Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

We'll call to order the agenda review of July 8th for the Monday City Commission meeting of July 13th, 2026 to order. Roll call, please.

Yes, sir. Commissioner Davis not present. Commissioner Dollison. Here. Commissioner Birdsong. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Mercer. Here. And Mayor Yates.

Here. Thank you. We'll have the invocation and pledge on Monday evening, followed by two proclamations, and then we've got a couple of agenda review only items. I think we'll go ahead and review the South Park Pathways to Prosperity now, and then we'll save strategic plan to the end.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. we have with us this evening uh... blake drury with g a i consultants just to give a little background to this uh... is benicia going to join us this evening he is on her in route okay so uh... uh... benicia frasier's is the economic development director with central regional planning council who has been uh... facilitator of this this is an effort the winter haven edc former director bruce lyon it really champion few years back of the means to look at what some of the industrial in commercial growth needs were that we have in the south part of polk county really targeting the areas along U.S. 17 to the south, Fort Meade down in the Mulberry area, Bartow, as well as Highway 60 or State Road 60, so that incorporates, again, parts of Bartow, certainly the lower end of Winter Haven and the ILC, and then also all the way over to Lake Wales and down 27 into the Frostproof area. So... GAI had won a competitive bid to prepare this study. Blake has been working on it for, gosh, seems like a year. Has it been a year now? It seems longer than that. And they are making these presentations to those municipalities and partners that were involved in this. Our staff has been a part of this, as has the EDC, the staff of the other cities, the Central Florida Regional Planning Council, obviously, as well as the CFDC. So with that, Blake.

