##VIDEO ID:KeRjjny0Rqk## mayor proen Yates here and mayor bird song here okay we have invocation Pledge of Allegiance then we'll have all of these proclamations uh so do we want all of these will be done Monday night including the uh achievement but excellence in financial reporting yes sir I think we can do all those Monday evening information for the evening okay so we have ordin this's uh second reading no changes no changes consent agenda so mayor and Commissioners if it would please you I'll go through each one uh 10 a through e uh 10A this is a grant that we had applied for this past summer uh this is through the office of Greenways and trails it's called the trail go Grant we were awarded a grant for $200,000 which requires a local match with that in our case that match is $52,000 so this is a project totaling $252,000 it will focus on the Chain of Lakes Trail particularly the corridor extending from uh basically motorpool Road North to um I believe to the lake Rochelle Bridge yes that's what's highlighted in blue on your on your map there on the left hand side uh we will use the funds to do clearing along that Corridor to open it up remove some of the underbrush and make it more visible thus more attractive and safer we will also be acquiring a piece of equipment a tracked remote mower I think we have a photo of that as well which basically operates kind of like a bush hog um this is a remote control piece of equipment we'll be able to use here and other areas along the trail to help us maintain that area we're also working closely with the police department and our safe neighborhoods Department to address some homeless encampments that are in that area how far away do you have to be to operate that I'll look to my Parks and Recreation staff if you could come to the podium the one that we purchased for um activity Fields uh probably 100 yards or within 100 yards it it it has a good pretty good reception there okay so we handle all of our slopes and embankments with it so this is um just authorizing a we have to do a budget amendment because this was not a budgeted item based upon when we applied for the grant so we'll do a budget amendment to add the $200,000 in Grant Revenue to the general fund and then proceed with the contractual services and the acquisition of the equipment okay item 10B this is an expansion of our Smart Cover uh program that we implemented back beginning in 20121 as you know we have some sensors that we've installed on some of our manhole covers that allow us to Monitor and and catch potential overflows ahead of time um also provides a tremendous amount of data on what's happening within our our manhole system you can see some photos here of how this works uh if you happen to see one of our manholes it has a green reflector on top of it that is going to indicate is it white it's shown as green here Gary I'm going to say is it white or green do you recall if you see a manhole with a reflector on top all right it green for sure it will have a um that means it has a smart cover installed in that we can move those Lids around as need be with the equipment but this uh item is to acquire 10 additional smart covers as well as the smart care maintenance program uh and this will we already have I think it says within your fact sheet 45 of these smart covers plus six smart rain sensors so this further expands that program it's a critical piece of our Emergency Management and preventative um uh efforts when it comes to sanitary sewer overflows so this is recommending the purchase of those 10 additional covers and the smart cover maintenance program which will apply to all of our smart covers that we have in the inventory any questions with that one I'd like to know how it works but you can you can tell me that later I don't need it tonight okay it's it's pretty straightforward it's a pretty pretty simple process uh item 10c this is the master um continuing or Master Progressive design build agreement with Wharton Smith Inc for our wastewater treatment plant at plant three the expansion of that and ultimately for the abandonment or decommissioning of plant two and restructuring that to become a more of a u a master lift station we have Representatives with us here today from whorton Smith Mr French is in the back also have representatives from uh Jones Edmonds Anthony is with us as well these are Consultants that we have on this project and in March of last year we did Issue an RFQ a request for qualific qualifications for this design build pro process we have been in negotiation for the past several months to nail this down this is a significant project at the end of the day um close to a $200 million investment that will ultimately be made into our Wastewater system as you know we have some long range needs at plant 3 not only for the existing facility but to be able to expand capacity as we continue to grow this is the master document that we're presenting to you today uh that will be the umbrella under under which task orders assigned to various aspects of the project will come forward so there's no cost associated with this particular item this is just setting the the framework under which we will we will execute task orders now remember this is a design build so as we bring forward a task order it will include the Design Services with a GMP a guaranteed maximum price for that element and then we will come back for that particular element with an amendment to that GMP to cover the construction costs and we will take bites at this project in um meaningful ways of you know how do we make improvements rather than do everything all at once we'll do it a phase at a time so that's how this master agreement has been structured city attorney's office worked very closely with the legal team from Morton Smith uh along with staff to bring this in for a landing so this is a big step for us and we are presently already reviewing task order one which we will present to you at an upcoming staff meeting or a commission meeting