperative. So connecting up with the city of Auburndale so that we're able to wheel some water. Gary, speak to that as well.

Thank you, Deputy City Manager. So as you know that we're going to be taking water from PRWC at the Pollard Road new water production facility, which you approved at the last city commission for the design of that. And here in the next very near future, we'll be bringing the CMAR agreement to you for that approval in construction of both the Pollard Road and the Cypresswood facilities. At the Pollard Road facility, we'll be taking 1.52 million gallons eventually. for the city of Winter Haven. We'll be taking another 1.65 million gallons for Auburndale and one million gallons for Lake Alfred. We will be wheeling water through our system to the city of Auburndale and the city of Lake Alfred. And this agenda item is to extend our transmission system to the new receiving station that will be built by PRWC for Auburndale. So it's an extension of about 2,300 feet along Derby Avenue over to the city of Auburndale. The cost of this effort is, one second here, This is for the design and CEI services, $129,555, and Dewberry Engineers would be the engineers doing this work. So this item will be on your agenda for Monday evening, and we're asking for your approval, and I'll stand for any questions.

Commissioner.

And Gary, this is an item that would be covered under a future reimbursement agreement potentially with the PRWC, correct?

That is correct. We will be entering into an agreement with PRWC for this work.

And just to add a few footnotes to what Mr. Hubbard has said, we are already, I've provided a draft of a reimbursement agreement for Pollard Road Logistics, and that's in process of being reviewed. And I believe that, just as a matter of note, the overall estimated construction cost for this particular matter is about 2.3 million, give or take. So we are well within the statutory threshold to allow us to use Dubarry as one of our continuing contractors. And that just so happens to work out well because they also are the engineers for the PRWC. So hopefully that will help ease and streamline efficiencies when we are seeking reimbursement. Yeah, great point, great point. Thank you.

Any questions? Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we have the resolutions, and Deputy City Manager will give us an overview of the resolutions.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you. So first resolution is R2616, which is acceptance of conveyance of certain non-exclusive utility easements from the Gates of Lake Region Homeowners Association. And I'll ask City Attorney John Murphy to give us an overview of that one.

Thank you, Deputy City Manager. Just a brief overview of this item. We operate Lift Station, I believe it's 179, which is located there just adjacent to the Gates of Lake Region Country Club. You all may be familiar with that. uh... that particular subdivision was uh... platted originally in nineteen ninety five uh... when those lands were at that time located in the unincorporated area of polk county after they were platted they then annexed the property into the city limits and the property was uh... was developed uh... as it is today single-family residential community interestingly enough uh... it appears that uh... although the plat was accepted Pope County Board of County Commissioners, there was not an express conveyance of any of the utility easements to the City of Winter Haven at that time. And furthermore, it was discovered not too long ago, about a year ago, that the TECO bill for Lift Station 179 had been paid for by the HOA. And that was a system and equipment that the city of Winter Haven had always, through its custom and practice and through its conduct, had maintained and operated. And we consider it as, and do to this day, as part of our system. When that was brought to our attention by the HOA, we had some further discussions and negotiations with them, and we ultimately entered into a settlement that resolved the issue of TECO. We informed TECO that bills from, I believe it was June of 2025 forward, should be going to the city of Winter Haven. We agreed to reimburse the HOA a sum of money that would have represented about five years' worth of TICO bills. And we also indicated to them, to the HOA, that we needed an easement from them. to confirm the city's ingress, egress, and ability to maintain and take care of the infrastructure that was, utility infrastructure that's in that subdivision. So that's what this easement that they provided to us. And in exchange for the easement, the monetary consideration that we provided was about a 12-month period worth of credit on their reclaimed water that they purchased from us. And I want to say that's around $23,000, give or take. I think that the... THAT'S PROBABLY REASONABLE UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. AND SO WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR YOU TO DO ON MONDAY IS TO AFFIRMATIVELY ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE EASEMENT THAT'S BEEN RECORDED IN THE PUBLIC RECORDS SO THERE'S AFFIRMATIVE ACCEPTANCE OF THAT AND TO RATIFY, ACCEPT AND CONFIRM THE OTHER ACTIONS THAT I'VE JUST DESCRIBED. So this is sort of a cleanup matter. It resolves an issue that was brought to our attention in a satisfactory manner with citizens in our community. It has the full support of our utilities department, the city manager, and the city attorney. So we're looking for that. Happy to answer any questions if you have any.