take it away and we'll have questions as need be at the end wonderful thank thank you for having me this is exciting we uh briefed the county commission a few weeks ago and we're now sort of doing the road show to talk to all the cities um and as as t michael said we have been on this work for about a year or so and you know this this is a a very large project very large area I I think that a lot of leadership has been seen from folks at the city um, not the, the least of which was Bruce Lyon and his, in his role with the, the EDC. Um, you know, this, this is a very big area that we're talking about. It's 848 square miles. It covers Winter Haven, Lake Wales, Frostbrew, Fort Meade, Bartow, Mulberry, a large chunk of unincorporated area and you know this is a part of the county that's evolved a lot over the last century you know you've seen the ebb and flow of citrus and ranching and then on the western side of phosphate but the past few decades have kind of moved away from what i would say is natural resource driven industry into something that you might call like and proximity-based industries. So a really good example of that shift right here in Winter Haven is the CSX Intermodal Facility and the industrial park that's been developed adjacent to that. so the the vision for this work is to see how we can transform south polk county's key transportation corridors into a resilient connected and economically vibrant regional network we'll talk about what that means in a second in really simple terms that means that we're looking at how land use roads utilities industrial development and environmental protection can work together instead of being planned separately. We're going to talk about all of those topics over the next few minutes. We're going to talk about transportation, about how conservation can work with development, and as Venetia told me, I had to even about everybody's favorite new topic, which is data centers, which we don't think are a good fit for the area. We'll talk about that more when we get to it. So as we said, this is a really big study area, and as T. Michael pointed out, we're really focused on the three corridors of 60, 17, and 27. They're connecting multiple communities, and they've already got a lot of industrial activity on them, so that's kind of the natural place to build from. Now specifically, we're looking at that two-mile area from each one of those corridors. And we picked that because a major industrial user is really going to want to be within that distance of a major highway. So that kind of helps us focus on places where we've got transportation access, we've got land use in place, and those things with economic development can be more closely connected. The demographics are what you'd really expect for this area and pretty much in line with the county. I won't make you read all the numbers on here. We've got a report that Benicia has that goes into far more detail, but there's a couple of really important things that kind of flavor an approach here. One is that this study area is a neck net exporter of employees. So that means a third more people leave the study area for work than come into the study area for work, which is a little bit surprising, especially when you consider how much industrial there is in the area. The other is, if you can see on the right, is that there's really been a shift in kind of the employment character related to the target industries of the region. So ag employment has dropped by about two-thirds, but transportation, wholesale, and trade employment has risen. And so that's kind of consistent with that kind of trend I talked about in the beginning of this move toward more of a locational-based industry. So we didn't just jump into doing recommendations and this is part of what this year has been. We listened and learned and we studied a lot of data. So these are things that came out of those conversations with each one of the cities, with the various EDCs through the area. And they're really meant to kind of set up what the strategy is trying to solve. um so number one i'll kind of go through these a little more quickly than than i might have planned to but um the first oh my time's up sorry So the first one, and I think this is something that really came out through the process, is this urgent need to preserve industrial land. So everybody that we talked to said there's a lot of pressure to convert industrially designated land to residential uses. And if you put yourself in the position of the landowner, That's a relatively simple setup. Residential is there. There's a market for it. The payback is immediate Industrial there's a little bit of a market for it. It involves some investment the payback takes longer so those those two things sort of push at each other and you see the sort of scenarios that you get throughout this part of the county where they're sort of pushed to move and convert at least industrial designated land into residential The problem is once you go to residential, it's really hard to replace that, that industrially designated land. And so we, we really have to protect it because in most cases it's in places that are best suited for this part of the County. Um, so this is the adopted future land use. There's about 14,000 acres, um, designated for industrial use. It sounds like a lot, but it, um, really is not when you think about the fact that there's other entitlements that need to go with this, there's infrastructure that has to go with it, and it really has to be available for development. So there are some parcels on here in pink designated for industrial development that if we were talking individually, could tell you that the owner is just not going to develop them. And so all those things sort of chip away at that number, which is another reason why we need to maintain those lands for future industrial. So you can see sort of where the clusters are that we have to work from. And when you get from that first map with the pink that's what's designated to this map that is what's actually on the ground, you can really see that only about half of that fourteen thousand acres is built with industrial and of that half about half of its bacon so uh... it meaning vacant vacant building uh... and so you know that tells us couple of things there's there's real capacity for future industrial activity But there's also a big difference between land that's designated versus land that's ready to develop. And part of the strategy is how do we close that gap? Another thing that we think is important is the sort of ownership pattern. So everything on here, each separate color, represents an individual owner of 500 acres or more. These, I think, are opportunities, because these are big, contiguous properties. They're the best chances to develop large-scale opportunities, and I think we're going to show how we can build off of that. Now, to be fair, basically the entire west side is phosphate unlikely to uh... to turn into the sorts of uses that we're talking about but as we look through the sort of center and west part of the their center east part of the study area i think those are where the large opportunities are second issue that his sort of come to the top and one day driving a lot of things that you see on the ground is that there really is a shortage of what you might call modern industrial buildings, particularly in buildings that can be divided into like 50 to 100,000 feet for users. That, as we've gotten into this and gotten into the analysis, that's the size range that the economic development folks get the most leads for. It's also a size that you'll see in a second as we go through this. It's in really short supply. The reason why this matters is because most of these companies that are trying to locate here, they're not going to wait a long time for a custom building. A large user, yes, that's sort of expected to be able to suit these smaller users. They really want to get in. They need something that's available quickly, like I need to be operating out of that space in six to nine months. If we don't have that, those prospects go elsewhere. And anecdotally, we lose a lot of those to the market. So, oh shoot, I've done something. There we go. So I said there's about 16 and a half million square feet of industrial. If you sort of parse that out into modern industrial, so think about that as like, anything less than about 20 years old. That takes it down to about five million square feet. Most of that's concentrated along 60. You can see the big dots scaled there around the ILC. This kind of reinforces 60 is that important corridor, but one of the really important findings of the study is that if you drill down into that space of like 50,000 to 250,000 feet, so buildings that could be divisible into those sweet spot of 50 to 100,000 square foot buildings, there's about 3.8 million square feet of that. About 200,000 feet has been built since 2004. So that sort of modern building that's easy to move into, easy to have a user get into it, it's extremely, extremely limited. And those are the places that the businesses that are going to create the local jobs and support the supplier networks and grow over time, that's the place they start out, and we don't have spots for them. So that's causing us issues with the rest of the market. And that's important because industrial buildings are sort of an ecosystem to them. They don't all serve the same purpose. You know, that million plus square foot building, it looks great at the groundbreaking. It looks great, you know, when it's, Open it's going to serve a regional or probably in this case a statewide market because of where it's located Whereas these smaller buildings are going to serve like the local manufacturer the supplier the repair shop the startup We have to have a mix of all of these Sizes and we've seen a lot of the large footprint buildings come online the issue is that if we don't have the smaller ones that limits the capacity to build the bigger ones because the smaller ones are the ones that give the opportunities for service to the large ones The truck that's backed up to that million square foot building is also the truck that's backed up to that smaller 250,000 foot building because stuff is going back and forth between them. And if we don't have capacity for the smaller ones, we lose capacity to build the larger ones. So where could things happen? Airports like Bartow and Lake Wales, they're kind of growing beyond transportation into more economic anchor kind of roles. This is, you know, not just aviation-related stuff. It's logistics. It's even EVTOL, so electric or vertical takeoff and landing. But airports have to have compatible land use and access and coordinated planning around them. We think that's an opportunity to build on here. Talking about emerging industries, data centers have gotten a lot of attention lately. That historically wasn't the case here in Florida, but it's crept down because perceptions about climate risk have changed over the years. The reality is that they have huge community impacts, not the least of which are the use of significant energy and water resources. In May, the governor signed SB 484 over in Lakeland. And functionally, that's really going to make it more difficult to develop data centers. It also gives local governments more control over things. So really, as we've done this, we haven't relied on those as a component of the strategy. Infrastructure readiness is another issue that we're trying to deal with. This is another one where you know you have the sort of chicken and egg question think back to those pink sites some of those pink sites don't have things like road access water sewer power broadband and as we've heard from the stakeholders almost to a person waiting until a project shows up before you extend infrastructure, that makes you lose opportunities. And so not necessarily here in Winter Haven, but there's other sites that I could show you around the study area where that clearly has been an issue. And that specifically is an issue in that smaller footprint size where people need to be in right now. So when we think about infrastructure, roadways are a key component. This sounds complex because we're calling it a roadway stress index. It's kind of a simple idea. If you expect industrial development growth in places that already have congestion, the roads are going to become barriers to development. And State Road 60 is of the places within the corridor that we examined it's five of the six top potential roadway stress segments it's already carrying a lot of passenger and freight traffic if we want industrial growth to happen we got to make transportation improvements along with this we'll talk about what some of them can be infrastructure power um powers of actually a competitive advantage for south polk county we've got substantial generation and transmission capacity both tico and duke a lot of modern industries you think about your advanced advanced manufacturing your your clean industries they're paying really close attention to reliable power availability This doesn't mean we're on autopilot. Power delivery and especially substation capacity has to be coordinated with the specific sites where growth is expected, which is why we've sort of, when we get to the strategy, kind of paired up infrastructure with sites. And then the last piece of infrastructure that we'll talk about is broadband. So broadband is generally available. Everywhere here where you see green is served. Everywhere where you see pink is is underserved it's kind of distributed unevenly some locations have a lot of providers others have a limited number but what we need to point out is that for these users, this broadband's not an option. It's part of basic site readiness. And it's one of those things that falls into that category of extending it after you already have the user is probably not a winning choice. So stormwater and environmental resilience, you know, flooding and drainage, as you might expect, are big concerns, especially around Peace River, Peace Creek. I want to give Winter Haven a lot of credit. You've been a leader in this space with One Water and the efforts of everybody, including I see Gary Hubbard back there. We worked with y'all on that project for several years. I was here a couple months ago when Gary went through the presentation. So you've been leading this. But what we found out as we've been through all of the work is that other cities support planning for things like water storage as regional infrastructure. And it's important because it's got to be a regional sort of solution. And we think that there's, through the leadership that y'all have shown, we think that there's others within the region who are willing to support. to participate as well. And we think that's a good thing because if you think about the environmental systems, you know, obviously the peace rivers, the dominant natural feature, and then it's fed by a peace Creek by Bolex Creek. Um, these can be the backbone of a regional conservation network. And we want to talk about how that can, can look in just a second. Um, another piece of the study area, maybe outside of, um, outside of Winter Havens Purview is the FEGN or Florida Environmental Greenways Network. They've identified a priority one connection, meaning there's land that probably needs to be set aside as development happens down in that southeast corner of the study area to connect with other kind of important regional wildlife areas. to make sure that connection doesn't get breached. So now we'll move briefly from what we learned to, okay, what can we do about it? We've got some strategic moves. They're kind of in four categories, land use, transportation, stormwater, resilience, and infrastructure. And they're really intended to help South Polk County compete for economic opportunities and improve quality of life. We don't see those as two separate and distinct issues. We think they're combined. As I said, this is a strategy, meaning this isn't a land use plan. This isn't a capital improvements plan. This is a strategy that can help to guide all of the component partners in it. This slide sort of shows the words behind that. We've got some images as well. It's got three big outcomes right in the middle of the slide. Meeting market demand for modern industrial opportunities, moving people and goods safely and efficiently, and strengthening the natural environment. And then in order to make it easier to follow, we've sort of broken it out into four strategy areas of land use, transportation, stormwater, and resilience and infrastructure. So overall, this sort of summarized the development strategy. And like I said, this isn't a development plan for parcels. This isn't capital improvement program. What it is is a framework for showing where different kinds of actions ought to be considered. The goal is really to focus growth around assets like airports, ILC, existing industrial clusters, other major corridors. but also protect neighborhoods and the key environmental systems that we've outlined here. So I won't go into terrible detail on all of these, but specific to this portion of the county, This set of ideas is really focused on industrial expansion and conservation. So things like expanding industrial maybe to the east of Bartow Airport, connecting that down to State Road 60, expanding kind of south from the ILC towards 60, we think is an opportunity. um in lake wales along hunt brothers road um and then around the airport and then tying that together with a primary conservation network um of wetlands and floodplain uh protection is important because that growth doesn't have to be at the expense of environmental protection and we think that that can actually offer a a benefit to potential development um as we sort of focus on transportation connections we think that there's uh shown by six and eight and seven here some potential new north south and east west connections that are going to reduce pressure on state road 60. the very simple idea is redundancy If everything has to depend on one corridor, then congestion safety is only going to get worse. A more connected network gives you more options. It takes the pressure off of that one road of State Road 60. Thinking about sort of the west side of the study area, there's opportunity in Mulberry to modernize and intensify a little bit. There's a couple of sites in Bartow that proactive utility expansion could be able to help. And then there's maybe some opportunities for larger sort of mega-site development to the south if infrastructure can be supported. So they have the land portion, but they don't have the infrastructure portion. And then as we move over to the east and the south, thinking about opportunities down by Frostproof, maybe where some nodes can be expanded, some other sites can be maybe set up as potential large-scale sites, and then you can sort of see that wildlife connection down in the bottom right hand corner. So we've then further broken these out by each one of the categories. You know, land use really is about preserving and pre-positioning things. One thing we have done, because we think it's important, is to start to think about how to increase the inventory of available industrial buildings. And we think that local governments can play a role. There's kind of three ways generally you can do it. The far left is like the fully public option. That's sort of you're doing it. you're then operating, you know, whatever building facility that is or part or industrial park. That is, there's a sort of a middle ground of a co-participant option that says, you know, local government can do what it does, which is, you know, it can help with some financing and maybe be more patient. But then private parties build and finance and own the construction. And then the incentive option, you know, is sort of the, the kind of least intensive, which is you're just providing incentives on demand. And so remember again, this is a large study area with many jurisdictions. And so, you know, What's right and a good approach for one city is not going to be the best approach for another. Some of these take a pretty high level of sophistication to pull off. And so we wanted to kind of plant the seed that these are things that we think you need to be thinking about in order to kind of diversify your industrial market. uh transportation wise i think we talked about this uh new connections redundancy um you know it's not we're not we're not just even though this industrial study we're not just trying to move trucks faster we're trying to improve safety reduce impacts on neighborhood and ultimately make these these industrial sites more competitive which is i think key to the process we talked about the roadway stress and so a lot of the things we've proposed here as potential new connections are things that are really trying to take pressure off of State Road 60. I understand that we've got signal upgrades in the works for the logistics parkway and State Road 60 intersection, which I think is a big deal. Turning movements are a challenge. There's limited access. It's got both safety and efficiency concerns. You can see the wide variety of users of this intersection that we have. um key intersection on key road needs improvement i think you're well on the way to to working on that when it comes to storm water and resilience this is like thinking about water management in a regional sort of systemic way we've got some ideas that we've pointed out the biggest thing i want you to kind of walk away from this with is that if we do it right, the stormwater aspect of this is gonna reduce flood risk, it's gonna support development, it's gonna improve water quality, it's gonna create a community amenity, and none of that is at the expense of development, and none of the development is at the expense of the environment. We absolutely can manage both of those. We've sort of laid out a hypothetical way that that primary conservation network, which is sort of the big fat, sometimes skinny, sometimes fat line through here might work. So this is kind of illustrative of the concept. Mind you, this primary conservation network That's a key part of your one water approach. And our goal has been to try to expand that approach to all of the areas along peace Creek and downstream to the, to the peace river. So it's not operating in, in isolation. Instead of thinking about treating wetlands and floodplains and, and ponds kind of as separate pieces of, we can get those connected into sort of a bigger system that can have all sorts of benefits like storing water, reducing downstream flooding, supporting wildlife, creating trails and open space, and actually be a benefit to beyond just the users of the industrial site. So you can see how all of those elements from wetlands to floodplains to the stormwater from the development to connected forested uplands, how that can all work together to create a conservation network that can be sort of the extension of your concept of the sapphire necklace. And then as we sort of pivot to infrastructure, really the strategies here are about readiness. For all the non-planners, just kind of understand that companies are choosing places that are ready. And if the roads, the utilities, the power, the broadband, if they're not in place or if it's even unclear about when they'll be in place, you know, we're going to lose opportunities to other locations. So thank you for kind of sticking with me through this. I know it's a lot of information to take in, but I think it's a really important topic. um you know i i guess i want to reinforce that this is about kind of positioning this part of the county for long-term prosperity and it takes working together with the other communities but we've got a lot of assets to build on like we've got strong corridors we've got airports we've got rail we've got logistics facilities we've got people with large land holdings we've got lots of power infrastructures we've got really significant natural systems. So, you know, we can compete for quality jobs even while we continue to protect the character and the environment of the community. So, thank you.

Commissioners, any questions?

Yeah, I have a question. So, the presentation that you just made, we don't have that. So, I'd like to have it.

I would love for you to have it. We have a slide deck we can provide to you and then the full report.

So the RPC has their second round of review on the report. I could talk to Benicia about giving it to you as a direct.

I'll probably get a copy at our meeting now that I think about it.

Good evening.

