City Commission - Regular Meeting

Commissioner Davis. Here. Commissioner Dollison. Here. Commissioner Birdsong. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Mercer. Here. And Mayor Yates.

Here. All right, this evening we'll have invocation led by Elder John Holman of St. Paul Worship Center, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, led by City Clerk Vanessa Castillo.

Please stand if able.

Will you bow your heads with me? Eternal God, first of all, we thank you for being so wonderful to us, the great city of Winter Haven, that you allowed us to come together. God, we thank you for this opportunity to come before that throne of grace. God, I would that you bless every city worker, city employee. Oh, God, bless every commissioner. God, bless our mayor and all of those that hold position in this wonderful city. On tonight's meeting, God, every decision that is made, I pray, God, that they would think of those that are less fortunate. God, that the decision will benefit all mankind. We need you in these trying times, these difficult times. God, I speak peace in this city. I speak togetherness, and I speak love and harmony. God, we thank you for what you're about to do. We give you praise and honor. And God, we end this prayer the same way we began it, by telling you thank you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Mayor and commissioners, good evening. We have before you this evening two proclamations to present, one for Lakes Appreciation Month, one for Parks and Recreation Month. Mr. Carnevale, our deputy manager, will present the Lakes Appreciation Month. I believe Princess Howell Coleman and other members of our Lakes Advisory Committee are here to receive that. So if you all want to come to the podium to do so, and MJ, take it away.

Thank you, City Manager. Good evening, Mayor and City Commissioners. And I think as I mentioned during the resolution on Wednesday evening, I think it's worth noting this is the 40th year that the Lakes Advisory Committee has existed. So that's pretty exciting. Whereas Winter Haven, Florida is part of a global community that desires to take action to create positive change. positive environmental change. And whereas 50 lakes are contiguous to the city of Winter Haven, including the northern and southern chain of lakes. And whereas lakes are an important part of Winter Haven's way of life, providing social, economic, and ecological benefits. And whereas the city of Winter Haven has taken the lead in protecting and restoring water quality to its lakes. Whereas in working towards a sustainable future for our children, we must also provide them the tools and experiences they need to solve the environmental problems of the future. And whereas through constant and friendly communication about environmental issues, citizens will tend to be more creative, sensitive, experimental, and flexible in resolving the challenges faced. And whereas Lakes Appreciation Month can draw people together in appreciation of Winter Haven's lakes and recognize the need to protect them for future generations. Now, therefore, William Brian Yates, Mayor of the City of Winter Haven, Florida, is hereby recognized July 2026 as Lakes Appreciation Month in the City of Winter Haven and urge all citizens to visit a lake and consider what they can do to contribute to a healthy and sustainable future. In witness whereof, he is herein to sign, set his hand, and cause the seal of the City of Winter Haven, Florida, to be affixed this 13th day of July 2026. Signed, William Brian Yates, Mayor. Attest, Vanessa Castillo, City of Winter Haven.

Lakes Appreciation Month is a nationally recognized event, but here in Winter Haven, we celebrate our most outstanding, unique feature, our chain of lakes, 12 months out of the year. We are truly blessed to live here. I'm certain that our outstanding natural feature, our lakes, is a major draw for the flocks of people who are moving into the area. Now, this is an aside. I sometimes wish our lakes were maybe a well-kept secret. That's getting caught in traffic on 17 and Cypress Gardens Boulevard. Our Natural Resources Division has prepared the 2025 Annual Lakes Report. It is an outstanding scientific work which tells us where we are now and what the trends are for all the lakes in our jurisdiction, wholly or in part. This is an abbreviated summary of it, which is invaluable. The entire report is over 300 pages. I don't encourage you or recommend that you decide it's an afternoon read. There's way too much in there. Try the executive summary and then maybe five lakes at a time. The read through that I did a couple of weeks ago took me several days and it impressed me once again with how the characteristics of each lake determine the best path to mediating the human caused accelerated eutrophication. By studying each lake closely, our guys stand a good chance of determining whether it's a retention pond, whether it is street sweeping or conversion from septic to municipal sewage, or something like alum treatments that would do the best job of keeping our lakes aesthetically beautiful, boating and fishing good, and wildlife friendly. And just a thought as to whether all of this is economically viable and well used by the public. That question will be answered by a visit to our nature parks like the South Lake Highwood Nature Park on a weekday as well as the weekend. They are mobbed. Personally, I can't wait to see how our new property, the Northern Winter Haven Chain of Lakes Wetland Restoration Project turns out. We can't have enough green space these days. On behalf of the City's Lakes Advisory Committee, I want to thank you for this proclamation, which is testimony to your commitment to protect our lakes. We are all justly proud of our attractive, boatable, fishable, walkable, green-shaded community, and with your guidance and support, it's only gonna get better. Thank you very much.

I'd like to say just a couple words. I don't know if you realize, hopefully you do, what a staff you have with the Lakes Division here in Winter Haven. They are unique, I think, in their scientific endeavors and their efforts to keep the Commission and the citizens of Winter Haven appraised of what's going on. And I want to thank the City Commission for their continuous support of Lakes Education and for the Project Eagle and all of the other projects that we have supporting our lakes. Thank you so much.

Francis, if you and the group...

All right, you guys have a break here. One, two, three. One more.

And I recommend that you go from page to page. I just want you to please.

Please. I know one person that has read, back in the day, she used to correct the grammar and stuff.

Mayor and commissioners, your next proclamation for this evening is in recognition of Parks and Recreation Month. I'd like to invite our interim director, Scott Eilers, to the podium. I know he's got a number of members of our outstanding Parks and Recreation team to join him. Hopefully there are no air cannons launching T-shirts at you this evening. Yet. So the proclamation reads as follows. Whereas Parks and Recreation Month has been celebrated nationally since 1985 to recognize the vital role Parks and Recreation Services play in enhancing the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities. And whereas the City of Winter Haven's parks, trails, lakes, facilities, and public spaces provide opportunities for recreation, education, and community connection for residents and visitors of all ages. And whereas parks and recreation promote physical and mental well-being by encouraging active lifestyles, providing access to nature, and creating welcoming spaces where individuals and families can gather, play, and thrive. And whereas the 2026 National Recreation and Park Association Parks and Recreation Month theme, The Power Of, celebrates the transformative power of parks and recreation to bring people together, foster belonging, and strengthen communities. And whereas parks and recreation contribute to Winter Haven's economic vitality, environmental stewardship, and overall quality of life, And whereas the dedicated parks and recreation professionals, part-time staff, volunteers, instructors, and community partners who serve Winter Haven work year-round to provide safe, accessible, and high-quality programs, events, and facilities that enrich the lives of our residents. Now, therefore, William Bryan Yates, Mayor of the City of Winter Haven, does hereby proclaim July 2026 as Parks and Recreation Month in the City of Winter Haven and encourages the entire Winter Haven community to celebrate by visiting a park, participating in a recreation program, and acknowledging the dedicated individuals who make these services possible. In witness whereof, he is here to set his hand and cause the seal of the City of Winter Haven, Florida to be affixed this 13th day of July, 2026. Signed, William Brian Yates, Mayor. Attest, Vanessa Castillo, City Clerk.

