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2nd Hearing On Parking Ban Is Monday

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 21, 2009

Items of interest from the Jan. 12 Plant City Commission meeting:

•Commissioners held the first of two public hearings on a proposed ordinance prohibiting parking on portions of streets bordering the park and playground in Royal Hills subdivision.

President Christine Wynne and other Royal Hills homeowners association officers for the 373-home community on the city's west side, off State Road 574, first raised safety concerns at the commission's March 24 meeting.

Streets bordering the community park and playground on Country Hills Boulevard at Scarlet Maple Court are especially dangerous because children can dart between the parked cars, Wynne said.

In July, commissioners denied related homeowners association requests to reduce the speed limit from 30 to 25 mph and to install speed tables in the subdivision. Speed tables would reduce response time by emergency vehicles, and a traffic operations investigation determined 85 percent of vehicles using the streets were going 24 to 31 mph.

At a Jan. 7 public meeting, homeowners association representatives asked the city to proceed with an ordinance prohibiting parking at all times on select stretches of 22-foot-wide streets near the park and playground.

The final public hearing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday.

•Commissioners received a report of accomplishments for the past year, prepared by City Manager David Sollenberger.

The 22-page report said 2008 "was a year like no other in the memories of most people," marked by a plunging economy and rising layoffs, business closings and bankruptcies.

"The economy and tax reform made the year the worst of times for cities," Sollenberger wrote in his four-page introductory letter.

"But, from my experience in city management, I know times like these present opportunities for cities that look ahead and prepare for the uptick," Sollenberger wrote. "And that is exactly what Plant City is doing."

Wisely, the city commission adopted a strategic guide with a vision for the city, values, goals and objectives, he said.

The city's economic base is the keystone to continuing prosperity, and Southern Business and Development magazine ranked Plant City No. 3 on its top 10 small Southern towns worthy of a second look, Sollenberger said.

The full report is available on the city Web site: www.plantcitygov.com.

•Commissioners approved an amendment to the Eastside Canal Storm Water Management Master Plan that will provide the latest $500,000 allotment in state money for the ongoing $6.5 million in improvements to the stormwater system vital to flood protection on the east side of town.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection funds will be used to close a drainage ditch between Reynolds Street and the CSX rail line. Additionally, savings from previously funded portions of the project will be used to improve the channel between East Gilchrist and Tomlin streets.

The canal serves a drainage basin of nearly 10 square miles. Properties in the basin are bound by East Alexander Street on the south, Collins Street/James L. Redman Parkway on the west, Knights-Griffin Road on the north and North Wilder Road on the east.

The amendment also extends the project's completion date to Nov. 30, 2011.

•City Manager Sollenberger announced CSX will be replacing railroad ties at four crossings in the coming weeks, including:

Scheduled for Friday through Jan. 30, Jim Johnson Road at Alexander Street,

Scheduled for Feb. 3 through 5, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Laura Street and Alabama Street

The city will maintain traffic flow while work is done and will repave the street approaches to the crossings.

•Goff-Waller Roofing of Lakeland has been selected to repair roofs at the former utilities operation lab and old office buildings at 705 N. Alexander St.

The buildings were vacated when the Utilities Operations Division moved into a new facility at 1500 W. Victoria St.

The roof repairs will cost $22,700 and are necessary to maintain the integrity of the buildings, the city manager reported.

•A Bradenton firm, Mercury Associates, has been hired to perform a fleet maintenance and repairs service study for the city.

The $23,460 study is to determine whether the city can provide its fleet with equal or better maintenance than now performed by an outside contractor.

•The Moody Community Room at Bruton Memorial Library will soon get $6,880 in improvements, including a ceiling-mounted projector and new carpeting.

Library Director Anne Haywood worked with Carole Moody Shelton to facilitate the family's donation to cover the improvements, according to the city manager's report.

•The city manager and assistant city manager, Greg Horwedel, gave a presentation to the Tampa Bay Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties at its Dec. 16 meeting.

City Manager Sollenberger said local chapter members had heard of a number of initiatives under way in Plant City and requested a detailed overview of the projects. The presentation covered four major initiatives: the Northeast Master Plan; Midtown Redevelopment Plan; Interstate 4 Development Task Force; and Economic Development Incentive Program.

The presentation prompted a number of positive responses from those at the breakfast meeting, Sollenberger said.

George Wilkens

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