um that actually Implement some of the initial work for this next item uh is for travel and training we have two travel and training items the first is for the coastal and Heartland National Estuary partnership this is for commissioner Mercer who serves as a liaison to that committee or that that organization they have three meetings that are slated uh in the in this calendar year January 23rd which is tomorrow May 22nd and September 18th those are all held in Port Charlotte so this item is to retroactively on Monday approve her travel and attendance for the meeting that will occur for tomorrow and to provide Advance approval for her attendance at the May 22nd and September 18th meeting and then the other is a travel and training request for all members of the city commission along with myself Deputy city manager Carnaval and our public affairs and Communications d uh director Katrina Hill to travel to Tallahassee between March 11th through the 13th to participate in P County day in our time with the members of the legislative delegation and we have made accommodations for that trip um and we have some flexibility if we need to cancel any of those if there are conflicts or obligations that would keep any of our commission or others from not being able to attend and I believe that is everything on the consent agenda sir okay where where where are we staying we are back at the Double Tree this year okay same place we were uh prior years in the travel is on a p County day is on a uh Wednesday 12 I think it's on W I think it's on Wednesday this year um and I know that commissioner doson will also be attending that is a participant with leadership Winter Haven so that group will be there at the same time oh okay I think they're there the day after the 12th is that when they're schedule I'm not sure what their exact schedule is Sir but I think that you're you're definitely there on P County day yeah because that the that delegation will be with us gotcha all right resolution r2504 this is a resolution pertaining to the uh Harbor at Lake Henry subdivision so they're requesting the Commission accept certain improvements and dedications in favor of the city as noted noted in the plat for that subdivision this is a 36.3 plus or minus acre subdivision at the easternmost intersection of Old lucern Park Road and lucern Park Road is highlighted on your screen um this contains 179 building lots and 14 common Lots all of the utilities and roadways within here with the exception of storm water will be uh assigned to the city the HOA will retain responsibilities for the storm water drainage system they did Issue a performance bond that was accepted by the city commission that total $313,200 inspections more recently have found that those incomplete improvements are now complete in the Water waste water and reuse utilities along with internal roadways can now be accepted by the city so this is the uh the acceptance of that uh that planning Mr Mayor quick quick question um I know there's three projects out there and it was the first one or the first two this was one of the ones Eric that got INF first or is this onway concurr trust my memory on that yeah we've been in constant communication throughout the development process for all of these projects um this one uh we have already uh approved the plat so this one got in um the only one left hanging out there um along the stretch of road would be willbrook North and that they're going through their plating process right now and it appears that they have they will be able to meet concurrency oh really all three of them make concurrency yes sir and there was another one Eric if I'm not mistaken that was closer down across from like the Villa at Lake smart at the Western intersection of old lucer park and lucern Park Road that was part of that conversation that I don't think moved forward they haven't mooved forward yeah so there was one that did not progress which I think freed up some capacity commissioner Dan I know we went to DC to try to get some federal money back when Mr her was here and you guys have been up there a couple times since have we made any progress on this road I mean do we have anything you can tell us because it's this is still a nightmare and we're going to make it worse with these I know it's concurrent I'm not saying that I'm just saying is there any relief somewhere coming down the road that we know of so so in working with the fdot um they have they got the PDN adopted for the entire Corridor and so what that does is that kind of locks in that PDN and once that's done for um planning design and environmental review okay so that basically is the study of the whole Corridor once that's locked in and approved then the dot can start putting funding that 27 all the way to MLK Boulevard yes sir it across 27 yeah across 27 17 so they're going to study the whole thing at once they they did that they studied the whole thing and that plan's been adopted so then they can start putting funding behind it so they funded the section from MLK Bard just north of Avenue y so that's that first segment which was one of the things that we had pushed them for um and then so that sets the stage for these other segments to be funded and I believe there's an intersection Improvement that they're working on um possibly Standalone from the rest of that um at this intersection here to make that signalization that popped up into their Capital Improvement plan um I think it's within uh within the next fiscal year I believe it's F you guys can you roughly tell me where that's going to be uh that would be at the intersection of old L Park Road the one on the screen here oh okay okay right where that gas station is I I think they and help me out uh I think they move the section from Avenue y to M MLK back a year but didn't we agree as a commission to put some of our own money in here to Spur this along to get it going well that per that that section that had been approved for funding but they moved it I think