Commissioners. I just want to thank you guys for the proclamation and recognizing the Parks, Rec and Culture team for all of the positive impacts they make on the lives of the community and the citizens that live in it. Thank you.

Okay, this evening we have no developments of note. However, we do have three, five sets of minutes for approval. Mr. Mayor? Yes. Move approval of all of the minutes. Thank you. Any discussion or questions on the minutes as presented? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries. All right, comments from the audience. We did have one person sign up. However, they changed their mind. However, if you would like to address the commission, now's your opportunity. Anyone from the audience wish to address the commission? Seeing none, we'll move forward. We've got no second readings this evening. However, we do have a consent agenda. Mr. Mayor?

Yes. Move approval of the consent agenda in its entirety.

Okay. Motion's been made to approve the consent agenda. This time we'll close the commission meeting, open a public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to any item on the consent agenda? Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing, reopen the city commission meeting. Any further discussion or questions? All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries.

Resolution R26-19, City Attorney.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Resolution R-26-19, a resolution of the City Commission of the City of Winter Haven, Florida, making findings, approving and adopting the 2025 Annual Lakes Report, providing for severability, the administrative correction of scrivener's errors, and providing for an effective date. Thank you. City Manager?

Mr. Mayor and Commissioners, I'm going to ask Deputy City Manager Carnevale to introduce this item, and then I believe we have a presentation from members of the Natural Resources Division who prepared the document.

The Lakes Advisory Committee serves in an advisory role to the City Commission and the Natural Resources Division. Each year, the LAC presents the annual lakes report summarizing lake conditions and documenting the city's management efforts. In that evaluation, they look at water quality, hydrologic data, and biologic data. In 2025, 51% of the monitored lakes met the state of Florida's regulatory thresholds. That represents a substantial improvement from 2018 when only 37% of those lakes met these standards. Many of the remaining impaired lakes continue to show improving water quality trends, which demonstrates the long-term benefits of sustained science-based management. Each lake includes a water quality management plan identifying site-specific challenges, documenting current management activities, and outlining future priorities. These plans serve as living documents, allowing the city to track progress, adapt to changing conditions, and refine its management approach over time. Since 2020, this report has also included an interactive online version, giving residents, researchers, and the public a visual, user-friendly way to explore data and lake information, complementing that effort in 2025. You'll have that as well as the budget in brief, which is the document that Francis was referring to. That highlights major findings, lake health trends, and management initiatives through photographs, maps, charts, and other visualizations. Together, these resources make lake management information more accessible to the public. There's no financial impact associated with this item. Notable, this is a specific strategy outlined in your strategic plan, so strategy 4.3.1, as publish and implement strategies within the annual lakes report and develop community education campaigns based on the information within it. Staff recommends the City Commission approve Resolution R2619, adopting the City of Winter Haven 2025 Annual Lakes Report.

So at this time, we'd like to have a presentation from members of the team.

So Dustin, Devin, and folks. And before we hand off to them, I'd like to just take a moment to recognize them. So follow up on something Tom mentioned, that we just have an exceptional team here in Winter Haven. I just want to point out three of the members of this team's achievements in the last year. So Olivia, who's not able to be with us this evening, she just graduated from the state of Florida's Natural Resource Leadership Institute. So if you guys have participated in leadership programs locally, it's similar to those, but with a very heavy effort facilitation, mediation, and resolving social challenges that can be presented when dealing with natural resource issues. So congratulations to her, even though she's not here this evening. Savannah Wynne-Stanley, who's a fellow alumni of that same program, is also about to graduate from the FSU Certified Public Manager program. I think you guys are very familiar with that one, as we have a cohort go through that program pretty routinely. And then Devin, who is one of the main architects behind the annual lakes report, just completed his master's degree with the University of Florida, and his graduate work was heavily focused on progressive things we do here in Winter Haven related to developing green infrastructure projects. He's been working towards that for a while tonight, so I want to be sure we recognize that accomplishment. But these accomplishments just add to the exceptional expertise that the team here in the city of Winter Haven has. So with that, I will turn it over to Dustin.

All right. Thanks, MJ. Good evening mayor and city commissioners. I'm Dustin Everett, the city's natural resources manager, and I'm joined here with Devin Moore, who will jump into this presentation here in a little bit, but he is our senior environmental scientist with the city of Winter Haven. Over the next few minutes, we'd like to give you a brief overview of this year's annual lakes report, explain how we evaluate lake health and share some of the trends we're seeing across Winter Haven's lakes. Before we dive into the report, I'd like to recognize our team and MJ. recognize some of the achievements of our team but i'd like to uh... just point out that everything that you'll see in tonight's presentation is the work of this small dedicated group of individuals and throughout the year they're out in the heat and the rain collecting environmental data monitoring lake conditions managing restoration projects overseeing stormwater improvements and connecting with our community uh... through various outreach and educational opportunities just to highlight some of those accomplishments that have come in the last year. Our team has continued its hydrologic monitoring throughout the city. We've examined the aquatic vegetation communities in all of our public lakes. We've advanced several green stormwater infrastructure projects, completed our required NPDES reporting, and worked with the Lakes Advisory Committee to develop this year's annual lakes report. One particular accomplishment we'd like to highlight comes from our outreach program. where over the past year we've connected with over 3600 residents throughout our school programs, festivals, kayak tours, fishing events, bio blitzes and other educational opportunities. Protecting our lakes isn't always just about science. It's also about building a community that understands and values our natural resources. Through the local schools and summer camps we engage with, we often provide students with their first ever exposure to our lakes. providing them with different activities like fishing, kayaking, and interactions with our ambassador animals, you know, are fun and memorable. These are fun and memorable activities for our kids. But the hope is to build a generation that understands and appreciates the importance and beauty of our lakes and our wildlife. One of the largest efforts that our team undertakes each year is the drafting and publishing of the annual Lakes Report, which is the city's flagship document for understanding lake health. Rather than focusing on a single lake or a single project, it brings together data from across the city, summarizes current conditions, identifies trends, and highlights the management efforts underway to improve our lakes. to complete this report we work extensively uh... with francis and tom and g g who were up here uh... and the rest of the lakes advisory committee uh... each year and their guidance has been instrumental in in shaping both the content and the presentation uh... of the data within the report So ultimately, what makes a healthy lake? That's a very complicated question, and it's more difficult to answer than what you would think it is. But a lake can have excellent water quality but poor habitat. It can have healthy vegetation but declining water clarity. There's all sorts of different factors that pour into the health of a lake. Looking at only one measurement doesn't tell the whole story and can't describe the health of the lake just like a doctor doesn't look at a single vital sign when they're determining the health of a patient. That's why we evaluate lakes using the health, that's why we evaluate lake health looking at three major components, water quality, hydrology, and ecology. When most people think of lake health, water quality is usually the first thing to come to mind. We measure things like nutrients, algae growth, water clarity to see how each lake is performing. This year, as MJ mentioned, over half of our lakes met all state water quality standards, which is actually a really big deal. In the lakes that did not meet water quality standards, over half of those are showing improving trends. A lake doesn't have to be perfect to be improving. And while those lakes may not yet meet every regulatory standard, they're moving in the right direction, which tells us that many of our management efforts are having a positive effect. And onto hydrology. That helps us understand how water moves through our environment. We monitor rainfall, lake levels, groundwater, and stormwater runoff because all of those things influences the health of our lakes. In 2025, Winter Haven received about 45 inches of rainfall. Every inch of rain that falls across our landscape has to go somewhere. Some of it evaporates, goes back into the atmosphere. Some of it soaks into the ground and recharges our aquifer. and some of that carries nutrients and pollutants and flows into our lakes. Understanding those natural water movements helps us distinguish between changes caused by weather and changes caused by other factors, allowing us to make better long-term management decisions. While rainfall isn't something we can control, understanding how it affects our lakes helps us manage the things that we can control. And finally, the last parameter that we look at in determining lake health is ecology. healthy native aquatic plants provide habitat for fish and wildlife they improve water quality and they help stabilize our shorelines our goal isn't simply more plants or fewer plants it's maintaining the right balance of healthy native vegetation while controlling the invasive species in our lakes so that our lakes remain both ecologically healthy and enjoyable for recreation With that foundation in place, I'll turn things over to Devin, who will explain how those factors come together in our Lake Health Index.

