##VIDEO ID:PiaagP-Gz1c## e e e e e good evening I'd like to call the order of the city Commission meeting for this the 10th day of September at 6:00 p.m. can I get a roll call please yes sir commissioner dollson here commissioner Mercer here commissioner danler here mayor proam Yates here and mayor Birdsong here we will have an invocation by Dr Steve harness of the First Baptist Church of WN Haven and we'll be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Vanessa Castillo our city clerk let us pray together dear heavenly father we come before you in the name of Jesus Christ to thank you for blessing us with this wonderful city thank you Lord for giving us such a fabulous place to rear our children and our grandchildren we thank you so much Lord for the leaders of our city who profess to be men and women of faith and right now we pray for the safety and protection of all of our city employees pray for all of our First Responders we pray for our police officers we pray for your protection your guidance and your wisdom I pray that you will bless and meet them at their point of need help each and every person to seek your guidance in all they do both professionally and personally Lord we pray for the future of our city I ask that you will grant this city your favor this will be a place that provides not only Lord a beautiful setting for us but also place where children can grow up learning what it means to be good citizens learn to follow you and to give back to the community the blessings they have received right now Lord we just ask for your wisdom and your grace upon the men and women gathered here we pray that the decisions discussed and made will be a blessing to our town bring glory and honor to your name we pray that your truth Lord will be most important more than human Applause we confidently bring these requests to you because we're asking them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen amen amen to the flag of the United States of America and to the stand One Nation God indivisible and justice for all okay we have uh no presentations no developments of notes Commissioners you have the uh minutes minutes I think there are any H there's none this evening oh oh there have no minutes on here I'm looking where are the minutes I lots of meetings all right all right I'm won to go there all right um but then the next item that we have is the uh my statement state state law requires the first substantive issue to be discussed at this hearing are name of the taon authority City of Winter Haven roll back rate is 6.29 one2 Mills millage rate to be levered is 6.59 the reason the avaloran tax rate revenues are increasing the avalum proceeds resulting from the difference between the proposed millage rate and the rollback rate will be used to offset increased operating cost and bond capital projects Mr Mayor will you read that third bullet point please I think you that would be the percentage increase in the millage over the RO back the percentage increase in the milit rate over the rollback rate is 4.75% thank you you all right thank you thank you John all right I'm just looking at the agenda oh okay normally we we allow have the comments after this after this all right um okay ordinance's first reading would you read by talona City attorney thank you Mr Mayor commissioner and if you won't mind I will read these these next two ordinances in their entirety as we as we normally do all right uh ordinance number 0-24 d43 an ordinance of the City of Winter Haven Florida adopting a m mill rate to provide sufficient funds for projected expenditures of the 2024 2025 fiscal year budget of the city of wi Haven Florida providing for severability and providing for an effective date whereas on September 10th 2024 the City of Winter Haven held a public hearing as required by floa Statute 200.0 65 and whereas a budget has been prepared estimating expenditures and revenues of the city for the ensuing year with detailed information including revenues to be derived from sources other than ADV valorum Levy and recommendations have been made as to the amount to be appropriated for the ensuing year and whereas the city Winter Haven strives to provide a level of service consistent with the expressed desires and demands of its citizens and whereas it is necessary that the taxpayers of Winter Haven also be willing to share the common expenditure of said services and to provide funds therefore now therefore being enacted by the people of the city of winner Haven Florida as follows number one the millage Levy for fiscal year 202 24-22 is hereby set at a rate of 6.59 Mills number two the millage rate of 6.59 is 4.75% higher than the roll back rate of 62912 number three if any word sentence Clause phrase or provision of this ordinance for any reason is held to be unconstitutional void or invalid the validity of the remainder of this ordinance shall not be affected thereby number four the ordinance will take effect on October 1 2024 introduced on first reading this 10th day of September 2024 thank you thank you city manager mayor Commissioners you have a fact sheet that speaks uh to this ordinance on first read that ultimately says exactly what the City attorney has just shared with you i' just like to point out a couple uh notes that um I shared with you during the budget presentation back in July so again the millage rate is uh recommended for adoption at 6.59 Mills that is higher than the roll back rate um is a in comparison to the other 18 taxing jurisdictions within P County that would include the 17 Municipal taxing authorities in the county uh Winter Haven is the ninth in that list of 18 that doesn't include any special taxing districts uh the tax rate in Winter Haven was last raised in 2018 you may recall we raised it by a mill at that point and specifically earmarked those funds just for Capital it was lowered in 2022 by 2/10 of a m um the current property value should you be interested the gross property value in Winter Haven is now at 4.75 billion so that is what that tax rate is applied upon so um we're recommending that the commission vote on this this evening uh in order to advance it to Second reading which will happen two weeks uh from now on Monday the 233rd all right Mr Mayor yes move for approval of ordinance 0-24 d43 adopting the military for fiscal year 20 24 and 2025 thank you I will now close the commission meeting and open the public hearing I have one person that would like to speak on this particular item Craig white so you can do so at this time by stating your name and address for the record thank you Mr Mayor uh my name is is Craig T white I live at 409 chance Avenue in Winter Haven Florida I'm here to talk about the illage rate increase uh a lot of the people here are on fixed incomes retired and I know people like myself we are still working we did not get a wage increase of this percentage and so this is going to be a lot of money also a lot of people are moving to Winter Haven so even though they are putting more demands on the services they're actually increasing the tax revenue to help offset those so has this all been taken into consideration or it has I'm sorry it has it passed okay okay thank you very much thank you can I can I just add one he he because I think go ahead you can go ahead he he he mentioned a mill rate increase and that's not what's what's occurring here the mill rate is actually staying the same but it if you take the last year's values of the homes then that's how you get that lower millage rate but because everybody's property values have increased that's what that Gap is and and City staff can probably explain that more eloquently than I but the millage rate is actually staying the same from the previous year okay CU I thought it was increasing from six 2763 266 now the tax rate it's actually staying at the exact same millage rate as it has been since 2002 or 22 I'm sorry um and mayor proam you you're spot on with that um the uh the roll back rate is is associated with prior years um revenues based upon property values property values increase but the tax rate is not changing tax rate staying exactly what it was in 2022 20 23 the roll back is something that we were required by Statute to note every city is is required to do so I believe the counties as well okay thank you all right you're welcome anyone else seeing none I close the public hearing reopen the city commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor of the motion let it be known by saying I I opposes by the same sign ordinance 0 2444 would you read in its in power of the City attorney thank you Mr Mayor and for the record uh Vanessa when you do the minutes please note that that was a unanimous vote of approval I'm sure it will be reflected that way ordinance number 0- 24-44 an ordinance making appropriations of funds for defraying the expenses of the municipal government of the city Winter Haven for fiscal year 2024 2025 adopting the budget of the city Winter Haven Florida fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 is the official budget of the City of Winter Haven Florida fiscal year 2024 d22 providing for severability and providing an effective date whereas Florida Statutes require each taxing authority to annually adopt tenative and final budgets and whereas the city w r has held workshops and commission meetings regarding the fiscal year 2024 d225 budget and whereas estimates have been made by the city manager of the city Winter Haven as presented in the budget of the City of Winter Haven Florida fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 showing that the sum of $263,600 maintaining the government of the city of win Florida for the fiscal year 2024-25 and whereas the budget of the city of winter Florida fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 anticipate sufficient revenues to fund projected expenditures of 263,000 million 69221 is hereby appropriated out of all of the various revenues acing to theity City witer Haven and set aside for the purpose of paying the expenses of and maintaining the government of the City of Winter Haven for a fiscal year 2024-25 number two the budget of the City of Winter Haven Florida fisc year commencing October 1 2024 un file in the office of the city clerk is hereby adopted by reference as the official budget of the city of order from Florida for fiscal year 2024 d225 number three if any word sentence phrase clause or provision of this ordinance for any reason is held to be unconstitutional board invalid the validity of the remainder of this ordinance shall not be affected thereby number four it is the intention of the city commission that sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or be lettered in the word ordinance may be changed to chapter section article or such other appropriate word or phrase in order to accomplish such intentions and that sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or Rel lettered in the correction of typographical and or scriveners errors which do not affect the intent may be authorized by the city manager or his design without need of public hearing by filing a corrected or recodified copy of same with the city clerk this ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its passage introduced on first reading this 10th day of October pardon me this 10th day of September 2024 thank you thank you City attorney city manager thank you Mr Mayor um I had done a presentation to the commission I believe it was July 17th highlighting actually in great detail everything that is within our budget I would like to just take it rather than if you'd like to have the full presentation again I can certainly do that but in I think uh if you're comfortable I have some very high level points that I think summarize what was shared with you in July when we crafted the budget so again the budget um the total budget is actually 297.00 to another that brings the budget to actually 2636 million our adval revenues are projected to account