This was the last time attendees to the city commission meetings will sit in the long-outdated Sadye Gibbs Martin Auditorium in City Hall.
There was only one meeting held in December and a makeover is set to begin Monday for a major overhaul for the room. The city is spending no more than $160,000 to purchase a new media system for the auditorium since the equipment hasn’t been updated since April 2000.
“This overhaul will take more than two weeks to complete, so really this was the only time of the year to do this without interrupting a commission meeting,” City Manager Bill McDaniel said.
The city previously mentioned it has been having difficulty entwining new technology with the old equipment. The plan is to have a new overhead projector that can be raised and lowered at will, new microphones and recording equipment, two new 65-inch 4k monitors to replace the small ones that currently hang in the room and two media stations that will allow news media to connect their equipment directly to the audio system to record the conversations at the dais.
The podium will be replaced with a more electronic device friendly model and the city clerk will have an updated control center. One of the noticeable improvements also includes the new dais, which will have monitors fastened below the top of the bench. This will allow a less intrusive view for the public and commissioners.
Commissioners also held a public hearing on amending a section of the city code to redefine what a commercial motor vehicle is since code enforcement said it has been receiving several complaints about pickup trucks with commercial marking being parked in residential zoning districts.
Code Enforcement Manager Tray Towles presented the proposed change, saying the vote would prohibit any vehicle with a “Gross Vehicle Weight Rating exceeding 10,001 pounds or any Class Three or above vehicle as defined by the Federal Highway Administration” to park in residentially zoned areas.
Under the new definition, pickup trucks would not be prohibited, so code enforcement would not have to get involved in every case. Individual HOA’s could forbid pickup trucks with logos or vehicles class two or below, but then they would be held responsible for enforcing their policy on the violating vehicles.
“This is more about protecting than prohibiting,” Towles said. “The spirit of this ordinance is to prevent the parking of large prohibited vehicles.”
All code enforcement needs to investigate a potentially violating vehicle or situation is to receive a complaint from a citizen or an HOA. If the vehicle in question is in violation of the newly defined ordinance, code enforcement will issue a warning. From there, if the owner of the vehicle refuses to comply, they will begin enforcing the code.
McDaniel also announced the city was holding an official dedication ceremony for the signs it had purchased in honor of Plant City native Ashley Moody being elected as Attorney General. The ceremony will be at 12 p.m. Dec. 18 at Sunrise Park, 1203 E. Baker St. Using in-house printing equipment, the city paid for and produced three signs that will be erected in three locations throughout Plant City that are near key entrances to the town. McDaniel said they are also working with the Federal Department of Transportation to get permission to put up more along a state road.
Following commission was a Community Redevelopment Agency meeting in which commissioners voted to purchase property from First Baptist Church of Plant City for $225,000, plus closing costs.
The lot is located at the Northeast Corner of Wheeler and Herring streets and McDaniel said it has been using the lot frequently for parking for community events. Purchasing the property ensured that the church would not sell it to someone that would then prohibit the city from utilizing the space.
McDaniel said he fully realized the loss at stake when attending the Veterans Day event at Memorial Park and then heading to Pioneer Day at 1914. The lot was overflowing with vehicles and after reflecting on all the events the city uses it for he decided to bring it before commissioners.
The purchase was unanimously approved and Commissioner Bill Dodson said he had been in communication with the church and they were excited the city was buying the property and continuing to use it to benefit the public.