who was there is I think that's what they did they moved it uh back a year but you you don't remember the fact that we I think it was before I think it was when Michael her was here we but we voted to put up some of our own money but and and we actually went to uh The Rock Church yeah and uh talked with them and then we had some subsequent meetings with them but there was their whole thing was uh is that they could only see clearly from like Avenue why to First Street well Brian was part of that when we were getting that our own money to get that section done right away without waiting we wanted yeah do you remember that I what I recall was we we threw it out there like we would be willing to do that I don't think we necessarily committed it but I I think the point where I when they came and did the presentation it seemed like they weren't going back far enough from MLK and so I had suggested you know wait why don't you wrap this up further and and try to because there's vacant land all the way up I think to the was the gas station that's there between MLK and the gas station because what they were potentially proposing was that wasn't going to be impactful enough for the amount of traffic that that this road sees in my opinion um but after that meeting we never heard anything else from them but now voted on that there there's still the design and the funding so I happen to have a copy of the five-year work program here that um I had in my binder uh lucern Park Road widening from MLK to Avenue y the RightWay acquisition is in fiscal year 25 and 26 construction is in 2027 those funds become available in July of 2027 okay and the signalization at this intersection that we're just talking about uh construction funds became available July 1 of 2024 and they anticipated construction to start as early as fall of 25 so this year so you're G put the light in first and the the road that's there along where willbrook is for that development I know when I was on MLK the last time it seemed like hey there's a new road there it just popped up but is that not going to connect all the way over yet so you talking about the road that goes through the willbrook subdivision so there's right of way in there and there's there's access into that subdivision which is there was just talking about with the platting one of the um one of the things that I'm going to mention during my comments I'll go ahead and share with you now is we are putting together our uh we're presenting to you a draft legis lative platform for this year one of the things that we're recommending be included in both our state and our federal uh platform is seeking funding for the construction of the Willowbrook bypass road for lack of a better word we have the RightWay through there because it's dedicated with that subdivision we don't have the funds to build that road so we are cost estimating that out as to what that would be to us that sounds like a great project for the state to get behind because it provides relief in a much faster means on a very stress State roadway so that's the RightWay is there but we've got to get across a canal you know there's some other challenges within that there it's an internal road but we've got to do but there's a road there now like I mean the the entrance to that road is started yeah I've not been up there to say to see it with my own eyes but certainly it would make sense I was wondering like if they'll take it on all the way up to the I'm assuming they would take it all the way up to the canal and then on the other side of the canal they would they would run it on up to lucern Park Road I think that's the road into the subdivision our road is outside of the subdivision in a dedicated right away that is separate from it correct it won yeah it doesn't go all the way up to the canal I didn't I didn't know what I was looking at when I yeah that's just the subdivision itself and mayor Pates there was a time when that road early on in the discussions of that subdivision would go down through there and be a connecting road all the way like a Boulevard with that bifurcated say the subdivision that was probably in the very early years of that discussion and then is there were some changes in what was going to be developed there because remember it was Modular Homes at one point and then it it it evolved over time and changed hands and now that roadway as I understand Eric actually outside of the subdivision but runs alongside it correct yes sir so that is one of our our legislative asks is trying to you know see if we can get some some um legislative support both at the state and federal level to make that happen that would be a tremendous relief on that road and we' we've got the data that would support that from we will have the data yes sir the the Go stuff is there any way we could throw Sage Road in this conversation since that's all out in the same area as far as uh I don't know if the state would be willing to help with that but if you could just don't forget about that road because right that makes a world of difference connecting dundy road to 544 if we could get Sage Road done then all that stuff works 10 times better to be able to be to BU people without having to get on 27 or go through town if they want to go out the legol land or something they they can they don't have to drive on 27 or go through the middle of MLK Boulevard to get there so yes sir you know and if we're waiting for the developer to do it we might be 10 years before that road gets built and we got the rideway now so yeah I'd say that those are two we look at road projects that provide some relief certainly Thompson Nursery Road realignment expansion is is the the granddaddy of a mall for down in southeast Winter Haven this willbrook Corridor would provide a tremendous relief particularly at the intersection of MLK and lucer Park Road where we see so much traffic backing up well past we Avenue on many occasions and then Sage Road as you said creating a kind of a relief valve