for 27.7 9 million so right around 10% of the budget will come from um the adorm revenues some unique things that are within our budget we continue to provide $250,000 for the affordable housing trust fund uh consistent with the commission's initiatives there there's $320,000 that's earmarked for nonprofits there are 40 agencies that will be funded through our nonprofit grant and aid program this year $285,000 for our Community Partners which includes the Winter Haven Ed DC the Chamber of Commerce Main Street Winter Haven and P vision $295,000 for our uh homeless initiative targeting families with schoolage children that is something that we coordinate with Hart for Winter Haven and about $294,000 for the Lakeland area mass transit district to offset the cost associated with our Winter Haven area transit uh fixed route system here in Winter Haven the budget includes 630 full-time employees and 106 part-time employees of those 29 full-time employees are new positions 12 of those are within your general fund uh some of the positions that are included within the budget in the full-time side six new police officers uh to help address the growth that we're having in our community along with a a specific position for our records retention for body warn cameras a new staff with additional staff person within the city clerk's office within our public affairs and communic ation operation um in our building water department and solid waste operations tied specifically to growth we're experiencing in our community and then also uh two mechanics within our Fleet operations just to help maintain the number of vehicles that we operate day in day out we also have 20 I'm sorry 106 part-time employees in our Workforce there are 24 new uh part-time employees almost all of those are within your general fund and are aligned with the expansion of the Winter Haven Recreation and Cultural Center those positions won't come on until the fourth quarter of the fiscal year that also includes a library staff as we'll have a branch library in that facility and then also staff that will come on probably in January part-time staff associated with the chainel Lakes Park Renovations as that part project will be set to uh to open so in total uh when you combine full-time and part-time employees 736 employees total or bodies total the budget includes the continuation of our step plan for employees that happens on the employees anniversary at either 2 and a half or 3 and a half% uh consistent with a program we implemented in 2021 it also includes uh some adjustments to salaries so that we bring all of our starting wages to no less than $16 per hour uh that was something to try and Achieve um what it really cost to to live with in P County and to remain competitive within the marketplace uh our entry-level positions are often times some of the hardest positions for us to fill given that people can do much less labor intense work in much more I'd say accommodating environments uh working in in retail or in fast food that's who we're we're competing a lot with in that regard of the budget about 45% of it or a little over 134 million goes towards Capital so that's investments in New facilities and Roads and equipment in major expenses of of things that will last longer than 5 years and have a a higher dollar value uh Personnel accounts for about $60 million of our budget or about 20% operations fuels uh Insurance uh consumables account for about 18% I'm sorry about 19% and about 56 million outside of those things we have costs associated with Debt Service uh supportive funds grant and aid those types of things that make up that difference the Utility Fund continues to have a a transfer into the general fund um that number by policy we had adopted several years ago was to get that down to a 12% of the um operational revenues for the last audited year we have been able to make that threshold for the past four years so we we committed to bringing that number down and we have been able to uh to hold that over that time general fund also just as you may recall it's not just the things that are within the general fund in other words police fire Parks planning City uh City Hall operations those types of things the general fund also provides support to the library the airport cemeteries the golf course the transportation fund the construction fund the dark fiber fund affordable housing trust fund and urban forestry the largest expense within our general fund um and rightly so is in public safety we want to make sure that our residents are safe at all times uh the combination of police fire and safe neighborhoods also known as Code Compliance is about $30.7 million or about 42% of your general fund operations a little bit more than what the actual adval revenues generate the pension costs we have three different pension programs one for police officers one for fire Fighters and one for the uh the general employees uh those costs are going up um as we would expect them to as you have increases in salary is you that are above what the Assumption rates are for those pension plans you also have some rates of return in the early part of last year that were below assumptions and then we also and I think this is a positive we are uh experiencing uh a relatively inactive mortality rate meaning that when our employees retire they're having much longer uh prosper lives and that that's a good thing but it does come with additional costs because they're on your pension for longer the general fund fund balance I think this is probably one of the most positive things I can share with you is forecasted to be at 36% at the end of the fiscal year of 2025 that is um about $4.1 million above our 30% goal uh and as you know what we our policy allows for is for those Monies to be that are above the 30% goal to be used to offset Capital Construction costs that are subject to fluctuations in the market pretty much Daily Now nowadays um that 36% as it stands today accounts for about 4.3 months worth of operations so if you have a hurricane a natural disaster some crisis a global financial crisis which we hope we never see again a housing market bust um that is your rainy day fund and it is well established in the commission has given us very good guidance and adopted fiscal policies for that the last thing I'll mention to you is the CRA um you have a CRA uh community redevelopment agency that has two districts the downtown district and the Florence Villa District those are both included in your overall budget of of the um 263 million the Florence Villa revenues for this year estimated to be $1.3 million that money has gone before the advisory committee and and the board for uh what was recommended for the capital Investments of those dollars also the downtown CRA district is uh anticipated to have revenues of $3.75 million couple specific things and are significant things that are included in the budget for next year um we have included those two additional pul correctional institute uh Crews um I've talked with Julie Adams this morning we expect those to come online in the coming weeks that is going to help us offset some of our maintenance activities that we have um we're doing some routine improvements with our fire stations within the police department um on some in some of our Parks some of our Trail resurfacing a complete redesign effort for Lions Park um we have uh improvements to the Women's Club building down on Lake Howard as well as to the Garden Center um within our activity fields operations improvements at ctoa Park for a new storage building for our football programs that are out there and some equipment and then within our streets division uh some pedestrian bridge repairs along the Chain of Lakes Trail uh continuation of our efforts to install electric charging stations most of those will occur at new facilities that are being constructed today and then also our Ada transition plan in the airport there are a handful of projects to include op uh obstruction clearing a remote control tower project the Commerce Park which is some um some horizontal improvements out there to Spur future economic growth at the airport the emergency generator project taxiway e extension and then an update of the master plan I remind you that in the airport we will spend a little over $5.2 million on improvements out there the city's portion of that is about 19 cents of every dollar that is due to f FAA and fdot grants that we've been able to secure major capital projects within the general fund include the Winter Haven Recreation and Cultural Center project which if you've been on MLK that building has been completely uh raised and we are prepping the site for the new facility to develop there chain leg Park phase two again everything has been raised there and you can start to see uh where the new baseball fields will be coming together on that site if you drive by the lake Elbert Trail project is under construction I understand that that is expected to be complete sometime in the summer of 2025 the um construction of a new building division offices in the old fire station we just did a walk through of that with potential contractors today as they prepare their bids for the request for qualifications on design build Services Rowdy gains pool renovation new HVAC operational systems at noro Hall the Lake conine Recreation uh components those are also under construction today if you happen to drive lucern Park Road fire station 4 is expected to open up this fall uh I was told that they are already hanging some of the drop ceiling in that facility so that is moving quickly along and we are in the early design uh discussions for fire station 5 which will occur on Lake harridge both of those have cost there in this coming fiscal year Lake Silver you have a project that is up for consideration on your your agenda this evening for the um the uh uh rment project on the west side of that adjacent to the Chain of Lakes Trail to address erosion and then some improvements the first phase of improvements at the diamond Plex complex which are mostly associated with new Lighting in the transportation fund Pard road the second phase of that project the first phase is complete we are now working uh to bring forward the second phase which goes basically excuse me from wastewater treatment plant 3 all the way down to Logistics Park Road uh that again has a significant amount of do grant money associated with it um our tip project Transportation Improvement program that is the resurfacing of streets we have $2 million set aside for that a number of projects that are occurring around Lake Howard if you've been um from the lake Howard Canal at Lake May headed kind of South into the West you see that that's sidewalk project is under construction right now there will be a second sideway sidewalk project that goes from 15th Street just past the South Lake Howard Nature Park um there's also a section that goes along the Eastern side of Lake Howard from the uh the parking and boat ramp area just at the end of Central Avenue back towards the lake May Bridge a number of sidewalk projects throughout the the area and then we are getting closer and closer on our quiet zones uh which we've been working on for a number of years and I know that commissioner PO is smiling down on us uh waiting for that to happen so maybe he can have some encourage some divine intervention there to help us get that done even faster in the downtown CRA um the work around the fdot pond at Fifth Street uh some undergrounding of presently overhead utility lines Street lighting along Avenue C Southwest and second Street um some property acquisition to try and spur New Economic Development and then signs and gateways signage for way finding and gateways as well as improving bus shelters to make those covered facilities so that our residents that use that Winter Haven area transit system uh in some of those cases we have new shelters for them in the Florence Villa area of ourc uh