Thank you, Dustin, Mayor, City Commissioners. I'll try to keep this brief and not get too in the weeds, so to speak. The Lake Health Index was developed by staff as a tool to evaluate our lakes from a more holistic perspective. The index is comprised of individual scores in eight different criteria. Each of these are scored on a relative scale from zero to three, with zero being relatively worse and three being generally better. The eight criteria, which cover aspects of both water quality and ecological health, include water quality impairment. Dustin mentioned whether or not those lakes are meeting those regulatory targets. The higher the score, the less impaired a lake is. Water quality trends would indicate whether a lake is exhibiting improving or deteriorating trends in those four water quality parameters, that is, chlorophyll, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water clarity. Aquatic plant abundance, which indicates how much vegetation is growing in a lake. And since aquatic plants provide fish and wildlife habitat, as well as help to filter pollutants, generally higher vegetation abundance equates to a healthier lake. Invasive species presence indicates the relative proportion of harmful invasive plants present in the given lake's community. A higher score in this criterion equates to a lower invasive presence. And finally, diversity, which is a measure of how many unique species there are, but also how evenly they're distributed. Higher diversity equates to a healthier ecosystem, more robust ecosystem, and generally receives a higher score. We then take the average of all these criterion scores and generate an overall lake health index value that can be used to compare lakes changes over time and also to generate management priority rankings. It should be noted that lake health index score is not an apples to apples comparison and should not be relied on to indicate which lakes are inherently better or worse than one another. Rather, it helps us to prioritize those lakes that require more management action. As mentioned, one of the great strengths of the Lake Health Index is the ability to track changes in our lakes over time. This table represents the composite lake health scores averaged across all 37 lakes in our study area. Looking at the individual criteria, we can tell which aspects of lake health have improved or declined over time. One area where we've seen the most improvement has been impairment. As Dustin mentioned, in 2018, only 15 of our 37 lakes were meeting those regulatory standards, compared to 2025 where we added four additional lakes to the unimpaired list. This might not seem like much, but it's actually a huge achievement to get lakes removed from the state's impaired list, and something that we cherish in the fact that our management actions are having a positive impact. We've also observed marked improvement in vegetation abundance and invasive species presence scores. supplies that are vegetation communities are increasing in abundance but also that this increases more to the growth of native plants than invasives. This may be at least partially due to our early detection efforts and monitoring but also our partnerships with agencies like FWC and Polk County who go out and treat those invasive plants in our lakes. Water clarity trends is one of those criteria that has actually exhibited decline over the years Clarity isn't a definitive measure of lake health or water quality in general. It is important for plant growth and, of course, for the aesthetics of our lakes, and we are examining this decline in greater detail to determine which root causes are leading to these impacts. The important thing to note is that our lakes have generally improved over time, which is something that few communities can boast of. You can see this map in front of you depicts the 2025 lake health scores for our 37 lakes. Just a few quick statistics on these numbers. 65% of our lakes scored in the good to very good range, and 12 of our lakes actually exhibited an increase from the previous year, which is good news. That said, not all lakes are doing well. was not as well as the others those are the lowest lake house scores are placed on our high priority list the top five lakes on that list are like idle due to its water quality impairments deteriorating trends and generally poor aquatic plant community lake hamilton which also is impaired in experiencing water quality declines and then there's lakes link martha and ned while they're not impaired uh... are exhibiting some water quality declines and have less than stellar biological communities in areas that we want to focus on in order to prevent them from becoming impaired. In addition to tracking how the lakes are doing, this report includes information on the management strategies we employ to improve lake health. A few of the main highlights in 2025 include pollution reduction plans for Lakes Hamilton and Idle. Lake Idle's pollution or 4E plan I described in detail at last week's agenda review session. Some of the big projects included in that are the stormwater improvements to the north of Lake Idle, as well as the sediment and activation project. Lake Hamilton's 4E plan is actually being coordinated by Polk County and with some input from us as well. In 2025, we also completed the Lake Ellsworth Trail project, which included some green stormwater infrastructure, as well as started the South Lake Howard Nature Park expansion, both of which have helped to reduce pollutant loading in each of those lakes. And last, the city also conducts annual sweet-stripping around the majority of our lakes to capture those pollutants, and we're also engaged in various public outreach and education campaigns, as Dustin mentioned earlier. Landing on a high note, we just wanted to highlight Lake Merriam for exhibiting the greatest amount of lake health score improvement from 2024 to 2025. This was mostly due to a significant decrease in the amount of invasive plants detected as well as a sharp increase in species diversity. Now I'll hand things back over to Dustin to provide your closing thoughts on the lakes report.

Thank you, Devin. I'll finish with just a few closing thoughts. One of the things that makes Winter Haven special is that our lakes are not just a part of our landscape, they're a part of our identity. They shape our neighborhoods, support recreation and wildlife, attract visitors, and contribute to our quality of life. The annual lakes report gives us a science-based way to understand how those lakes are changing, where we should focus our efforts, and whether our management decisions are making a difference. Most importantly, it reminds us that protecting our lakes isn't just a one-year project. It's an ongoing commitment and one that requires good data, thoughtful management, and continued investment. The full report, which all of you guys should have received a hard copy in your mailboxes, that is available to everyone in the public online on the Natural Resources City of Winter Haven website. There is also the report in brief, which I think Ms. Francis showed when she was up here for the proclamation. That is another way to digest information from that report, as well as the online interactive version, which has a lot of pictures and figures and is really a lot easier to scroll through than the main report. So you have the big report, which, as Francis alluded to, would take three days to read through. The online interactive version uh... version will take about uh... maybe three hours to really pour through and understand and then the the lakes report in brief you can uh... read that in ten or fifteen minutes thank you for your guys's timeless this evening and for your continued investment uh... in our natural resources and our lakes and with that uh... devon and i'll stand for any questions just want to say