for people in the uh Country Club Road area trying to get in towards town versus about people on 27 that want to go towards Southeast Winter Haven they have to drive either down 27 or or go through the middle of City go through th Villa and they could peel off halfway down and go out through Sage Road that'll relieve a lot of pressure in Florence Villa I think I would think I mean I'm no traffic engineer but Common Sense tells me it would so okay um so I think we are at uh first readings yes we've done the first one so the First on 12a this is the adoption of the CIP uh Capital Improvement plan into our comprehensive plan and this is required uh by Flor statutes that we do adopt the fiveyear schedule of CIP into the comp plan and this will cover years 202 2425 through 2028 29 um and it is built off of the information that is contained within our current year fiscal operating budget it also contemplates the P County fiveyear transportation work program um The fdot Five-Year work program and the fiveyear work program that's adopted by the school board so all that folds into it it does limit the inclusion to projects that have a minimum cost of $25,000 or a minimum service life or and a minimum service life of five years so this went to this Planning Commission earlier this month and was unanimously voted to move forward for your consideration so this is adopting the fiveyear CIP into the comp plan okay any questions okay um 06 256 this is pertaining to our Wastewater industrial pre-treatment ordinance um which exists Within Chapter 19 of the city's code so d uh provides oversight to this and performs annual Audits and so they are we are proposing for some revisions to that ordinance these stem from the March 27th 2024 audit of the pre-treatment fat oil and grease division the ordinance addresses D's recommendations for Regulatory Compliance clarifies language and correct some minor typographical errors D has provided us as of January 3rd this year their preliminary approval of the ordinance and so it is now coming forward for the commission to officially adopt or or consider on first reading in your in your packet there is a striketh through version that was provided and I believe it should be highlighted within your packet that shows where those changes were made these um from my review and I'll certainly defer to Mr Nicholson and and Gary hubard these appear to be very minor changes most of them are typographical and clarification maybe where we had some changes in titles and the like all right uh the next item is the uh budget ordinance 0257 thank you sir in uh July of 2023 we began a we we adjusted our purchasing process and our accounting process to uh incorporate the encumbrance of purchase orders as a means to better manage our resources create greater transparency and overall fiscal accountability so encumbrance rolls forward uh those roll forwards occur when commitments are carried forward from one fiscal year to the next and due to the incumbrance roll forwards from the previous fiscal year so we're talking fiscal year 2023 adjustments are needed to the fiscal year 2024 budget that's the budget that we just completed this past September so there is within your packet an exhibit a that shows these are relatively minor dollar amounts you can see that within the general fund there is $250,400 that need to be accounted for in the 24 budget is rollovers from the prior year and about 238,50 40 within the airport fund that were encumbrances that need to roll forward and that is just to clean up the 24 budget that's what we're going through audit processes now and that will also affect the current fiscal year 25 budget so CJ anything to add to that so so you'll have another one of these that comes through for the subsequent Year all right okay new business RFQ 2438 in a August of this past year we issued an RFQ again for design build services this was for the Redevelopment of the former fire station number one which is just to our North here on the backside of the finance and customer service building the intent is to construct a new City of Winter Haven Building Division administrative office with all of the growth that we are experiencing uh and the amount of work that is coming out of there we are pinched for space across the way and the building that we acquired I think probably 15 16 years ago um I will say we are also exploring opportunities to acquire property in the Southeast Winter Haven area for a satellite office for our Building Division as traffic becomes more and more in our community as we see more and more development in the areas of the ilc and in southeast Winter Haven just from a customer service and efficiency of operations we're going to need to look at some additional opportunities there but in this case we're talking specifically about the old fire station we did the RFQ we receiv received four proposals this past October those were vetted out by the city's selection team and they unanimously recommended Whitehead construction to proceed with the design build process you can see an image this is what was included in their proposal but it just gives you some sense of what that could look like that patio area that's the actual driveway of what the old Fire Station Bay where they would come in and out of the the property um so this will be a tremendous Improvement to that in a much more functional area for us to serve customers we did set aside $7 million in the construction fund that came from the building division fund remember we can only use Building Division fees on Building Division uh expenses so there is funding set aside for that I would expect this project because the the shell of the building is in in relatively solid condition there may be some Roofing repairs this is mostly interior work should not be a lengthy process to design out and get constructed and operational so we're recommending the award of the RFQ to Whitehead and then we'll negotiate the agreement with them and bring back a GMP for Design