improvements to the neighborhood service center uh again prop acquisition trying to assemble Parcels of land Remnant pieces along First Street predominantly so that we can assemble those and make them more attractive for future Economic Development and investment there um some they're contributing some money to the Winter Haven Recreation and Cultural Center project some residential infill lots again also bus shelters in that area your storm water fund has expansion of the N Lake Howard Nature Park this is the former WS s radio station property we acquired several years ago that project is moving forward a sediment project on Lake Idol storm water project on Lake Idol and Wetland restoration project this is a joint project that we are uh pursuing with the county for a significant piece of land on the North End Of Us 17 uh on the west side of that road that is also uh projected if in the key to moving that for is the award of a de a d Grant your one M that I mentioned was set aside in 20122 for Capital Improvements um most of these projects I've mentioned but 2 million of that one mil is what goes towards the tip um about $480,000 to replace uh playgrounds as they Age and and need to be upgraded for safety purposes the renovations at diamondplex are included in there rehabilitation of some of our Trail systems Heritage Park beautifications uh some improvements to the Fieldhouse and the Women's Club and the garden center also fall within that as well the biggest area of our budget really Falls within the utility operations so Winter Haven water we've had quite a few discussions on this as of late so wastewater treatment plant three um the the the early stages of the development of the Bradco Farms project that we closed on we bought that property in December of last year and we are beginning to move that forward think I mentioned to you at our last meeting um and you approved an action uh that um ties back to a $6 million plus grant that we're getting from Brazilian Florida for that effort Water Treatment Plant improvements uh a new maintenance and administration complex are interconnects with dunde hanne City uh auale Eagle Lake are included in there continuation of our septic to sewer program uh some aquafer recharge projects and then also water distribution system expansion um overall I think it's an extremely uh feasible budget it's a very responsible budget um certainly we do not fund everything that comes across the across my desk or the the cfo's desk uh there's a lot of needs that are there that we have to prioritize and make some tough decisions on um but I think based upon what we've been able to do this year again maintaining our our millage rate where it is trying to pursue as much grant money as we possibly can and as I said when it comes to employees uh making sure that we are competitive not just in recruiting to fill our vacant seats but also to retain the exceptional Workforce that you have um but also really focusing on Public Safety uh two new fire stations you know in in the time frame that we're doing those is a commitment to making sure we're able to respond to those emergency needs in our community um six new police officers again same concept investing in in the apparatus and equipment that they need those remain top priorities for us so with that I'm happy to answer any questions you may have and uh we recommend that you approve the budget on first reading this evening so that it can advance for a second hearing on September 23rd thank you thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion to approve ordinance 0- 24-44 adopting the budget for fiscal year 2024 through 2025 on first reading thank you I will now close the city commission meeting and open a public hearing anyone wishing to speak to ordinance 0 2444 May do so at this time seeing done I close the public hearing reopen the city commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor of the motion let it be known by saying I I I oppos this by the same sign hearing none the uh ordinance is adopted and the second reading will be on September the 23d thank you Mr Mayor thank you we have um one person that has signed up for uh comments from the audience and we will call you when we get to that item which is 11 C however if there's anyone in the audience that did not sign up that would like to address the commission you may do so at this time all right AUD second reading 02 2436 would you read by tyone and City attorney thank you Mr Mayor commission ordinance number 0- 24-36 and ordinance amending ordinance 23-25 the 2035 Winter Haven comprehensive plan by revising the future land use map series by amending future land use on one parcel from neighborhood support future land use to Neighborhood Suburban future land use repealing all ordinances in Conflict there with providing for the administrative correction of scers eras and providing an effective date General location the partiel is generally located at the northeast corner of Buckey Loop Road and palm Nut Drive the area covered by this request is 3.68 plus or minus Acres thank you thank you C maner has much changed since the last reading nothing has changed sir um just I did send uh to all of you this morning just so you had it a copy of ordinance 22-20 uh just for reference which was the original PUD ordinance on that property um and to to confirm a question that commissioner mayor PM Yates had for me everything that is to the east of that red box is um part of the Bradco Farms conservation uh recharge area that the city purchased in 2023 December thank you if you'd like any further explanation on this I'll defer to Eric Labby our director of Economic Opportunity and Community investment commissioner is that the old inspection station right there that is Sir um it was the checkpoint from way back when it is now a p County maintenance facility I think that they some of their um Crews that work on their facilities uh or house there their equipment is anyways I'm old enough to remember going through that building and getting M getting your missions checked missions checked anyone else go ahead Mr Mayor entertain a motion yes motion to approve ordinance D2 24-36 on second reading thank you I will now um close the commission meeting and open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to 0 2436 may do so at this time come forward state your name and address for the record sure uh name is John Bannon with uh wooden Associates engineering um address is 1925 BTO Road uh Lakeland Florida 33801 um just a couple um just a couple points and I'm for the applicant sorry um just a couple points I I wanted to highlight um as far as compatibility if can you bring up the land or the zoning map if possible is it in there it's in it's in their packet but we have a so um the most of the surrounding uses are residential um so this is kind of the one outlier um it's existing Z let me interrupt you for one second Commissioners that's going to be page four of six on your uh on your fact sheet is the land use map and the zoning map will be page five of six okay so zoning map shows primarily residential uses surrounding um Prim um R3 and R2 um the existing zoning is PUD um and the existing PUD allows for um outdoor storage and outdoor parking um RVs uh boats so uh this change will bring this R3 which is uh more compatible with the with those surrounding uses um being all residential um the um and so when you look at R3 there's obviously um an intent by the city there to um encourage um single family housing but also R3 is low uh low density um multifam so um the proposed project would be um would be multif family it would be duplexes um and um I know there was a there was a question last time too about um the um allowable height for multif family in that area so um the I think it allows up to four stories and 50 fet um but the proposed project would be um max twostory duplex units and um when you look at the the site also it's it's um um it doesn't actually have any existing um Residential Properties actually a budding so you've got Buckeye Loop to the um to the West you've got um Palm nut drive to the South and then you've got the County facility to the north and you've got the um the city property to the east so so so so the site's naturally buffered by roads and existing properties and then there'd be there'd be additional buffering that's required as part of the uh site plan approval um so it's a it's a project that would bring um kind of a mix of housing to the area um there's a lot of R3 there but when you look at the aerial it's all single family so um this would provide that mix I think that the city was looking for in that area along Buck Eye Loop um of some multif family more affordable style housing um as far as the impacts to the area it's a it's a small site the site's only 3.6 Acres so um when we're talking about um number of units the the project that we're looking at doing is only uh is 32 units so um when you look at impact for traffic um which I know is always a major concern we're only talking about adding um 10 peak hour trips in each Direction on Buckeye um as far as available utilities you've got um existing water lines existing sewer lines along Buckeye Loop so um there's existing Utilities in the area um so it's easy access to existing utilities and then um as far as environmental um no real issues with the site it's been used for variety purposes over over the years it's been used for lay down yard for DOT um um so the site's mostly cleared um no real in uh environmental issues um so just wanted to point out those couple highlights and I'm happy to take any questions anybody has thank you any questions thank you thank you is there anyone else seeing none I will close the public hearing reopen the city commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor of the motion let it be known by saying I I opposes by the same sign hearing none 0 2436 is adopted 02437 would you read by title on the City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordens number 0- 24-37 in ordinance amending chapter 21 of the code of ordinances of the City of Winter Haven Florida by resoning one parcel from plan unit development PUD zoning District to multi family residential low density R-3 zoning District providing for the administrative correction of scrier errors repealing all ordinances in conflict with and providing an effective date General location the parcel is generally located the northeast corner of Buckey Loop Road and palm Nut Drive the area covered by this request is 3.68 plus amus acres thank you thank you and since this is a zoning any yes Mr Mayor this is a companion ordinance that addresses zoning which changes it from a planned unit development zoning District to multif family residential low density R3 zoning District thank you entertain a motion Mr Mayor yes a motion to approve o0 2437 in public hearing thank you I will now close the commission meeting open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to O 2437 may do so at this time seeing none our close public hearing reopen the city commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor of the motion let it be known by saying I I I opposes by the same sign hearing none 024 37 is adopted 0 2441 would you read by tyone the City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0-24 d41 and ordinance of the city Commission of the city of w Florida relating to utilities amending sections 19- 136 19138 and 19-1 152 of the code of ordinances of the city of winen Florida amending and adopting rate schedule is 1-r and Water waste water and reclaimed water rates fees and charges effective October 1 of 2024 202 2 2026 2027 and 2028 together with an annual automatic increase for all utility rates fees and charges therein commencing October 1 2029 and thereafter all without further hearing assessing a per Bill administrative fee a per Bill repair and replacement fee and a poke Regional water Cooperative search charge un certain water