##VIDEO ID:MXUjW05NN4Y## e e I texted in and I called all right good afternoon I'd like to officially call to all to this special commission uh Workshop meeting roll call please yes commissioner dollison here commissioner Mercer here mayor protm Yates here and mayor B here all right this is a budget workshop for water so I guess uh is it going to be Gary or is it going to be you to start us off going to be both um Gary's going to do the bulk of this but again I thank you for the opportunity to have a special budget Workshop this evening uh specific to our Winter Haven water or what's more more historically been known as Utility Services budget we carve this one out a little bit separately um and for the benefit of of commissioner doson this is the first budget cycle we've gone through we do this one a little bit um separate from the rest of the budget because it's it's a comprise about $80 million of the overall uh City budget at the end of the day um most of our major Capital investments in a long range CIP uh the biggest dollar values sit within the util fund um it's an independent proprietary or Enterprise fund so it's a little bit unique in that so that's why we we do this separately I do want to just start off by saying you know we I had presented the budget the overall budget to the commission I think it was on July 17th um and in that budget we had denoted a dollar value for the utilities budget so when we got to the the total value of the of the overall City budget um of $296 million that included what is in this budget presentation this evening so um the numbers that you're going to see this evening they're more for exp this process this evening is more to explain what's in the utilities budget the the major initiatives and projects but those numbers are already reflected in what we presented uh in late or mid July I guess it would be um I also want to just kind of start off by saying that this budget is built around um some proposed rate adjustments and connection fee adjustments so at the end of the budget presentation this evening we'll talk about some upcoming meeting dates that we have in June and early July uh Gary hubard myself and some other staff did briefings with the commission on some rate studies that we were doing those will be coming back to you uh at your second meeting in August for consideration on a first reading and for uh a second reading at your first meeting in September so the budget that's going to be presented this evening contemplates revenues based upon those rates and connection fee adjustments um just to kind of answer the question ahead of time what happens if those rates aren't approved or those connection fees aren't uh enacted is is presented then that has a direct effect back on the overall Capital Improvement program of the next 5 years so that CIP that really guides where we're going to invest dollars is built around what are those revenues coming in off of your user fees for water and sewer and reuse um as well as your connection fees which are the charges that we assess on new development uh for their their impacts on the system and their our carrying capacity for them so I just want to put that out there so there's a clear understanding of that so everything that you see this evening is built around uh those what those perceived revenues would be associated with those rate adjustments and connection fees um with that I want to invite Gary hubard director of Winter Haven water to the podium to do the presentation this evening certainly will answer questions throughout um I have have noted that his uh his Entourage as they have self-proclaimed themselves is here so any questions that are of high technical nature that you want in at them um they had told me that they are perfectly prepared to answer those as well right Mr Pike absolutely so with that Gary take it away thank you city manager good evening mayor mayor protown Commissioners um this presentation tonight is to basically have a discussion about where we're headed in the future and and to talk about the budget for the coming phisical year uh so with that in mind I'd like this to be prettyy much interactive discussion please feel free to stop me at any point to talk uh city manager and I will be kind of tag teaming our way through this presentation so feel free to ask questions get my glasses on here all right so as with this the overall City budget everything that we do in the utilities department or the water department revolves around the pillars that were have been established by the city commission so for example quality of life how do we play into that well if you look at our CIP and our projects Wetland restoration projects definitely fit into this quality of life because of the trail systems that will be associated with it the recreational opportunities also associated with these nature parks all affect quality of Life Community safety well if you think about it you know we provide water to nearly 100,000 people and it's it's about safe drinking water and then protecting our our environment from waterborne diseases so these are the safety side of the issue infrastructure that one's pretty obvious because the the fiveyear CIP budget is roughly $345 million so there's a large capital investment being proposed then looking at responsible government we have to make sure that we're doing this in a costeffective manner so that we're protecting those funds that have been usted to us and finally environmental stewardship that's again about protecting our natural resources and as we build these nature parks that are associated with the sapphire necklace we're really helping the long-term future of our our natural resources so some budget highlights as city manager noted to start with that uh we have briefed you on uh potential uh budget increases for water and sewer rates 2 and a half% on water 7 and half% on sewer they would become effective if approved at the the the meetings upcoming meetings October 1st of 2024 the new rate structure also in includes a separate fee for uh the future of prwc water and also the establishment of a separate uh repair and replacement fund so this will be our beginning gar can I yes sir to 2 and a half% we already have to 2 and a half% so is that that's a St status quo pardon me status quo status quo okay good question yeah good question then on the connection fees side uh we again looked at this is all based on Capital expenditures that's proposed that our connection fees would increase to 3858 on the water and 8,175 on the sewer so and we're going to I'll show you a comparison here in in a few minutes we would propose that these fees become uh active January 1 of 2025 okay I just want to make sure I'm following you so the um the two fees that you're showing respectively uh that's that 7.5% increase now this is different this is on the connection fee side so these were these were calculated differently so what do you and I don't want to get ahead of you you're going to show us what they are now yes and yeah I'm going to show you here in just a minute I don't want to get ahead that's all right that's fine no problem like I said I prefer this to be interactive so no problem at all so uh total budgeted Water and Sewer revenues rape revenues that's with the increases that we're just talking about uh are projected to increase about 16.4 million totaling uh roughly $ 52.9 million for fy2 we will continue working on a whiffy alone application uh for uh the to help with the financing of the the capital Improvement program primarily the new Water Resource facility the tentative number that wiffy has approved for us is one $78 million and that would be covering 49% of the cost now the question is are we going to go with you or not the the real issue is if with you is only funding 49% we still have to fund the other 51% somehow and most likely that would be a rate a revenue Bond and currently uh for example we issued revenue bonds back in December and I believe that rate was about 32% that pretty close well the current rate of with you is 4.5% so we'll make those decisions next year about whether we go withy or whether we go uh revenue bonds um moving on uh the establishment of a repair and replacement program uh we we're allocating $3.9 million for those efforts during uh the coming fysical year we'll be looking at that new Water Resource facility how are we actually going to construct that facility and can we get some easy wins right from the very start to help us down the road so we'll be be examining that then of course coming back to City commission with thoughts on how we will proceed so car yes sir the new facility and the um the whff you loan and all of that the all that's all intertwine am I correct they're all they're all tied together yes okay my question is this uh I know that ultimately we got to have uh the facility and so from and again maybe I should just let you go through this and then maybe I won't have no questions because I've got questions and I'm like I'm jumping ahead of what you're going to present so I'm going just I'm going just be quiet and let I am going to talk in more detail about the the Water Resource facility after we get into the capital portion of this yeah I just my question is I I and this is going to be the last one for a minute the time frame from start to finish to uh construct that facility what are we talking about what what's so we're we're going to construct this facility in phases um the initial first phase is planned to go to 12 million gallons per day but we most likely will do that in phases also so how much how how much time is a phase uh it's I think to answer your question overall I would plan on four to five years okay and one you now go ahead okay so four to five years and so I know with with the whiffy your loan if we if we get that uh you don't get it all at once you get it as as you need it so you so you going to tell us about that too right if we went the wi year route we have five years they may stretch that as much as to seven years so as far as receiving dispersements from wiia that should not be an issue okay one more question all right so based on what you're presenting to us you presenting to US based on the uh projection to get the the whiff your loan that's that's part of it that's correct okay because I'm just thinking out loud if we don't get the whiff your loan then it come up with 100% of that that just means that we've got to go that big a bond and right that is correct so let me let me let me jump in for just a second if I can Mr Mayor so wifia will fund 49% of the project is is uh Mr Hubbert noted city is it's a loan so you're you're obligated to pay that money back you still have to pay it back you still have to pay back whatever your source of Revenue is for the 51% um it may be and this is what we're we're assessing as we go through the we have a um a progressive design build process for this project so we will assess what needs to be done and which and how many bites do we need to take at this facility to advance it towards a full completion it may be expand it to a certain capacity now and then expand it again and expand it again and again to get to the full capacity of what we think we'll need for the next 30 40 50 years it may be a better approach for us particularly if wifia interest rates are higher than what we could get through uh a traditional Revenue bond to do revenue bonds in lie of a withy loan because you're G to you're going to pay back 100% whether it's you're using with you or not you still got to cover the full cost and in doing that you can break that up into maybe a couple different bonds so let's say you're doing a project that's valued at $200 million rather than do a one massive whiffy alone you may do three or four Bond issuances timed when you need that money to give you a little more flexibility and latitude and at the same time realize a better interest rate because once you take that whff you alone Gary correct me I'm wrong you're allowed to request a reset on the interest rate one time if you have not taken any money from it that is correct so if you if you do it in smaller Bond revenue bonds and the interest rates go down you're okay if you do it a big bite of a whiffy bond or whiff loan and and you begin taking some of that money um you're locked in at that rate even if interest rates drop so there's we're trying to navigate that for the in the best interest of our customers and our rate payers um and that's the same thing that prwc has done they they did their whiffy alone but then they also got a um a loan that allows them to okay let let's have a little flexibility in here and not pull money from that whiffy loan until we see if we want to do a reset on the interest rate so that's what we would do it's yeah the the project itself doesn't it doesn't change the cost of it it's just the funding strategy and so we're trying to be as economical and responsible as we possibly