Services followed by a subsequent GMP Amendment for the actual construction so go ahead this the old this anex over here you're basically turn the whole building into the annex all office space right okay that's the that's the that's the plan okay and that's to really try and consolidate some services in there I'm looking at just so you're aware of some uh potential to relocate um our finance team to over into noro where we've got some space and open up their space that we can perhaps you know do more with our engineering division in that same space so for a customer coming in that's dealing with say a commercial property their their Building Division their engineering their coordination between uh engineering and the account services for new commercial hookups all that is very you know it's concentrated one space and a greater coordination and collaboration between those units well I've got to tell you T I I like this approach better than trying to locate land and build a $50 million new city hall to put everybody in one place I know this is kind of Peace meal but we're all in the same complex so to me this makes more sense than trying to to come up with a 5060 million check to build a five story City Hall um I like your approach is what I'm trying to say I think this is a good idea but that's just me I don't you know I don't know how we come up with that much money to build a new city hall um the customer service would they be in that too they'll be we'll have customer service in there now keep in mind we will be building a utility campus out at the Bradco Farms our customer service operations more and more that is going to I'll say back of house operations it's it's less inperson type stuff um I will expect that we we will maintain a presence here of some level even when we open a new campus simply from commercial standpoint of collaboration and coordination and we just have to work that out but we still in that in the annex right across the way you have customer service um for utilities you have Finance there's an IT component that's still there and then uh this new space which is the old excuse me The Old Firehouse um I know that you don't have as much cash coming in as you used to or you know and customer service or um what used to be um the intake of the cashiers and things like that I know you don't have that it's a lot more um green processes yeah so but they would there would still be some for that I think we'll all the cash there yeah I think we'll always have some need to accommodate cash payments people that are just not comfortable making payments other ways and I think over time that the dependency on those types of services diminishes but we'll I think we'll always have some of that we have a report that comes out monthly that shows us how many people are taking advantage of our green initiatives whether it's um autopay or paying you know through credit cards on online whatever their process is uh and that number continues to increase but we still have a number that you know people that I'm gonna pay pay my water bill when I get paid and I'm going to bring it here because that's what I'm most comfortable with so I think we always have to be able to accommodate that well and also issues of some sort of water problem issue then they want to talk to somebody and we we have that as well yes um the other thing the drop off or Dropbox or whatever you want to call it is that used a lot still used driveby drop it in y when when we're going through the design of a of a space like this I just want to be sure that we make this space able to evolve over the time of the city so if that means spending a little extra money on walls that move and pivot and you can change those spaces around as departments grow and shrink and whatnot I I'm I'm all for that I just I I'm just not a huge fan of you know putting up that immovable wall and and then you've outgrown that space you know within a couple of years um so hopefully that can be considered in the yeah I think um mayor P the beauty of this if you ever want anybody involved in building their own building or designing their own building the building division probably are the best people um so I'm I'm curious to see what they come come up with it is you know a lot of block construction that's already in there so it's it's filling in those spaces your spot on we should be designing buildings for no less than a 20-y year Horizon use Horizon sometimes we hit that 20 years in five or 10 it seems this will have I think sufficient flexible space to do exactly what you're speaking of and like I said at the same time Eric and and uh Eric Labby and and CJ Scott and I will be meeting I think it's later this week to look at what are some opportunities we have in southeast Winter Haven for rather than just looking at how do we expand services in here that's one option but if it doesn't if it doesn't effectively meet the needs of those we serve our citizens what option do we have for that satellite type service to be more be better situated to respond to inspections quickly be closer to the residents you know all those things to save each side time and energy and money so I agree with with your thoughts completely and I appreciate your your comment Mr Daner about the else this approach all right then the final item is the uh recommendation for the grant and aid uh Committee Member Dr bobber Jones so that's straightforward and it's also if I could mayor um this is to so appointing Dr Jones to fill the seat that was last held by Dr Negley but it is also to reappoint Tina Summerland Abdul Alti Alex Santiago and Melinda caligus for new three-year terms effective this January so we met with them uh in I believe it was October of this year and they agreed to continue on in service but we did need to fill Dr Jo that seat all right anything else I have one item that I can share under uh just manager item when we get to that yes I'm to that right now okay so I mentioned legislative items um and I wanted