users assessing a search charge in all rates fees and charges paid by outside City customers amending and adopting a schedule of miscellaneous charges and fees and other Municipal Services fees kept on file in the city clerk's office together with an annual automatic increase for all rates fees and charges therein commencing October 1 2025 and thereafter without further hearing articulating legislative intent providing for the repeal of conflicting ordinances for severability for codification and for the administrative correction of sc's Errors providing for an effective date thank you thank you city manager thank you Mr Mayor one of the longer titles that we've had on an ordinance in some time um you've had a number of presentations on this uh Joe Williams has been our our uh consultant with Raph Tellis he was not able to be with us this evening but Michelle Galvin is here this evening she also worked on the study in high level summary raap telis financial consultants performed a study of the city's Water and Sewer rates fees and charges that was dated August 15th of this year provided a thorough fiscal analysis of the city's water sewer and reclaim water system revenues from utility user rates fees and charges Municipal expenses that stud recommends that the city revise its current rate schedule for water sewer and reclaim water Service rates fees and charges we we refer to this as schedule 1 R and to adjust and increase the effective rates over a period of five calendar years to amounts that are just and Equitable the recommended adjustments include for fiscal year 2425 charges for water sewer and reclaimed water service on schedule 1 R should be increased to meet projected net rate and system Revenue requirements in fiscal years 25 26 26 27 27 28 and 28 29 charges for typical residential utility service on that schedule 1 R should rise annually by 2.5% for water and annually by 7.5% for sewer and charges for other uses should rise annually in accordance with General waste water and water industry St rate standards uh it does include a regional water Cooperative search charge that should be imposed on residential water us users with use in excess of 5,000 gallons per month and on all gallonage used by irrigation users and an all gallonage used by commercial users that is in um consideration of the costs associated with alternative Water Supplies stemming from the pul regional water Cooperative a per Bill repair and replacement charge should also be assessed to provide a revenue Source dedicated to Capital asset repair as you will recall that cost is uh significant year-over-year however the recommended rate that's proposed is a fraction of that uh to keep that as Equitable and feasible as possible for our our customers Municipal charges and fees such as meter installations temporary services lean search charges would increase commensurate with modern Personnel rates and vehicle trip costs in addition raap Tellis recommends that schedule one R rates fees and charges should re uh should Rise by 25% annually each October 1st beginning in 2930 so you have a schedule one r that outlines what those rate adjustments would be very specifically for each year up through uh fiscal year 29 and then after that just go to a 2 and a half% adjustment as they has had historically been um if adopted the rate changes uh imposed by this ordinance and to schedule one R and the schedule of miscellaneous charges and fees would happen automatically each first each October 1st without the need for further advertisements or public hearings so when you adopt schedule 1 R you're adopting that five-year schedule at this point in time so that doesn't come back for have to be reviewed each year you're saying at this point in time this is what those rates need to be modifications to the code of ordinances of the City of Winter Haven Florida made by ordinance 0 2441 are necessary to implement the new proposed rate structure um the ordinance is expected to have a positive fiscal impact to the city's Enterprise fund which is the water and sewer Utility Fund and is expected to provide revenue streams for operations and maintenance Administration repair and replacement minor Capital costs major Capital costs Regional water Cooperative costs and fund balance transfer to the general fund our recommendation is that based upon the rapella study and in furtherance of the city's efforts to provide efficiency and Implement best management practices the city's utility staff recommends ordinances ordinance 02 2441 be adopted by the city commission and that the city manager or design be authorized to take all further necessary actions related there too uh just pointing out something from the uh presentations that Mr Williams had made and comments from myself and and Gary Hubbert who is with us this evening our our winter Heaven water director presently when you look at a customer who is at 3,000 gallons per per month and I'll just reiterate about 75% of your residential customers are at 5,000 gallons per month about half of your customers are at 3,000 gallons a month so we look specifically at those 3,000 gallons per month customers Winter Haven is presently the lowest water rates in the entire County of um of the water utilities uh this adjustment would make us the second lowest um by comparison neighboring cities at that same amount of 3,000 gallons per month or as high as $20 more per month or greater so it is an effort to keep our cost for our customers low while at the same time considering the uh the improvements that need to be made to the system stemming from the natural age and in life expectancy of Utility Systems keeping in mind some of these have been in place these systems have been in the ground or been operational major plants for over 50 years some of our pipe you know for much longer than that the cost to improve those facilities in modern day is significantly greater um I share with you that when you have a a rise in in fuel costs that impacts our operation significantly um not just in the equipment that we operate but every piece of pipe that we buy is a petroleum based product the chemicals that we purchase uh the the delivery of those continue to increase the cost of building Wastewater and water treatment plants in today's environment can continue to escalate I shared with my staff today the estimated cost of improvements to water and Utility Systems throughout this country is estimated to be at $1 trillion in terms of need um so I think that your staff in water has done a very good job of identifying their capital projects over the next five years and be and Beyond raap tell us had use that information to assess what our rates could should be um we then work from that point to make sure that they're feasible and that's what's presented for your consideration this evening so we're recommending approval on second and final reading thank you thank you Commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion to approve ordinance 0 2441 in public hearing thank you I will now close the commission meeting and open the public hearing we do have one person that has signed up to speak Susy Casey would you please come forward state your name and address for the record and you have five minutes thank you Mr Mayor my name is Susie Casey I live at 42 late Link Circle Southeast in Winter Haven which is on late link Estates off of 542 dunde Road I came in to try to get you to table this and maybe look at some new options instead of raising the rates this is a basic thing for everybody we always know that there's a lot of people that's fluxed into Winter Haven it the I don't know if they're in the city limits or if they're outside the city limits if they're in your water and sewer zone or if they're not I'm not a CPA or engineer so I don't have a lot of qualifications except just a general attitude we tried to get a red light on dundy road from the state when they did 542 and they would not do it it is horrendous trying to get out on that road now because of the traffic it will be backed up sometimes all the way from car Floyd Road out to 27 and you have to have a Good Samaritan to let you out most of the time maybe we can check and see I don't know if you've checked into annexing any property into the city if you're not interested with all the flux of people coming in and maybe you could check for some grants because there's a lot of potholes and ditches and stuff in the roads in the city now and that could be caused because the pipe system of the water and the sewer has not been properly maintained and maybe there's some public funds and some kind of grants that could be used to solve some of that problem instead of just automatically raising the rates every year I've lived here in late link I've lived in Winter Haven since 1971 we've lived in late link since 1987 except for when we had to move out when our house burned down but other we still own the pro same property thank you so much for your time thank you is there anyone else I will close the public hearing reopen the city commission meeting is there any discussion I I'll just add that you know I appreciate the speaker's comments this evening and and we I I know I take that to heart anytime we look at increasing anything that's going to impact our residents but when at the end of the day you look at what our infrastructure needs are there's and and we do apply for so many grants and we're successful on so many of those grants thankfully that allows us to keep the water rates so extremely low as they have been for years and even this we're we're going to go to the second lowest which I would imagine and I don't know what the city of Barto is contemplating but I would venture to Guess that Barto could potentially very likely see an increase that they're considering and that would have put us right back at the bottom of the number so it's just such a minimal number that that is going to impact our residents but it's going to go a long way to strengthening and hardening our infrastructure going forward um you know you can get into the discussion of potentially should we have done this sooner should this have been done years ago we can't Monday Morning Quarterback it we've got to look at where we're at today and what our needs are and I think it's it's again it's just such a minimal impact overall and it's it's something that we're all going to have to pay up here um nobody escapes it and everybody kind of puts forth their their fair share so as I appreciate the comments this evening it's it a it it it's a small pin prick to the the bigger issue but it it it helps immensely and U so I think I think this is the right direction anyone else all those in favor of the motion let it be known by saying I I I opposes by the same sign hearing none 024 41 is adopted 0 2442 would you read by title the City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 24-42 an ordinance of the city Commission of the city wi Haven Florida relating to utilities amending and revising the schedule of rates for water and sewer connection fees providing Authority for an administrative increase for all water and sewer connection fees equal to the percentage increase in the engineering news record construction cost index on the 1st of October of each year without hearing creating section 19-1 154 code of ordinances of the city of wner Haven Florida providing for connection fee price lock agreements for large scale projects repealing conflicting ordinances providing for codification for the administrative correction of scers erors and for an effective date thank you thank you city manager thank you Mr Mayor um so now we're speaking of water and sewer connection fees for the benefit of the audience these are fees that are paid by new development that occurs within our community and are intended to offset the impact that they have on our existing infrastructure and the need to expand that as a result thereof raap Tellis Consultants again provided this uh