We have really just an outstanding natural resources staff. And this report is just not a report. What's happening in the city of Winter Haven with our natural resource people they are actually working to improve our lakes and sustain our lakes. And not with just fancy words, Scientifically, they're working hard. So, I mean, I've been a member and a part of the Lakes Committee for over 24 years. And, I mean, every year I make sure that I'm still on that committee. So, commissioners, y'all can't supplant me. I got at least one more year. But they do an outstanding job. And I've seen it firsthand. I've seen it. I've witnessed it. I've lived it. I've seen what they've been able to do in our lakes. Not only as a commissioner, but I own the lakes. And I can recall, and I know I'm not going to go long, but I just want everybody to know the job that they're doing. Early on, I can go back about 15 years, when I was fishing the chain of lakes. And one lake in particular, I took a group of people out and we were night fishing. And we were in Lake Howard. And they said, earthworm, are the fish in this lake any good? It's all green on the top. I said, we're working on it and the fish will be good. So that's just one example, but I just wanted to say to you all that I for one, and I know the commission and I know the residents really thank you, even though they just enjoy it. They may not know what's happening behind the scenes, but just want to say publicly that y'all are doing an outstanding job and continue to do it. And one final note, I took some kids for a natural resources field trip. And I can say to you all that there are kids, there are kids that live and grow up in Winter Haven that have not been on a lake. have not kayaked, don't know anything about the ecology and the natural resources surrounding our lakes. In fact, my group, Thursday is their last day of our summer program. They were more attentive at the natural resources tour then I have seen them all summer. One of the kids even let him put a snake around his neck. So, I mean, it was really good. So I just want to thank you all. And I thoroughly enjoyed it because I don't get to kayak but once a year. And so I went kayaking. And so I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner.

Two quick questions. Can you, the biovolume heat map, can you just help me understand that? I may have probably asked that in years past, but red is bad, blue is good, or...

No, so that's just basically showing where the vegetation is. And red can be good if it's, assuming it's not hydrilla or an invasive vegetation. It's just essentially showing where that vegetation is. So you would, on most of our lakes, you'll see those colored zones along the shoreline, along the littoral shelf where the lake is shallowest, and that's where you get a lot of vegetation growth.

But that could be hydrilla buildup? And it doesn't really clarify which... On the heat map, it doesn't.

But in the mapping that we do, we know what the... what the density is of the species that are out there because in order to map the aquatic vegetation on the lake, we do transects across the lake, multiple points on each transect. So you're talking about, depending upon the size of the lake, it may be 50 lines straight up and down across the lake and you're taking points at specific intervals on there. And not only are you using sonar to actually map out the lake bottom and the vegetation density but then you're you're we're actually pulling up the vegetation that's underneath the boat uh... using uh... special type of gear called afrotis throwing that in the water pulling up the vegetation and counting identifying the species of vegetation that are there counting them and then coming up with a relative abundance based upon the sample that we've pulled up so It would be alarming to see a lake that would be all blue with a heat map because you want to have some vegetation within a lake. It's a fine balance. And coming up, the question that was posed in the presentation of what makes a good lake, what's a good quality lake, it's also some of that to some degree is in the eye of the beholder because you have some people that like to water ski and like to swim and for them vegetation is horrible. And you have some people who like to go fishing and recently like to duck hunt and vegetation is very important for hunting and fishing activities because it's good fish and wildlife habitat.

And if we see that there's a big buildup in, let's say, the negative, the hydrilla or something like that, are we reporting that to the county or the FWC and requesting spray on that?

Yeah, so we're requesting management, which typically results in the use of herbicide. And that's going through the state of Florida. However, the county does cooperate with the state of Florida and has kind of an extension where the county is able to treat some areas under the guidance and permission of the state of Florida. So FWC is the principal agency that's in charge of the vegetation management within state water bodies that we have here.

Okay. And last question. On the recent... freeze that we had six months ago now seven months ago are i think the date that i consistently saw in here was around august is when we're out there primarily testing these bodies of water and and we're out there year round so water quality samples are being taken monthly but we have

The aquatic vegetation, you'll find my team out on a boat when it's really cold in January, and you'll also find us out there at the heat of the summer. So we're mapping. We try to keep the lakes that we map. We're mapping a lake each week. We have several lakes, almost enough to do one a week. And we try to keep the timing of those samples the same. So if we're mapping Lake Howard, We'll do it in July because we did it in July the year before and July the year before. So we're comparing apples and apples when looking at year to year changes and those kinds of things. I'm really glad that you brought up the freeze because that's something that we saw alter some of our water quality initially after that freeze because it killed off a lot of vegetation around our lakes. As that vegetation broke down a lot of nutrients went into the water and the very first thing to pick up those nutrients when you have a huge influx of nutrients is algae because it's a very simple single-celled plant that can pick up those nutrients and grow really rapidly and so we saw algae blooms in some of our lakes and that nutrient cycling takes a little while to finally cycle through and The algae dies off, and then those nutrients are picked up by growing plants, like larger root-based plants that we see in our lakes. But it did have at least a temporary effect on the nutrients within our lakes.

That was my question, is if we'll see a spike in the numbers going forward post that, but then they'll kind of...

So that'll be part of our 2026 annual lakes report, and it's just too soon. Some of the water quality data has already been collected, obviously, from the winter months that we've had, but we haven't had time to put all the data together from this year because we're still in the process of collecting data this year. And so it will be interesting to see whether or not there's any kind of micro changes to some of the water quality parameters that we check.

Thank you. I certainly appreciate the coffee table top addition, but can we possibly get that abbreviated one? I would like to have that personally so we can review. This is quite a read, but we'll take that and spend time with that. We don't have that abbreviated one.

so they should one of your mailboxes com we had a hang up in the printer so they got printed off late today uh... we actually we had placed the order several weeks ago and they were supposed to be uh... I won't name the business that they were supposed to come from, but we have not received the main shipment, but we did have a special run printed off today, and those are available. We actually have some prints here if you haven't gotten them yet, but they should be in all of your mailboxes. Appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Yes. I just wanted to say thank you to all your efforts in keeping the lakes safe I guess you'd say healthy, enjoyable, scientifically healthy. And also in monitoring and tracking all this data. It's a wonderful document. I compare my lake every year. I've had several of these. Also the CHNEP, Coastal Heartland National Estuary, program they're always interested in this document also i attend that uh on representation i guess for the city so there's a lot of people there and even the county goes to that and it's in port charlotte so everybody goes i guess that's

well and people we always present the annual lakes report here every year and and it's really great but some of you guys who have not been in scientific documents don't really have anything to compare it to as far as what other municipalities are doing and can you go to lakeland and get the same style report it's very rare to find a report of this quality in really any municipality i've yet to find a city and uh this is kind of a self-serving statement and i should be a little more humble but the the work that is being performed in the the report that is being done um we we share these reports with some of our colleagues in other places and some of the comments that we were like you guys did that you guys didn't hire a consultant you guys wrote this and kind of some wonder and amazement because there's a tremendous amount of work that that goes into creating this report but it's it's very important for us to do so because it really helps us track where we've been and where we're going as a city as we manage our lakes add a comment to that if i could this you hit it on the head dustin that this is this document is often mistaken for

a high-paid consultant that you would bring in, a research entity to produce this. MJ mentioned that Devin received his master's degree. I think this type of document, they should have given you a PhD personally. This is one of several things that comes out of this unit that is a benchmark. and a an aspiration for many other cities the other is the npdes annual report that we do that is a requirement of our ms4 permit that this team puts together that we've had used as a sample by dep and others to other agencies of what a quality report looks like um i say time and time again you have some of the most accomplished and qualified and productive staff of any city around the natural resource division exemplifies that day in day out true true professionals thank you thank you commissioners we need a motion on r26-19

Mr. Mayor, move approval of all resolution R26-19.

