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Lake Placid CRA approves Hillcrest reallocation, green-lights limited flower-pot rollout and prioritizes Waldo paving
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Summary
The Community Redevelopment Agency approved reallocating $100,000 previously tied to Hillcrest — $70,000 for stormwater and the remainder to an unallocated projects line — and authorized moving Bridal Hall sidewalk funds to pave Waldo Avenue. The board also approved installing five flower pots on existing pavers as a first phase and asked staff to test lighting options before committing to a full replacement.
The Lake Placid Community Redevelopment Agency on Feb. 16 moved to reallocate $100,000 originally attributed to Hillcrest after staff said the parcel was outside the CRA boundary. The board approved shifting $70,000 to stormwater management and placing the remainder into an unallocated line to cover small overruns and future needs, with members also agreeing to cover a $4,314.65 flower-pot budget overrun from the unallocated funds.
Rachel, a town staff member who reviewed the CRA spreadsheet, told the board the town’s Avalon tax revenue came in $7,695 below budget this year and that the downtown flower-pot line exceeded estimates. “That is the pots — downtown flower pots — it’s over about $5,000,” she said while walking members through the spreadsheet. After discussion and a motion and amendment to formalize the reallocation, the board voted to adopt the changes.
The CRA discussed how to spend the unallocated portion. Members debated whether to authorize 5, 11 or 13 pots on Inner Lake and how to handle a quoted overrun. Keep Lake Placid Beautiful president Bill Brantley urged restraint: the group supports placing pots only at five paver locations with existing irrigation. After extended discussion about sight lines, plant selection, maintenance costs and public preferences, the CRA approved a phased approach: install five pots on the paver areas now and revisit further installations later.
Street lighting and road paving also topped the agenda. Alan, a town operations representative, summarized options for upgrading Main Street and Inner Lake lighting: full-pole replacement would cost roughly $4,000 per pole (or much more if bases and wiring are rebuilt), while replacing only the fixture heads or testing brighter LED bulbs could be far less expensive. He recommended a trial deployment — for example, in DeVane Park — and members asked staff to solicit consultant demos before committing to a wholesale replacement.
On paving, staff presented priority road estimates and recommended Waldo Avenue (formerly Eucalyptus Ave) as the top paving project at about $35,144 plus paint striping costs (~$2,557). Council members moved to authorize staff to proceed with the Waldo Avenue work and to transfer funding from Bridal Hall parking and sidewalks into a consolidated road-paving line so multiple roads can be addressed across budget years. The motion passed by roll call.
What’s next: staff will post the Kimley-Horn project packet online, provide more detailed lighting and paving price options, and return in March with a prioritized implementation plan for CRA projects and any formal contract recommendations.