Benicia Frazier, economic developer with the Central Florida Regional Planning Council. Just quickly, we are still reviewing the document. What we would like to do is engage with our partners. Once we are finished with that process, which is in the latter part of August, we will make the actual document available to everyone.

All right.

Thank you.

But you can absolutely have the presentation.

We will print the presentation that you, this deck for you and put it in your boxes so you have a hard copy of it. Again, I just want to certainly recognize Venetia. Jennifer is here with the Central Florida Regional Planning Council. It's good to see you. We share a common anniversary that we both came to these jobs on the same day. We also have with us, I think Lindsey's everyone I see back there from the CFDC. Steve Elias, and a whole crew of people from the Winter Haven EDC, including the new President and Executive Director, Allison Beeman, who I will introduce further later on, and I think other members of the EDC that are here. This is a collective effort, and I think what's interesting about this uh... particularly as we talk about property tax reform is that is a big issue for all of us was mentioning about the opportunity for these lands to be developed as residential uh... certainly we need residential to uh... to support uh... housing here but at the same time if you have the opportunity for those to be the industry that employees those folks and continues to contribute in your tax base that's wonderful but we've seen that And I think he hits it on the head when those perspective opportunities come forward and we see those. I think the CFDC sends me one about every other day it seems. If somebody's looking for a location to either lease or move into and it's not a million square feet, it's I need 50,000 square feet. and or i need a hundred thousand square feet those facilities just don't exist and that's a tremendous opportunity between all of us in the southern portion of polk county here central to south to pursue some opportunities and and create that inventory and those partnerships that can bring that to reality so and i think that the approach of really focusing in not only on what that workforce demographic is, what the need is within the industries, but how do you take care of some environmentally sensitive lands that we have? How do you prepare for the infrastructure? It's a very coordinated, all-encompassing approach, so I commend them for the work. And this is, as I said, a partnership with all of those municipalities and EDCs in the mix.

Well, I'll just add that, you know, I certainly appreciate the presentation this evening. I stayed awake the whole time, I promise. I think that the balanced approach is the right approach, and I think that's something that Winter Haven, you know, has more so than others because we do have the benefit of the ILC approach. And it seems if we want to build a million plus square foot warehouse, we've got the space to do it and it's out there. And we don't scatter those throughout the community. And we have this cluster and we have this cluster over here. We've got a specific area for that sort of development. There's room to grow towards the south, but that's the area where Winter Haven sees that sort of future growth and not putting those pieces throughout the area. and balancing that with also the nature piece of it and make sure the water's flowing correctly and making sure that we're not impacting the environmental lands. Obviously, you're gonna impact somewhat, but to a minimum. And I think, again, that's where that balance comes into play. so well let me hit on the hot topic here because you brought up the data centers um so in my calculations and and kind of what i've viewed in the way that the city of winter haven lines currently are there's not a room for a data center so can you expand on that and where you know there's not of thousands of acres of old phosphate land that you could go throw a data center on in the city of Winter Haven with the way that our limits are defined. Either one that wants to take it. There's no media in the room, so you're good. Nobody's going to hear this.

Before I hand it off to Blake, I just want to just speak briefly to the document itself. I know you guys don't have access to it. But the actual document itself doesn't go into detail about data centers. It does bring it up because of the particular interest in it. But the document does say that while there is an interest in data centers at this time, there are more appropriate uses specific to South Polk. And now I'll hand it off to Blake.

And I also think specific to South Pole, the thing that's gotten a lot of traction lately is sort of the hyperscale data centers, which are like you see on 400 or 500 acres, like they're massive sites. And you're correct, right now that sort of site doesn't exist within the city of Winter Haven. the reality is the places where you may have, um, other large sites within this study area may have a site, but access might be limited. Um, water sewer power might be limited to that specific spot. And so, you know, in, if, if a city were to decide that was something they wanted to pursue, um, it really is logistically an uphill climb to get there, not to mention politically. And I think that even within the past year that we've been doing this study, the regulatory climate within the state has changed. And so if you think about what the component uses of a data center are, water being a massive one, I just...

the way things have gone i think it's next to impossible to get that even if you wanted to do one so and not saying i do or or that we even have that desire to move forward but it's really just because there is a lot of discussion out there and there's been calls for moratoriums here in in winter haven and and other municipalities but I just don't see the need for a moratorium when you don't even have the space or spots to even potentially have the discussion to add the center in the first place.

Right. You're almost having an argument for no good reason because even if you win the argument, you can't execute it. So what good is it?

Thank you. Any other questions? Appreciate the presentation.

Thank you.

Okay, then we'll have five sets of previous minutes up for approval, and then we will move right on into the consent agenda. And so I'll let City Manager take it away with 10-A.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm going to call upon this amazing team of department directors and staff to present their items this evening. So the developer's agreement with the physician's partnership, Eric Labby will speak to this. This may sound familiar because you've heard this is a CRA board.

sir mayor commissioners um way back in 2013 we entered into a development agreement with physicians partnership llc on december 29th of 23 that property was sold to core grow 550 winter haven llc pursuant to section 10.9 of that developers agreement The agreement cannot be assigned or delegated without the express or written consent of the other party. We had not received a consent or assignment, so we had not paid the development incentives for that property for tax years 24 and 25. We have since received that assignment documentation, and so on March 3rd, 26, Representative Corbro delivered that assignment and assumption of lease and contracts to the city staff, and the city attorney has reviewed that document. You did hear this as the CRA board. Staff does recommend that you would. approve and consent to the assignment and assumption of the leasing contracts document with physicians partnership LLC to core growth 550 Winter Haven LLC and authorized the mayor and other city officials to execute the consent or anything necessary there to Have any Stanford any questions you may have commissioners any questions?

I think we're good. We'll move on to 10b so this is a

agreement to provide traffic control. Greg, are you prepared to speak to this this evening, or would you prefer I do that, sir? Okay, thank you. So oftentimes within private developments that are gated, the roads are maintained and owned by the private development, and they will reach out for assistance with law enforcement for traffic controls for the Peace Creek Community Development District. This is down off of the south end of County Road 653 by the new elementary school. They have requested for the city to exercise jurisdiction for the traffic control enforcement over their roads. Florida statutes does authorize the city to do so over roads that are owned and controlled by a special district such as the CDD that this is. Their board of supervisors is required to execute a written agreement with the city in order for us to do so. These are typically intended to enhance traffic safety within the residential subdivisions and communities. The CDD is responsible at its expense for complying with all the requirements for signage and traffic control as mandated by Florida law. Also must reimburse the city for any actual costs of any speed studies or inspections that we would conduct to determine If their existing signage meets or exceeds the standards that are set forth in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, more commonly referred to as the MUTCD, they are also responsible for installing and maintaining all the required signage there's no financial impact to us for doing this this basically falls in line with how we would enforce in a non-gated subdivision or on local roads and we're recommending the commission consider approval of the agreement between the city and the cdd for this effort so if they were to want

an officer there running radar. Is that something that we would now do?

They have a speeding issue and have a request for that. Then they coordinate that with PD and based upon our availability of resources. We work with them for that.

And they would cover the cost of that officer being there?

That is something that we're going to do is just our enforcement within that because, again, tickets be issued and so on. But they're not paying for that additional cost on that service.

But if we don't have an officer available... We're not obligated to pull one. Right.

They don't get a higher priority because of this agreement. This just gives us the authority. It's really a way for us to safen up their streets and patrol those as need be.

And if they wanted to have an off-duty officer assigned for a specific time of day on a specific area, they could do that and that would be at their expense?

They could do it. If they were having a special event, I'm looking to Greg, if they were doing a community parade or something and wanted to procure an off-duty detail from us, they can certainly do that as well. We have these in a number of gated communities. It's just a means that if you don't, then we don't have the authority to go in there and address speeding or people operating vehicles that they shouldn't be, so on.

I'm just thinking there's a reason why they're asking for this. I'm just trying to figure out exactly.

Greg, do you know of any particular issues that are happening within this one?

So they're trying to rectify some issues with parking, speeding, improper vehicles driving on the roadway, certain e-bikes, motorcycles, things that on our normal roadways here in the city we'd be able to easily enforce with either doing a traffic stop, issuing a warning, and or issuing a citation to correct the behavior. In these cases, because the roadways are not within our jurisdiction technically, it's almost like a road warrior style. I mean, anybody can park anywhere, they can drive anywhere, do anything, as long as it's not a criminal act. It's just a civil traffic violation. We don't have a jurisdiction to do enforcement without disagreement.

So they're going to report it. They're going to call in. We're going to go out there based upon the current call log of the pecking order that that falls in, and then we can go out and issue tickets.

Absolutely, sir. If they have a reoccurring issue, they can do what's called a direct-to-traffic assignment. We'll put it on our blotter to try to address it as calls for service dictate within the rest of the city. If they do want a special assignment, just like the city manager said, They can contract with us for what's called a special detail officer. And at their own expense, they can have an officer there for as long a duration as they wish.

Okay. I have a question. Do they pay ad valorem taxes?

Yes. To the city? Oh, yeah.

These are all residents of the city.

Right. It's just the private road deal.

Right.

Okay.

Thank you. Thank you.

Next item is just travel and training. So you all are slated to attend the Florida League of Cities annual conference in Hollywood, Florida, August 12th through the 16th. I believe your accommodations and registrations have been accounted for by Amanda Jo in my office. Joining you this year at that event will be Deputy City Manager Carnevale. in public affairs communications director hill will be attending and i think is also presenting at that conference i will unfortunately not be able to join you due to a family wedding that i need to attend out of town that that evening so Item 10D is a first amendment to the Utility Developers Agreement with Four Star Real Estate Group. This is specific to the Harmony on Lake Eloise project. Gary, would you like to speak to this one, please?

Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners. So this item that you'll be considering on Monday is basically for upsizing of utilities through the development. And you'll see here that the 12-inch force main will go down to our new Harmony master lift station. Flow will be directed off of the eastern side of our system that currently flows to the master lift station at the Channel Lakes complex. So we'll take some stress off of that station for additional future capacity at the Chainal Lakes. And this upsizing of this forest main has been already, it's already in place. And so this is reimbursement for that upsizing effort.

So this work has been done and this is approval of that first amendment and basically as they're putting in their utilities developers agreement if we know that we have a need for expanded pipe size and the like we factored that in so I'd be happy to answer any questions think we're good okay Gary the next one is yours as well badger meter smart cover system agreement right so we have

You know the smart manhole covers throughout our system now and they do require maintenance. These systems basically they monitor the water level in a manhole and they shoot that information up to a satellite which pings it back down to our employees on their phones or their tablets. So this is just a maintenance agreement to make sure that everything remains operational throughout the year.

Okay.

I have a question. Yes. Are they on all of our manhole? No, sir. We strategically locate them throughout our system where we know that we might have issues. So we have, I think, 74 out there in our system now. So they have helped us tremendously as far as sanitary sewer overflows. We've been able to catch and avoid an overflow because of this equipment and this technology.

Gary, can they be moved as need be?

If you have a problem that came up in an area, you could relocate them? They can be relocated into another location.

Scott, one more question. So... I know that in the past that we've had some issues years ago as it relates to when there were weather events that caused backup. So I'm just wondering how.

So basically what happens is we have some areas of our systems that we suspect have a lot of infiltration and inflow. We can move these into those areas to document which segment of pipe we might need to look at as far as lining or replacing. Besides the benefits of avoiding sanitary sewer overflows, it also helps us to identify systems that we might need to replace.

And also plugged lines.

That is correct.

All right. I think maybe you're still up. 10F.

10F, water and sewer connection fee and rate study.

So as you know, this past legislative session, a bill was passed that will require us basically to do away with the surcharge that we currently charge to our out-of-city customers. And that will have to be done by 2027. So we want to be proactive. We will be coming back to the commission later this year for probably a construction-type loan instead of a revenue bond. And this information from a rate study and connection fee study will support that effort later this year.

So just a couple things with this to add to that. So that surcharge means that the rate structure that we adopted in 2024, August of 2024, is built off of what your rates are for your inside folks and your outside folks and what your cip is well if you're having to change that rate structure one coming down one potentially coming up and balancing it out there we need to know what that number is going to be and also verifying against the current cip so we do expect some changes within that we've also asked for Raftelis in this scope of work to contemplate an environmental surcharge that for us to give consider it for you to give consideration to for us to certainly you know be able to advocate if it makes sense that would help with things such as septic to sewer conversions as well as environmental land acquisition efforts that have a community-wide benefit so It's really driven more so by the change in the legislature and what we're allowed to do, but it kind of ground truths where we are today.

Additionally, our current rates are in 5,000 gallons chunks. There's a rate for 0 to 5, 5 to 10, 10 to 15. We're also going to look at maybe possibly changing that into 4,000 gallon chunks. to help with our customers that are on fixed income. And so we'll be looking at that also as we go through this process.

Yes, sir. So the study, we've got to, as when we bill our budget for 27, 28, that's when we've got that fee

That's what we would be looking at.

Yes, because we have to remove it. One more question in reference to that. I thought that maybe there was some room for the surcharge fee.

You can do a surcharge, but there's the automatic surcharge that has been in place for the longest period. That's what went away. You can actually do a 50% surcharge. The first 25 can be automatic, and then you have to justify the next. The way that it's reworded and – I don't have the exact details of it, but you can still do a surcharge. The process to do so has become extremely laborious and complex and basically is an annual exercise you have to go through. And at the end of the day, it's probably more effort than you want to take on to create that justification. You asked the question about the 27-28, and Gary mentioned that this, we have to eliminate that surcharge in our, and it varies from community to community based upon bonds that you have out and similar financial debt uh... in our case we have to be removed that by july first of twenty seven so we've got basically a year to work through this process and that's why it folds into the twenty seven twenty eight budget year as part of that process uh... will makes american recommendations for you to consider whether

Any new rates would be implemented January 1 or the start of the fiscal year.

So do you think, so will this, let me ask this question first. Will this rate study give what that surcharge we need that we should have? For non-city residents that we're allowed to do?

We're going to do away with the surcharge, so it's going to balance the rates.

So that's kind of what I'm getting at. So citizens of Winter Haven today are probably going to pay more than what they did before. That is correct. And so this is another gift from Tallahassee. If anybody's watching on YouTube, understand why your water bill is going to go up. And it's because a non-city resident who doesn't pay city taxes now, who has to pay a little bit extra for their water, now gets

split amongst everybody else so you have about thirty percent give or take this call thirty three percent of your customers are outside the city limits sixty six or inside those thirty three are paying a twenty five percent surcharge on water and sewer that comes off and you rebalance everything so they'll likely see a drop in their cost while everybody else sees an increase in the cost spread across twice as many people.

Tell me the system's not broken. Yeah. I hear you. Very good point. Because as a city resident, we all pay, unless everybody in this room all pays city taxes, which helps go towards the infrastructure cost overall. And that's why we pay a little bit more in that direction. But now that's not the way it's going to work. Look forward to the rate study.

Thank you for the time.

Moving right along since we're talking about sludge, let's just go on with it.

Thank you, City Manager. I didn't describe it as snot as somebody recently did. So this is, we're asking for retroactive approval. This was an emergency condition at Wastewater Plant 3 where we had a pipe in one of the irrigation basins fall. and hit the aeration system. So we had to take that basin out of service. And when we did, that kind of upset the treatment process and increased the amount of solids that we had to handle. So we asked CentiGrow to come in and assist our staff with dewatering sludge so we could get the plant basically leveled out from an operational standpoint.

So this is one of those emergency things that we have to do. It's the stuff that comes up, and when you have one plant that you're taking a portion of it offline to do repairs, and then you have a problem in another plant, and suddenly what you anticipated to be the challenge just gets a little more complicated. This is a retroactive approval because this work has been done. Are they still on site, Gary? I believe they are.

All right, Gary, I see your name on the next one, too.

There's always happenings like this in water and wastewater. You can't predict it. It's just every day.

We have to remain in compliance, and that's pretty much what this is about.

Talking Tuesdays a little bit worse than the heat of Wednesdays.

I do want to make a point here because I think it's timely that, you know, we've got a couple things on this agenda that are the emergency repairs that we're asking for retroactive repairs. authorizations on that being one and one that's yet to come up that Mr. Eilers will present on HVAC the library. And just to editorialize for a moment, Those are things that you can't predict. You respond to, and you've got an extremely competent finance department that helps us identify how do we do that. You've got staff that knows how to troubleshoot it. But as you're engaged in discussions on property tax reform, the big thing that hangs out there is deferred maintenance on systems. And that makes these types of emergency repairs much more common. So while we're dealing with them in 2026, when things are as they are, if you have to defer capital improvements and capital replacements, those maintenance issues will become more prevalent.

Additionally, I think it's important to note that Plant 3 is now 50 years old. Plant two is 55, I think, years old. So these are older facilities. So it's time, and we'll be coming before the commission for additional improvements here in the very near future. 10H.

Gary?

All right. Last item. For the Water Department, as you may know or remember, we have come to you before about the lead and copper rule that's required by EPA where we are required to remove any lead in our system. Primarily these are old lead goosenecks. We have found some out in our system and we are replacing them. So we'll be asking on Monday for your approval to basically purchase materials to take to accomplish these efforts. I do have our lead and copper team here with us. And if you have, I'm going to let him tell you a little bit about the program, some background and some numbers. So, DeAndre, if you would come. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. My name is DeAndre Holmes-Willifork. I am the construction superintendent. Me and my crew are in charge of the lead and copper program. Right now, we are currently on a regulatory requirement to have all lead out of water services by 2037. During that time frame, you have progress that you have to meet in order to stay along that timeline. We are currently ahead of schedule on that, but our objective as a department is to get this done as quick as possible. Our team has worked tirelessly to give us this cushion that we currently have, but we want to continue that and in order to continue that we need more materials and we need to also... Let me start over, sorry. So currently right now, since we began, we have located and replaced 71 lead services. We currently use a predictive modeling program that helps us to find high risk areas for lead to be found at. In order for that predictive modeling to work, we have to do what are called soft digs, which is basically we go out to certain residents that they give us addresses that are more than likely to have lead at those addresses. Once we get there, if we don't find lead, or if we do find lead, once we input that information into the program, Once they recalibrate it after a certain amount of soft digs, it gives us a better percentage of accuracy on their predictive modeling. When we started the program, we were at 35,000 unknowns throughout the city out of about 45,000 services. Currently, we are at 14,600 unknowns. So we are more than halfway through the unknowns. With the predictive modeling, Those numbers can change, but at the rate that we're going with the verifications, those numbers will continue to drop down. So the materials and fittings that we are going to purchase will allow us to continue on the track that we're currently on to get this done as quick as possible. I don't foresee us being anywhere near the amount of time that's allotted for this. So we should be able to get this done years in advance if we continue and have the materials in order to do that.