Any questions? Discussion?

Thank you. The final item on the agenda for this evening, as far as resolutions go, is R2618. So this is adoption of a capital asset policy for the city. So the issuance and management of capital assets is an important component of our financial strategy. And having a clear and comprehensive policy promotes consistent reporting, compliance with accounting standards, strong stewardship over public assets, and standardized capitalization and depreciation practices. Key provisions of this policy include capitalization thresholds. That is assets that have an individual cost over $10,000 or an estimated useful life of at least three years that will be capitalized and recorded as capital assets. A perfect example of that are the mowers that we looked at tonight. Those will end up as capital assets because of their cost and the fact that we plan to use them for more than three years. The policy also creates asset categories, so it establishes standardized classifications for land, building infrastructure, equipment, leased assets, subscription software, intangible assets, and construction in progress. So making sure that we know how to categorize those assets. And again, I think that last one, construction in progress, is always interesting because it's something we may not think of as an asset because it's not something that's usable yet, but it is something that there's been investment in, so we capitalize it as an asset. And then depreciation standards. So capital assets excluding land and construction in progress will be depreciated using a straight line method over established useful lives. The other things that are included in there are asset tagging and inventory. So how do we actually assign numbers and track all of that information with those assets? Transfers and disposals. So members, I think you asked question about what are we doing with the front end loader that we're replacing? So how do we actually get rid of those policy speaks to that and then the internal controls and financial reporting and kind of our audit compliance? So this is just kind of updating our policies on that and making sure that they're tight our new CFO Chris reader Worked on this and Alan weeks our budget management officers here to answer any questions that you guys may have But there's no financial impact associated with it kind of the opposite on this one, right? We're making sure that we're we're tracking and accounting for all the finances and then staff recommends the City Commission adopt resolution our 2618 establishing the city's Capital asset policy and authorized city manager or is does it need to take any further action necessary? related there

Okay. Now I guess we'll be ready for our strategic plan and presentation. Yes. And the quality of life.

Yes. This is a great one, right? Quality of life. So just as a reminder, we present on every one of our strategic pillars every month. We present one strategic pillar a month. So of our six strategic pillars, we get each one twice a year. So this month we are working on quality of life. So the elements of quality of life, these are things that we think of as living and general well-being, access to clean water, mobility, opportunities for cultural and recreational activities, aesthetic features of the community, and kind of that overall sense of community and belonging, which I think you'll hear a lot about this evening. So with that, I'll turn it over to Chase Hogue from our aquatics team to kind of kick us off and tell us a little bit about the... kindergarten swim program and then after her i will hear about our summer camp program and update on the carillon bill tower and then a little bit kind of uh crescendoing here with our america 250 and moroccan freedom list okay all right good evening mayor pro temp and commissioners my name is chase hogue and i'm a recreation supervisor in aquatics

