YMCA honors Jim Scott
Jim Scott is the wearer of many hats, as demonstrated in a comical prop-filled salute by friend Rhett Rollyson during the annual YMCA Strong Leader Award ceremony.
Scott was selected as this year’s honoree due to his longtime dedication to helping make Plant City the “best place to live, work and play.” Scott, of Plant City’s Jarrett Scott Ford Dealership, was the 16th honoree. He has served on boards and supported the YMCA, the Florida Strawberry Festival, the Plant City Lions Club, the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce and the South Florida Baptist Hospital Foundation among many others.
The dinner in his honor was held at the John R. Trinkle Center at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 23. All proceeds from the event went to help the YMCA’s programs and services.
Plant City ‘army’ tackles Walden Lake upkeep
When commissioners announced they were “frustrated” at the state of the Walden Lake Golf & Country Club in a spontaneous outburst during the Aug. 13 commission meeting, they vowed to do “whatever it takes” to ensure the property remained within code.
On Aug. 23 they put their money where their mouths are. More than 40 tractors, lawn mowers and other equipment, along with more than 40 employees, were sent to follow through on promises made to hold Today’s Bank, the owner of the former golf course and clubhouse, accountable.
“We call it the 'army,' we’re using an army to bring the property back to code within a short amount of time,” Mayor Rick Lott said.
Following that meeting, the commissioners directed City Manager Bill McDaniel to let the bank know they’ve “had enough.” According to Lott, McDaniel warned bank officials they had not been keeping the property up to code by mowing all grass within 200 feet of a structure or roadway to a height of less than 10 inches and removing all the fallen tree debris within 200 feet of a structure or roadway.
Using city means to bring the property to code is no cheap affair. The cost of the entire endeavor will be placed as a lien against the property. If the bank does not step in and meet the requirements of code in the future, the liens will continue to stack up against the property as the city continues to use its resources to care for the mass quantity of land. The mayor has ensured the property will be in compliance one way or another.
According to McDaniel, all mowing was completed to code Monday and tree clearing was being finished Tuesday.
City Pointe hosting album release party
Local Christian group The City Saints are set to release their debut album, Standing in the Fire, in late September.
The band is celebrating with a Sept. 21 party at City Pointe Church, 503 N. Palmer St. From 6 to 9:30 p.m., the City Saints will play songs from the new album and will be joined by Christian rapper Roy Tosh, whose single “Stronger” charted on the Billboard Christian Hot AC/CHR this year. The musicians and the rest of the partygoers will end the night in “intimate worship to God.”