And that, you know, I think it's important to note this isn't about lead in the water. This is about lead within the infrastructure and where we identify properties that are likely to have that that's based upon the age, of the property and when it would have been developed because obviously there came a point in time when lead fittings and goosenecks were no longer utilized. So you're looking at older portions of the community and our predictive modeling helps us identify that if you have it in an area in a house and there's other houses that were constructed the exact same time, that's what you're looking at. So they're doing a great job of advancing that and this is the predictive modeling component brings some present-day AI technologies, machine learning into that process to our benefit.

I have a question. Did you use your billing system as to the age of the homes in the...

So with the predictive modeling company that we use, Trinex, they had access to a lot of the dates on when these homes were built. But we realized going through the system When we looked at it, there were some areas that they did not have the information for, but we did. So we were able to knock off a big chunk of the unknowns by going to those areas that we know without a doubt do not have any lead there. They're all new builds. So yes, we do use dates as well as field verification.

Thanks. With the... My understanding is that the lead pipes are at the hookups at the water meter level. Is that?

So most of these, almost all of the lead goosenecks that we find are actually at the connection to the main. You'll have a corporation stop, which is a way for us to shut the water off directly on the main and coming off of that corporation stop. will be a segment of pipe that is lead, and it'll usually lead to a galvanized line going to the service. You can't just take the lead gooseneck off because galvanized has a tendency to leach the lead that's coming off of that fitting, so now that galvanized is also contaminized as well, so we replace all the way from the cork up to the meter.

As City Manager mentioned, this is just another use in our department of innovative technology and using AI. We're using every opportunity that we have to improve the efficiency of our teams.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Your next item this evening, I'll invite Mr. Eilers to the podium. Happy to see this coming forward. This has been a heavy lift for what seems like a few years now, but we have a cooperative facilities use agreement between the city and the school board. We've had these in play for a number of years now. As you know, the schools use our facilities for athletic competitions. We use some of theirs. We're using one right now for our summer camps. But this agreement is the backbone of that.

Mr. Scott. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, City Commissioners, the City of Winter Haven and the Polk County School Board have maintained a successful cooperative facility-use partnership since 1990, allowing both agencies to share facilities, coordinate programming, and expand recreational opportunities for residents and students. For more than 35 years, this partnership has maximized the use of public facilities, enhanced recreational and athletic opportunities, and demonstrated a shared commitment to serving the Winter Haven community. The proposed agreement renews this partnership for 10 years, from 2026 to 2036. The agreement establishes priority use for each agency's facilities. By continuing this agreement, or excuse me, arrangement, both organizations can effectively utilize existing public infrastructure, avoid duplication of facilities and services, and provide expanded programming opportunities for residents and students. as part of the agreement renewal school board will provide a hundred thousand dollar contribution consistent with the contribution included in the previous ten-year agreement This funding will be applied toward the city commission's 2022 commitment of $350,000 for the renovations to the Denison Stadium. The contribution acknowledges that the school board's ongoing partnership is supporting shared recreational and athletic facilities and reduces the city's remaining commitment for the project to $250,000. FY26 cash carry forward will be used to support that contribution. The renewal of the Cooperative Facility Use Agreement continues a longstanding and mutually beneficial partnership that promotes community access to recreational facilities, supports youth and adult programming, and ensures responsible stewardship of public resources.

So the gist of the financial piece of this is that the Commission had made a commitment several years back as Denison, the football field was being renovated to $350,000 to go towards that effort. The school board obviously did all that work and we just have not settled that out because we needed to get this agreement done. Because the school district pays us $100,000 over the 10 years, for the use of our facilities. And there's other fees that they pay on top of that, particularly in the aquatics arena. Those basically, we apply them against each other and we'll make a payment to them at $250,000 and put that to rest.

So have we, I know part of the challenge, use that word, that we had was with the youth and so all that has been

worked out. So our use of school facilities, Denison in particular, we have access to that if we need to program into that space for if we want to have an event or a competition or something of that nature, we would coordinate that just the same as we would coordinate the use of a gymnasium or otherwise. It's built around the scheduling and the other activities. School board activities take priority on their property. Our activities take priority on our property. It does not allow for just the open access to that site. I would not advocate or try and seek that out, just the same as I wouldn't try and open up some of our facilities just for anyone to go in and use at their own will either. That would have to be coordinated and scheduled accordingly. So when are we going to finish the payment, the $250 that we owe? Once the agreement is executed, we would do that right out the gate to settle that out. All right. And that comes out of, we've already identified that within general fund fund balance. We've kind of been sitting on that for months. Gosh, I think the commission considered this probably three years ago, somewhere in that range. Actually, longer than that. Longer than that. It would have been when City Manager Herr was still here in 2022.

Peach Cutter was still on the commission.

okay uh... next item i mentioned this uh... again some emergency repairs so scott you speak to the hvac efforts at the winter haven library yes sir um... so the hvac system at the library was installed in two thousand four uh... consists of four large units as part of the city's long-term capital replacement strategy funding was included in fy twenty six to replace two units over four Excuse me two units and over four multiple fiscal years in June unit for experienced a catastrophic failure requiring immediate temporary repairs and a full replacement at the same time unit three which operates in tandem with unit for suffered significant mechanical issues and was operating at only 50% capacity and The combined failures subsequently reduced the library's cooling capacity, creating risk to the facility, library collection, staff, and visitors during peak summer temperatures. Emergency repairs and replacement increased the total funding of FY26 projects from a budgeted $150,000 to approximately $198,837. Staff identified sufficient savings from completed HVAC projects at Rotary Park and the PEP building to fully fund these emergency expenses through budget reallocation, eliminating the need for additional appropriations. The revised replacement schedule will complete Unit 4 and FY26, replace Unit 22 and FY27, and defer the replacement of the system controller to future fiscal years, depending on final project costs. Staff recommends a ratification of the emergency HVAC purchases and approve.

So this is work that has been done. This came up just a few weeks ago, certainly in the peak of the heat. Libraries are special places, not only in the sense of the people that utilize those, but that is a massive asset that the city owns in terms of a collection. And when you don't have climate-controlled space, if you're not cautious about that, you can lose that collection. So I want to commend staff for their quick action on that. I think they had also had some electrical issues just in the past seven days with AC down there that they were quick to respond to. Thank you, Scott. Thank you. And last, on your consent agenda, Public Works Director Brittany Hart will update you on the item for the old Helena Road, Cypress Gardens Road complete street effort.

Yes. Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. So on January 23rd of 2023, the Commission adopted a resolution which allowed staff to submit a grant application through the Polk County TPO and the Florida Department of Transportation for funds to reconstruct a segment of Old Helena Road from Legoland Way to Cypress Gardens Road. With that project, our application consisted of information that we would improve the roadway, but we would also add a path that would then tie into the existing sidewalk on Cypress Gardens Road. And so that only comes up a portion, if you're familiar with the area, the sidewalk comes off of Cypress Gardens Boulevard, up Cypress Gardens Road to about the Walgreens area, and then just ends. So we would tie back into that and create a new walk path. We would also do a realignment of the road to create some traffic calming in there. We would need to do some drainage improvements. We would also be enhancing the bus stop that is there within that facility and making sure that that shelter is up to date. FDOT did accept that grant application and awarded the city $883,140 for the purpose of the construction of the project, and that would be anticipated in FDOT's fiscal year, 2028. So in order to move forward, the city would be required to fund the projects designed, and then we would also be responsible for any construction costs exceeding that $883,140 award. So Kimley Horne & Associates, a firm who is under the city's master continuing professional services contract, prepared a scope for the design of the work. And that scope included survey, geotechnical work. They would also attend all of our progress meetings. They would do our permitting assistant. They would prepare 30, 60, 90, and 100% plans and ensure that those are submitted and approved by the FDOT. And they would also participate in the preparation of the bid documents. anticipate if approved this evening getting started with kimley horn and their design would be completed in the summer of 2027 just in time for us to move into the fdot fiscal 28 for construction so kimley horn's lump cell fee for the design is three hundred eleven thousand eight hundred and sixty five dollars A total of $285,000 has been budgeted for this effort within the transportation fund in the fiscal 2025-2026. There's a balance remaining of $26,865, which would be funded through cost savings that we've had on other projects, and those dollars also live within the transportation fund. supporting it so this aligns with our strategic pillar alignments and the infrastructure pillar specifically struck uh... three point two point five which is to you river pedestrian network improving of those gaps that we have to get our questions to and from so our recommendation is staff recommends the city commission approved the task order with kelly horn associates and authorize the city manager or his doesn't need to execute that task order issue a purchase order and take any additional actions necessary to complete the design phase of Old Helena Road's complete street project.

So it's a little different than the typical complete streets that we see that, you know, may feel like you have out on Third Street right now. This is probably more in line with some of the work we're doing on Roosevelt, you know, trying to make sure we've got pedestrian access, good stormwater management in there.

Yes, this won't be our typical roadway project where we're seeing major changes to the intersection. There will be a small realignment just to make room for that pedestrian path, but there won't be a roundabout or major intersection improvements. They will see a nice new upgraded bus shelter out of it, so we're excited for those.

Great. Thank you.

ask uh... under uh... resolutions for deputy city manager mj carnavali to present the item on the twenty twenty five annual lakes report i will note that uh... monday in addition uh... to this item you have with the lakes appreciation month proclamation so members of our LAC will be here And during Monday's presentation, there will be a slide deck component that I believe Devin Moore and members of our lakes or our natural resources team will present. So, MJ.