study for us uh completed that in August of this year their study recommends that the C revise its current rate schedule for water and sewer connection fees to adjust and increase the effective rates to net amounts that are Equitable provide for reasonable recovery without exceeding the current cost of expansion related Capital Improvements associated with again new construction and take into consideration reductions from revenues derived from other sources that are anticipated for a poort to pay for a portion of the expansion related Capital Improvements the recommended adjustments uh include an increase from $1,669 to $3,671 125 for water in an increase from $4,195 to $817 for sewer we do have a special South Industrial Area con uh connection Zone covering the Industrial Development south of Wastewater treatment plant three more commonly known is the ilc or an intermodal Logistics Park ILP as we refer to it now in those areas an increase um is recommended from $962,500 454 to $7,000 for sewer bear with me one second ordinance 2442 makes a specific fact finding that the rafella study is a qualifying demonstrated need study that would justify a present extraordinary need to amend and increase the water and sewer connection fees beyond what the Florida impact laws um phase in limitations are even though this is not considered a impact fee per se we do uh try and adhere to that should that ever be challenged in the future um the schedule of connection fees established by this ordinance will not take effect until January of 20125 it is expected to have a positive fiscal impact acing to the city's Water and Sewer connection fee accounts which are restricted uh funds used solely for the expansion related capital projects for treatment and transmission capacity staff recommends ordinance 02 2442 be adopted by the city Commission of the City of Winter Haven and that the city manager or design be authorized to take all further necessary actions related there too go back to a comment that I had made during the prior presentations along with Mr Hubbert and Mr Williams um having the connection fees increased for new development is very much in line with having new development pay its fair share of cost associated with coming onto the system and not pushing that cost onto higher utility rates for our customers so it is the balance of those two that allows us to maintain a very low water sewer rate I asked Mr hubard to do a little research to see uh what some other cities around us have done recently City of Davenport is considering uh connection fee adjustments at this point I don't know what those are but I do understand they will have a first reading in October to adjust theirs Lake Alfred which was most closely aligned to what our proposed rates would be theirs were adopted in December of 2022 um P County's existing fees were adopted in October of 2019 and they are going through a phase in process starting this year and we'll see another increase next year city of auale had adopted their new connection fees in 2023 City of Lakeland um presented theirs for adoption on September 17th of this month of this year I mean uh there's also were a a significant increase I think a little more than double what their current rates are um city of hanne city had adopted theirs in 2021 and is currently undergoing another study to look at connection fees Lake Wales adopted in 2020 I would expect that they will do a connection fee study in the near very near future Barto had adopted theirs in 2024 Fort me in 2019 so that just gives you a little history and as I shared as you look at you know the future water supplies and alternative water supplies and cost of Aging infrastructure um the continued growth that is happening across the entire State of Florida and what strain that puts on your existing systems I would expect that if a municipality or county has not looked at their connection fees within the past 12 to 24 months they will quickly be doing so in anticipation of those long range Capital needs thank you thank you commissioners Mr Mayor yes motion to approve ordinance 0- 24-42 on second reading thank you I will now close the um commission meeting open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to 02 2442 may do so at this time seeing no one I'll close the public hearing reopen the city commission meeting is there any discussion Mr Mayor yes so I'm going to vote for this however I do want to just be my broken record self that Mr Mayor Birdsong has heard me before and I just wanted to say I I I'm in favor of this I'm in favor of growth pain for itself however I do believe that people and I use myself as as I have in other examples you know I built a house 25 years ago and paid connection fees then it's now time I'm no longer a great Customer because I'm using less water my kids have moved away and it's now time for me to downsize I didn't cause any of this problem that we're having none of this growth was caused by me and I'm using me as a euphemism talking about people like me that have been here 20 30 years none of this growth none of these problems that we're having was caused by me so I feel like it's only fair it's only just that we somehow figure out a way to give credits for people that have paid some sort of impact fees in the past if they've been here 15 20 30 years now I know that's never been done before rap Talis has told us that and I hear it but somebody's got to be first it may as well be us why don't we go ahead and try to figure out something to do because it is only fair for people that have been here as long as they have that have carried the freight and paid the bills and now it's time for for for Life situation to be a little different and to not get any type of of of any type of impact or connection fee credit for what they've already paid so having said that I am going to vote for this because I do believe that grow should pay for itself but there is a caveat I'm not causing the growth I'm going to be using less water and using less growth but yet I'm still going to have to pay these much higher connection fees so I just feel like it's not fair it's not right and we should try to figure out something to do but I'm not going to hold up a vote I want it to go forward but that's just my position and I'm sticking to it that's your word and you're not changing so yes any other discussion I know for uh this is strictly new construction though right correct just clear so if you were to build a new home that's not on the system today correct you would pay that connection fee correct understood any other discussion all those in favor of the motion Let It Be known by saying I I I posos this by the same sign 0 2442 is adopted Commissioners you have the consent agenda Mr Mayor yes motion to approve the consent agenda in its entirety thank you I will now close the uh commission meeting open the public hearing anyone wishing to speak to any item on the consent agenda may do so at this time seeing none I'll close the public hearing reopen the city commission meeting is there any discussion all those in favor of the motion let it be known by saying I I I opposes by the same sign hearing none the consent agenda is adopted in its entirety we have a resolution resolution R 2441 would you read by title City attorney thank you Mr Mayor resolution r- 2441 a resolution of the City of Winter Haven Florida reaffirming voting members appointing an additional City of Winter Haven voting member and appointing an alternate voting member to the Poke Transportation Planning organization TPO board providing a conflict clause and an effective date thank you thank you s manager mayor and Commissioners the uh in accordance with the 2014 interlocal agreement that created the pul pulk transportation planning organization more commonly referred to as the TPO city is the city has provided voting membership on that board based on population presently mayor Birdsong and mayor protm Yates are the are the voting members with commissioner Mercer serving as the alternate the governor's office requested the TPO to submit a new membership apportionment plan based upon new Census Data based on the amount of growth in PP County uh the TPO board membership needed to exp increase from its current membership of 19 to 23 and it was determined Winter Haven was entitled to one additional voting member bringing our total representation on the TPO board to three on August 8th Governor Dan santis issued a letter to the TPO indicating the reapportionment plan has been approved with the approved plan in effect the city is free to appoint one additional voting member as well as an alternate voting member to the PK TPO board so at this point what we're recommending is that you you have two voting members now that we ask that you appoint a third member from the uh commission and then also identify who your alternate would be Mr Mayor yes I move that Tracy Mercer be added as our third vote and commissioner doson be added as an alternate thank you I will now close the commission meeting open the public hearing is there anyone that would like to speak to this resolution seeing none close the public hearing re open the commission meeting is there any commissioner that would like to speak yes quick question does it have to be elected or could we appoint uh does it have to be an elected Eric can you answer that I believe it does have to be an elected member correct yeah yes it does okay just curious any other questions although in favor of the the motion let it be known by saying I I opposes by the same side hearing none we have a new member and a new yeah um so Mr Mayor just confirming question from the uh the attorney we will construe that as a vote in favor of the resolution 2441 yeah okay that's how it's just not worded that way in his motion so I just want to make sure that that oh yes oh that was inferred that was inferred yeah typical John for the clerk thank you John thank you John you're welc I knew what I meant we're so happy to to get another member and I think your next meeting if I'm not mistaken is in October we'll make sure that that's added to everybody's calendars that you can be there okay thank you a this is uh first reading the second reading will be on September the 23rd ordinance 02 2433 would read by tile Lo City the attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 24-33 an ordinance amending the Winter Haven code of ordinances chapter 21 article Roman numeral 2 section 21- 83 model homes and temporary sales offices chapter 21 article Roman numeral 6 Division 1 concurrency and chapter 21 article Roman numeral 7 division 5 subdivision regulations for the purpose of addressing model home construction prior to final plat approval establishing a preliminary plat process and clean up of existing language providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances providing severability providing for codification providing for the administrative correction of scriveners errors and providing an effective date thank you thank you city manager mayor and Commissioners we had lengthy discussion on this during Workshop this pertains to Senate Bill 812 which was passed during the 2024 legislative session and becomes effective October 1st 2024 in a high level macr level view of what this does it allows for developers to pull permits if they request a preliminary plat process um they can pull permits for up to 50% of the homes to be built in that subdivision they cannot receive certificates of occupancy on those homes until a signal a final plat approval is made but it does allow them to begin the construction of those uh earlier than it would be otherwise that Senate bill um commissioner y or may PR you may have you mentioned um uh that making its way through I don't think it was referred to as the preliminary plat process at the legislative end of things it was more about expedited development approvals um and that was what we had been tracking um it it basically says that you know