State of the City/State of the County Recap

9/2/2015

This morning, the City Manager Deric Feacher and County Commissioner Todd Dantzler discussed with Chamber members what is happening at their respective levels of government and what they anticipate coming up in the next year. The overall sentiment was that the economy is recovering and planning for the projected growth in population and visitors is very important. Read more...

State of the City - Deric Feacher and T. Michael Stavres, Community Services Director
Deric discussed some opportunities and issues the City is currently working on while T. Michael was able to address some successes and ongoing projects:

Deric (and this is paraphrased from my notes I took during his presentation not Deric's words directly) :

The goal of staff is to focus on the City running as efficiently as possible while preserving the level of services being offered to the citizens.
The Pension plan is a top issue that can be somewhat confusing with sound bites and column inches. The actuaries that have looked at the Pension plan says it is performing well and the City is fine. Two different consultants have looked at the plan and have come back with two different recommendations. The Commission and staff have asked for a Blue Ribbon Committee of citizens with expertise in this area to review and recommend to the commission where to go from here.
The Landings lawsuit is ongoing and making it's way through the process. The city is confident it can be resolved, however, they cannot make any plans for the property prior to the lawsuits resolution.
Another top priority is maintaining, improving and expanding utility Infrastructure to meet the needs of our growing community (now with a population of over 38,000 people).
Our City limits are "wonky" at best (my word, not his). This can cause issues with consistency in appearance of or maintenance of public property between the City and County lines. Annexation of key properties is also a priority. This is important to understand when we are speaking out about issues in our area. While we as Citizens don't really differentiate ourselves as city versus non-city residents (and why should we, we all have Love Winter Haven pride) but when it comes to who has jurisdiction over roads, lakes, land use/development and taxes that can be blurry if you don't know if you are in or out of the city limits.
The city is experiencing a slow recovery in property values but is anticipating receiving an increase in ad valorem tax collections this year based on an increase in property values (not from an increase in taxes as the ad valorem rate remains unchanged since 2008). See the blog post about the budget for more in depth info.
Cypress Gardens Corridor study was completed by the Winter Haven Economic Development Council. They presented the findings for the for the study to the Polk County Board of County Commissioners yesterday and the Chamber will have an informational luncheon on the study findings and next steps on Thursday, October 15th at 11:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Price will be $15. RSVP to [email protected] .

T. Michael (also paraphrased):

T. Michael Stavres noted that the city has been very progressive in it's implementation of partnerships to meet the service needs of the citizenry versus the government being solely responsible for everything.
The City of Winter Haven was one of the few municipalities left doing garbage collection twice a week. This year they have done a phased roll out of once a week solid waste collections and in two weeks that will be citywide.
They are working on an road infrastructure project on 7th St NW/SW to correct drainage issues and other needs on that street.
The community has spoken and safe routes to school via sidewalks is a top priority. The city is has current safe streets projects underway to create a more walkable community for students
Historic Oaklawn Cemetery is undergoing aesthetic improvements
The City received $160,000 in grant funding from the state to apply to the rain garden initiative to retain some of the storm water.
Lake Howard Trail phase II will begin construction on Oct. 5 (click for more info on this project)
City of Winter Haven Tennis Courts were repaired this year
Cultural Arts Advisory Committee and Multimodal Transportation Advisory committee were formed
Dedication of Little Free Library initiative (through Cultural Arts Advisory Committee) allowed for 6 free library stations throughout the in community to compliment the 13 that Nat West and his team put in schools in Winter Haven.
SEED Lab opened in the library to offer technology to the broader community including the STEM Lab and Tinker Lab for Toddlers, as well as free access to training site lynda.com that has numerous online training programs that can be accessed from anywhere with your library card.
Access to Hundreds of Free magazines through a new system called Zinio with your library card
Salary study to benchmark where the city salaries fall within the scope of other like-sized cities. This is especially with compression issues within the police department (i.e. officers and staff that have been on the jobs for years are making the same amount of money as someone new being hired today).
P-Card purchasing system is now implemented that allows savings/points back to the city through a credit card purchasing system for increased efficiency and cost savings
Changing zoning densities for higher density in downtown to meet current and longterm development needs. Basically, working on fixing things in the zoning that no longer make sense. There was also a zoning change made for artisan production.
Finished first phase of downtown traffic study that will next fan out from downtown core to address other traffic congestion issues (we love our 55+ lakes but they do cause some unique challenges with road development).
Fun fact - did you know that we have roughly as many police men and garbage truck as we did in the early 2000's yet we have approximately 15,000 more residents.
An audience member asked about Nora Mayo. T. Michael explained that it is currently in a bid process at the state level but that the desired bid is too high in the city's eyes - at over $3 million. The city will still submit a bid but a much, much lower one. The bid process, he though, lasts until October.
Depending on the final decisions made by the commissioners it appears that several recreational and infrastructure projects will move forward (see this post for more details). This includes the following projects: Lake Maude youth sports complex, Sertoma Park sports complex improvements, South Park business district improvements, Tennis courts, 7th St NW/SW and a Splash Pad. Any additional monies remaining from the bond will go towards the design of a Skate Park. An audience member asked about a timeframe for South Park. T. Michael speculated that if then commission votes yes for funding they will look at existing plans, update as needed and it will go to bid after January 1. He speculate 200 days for construction. (He made a very valid point that 'whenever you go from what you have to what you want, you have the tough period in between."

County Commissioner Todd Dantzler also discussed several hot topics the county commission will be dealing with.

Impact fees on development will be coming back on January 1 at a reduced rate from what the consultant suggested. The reduced rate will last for 12 months.
Miss Florida Pageant has been recruited to come back to Polk County in June. 1500-2000 hotel rooms per year in an "off-season" of June for Lakeland. This event will be held at the Lakeland Center but they anticipate visitation to East Polk area attractions including Bok Tower and LEGOLAND Florida. Read more in The Ledger article.
Polk County citizens voted to bring to have a tax incentive program to help businesses expand and create jobs but nothing in the ballot language defined how to do that. The Central Florida Development Council was tasked with coming up with a plan. For example, there were articles regarding WalMart's distribution center development receiving a $12 million dollar incentive. What this actually equates to is $1.2 million tax abatement over 10 years and they have to meet metrics along the way or they lose it. They anticipate creating 1000-1200 at 115% of average wage.
There was recently an issue with the potential of the Supervisor of Elections office moving from Bartow. Commissioner Dantzler expressed that the office's headquarters will remain in Bartow however they need more space for training and storage that will move out to the new building between Winter Haven and Auburndale.
Commissioner Dantzler also expressed the need for business-friendly individuals to think about running for office. He will term out in three years which means interested parties need to start thinking now. If you think you may run for office and would like to learn more about the process, consider attending the Public Leadership Institute. Applications are due September 4th.

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