Good evening, Mayor and City Commissioners. So our Lakes Advisory Committee serves in an advisory role to the City Commission. So that group has actually existed for 40 years. This will be the 40th year of existence for the Lakes Advisory Committee. And each year they present an annual lakes report that summarizes the lake conditions, documenting the city's management efforts as well. In that report, they evaluate water quality conditions, hydrologic conditions, and biological data. And again, Monday night, you'll hear more about all of that in some detail. But kind of at a high level, in 2025, 51% of the monitored lakes met the state's regulatory thresholds. which is a substantial improvement from 2018 when only about 37% of the lakes locally hit that threshold. So that's good news, and then many of the remaining lakes that are impaired continue to show improving water quality trends. We use very sustained science-based management here, and I think it shows that those long-term benefits pay off if you continue to work that plan, right? Each lake in the report includes a water quality management plan which identifies specific challenges that that lake has and within that lake's watershed, as well as outlines kind of the management strategies and the future priorities for each of those lakes. And those serve as kind of like a living document that we use to manage the lakes. Since 2020, that report's also included an interactive online version, which gives residents and researchers a public-facing, very interactive tool that you can jump real quick and see, hey, this is the lake I'm interested in, and get right to that information. I'd also like to note that that That report is used pretty heavily by other regulatory agencies. So when FDOT is doing a project near a lake in Winter Haven, they're pulling that report and looking at the data. FWC has referenced it. FDEP has referenced it. So kind of the whole alphabet soup of agencies use what is created locally as a reference when they're planning their efforts. Complementing that, the digital and the hard copy versions, this year we have an in-brief document, which will be the second year that we have that, so that is just like a couple page document that uses some kind of graphs and pictures to explain at a very high level what's happening in lakes locally, and really to kind of invite people to dig into the bigger document and find out things specific to their lakes. Um, there's no financial impact associated with this item, but I do think it's notable. Um, you have a specific strategy within your strategic plan strategy 4.31 that speaks to continuing to publish this document and implement the management strategies that are outlined in it. So I think, you know, meeting that strategy and goal is, is important to note. Um, and then other than that, staff recommends the city commission approve resolution, uh, R2619 adopting the city of Winter Haven's 2025 annual election.

And I'm going to just look to Devin. Devin, will they receive a hard copy Monday?

Yes. We should have that, hopefully, for them.

So you'll have that nice, thick reading material to get you through. I heard in Birdsong's copy it has all the fishing spots. If you are an angler, this is an essential document, in my opinion, because it's going to tell you where you need to go. Under new business for Monday, I'll ask John Murphy to address item 13A, which is the appointment of legal counsel.

Thank you, City Manager. On June 17th of this year we issued formal notice to Blue Light Aviation regarding their default under the land lease agreement and the resulting automatic termination of that agreement pursuant to its terms for their failure to commence construction of the 38,000 plus or minus square foot building that they were required to construct as part of the land lease agreement. We have, in anticipation of litigation, I, in consultation with city manager, reached out to the Campbell, Trone, Tamayo, and Aranda law firm via John Mark Tamayo to have them be available to represent our interests in any resulting litigation flowing from the city's actions in terminating the lease or in notifying of the automatic termination Litigation has been filed, and this is allowing for Mr. Tamayo, who is a board-certified civil trial lawyer, to undertake representation of the city's interests in that litigation, which is pending in state court here in Bartow Circuit Court. The letter of representation is attached. It's been executed. It allows for legal services to be furnished by that law firm. in conjunction with this particular matter. And we would ask that the city commission on Monday ratify that. Happy to answer any questions if you have any as to the agreement. I don't want to really make any further comments on the pending litigation, but we can keep you posted and I will continue to do so.

And I would assume that advice goes for the commission and anybody else. We don't talk about any ongoing litigation until that comes to a conclusion.

That's correct, and from time to time I may ask if we need to for a meeting or strategy sessions regarding settlement potential or what have you, but our general position is that we have no comment on pending litigation.

Okay. And then the other item for you for Monday, and there's really no discussion for this evening, is During the May 26th meeting, Commissioner Davis had asked about bringing forward for discussion amongst the five of you matters pertaining to city commission compensation. So that is simply what's on here for, I think he shared some information that evening that we had provided from my office on the pay structure for our other jurisdictions here in Polk County. So that is just for discussion on Monday. And we don't have anything else to report on that this evening. If it pleases the commission, one last thing. You are going to the FLC, so you do have to designate a voting member. Thank you, AJ, for putting that up. So this is... When they do their annual business meeting, each municipality sending delegates are asked to designate one of those officials to vote at that annual business meeting. So we'll ask you for that election amongst you all Monday evening, and then we will communicate that back to the staff at the Florida League so that they have it. uh... the last thing if it pleases the commission we can do at this point is the strategic plan presentation on environmental stewardship. I do want to, again, though, point out we have with us this evening Allison Beeman. Allison, if you'd stand and certainly come to the podium if you wish. Allison is in her, I think, third day as the new president and CEO of the Winter Haven Economic Development Council. We met with her, Eric and I, yesterday to go over a few items, but if you don't know Allison, I wanted to give her a chance to introduce herself to you as she will be the person that comes to the podium cannot tell you about all the things that are going on.

No comment. Hello, good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. I look forward to working with each and every one of you. As it's my third day, I'm still getting my sales flowing here with my lovely ladies that I work with here at the Economic Development Council. I do have 15 years of past private sector experience. I worked for Cemex and Tucker Construction previously. And then prior to that, I worked for Central Florida Development Council and Haines City Economic Development Council, where I served as president. So I worked with Vanessa Castillo in Haines City many moons ago, and so I have a number of years of economic development experience and coming back to my roots in economic development here for the city of Winter Haven where I was born and raised. So looking forward to it. Thank you so much.

Okay. Thank you, Allison. So the last item this evening is a strategic pillar update. I hope you're finding these beneficial. I know they come at the end of long meetings, but I think it's a great opportunity for you to hear from some of the staff that are doing amazing work. And this one is very timely in that I mentioned you're doing your lakes advisory presentations on Monday. Certainly a big piece of our environmental stewardship in the annual lakes report. Environmental stewardship isn't just about lakes, though. It's also about how are we preserving this community for future generations, about environmental protection. This includes things like solid waste and stormwater management and urban forestry, land use planning. So we've put together a few items that we want to talk to you with this evening. Some of this may sound familiar to you. Obviously we've gotten a lot of rain. Cassidy King is going to kick us off about our phase two water shortage update. This is tied back to swift mud. Our Lake Idle 4E plan. I did budget briefings with all of you over the past week. We talked a lot about in the stormwater proprietary fund that Lake Idle projects. So we'll have an update on that. The expansion of South Lake Howard Nature Park. This is a really cool project that I can't wait until it's done and we can get out there and do a ribbon cutting. We haven't done a ribbon cutting in a couple months, so we're due for one. And then the Northeast Landfill Customer Convenience Center. That almost sounds like something you'd visit at the airport. That's actually a transfer station that is very convenient for our folks here. So Cassidy, take it away.

Awesome, thank you. Well, good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. My name is Cassidy King and I am the Customer Relations Specialist for the Water Department. And tonight I'm going to provide a little update on the Southwest Florida Water Management District's Phase 3 Water Shortage Update and the department's efforts in response to this item. So to give a quick recap, in late March, the Southwest Florida Water Management District's governing board declared a phase three modified extreme water shortage order, and this was declared because there was a regional rainfall deficit of 13.7 inches across the district. Now, the main thing that came out of this for utilities was a irrigation schedule of one day per week. The city's irrigation schedule in response to that was even addresses may water on Tuesdays and odd addresses may water on Thursdays and they may water before 4 a.m. or after 8 p.m. And then additional utility responsibilities that came from that include restriction implementation and enforcement, which we have been working with code compliance on, community outreach and education, and then monthly monitoring and reporting to the water management district. Now, originally, the shortage order was set to end July 1st of 2026, but at the last governing board meeting for the water management district, they did extend that water shortage order until October 1st. And I know you might be thinking, we have gotten so much rain the past few weeks, so why are they extending the water shortage order? Well, while we have gotten a lot of rain the past few weeks, they look at the regional rainfall levels for the district um in the consideration of the shortage order which at the time was um a deficit of 11.4 inches so that is why they extended the water shortage order now they did add a caveat on that this shortage order could be rescinded early dependent on those rainfall levels but for now it will stay in place until october 1st Now, the department itself, the biggest thing we've implemented is public reporting, adding that into Access Winter Haven, which is the app residents, the public can use to report things such as Potholes they see we just added a irrigation violation tab into that so it keeps a public reporting in one hub and it also allows our Department to deal with those reports in a streamlined manner now how we've been handling those is when an address is reported our Water conservation specialists will reach out to the property owner owner Excuse me that was mentioned in the report and they'll make communications via door hanger on-site education phone call or email and It's kind of been done on a case-by-case basis. Now, if there are any second reports that have been put into the reporting app, the water conservation specialist will make a direct visit to the property owner and do irrigation evaluation and provide any additional education as needed. Outside of Access Winter Haven, we have put out a couple of social media posts regarding the updated irrigation schedule and the irrigation education services that the department provides. as well as a notify me notification, so that email notification about the new irrigation schedule. And then lastly, we have been doing community engagement about the irrigation schedule at public events the department has participated in, such as Seven Rivers Water Festival. Now this is just a quick screenshot of what that irrigation violation tab looks like in Access Winter Haven. So just like the other tabs, you would first put in that address where you notice the violation happening and you can add a photo if you do desire. And then the reporter would put in that description as well as the day of the week and the time of day they noticed that irrigation happening. And that has really helped us out because it can give us addresses or areas to refer to code compliance for patrolling. And then lastly, they would just confirm that the address in the report is accurate. So from that, we've had 76 total reports. We've actually had a few more in the day. So I believe it's at 83 now. We've had 83 total reports through Access Winter Haven with 18 second reports put in there. So an address being reported twice. And then we have referred two of those cases to code enforcement. In addition to that, we've done 54 irrigation evaluations since April 1st. And outside of Access Winter Haven from the code enforcement team, there has been 20 code cases to date in regards to the water shortage order with two door tags issued, eight verbal notices, and 10 official notices of violation. And that is all I have for my update. I will turn it over to Devin for the Lake Idle IV-E plan.

