Winter Haven — The City Commission on the evening of the November meeting adopted several second‑reading ordinances that change future land‑use or zoning designations for a series of annexed and city‑owned parcels and advanced a set of budget and code amendments to December.

Among the items approved on final reading were O‑25‑30 and O‑25‑31, which altered the future land use and zoning for a 0.34±‑acre annex parcel at the north‑southwest corner of 8th Street NW/US‑17 and Avenue X NW; O‑25‑32 and O‑25‑33, which reclassified a recently annexed 13.89±‑acre parcel near 504th Street East for institutional use and PI zoning; and companion ordinances O‑25‑34 and O‑25‑35, which change the future land use and zoning on a 10.25±‑acre city‑owned site on the east side of Buckeye Loop Road to institutional and PI, respectively.

City Manager Mike Hurst told commissioners that the 10.25‑acre site was purchased as part of a larger (approximately 370‑acre) acquisition and is intended to house a new water department administrative office, warehouse and associated parking. Hurst said staff reviewed other parcels and that the Br(ack)o/Bradco Farms purchase included additional community benefits including wetland restoration and aquifer recharge. Planning Commission hearings for the parcels recommended approval.

Several residents who live across from the Buckeye Loop site raised concerns about noise, truck traffic, tree removal and potential impacts on private wells and septic systems during the public hearing. Patricia Glasscock told the commission, “They’re bringing in, 1000000 gallons of water a day, and which is going to be injected into the ground,” and asked whether nearby homeowners could be offered a tie‑in to city water. City staff responded that the project is an aquifer‑recharge operation (not a withdrawal), that potable city water will be piped to the site for facility operations, and that affected homeowners would be eligible to connect to city water should they choose to do so. Staff also said that buffer yards and increased landscaping — including berms and trees — could be added on the site plan and that the final site plan will return to planning review prior to construction.

Commissioners voted to adopt the listed ordinances on second and final reading. The roll call at the meeting recorded Commissioners Dollison, Gantzler, Mayor Pro Tem Yates and Mayor Birdsong as present and Commissioner Mercer absent; the assembly vocalized unanimous approval for the items as presented.

The commission also advanced several items to a second hearing on Dec. 8, including O‑25‑36/O‑25‑37 (land‑use and companion rezoning requests on 46.21± acres at Thompson Nursery Road and Cunningham Road), O‑25‑39 (new code language implementing state‑required structural inspection timelines for certain condominium and cooperative buildings consistent with House Bill 913 and Florida statutes), O‑25‑40 (a bequest of $258,879.07 to the Winter Haven Public Library), and O‑25‑41/O‑25‑42 (budget roll‑forward and prior‑year budget amendments). City staff said the roll‑forward is an accounting action to re‑establish prior year encumbrances totaling $58,118,080.31; staff emphasized the amendment does not create new spending but aligns current year budgets with outstanding obligations.

David Berry was appointed to the Grant‑in‑Aid Application Review Committee after staff reviewed six applicants and recommended Berry based on decades of nonprofit experience and a pledge to avoid conflict of interest on awards. Staff also outlined process refinements for the program including a two‑year minimum operation requirement for applying nonprofits, expanded reporting and notarized documentation.

The commission indicated it will review detailed site plans, landscape buffers and any design criteria packages for the Buckeye Loop project before construction proceeds. The items advanced to second reading will return for further consideration on Dec. 8.