can and how we secure those funds to build it out personally at this point in time my thinking is it would be easier and probably less bureaucratic red tape involved to do revenue bonds to approach that project because once you get the federal government involved well it's you know it's it's a lot of money that they will loan you it is at their interest rate you know that they've established but there's a whole a lot of Hoops that you've got to jump through and compliance that you've got to do that you wouldn't necessarily have through other lending methods okay and and there you know if we go revenue bonds then you got to be you're going to get all that money in one chunk so and then you got to you spend it you know just as quick as you can you want you got a few years you got to spend that money so will it be evaluating all the options and of course working with our financial advisors to try to hit the market at the right time to get the best rates so we're not under a time crunch for completion of the project so we're trying to play that market you know when's the best time to hit the market okay any other questions I have some more I I'm going let you I'm going to let you get more into the presentation so moving on this uh this prop proposed budget of course includes the 22% that was talked about by city manager that's our step plan for our employees also includes the cost of living adjustment the $155 per uh hour for our current employees we think this will be a tremendous help for us and we'll get into some of the Personnel stuff here in a little bit but it's going to address some of the retention issues we have also um it's going to help us with recruitment and just retaining our employees so in this budget we're proposing five new positions so that would be 128 fulltime three part time for a total of 131 positions so let's talk about the rates and of course you have seen some of this already but this is a a standard single family customer using 5,000 gallons per month and the existing rate uh currently is 5827 this is combined Water and Wastewater with a proposed rate increase um that that users bill would increase roughly $5 four to five do and and mayor and Commissioners just to again we when we did briefings on kind of what we were looking at with our our rate studies to come back to you later this month is Mr hubber noted this is a this is based on the typical 5,000 gallon consumption per month about 75% of your water sewer customers fall within that 5,000 or less about 50% of your customers are in the 3,000 or less what we one of the objectives of the the rate study was to keep rates at the lower end low so we really don't know how our neighbors where they're going to be this year they're going through this this same process that we're going through so we we don't have a good feel for where we'll finally end up but we think we'll be close to the bottom as far as our water and sewer rates any questions on to the connection fee side this is for new new construction so this is is combined Water and Wastewater connection fees our current fee is is roughly uh $ 5,866 the rate Consultants are recommending 12,000 and 33,000 or $33 for the combined Water and Wastewater connection fees now again this is associated for new construction only uh you can see that Lake Alfred it would be kind of right below us they started their connection fees um it's either a year or two years ago they actually started increasing their construction fees I expect that all the member governments of prwc have been advised to uh begin looking at their connection fees as a way to support the prwc effort of course we're supporting also prwc but also new Water Resource facility so uh I think we'll see that the connection fees across the board are going to increase for all the member governments there is um in that same uh vein uh recent you know media reports of some of our neighboring cities and that they are looking at those same connection fees we know uh that our our rate study consultant um they're also engaged by other cities that are asking them to look at the exact same thing um cost of of infrastructure is is driving that the the massive increase in population not just in P County but you can see we we've got some examples from up in Lake County and CER County here as well so this is kind of a theme throughout the Peninsular portion of Florida as we see growth um you're having to expand systems and and account for that and while there may have been significant capacity to do that in years past that just isn't the case anymore and the cost associated with that uh I think what you hear from a lot of our residents is you know people that are coming here need to they need to foot their bill they need to cover their costs coming in and that's what the intent of a connection fee is okay thank you C manager so let's dive into the actual budget for this coming year so this is total projected revenues for the Utility Fund and I think couple of things that that kind of jumped out at me if you look at Water sales and Sewer charges that accounts for roughly 43% of the total revenue projected for the budget year and then of course that's reflected in in the rate increases that that are being proposed um water and sewer connection fees also stands out at 20% and of course that's a direct reflection on development how much we're we're how fast G were growing so the total budgeted revenues 80 million2 164,384 um any questions on the revenues go ahead mayor I'm wait I'm on the expenditure side and this is broken out by some general categories C our Capital Improvements our operating Services that's our personnel and the benefits associated with Personnel then operating Services that's the normal day-to-day operations of of uh all of our Utility Systems general fund um that's that's capped at the 12% limit that's been established by City commission at $5.34 million other non-departmental that's services that the water department receives from other City departments uh annual Debt Service projected at 4.7 million and then the repair and replacement program that that I mentioned earlier at 3.9 million for a total of 74.8 million so if you go back to the revenues you got revenues of 80 million expenditures at 74 million 75 million that got ask this that's based on the fact that you if if if if the new construction continues that that is correct at the uh projected level but if it doesn't then and I was just looking at the chart if you go back go couple slides back that one I don't know and I have no information and I have no way of even surmising that uh that our rate of new construction is tied some kind of way to uh it being uh a little less costly to develop in Winter Haven is it as opposed to some other municipalities in pop County I don't know if that even comes into the scenario but in my own mind if if these if these rates stay the way they are on this chart and we go to the top of the the chart I I would think that it may have some residual if you think about it you know um Lake Alfred had this same decision to make a couple years ago M and they went to the 11,354 and I'm telling you development has not slowed down in Lake Lake Alfred I mean it is absolutely booming so that's a and that's a it's a very valid question you know what does this do does it does it slow development does it uh have any impact on it whatsoever I think that we have to kind of wait and see what what happens with that and certainly the revenue projections are based upon some continued increase in development you know in the in the rate of development that is consistent with what we've seen the I can't speak for developers because I'm not a developer but I can tell you that you know you have impact fees Beyond these um you have your connection fees that those are costs if I'm building a home that goes into the the cost of the home and that directly translates into the purchase price of that home so a lot of that does get get transitioned forward it does raise the cost of the the home at the end of the day um but it's it's kind of a double-edged sword here you you're you're damned if you do you're damned if you don't because if you keep it low and you you further tax the infrastructure without enough tax meaning you further burden the infrastructure with new residential growth coming on or even commercial growth without sufficient funds to expand that as would be necessitated by that very same growth you're you're kind of doing yourself in disservice so if you were to consider reducing these then the rate side of the picture has to increase right to balance the budget or you know something has to replace those monies now these these fees were all connected or calculated B based on receiving 5% Grant Grant funds we are pushing really hard and our goal is to get 25% but we're actually asking the state for 50% so we're very active and you'll see the in the revenue the numbers the the amount of uh Grant monies that that we got this past year and projected for this coming year are pretty pretty substantial okay could you go back going forward to the slide that you're at yeah this one right here uh the total budget of the 74 million my my question is uh from uh a three to five year uh window what do we what what do you what are you thinking I mean I know you got to be thinking of more than just one year right oh yes sir we have a 40-year financial model that we're working from okay and so basically the the model that you working on the numbers that you're presenting to us align with that model and we mod we change that model every year based on the actual conditions that we see so we know that um whether the rates are going to have to increase or do we need to push a construction project out a little bit further so it's all about being in the right place at the right time and making sure that you know the the city commission has the information available to make very wise decisions okay and I got one final question I keep saying that uh Gary and t uh with with what we're being presented and when we when the the things that I'm looking at you're looking at the uh there are some given in here that that we we know going to be there but then there are some other items like when you start looking at the annual Debt Service and um the the capital Improvement cost uh yall are projecting that out you said a model but I'm just saying I'm in my own mind I'm just trying to get my arms around so you've got a you've got a a fiveyear CIP right that is graphing out know how many projects are in there quite I mean it's a it's a significant over $400,000 CIP over a 5year window what you see here the Capital Improvements budgeted at $ 29.6 million those are the projects that are lined up to be uh initiated or or spent down in 20125 that's just the first year of that the annual Debt Service that you see that is existing Debt Service that we have today yes not any new debt service so when you and you know Gary pointed out you've got a uh uh expenditures of 74.8 you've got revenues of 80.2 so what there's a $6 million you know profit within there that is what gets set aside year-over-year to offset future Capital Investments so you're building you know you you don't you don't acquire all that Revenue in one year to handle your CIP you're building that year-over-year that's why the whole rate study is built around what is your uh your Capital Improvement program what is the timing of that and where do your rates need to be there's there's so many different moving Parts within that to get you to where you need to be so you're financially uh able to address those projects as they come online if growth slows then you look at that what's in your CIP and you push projects farther out okay right so if you think about it that that $15 million that the city manager is talking about that's actually you know basically pay as you go and fund or financing as you go it's all tied together so okay just got one more question and this is to CJ uh we're talking about all this barring and uh I know that we've got a great uh you know you know yes will all this affect that I mean I'm just I'm just y'all need to make me feel good you want I would say it's like um your personal rating if you buy a car and you're going to you know pay that overtime it's not going to affect your rating okay so we just have to make sure you know we pay and we do we've never um been past you on our debt payments long as you tell me that I I'll feel better and and the the whole concept of borrowing for these projects and we talked about this a little bit during our retreat in April um or March whenever it was that that you have these are when you have projects like this to to place those at the expense of your existing residents when they are designed to serve your population for the next 20 30 40 50 years that's That's the basis for why you Bond those out so that the the cost to deliver uh an infrastructural service from