if if the uh developer so requests that we have to have a process in play to allow them to pull those permits on up to 50% of those homes while they're doing other infrastructure improvements on that site um again I think we had lengthy discussion on this the other evening this is a uh I'll soap box for a minute and say this is another example of preemption um and certainly inconsistent with our our efforts for home rule um but I will defer to Mr Labby to answer any specific questions you may have on how this impacts us locally all right thank you Commissioners any a question yes I I I have to admit I'm still uncomfortable this John um legally and Eric uh and I guess where I'm struggling and I know this is a state mandate and we don't have a lot of wiggle room here I guess maybe we do but where my problem comes is when there's a problem you know everything always is fine hunky dory as long as there's no problem I'm just concerned about how we're going to unravel a problem if somebody's already been approved or already got 50% building permit and something happens I was going to use salty language but I won't um but if if if something really bad happens I can just see this becom an issue for us uh in the city and help me get comfortable with us John that we're not going to get sued or what's what are some bad case scenarios that we're protected against I mean I feel like you know I don't want to go through another deal we have a million doll you know some real estate developer with Rich Pockets s suing us for something some promise implied promise that we made or some sort of a backing implied backing that we gave that we didn't but you know what I mean um I'm not well I I think I understand what you're saying um I in this instance I think the corer maybe is the is true in this instance the the the problem I see is that we have a half-built subdivision potentially of vertical structures that have not obtained cosos that are empty and you have a developer that walks and what they are required to do Under the statute and now under our code is to post a performance bond in the amount of the project I think it's 125% of the costs so that will allow us to complete the project it does not however resolve the issue of these empty structures that are sitting there in a ghost town potentially so that is the issue and I think that to me that would be the worst case scenario that you have these structures that are in these unbuilt subdivisions let's say we have a water M blowout and we can't provide water for six months and they sue us because we can't get their water their sewer something happens and we can't provide services that we normally would built into the built into the statute and to the code provision that you have before you tonight is the requirement that the developer has to sign a hold harmless and indemnification agreement of the city for just that kind of thing for acts of God or whatever yes sir uh and I think if we we've looked at it the only thing that they can't release us from or hold us harmless or indemnify us for is the vesting rights if we tell them we don't we're not going to give you water or waste water but for those instances if there's construction def effects or if there's a water burst or something like that they hold us harmless they take the risk and there has to be an agreement that's part of our process that was the safety net we built in in fact I insisted on it because I thought that was the only plausible way to move forward and the statute allows for that that's the quidd proquo okay developer you want all these good things or this fast stuff in in lie of that you have to give some protections to the municipality it isn't a lot or put differently it isn't as much as I would have preferred but I think it's it it does address that situation again I get back to the overall scenario that mayor proam Yates very astutely raised at Workshop agenda review and that is it's not so much I'm concerned about these individual things that we're being held harmless for it's the developer that just leaves and we're left with a subdivision that isn't done but you have 50% of the houses sitting there and you know that may be attractive for some um some Capital fund managers that want to come in and distressed property and they get low prices for things so I can't predict the economics of that but that may be the only you know it'll be a market driven response as opposed to a regulatory driven response that addresses that worst case scenario the other thing I would point out is these kinds of things happen what I what do I mean by that Senate Bill 812 and the laws that are adopted in Tallahassee happen because of things that occur in other jurisdictions and so I would encourage every single one of you and those of us that are that are able is to speak with our legislators I'm not advocating any particular position but you know at the end of the day these are local issues that should be dealt with locally and and this is a this is a an example of preemption um that is being you know forced on us frankly by the St have no choice here we have no choice no choice uh no choice and so far as okay are you going to violate the law you violate state law that affects other things that we're doing we have quite a good relationship with various agencies of the state as you well know we get Grant dollars from the FD we get Grant dollars from Florida Department of opport you know um Commerce we get Grant dollars from a number of state agencies to include the Water Management District by way of the PO water cooperative and other things and we and we've we've um developed a very good rapport because we have credibility and because we are doing things the one water um sapphire necklace project that we're doing um I think that that that carries a lot of weight with a lot of people in Tallahassee so my point is you know to suggest that we don't follow the law no is not a tenable one but how do you change the law no no no no no we're not vot yes under protest I mean it's you know you can when when a when a when somebody pulls permits they say they pull their 50% permits and they only build 10% of their homes and they bail do the permits still good for the other 40% or do they and somebody new comes in or they have to reapply no so so I think that the solution that's in place is is as um John referred to is is a market driven protection in the sense that it's they're not unlike any other subdivision that where a developer may bail and walk the only difference is there may be half-built structures vertical structures you know on site so we would have the bond in place we could um complete the infrastructure so that at least the roads and the water and the sewer and the lights and everything are are in place and then um presumably you know there's a loan a construction loan on the uh on the property and a bank would then at that point you know the problem is this takes time but a But A lender would come in at that time you know um act on that on that note and take over the property and then it would go out on the on the marketplace um to try to recoup their their funds and then hopefully some other developer or entity would pick it up and and complete the homes and finish the project the problem as you know is that takes time well this is only good for three years and and a new developer comes in I don't mean to split hairs but let's say we approved all white houses for example and a new developer comes in they want to build brown houses um you know it's not compatible with what's already it's already there so the people that have already bought and made Investments bought white houses and that's all that's supposed to be in there now the new developers coming in are going to put in mobile homes or D or what whatever I mean they're going to change the complexity of the neighborhood because of the fact that they've got building permits already in place and they can do what they want or can they not do what they want they they the answer is yes and no the the answer is they have to comply with our code there's a there's a z there's a zoning District in place um if it's straight zoning they have to comply with with our regulations within that zoning District so R3 R2 establishes the setbacks establishes the minimum um you know home living uh living area for the homes um in all of those normal requirements if it's a PUD there may be some addition requirements in that PUD all of that still stands and if another developer comes in and wants to complete the project they have to comply with those ordinances and laws in place right or or come before you and ask to amend them and also keep in mind this preliminary plat process there will be a resolution that will be presented to the city commission approving the preliminary plat and it will look very much like a final plat and so there will be a preliminary plat that will be lots will be drawn to scale there will will be infrastructure shown there will be proposed dedication shown so in order to change that if it's going to look different then they're going to have to come back to the commission and otherwise they're sort of locked in once they get preliminary plat approval they're locked in their final plats going to have to look like this because they've acted on it and they've relied on it as have we so I mean there there's a degree of built-in right you know uh Reliance if you will um and I anyway comfortable with it that's all let me make a maybe a reality kind of what I what I think Could Happen commissioner dancer if you think back to the housing bust Y and we had a ton of new development that came in and they go in to start putting in all their underground and and horizontal improvements their roads their pipes those types of things the housing market crashes and those sat right they sat until something picked back up that made them viable to develop that's kind of a reality that could happen if you had a housing crisis again in which case now you know in 2008 when that happens you have a big open parcel of land and it's got some roads and it's got some utility stub bounce sticking up out the ground and that's it under this you may have houses that have been built so you've got some vertical structure in there at the same time I think that's the the reality of what could happen in there from a financial crisis I think that if it's you know the the developer says I'm out I can't complete the project the costs have gone up too much or whatever the case may be there's bonding to complete the infrastructure and you know again Banks or whoever come in and and take that property and and try and move it out as quick as they can but I think that that's the reality of what you you could see from something like this when I don't got no problem with the market changing what my problem is is are the taxpayers going to be on the hook for something and the people that have already invested are already built in there are they going to be terribly unhappy with what finished they can't they can't move in because there's no cosos on those homes that there can't be a CO until the final plat approval and you don't get final plat approval until everything's done and working correct and operational so they can build those homes but they cannot occupy them they cannot sell them they you know there's no certificate of occupancy on them it's just giving them a head start to have a uh a greater inventory of product to get to Market once they have that final plat approval I think that was the intent from the beginning wasn't it that uh that to deal with the shortage of housing yes that this would expedite that that that uh and then also to deal with uh uh homelessness uh was also another aspect of it too so that's why it exists I think um to the point that you just made that we we've had that we've had structures as you said during the bus some some predicted that perhaps will be another one we don't know uh but I think that uh if the