Sebring council honors retiring corporal, approves St. Patrick’s event permit and Bennett property settlement; hears public‑works updates

The Sebring City Council on Feb. 18 approved a set of routine and negotiated actions including a retirement recognition for a longtime officer, a special‑event permit with street closures and an open‑container waiver for St. Patrick’s Day, and a settlement to resolve a years‑long property access lawsuit. Council members also heard staff updates on a planned Public Works/utilities relocation and the proposed purchase of a downtown building.

Council approved giving Corporal Matt Cloud retirement honors and transferring his service handgun to him as surplus property and authorized the city to purchase a replacement service handgun for future issuance. Council’s agenda packet cited a Florida statute (listed in the agenda as “Florida statute 100 and twelve‑one 93”) as authority for the city’s ability to award a retired officer his uniform and identification items. The motion to declare the firearm surplus and present it to Cloud passed on a council vote recorded in the meeting minutes.

The retirement action follows council and staff remarks recognizing Cloud’s roughly 17 years with the department and included authorization for presentation of a uniform, badge and a retired officer identification card. The city also approved paying to relocate a light pole adjacent to the parcel to be deeded under a separate agenda item described below.

Council approved a request from downtown businesses to close a section of South Commerce Street for a St. Patrick’s Day event on March 17, with an open‑container waiver limited to the enclosed event area. The applicants requested closure from the Circle to Mango (initially to Wall Street, expanding to Mango if needed), with event hours listed as 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and street closure hours 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Council’s approval was conditioned on the organizer submitting a certificate of liability insurance for at least $1,000,000 naming the city as an additional insured no later than 10 days before the event.

On a separate agenda item, council approved terms to settle litigation involving the Bennetts and the city (the lawsuit also named Duke Energy). Under the proposed settlement described to council, the city would deed a small corner of city property along Sunnyland Drive to the Bennetts to give them direct access from Sunnyland rather than access that crossed city land. The settlement would include relocation of a light pole (with the city paying Duke Energy to move the pole onto city property), recordable language to bind successors, and a limited release restricted to issues raised in the pending litigation, according to the city attorney’s remarks. Council authorized the president of the council to execute the agreement once the final, amended form is completed and approved by the parties.

Also during the meeting staff reported progress on two related real‑estate matters: (1) the relocation of the Public Works/Utilities site under a contract approved Feb. 4 with Ross Macbeth for three properties his family owns; and (2) the planned purchase of the building at 126 West Center. The city has ordered Phase I environmental assessments for those parcels, according to the administrator’s project report.

Votes at a glance

- Retirement recognition and surplus transfer of Corporal Matt Cloud’s service handgun; replacement handgun purchase authorized. Vote recorded in the meeting: Hailey — yes; Mendel — yes; Stewart — yes; Fisher — yes. Outcome: approved.

- St. Patrick’s Day special‑event permit (South Commerce closure, open‑container waiver) for March 17; approval conditioned on $1,000,000 liability insurance naming city as additional insured at least 10 days before event. Vote recorded in the meeting: Linda — yes; Stewart — yes; Trish — yes (names recorded as in meeting). Outcome: approved.

- Settlement agreement to deed a corner of city property along Sunnyland Drive to the Bennetts and to waive certain claims in exchange for recorded terms and utility easement coordination with Duke Energy; final, amended agreement to be executed by Council President Bishop once counsel completes agreed changes. Vote recorded in the meeting: Ivory — yes; Mindel — yes; Stuart — yes; Fisher — yes. Outcome: approved.

What it means

The retirement recognition formalizes the city’s standard practice of presenting retired officers with identification and a uniform and transfers city‑owned property (the retired officer’s service handgun) to the officer as surplus. The St. Patrick’s Day approval allows a downtown business‑led event with temporary street closures and a limited open‑container area only after the organizer satisfies the city’s insurance requirement. The Bennett settlement resolves a long‑running access dispute described in the council packet as having produced a final judgment in Feb. 2023 and an appeal; the settlement, as described by city counsel, is intended to avoid continued litigation costs and to create a recordable, successor‑binding resolution of the specific access dispute.

Items not decided or that remain pending

Council approved the settlement in principle but directed staff and counsel to finalize the attorney‑recommended edits to the agreement and to confirm those edits with the Bennetts’ counsel before execution. Staff reported Phase I environmental studies have been ordered for the properties involved in the Public Works relocation and for 126 West Center; no purchase or relocation was finalized at the meeting.

Meeting context and next steps

The meeting included ceremonial remarks and a mayoral report that noted an HGTV watch party for the program filmed in Sebring on March 9 and recognized local school resource officers and community events. Council’s actions on the consent agenda and the three items summarized above were routine votes recorded in the council minutes. Staff will return with the finalized Bennett settlement document for execution and will report back on the Phase I environmental results for the properties tied to the Public Works relocation and the 126 West Center building purchase.

Sources: Sebring City Council meeting, Feb. 18, 2025 (agenda and transcript excerpts).