future Generations isn't borne entirely by the present okay all right okay so on on this slide this is showing you a comparison of uh what was budgeted in 24 as far as uh revenues the actual fund itself the balance of the fund and what you'll see is that in 2025 uh it's projected that the the cash carried forward is going to be somewhere as around 45.4 million and then you add the revenues that we just talked about and take out all the expenses um down through the the chart there the ending balance is projected to be 50.8 million okay so those additional monies are going to go to fund those Capital Improvement projects that we have scheduled does that all make sense it looks too good well it was designed that way uh that's the way we had it designed is to build those cash reserves to support the funding of the projects that and that I'm glad you said that Gary because I think that's the key with this when you're dealing with a CIP that is as massive as the utility CIP is and certainly commissioner Mercer knows this intimately it's like saying in in 5 years I'm going to have to put a new roof on my house it would behoove me to begin saving for that today so that I'm not shelling out $20,000 in one year and having to come up with that um and in order to save that I've either got to generate more revenue or cut back on something in my personal budget in the case of utility operation you're looking ahead and saying is those expenses are coming due where do I need to be positioned and that's how this whole con the whole rate structure in any utility system is set up right so it's designed by a purpose purposely to to establish those funds uh any any questions so this is the the same expenditure budget but it's by the different operating divisions of the water department and you can see uh our non-departmental that includes the the funding the general fund transfer uh accounts for about 20% of our budget and then you look at the next two items where we really spent a lot of money is in water treatment and wastewater treatment and that's that totals about 31% of of our budget so that's where we spending all our money basically um we've got of course smaller uh expenditures that we have by the different divisions here so uh and and including the repair and maintenance because we need to make sure that we take care of everything that we got already as well as plan for what's needed in the future the following slides are Breakout by each one of those divisions to show you the difference between the the FY 24 budget and the FY 25 budget so you'll see ups and downs um through the different divisions and I'll talk a little bit about that when we get back a little bit further here but in many cases you'll see uh you'll see some negatives that's associated with capital projects so yeah and in that regard um just kind of a precursor as Gary goes through this most of the person increases you see going be tied to the cost of living adjustment that we' proposed um we've got some reclassifications for some uh of our certified uh treatment plant uh operators um some pay adjustments there that are that are unique um the 2 and a half% step comes into play with with just about every all these these different cost centers uh there were five new positions uh proposed within the budget so that we're reflecting there the operating and capital just as as Gary had said a lot of onetime expenses in the current year that don't show up in 2025 so that's the the primary driver for where you see decreases in operating as well as within the capital you'll also uh note that we have this new repair and replacement cost center so anything that was within the repair and replacement in existing cost centers has been extrapolated out and plugged into there right thank you city manager so over to water treatment wastewater treatment water distribution you can see again all of these excuse me um show a a a decrease this is that transfer to the uh repair and replacement fund so you'll still see that there's increases in the Personnel that's again associated with the step plan adjustments and that that $155 per hour per employee again the same thing um the reclaimed water division does not have any personnel as of yet um I I would think that in the Years coming that we will start to fill some positions in there but that's probably a few years down the road same thing with the repair and replacement um no no Personnel directly attached to that those cost centers then on to meter Services uh again you can see that there's increases in that division that's primarily associated with our Ami system our infrastructure in there so if you look at the total for the Department there was actually a decrease from last year's budget to this year's budget and you say wow great job Gary well it's it's really what it is is that we we have not spending as much money on the capital side this coming budget year as what we was projected last year so but but it does amount to a $1.35 million um overall reduction in the personnel and operating expenses so about a 4% reduction across the board that um just point out the one of the things that that stands out to me with that uh total reduction of $19.58 million Gary mentioned Capital remember we bought the Bradco Farms Pro property last year that was a $10 million acquisition we're not buying the $10 million piece of land again this year so when you there are one big one-time expenses that when they roll off they have a very positive effect on the overall budget but we did a good job too last year okay so let let's talk a little bit about Personnel um as I noted that we uh would be requesting five positions for this year uh a water plant chief operator and a maintenance mechanic to this is to help with the workload at the water treatment plants we had an audit done by us water about a year and a half ago and they recommended three additional employees for the water treatment PL so most likely in the coming years there'll be another request for another operator this division has experienced a lot of difficulties retaining operators and we I think we have um four licensed operators and the Le the rest are all trainees so we always have to have a license operator on staff so it's made it very difficult from a scheduling stand point so down below in the the reclassification portions this is where you see the the changes for water and wastewater treatment operators basically what we're looking at is the1 55 and then with some consideration to their years of service at their current their current pay grade and their pay grades would increase um for example a c operator would go from a 22 pay grade to a 25 pay grade so basically what we're trying to do is make sure that we stay competitive in the marketplace and are able to attract those employees and after we train them we keep them because right now we're training them and they're going elsewhere so we think that what has been proposed in this year's budget will be a tremendous benefit for retaining our our polies in the future quick comment on this um if I may mayor Commissioners so you recall um I'll go back to say 2021 2022 time frame we had presented a budget that had some significant adjustments for uh Solid Waste employees and Fleet mechanics that was an area that we were you know high demand low Supply uh you know covid had massive impacts in that that realm um and so we had to do some some significant adjustments to those rates of pay to make sure we were able to deliver the services uh We've also done that within uh the fire department in recent years as well as within the police department uh this year was as we looked at this recognizing the significance of water the safety of water the safety of treating waste water um the the the uniqueness of our system um in the high technical nature of these positions Gary and I working together with uh Sean dkes our Human Resources Director recognize we need to do something to make sure we are able to recruit and retain quality employees in those positions these are high demand positions not just Winter Haven but anywhere across the state where you have growth um the need to expand services so people are going after treatment operators left and right um and we have to be competitive in that market when you have turnover you have a loss of institutional knowledge that is critical in operating these facilities uh I feel that where we're we're Landing with what we're doing uh to to boost these specific positions is going to position us well to have greater resiliency within our Workforce going forward thank you I have one question um is there any incentive to go from a c to a b yes you have it separated from just the every grade is there's an incentive so let's say that you're a a c and you go to a b if the pay grade changes of course automatically but if your pay does not if your pay plus 5% exceeds the grade then you get the 5% okay and we do that commissioner Mercer we um our transitions go from Train E to C to B to a that each one of those has a different pay structure with it you know some and your question's interesting because when we looked at all the other cities some of those cities um there's not a change between a trainee and a c or between a in some cases they would have a c and a b within the same grade right thank you in regards to the other Personnel um water distribution we're requesting a crew leader two position this individual would begin to take over some of the responsibilities of uh valve exercising and flushing of our system this is a requirement by D so this is the beginning of establishing a separate crew to uh take care of this effort and the past years we have been contracting this workout u in the budget itself is capital associated with the valve exercising and uh flushing program in list stations uh requesting two Personnel uh you can imagine with all the development that's going on we're adding lift stations right and left and we just need more Personnel out there to keep an eye and make sure these stations are operating properly so let's talk a little bit about the the and city manager alluded to this somewhat but Staffing challenges that we faced over the last four or five years um when I came on board in in 2018 we made a real concerted effort to uh hire more people and we made some changes on how um positions in the utilities how people could progress in their career and that really helped us lower the amount of vacancies we had and then in 20120 uh Co hit and things just went haywire you know all that money was being flooded into the market by the fed and people just didn't want to work so we ended up with vacancies we ran vacancies um in 22 20% of our Workforce we we did not have 20% of our Workforce that's pretty substantial currently though we're down to 11 vacancies most of these occur at the lower pay grades um we're making progress but this new pay plan is going to make a tremendous difference that's really going to be the key to attracting new individuals I mean when you think about it we were paying $14.55 cents per hour and they could go to Walmart they could go to Wawa for 15 bucks an hour it's really hard to compete with that so going to the $16 as as a minimum just a tremendous effort so we we appreciate that so some significant things in the budget this is on the operation side some Rehabilitation air basins at Wastewater Plant three that's the largest that's scheduled in the budget at $1.5 million we're seeing um a lot of uh FD fdot work and just kind of being sprung on us so we want to make sure that we have money set aside for uh relocation of of utility Mains associated with those projects uh sludge removal that's a huge cost hauling sludge to landfills of course as we go through the new uh re Water Resource facility we'll be looking at how we might reduce that um lead and coop that's a new initiative that's being pushed forward by the EPA of replacing lead and copper service lines so that's where where you see that smart covers I wanted to talk a little bit about we've been budgeting for these for the last three years I believe we have 55 in service yes sir 55 in service and projecting to purchase 10 more is that nine yes sir 10 more the purpose of the smart coverage is basically to protect our Lakes um you know we with these smart covers they send a signal up to a satellite sends it back down to our operators and they know the exact level of water in a manhole so they can tell when we've got a BL blockage and get there before that blockage becomes a spill so very important thing for our environment on the capital investment side this is Broken Out In general groups of water treatment um reclaimed water our divisions more or less but you can see it's uh the capital expense at $24.8 million this is does not include any additional land land purchases but the the primary expense this coming years in the water treatment side and that's associated with two new water treatment