Thank you. Motion's been made to approve R26-19. We'll close the commission meeting, open a public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to this item? Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing, reopen the city commission meeting. Any other further questions or discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries. All right, we've got some new business. We've got an appointment of legal counsel, so we'll leave. I assume that's going to go to city attorney to kick this one off.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Commission. As we discussed at the agenda review workshop meeting last week, we're seeking the ratification of the retention of outside legal counsel. for matters relating to Blue Line Aviation LLC at the airport. On June 17th of 26, the city issued a formal notice to Blue Line Aviation regarding their defaults under the September 15th, 2023 land lease agreement as amended and the resulting automatic termination of the agreement pursuant to its terms. The notice also addressed the pending automatic expiration of the temporary land lease agreement between the parties. Given the complexity of the matters associated therewith and the potential for litigation and other legal proceedings arising therefrom, the city manager executed a letter of representation, retaining outside legal litigation counsel with Campbell, Trone, Tamayo, and Aranda, a law firm in Lakeland, Florida, that are board-certified civil trial attorneys, to represent the city's interests in these matters. As it has turned out, a lawsuit was filed by Blue Line Aviation at the beginning of the month, July 3rd, and Mr. John Mark Tamayo has entered a Notice of Appearance on behalf of the city. That litigation has been filed with the Polk County Circuit Court. It's currently pending in front of Judge Keith Spoto, Circuit Judge, and verified complaint as well as a motion seeking a temporary injunction are pending and we'll provide further information as we learn a saying regarding that. But at this point we are asking for the City Commission to author, to ratify and confirm the retaining of the law firm of Campbell, Trone, Tamayo and Aranda under the terms of their representation as outlined in the attached letter of representation which provides specific hourly rates, as well as protocols regarding their undertaking representation of the city in this matter or these matters. And we would ask that you authorize the city manager and the city attorney or our designees to undertake any other actions that are necessary and related to these matters.

Thank you.

Commissioner?

Mr. Mayor? Yes. We have a motion, I guess. Are we requesting a motion to proceed with this? Okay. Proceed with the legal counsel.

Okay. Motion's been made. We'll close public hearing, or excuse me, close commission meeting, open public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to this item? Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing, reopen the city commission meeting. Commissioners, any questions, discussions on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries. All right, item 13B, discussion of commissioner's compensation. City manager?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This item's coming before you this evening. This goes back to the May 26th, 2026 regular meeting, at which time Commissioner Davis had asked that this come back before you all for further discussion. It's pertaining to compensation for city commissioners, and it's being placed on the agenda, or was placed on the agenda this evening for discussion by the commission in any subsequent direction to me as staff to proceed forward. So I will hand it off to Commissioner Davis and allow you to discuss.

All right. Thank you. So I brought this up because I had heard when I was running for office that we were underpaid for a city our size. I looked at the ordinance. I think it was last done about 15 years ago, and it set the salary just under $12,000 a year for commissioners. There is a cost of living adjustment with every year. And so I wanted to also around the time when I started thinking about this, One of our sister cities was looking at increasing their salaries considerably. So I was concerned both that we were undervaluing the work that we do and for the size of our city. And so I wanted to have a study done to see exactly where we are at. Personally, this is a job to me. I know it is to all of you as well. And it is one that we take very seriously. But there are some demands on our time, and for those of us that have a full-time job, especially as a public employee working for the school district, I have to take time off to do the job during the workday. And as those demands increase, I want to be able to continue to do that, but I've pretty much exhausted a lot of my paid time off. I'm getting to the point now where I'm about to take unpaid time just to be able to continue to focus on this job. So I wanted to see what the numbers show. And what I found, I presented to you all at random back in May. I took the numbers provided by the city manager. I figured out what the per capita rate is for Polk County. And then I multiplied that by our population. I kind of saw that the population drives the amount of work we have to do. That's my opinion. Whether it's increased number of events that we're attending, constituent issues that are coming up, or even just managing it. I mean, we have a lot more decisions to make because we have more people coming into our city. So what I found, though, was that the number, I thought, was maybe a little bit too high. You know, we're currently making our salaries around $17,000, and if I did just the per capita rate for the entire county, it actually would bring our rate up to about And I thought that would be just a little bit too much for a jump. And also, you know, I don't think the public would really appreciate that or accept that. So what I looked at, I found a lot of the smaller cities, their per capita rate was much larger because they had a smaller population. So even at, you know, say a salary of $6,000, they're still making considerably more per capita. So I took out all of the small cities that had under 6,000 people in their cities and then took the rate. And what I found was a little more manageable, but it is still supported by the data, and that was an increase to around $24,000 for our salary. And then I also looked at the mayor's rates, and using that same per capita rate, it actually would increase the mayor's salary to... uh... thirty two thousand but i thought that the i looked at what our current differential is i think it's around sorry look at my numbers here uh... we currently uh... pay our mayor about sixteen percent more than what we make so by adjusting it to sixteen percent uh... that lowered the mayor's salary uh... to I think it was just under $28,000. I thought that was more reasonable as well. So that was my line of thinking, and I wanted to bring it here for a conversation with the rest of you to see what you thought, see if you're even interested in pursuing this. I think we'd have to do this as an ordinance. Yes, sir. So I guess out of our conversation tonight, we'd want to discuss if we even wanted to move forward. If we did, then we'd give some direction to the city attorney as to what we'd like to see in that ordinance to come at a later date.

Commissioner Sears.

I guess the question is, nothing triggers this or is this pretty much at our decision or deciding for the most part. So you said it's been since 2008?

The ordinance took effect, I think, 2009 from the reading of it, so it would have been before that, probably 2008.

That was establishing what, that particular set amount?

A base amount. And then, if I may, Mayor. I'm just trying to understand a little bit of the history of that. So in what we have done, what our practice has been is that whatever cost of living adjustment we have done for our workforce, that is a you are all considered employees in the sense that you receive a paycheck from the city. We applied that cost of living adjustment to those as well, so that compounds year over year based upon whatever that cost of living is. And I think as Commissioner Davis stated, I'm trying to look through the memo here if it had the exact amount that it is now. Commissioner Davis, I think you had it and you referenced it, right?

17? Yes, I have your document here. The current salary is $17,525 for commissioners and $20,917 for the mayor.

There has not been a substantial revision in the city commission salaries over the past 15 years, really. I mean, that's just, that's what it's been. It's gone up based on what the city manager just said, but the base has not pretty much changed. the starting point. And I can say that, I've been here all the time.

