The Winter Garden City Commission voted unanimously to approve a $20,500 funding agreement with Bike Walk Central Florida to support the Healthy West Orange Trails Connection (HWOTC) for fiscal year 2026.

Why it matters: HWOTC is a multi‑jurisdictional initiative intended to improve trail connectivity and active‑transportation options across West Orange County. The city’s contribution helps fund coordination, grant support and a planned network‑wide study designed to advance a multi‑loop vision that links five municipalities.

Presentation highlights
Patrick Panza (identified in the presentation as the acting executive director and operations director at Bike Walk Central Florida) told the commission that Bike Walk Central Florida has facilitated the HWOTC collaborative since 2021 and outlined accomplishments and next steps:
- Accomplishments since 2021: Four trail enhancement projects, six trail safety audits, six future trail corridor evaluations, seven community events, trail‑side design and policy guidelines, a priority‑area trail gap analysis and a grant program structure for implementation funding.
- Grant and funding: A $5,000,000 fund (from the former West Orange Healthcare District gift) has been set aside for project implementation; a separate $500,000 initially funded administration and facilitation. Bike Walk Central Florida has approved two small projects from the grant program and staff said more applications are in process.
- Sun Trail Loops vision: Staff described a conceptual plan of three connected loops that would improve continuous trail access among the five partners — Gotha, Winter Garden, Windermere, Ocoee and Oakland — and said the collaborative will pursue additional funding and a network‑wide planning and design study funded by HWOTC for the Sun Trail Loops.

Contributions and partners
Staff confirmed the planned FY26 contributions: Winter Garden and Ocoee each $20,500; Windermere and Oakland $5,000 each; Gotha is not contributing (no operating budget). The Foundation for Healthy West Orange is contributing $39,000; total partner contributions for the year were stated as $90,000.

Public questions and staff responses
Residents asked about safety and inter‑jurisdictional policing, canopy/trees along trails and how the $5,000,000 grant program relates to the facilitator’s request for municipal funding. Staff explained that the $5,000,000 is earmarked for projects and not administration, and that the city contribution covers facilitation/administration; staff and the presenter said the facilitator has been reducing administrative costs over time and that the collaborative will pursue additional funding partners and sponsorships.

Action
Following the presentation and public comment the commission voted to approve the funding agreement for FY26 with Bike Walk Central Florida for $20,500.

Ending
Staff said Bike Walk Central Florida will continue to facilitate the grant program and pursue network planning, grant research support for partner cities and a request for proposals to undertake the Sun Trail Loops planning and design study.