effort was to increase you know the likelihood or opportunity because we were dealing with a great housing shortage and to address that issue and some still predict that well still say that we are still uh struggling with that to some degree um that we know that will change over time but I think going back to the intent of the bill I think that's why they were trying to do that because there was that aspect of it dealing with people were uh were houseless and and could not find adequate housing there there's no doubt that that that is true there's an aspect of that and I think the sever lining to what the city manager pointed out is in this scenario if we had a bust you at least have a a a preliminarily platted piece of property as opposed to a blank slate where you have you know so at least you have some degree of form and some degree of Standards more ractive that you know if you had maybe you know in terms of you know the preliminary plat does require a degree of detail that you know is is is more than just conceptual right and so I think that um you know although it's a preliminary plat and you can't have cosos the preliminary plat is going to look or the final plant's going to look better look pretty much like the prelimary plat they're going to have some other other issues on which they're holding us harmless against if for example they don't build the house on the proper lot or set back acts and all of those kind of things which are all going to be denoted generally on the preliminary plat if they if they choose to go through that process the spirit of it the spirit of it it was I guess any other comments anybody from the audience that would like to address this uh ordinance on its first [Music] reading second reading will be on September the 23rd ordinance 02 2435 which you read by title ORD Mr the attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 24-35 an ordinance amending chapter 21 of the code of ordinances of the city of wihen Florida by amending plan unit development ordinance 0- 9-27 assigning plan unit development PUD zoning District to five Parcels providing for administrative correction of scers erors repealing all ordinances and conflict through with and providing an effective date General location 16 Parcels generally located west of US Highway 17 south of Avenue R Southwest and east of the CSX railroad tracks the area covered by this request is 20.02 plus or minus Acres thank you thank you city manager mayor and Commissioners I'm going to ask Eric Labby to uh give us a high level overview of this item all right yes sir mayor Commissioners V3 uh Haven Square retail LLC is the petitioner as John noted the 16 Parcels total 20.02 acres and are currently vacant there's an existing PUD on the property P ordinance 0927 uh was adopted by the city Commission on in July ju of 2009 It generally allows for retail restaurant and office uses um without exterior activities and also allows for the development of up to 277 residential units uh maximum development intensity for those commercial uses is is dictated by the primary mixed use hubs floor area ratio of 3.0 based on that total acreage and the floor AA ratio up to 2.61 16 million square ft of um reta could potentially theoretically be developed there the petitioner is proposing to redevelop the property with one primary anchor site intended for a big box retailer and two smaller outparcel sites there are four proposed access points three on US Highway 27 and one from Avenue R Southwest the requested access from US Highway 17 will be subject to review and approval by the Florida Department of Transportation um the proposed uses uh requested are requested to follow the commercial Highway C3 zoning District major modifications to the Pud uh include adding five Parcels eliminating the minimum lot width and lot are requirements deter uh determining the setbacks allowing for perious uh pavement materials to count as previous surface on the site elimination of entrance median and Landscaping requirements revisions to the architectural design increas in the amount of permitted storage um revision to Landscaping requirements uh to allow for impervious buffers to Aid in the accommodating of the soil management plan for this site as you may recall this is a a former um agricultural use site um fertilizer fertilizer site um that has a soil management plan um to deal with those with those impacts uh revisions to parking requirements to allow for a percentage of smaller parking spaces and an exemption from our maximum parking requirements um the surrounding uses are denoted in your fact sheet there is adequate infrastructure um in portable water sanitary sewer and Transportation uh to accommodate this request in fact it is a major reduction in potential impacts um to all three of those systems um the current PUD that was in place did not cap the amount of commercial so that's why it was dictated by the uh future land use and the development potential was so high um it is consistent with the comprehensive plan and the land use of primary mixed use Hub and all public notifications um requirements were met the Planning Commission did hear this on August 6th recommended uh unanimous approval and there were no public um comments staff does recommend approval of ordinance 02 2435 thank you the second reading will be on September the 23rd however if there's anyone that would like to speak to this audence you may do so at this time all right thank you moving right along ordinance 0 2438 would you re about tone City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 24-38 an ordinance amending ordinance 11-03 the 2035 Winter Haven comprehensive plan by revising the future land use map series by amending the future land use on 14 Parcels from neighborhood support future land use to primary mixed use Hub future land use amending 49 Parcels from traditional neighborhood area future land use to primary mixed use Hub future land use repealing all ordinances in Conflict here with providing for the administrative correction of scri Errors providing for severability and providing an effective day General location 63 Parcels located north and south of Martin Luther King Boulevard and lying between 3dr Street Northeast and 88th Street Northeast the area covered by this request is 14.94% C manager uh Mr Labby will present this item sir all right yes sir mayor Commissioners um historically prior to 2011 the area subject to this request was designated as commercial or retail um or commercial office on the future land use map uh in 2011 a majority of the area um excluding Parcels located near the intersection of 7th Street Northwest uh were designated as traditional neighborhood area as part of the adoption of the 2025 future landuse map the parcels surrounding the intersection were designated as commercial upon adoption of the 2035 future land use map last year um the previous future land use designations for this area essentially remained unchanged uh with the exception of the commut commercial future land use which was renamed to Neighborhood support in conversation with some of the property owners along this Corridor uh there was a desire to further encourage the development of mix of uses while the adopted MX zoning district will allow for a mixture of uses the underlying traditional neighborhood future land use um designation which was adopted with the 2025 uh comp plan only allows for mx's residential uses to be allowed further in the 2022 Florence Villa CRA plan uh it contains goals and objectives encouraging and uh the retention and recruitment of businesses along Martin Luther King Boulevard so high level this is um bringing this Corridor along Martin Luther King Boulevard into um conjunction with our uh Florence Villa CRA Redevelopment plan and um it allows for the MX zoning District to be fully utilized as it was intended to allow for a mix of both retail and residential uses this was heard by the Planning Commission on August 6 2024 the unanimously recommended approval there were five individuals who spoke on the on the request um they spoke to concerns around traffic noise and um the potential number of businesses and sewage um those in support indicated a community need for a grocery and Health Care Centers staff does recommend the city commission approve ordinance 0 2438 thank you the second reading will be on September the uh 23rd however if there's anyone that would like to speak to this ordin you may do so at this time Commissioners you can speak if you all right moving right alone aordance o 2439 would you read by title on City attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 24-39 in ordinance amending chapter 21 of code of ordinances of the city of win in Florida by amending the official zoning map for consistency with the adopted 2035 future land use map providing for the administrative correction Governor areas repealing all ordinances in Conflict here with providing for severability and providing an effective date thank you thank you city manager is it going to be Eric it's going to be Eric but I just say this is a very high level cleanup of a lot of things that are out there uh properties that had never been assigned zoning or puds that were issued at one point but are now much more in alignment with uh traditional straight zoning so it is cleaning up a number of parcels across the entire uh City and I think that probably surmises I think we had good discussion on this the other night so I'll leave it at that okay a second reading will be on September the 23rd however if there's anyone that would like to speak to this audience you may do so at this time and Mr Mayor would note that this is a public hearing I believe Mr lbby that's oh yeah this is because of the nature of this particular type of resoning act action so I think it was advertised public hearing yes all right so I'm going to close the commission meeting open the public hearing anyone from the public that would like to address this particular uh ordinance seeing none close the public hearing reopen the state commission meeting and we will have our second reading on September 23rd all right ORD so 2440 would you read by title ordance to the attorney thank you Mr Mayor ordinance number 0- 24-40 an ordinance amending the Winter Haven code of ordinances chapter 21 article Roman Nal 3 division 7 compatibility landscaping and buffering standards for the purpose of adding standards to promote and protect the city's Urban Forest providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances providing severability providing for codification providing for the administrative correction of scers errors and providing uneffective date thank you thank you C manager Mr Mayor Commissioners this is an ordinance that pertains to a recommendation stemming from our urban forestry master plan um the master plan sets forth Direction on tree maintenance and planting guidelines makes recommendations for trees to be planted and addresses mitigation and penalties for removed trees with removed trees which are not diseased or dead um proposed changes to chapter 21 address development on private property and include the addition of sections uh 21 181 through 188 focusing on the city's Urban Forest establishes definition section which defines applicable urban forestry terminology establishes requirements for tree protection during construction projects and provides a system to mitigate the removal of protected and specimen trees as well as providing penalties for removal of these trees without obtaining approval um there's no direct Financial impact of the city with this the the Planning Commission heard this on September 3rd and voted unanimously to recommend approval with no public comments offered staff's recommending this be Advanced for second reading on September 23rd all right thank you second reading will be on September the 23rd however if there's anyone that would like to speak to this particular audience you may do so at this time all