plans so now we get into the five-year investment program and this is again Broken Out by each division and the projects that are planned over the next five years and the the rough estimated expense of those projects so you can see again you know water was one of the primary ones in 2025 uh where we're anticipating spending $8.2 million that increases in 26 when we get heavy into construction at $23 million that you can see over the next 5 years for water treatment plants spending roughly $50 million wastewater treatment plant to we're not projecting to spend a lot of money there that's because we're going to decommission this facility feel free to ask me any questions under engineering um this is designed for the new utility complex and extensions uh those are the top two numbers there that you're looking at and then we have uh monies allocated for U you know W water projects and uh the Cypresswood project too is also projected out there a little bit further in 28 but we're we're projecting over the next 5 years 37 $6 million waste waterer treatment plan too this is where the big money comes in you can see in 20125 we're projecting maybe $2 million this this is primarily design Associated monies the real expenses start occurring in 26 27 and 28 totaling out to $80 million down in water distribution uh this is normal just water main extensions $12 million over 5e period can I ask a quick question on the water treatment plan are we still I know nothing's been set in stone or definite on which way to go but are we still in the process of considering potentially the construction firm that is similar to what the school board has used and in building schools for that that water plant so that's a P3 approach is what the the school district did we are doing um a progressive design build approach on the uh wastewater treatment plant three or Water Resource facility um this is the the effort that I think commissioner Mercer just sat in on our uh design build uh evaluation Wharton Smith was selected for that and then we also have a uh um Kim Le horn with the engineers the primary engineers and then Jones Edmonds is serving as an owner's rep in that process um and that approach mayor protim Ates was the best approach to go forward because you we don't know exactly what each phase of that project needs to entail so similar to like when we build a fire station we use a progressive design build process where you assess what are your needs um what is the best way to meet those needs design it accordingly and then that same entity is responsible for building it in this case you're using an existing facility so being able to assess what are your uh uh long-term assets within that that have have still have some viability to them and how do you expand upon them and take that piece by piece knowing that your funding is not all place at one time and you're going to have to do a phased approach was the best approach to deliver that um we are looking at kind of that school board approach the P3 approach uh we are in some discussions right now you may recall that we awarded uh a um P3 proposal to Rez for the Bradco farms uh project the the um I guess we call it the sapphire necklace East Winter Haven project I call it the first Gem of the the necklace but it that's what's what shows up in here um so that's really our first foyer into that that 3p approach but long long answer to your question the best approach on the Water Resource facility is a progressive design build where you're looking specifically what are the issues you're facing at today on the age of your facility what's viable to maintain and build off of where you need to expand um hence that decision to move that forward okay thank you it is a lot different building a water and wastewater treatment plant than a school yeah a lot of different so over the next five years we're projecting expenditures of roughly $20 million on the Wastewater collection side U this is include septic to sewer conversions um Master list stations um sewer Force man extensions you can see lak ship driving there too so that's planned in the budget also uh down below is the re reclaimed water and this is mostly um recharge of the Florida and aquifer type projects or expenditures that will allow us to recharge the upper Florida and aquifer so that we get more water supply so this is really we're talking about roughly 19 million doll over the next five years so the big let's see the next one is repair and replacement that's that that $3.9 million that we're projecting to start out that fund uh and and this is listing the projects that that are proposed for this coming year uh key things there I think a new antenna if fa taxs it's actually going to be considered as part of the the fire station 4 project I think that'll will happen um replacement at the high service pump one at Inwood uh that's for uh reliability purposes and then uh the lift station one thing that we're that we're proposing is like with our lift stations we have a we have portable bypass pumps that we can roll anywhere to work at a lift station in this budget this year we're proposing a portable High service pump that we can roll to any water treatment plant so that if we lose pumps we all we've got a spare that's this mobile so that's one of the things that we're doing from a resiliency standpoint uh further on this page the uh Ami system projecting uh spending 500,000 in in the Ami meter system and uh future expenditures in 26 and 27 for a total um fiveyear capital projects uh $24.8 million this does not include the property uh purchase this is that our proposed uh for $345 million budget over the next 5 years some significant projects of course we've talked about these a little bit already the Water Resource facility at $180 million uh one water projects this is wetland restoration primarily the B Bradco uh water treatment plants in Wood Cypress P Road those all lumping together an investment of $33.3 million new admin complex at6 million interconnects with our neighboring utilities for where uh res resiliency and sustainability efforts um oper recharge projects $7.7 million and so on down the list there so the major projects over the next five years um totaling $283 million so on the Water Treatment Plant I just a little more detail on what's being proposed uh we're proposing two new water plants plants uh the PO Road water plant it will be designed for 8 million gallons per day this will be uh our connection point to prwc where we'll be receiving roughly 4 million gallons per day from prw WC now keep in mind our portion of that water is only 1.52 million gallons so the remaining water will will be wheeled to Auburn Dale and Lake Alfred so this is a very important facility for us especially considering um the prwc receiving facilities but with Niagara coming in this area also we need a a a water supply that's very close by to that demand so this is going to be critical for our future the Cypress Wood water treatment facility is projected to be 1.5 million gallons per day and that's to replace an existing water treatment plant that is literally falling apart so um those are projected to begin this coming year as a matter of fact the well drilling contract uh was just approved or on this commission it's on this commission meeting coming up uh we've been working with the Water Management District on a uh a application we have not submitted an official application at this point in time but we have been in discussions with them now for six months or better about a 50-year permit with a ask for future groundwater uh totaling 18.27% gallons our current permit from the upper floron is for 14.06 million gallons now they they were a little bit hesitant on the 50-year permit but they haven't said no but they haven't said yes also so we'll see where that goes the Water Resource facility uh the new facility will replace our two existing plants eventually when everything is complete um these both of these facilities were designed in commissioned in the 1970s uh they were primarily funded by uh uscpa through the 2011 grant program I suspect they were funded at 75% grant money I don't know that for sure but but that that's what typically happened back in that time frame so we'll be combining all those efforts into one facility that will meet the needs of the City of Winter Haven for the next 20 to 30 years and Beyond um the first phase basically a 12 MDD facility expanded to 24 million gallons per day in the future so we would expect this facility to be operational for the next 50 plus years Wharton Smith as city manager noted uh was selected as the progressive design firm for this project um we will be coming to you with a uh request to begin negotiations I think that's also on this coming meeting and also an an agreement for our owner representative so you'll be seeing that in the agenda tonight any questions Mr Mayor so on also a major effort is the the Bradco Farms project um we have looked at if you look over on the right hand side that that graphic uh Bradco Farms is outlined with a heavy black line uh that's been proposed to expand the scope of the project to include about another 100 acres to the Northeast and we're working through those details with res our understanding is those properties are already under contract by res we're in current negotiations uh to perform more due diligence efforts on U on the property to better Define the total cost of the project we submitted recharge well permits to D back in August of last year and I'm meeting with uh deputy secretary Adam block Friday of this week to talk about when we might get some permits issued so I also will be talking with him about uh we submitted Grand applications uh for this coming cycle and I think they totaled 117 million so good things happen if we can get some of those funds in it'll help us so the primary focus of course of the Bradco Farms project restoring the wetlands flood mitigation creating n Park providing a source of water for recharge of the upper Florida and then a trail system so we're getting right here at the end a major initiatives uh for this this coming year our automated meter infrastructure program our Ami system our coverage is currently at at about 50% or just a little bit greater uh but we feel like o over the next two years we can get very close to 100% as a matter of fact we're going to be installing uh new antennas the collect the large collectors here and we should add is it five or six six six before the start of the physical year so that's going to be a big Improvement um we're also looking at replacing water meters this past year we we've come to the the commission twice bu large quantities of water meters we will continue to do so um our Target is to to replace 10,000 meters a year so that when this batch of of meters expires or reaches their useful life they're scheduled over a four or five year period for replacement we're not trying to tackle this all at one time I talked a little bit about the additional personnel for the unidirectional flushing and the Val exercise program uh adding one employee and equipment to support that effort the establishment of the repair and replacement fund uh that's to make sure that we address this and keep our systems operational in the future and while the the revenues that are pro proposed here are based on 5% grant funding we're actively trying to get 50% and we think that we probably won't get 50 but we're going to we're going to try we we feel pretty confident we can get 25% one thing that I've been working on is the Florida uh water one Water Commission I started the commission back in August of last year has grown to over a hundred uh individuals that have joined the effort and it was decided to make it an official commission and the official commission um had its first meeting July 16th of this year unfortunately I missed that and I'm the acting chair but I was struggling with shingles at the time being and so poor guy so unfortunately I was not at the first meeting our next meeting is proposed to be here in October at our onewater Summit here in uh I think it's the 10th and 11th of October but the the primary objective of the the one waterer commission is to advocate for changes in state law our rules and regulations and of course funding for nature-based type Solutions and this has attracted a lot of attention across the state I I just could not believe how fast it took off so with that our future meeting dates as a city manager started as out with uh we'll have two budget workshops uh or I'm sorry connection fee workshops scheduled for August 21st and for September 4th we'll we'll talk about the rates and the connection fees together and then we'll have two readings um uh one on August 26 will be our first reading for our rates and connection fees and the second reading on September 10th and with that I'll take any questions mayor and commissioner if I just clarify one point on those