Mayor Nate Kilton called the January 13 Regular Meeting of the City Commission to order at 7:30 p.m. At this first meeting of the year, a larger than usual crowd of approximately 75 people joined the proceedings.
Reverend Dr. Lloyd McDonald, pastor of The Anointed Life Ministry, gave the invocation. The assembly then stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
During public comments, William Thomas Jr., president of the Improvement League of Plant City, informed the assembly of the 40th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. festival, with events held from January 17 to January 20, including a parade on Saturday beginning at 1:00 p.m., a battle of school bands at Sadye Gibbs Martin Community Center, and a Sunday morning breakfast at which a retired U.S. Army Special Forces colonel will speak.
Next, the Commissioners passed the routine items on the consent agenda with a 5-0 vote.
City Manager Bill McDaniel and his staff brought the below items before the Commissioners for discussion and voting. The resolutions passed with 5-0 votes with the exception of 24-621.
25-009 – A resolution authorizing staff to proceed with the request for a qualification process as the next step in the Bruton Memorial Library renovation and expansion project.
24-610 – A resolution authorizing the city manager to approve gap purchases of ferric sulfate from Evoqua Water Technologies due to a delay in the renewal of the Lee County contract. Ferric sulfate is used to control odor, corrosion, and for phosphorous removal at lift stations and the water reclamation treatment plant. The cost is not to exceed $88,000, at $2.38 per gallon.
24-615 – A resolution authorizing an engineering work order with RK&K for demolition of the existing Solid Waste and Utilities buildings. This contract included turning the plots into a gravel parking lot, and moving the City’s communication tower. The price tag is $98,860.
24-612 – A resolution authorizing brick road restoration work on N. Walker Street with JNandlal Maintenance Services of Brandon LLC, under City of Lakeland bid No. 2023-ITB-078. The project cost is $98,642.
24-614 – A resolution authorizing brick road restoration work on N. Davis Street with JNandlal Maintenance Services of Brandon LLC, under City of Lakeland bid No. 2023-ITB-078.The project cost is $79,904.
24-604 – A resolution authorizing an engineering work order with Patel Greene & Associates, LLC, for engineering design of a sidewalk project at Sammonds Road. The .48 mile, eight-month project, which will include modifications to drainage, will cost $192,047. Funding is provided through Hillsborough County’s Community Development Block Grant program.
24-622 – A transmittal public hearing for map amendment PC/CPA 22-10 located at the northwest corner of Charlie Taylor Road and Swindell Road. This hearing proved to be the reason for the larger-than-usual number of people at the meeting. The developer is requesting a change of the land-use from residential to industrial for 147.5-acres. City Planning and Zoning found the change to be inconsistent with the Plant City Comprehensive Plan. However, the Planning Board found the change to be consistent with the plan. Two residents of the area who stood to speak about the change were in opposition, requesting the City Commission to vote against it. Mayor Kilton pointed out the transmittal is a preliminary part of the process to gather more information from the state before making a decision. After 5-0 vote to transmit, 30 people exited the meeting.
24-621 – A quasi-judicial public hearing on an ordinance to rezone 19 acres to the Urbon at Plant City Planned Development District, with specific approval requests, located along the eastern frontage of James L. Redman Parkway, north of Trapnell Road. (PB-2024-27). Commissioner Bill Dodson questioned the requests on two points. Due to the intensity of the traffic flow on Redman up to Alexander, he asked the Commission to wait for a report from FDOT on how entrance and exit lanes would be constructed to manage traffic. As a part of this change, the developer requested permission to reduce parking lot spaces from the City code of 1.84 spaces per unit to 1.6 spaces per unit—which would reduce the number of parking spaces by 12 percent. Dodson questioned the accuracy of the developer parking studies because they did not take into account occupancy percentages. This generated discussion among the City Commissioners. Ultimately, this proposal passed by a 4-1 vote with Dodson dissenting.
24-624 – A resolution setting a quasi-judicial public hearing on an ordinance for major modification to the Townhomes at Redman Planned Development District located on the east side of south Baptist Church Road, south of Alexander Street and north of Charlie Griffin Road.
25-007 – A resolution setting a legislative public hearing regarding an ordinance amending Section 102-491 regarding tattoo establishments (PB-2024-42).
The meeting adjourned at 9:42 p.m.