As some of you guys may know, our department does provide swim lessons to the community. And this past year, we were able to provide almost 900 lessons through the American Red Cross Learn to Swim program. But tonight I am thrilled to speak about a new partnership that we had this past spring with Polk County Public Schools, where we were able to provide swim lessons to kindergarten students during their school day. So this partnership consisted of a two-week program. The first week, the students participated in watching water safety videos and participated in some water safety activities during their PE class at the school. The second week, they were transported from the school to the Rowdy Gaines Olympic Pool, where they then participated in a in-water swim lesson with our certified instructors. The first school that we were able to partner with was Jewett School of the Arts. We got to serve three different kindergarten classes for a total of 50 students. The second school that we were able to partner with was Snively Elementary School. We served another three different kindergarten classes for a total of 42 students. This opportunity was amazing for the kiddos. Some of them had never taken swim lessons before, so it was their first time. Some made sure to tell me that the Rowdy Gaines pool was the biggest pool they have ever seen before. And honestly, what kid doesn't want to leave school and go swimming? This program definitely brought some excitement and some fun, but it also brought a lot of progression with these kids' swimming skills. On day one, we did have a lot of kids that were very reluctant and fearful to get in, but come that last day, they were jumping in, they were comfortable, confident, and having a great time. I know for myself, as well as our instructors, seeing that excitement and then seeing that progression with the kids definitely does make what we do so rewarding and meaningful. I am excited to see how this partnership progresses in the future. We are currently working on expanding the program, being able to offer more lessons for more kindergartners and more schools. So I cannot wait for the day where I get to stand before you guys again, give you an update on how this partnership has progressed. And I thank you for your time. So I am going to pass it to Ms. Tanisha Duncan, and she is going to give you guys an update on the city summer camp program. Thank you.

Thank you, Chase. Good evening, Mayor Pro Tem and commissioners. My name is Tanisha Duncan. I am the recreation supervisor three at the field house and I'm also the summer camp coordinator. I would like to share some highlights with you about our camp that is called Camp Off the Chain. This year we have four sites. So we have Windhaven Recreation and Culture Center. We have the Fieldhouse Rotary Park. And then also we have the opportunity to be at a school at Lakeship Elementary. In previous years, we served 280 campers. This year we're serving 340. Our camp operates from Monday through Friday. This week we started camp. I wanted to mention that June 1st to July 24th, we operate from Monday through Friday, 7.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Camps, they swim twice a week. They go on a field trip once a week. Some of the field trips that we're going on is Gatorland. This week is Fun Spot, Urban Air, Bonnet Springs, Pioneer Village. We also have a volunteer program for our leaders in training, 15 to 17-year-old high school kids. They're able to help out and they get community service as well. We started our registration April 7th, which typically at the field house we fill up within 30 minutes. Within two days, all four locations were filled up. I'm excited to say that we have Otis Bergson that is going to be hosting a basketball skill camp next week for a week. He has 100 and plus participants, and also our campers at Windhaven Rec will be able to participate as well. I wanted to also thank some of our internal partners that help out, which is National Resources, Aquatics Team, the Police Department, We wouldn't forget anybody, public service and the airport and solid waste as well. And the library. uh... we do have a partnership with polk county school board that is starting tomorrow they're going to be providing summer camp on the feeding program so they'll be able to get lunch uh... breakfast and also one p m snack uh... that starts tomorrow and then it will end on july twenty third so that caters to uh... the kindergarteners anybody under eighteen so they'll be able to get lunch as well And with further ado, I'd like to introduce Katie White, who's going to talk on the Carillon Project.