meeting dates that you see um the special City commission utility connection fee Workshop uh that appears for Wednesday August 21st uh that workshop at 5:00 we will just discuss the connection fees during that that's part of the the enactment process that we need to follow on the agenda into that um that will follow that will be the discussion of the rate adjustments the those fall kind of little separately but both ordinances will have a first reading on August 26th and then we'll repeat that same process for your you'll have a special City commission utility connection fee workshop on September 4th again talking specifically about the connection fee adjustments when we convene the agenda review Workshop meeting that evening uh you'll have uh for consideration or for discussion at that point the second reading of both the connection fee and the rate adjustments so those will that's the cycle you may recall we've done this year in past years when we've looked at those rates and connection fees how we we tackle that so um notices are going out at present time uh to all of our utility customers via the billing process that announces the Tuesday September 10th 6: PM meeting is the time and the location and uh for the consideration of rate adjustments specific to the um utility rates themselves and then the city clerk's office will post the proper notice uh advertisement I should say for our um uh commission those special workshops that we have for the connection fees same as we do for any other Workshop meeting we have thank Mr Mayor can I just say one thing I'm sorry I was late um I was cannot this this is appropriate for what we're talking about today um I was over being interviewed on Bay news9 and on channel 13 I got a late call this morning to come over and to talk um and one of the things they wanted to talk about was a sapphire necklace and also the Poke Regional water cooperative and what we were doing here and how it related to our Lake and I was on this program it's called Uh in Focus you'll see it starting Sunday on Bay news9 in Channel 13 it's going to run for 3 or 4 days nice and they were very interested now it was an hour and a half and it's only half hour program so who knows what's going to actually make it but they wanted to talk a lot offline about sapphire necklace and um the property the Bradco property and what we had been doing and I was on program with um a gentleman um Jay he's the chairman of the P of the uh Pasco Hernando Pasco Hernando County Commission or something I'm not sure what county it was but he and I were the two guests on there and um but the point is we've made a lot of waves and we're making people are noticing what we're doing over here and the whole point was how are we handling um storm waterer retention and all that kind of stuff in pole County on Inland properties and of course they wanted to know how the fmit saw it so that was partly why they asked me to go on there but um if you want to watch it you can but it's it was definitely before we before the interview and after the interview they really wanted to talk about the sapphire necklace and what we were trying to accomplish so it's pretty cool so yeah that's great that's great to hear yeah so anyway and I just got back so anyway you get a you get a a a p okay glad to have one for pitching our project so mayor and Commissioners just a closing comment again the amount of this budget is what's reflected in what I presented on the 17th of July um it doesn't have any impact on millage rates this is funded solely through connection fees user fees Grant funds um miscellaneous fees that are charged within there we do it is built around proposed rate adjustments within our Utility Systems status quo on the water uh an increase of 75% on the uh sewer uh that presentation on those rate adjustments will come before you again Monday August 26th Tuesday September 10th is also built around increases in our connection fees that will also be considered at those same meetings if for some reason those rates don't get amended or changed or the commission takes some other action in that regard um what we would do in that in response to that is have to go back to the capital side of this budget and scale that back uh extend out those projects beyond what the the current fiveyear window shows so I just put that out as for informational purposes okay any other questions comments if not I'd like to uh thank my my Entourage back here it's good this would not this budget would not be possible without all that hard work all right thank you thank you Gary thank you crew this meeting is a join and now we got do we need a break before we go into the official I think we advertised the the commission workshop for 6:30 so you have 15 minutes oh all right it was 6:30 I thought it was 650 AJ is that correct 6:30 was the 6:30 6:30 I thought you told me you were going to be on TV no they wanted they wanted pretty they wanted uh they wanted you know they don't care about the [Laughter] brains I I was surprised when they called me this morning and asked me to come over e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening I'd like to call the uhland regular Workshop meeting to order at 6:30 can I have a roll call please yes sir commissioner dollson here commissioner Mercer here commissioner danler mayor poates here and mayor Birdsong here all right we will do our usual things we will have the invocation Pledge of Allegiance the presentations the proclamation we'll do that on Monday um are we going to do this uh accreditation for law enforcement is that going to be so um Mr Mayor Commissioners just real quick on these Dave Carter uh is going to be retiring from Carter K engineering so we're going to recognize him for all of his work with the city the commission on accreditation uh that is just there'll be a presentation that uh Charlie bird and David Brandon will lead they just got that official accreditation two weeks ago I think it was and then uh the certified public manager graduates they actually graduate tomorrow um and we'll present them to you that evening okay so we're going to do that tonight we'll do that Monday night oh Monday night oh okay okay all right then we have no uh developments of notes then we have the minutes comments from the audience and then we move on to the consent agenda yes sir so um high level overview of these real quick the docc inmate work program you may recall we've had this program in place for a number of years it was suspended in 2020 with covid uh we are finally getting two of those Crews back and uh we expect them to start probably within the next I would say 8 to 10 weeks um so that is a pretty straightforward item MJ will'll present the next one quickly uh so this is a change order similar to similar to the one that we've recently presented on Lake Elbert uh where once we opened up the ground the pipe that was in the ground that was supposed to be grouted was in worse condition than we had hoped um and that whole pipe needs to be pulled out uh to be replaced so this change order addresses that the second part of this change order is to replace a section of curb uh that we'd hope to be able to salvage but uh really just ends up needing to be replaced um at the end of the day here and so that'll be paid for from the project contingency okay next item is uh we're doing some Renovations on the filtration system systems at rains pool this is to address some of the long lead items that we need uh particularly the filters themselves they're expect to take about four four months or longer uh this is a project in which R Construction is the semar and so we are proposing to go ahead and acquire the that necessary equipment now um the uh willbrook Golf Course uh this is the design work as well as the advancement of our our uh OnCourse restroom facility this project was originally awarded to one vendor um Michael BB and associates they withdrew from the project due to insurance and bonding issues and so Whitehead was the second lowest bidder on that they will be performing the work the design work is not to exceed a price of $147,900 um as I mention they will also be doing uh renovations to the existing encourse rest room that's noted within the fact sheet um and then uh those Renovations are about 170 $1 17,496 in addition to the1 147 920 for design work um once we get into that design we'll further prioritize those projects based upon available funds and with feedback from uh our partners at uh trun which is formerly Billy Casper golf uh and all those will begin start sequencing from that point forward next item is um CA baseball MJ would take that please uh so this is to a simple Award of ITB 2429 for shade structures at CA Park these are pre-engineered pre-fabricated shade structures uh the project was let for bid in July of this year we received nine bids that range from 73,000 to 184,000 uh review of the bids found the low bidder shade America Incorporated to be non-responsive because they did not meet wind specifications uh so the second low bidder shade Systems Incorporated they met all the scope of work and specifications required and a recommendation of award was posted in July of 2024 with no protests received the financial impact of that is uh $72,000 was budgeted for satoma Park bleacher covers and the remaining 8,749 will come from cost Savings in activity Fields operating line item and staff's recommending approval of that item next item is the inter local agreement with the town of Dundee this is for poble water and wastewater Utility Services associated with Cypress Creek Village mobile home park Phase 5 so this is a mobile home park it's located directly across from Cypresswood on dunde road kind of back behind the Dollar General and there's a strip Plaza there um phases one through four of that mobile home park are within the City of Winter Haven phase five is actually within the town of Dundee um but in order to meet their in their their water SE needs that they have dunde is not in a position to be able to do that and so this is an interlocal agreement where the City of Winter Haven will actually be providing water and sewer Services into an adjacent municipality dundy will still maintain uh solid waste collection services and they will be commissioner Mercer saying no no yes is are they oh yes we we have confirmed that with M Town management okay yes uh they just told me two days ago that no they had given it to you since you were already in there so I don't know we we confirmed that after we had received that email from from you that no done will plans on providing all other Municipal services to include law enforcement okay Y is so is that watered and to be charged at a normal citizen rate or is it going to be charged at be charged at the um the sirch charged rate for non Winter Haven customers am I saying that right non-resident non City winter hav resident customers there's a 25% search charge okay um and so uh yeah this is just an interlocal agreement for us to provide that water and sewer service to that subdivision next item is um wel construction at Cypresswood and po Road water treatment plants this is part of kind of what Mr Hub was talking about in the budget presentation we have we'll have new water treatment facilities within Cypresswood and at Pard Road um part of the effort to develop those is the well construction and this is uh for both of those sites total construction cost at $7.99 million the uh next item is um the remediation area 6A for septic to sewer this pertains specifically to the replacement and Rehabilitation of a lift station in that process proc existing Lift Station 1 191 um so that it can be uh appropriately sized and conditioned for when those that septic to sewer project goes forward uh bringing those homes that are on septic service today being able to tie into that uh new lift station um this is a uh construction cost of $1.13 million uh with about 180-day construction duration and it's awarded to we're recommending award to be andb underground construction for that project next item is um repair of uh Raz pump at wastewater treatment plant 3 MJ would you take that please uh wastewater treatment plant 3 uses four of the sludge pumps in their treatment processes uh pump one and two are utilized to move sludge from the north and middle clarifiers and pump three and four are utilized for the South clarifier uh pump one had a seal failure alarm so the team pulled it uh and they sent it out for uh to to be looked at and the company mki services who is the sole representative for the pump manufacturer in Florida has made a recommendation to replace the rotating pump assembly a mechanical seal and that'll cost $9,746 to uh D and the P Regional water Cooperative entered into some Grant agreements specific to the Heartland Headwaters protection and sustainability act Winter Haven is obviously a member of the prwc and we're in we have two projects that are included