But the time increases. I mean, you've been here a long time. I've been here a little while, but not nearly as long. But the time requirements in that time have increased, of course, I'm assuming, from the earlier days back then compared to now. Because there's, you know, I guess with the volume and activity and things that are pretty much taking place in the city.

Well, things have evolved over time. In the first few years that I was on the commission, we did not have any agenda reviews. We would have some workshops, so, I mean... The time has increased some because we have evolved as it relates to our efforts and what we are doing for the city and the size of the city. When I got on the commission, the city was under 30,000 people. And so now we are over somewhere close around 60,000 people.

If I might add also, since I've only been on now for a few months, but between our Tallahassee trip, our D.C. trip, our Liga City trip that's coming up, I mean, that's, you know, if you're like me and you get two weeks paid vacation a year, you're eating into a lot of that. So I think this also has an impact. You know, we have an election coming up next year, as we do every other year. of folks who might be looking to run, this is definitely something that they consider. It's not, this isn't something that, I mean, it's a part-time job. You know, this is paying as a part-time job. It's not something that's supposed to enrich us. But there are folks like me who maybe have a full-time job and have to consider and weigh out the cost. You know, am I actually going to take a pay cut because of all the unpaid time off I have to take to devote to it? Or am I just going to attend the agenda review and the commission meetings and not make the effort to attend anything during the day, any of the other workshops that we have, or events, or even meet with constituents. So those are the factors that were kind of weighing into my request to talk about this.

I guess, you know, from the beginning I've kind of shared a different opinion on this matter. I understand where you're coming from as being a job. I guess I've never looked at it that way. I've always looked at it as being a public servant, as me giving back to my community and my hometown where I grew up. The fact that I do get a stipend along the way of time compensation, if you will, it's very much appreciated, but I would sit up here and do this job for nothing i mean it's not you know i kind of knew what i was getting into when i ran um if if so elected to serve on the commission i kind of knew that you know hey this is this is going to take up personal time it's going to mean i'm going to have to take vacation time on on certain city trips it means that you know i'm going to need to have an employer that's uh... willing to work with me and and support me in this endeavor and family that supports me as well so i'm so thankful that i have all of those things uh... we're in the the common of a a very tough budget cycle we're in the in the crosshairs of of uh... of of tallahassee uh... and i just you know that this is I could not see myself supporting an increase in salary just because, again, this is a public service that I'm offering and giving to my community, and I'm proud to do it. So that's kind of where I feel on this subject.

I would concur with a lot of that, with the exception that I don't want to devalue what we do either. I know my time is important to me, and I value that to whatever I give it to. Time is all you have, and you don't get it back. And so when you give your time, and we all serve, and it's great to serve and to give that time, but I think at the same time, the value of what we have ran for, what we stood for, and the fact that we are trying to help advance this city in every way, and that I think that it at least garners some consideration, at least to be looked at. I think, you know, having not looked at it that long at the time is interesting to me that, you know, we just haven't even, we just set that aside as we increase everything else that has gone up. And I think that is something, too, that would have to be looked at, at least considered for that. Again, I didn't do it for the money. In fact, I didn't know what they paid. I didn't even look at that. It wasn't even consideration, I guess, at the time for me because I looked at it pretty much like the mayor said. I was looking at it from the service standpoint of it until they called me to HR and said, hey, you got to sign some papers. Then I found out really what it was. It probably would have made me think a little differently about it. But again, the whole point of it was to serve the community and be a blessing to the community in some way. And what value that is, you know, I think all of us believe that. I don't know what you make per hour. I think all of us, we look at what it costs to live in currently is even in Winter Haven. I think all of us up here work outside. None of us do this alone. And certainly this would not be able to compensate or help you make a living, but I think that it is worth the time and effort to at least take a look at it and give consideration to it and thoughtful consideration to it and make some kind of a decision about it.

I've been in public service for, God knows how long now, 40 years. Might be past that. And I didn't do it, didn't take it with the money concerns, didn't even think about it. I know we're headed for some pretty rough times, budget-wise. It's going to affect a lot of a lot of people, a lot of things. And so sometimes we have to be the one. We have to be the one that leads the way. We have to be the one that sets the example for others to follow. So I wouldn't be for any increase at this time.

So I don't know that we need a motion on this because there's not an action item here, but a consensus, I think, is probably what's being looked for from the city attorney. So we can form that in the one-by-one vote if that so pleases the commission. And I think the ask here is if you want an ordinance to come back before the commission on a pay increase and if you just give a yes or no to that, then we'll move forward on that.

Mr. Mayor, just in addition to that, if that's, I think that you framed it well, if you are talking about a compensation increase, is it in the amounts that have been suggested? I don't want to assume anything.

I think that's the next step. We'll get a consensus first and then have that conversation.

It's up to you all, whoever you want to do it.

I will say that the data that I provided prior would be the equivalent of a compensation study that you would base that upon. And I wouldn't, I don't know that there's a value in hiring a consultant to go gather the exact same data that's already been produced. This is not like a workforce compensation study.

All right. Commissioner Davis? Yes, please. Commissioner Dawson? Yes. Commissioner Berton? Yes. Commissioner Mercer? No. Mayor Pro Tem Mercer, I apologize. And I would be a no. So that's 3-2. So we'll look for an ordinance to come back at a later date. You know, I guess my suggestion would be commission davis made the recommendation on the numbers come back with that and then we can have the dialogue at that point on those numbers up or down

Very well.

Does that work for everybody?

In light of the number of items that we have in the works right now, that would likely be sometime in August. I don't know if we can get it done for the first meeting in August, but because it would be an ordinance if it's passed upon its first reading, it would come back as a second.

Okay. All right, we'll move forward to city manager report, the 2026 Florida League of Cities voting delegate designation.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So one of the items that you had approved this evening was for the travel of the city commissioners, along with two members of my team, to attend the Florida League of Cities' 2026 annual conference that will be held in Hollywood, Florida, in August. As part of that conference, conference each member municipality the descending delegates is asked to designate one official to vote at the annual business session which will be held saturday morning august 15th Election of leadership and adoption of resolutions are undertaken during that meeting. Many of you have attended and have participated as our delegate in years past, respectively. So this is requesting the commission authorize and designate one of those that are attending to stand for the vote during that session.

Commissioner?

Has that been typically the mayor's?

No. I did it last year. You did it last year. And the year before. And the year before. You were the mayor the last two years. Answer my questions.

I don't, I mean.

I believe the mayor is a member of the Florida League of City Board of Directors as well.

Yeah, yeah, so you should do it. I agree. Happy to do that?

Yeah, I agree. I think it would be appropriate for a motion just so we're clear.

So moved. Did the mayor be outvoting Elliott?

Motion's been made. I don't think we need a public hearing for that, but the motion's been made. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries.

So we will communicate that back to the Florida League of Cities so they have that for their official record.

