Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 54
A lot was different about this year's "Shop With A Cop" event, except for one very important thing – dozens of local families will have a much merrier Christmas because of the Lake Wales Police Department. In fact, a total of 70 area children will have presents under the tree and holiday food on the table thanks to the annual program, run by the Lake Wales Police Officers Association. Normally, children and their families meet at the Lake Wales Wal-Mart to pick out C...
Holiday shoppers looking for a locally grown or handmade gift will revel in the news that the Lake Wales Farmer's Market is once again re-open in the city's historic downtown district. The market returned with almost 40 vendors on Nov. 14, and is expected to host upwards of 50 or more vendors on Saturday, December 12 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The market operates on the second and fourth Saturday each month, and will be open Dec. 26 as well. Market manager Lynn Greenfield said the...
City leaders are continuing to cast an eye towards improving the quality of life by approving the creation of a master plan for parks, trails and open spaces in Lake Wales. Commissioners have approved the hiring of S&ME to come up with the plan, a process that will involve a number of public workshops and meetings, and should take around 10 months to complete, according to the Orlando-based firm. "A master plan will serve as a guiding tool in order to elevate the current...
Ed Palmer officially became the Lake Wales Police Department's community liaison officer on Sept. 14. But if you ask James "Perly" Sermons, it's been Palmer's calling for a lifetime – Sermons' lifetime. The two first met when Palmer served as the School Resource Officer at Hillcrest Elementary when Perly was a student there. As luck might have it – others might call in Divine guidance – Palmer followed Sermons as an SRO when the youngster went to Roosevelt Academy and to La...
City commissioners will be getting a bump in pay next year after a salary increase was approved at the group's meeting Sept. 22. It is the first raise in commission salaries since the last one was approved in the fall of 2013. Currently commissioners are paid $4,917 a year, while the mayor's post pays $7,310. The new annual salary will be $6,323 for commissioners and $9,484 for the mayor. The raise brings salaries in line with what other local cities of similar size pay their...
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated by Executive Editor Chevon Baccus after the Sept. 16 CRA meeting. City commissioners agreed to invest $460,000 to help finance a proposed redevelopment of the 140-unit Grove Manor public housing complex. Pantheon Development, which in 2018 formed a partnership with the Lake Wales Housing Authority to do the work, requested the money from the city's Community Redevelopment Agency as part of a plan to help finance the construction of six...
For the first time in almost a decade, Lake Wales is proposing a small increase in its development impact fees. City commissioners have approved a first reading of a new fee structure, which not only includes an overall impact fee increase of just over $95 per new residential household, but also significantly reallocates in which category those fees will be collected. That's important because those funds can only be spent on projects for which they are specifically...
Lake Wales City commissioners are looking to reduce or eliminate a small increase in the city’s fire fee when the first reading and public hearing on a proposed 2020-21 budget is held on Sept. 9. The overall plan totals $47.9 million – and actually trims the city’s millage rate to the rollback figure of $6.9747 per $1,000 in assessed valuation – which included a five percent increase in the city’s fire fee assessment. The residential cost was projected to rise $16 a year, fro...
Sports at Lake Wales High School are on the shelf for the time being as the result of a vote Tuesday, Aug. 4 by the charter system's Board of Trustees. The group unanimously voted to immediately suspend all athletic activity during a specially called board session to discuss the system's reopening plan, which originally called for following recommendation of the Florida High School Athletic Association. The meeting was electronically attended by almost 200 school officials,...
Lake Wales City Commissioners have given the green light to fund two positions largely concentrated on improving the quality of life in the city's northwest community. Acting as the board members of the Community Redevelopment Agency, the group unanimously approved the hiring of a police community liaison officer for District 3 of the CRA, which covers the northwest area, as well as a CRA coordinator for that district. The action came during the CRA meeting on July 14. The...
Lake Wales Charter Schools has announced an amendment to its policy for serving meals to students under the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs for the 2020-2021 school year. All students will be served lunch and breakfast at no charge at the following sites: Dale R. Fair Babson Park Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary, Janie Howard Wilson Elementary, Polk Avenue Elementary and Victory Ridge Academy. In addition applications for free and reduced price lunches at...
Lake Wales commissioners are hitting the pause button on their search for a new city manager. Interim City Manager James Slaton will stay in that position while a new 2020-21 budget is being crafted this summer. The new spending plan must be in place by late September, with the Lake Wales fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Commissioners heard from Ken Parker – a senior advisor from the Florida City-County Management Association -- during a July 1 workshop, who said it wouldn't b...