to to share with you what we have been been assembling based upon feedback that we've certainly picked up from the commission over the past year or at least since the last session ended uh also taking lead from some of our our department staff in the professional associations that they work with the Committees you sit on with the Florida League of what are some of the issues that we see coming forward within um this year's legislation committee meetings have been delayed as you know because of special session that's being called um so we're we're just trying to get all of our our ducks in a row for when we do have an opportunity to communicate with our delegation items that we have have would like to propose to you as key components or priorities within our state level legislative platform this year include the willbrook road which we just discussed of seeking uh some legislative appropriated funding to help bring that to reality um there the second item is uh electric vehicle infrastructure so this has been an item that we've carried forward in the past we have an EV master plan there is federal money that is being released to the states to support the further development of the EV infrastructure for charging stations and this aligns with recent actions that we took related to the I4 frame Corridor uh adoption we have put some of those EV charging stations in certainly not the the level three I believe that we would classify them as is the the high speed Chargers but where can we do some more of that so pursuing the deployment of those funds in in specifically in our area uh the third item is promoting support or advocating for support of cultural arts funding at the state level as you know we have a tremendous cultural arts program here in Winter Haven last year the theater Winter Haven was uh in line to receive a significant amount of money for their programming and their enhancements to the rich theater that funding was was ultimately cut at the state level and we would like to advocate for restoring and and continuing funding for Cultural Arts that can go out to some of our nonp nonprofit Partners here that's a benefit to us not only in the cultural arts side but economically that supports a lot within the Winter Haven area particularly in our downtown if it can go towards the Ritz Theater he just an FYI Dan told me he's number one on the list this year all the more reason why we should be pushing for so if they don't cut the funding he said we're going to definitely be in line this year that's excellent that's is that for the Ritz Theater or for programming in general I forgot already okay do you know Julie no I don't either he told me it's pretty good chunk of money though we we'll make sure we have all the details of that so we can can tell that story uh fourth item is continued support for onew policies Gary hubard was just recently in Tallahassee with the onew commission again one of those State associations of which we support and belong to advocating for continued efforts to establish one water is a um accepted approach and in appropriating funds to support Grant efforts and and other funding mechanisms that are tied to onew programs the um continued support for local Project funding Avenues such as fap suntrails Land and Water Conservation fund uh those programs that we apply for that give us grant money to Advan capital projects here suntrails is a big one and I think Andy is here suntrails is you know the the uh the Old Dixie Trail is a candidate for suntrail money that would would further connect us into that cross that Coast to Coast across Florida Trail system um we don't I don't think we will have a fap program or project this year but we have benefited from that year over year over year and so we want to continue to Advocate those programs stay in place they don't just help us but they help certainly our other municipalities here in P County and Beyond uh local business tax receipts advocating for that in advance of another assault on local business tax receips that is not necessarily a huge chunk of money that the city takes in annually but it is a mechanism that allows us to ensure compliance with our zoning code with life safety measur measures that are handled through our fire marshal and the inspections that we do to ensure that our citizens are protected when businesses go in that we are safeguarding our neighborhoods to make sure things like auto mechanic shops don't end up in your neighborhood or other types of services that shouldn't be there so um we think that that is something that very well could come back again this year and being prepared to say if you're not going to continue to allow us to have business tax receipts at the local level you have to give us some other means to ensure the safety of our citizens that are triggered by that um Utility Fund transfers and search charge fees certainly expect that to be an issue again this year we are preparing uh all the necessary information to explain how our 12% policy Works what the value of that is as well as how the sear charge any changes on that would impact our residents locally uh I'm not sure who serves on that committee at the league of of the five of you but I I certainly feel that that's going to be one that that comes back to the surface um Anonymous Code Compliance complaints this is one that has come up time and time again I just recently had a citizen in my office who was sharing with me when she wanted to uh discuss our follow through on all the Code Compliance cases that she had submitted and we provided her a list of it her first response was I did not submit all of these and it became apparent that somebody was submitting code complain code complaints utilizing her name um without her knowledge and that is not the first time that that's happened that's been well documented elsewhere in the state so we want to continue to advocate for some further action on the code enforcement legislation that provides some further safeguards for our