Good evening, Mayor Parton and Commissioners. I'm Katie White, Project Lead with the Parks and Rec Department, and I'll be giving an update on the Carillon Bell Tower. Mr. Tom Olt, who is a longtime resident of Winter Haven and very active in the community, approached the commission or the city in late 2024 about donating funds to erect a carillon tower in South Central Park. He was inspired by a similar tower he had seen in Holland. The bell tower was intended to honor his family who have been in the area since the 1920s and to be a gift to the city of Winter Haven and an attraction and a unique feature to downtown for everyone to enjoy. The City Commission entered into an agreement in early 2025 for the development of the bell tower. Mr. Olt donated around $360,000 for the entire project, with $230,000 going towards the tower and the remainder for a design element, hardscape, electric, and a few other elements. The steel bell tower was installed in April of this year and stands approximately 24 feet tall. and was engineered, fabricated, and installed by the Verding Company out of Ohio. The tower contains 23 bronze bells weighing from 20 to 97 pounds, with the lowest bell being located nine feet from the ground. The bells were cast in a bell foundry in the Netherlands. Within each bell, there are electrically operated cast iron strikers. The site also includes a five foot wrought iron gate, accessible sidewalk from the trail, informational plaques and a decorative ballards in between the tower and parking lot. Staff are working to finalize the bell schedule. Currently the tower rings on the hour with Westminster Times. Staff are also working to coordinate schedules with other times in the area. The bell tower also is currently programmed to play four songs a day. The bell tower came with a two octave keyboard and hundreds of pre-programmed songs. There are several categories of songs that the Tower can play, including classical, general, patriotic, which will be a great asset for the upcoming 4th, seasonal holiday songs, which will be great for Christmas and other holidays. Some other neat features of the Tower are the songs can be added through the Verdin Company, and another really neat option is that you can play on the keyboard and record it, and the Tower can play it at any time. So where we currently are and next steps for the project are to complete the site work and also to gain remote access to the programming. Staff are also continuing to receive training on that programming. The tower will require annual maintenance, which will be contracted through the Burden Company, and Mr. Olt has set up an account for that. Staff are working with Mr. Olt to plan a celebration in the fall with a ribbon cutting and a concert. We'll have a definitive date and additional details coming soon. And now, I'll hand it off to Katrina to give an update on America 250.

Good evening, Mayor Pro Tem and Commissioners. My name is Katrina Hill, the Director of Public Affairs and Communication. And I have had the honor of working with Natalie Wilson, Scott Eilert, and the rest of the team as we gear up for America 250 and really increasing our celebrations and festivities around 4th of July this year as part of that. So what you see on the screen, you each have a set of this at your seats. So the shirt on the left is actually a staff shirt, red, white, and chain of lakes. All of our city staff has received this shirt this week or they will by tomorrow. We're in the middle of delivering all of those. And they are all going to be allowed to wear them on their Friday. I say their Friday because not all of our staff works Monday through Friday. um so you may see some wearing them on wednesdays and sundays depending on their shifts but all of our staff get to kind of wear these on their casual fridays to celebrate and represent the city as we celebrate america 250. the yellow version of the same design that you see there in the middle of the screen is actually what our staff will be wearing at the fourth of july event so that's how you'll identify our staff working the event The hats that are there in the middle of the screen with the same design are being given to our staff that work primarily outdoors, especially those that potentially wear some safety gear. So maybe they can't wear the t-shirts on their Friday. So they've got something that they can wear when they are out in the field as well. And then each of you and our administrative team and directors have received a polo with the same design. So if we need to be a little bit more formal, we can still represent the campaign. Next up, these should be in any time in the next week or so, and then we're going to work with our streets team to get these put up. But there are two sets of banners that are going to be going up all around town. So think of everywhere that you normally see our holiday decorations, you're going to see So what you see on the right of the screen is some of our gateways have larger banner brackets and double sided like that. So there are five of these locations throughout the city. There's one at the airport, one on MLK or out on Dundee road, um, Haven Dale field house. And I believe out on MLK as well. So you'll see both there. On the left, you'll see how all of the other banners will be installed when we have single brackets, and that's that every other one will alternate those designs. So you've already seen the red, white, and chain of lakes design. The fireworks, friends, and fresh water is going to be our sort of design theme for Rockin' Freedom Fest event. We also have some really fun bunting and ribbons and things coming in that you'll see put up downtown. So this is just a kind of quick rendering example of what that might look like. But some of our buildings downtown are going to have the bunting. All of the big trees throughout our parks downtown and along the Chain of Lakes Trail are going to have big red, white, and blue ribbons tied around them. And that's going to contribute to our wayfinding for the event itself. So since people can't use Third Street to walk down to MLK Park like they may have in the past, we're going to be doing some really robust communication and signage to point people to the Chain of Leaks Trail, which is nice and shaded. They'll be able to walk right up to the park. and those ribbons will kind of guide their way. We also have some bunting and ribbons coming to go along all the railing along Central. So really trying to create a festive downtown and sense of place and sense of celebration around America 250. And then a special edition of our Rockin' Freedom Fest this year. So again, you see that fireworks, friends, and fresh water design. Those t-shirts will actually be available for sale to the public as kind of an event swag. We also may or may not have worked to procure some t-shirt cannons so that we can send those out into the audience and create some fun that way. We're excited to welcome Bay Kings Band back as our entertainment, our headliners for that event again. But you're going to see some additional things happening on the stage. So when they take their breaks between sets, we're going to do some things to honor veterans and some fun audience participation activities. Think good old American activities like hot dog eating contests. may happen while we're there. We've got some other event swag and giveaways that we'll be handing out. We have our food trucks and our vendors coming again. We think we've kind of optimized that load-in plan a little bit, learning from last year. We have enlisted the fire department to bring our giant American flag back out to the event. Our partners at the Cypress Gardens water ski team are going to do an enhanced show, water ski show in celebration of America 250. And then finally, closing the event with fireworks. It is not a longer fireworks show this year, but it is more robust. So fuller show, bigger finale, and big celebration that way. Mentioned it a moment ago, but I'll mention it again. We are working on parking plans. We recognize that there's some construction out here. We will work with Tucker to make sure that's buttoned up and as safe as it can be, but obviously we don't want people walking through the construction site. So we are working with BayCare Winter Haven Hospital to utilize their parking lots that are along Lake Silver Drive. And then we've got all of our facility parking around here. The parking garage will make the walkways up to the park very clear. We are going to be running some shuttles So we'll have some routes. So if you're parked at the parking garage, where we can shuttle you up to the park as well. So you'll see communication coming out about that here in the coming weeks. And I know they just had a meeting today, I think Charlie shared with me, to talk about safety plans and inclement weather plans and all those types of things. So making sure it is a safe and fun event. We expect a big turnout, and we want to have an extra special celebration this year. We have talked about the Kindergarten Swim Program, Summer Camp, the Carillon Bell Tower, and America 250 and Rockin' Freedom Fest, and staff is here if you have any questions.