Lake Wales city commissioners will consider a resolution July 7 that would strongly encourage, but not mandate, residents to wear face masks while out in the public. During an agenda workshop meeting July 1 the five commissioners seemed unanimous that the city create a resolution regarding the issue, but some did not rule out passing an actual ordinance mandating masks at some point in the future if the current COVID-19 outbreak doesn't start to subside. City Attorney Chuck...
Lake Wales City Commissioners want to talk with representatives of the Florida City and County Management Association (FCCMA) on July 1 before making a final decision on how to proceed in hiring a new city manager for Lake Wales. The FCCMA has a group of retired managers, called Senior Advisors, who can aid in a search for a new city manager, including helping narrow a field of candidates based on their qualifications. Commissioners will hear from them at workshop at 3 p.m....
Lake Wales city commissioners are expected to discuss reviving the long-dormant Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Committee during its agenda workshop session at 3 p.m. July 1. The committee was created in 2011, and originally contained two residents and one police department representative. Residents were appointed by the mayor with approval of the other city commissioners, according to Interim City Manager James Slaton. The group met monthly, and was expanded...
Lake Wales Charter Schools officials have selected a contractor to do phase one and phase two work this summer in getting the new Bok North Academy campus ready for opening this fall. Whitehead Construction has been awarded the contract that includes converting the former Boys and Girls club building into classroom space, and potential renovation and updating work on the old cafeteria building at the historic 1919 Building site, which the charter system purchased from the...
A blue-ribbon committee of residents will spend the next few months reviewing the Lake Wales charter – the document that details how the city is governed – with an eye towards putting any suggested changes in front of voters next spring. The five-person group will conduct all its meetings publicly, and ultimately can only suggest changes. Those suggestions are then considered by the current city commission, and then go on the ballot if they give them a thumbs up. The com...
Lake Wales city officials are hoping the state will help provide funding for needed repairs at one of the city's most historic structures. The Historic Stuart House on Central Avenue near downtown was damaged in 2017 when Hurricane Irma swept through the city, according to Lake Wales Museum Director Jennifer D'hollander. She said temporary steps to mitigate damage to the roof of the house were undertaken then, but that long term repairs are still needed. "Rehabilitation is...
Lake Wales city commissioners are aiming for June 2 to resume having their meetings return to city hall. But that doesn't necessarily mean that every commissioner and city official will be in the meeting chambers on that date. City leaders are investigating making that and future gatherings a "hybrid" meeting, meaning persons can choose to attend in person, or continue to attend on-line from a remote location. All five city commissioners have expressed concern that there has...
March 20 will be a day not soon forgotten by Steve Manwell. It was the first day he and his wife opened Melanie's Seafood Company at 120 Park Avenue, becoming the inaugural local eatery to take advantage of the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency's Restaurant Incentive Program. It also so happened to be the same day Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the state's new stay-at-home guidelines. Suddenly, months of planning and renovation work at 120 Park Avenue seemed...
City leaders are starting to take at look at plans to reopen Lake Wales facilities including city hall, recreation areas, parks and the library. But before anything is opened, they have made clear that they will follow guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control in deciding on a timeline for such action. City manager Ken Fields said some facilities could start to reopen around May 18, but that for now that date is just a goal, pending additional data regarding rates...
Lake Wales utility customers now have a new on-line way to communicate with the city. Starting Monday, a new "chat" function is live on the Lake Wales website (lakewalesfl.gov), allowing customers to communicate with representatives of the city's utilities department. Customers can report problems, inquire about billing issues, or chat with a customer representative to get answers to any utility questions. "It is similar to an option already prevalent in private sector...
Although Lake Wales leaders don't know the specifics about local COVID-19 cases, those confirmed to have been sickened by the virus are still being closely monitored. Emergency Operations Director Joe Jenkins, who is also the Lake Wales Fire Chief, said while he is not kept updated on each infected person, officials from the Polk County Department of Health monitor them on an almost daily basis. "The Department of Health has that list. They know who those people are. They...
Lake Wales Police Chief Chris Velasquez is urging residents to use "common sense" when it comes to adhering to the state's recently imposed "safer at home" mandates. But, city officials warn, enforcement of those guidelines will become more strict if the public ignores them. "We're doing everything we can to educate, and encourage the community to stay at home. It's really just a matter of using good common sense," Velasquez said. "There are statutes that are in effect that...
Lake Wales commissioners will be holding a special "virtual" meeting beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday April 2, in advance of its next regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, April 8. This will be the first opportunity for commissioners, city officials and the public to try out the virtual meeting set up, serving as a "practice" for future regularly scheduled meetings. Only one official item is on the agenda, a resolution that going forward would continue to authorize virtual...