in that Grant agreement one is a septic to sewer program and one is an ASR wellfield at wastewater treatment plant 3 D and um prwc have done two amendments to those one in 2023 uh March of 2023 and one in September of 20 23 that modified the budget and scope for the sustainability projects so we are we need to be a party to those amendments and execute likewise as a member of the prwc and with projects included within um those original Grant agreements there's no cost associated with this this is simply um uh executing the Amendments on behalf of the City of Winter Haven next item 10K this is for design criteria and owner representative Professional Services this is for the Water Resource facility also known as wastewater treatment plant three um this was through an RFQ 2415 for design criteria and owners representative Professional Services for the Water Resource facility at Pard Road um this is uh a task order number one um bear with me one second I want to make sure I give you the right information here for 1 million 92,5 um with Jones Edmonds and um will be a part of that design build Progressive design build process so having a um uh owner's representative to help our team in executing that project we mentioned Wharton Smith has been awarded that contract for the progressive design build to actually carry out final design and construction in the phases that it comes in this case um the uh Jones Edmonds will be our our owner's rep Gary is there anything more specific with that that we need to no it includes CI services so we get constru very complicated project typically we have we bring on a third party to help us oversee those so that's that's what this pertains to um MJ records modernization so as you know the city is required to maintain public records uh they're depending on the record there is a different retention period for those records uh for decades the city has stored hard copies at a warehouse on Airport property as the city has moved to digital processes less and less hard copies are generated every year um so many of the records at this facility predate 2006 so they're from the 70s up into 2006 um some of these records have to be retained some do not but they all have to be sorted uh to determine whether those have met their retention period it could be legally disposed of or not also in their current state they're not readily available so these are just kind of Banker boxes in a in a building out there um there's some labels on them and it can be tough to get through uh but it makes when when we get a records request that might require those we're not able to put our hands on them as quickly as I think everybody has become accustomed to in today's day and age um makes those lengthy also that facility is not as secure as might not be recommended under today's guidelines it's just a it's an older building um so to ensure this is done in accordance with state law and in the most efficient way possible we developed a scope of work with SML Incorporated uh this is a firm that's provided similar to support to over 130 public agencies in the State of Florida uh the owner Steve Lewis is kind of the state Guru um I know Vanessa had mentioned that he is uh he he teaches the records retention classes at the clerk's conferences for instance um and conferences that other staff has attended so he will def develop what is called a formal disposition plan so that is a a document that outlines exactly how we dispose of documents within the city um and then he will bring his team on site uh and sort through all of those documents um dispose of and then index any files that have to be retained so that we have a system to be able to quickly put our hands on those files as needed uh he will also develop a recommendation for long-term storage options for the records that we do have to retain uh We've included some estimat of the cost that he thinks are accurate given uh his experience but it's really tied to the work so when he gets out there if there is uh if you know if everything's very well organized that might go quickly if it's just a box of loose paper that might take a little longer uh once the airport facility is complete we also plan to engage uh that team to start going through kind of these pockets of other records that exist in different areas of the city um our Fleet is an example there's a lot of Old Paper records out at our Fleet building um there's the vault in this building has quite a few old paper records in it and so just working through that to kind of bring that up um to Modern standards so modernizing the access to all that information we've also built in a revisit of our records program by them in 2026 so that kind of gives us multiple touch points over the next few years as we bring all of those records kind of up to speed um they should be able to get started in the next month or so and then they'll basically work with us until we've gone through everything a significant amount of the records at the airport are for the building division uh so they're able to fund a significant portion of that work from their funds uh they'll also pay for that uh disposition plan to be developed and then the remainder of that work which we estimate to be about 75,000 um will be split out based on the funds that the records relate to so we don't know exactly what that is at this point but as they go through it and you know if it's a utilities box that'll get charged to utilities if it's a streets box that'll get charged to public works so on and so forth um and so that's pretty much that's pretty much it for that one just trying to bring our records uh into the modern era that's good items 10m and 10n kind of hand in hand uh this is something we that Julie Adams Scott isers and the team have been working on for a while uh this pertains to a use agreement with theater Winter Haven as you know theater Winter Haven has existed for over 50 years they've been a party to the channel AES complex since it was originally constructed um we've always had a a Loosely structured agreement with the theater um but given some changes in programs and operations um with the facility itself some of the things that they want to pursue in terms of Grant dollars and other programming things we need to have a more formalized agreement in place so this is a use agreement between the city and theater Winter Haven that outlines respective responsibilities and considerations it's a 10-year agreement it can be uh it has an option for Renewal with any of those terms to be uh negotiated at that point the renewal uh it gives theater Winter Haven permitted use to specific areas of the field houses defined within the agreement predominantly stage in the main prenium theater the small stage certain office spaces uh some of the upstairs classroom spaces um that they have have historically been using does allow us to add additional facilities uh to this agreement uh that is what the addendum and 10n pertains to that specifically outlines the Ritz Theater we started working on this agreement long before we had the Ritz Theater you know process going forward and we don't want to combine them both within the same exact agreement because if they if something happened the Ritz down the road we don't want to have to undo you know everything within the master use agreement so we that's why we have that as a an addendum to it um theater Winter Haven will pay the city uh a fee of 65% of the on-site individual ticket sales for their main stage Productions we estimate that's going to be about $ 15 to $220,000 in Revenue per year uh the city has not received revenue from theater operations since I believe 2018 around 2021 we made a sign significant contribution back to the theater and ridge art at the same time to offset some of the challenges that they they incurred as result of Co you may recall that from our retreat in 21 um I did negotiate with the theater that that payment of 65% of those ticket sales would not commence this October but in October of 2025 that was specifically um considered based upon the fact that what they are going to invest into the Ritz Theater in terms of seating and some enhancements to that is going to be a financial cost to them and I think in consideration of that that's only fair um they're responsible in the main operations of of chaina lakes facility anything that's associated with their production they're responsible for those costs um there's certain cleaning responsibilities and maintenance responsibilities they have City's responsible for the structure overall as well as the utility cost associated with that building um the uh they have to provide the insurance that's outlined within their within the agreement they also either party can can terminate this with 180 days written notice uh there's also some conditions for material defaults that can result in termination um the addendum as I mentioned that's going to be in 10n this is very specific to the Ritz Theater uh it's just it it adds the richz theater as an additional permanent premises to that use agreement that we just described uh it calls for them to provide us a schedule of events by September 1st of each year they are responsible for all costs associated with their Productions so ticketing uh any licensing fees any Tech fees any anything that goes along with a production taking place there the Staffing the cleaning that is all the responsibility of the theater the city is responsible for the building envelope major structural maintenance aspects and the ongoing utility operational costs of that building um there is again a termination Clause that provides for 180 days notice as well as for any material defaults um we did close on the rich theater I'm looking for John and Scott on the on the fifth um Scott has been in there in the past couple days with our own facilities folks you know checking everything out seeing what we got what we don't got uh what we need to do Dan's been a part of that as well so I think we're in a good position going forward that building has been added to the city's um inventory of insured facilities I believe all the utilities have been set up in the city's name now so we're ready to to rock and roll Dan has provided me a schedule of events I'm super excited about I think that um believe we're going to have him here um to maybe offer some comments Monday evening I need to clarify that with him uh but his schedule of events includes everything from Community dances to uh the old Vaudeville shows to Tribute concerts kind of a Tuesday through Saturday uh and I think even some Sunday Productions in that space that I expect will have a positive impact on downtown quick question on the rits to be clear and this is basically for all of us we're turning the rits over to Dan just like theater Winter Haven and if he decides to tear everything down that's up to them it's up to him we as a commission basically hired him to what I'm what I'm trying to find out of if somebody from the community approaches one of us about why are you tearing down this or why are you doing this why are you doing that well deferm all to Dan and let Dan do it because we've basically hired him to run that for us correct well we we we've given him a use agreement to operate that space um anything that happens in that space is it that the approval of us we're involved in that dayto day just like we are in the main theater um we approve the what play he picks no no he does all that himself but talking you're talking about structural things within the building like I know he's planning um he's already shared with us some of the blueprints of new seating that he wants to install and those things so we are a party to that uh and involved in yes we're we're good with that we know what's happening there but the Productions that he puts on um the events he does that the rental schedules goes through him that goes through them not us right absolutely and you've already had your closing so I assume we bought the building as is understand you are the owner of a building yes sir okay okay the warranty deed has been recorded wow you're quick John so and I got the original back today it was recorded Monday and got it back this afternoon I think um his his anticipation I mean not everything starts instantly um but I will we'll clarify with him or staff will I believe September sometime is when he expects to start things to roll out there um but he's you know changing of the seating layout and the rise of the the the the room itself um I think Scott reported to me earlier today that we we've got probably some flooring improvements that we've got some soft spots we're going to have to get in and do some maintenance on ahead of time so it'll take you know several weeks to get get things rolling out there but we're excited to have that happening and I believe that's everything on your consent agenda Mr Mr one more question on can I Circle back please T to 10f interlocal