I guess with the 250, America 250, what do we estimate the number of people come out to that? I mean, it's a pretty crowded situation already. And I'm just wondering, you know, as we've grown, the city has grown, you know, what kind of numbers are we looking at? Because it is taxing to try to get in there now.

I'm going to defer to Assistant City Manager for Public Safety, Mr. Bright.

That was a topic of our discussion today as well. I know Scott and we've in the past probably estimated around 5,000. There could be more than that because this is a 250, so we're planning for the best that we can to deal with a very large crowd. So we're anticipating high, and if it's less, that's okay. We're prepared. But I think the estimates were right around 5,000.

So it's $150 for the eight weeks for city residents and $300 for non-city residents for eight weeks.

Yes None we weren't able to take any in as I mentioned before within 30 minutes and within a day or two We were full at all four locations Yes, sir There's the hundred over there registered I

You're welcome. And they're underway, right? Tunisia Summer Camp is full swing.

Yes, it is. We went to Fun Spot. We're going to Fun Spot this week, so we've been going. All right.

I just have one more thing on the swimming. If you want, I know Kiwanis used to do the swimming, and they had every child a swimmer program, and they've been with the city for a long time, I know. And they had said that they kind of... Haven't done it in the last couple of years, but they wanted to get back into it. Do they need to see you?