I get an extra ribbon on my name tag.

all right city manager you have anything else side just two things that were at that point so uh... escape the liaison reports but you go ahead and then we'll circle back to liaison thank you sir i just want to put on on the calendars when we come before you at your next meeting in two weeks obviously next wednesday we'll do a the budget presentation to you and then you'll have for consideration at your next commission meeting the tentative millage for the 27 fiscal year and you also have to set the date of your first hearing for the budget As you know, we cannot have budget hearings on the same dates as either the school board or Polk County Board of County Commissioners in researching the calendars of their respective meetings. There is a conflict on our normal meeting day, which would be September 14th. I'm going to request that we move that meeting to Tuesday, September 15th. That would be the next closest day where there wouldn't be a conflict. There is a Main Street Winter Haven event that evening, but I think the budget certainly is the most important thing we deal with in trying to keep that in check with our schedule. So I just want to put that out there and make sure everybody's comfortable with that. We won't advertise anything on it, but as we prepare the fact sheet for your next commission meeting to take action in setting that date, we want to make sure we have that date set. Right. city attorney is reminding me that because of changes in legislation if we are establishing a millage rate uh... that is in excess or above the rollback rate that it will require at this at the level that we're at presently to have an affirmative vote of four of the five in order to establish that millage rate so we want to make sure that we have Preferably all five commissioners here to vote for the budget on September 15th so the only other thing i had for you this evening is a reminder that i will be away from the office beginning late thursday afternoon probably early evening and all day friday joining the greater winter haven chamber of commerce is ex officio for their annual board retreat and i will report back on anything of significant that comes from that mr carnevale will handle things in my absence All right. That's all I have this evening, sir.

Okay, let's circle back for liaison reports. Mayor Pro Tem Mercer, let's kick it off with you.

I did the city's July 3rd celebration, Rockin' Freedom. I'd like to thank the staff. They do a wonderful job no matter what they have to do. We had a little rain that kind of disrupted some things, but they were the best fireworks I've seen so far from the city.

I would like to take a moment of privilege and recognize Natalie Wilson who's in the back and Scott Eilers and Katrina and members of our team that made that event happen. That is a massive, massive undertaking and most of the public are not aware of the planning for security and emergency management that goes into that. Every detail They had thought of the one thing Natalie cannot control is Mother Nature, yet what we managed through that her and the team managed was keeping everybody safe, and that's the ultimate objective.

It went off just like clockwork. I mean, that was really fantastic. Really well coordinated. The other one is that I did attend the golf cart parade the 4th of July at Lake Ashton. However, we weren't in a golf cart. We're in air conditioning. And then I think we had the workshop for property tax budget and impact fee meeting. So that was about it for me.

Commissioner Dollison?

I, too, enjoyed the Rocking Freedom Fest. It really was well attended. The rain came down extremely hard. A lot of people had to scram out of there, but they came back. And we were wondering whether or not it would kind of, but it really came back strong. And again, the fireworks were fantastic. They kind of got us at the end with that delay, but it came back.

Kind of got us, too.

Yeah, everybody was kind of getting ready to walk, and all of a sudden, you know, but it was a great, just a great moment just to experience that. Also, it's been mentioned as well, Miss Angeline Keaton Davis will celebrate 100 years of life on this Saturday. And she was brought before the commission as well. She happens to be a member of the church where I serve. And an amazing lady. And she knows a lot of people. Been here a long time serving in this city. Loves her city as well. So just give recognition and acknowledgement to a great citizen of our city. Also... The story of the veteran really touched my heart. Zach and Winter Haven Chevrolet, that was a phenomenal story. I was happy to hear that. I'm a car guy, particularly vintage cars, and took an old Buick and fixed the air condition, had it I think the same day or the following day. I mean, they took care of it real quick. But just the extent of that kind of support for one who has served our nation. And also the back story too was really interesting to read and know that also. Also, I want to say, too, that the Lake Maude Cemetery, we call it the Lake Maude Project now because, and I want to give certainly accommodation to the city of Winter Haven for, one, maintaining the cemetery. Many may or may not know the story of Lake Maude Cemetery, but in the days where there was segregation, and blacks could not be buried in other cemeteries that whites were buried in. In fact, even in Arvindale, I remember doing a funeral there, there was a fence that went across where the whites were buried and where the blacks were buried. They made a mistake and had to open the grave on one side when it was a black person, but they did it on the white side. And everybody was like, what do we do? I said, well, take the fence down. That would be the easy way to do it, you know. But it was just amazing, you know, to think, you know, in a time. The Lake Maud Cemetery, 1924, was basically one of the citizens. The Inmans, in fact, actually, you know, gave the property to the citizens and another black man. And that cemetery actually was filled in the 50s. and came to the commission and asked the commission to help establish another plot or place where they could actually establish another cemetery. And that's how Chris Brown came into being in 1958. And so today, The committee is doing a great job. There's actually a movement across the nation because there are many African-American cemeteries. I know many of my ancestors are on individuals' property that you have to even try to get to to find the graves of my great-great grandparents and others. And so it's just wonderful to know that the city has worked cooperatively. The state did fund some of the activities for the Lake Maud Cemetery. $50,000 award was given. They also applied for another grant as well. They went to Groveland, and Groveland was an amazing example of Groveland. When they came back and shared that with me, that the fire chief there basically took upon that responsibility along with another citizen. And just so happened that the fire chief is Caucasian. But he worked tirelessly to work and make, and today they have a kiosk even to enter into the cemetery. They have just a wonderful, amazing facility. Almost $2 million have actually been put into that. and you can pull up individuals that are cemetery now. We don't know. A lot of the graves are unmarked, and so we don't know exactly who's in each plot. So one of the things we're going to do is the sonar kind of thing where they come in and basically survey the ground and do all the other studies. That's where the money will be spent. So we're looking forward to seeing many other things that will be done in order to, one, bring back And one, I'll tell you this, we have a founder of our church is actually buried in that cemetery. The first African-American man, male, was brought to Winter Haven. Dan Larimore is buried in that cemetery along with his first wife. That's just to name a few others, but they're World War veterans in that cemetery as well. So they're great stories that I'm looking forward to hearing and knowing about some amazing people that live in this city and make Winter Haven what it is today. So again, thank you so much for the great job that the city has done working with them.

Thank you.

Commissioner Davis?