with town of Dundee on yes sir um is this this has been under in works for a long time or is this something new cuz I know for a long time they had was this is this the property that the um Davidson have done Deon or no so AJ is there a map that you can pull up for this one please so it's kind of fuzzy to see and here um but this is again the mobile home park directly across from the main entrance of uh Cypresswood so you have a Dollar General and you have a a little strip center that fronts that back behind that's the mobile home park and if you look to the very north um AJ can you put your mouse right over where it says proposed Cypress Creek Village mobile home park so that area that square is where phase five of this project is going to go the um the Davidson of dun D property I think you're referencing that was further north and and kind of I think that was more actually tied into Lake Hamilton it was on the and it was on the east side of 27 too on the on the west side of 27 is you got further north um before before Crump Road tied in well I know they really wanted to get into yeah that was a much more complicated one and it it involved um some uh negotiations that would need to actually take place between dunde and Lake Hamilton as I recall well the only it's probably not founded but the only thing that concerns me about this type of a deal and and I I tie it back to like the w a water power plant you know we are getting I know you Gary is probably tired of hearing about the WAN water plant everybody thinks it's Winter Haven it's Wan and I don't want that to happen here you know what I mean because this is us and I just don't want us to get our guys who we do run a really clean shop to get dragged through the mud because of Dundee you know what I mean that's I want to not not because of dundy but maybe in spite of I don't know what I'm trying to say but I don't want what's happening with Wanita to happen here I think I think this is um this is a little different um and and I'll I'll ask John and and Gary to comment further if I if I misstate something here but in the case of Wanita water with Eagles Landing and we were're dealing with that issue today that we've got some very unhappy customers out there uh they are citizens of ours but they are customers of wano water and we're we're I wish there was something more we could do for them but we're kind of in a pickle there and I feel sorry for those people because they're stuck they're stuck and they're our residents and we can't really do anything to to help them in that process gonna happen out here in this case in in in W to water you have a situation where the city their City residents the city could easily provide water to them we have the capacity we have the infrastructure there but they also have the capacity and therefore didn't didn't want us to do that they it's their service territory they needed to be able to do that in this case as I understand it the town of Dundee needs us to provide the water there because they don't have the systems in place the infrastructure to service this area the customers in phases 1 through four or are existing customers this is a continuation of an existing City development so I think that there's some nuances to it that um it creates some continuity of water service within there we have the capacity to do it we have a good working relationship with the town of dunde um uh they have an outstanding utilities operation we have an outstanding utilities operation it's been very collaborative throughout the if it's some point um they're in a position to take that on and John correct me from wrong the the agreement allows for um us to sell that system off to dunde uh we would retain connection fees that we incur you know that that are we get the connection fees from these homes as they get put in there um I think it is a this is a much more cooperative and collaborative approach uh to this type of issue than what we had with Eagles Landing Eagles Landing was one of those that there was there really was no collaboration and cooperation is how that came to be because it was within the Wanita water service area they wouldn't want to just Annex this in the Winter Haven it's already aned into Dundee into the town of Dundee that that happened in 2004 and um and at that this point uh it's doubtful that it would meet the elements of contraction under Florida law so they're you know the lines are set if you will okay all right I'm good with it all right so then we're at uh resolution r24 34 all right so that is for uh vmar Dev LLC there requesting the Commission accept certain improvements and dedication in favor of the public city of Winter Haven as noted in the plat for vamar phases 6 and 6D uh so this is the 116 Acres generally located east and west of Rialto Road and East of the CSX railroad line all water Lin sewer line lines reuse lines and related infrastructure will be owned and maintained by the city however all internal roadways Street lighting and storm water related to the infrastructure will be owned and maintained by the Villar Community Development District Rialta Road and its Associated sidewalks and Street lighting will be owned and maintained by the city theard Dev LLC submitted a performance bond in the amount of $2 million $2,491 to guarantee completion of all required infrastructure and improvements for the subdivision recent inspections by staff found all incomplete improvements are now complete and have passed all required tests and certification and the water Wastewater and re utilities can now be accepted by the city there's no Financial impact of this request it is accepting the infrastructure and releasing the bond and staff is recommending approval of R 2434 great thank you r24 36 um so 36 is dealing with our construction funds mayor Commissioners you may recall that we have two uh construction funds actually three if you count the transportation fund but these have historically been aligned with Bond financing debt issuances that we've done we've actually had more than two at some point um but right now we have a 2015 construction Fund in a 2021 construction fund um our intent with this resolution is to combine those into one construction fund it's it's very difficult to manage those as two separate uh uh elements you may recall that we've transferred funds excess funds of of surplus fund balance into one construction fund only have to move it to another one later on this allows us to put those both together it makes things uh more efficient it enhances our budgeting reporting process increases uh transparency this would happen um following the completion of our financial statements for this fiscal year that ends September 30th of 24 we expect that would be sometime uh between October and December that we would make that transition but in future budgets we just have the one construction fund okay thank you um o 2430 24 uh 23 so um I'm gonna ask Eric real quick to go through these these first readings as these all apply to Economic Opportunity Community investment yes sir mayor Commissioners um ordinance 02423 uh this is an administrative request to amend a section of chapter 21 which are unified Land Development code that's related to the submitt of uh uh engineered site plans so the city has had some sort of site plan review process in place since the late 80s uh the section that we have currently in place was adopted in 2001 still referenced things like um submitting paper uh plans didn't have adequate detail for what was required in those submitt and the preparation of plans and so this is an amendment to codify um how our existing process is today with electronic review um software systems that we use now as well as uh defining the minimum standards for the preparation of a plan for example the the scale um that they need to submit at um in addressing um suspended or abandoned development projects so when a project um goes dark for a certain period of time we and they want to re restart um that we'd require them to resubmit uh their review fees and their uh perhaps their plans and it defines how all that would work so it codifies um how our existing system is uh works today um This Was Heard by the Planning Commission and they unan unanimously recommended approval on July 9th all right now we are to 02430 02430 and 02431 are related um note for uh Monday 02430 is a public hearing because it's a large scale transmitt to the Department of uh Economic Opportunity and other state agencies this is a request by Peterson Meers uh to assign future land use uh 02430 is to assign future land use to a recently annexed parcel it's 54.7 4 Acres uh located just south of Lake smart uh north of uh wear Avenue Northeast they're requesting neighborhood Suburban future land use uh for that property uh the intent is to develop the property with approximately 210 single family units that is 3.7 units per acre it is consistent with surrounding uses and developments in the area and surrounding future land uses uh again as typical our infrastructure um uh capacities are noted in your staff report um it is consistent um it is consistent with what was uh previously on the property when it was in the County which was residential low three the Planning Commission did hear this on July 9th 2024 and also recommended approval of this request there were eight members of the P public who spoke at that meeting uh with concerns about uh traffic potential noise impacts to Lake smart and density and safety and staff does recommend approval uh of 02430 and it's forwarding to Department of uh Commerce and sorry I said Economic Opportunity before Department of Commerce and state and local agencies for review only thing I'll say is that it's going to create if it's ever developed it'll create a nightmare on MLK and Avenue uh and lcan Park Road 544 because those are your exit Scapes right and where how how new is this map this map doesn't seem very current or is it still got Avenue T listed down there and I'm just wondering it seems like there's been a lot more development since this I think the aerial is uh that's from the property appraiser so it's it's a few years it's a few years old had there been more stuff built out there or is it uh not really no just infields infields yeah so so note on the transportation um you know as is typical concurrency and transportation improvements will be identified at site plan review process um they are anticipating an access point onto where Avenue um so we do expect some uh traffic to disperse South um down 9th Street 9th Court to M to MLK and also West um along where Avenue to where it turns into Avenue Y and intersect with lucern Park um Road um also please note that uh the first phase of the lucern Park Road um improvements with fdot um go to Avenue Y and they will be doing intersection Improvement at that intersection as well plus if we ever get the development there at U 11th Street and uh MLK so you got all of that right there yes sir here you anticipate a light there at lucern Park Road just past Avenue y or is there going to be a light at Avenue y I'm sure probably roundabout they they're planning a roundabout at that section I'm I'm with mayor Birdsong I can't imagine the traffic what it's going to be like all those people coming in trying to get on lern Park Road from that yeah those are those are M yeah those are primary concerns that the residents did have or current residents in the area that uh they too CU they recognize they're living that situation where uh when you come down from school is letting out um that uh it is very very challenging so that was their major major concern well in the morning too people coming in to work from point Siana and a city everybody comes on that road that Road's always a mess in the morning yes they be going to be like you I th Nur I will say just as a matter of legal uh opinion um that Transportation level of service and the concurrency evaluation cond Mr L's Department takes care of that very professionally and from what I understand there there are no deficient levels of service created by the impacts that would be anticipated from this development that does not not mean traffic isn't a problem and that traffic isn't an issue but legally speaking there's no expert testimony there's nothing before us that would allow you in my view to to deny it based on that issue that would sustain legal challenge yeah but it's a valid concern it's just an observation and and it is and I think that Mr lv's point that the dot you still like it has in its project the the roundabout and the other improvements you know one of the issues that I would say compatibility and consistency those are the things that you do have a lot to say about yes yes and I think some did recognize that too you know obviously people in the area recognize that is very compatible to what's already there I think that uh but the reality is that with the increase of uh uh traffic