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Winter Springs committee weighs $19,000 landscaping options, schedules Feb. 18 meeting to review designs
Summary
City staff told the committee the near-term plant-replacement budget is about $19,000 and recommended prioritizing high-profile entrances; the committee set a special meeting for Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. to review design-and-cost options and staff explained a 90-day homeowner notice for wall repairs.
At a committee meeting in Winter Springs, city staff presented options for entrance landscaping and wall repairs, said roughly $19,000 is available this year for plant replacement, and the committee voted to hold a special meeting on Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. to review designs and costs.
Kevin Maddox, Landscape and Arbor Manager, City of Winter Springs, told the committee: "For the record, Kevin Maddox, Landscape and Arbor, Manager, City of Winter Springs," and said "it's approximately $19,000 is what we have to work with for replacing plants for the year." He asked the members to identify priority entrances where that money should be spent.
City staff earlier presented the fiscal-year-to-date expenditure summary and a 10-year fund history, reporting an unaudited FY25 ending fund balance of about $97,000 and an estimated FY26 ending balance near $74,500 if budgeted items proceed as planned. Staff noted recurring landscape maintenance is a major line item (monthly contract reported at about $13,002.38) and that pooled-cash investment income contributed about $5,370 in interest to the fund.
Committee members and residents focused discussion on Winter Springs Boulevard and the entrance near Trotwood Park because of visibility and safety concerns. Members described overgrown plantings (including large Japanese blueberry shrubs) and failing palms; options discussed included doing one major entrance this year or spreading the funds across two smaller entrances.
Staff proposed providing "design-to-cost" options so the committee could see scaled proposals that match specific budgets. A member moved to schedule a special meeting on Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. to review proposals, another member seconded, and the committee approved the date and time by roll call.
Staff also said the city sent letters to homeowners adjacent to the entrance monument walls asking residents to clear vegetation within 3 feet of the wall so crews can access and complete tuckpointing and grout repairs. Staff said the letters give homeowners 90 days to remove plantings or attachments; if yards remain obstructed, staff will remove materials as needed to allow work to proceed.
On maintenance, staff recommended moving planned mulch spending into the plant-replacement/landscaping budget because entrances were judged "over-mulched;" staff also reported locating and repairing a large reclaimed-water leak that had been increasing irrigation costs.
Votes at a glance - Motion to approve minutes (from the 21st): moved by a committee member; passed by roll call. - Motion to schedule a special meeting to review landscaping designs on Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m.: moved by a resident/committee participant, seconded by a committee member; passed by roll call. - Motion to adjourn: moved and seconded; passed.
What’s next: Staff will prepare scaled design-and-cost proposals and photographs for the entrances the committee identified; the committee will review those at the Feb. 18 special meeting.
(Details in the meeting record: staff-presented fund balances and line-item figures; staff said some transcript numbers were garbled in one line and the committee relied on the clarified figures provided by staff.)