Okay. So the Winter Haven Chamber hosted me for an event as the new commissioner to kind of introduce me to some of the Chamber members. And I believe we had 40 people signed up to attend and nearly that many people did attend. I was very grateful and humbled, really, by the turnout. Very engaged group of people, asked a lot of good questions. So I really enjoyed that opportunity to get to meet some of our business owners. I also attended a private budget meeting with staff to kind of introduce me to the budget process and our current budget and how it's broken down. I have a newfound respect for how that works, especially how our majority of our budget comes from our utilities and how that can kind of give context to the numbers when you're looking at them. Also, the Rockin' Freedom Fest, that was a wonderful event. You know, you can't help the rain, but they did cool things down a little bit, and I was just so glad that the community came back out. I wish the folks that got there earlier had stayed. I believe we had a greater number before the rain started, but still, a lot of people attended that, and it seemed very well received. I enjoyed it. I thought that was the perfect way to celebrate with our water skiers and the fireworks are great. I was particularly taken by the surprise finale. There was a little bit of a delay there. We were wondering, is that it? And then we got to, yeah, two. And it just kept coming and coming. I thought it was wonderful for our 250th. celebration so uh... and then finally i i also want to touch on the email we got from gary clark i don't know if that story made public but we got a really nice email from gary clark if you don't mind i'll read it real quick Gary Clark, who, if you don't know, he's the chairman of the Polk County Veterans Council, and he had emailed us saying that on Wednesday, June 24th, we were notified that a World War II veteran, a Battle of the Bulge survivor and Winter Haven resident, was in need of assistance. The air conditioner in his 2003 Buick had failed, and with the extreme summer heat, reliable cooling was essential for this self-sufficient, independently living veteran. The repair estimate exceeded $1,000, an amount he simply could not afford. As we do whenever a veteran needs help, a message was sent to our network of roughly 1,000 contacts requesting support. Almost immediately, Zach Drum of Winter Haven Chevrolet responded and generously offered to repair the vehicle at no cost. The car was delivered to Winter Haven Chevrolet on June 25th and returned to the veteran the following day, fully repaired and detailed. This hero was deeply moved by the kindness and respect shown by this Winter Haven business. On behalf of the Polk Veterans Council, we extend our sincere gratitude to Zach Drum and Winter Haven Chevrolet for their compassionate support Their actions demonstrated in a meaningful and heartfelt way their appreciation and that of this community for our veterans. And one more note, Sergeant Irv Landis, our World War II veteran, celebrates his 102nd birthday today, July 9th of 2026. So I was moved by that email. I responded to Gary and said, I'm actually not surprised by the generosity, but I'm very proud of it. And so I just wanted to recognize that publicly. and share with everyone else so you two can be inspired. That's all I got. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, following up on that, I shared with the group that Zac Drum did start off as a City of Winter Haven lifeguard many years ago. But Gary Clark, if you don't know, Michelle Clark, who's out in the audience, one of our Key volunteers for many, many years is the other half of that team of Clarks. Gary is also who helps coordinate the Honoring Our Heroes event that we do every September 11th with Jamie Brown, members of our public safety team. So he's a wonderful, wonderful man, does great work, and obviously the other veterans and those who served in our armed forces answer that call. That's what makes Winter Haven a special place. Thank you.

Mr. Birdsall.

All right. I'm going to start off with the question. The Rockin' Freedom Fest feast, it was great. The one thing that was canceled that I was going to participate in was the watermelon eating contest. When are y'all going to reschedule it? That's what I was going to do. It was really great. I thoroughly enjoyed it and really was looking forward to the band. My medical doctor, Dr. Ford from Gessler's Clinic, was interested in coming to hear that band. In fact, he said he's traveled several places to hear that band play, so I was looking forward to that. Maybe next year. But at any rate, thoroughly enjoyed the event. Also participated in the Lake Ashton parade and enjoyed that too. Did the ribbon cutting on the Texas Roadhouse restaurant and glad to see that open. did an open house on, and I didn't know that we even had one of those places in Winter Haven, a plasma center. I didn't know it. And so I went and did the tour and there were people there that was, it's a big place. over where in the big lots, parking lot for those that may not know where it is. And so very, very, very, went in the cooler where they keep all the plasma. I mean, I'm saying, wow, wow.

Did you leave a donation?

Yeah, they wanted to stick me, but I said I'm not quite ready yet. But it was really good. It was really good. So I thoroughly enjoyed that. And I'd like to finally say, Mayor Yates, I've been up here for 24 years, and I would have done it if I didn't get paid one dime. I would do it. And I would do it because I love giving back and being a public servant. But the other side of that coin is the time and the effort that you put in, you also need to be compensated. And I'm not saying that what that compensation should be, but I do believe that over time it should be given some consideration. And that's my point, is that we haven't done that as a commission, because I know I've been here 24 years. And so I know what it is. But I want to say that the record reflects that I would do this job for free. I want all y'all to know that. I do it for free. And some say you almost have done it for free when you look at the time and effort you put in. But I just wanted to make that clear. Thank you.

okay uh... the yet fireworks were incredible this year uh... the rain uh... i mean yet was an inconvenience which it sure did cool things off uh... made it a nice evening uh... so we'll take that will also for next year yeah uh... but knows whose fantastic event it's uh... another uh... you know, signature event of our community and the staff did just a phenomenal job and, uh, keeping everyone safe, uh, keeping everybody entertained. Everybody had a good time. And so I, I appreciate that very, very, very much. Um, and, and all the efforts that, that pulled that event off. Um, Also wanted to just mention real quick the Florida League of Cities hosted a call earlier today as well as a I was on a separate call last week as being part of the board And just an overview of where things currently stand with property taxes Right now it's it's if uh... it's concerning uh... the numbers line up the way that they call right now fifty nine percent uh... would would would approve the uh... the increased uh... to homestead exemption and based upon the numbers and the undecided based that's virtually guarantee that it that it would pass So between now and then, it's really just about an education of where your tax dollars go and how they're spent. And that's really the efforts that the League is undertaking. and they recommend that municipalities take that stance as well. It's just an opportunity to educate. I see it pretty frequently out there, and people talk about it, and it's just like, I just don't think, They hear the sound bite, and the sound bite is phenomenal, right? It's going to save me money, and it will. But there's a cost to those savings, and there's a cost to running a municipality. And there are some municipalities, quite frankly, that don't do it as good as Winter Haven. And that's the part that frustrates me the most about Tallahassee is they choose to take those bad pockets and paint the brush with everybody rather than focusing in on those bad pockets. So we'll roll with it. We'll deal with it. Whatever the voters decide in November, one way or the other, that's fine. But like I said, it's just really if you have the opportunity, I keep our budget in brief handy. Just in case someone wanted to have a budget conversation, that's always a great leave away for them to take and to say, hey, just take a moment to take a look. And the chips will fall where they may. With that, just continue to be vigilant on that and do what we can. So with that, City Attorney Murphy.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Commission. And just a follow-up note, that budget and brief was not prepared for the purpose of any kind of communication to the taxpayer. It was prepared in the ordinary course well before any ballot measure was before you and I don't believe that that information would constitute what is prohibited under Florida statute by way of communication, factual or otherwise, to the voters.

Somebody would call us on that, so that's a good point. That came out long before even the discussion. We've been doing that for multiple years now.

Yeah, and I think that's an example of something that is probably very appropriate, frankly, notwithstanding ballot measures or anything else that you're talking about. I think it's probably an appropriate information piece.

If they taught civics in high school, I would take a stack of them to the high school.

Yeah. And I also was very inspired by what Gary Clark did, or what he effectuated. It reminds me of my father. He would have been 101 in February of this year, and he was a World War II veteran. And, you know, just goes to show you how important it is to maintain those, you know, our veterans that are, I'm shocked the gentleman was still driving. kudos to him the other thing and I'll be quiet that is I wanted to give a shout out to Dustin and the crew the natural resources division is another example as the city manager said of exemplary professional Very efficient and just a good staff. We're very fortunate in Winter Haven all around. And tonight's lakes report was no exception. And it's just very proud to be associated with that. So thank you. Deputy city manager?

Nothing this evening, sir. Thank you.

City clerk? Nothing this evening. Mercedes? You good?

All right.