right new business we have none commissioner Leon reports commissioner merler attended uh Governor desandis at the pokeo and uh he BAS basically said that he is adding $8 million to the $20 million he's already signed into um um I guess you say for expending for public education mental health and drug rehabilitation um of fentol and um I attended David Carter's retirement luncheon um citizens um I had a had a meeting with the citizen suggest suggestions for additional programming at the senior center um the chamber lunch and learn Sheriff Grady Jud again at the Fieldhouse um and um the his um he has a lot of stories he can tell and one of the he always comes up with some good ones too uh crime rates going down um and uh one of the things is he's still going to continue to arrest people who break the law so yeah um attended CHR um Christine Samuel's retirement reception attended the Main Street Ladies Night sock hop there wasn't too many socks worn out downtown that night so um and I also attended the Women's Resource Center their 40th birthday party so they've been helping um f or women for 40 some years but they're also um uh with men now that happens to be um I guess a Abus too with families so all right yeah thank you anything else that's it commissioner dancor uh had a arts and culture County arts and culture Heritage meeting and the purpose of this meeting was to continue to revamp our process of giving away this money that we're now giving away close to $2 million and you know we do that here at the city when we give away money to charity and we're always trying to improve the process well we do that on the county level too and it was a hour hour and a half meeting of just going through the minutia of all of the application process and Dan chzn was a big part of that he had written a really insightful letter to us all and helped us to figure out ways to get modern with the way that we hand down our awards for a and culture on the county level so also went to Christine Samuels retirement program I'm going to really miss her she's one of my favorite people and I love to see her back in the back all the time went to the grand opening of love chicken um glad they're open and um also the uh it's love bird yeah love bird chicken that's what I meant don't get all technical on me now come on only because this part of my last name okay all right also attended Dave Carter's retirement party I was so full from going to love birds I didn't eat much but it was good to see Dave and I still can't believe he's leaving but um anyway off he goes and of course the Haven home grand opening really proud of our city folks T was there and MJ was there everybody was it was just and they're not even in the city limits but the city really showed up to support this Home For Boys and I was really proud of of of our city and our community for stepping up to make this happen and uh I'm just hoping and praying that a lot of good things come out of that building so but thank you for being there t and all you guys that were there so it was it it meant a lot to them having everybody there that's it commissioner doson yes I was able to attend the lunch in for the chamber and uh yeah Grady had great stories and the moral of the story I guess was that do not leave wahwah without paying for your drink CU you might be arrested and $1,000 later but it was good it was uh enjoyed just the uh opportunity to share also um was able to go to this soft opening of the love bird as well enjoyed the uh the food was very good uh the place has been busy every day since it's opening I believe on the last Friday and uh also was able to attend uh Christine Samuels retirement and uh Chris uh I've known Chris out you before she came uh to work for the city uh called her sister Samuels uh from work in the church and uh but she really had a great influence and a great brought a great energy to uh this work and uh so I appreciate all her efforts and uh with hopes that we'll continue to live up to some of those ideals and uh we wish her well uh in her Endeavors uh she intends to spend time with grandchildren and uh I know that's her terms though exactly made that very clear exactly well that's what you have to phrase it anyway uh also uh uh was able to be a part of the kickoff today to uh perhaps probably the best class of leadership Winter Haven started today class 44 and uh so we had a good start off today and uh I wouldn't able to be with them tonight uh but I'll be with them in the morning Lord willing you say it was the best class ever best class all right commission Yates okay just a couple things so I attended Christine's retirement party as well wish her the best um she's done to sit back and half cup of coffee she said so best wish is I hope I can make it to that point in life so um wanted to just say you know I guess if Grady's coming after us if we break the law I guess we got to vote Yes on 0 2433 and um had to opportunity to um sit in with the the group this evening of a cityu I think we maybe there's a few of them that are still awake in there they're still over there few so um this is the the fourth class they they've hit the Midway point and they got to spend the night with us um so and and I'll just reiterate what I said to them I'm just I'm so thankful for that program that we offer uh to to the community and uh thank you to the participants that uh who sign up and go through that program and um they just you know that that that says a lot about an individual and and their love of their community and uh to learn to learn the process so thanks to uh Katrina for all her hard work in in keeping that program flowing and AJ did an excellent job this evening um explaining how we work up here so I even learned a couple things does that mean she was making stuff up on the fly I can neither confirm nor deny and cannot recall with any level of certainty exactly what was said but um that being said great great job and um yeah lot busy calendar cend here the next few months so lots to report coming up but that's all I've got for tonight thank you I have a few items I'm tended two retirements Dave Carlos and Christine Samuels and uh I've known Chris for a very very very long time and uh wish her the best um attended the uh egg Haven um not egg Haven attended a an ABC Live telecast mm from egg Haven and if you blanked you would have missed my comments that's how short it was they didn't give me a chance to even I told him I said look man I can't even say my name in the time that you gave me but uh it was on uh ABC News and uh it was good they they were talking about uh they've started what they what they're calling their new initiative uh that um voice of the community is what they're calling it and so I was there uh the mayor of uh arandale and uh B were also there and the uh the director of the uh voters League also was there so it was good all good plus I had a great breakfast from egg Haven even though it was at 6:45 a.m. so that was that was one of my highlights um also um as I said uh love blur I love the food had the col it greens that they had there so I'm advertising for them and they were good call it greens col it greens from a chicken restaurant so uh that was good and uh the Haven house uh I think that's really glad to see that come to uh this side of the County uh you know uh Lakeland has that type of uh facility over there but to finally have one here and what it did for me is I had never seen a water plant out there I either so I had never seen that so it was right next door so uh that was uh that was good for me and uh that's pretty much it and tomorrow now there are two events that I'm looking forward to we have the uh the honoring the heroes walk and but I'm getting the opportunity to present a proclamation to A4 year old lady wow here in W Haven did y'all hear me 1004 and uh it's it's sort interesting um in the in the proclamation that I'm doing they say she likes a little drink hello still so I'm said oh my goodness that must be all right uh it's all right it's all right for her but maybe not all right for a lot of the rest of us but uh I'm really looking forward to that and I just want to say this I've presented proclamations uh to one other individual that was over a 100 years old and uh she was not born in America the lady that I'm presenting tomorrow is a uh Born in the USA so uh I'm really looking forward to it that's it uh C attorney thank you Mr Mayor commission um wish Christine Samuels of course you know knew her prior to her service here in Winter Haven Wisher well was able to attend for a short time her me retirement celebration so um nothing further tonight thank you C manager couple items if I could Mr Mayor and Commissioners um you notice the absence of my I guess my left-hand person here uh MJ is in Atlanta right now along with several members of our Public Works uh administrative group um they are at the uh American Public Works conference the National Conference that they do so that your public works department can be bestowed its accreditation so I know that you've done that some of you with our uh police department before this is a a rather impressive deal for for certainly public works so MJ is there representing my office to help them receive that accreditation I think it was presented yesterday also Tyler Williams is uh one of our employees is graduating from the national um emerging leadership program within Public Works he's the third employee we have uh that will have graduated from that MJ and and Britney Hart both graduated and we have a fourth member of our team in public works that will uh begin that program now as well um so that's very exciting and something that the city should be very proud of having a uh a nationally accredited Public Works operation in two weeks I believe it's on Friday maybe the 20th I think the date is MJ and I will be traveling to Pittsburgh uh this was previously approved by the city commission we will be representing the city at the international City County management association National Conference there uh doing some continue education uh we will depart on Friday we will return Monday morning at the crack of dawn so that we can be here for uh second reading on your budget and millage that night um last thing I mentioned is uh strategic plan is continuing to move along so you may recall you adopted that in July via resolution we have now presented that plan to uh all of our city employees I think I have maybe two more sessions this week makeup sessions with some employees to explain how that applies to them and their role in carrying out those and we look forward to beginning our presentation back to the commission one time per month at one of your workshops on strategic pillars and some of the impressive things that are happening there your first one will be in October and it will focus on our efforts to enhance responsible government so good things happening there I've also been able to do already one public meeting out at our Four Lakes uh Community not inside the ca limits but certainly adjacent to us and shared with them all the Strategic plan they were I think the first external group to get our uh uh citizen version of the plan and to our folks that are in there with the cityu um it's great that that program is ongoing I do want to give a special thanks to Katrina Hill and her staff um they work collectively to make that happen this class is now halfway through the program and uh they will appear before you in about four or five weeks for their graduation so looking forward to that that's everything this evening sir thank you thank you siss clerk yes I just want to wish a happy early birthday to AJ whose birthday is this Thursday and also John whose birthday is Saturday so happy birthday class number 35 is the best class me okay he made class seven class seven I won't even give mine Deputy city clerk you have anything all right emergency matters not received for the agenda motion to a join We Stand The Joint