By Mayor Jack Hilligoss
In 1997 The Lakeland Ledger reported our city had adopted a new motto-“Progressive Vision, Vintage Charm”. They also reported the initial actions taken in pursuit of the motto. The city had ordered new letterhead and street signs with it emblazoned on them. “Progressive Vision” may have been the motto, but status quo was the reality. That was fine because Lake Wales was surrounded by rolling hills covered with healthy citrus groves as far as we could see. Not much happened, not much changed, and not much needed to.
A lot has changed in the nearly three decades since then. The rapidity of the change has increased in the last five years. The Citrus Industry has been stricken and reduced and hundreds of thousands of people have moved to Polk County. Many of those are arriving in Lake Wales. These twin realities make it very apparent that, if Lake Wales is to maintain any of its “vintage charm” we must be serious about adopting and pursuing a “Progressive Vision”.
Our City Commission, Administration, and citizens have taken on that challenge proactively and optimistically. About five years ago, City leadership begin investing in a series of long-range plans to grab the reins of our future.
The process began with Lake Wales Connected; a strategic plan to recapture the historic vision of the founders of Lake Wales and turn Lake Wales into “A City in a Garden”. While that plan focused on restoring our historic downtown to the vision of its founding and creating “A City in a Garden.”
The next planning investment was a long-range land use strategy. In this process, we concentrated on creating a “footprint” for the growth and development of Lake Wales over the next several decades. What would be the city limits? How should work with landowners to strategically annex, zone, and develop? How could we encourage higher-quality and unique development? How could we maintain a scenic distinction between city and country? These concerns were all a part of the development and adoption of “Lake Wales Envisioned”, an award-winning, plan, and one of the most unique visionary pieces for a city I have ever seen.
Along with these “big picture”, strategic plans, our City Manager has taken the initiative in the last few years to invest in a strategic plan for the development of Parks and Recreationwhich proposes a $28 million dollar investment in our parks and will likely be presented and adopted for implementation this year. We have a plan for creating affordable housing options. He has also engaged us in a retail economic development strategy that has resulted in several new restaurants relocating and developing in Lake Wales. We learned just this month that Chick-Fil-A, Chipotle, Panera Bread, and Starbucks will all be coming to Lake Wales.
We also are finishing up a long-term economic development plan for our city. That is a strategic plan to bring businesses to Lake Wales.
This professional, diligent, investment in planning for the future, and the serious pursuit of the implementation of those plans, is the only way we will avoid most of the dangers and capture most of the opportunities growth brings our way. It also pays off in another, very tangible way.
GRANTS.
When a municipality creates good plans and invests time and effort into implementing those plans, it attracts the attention of people with grant money to invest. This has been happening in a big way in Lake Wales. Here are some examples:
• A $90,000 grant from South State Bank for down payment assistance for affordable homes the city partners to build.
• A $1.2 million CDBG grant to place all new sidewalks, landscaping, and lighting in our historic, northwest, neighborhood.
• A $980,000 grant from the Polk Transportation Planning Organization for work on trails and paths on our portion of the Scenic Hwy 17 corridor.
• A $200,000 grant which funded the Park Avenue Connector Trail
• An $800,000 grant from the Department of Transportation to repave, rehab, and repurpose Orange and Crystal Avenues.
• A $750,000 grand from HUD to do a complete streetscape renovation of a portion of 1st Street
• A $750,000 grant from CDBG to rehabilitate housing in our historic northwest neighborhoods
• A $48,000 grant from T-Mobile to invest in the ongoing development of our terrific linear park.
• A $174,000 RTP grant to develop the Kiwanis Loop Trail
• A $50,000 grant from FRDAP to invest in a “Northwest Sports Complex”
• A $200,000 FRDAP grant to invest in the Lake Wales Soccer Complex
• A $50,000 FRDAP grant to update and improve our seven parks.
• A $109,481 grant to purchase an emergency generator for City Hall
• A $277,000 grant to extend our water lines and force mains on Buckmoore Road
• A $500,000 grant to replace water lines and mains in our historic northwest neighborhood.
• A $240,000 grant to develop a Master Drainage Plan for our city
• A $25,000 grant to do a wildlife hazard assessment
• A $1million grant from FDOT to create a new, modern, fuel farm at our municipal airport
• An $80,000 FDOT grant for airport fencing and security
• $984,000 FDOT grant for rehab of airport T-hangars and taxilanes
• $149,500 FDOT grant for airport lighting and signage.
• A $40,000 grant from Florida Commerce for an Economic Development Plan.
Then, at the end of June, we received a $22.9 million RAISE grant to continue our work on our historic downtown on First Street, Central Avenue, Lincoln Ave. and “A” Street.
This, incredibly generous grant is the direct result of the planning and $18 million investment our city has already made on the Park Avenue and Market Plaza project.
That is nearly $31million dollars in grant money that has come to Lake Wales just in the last few years. We have never had that level of investment in our city. By the way, that isn’t every grant we have received but I felt it would be sufficient for this article.
Sometimes we don’t do a good job recognizing and celebrating these sorts of achievements. My goal in writing this series of articles was to respond to sincere questions you asked about our city, attempt to help you understand how city government works and who is responsible for what, and, hopefully, to inspire you with the “good news” of Lake Wales. This “good news” unfortunately doesn’t find its way into most local outlets and isn’t given attention on social media. It is easy to take for granted.
So, once again, “Thank you” to Carl Fish for generously providing me this forum. And, once again, I invite your questions. My email is [email protected]. I have an office to use at City Hall, so if you’d like to visit with me, just call for an appointment and I will meet you there.
Oh, one more thing. When I was elected Mayor, a little girl named Laci told her mom to ask me to get a Chick-Fil-A in our city. And, even though I really didn’t have much to do with it, I would like to take this moment to say, “Laci, you are welcome.”
This is one of a series of articles by Lake Wales Mayor Jack Hilligoss. Here are the others:
This & That: What’s Going On With Lake Wales Parks & Recreation, Streets , & The Walesbuilt Hotel
Taking Care Of Business – Economic Development In Lake Wales