staff or for our citizens in terms of being able to file code complaints without fear of Retribution from the person upon which they filed that and some form of verification requirement when if you are going to require us to take a name how do we verify that it is that person how do I verify that if Mr carnavali files a complaint and uses Mr dancer's name that he's not or is Mr dancer we don't have a means to do that today and the last item this is uh a little bit of a a reach for us but I think it's an important one that um MJ and I have been discussing since hurricane Milton and that is we have a number of communication lines in our community and I'd say this is in every community in the State of Florida and when you have hurricanes that come through a lot of times power lines come down communication lines also come down or hang low and what we find is that oftentimes those communication lines because they are hanging low enough that we can't get an emergency vehicle or response crew down a road following a hurricane we can't access that road we don't know what that line is on numerous occasions we find that those lines are abandoned or no longer in use and they are just there because nobody ever took them down so one of the things that we had pitched to uh one of our Congressional or one of our local delegation members was to look towards some type of audit requirement for the communication companies in Florida to inventory their assets that are affixed to utility polls and remove those that are no longer in use or that have been abandoned because we don't know that and the less junk that we can get out of the aerial Pathways of our roads the less likely we are to have have have obstructions when we're trying to get a fire truck or a garbage truck or something down there I share with you on Saturday as we walk the parade just walking along and our packet will show this there's a couple pictures of me standing next to lines that are on adjacent to sidewalks that I can reach up and touch communication lines this morning I watched a uh a mobile home delivery vehicle have to stop traffic and go into an alternate Lane because they could not pass under a communication line and thus blocked a major roadway within the area while that was occurring so we think that just the same as we have to go out and inventory leaden copper pipe for the benefit of our citizens communication companies should have to do some level of inventory their communication lines and if they're abandoned or not needed or no longer in service remove them so those are those are items that we have assigned in draft to a platform but I wanted to present those to you get your take on it we will still carry forward items that we get from the school board I do expect uh a platform to come out from them in the in the next probably week or two and as commissioner Yates had pointed out the ISS issue of school start times I think that that's going to be a hot and heavy one for them that we we also benefit from improved legislation in that regard and then also pulk State College we always look to see what their platform includes and I would think that um I can't say this with confidence but I would expect they are going to ask for additional State funding for the hannes City Davenport campus with that being a medically focused campus and the magn itude of medical professionals that we will need in P County here in Winter Haven with Advent Health Hospital coming on I believe it would be wise for us to Advocate on their behalf for continued funding for that that will reap rewards and produce Workforce that we are going to need in our community for many years ahead I had the opportunity to be with h Congressman stto yesterday and while he doesn't represent our district any longer He Still Remains a friend of of our area for sure and he um was is is going to be assigned to the house uh committee on natural natural resources so I made sure to remind him of the one water projects that he can use as an examples um while he's on that committee so just something to keep in mind going forward as well thank you mayor PM I will tell you we have begun looking at uh our DC junket for April of this year so Mr Mayor I will will look to you uh in the coming weeks to identify uh a travel party for that who from the commission you would like to accompany you on on that trip as we have in the past the big items that we are uh going to be looking at at the federal level certainly first and foremost getting to know new agency personnel with a new Administration lots of changes in the people that we've been dealing with for the past four years so building new relationships uh we did have a an advocacy call today and I can tell you our contacts in DC are extremely well connected with those that are coming into power and um I think that that will benefit us um items that we discussed first the highest priority for us at the federal level from a staff perspective right now deals with our airport and trying to get the dedicated frequency for Gilbert Field is a safety measure um and we've had some strategy talks on that that is something that we think we can make some Headway on this year that is a big issue that's coming out of your airport Safety Committee and the airport advisory committee and so we're looking forward to engaging in that as far as as long as I'm sorry as in addition to continued conversation on the remote air traffic control tower which is progressing but we still need FFA or FAA sorry not the Future Farmers of America Federal Aviation authority to um to be in support of that to help us quote unquote bring that in for a landing one water and continued support for these massive infrastructure projects remains a top priority for us and then also again that issue of willbrook road we think that that has support uh it merits support at the federal level just the same as we were able to get a congressional Community appropriation for Lake Silver dri or Lake Ship drive this one I think has