Can I ask you real quick on reuse water, are our levels satisfactory? Have we replenished the coffers on reuse water?

Yes, so at least from what I know, I know they did a connection between Plant 2 and Plant 3 that has helped with that greatly. So I know last year we kind of experienced a drought with the reuse water, but I don't believe we've had any of that happen this year.

So Mr. Mayor, I've got to add something to that. So in years past, all the reuse came out of Plant 2. and if you we call it the hydrological cycle if it's not raining people are using more water and those tanks drain down we would not have water for the golf course people couldn't irrigate their lawns we made that interconnect between plant two and plant three a few years back that began to solve that problem and then with the motor pool road project They have basically further supplemented that system, so there shouldn't be an issue where you don't have access to available reuse water as the demand is there. Knock on wood, remember we had a lot of issues with the reuse system as well of debris and the biofilm and the stuff that would get in the line. That along with pressure issues, we've seen minimal issues in that regard over the past, I'm going to say really 12 months now. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, City Commissioners. My name is Devin Moore, Senior Environmental Scientist with the Natural Resources Team. I had a direct hand in developing this Lake Idle IV-E plan, which I'll be discussing today. First things first, a little background on Lake Idle. It's a small 19-acre water body located between Lakes Maud and Buckeye. It sits just to the southeast of Winter Haven Recreation and Cultural Center. The map here depicts Lake Idle and the red area is its stormwater drainage basin. As you can see, the majority of the basin lies just to the north and to the west of the lake. Over the last decade, Lake Idle has been exhibiting declining water quality, and in 2019, it was classified as impaired due to exceedances of the state regulatory thresholds for chlorophyll A, nitrogen, and phosphorus. These are the primary pollutants of concern that we're looking at in our lakes. As a result of these exceedances, Lake Idle ranks at the top of the priority list for management action, as determined by our annual lakes report. And in recognition of these issues, we have developed a Category 4E pollution reduction plan, which was submitted to the FDEP and approved in 2024. If you're unfamiliar, a 4E plan is an alternative to the state standard process for addressing impaired water bodies. This process typically starts with the development of a total maximum daily load or TMDL. And then that TMDL quantifies how much pollutant loading needs to be mitigated. Followed by the basin management action plan which stipulates specific management strategies aimed at addressing those pollutant loads. So instead of waiting for DEP to thoroughly evaluate the lake and basically develop its own plan, which can take years to decades to achieve, we have opted to go with a 4E plan, which allows managing entities to present a list of projects that are already in the process of being implemented. Not only does this provide local stakeholders with more control over project selection, but it opens up opportunities for state and federal funding. ultimately it results in a more timely application of management strategies so the remainder of this these slides are going to be discussing some of the major projects that are being put forth as part of this 4e plan many of which you guys are already familiar with through your recent budget briefings the first of these involves improvements to existing stormwater infrastructure in the drainage basin just north of lake idyll Effective stormwater management is a preventative measure that helps to reduce the amount of external pollutants that enter the lake. These particular improvements were originally conceptualized as part of the Stormwater Assessment and Improvement Plan back in 2019. It says 2017 here, my apologies. The report didn't come out until 2019, but we identified some priority areas in 2017. Focusing on the first phase of these concepts, this project involves the installation of approximately 1,000 linear feet of exfiltration pipes, associated inlets and clean-out ports, as well as restoration of any impacted driveway aprons and sidewalks within the vicinity of the improvements. The map here depicts the proposed general locations of the infrastructure additions within the rights-of-way along 9th Street, 9th Court, and Avenue B Northeast. The city has implemented exfiltration systems in the past and can attest to their efficiency at capturing sediment, yard debris, and litter, while also allowing for rainwater to soak into the ground. However, this project will be employing an innovative new take on the practice. This top image depicts the cross-section of a proposed storm tech system, which is comprised of perforated pipes surrounded by gravel and geotextile fabric. These systems are designed with ease of maintenance in mind. Debris can be jetted out to clean out ports, and then a back truck can be used to remove that debris before it can actually make its way into the stormwater system proper, which drains directly down to Lake Ida. To help fund this project, the city was awarded a DEP nonpoint source management grant, reimbursing us in the amount of $348,000 for the construction aspect of the project. Currently, staff are working to finalize the designs and permitting by the end of the 2026 fiscal year, and construction is due to be completed by this time next year. The second major initiative of the 4E plan is a sediment inactivation project, which addresses pollutants that have already entered the lake. These legacy pollutants are present in the lake bed and slowly leach excess nitrogen and phosphorus into the water column, which can lead to algae blooms and the growth of nuisance plant populations. This project involves the application of Utrazor, an innovative product that binds to bioavailable phosphorus in the top few inches of lake sediments. Essentially, this creates a barrier that drastically slows down the release of additional nutrients into the lake. users or busy p a approved uh... compound me from bentonite clay and has been successful in improving water quality in several polk county lakes this also includes a pilot test of the product in lakes one which uh... commissioner birdsong is probably familiar with uh... this resulted in a successful removal of algae and uh... duckweed growth on the surface of the lake for about a year after its application so we are personally familiar with the product and its effects and are excited to be uh... employing this innovative technology for Lake Idle. So to achieve the intended results for Lake Idle, the product will be distributed over three broadcast applications, resulting in an estimated neutralization of over 1,000 pounds of bioavailable phosphorus. It should be noted that the project was selected by the Coastal and Heartland National Estuary Partnership, or CHNEP, to receive funding through their Exceptional Lakes and Ponds Initiative. This allows the organization to apply federal dollars to implement innovative and impactful management actions within their service area. If approved, the entire cost of the project and the amount of $230,000 will be approved, and city staff will be finalizing the details of this funding opportunity in the coming weeks. If accepted, the project will be on track to be completed by the end of 2028, not fiscal year 28, end calendar year. Apologies for the typo here. Of course, in the meantime, the city is engaged in other management activities within the Lake Idle drainage basin. These include street sweeping, as well as several new rain gardens and other stormwater improvements at the newly constructed Winter Haven Recreation and Cultural Center, and of course our public outreach and education measures, which aim to educate the residents in that area about what actions they can take to reduce their stormwater impacts. Now I'll hand things over to Todd Gooding with an update on South Lake Howard Nature Park.

Commission, I'd like to make a quick note on that. I want to give some kudos to staff. Devin mentioned that 4E plan. So that is the city stepping in and saying, we'll take on the responsibility of being in the driver's seat rather than waiting for the state to tell us something needs to be done. And because of that, it kind of opens the door for these other funding avenues and these opportunities. So FDEP funding a project that improves the way that stormwater moves from the watershed into the lake, and then the Coastal and Heartland National Estuary Program, who Mayor Pro Tem Mercer serves on their policy committee. Them allocating that money, those are factors of having a 4E plan that says we'll take on the responsibility of making this lake better before the state has a need to. We have an annual lakes report that kind of prefaces all of the information we need to be able to enter that 4E plan. So all of those things kind of stack on each other. and getting grants and making the improvements in the watershed possible that lead to the improvements that we noted. They'll speak to you further in the annual lake support Monday night. So it's those long-term strategies when you talk about lake management that really start to compound on each other to have a good impact. So I just wanted to point that out and give staff some kudos for it.

And one more thing. They put your lakes report on their website. It's on there. Yeah, so you need to send them one. I took one the last maybe six months ago, I guess. I took the one that we had from last year.

We'll make sure they get it copied up. Okay.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. I have the privilege of giving you an update on our South Lake Howard Nature Park Expansion Project. The project schedule, we started this project in November of 2025. We have an anticipated completion date of late July 2026. You can see in the image here, we have a map of the area. The area circled in red was the existing park along Lake Howard, and the area circled in yellow is the expansion portion of the project. We had some environmental-based project goals with this project. First was to address some flooding concerns in the adjacent area. Second to that was use of an acquired parcel where the old radio station was, and we were going to use that for some needed stormwater replacement aspects that were located on that property. Also, we wanted to expand our stormwater collection and treatment capabilities. And then we have some overall project-based goals to expand the existing park for public use with a multi-use design, some park amenities that would be fun for the public and enjoyable. We were also going to use a nature-based approach to this design, and we provided here a short video that shows kind of the current project progress. And as we work through that, I'll make some comments as to things that park goers or residents may not notice. There was a deadline that's met or exceeded if we complete the project at the July date with an FDEP Heartland Headquarters grant in the amount of $450,000. That has a deadline for December 31st of 2026. and we should meet or exceed that expectation. The stormwater treatment, there's some controlled cell structures along this park where the water will be contained in ponds and then be mitigated through different control structures with a weird type system that we can take the boards off and let certain amounts of water through. and that water is held there so that it can be treated and then staged to mitigate the flood and also impact the lake quality of the adjacent Lake Howard. We'll have some high rain and flood storm mitigation control improvements. Again, that'll help us hold or retain some of that stormwater. We've estimated that that's gonna have impacts of about one and a half feet of storm. and flood mitigation control measures. There's the replacement of some aged out and failing infrastructure. There was an existing storm pipe that ran through that property. We've been able to abandon that pipe as it was failing and decomposing. The land converted will be used for beneficial public use. It's a measure of good stewardship. There's an old radio station there. We've also eliminated, we will be eliminating some of the signs in excess and some of the aged out signs in the existing parks. So trying to eliminate some sign pollution and putting new, more minimized signs in there. Some other things the public may not notice is collaboration efforts that ensure success in delivering a true asset to the community and the environment, and also the pursuit that the arithmetic meets the public appetite for this park. Some of the things that park goers may notice is updated restroom facilities.