Yes, ma'am. So I have connection with Dave Browns with Kiwanis. He actually just came out this past March while we were certifying our new water safety instructors. He brought some kiddos out so that our instructors could get some teaching experience and we could also provide those lessons to a few kids. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

The Clarion Bell Tower, are we going to try to promote that? It's kind of unique to have something like it in our city, correct? I'm sorry, what was that? The Clarion Bell Tower. Oh, the Carillon Bell Tower. Will we do something to promote that as a destination to come, you know, and, you know, pretty much see something that is kind of unique. I know there's others that are, of course, Block Tower, but it's not different. But something very unique in Boat County and in the central Florida area. So are we doing anything just kind of promoting that or making people make that known to the public?

We have plans to promote it. We are going to be working on several promotional things with the trail town. and also tied in with Bell Tower, so that's coming.

As we get the finishing touches put on that, you know, you'll start to see more of that come out, but we're still, they had a lift out there today, they're still working on some things, but as that kind of comes to finality, you'll start to see some more promotional material roll out about it.

Yeah, what's the expected completion on that?

Expected completion? In the next couple of weeks. And we'll do something more formal in line with Mr. Olds' wishes later in the year when he can have some family and others present.

We're targeting fall so the weather is a little bit nicer since it will be an outdoor concert. It will pretty much bring your lawn chairs and we'll have an organist that will be playing on the keyboard.

Okay. There are no ordinances for first reading. There's no new business. And if there are no other questions, concerns, or comments, we'll adjourn.

Matt and Madam Mayor Pro Tem, just a quick comment, and I can speak more about this on Monday, but just reminding the city, you all, and what have you, there's a provision in Florida statutes in the Elections Code that deals with communications now that we have a proposition that is going before the voters in November regarding property tax reform. There's a section of the elections code which is referred to as 106.151 that prohibits certain public expenditures and communications directly to voters. That would now kick in because that is a ballot measure. So I just want to remind everyone of that. As we proceed forward, we'll make sure that we continue to be mindful of that. Prohibition on the expenditure of public funds and people on our behalf, types of communications that are allowed and not allowed. And I know that Commissioner Davis has had some involvement with this with regard to the Polk County School Board's half mil or one mil property tax issue legally you know and so we i will continue to keep you apprised as as as we can along with the city stat management as to those types of things and I'm sure working in conjunction with Ms. Hill and I would imagine throughout the state that there will be some, hopefully some uniformity but the point that I'm trying to make is that there is a law in the books that prohibits certain things and I'm sure that we want to be very mindful of that as we now move down the road because I'm sure that there will be a lot of eyes on the local governments in making sure that they adhere to the statute as it relates to communications regarding the property tax reform matter.

And John, I would anticipate some education coming from the Florida League of Cities on that as well.

Yeah, I would expect that as well. And I know that Ms. Hill and I have had discussions about that already. There's already been some information on a preliminary basis provided by the Florida League of Cities. I just wanted to assure the elected body that we're – We're on top of it. Just make your awareness of it. There are some protocols that we need to be mindful of and we'll continue to keep you posted.

And you'll keep us up to date on all of the details of each one of them?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Yes.

the use of public funds that also would apply any, you know, we're salaried. We don't really go on the clock or off the clock. When we're in our official capacity as a commissioner, we can't advocate for or against the resolution. So that means it doesn't just mean here when we're in a meeting or in a public meeting if we're speaking publicly and people start asking us questions we we can give facts we can talk about how much of our budget is made up from property taxes but we can't give our opinion and we certainly can't say vote up or down either way so and that would be the guidance we get the best thing is just you know err on the side of caution and just say i can't talk about it i can't advocate for it you know you can answer questions but otherwise We're not out there to – I'm sure there will be a concerted effort across the state on both sides. It will be a very rigorous debate. I don't think people will be confused, and we'll have ways of explaining the impact and let the voters decide.

Right. That's well put. And yes, that – I really can't add any more to that. That was helpful. And the reason I'm bringing it up is just because it is something that's now relevant. So we just want to be mindful of that. Thank you.

Thank you.

I was ready.