in that area that is already uh and also what is even projected that's not even there now is is yet to come there it will and there is no relief per se uh because you if you're looking even into the uh near future you know there are uh still facilities still to be built uh and also Apartments as well and even potentially other other aspects of this uh adjacent properties could be developed also yes yes sir I I would also add that um we're working collaboratively with this property owner as well as the property owner to the uh East and two Parcels to the east which is the um willbrook South subdivision um that is south of uh the canal that that connects the Lakes there um they will be constructing a portion of a road um up to around where Avenue um but it's on the um on the east side of the Orange Groves that you see there it will connect down into MLK um we have a comp plan policy that requires cross connection and so um at site plan review we will require the developer of this property to dedicate right away through their subdivision going east west uh to facilitate a future connection to the road that will run north south from MLK up to lern Park Road adjacent to the golf course so we have policies and and rules in in place to create those connections as developers bring these projects in to to increase the transportation Network in the area is that what are they currently doing there is that is that part of what you're talking about what they're currently constructing as you uh uh come on to Buckeye Loop yeah so right there right there right there in that curve yeah the the What's called the willbrook um subdivision has a a north side and a South Side north north of the canal and south of the canal and uh we required in that subdivision that they dedicate public road right away to us um and they will be constructing a a portion of that road on the south side because they need to construct it in order to get access to the Upland parcel of their property and so the activity that you see that is that that's giving access to those to that area correct correct as part of their subdivision okay so so when this goes into consideration with the are they taking into consideration the the volume that's currently on ler Park Road or is this property far enough away from that that they wouldn't take into consideration the for trips they yes the trips on lucern Park Road would be taken into consideration in traffic analysis because ultimately that's the state facility that that it would dump on to um and we would we have um a very close relationship with their review team and so when this comes in for a development review committee meeting which is kind of the first step in the site plan review process um dot is involved they have staff members involved in that meeting with us and um we will communicate with them that the the relief uh one of the reliefs for this subdivision is out to a state facility yeah I guess what what I have trouble with are it you know we we did the multiple multitude of projects on lucern Park Road um further north and Northeast and then on North Lake Hamilton Drive we approved that subdivision and in in discussion of all of those approvals we always said well whichever one gets to the race first is the one that's going to get in well they broke ground on the one off of North Lake Hamilton Drive so I don't know if I mean they're clearing that out and putting infrastructure in so that's going the one off of lucern Park Road well that's going so I I don't it's a it's a rased the plat so you have to build at least 50% of your subdivision before you can Bond and plat the subdivision so it's a race to get to the plat um and so when the when the particular subdivision is at a point at which they can submit a bond and plat the subdivision then we review the concurrency at that time and if there's capacity then we approve the plat and they can finish the subdivision and build homes and and and do the development if at that time there is not capacity on that roadway Network then they either can't can only do a portion of the subdivision can only do you know maybe 30% maybe there's only capacity for 30% of the homes and that's all they can do at that time until there's a a mechanism in place to increase capacity um or if it's a state facility There's an opportunity um for some relief in in legislation where they can um uh what's the term John they can submit um mitigation mitigation uh dollars uh in order to be able to move forward there are some mechanisms in place so they can buy their way in yeah mation project Y and I've not done one of those before but I've heard that it's extraordinarily expensive to do so mitigation Bank we talked about that on our interview today they did a mitigation Bank up there in oel the county so I got to tell you this makes this is the kind of stuff that makes me really uncomfortable this does not improve quality of life for anybody out there it makes it worse and we all of us get chastised for approving the subdivisions we you approve all this stuff you don't take care of traffic you don't put in this you don't blah blah blah you know we all hear it and that's exactly what we're doing here not one person out there that lives out there likes us I would imagine because they know what it's going to do and we all know what's going to happen with the traffic even though the studies may show it's going to be okay every body's quality of life that's out there in that area is going to go down not go up now granted there'll be some more homes out there and there'll be more opportunities for people to live out there in the area but I'm just saying these kind of things it just we keep approving more and more of this stuff and I know there's property rights but my goodness yeah and I I understand the concerns but I would respectfully point out that the P County land use map if you turn to page seven of your fact sheet um when this was in the county it was zoned primarily rl3 which is almost the exact same thing that we're going to I know I know all that I get all that I know there's I get all that totally get it but I'm just saying you know we're the ones that get chastised for approving these things you know um and and isn't that the the Winter Haven Housing Authority is that their project there just North Avenue y yes yes so they're going to re you know that's in the works to add additional homes there and so what you could effectively do is impact your affordable housing for this project again because of capacity restraints so if you do this one and it gets going before somebody else I mean what what we're trying to accomplish with affordable housing gets impacted with this project potentially as well affordable housing exemptions there there are some exemptions for affordable housing the affordable housing is actually an increase of 60 units um so I can't imagine that an increase of 60 units would would cause a much of a capacity issue but but now you're putting 60 more cars in through that intersection and it just yeah but the other thing to note is that um the lucern Park Road improvements as soon as they're in the five-year construction um CIP for fdot which I believe construction of the first phase is now in their five-year CIP um any increased capacity related to those improvements can be counted H wow all right moving right along to uh 02 2432 um o so 02431 is the companion for the R3 zoning 024 you said those two were the same yes sir companion so to speak yes sir 02 2432 is a min admin ministrative requests to amend the um the code of ordinances again chapter 21 uh article 3 section 21 142 and and also chapter 21 uh article 8 uh division three this is related to supporting the um affordable housing efforts of the ahac and also to clean up some existing language that is also in that section with respect um to the Planning Commission and the Development Special magistrate um the major revisions are to reduce the parking requirement for affordable housing uh to 1.5 parking spaces um uh per unit um this is consistent with what we see in the affordable housing World um uh just around the country really um it is uh some updates to language and uh regarding Planning Commission and their appointment of members and procedures um language addressing the Development Special magistrate and timelines for submitting applications and then also an expedited review and fee waivers for development projects that contain affordable housing as recommended by the affordable housing advisory committee um we expect there'd be a minor uh fiscal impact uh something less than $10,000 a year uh associated with those fee waivers um for affordable housing projects uh This Was Heard by the Planning Commission on Jan uh July 9th excuse me and there were no public comments they unanimously to recommend approval of this request all right thank you any questions then we have new business that the commission L on the reports and then uh the deputies that have maned to report the letter to Department of Transportation um so the the letter to do U mayor and Commissioners I I believe that's attached in you if you open in your uh your uh iPads uh this is just a letter of appreci and make sure you're all okay with that so okay that doesn't need to come back to you for anything we just wanted to share that with you that we feel it's appropriate given the magnitude of the impacts of that project at Cyprus Gardens in 17 uh to express appreciation to secretary nanam and then MJ will uh as an item for you yes uh so we are looking for a commission liaison for RFQ 2442 uh so that is for banking depository services so when you open a utilities account with the city uh that money goes into a you know that that giv us put a deposit in and then that money goes into a holding account so we're looking to procure a local bank uh to open a non-interest bearing account to hold those deposits it's usually about $65 million doar a year um so we're looking for a commission liaison that would be willing to serve on nonest pairing why is it got to be non interest pairing that's nuts I'll let I'll let CJ speak to that um actually we brought that I think it was a resolution about a year ago so when you are a customer and you have a deposit say $50 you are making like per year maybe 5 cents and the administrative cost on that is just exorbitant with all the calculations you have to do uh and we don't keep by Florida statute we cannot keep any of that interest income so it just made it more simpler if you put in $50 you'll get your $50 back so we can't keep the interest no we can't we can't just a holding account and and was and part of this that's crazy really well I mean I mean that's crazy that the government would I mean the fed the state wouldn't let us keep the interest or earn interest it's you know you're talking six7 million bucks there is Administrative cost on that but yeah we're not allowed to do that we're giving away a lot of anyway the um the intent here if I may you know because it's non-interest bearing still earns interest you know Banks still benefit from having that money um and my take on that is if there's if we're going to have uh such institutions earn money off of that I'd prefer that that happens within our own communities versus perhaps headquartered in Atlanta or New York or Chicago or wherever that is um and uh so that's what this is all about is trying to find a local entity we have a number of local banks that are that are headquartered here in P County give them a chance to uh to participate in that process and keep that money more local can we get free checking because of it they're going to make all this interest off money maybe whoever does our checking account will give us free checking now so do we anyone would like to I just have a question could we credit their account by 5 cents because it it'd be so much to mail it or do anything like that you can but the administrative chall just the the the amount of time and energy and effort that it takes to manage that in the benefit that's realized is just that's why we went to that non-interest bearing account at the time we did um so again this is just reviewing the proposals that will come in for we've tried it and we've talked about it I will say that um just can't do it any of you can participate as the liaison if you're so interested except for um being appropriate for uh commissioner Yates to uh to do so since he is employed in the banking industry I'll do it unless somebody else wants to do it I really don't care but I'm happy do it Brad danor you want to do it Brad has I'll do it thank you guys you get to work with our amazing Finance team in the process they are the they are the bomb they're great all right so emergency m not received for the agenda Mr Mayor there's a possibility I will not be here Monday night just putting you guys on notice so another interview interview the aldale city commit motion to a Jord We Stand The Joy all right