If you don't mind, can you pause that?

So if you can see there, there's a boardwalk located across that pond. That boardwalk, if you were to travel from right to left on your screen, goes through a wetland area. So it's kind of a canopied scenic wetland portion that connects the existing park to the new park. Also, this is going to expand areas for natural habitation. People want to bird watch, check out the wildlife there, be able to enjoy that. There will be an expanded trail to the top of your screen. You can see it meandering through the park there. It will provide connectivity to 21st Street and also to Lake Howard Drive. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of this because it was just installed in the last week. There's going to be an homage to the railroad, so we were able to acquire some old, unused CSX rail and also some switches. We had a fabricating company put that together in a unique design. It'll be implemented into the park. for park goers to see and also to pay homage to the railroad. Also in the center of your screen you'll see kind of a concrete area with a triangle tarpaulin over the top. That is a pavilion. That's going to be used for educational opportunities, environmental opportunities, presentation. Kids can go in there and dip out water, look at it under a microscope, launch a kayak from there. That's kind of a reserved location that you can make reservations to be able to access it. They'll be additional recreation opportunities, playground, fishing, hiking, also some health benefits that those can bring with them. And new to Winter Haven, I think this is the first for Winter Haven, also a first for East Polk County. We will have a 13-hole disc golf course It's a unique design. We kind of brought in some disc golf experts and also some of our design team to work through that and walk through that in the field and make it a unique experience. I think everybody's going to enjoy that well. And then lastly, there will be some pedestrian and traffic improvements. Those will exist along Lake Howard Drive and also along 21st Street. So with that, I will pass the microphone over to Ms. Bobbie Watson to give you some additional updates on the pillar. Can I ask a question? A couple questions, I think.

Yes, sir.

Sorry.

In the center of this photograph or picture, it looks like a cave area underneath that, or is it just the tree? Go back to the tree, the one tree that's kind of high. After the trail in the very back. Yeah, keep going right there under there.

So that that is part of the trail kind of comes around through there and it beat to the right just a little bit. That area is going to be sodded. This this video was taken a couple weeks ago, so we're not at final completion yet. That's kind of a bare area. But that is actually, the trail will have some asphalt portions, some boardwalk portions, and just some natural, like small rock portions to give it a very natural environment. That will be one of the access points for them to walk out and access one of the tee boxes for the disc golf. If you want to see what one of those tee boxes look like, kind of center, yeah, there you go, right there. That's one of the tee boxes they would be throwing to the left of your screen to a basket that's hidden in those trees. And you can see also I wanted to add in up at the top of the screen about the middle Those are some of those control structures and then also down there just above that tee box Right there is a control structure as well for the stormwater management components How often do we go through and pick up trash from from the water from the lake I know in the past the

Other portion of this part seems like, I mean, it's doing its job. We're trying to prevent the trash from going to the lake, but getting the trash picked up from these wetland areas, how often does that occur?

I think it depends on the lake. For this application here, I know we're going to monitor that. Those weir structures, we'll collect that. So once it gets implemented, we'll see how the new control structures are going to manage that, and then we'll adjust our staff accordingly to go out and address it.

so mayor add to that a little bit you know you get and i think we've we've experienced this a lot this past spring dry conditions litter gets into the roads it gets blown into the storm drain storm drains all flow to lakes and you get a good what i call a toad strangler of a storm and it pushes water through there and we get a big flush of litter that's the the purpose of these sites is to capture that before it makes its way into a massive water by like lake howard we'll use park staff and natural resources staff and street staff as we see that as we anticipate that to go out and check those big areas that that are where we have an actual control for it South Lake Howard Nature Park, Lake Hartridge Nature Park has a really unique system there. Lake Howard dock in the alum system there. When we built that dock, we put in some new containment. And then we have some of those that are out where storm water flows and we know the one back behind BFO Brady's there that has an in-ground baffle system. Those present challenges when you get like what we had Friday night, over two inches of rain in an hour and a half. They're gonna push a ton through there and as we can get to them, fortunately with these sites, it's somewhat contained. It's when it makes its way all the way out into a major body that we get kind of stuck.

I would add, too, that with this park here, there will be three stages of that application. So if we were to get a heavy storm in the middle of the night and overrun one, it may be contained in the second, but it doesn't make it out to the lake.

Conine is another one of those that has similar systems.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. My name is Bobbi Watson. I'm the Service Coordinator for Solid Waste. I'm here to talk about the new Northeast Customer Service Convenience Center, open on June 1st. It's located at 4001 Bannon Island Road in Haines City. So if anyone has ever had to take a trip out to the county landfill, you know that it's a little time consuming, and once you get there, It gets a little intimidating with driving around with the big trucks and commercial trucks. This facility provides residents with a convenient local disposal center for household and bulk waste, as well as construction debris and tires. It makes it easier and safer for our residents residents to dispose of these materials without the long drive to the landfill and without the hassle of driving with the commercial trucks. The Customer Convenience Center was established as part of Polk County's ongoing commitment to reducing illegal dumping and keeping our communities clean and safe. By providing residents with an affordable and accessible disposal option, Polk County continues to invest in responsible waste management and environmental stewardship. The facility is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It's for residential use only. No commercial vehicles will be allowed. Customers will unload their own material into the appropriate roll-off container, so they'll just drive around and put their stuff in the roll-offs. Those roll-off containers will be transported to the north central landfill on a daily basis. Because it's a pilot program, no cash will be accepted at this time, only credit and debit cards, and they will also accept Apple Pay. Disposal fees for residents will be $10 per carload for pickup trucks, $18 for trailers under six feet, and $27 for trailers over six feet. We hope the residents of Winter Haven take advantage of the Polk County Customer Convenience Center and help keep the city that we love clean and beautiful. Thank you.

So this is kind of a neat thing, I think, and big credit to Bobby. Bobby's the person when people's garbage doesn't get picked up. She's the happy person on the other end of the line getting yelled at and does an amazing job for us. But if you've ever had to go out to the citizen drop site off of past Boswell Elementary coming into the north side of the landfill, you know, if you don't get there, if you're not there before the gates open, you're going to wait a while. For those in Winter Haven, this is a very convenient location, particularly if you're in eastern or northeastern Winter Haven to get up there. Kind of a new transfer station of sorts that we hope our residents take advantage of it's a it's a pretty cheap inexpensive way to do it if you can get your stuff there you're not putting a curbside it's not sitting out but it's it's just one more tool that they have to get rid of debris a couple couple questions how does that fee relate to going out to the the main landfill

At the landfill, I believe they weigh.

Yeah, you're going to weigh. I think the minimum is 10 there, but you go across a scale system. They have a little small scale house.

And hazardous waste like old paint, paint cans, electronics, can that go here or does that have to go out?

That will still have to go to the environmental center at the landfill.

For now or would you envision that?

they have not mentioned anything about ongoing, you know, in the future.

And that's a challenge, you know, because if you've got a truckload, you've cleaned out a loved one's garage, and you've got paints and fertilizers and old TVs, but then you've got white goods and other trash, it's two different locations within the landfill you've got to go to. You know, household hazardous is on the south end off of DeCastro Road, and everything else is going to the north end. Which that one's still free, though, too, I think. Your paints and all your chemicals are. And keep in mind, we still do household hazardous waste day here in Winter Haven. Brittany, did you have anything to add to that?

Yes, sir. I was going to mention the Polk County did hire a new solid waste director earlier this year. He is a former detective who investigated environmental crimes and he is very familiar with the types of illegal dumping and how there's a need to dispose of household hazardous waste. And he has expressed that he's looking into other pilot programs such as this to allow for the county to have additional ways to dispose of that hazardous waste, that paint, those white goods, those situations. And so I think we'll see additional pilot programs coming out from the county in the next, the coming months and the coming years now that they have new leadership.

Thank you.

So that's our presentation this evening. Again, this isn't, it aligns with the strategic plan because we talked about pillars, but these are those things that are happening and I'm always just amazed at the incredible work your staff does. With everything else going on, these are the little things that are getting done and big things at the same time. Most people don't even know that South Lake Howard Nature Park is being expanded, yet that is such a major asset and it's going to be a really cool component. So hopefully you enjoyed this presentation. We're available for questions at any time regarding any of those or other projects, and we will be back in August to talk about infrastructure. About the same time... And this lines up well because we'll do our budget presentation that evening specific to the water department. And that has a ton of infrastructure, as you know, for fiscal year 27 as proposed. That's all I have this evening for you.

All right. Well, with nothing else on the agenda, we will adjourn.