even more of an impact in that regard so we're looking at late April I think it's the the last day of April until the first two days of May is when we've got that uh DC trip laid out and that aligns with when both the house and the Senate are both in session so I just I wanted to share this with you so that if you there's other items that you want us to put onto the agenda onto the platform at the state level that we can we can do that these were again based upon conversations we've received from you on the dis of your legislative committee meetings and what we're hearing from our state agencies these were key things is is issues come up from committees we will be prepared to address those and provide feedback to our delegation to the league to others on what the impacts of those types of things are if there are changes to the live local act if they changes in exemptions uh homestead exemption proposals those types of things we will certainly play a whole lot of Defense on those items as they come forward these were just the handful of items that we felt we are in a good position to go in with an offensive approach okay few things yes um number one where is the Dixie Trail dixie trail goes from the Lake Alfred well actually it goes from hannes City to auale and it will cross the northernmost leg of the I guess it's still the chain Lakes Trail Andy you want to come to the podium and point it out for him it's it it really goes off of where our ends in in Lake Alfred all the way west out to the auale too goes all the way from where our Trail Ends to Han City it it the the the stretch that uh the whole PD that was approved would go from hanne City bisect Lake Alfred the Lake Alfred Chain of Lakes Trail and then go via old uh Old Lake Alfred Road into downtown Auburn onto PK and then turn and go past the beach and then go to Berkeley Road where the auale trail meets Trail it's already there no it does not exist today that's the alignment of what the Old Dixie Trail would be oh they're just calling it The Old Dixie Trail or right it's it's right it's not the same it's not a trail that abandon or something okay right right and the last thing I I'll mention other Commissioners into all of us going to Tallahasse you know we have a new representative now we want to make sure we use whatever powers of persuasion we can to emphasize home rule to this guy I don't know him that well I've only met him a couple times but as we get opportunities with our new representative to make sure that we voice our opinions on home rule and we expect him to be a home rule hero with the rest of us so just for what it's worth I just think we need to start him early yeah so um had an opportunity to have lunch in tour John around the city of Winter Haven along with t Michael um we visited a lot of the spots uh I met him through other events and and so wanted to reach out to him uh before he was actually sworn in so he's uh very familiar with all of the Winter Haven projects that are going on and needless to say he was he was very impressed with everything that was going on in Winter Haven as well so uh I think he will be a a home rule hero for us and um have winter Haven's best interest at heart as well and his office is here he has an office here in Winter Haven uh in representative KBW old space down by the on Avenue SE by across street from so market and in right step dance studio um we also had a meeting just within the past two weeks Katrina Hill MJ and myself had an opportunity to engage with Jennifer Kart Johnson okay representative Kart she's in there when y I think you stopped in with that day um and so uh again that was our big push was you know be ever mindful of things that are Statewide issues and things that are local issues and not mixing the two up and and she understood I think she respected our position on that we just have to always remind them because they get up in that Tallahasse they lose their mind sometimes with all due respect don't say that too loud they may be list said all due respect so Mr Mayor and I guess it's kind of like a consensus nod of sorts that we're we have a you know a draft version of the of the platform that we were working on today through Katrina Hill so what I'd like to do is um give you all an opportunity if there's other things that you think we need to add to this Beyond these offense items um we can certainly plug those in but we'd like to go to production on something that is a as a collateral leave behind at our earliest opportunity okay all right you have copies uh I I can put copies in your box in the morning yes sir okay all right anything else move to a journ I have one one item oh I had one item wow gota be quick agenda um so I'm happy to report that we have a new employee from the city clerk's office in the audience tonight so you can raise your hand Mercedes that's mer Mercedes Hammond she is our new uh customer service representative staff assistant we're H very happy to have her so Merced a little bit about Mercedes she's worn many many hats in her career um but has five years of government experience in the city clerk's office she worked for the city of ha city um but she also uh would assist other departments when needed so she does come with a wealth of information there Mercedes is a resident of Auburn ale for the past 33 years but she was born and raised in Hawaii and she is of Philipino and Hawaiian descent and a fun fact about Mercedes is that she is the mom of Xavier Hammond who is one of our City Firefighters for the past two years and she also has a son-in-law Daniel brazwell who is currently in the city's Police Academy so she fully supports the City of Winter Haven um we're just ecstatic to have her and appreciate just everyone that made um this position possible so thank you be in your office yes she is in our office she's at an empty desk so yes feel free to stop by any you you know wish her well thank you all right welcome Mercedes anything else motion to ad join again so Mo We Stand ad join