Winter Park City Talk

Feb. 23 CRA meeting

There will be a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) meeting Monday, Feb. 23, at 3 p.m. in City Hall Commission Chambers located at 401 S. Park Ave.

Feb. 23 City Commission meeting

Immediately following the CRA meeting, there will be a City Commission meeting Monday, Feb. 23, at 3:30 p.m. For the most up-to-date agenda, please visit cityofwinterpark.org under What’s New. Below are a few topics of interest:

Mayor’s Report

• Presentation – Healthy Weight Community Champions Award

• Proclamation – Invasive Species Awareness Week

• Proclamation – Bike Month

• Appointment of members to Visioning Steering Committee

• Appointment of member to MetroPlan Orlando Municipal Advisory Committee

Consent Agenda

• Approve the minutes for Feb. 9, 2015.

• Approve formal solicitations (for a complete list, please visit cityofwinterpark.org/ccpackets).

• Approve the agreement renewal to permit Central Florida Community Sailing Program Inc. to teach a Community Sailing Program in Lake Baldwin Park.

Action Items Requiring Discussion

• Concours d’ Elegance use of the Winter Park Golf Course

• Appointment of Canvassing Board for Tuesday, March 10, 2015, General Election

Public Hearings

• Request of Winter Park Real Estate Advisors Inc:

o To amend the conditional use approval previously granted at 125 S. Interlachen Ave., to allow for modifications to the approved multi-family project to be composed of six units, three stories and 20,542 square feet of residential living area with parking in the basement level below the project, on property zoned R-4.

• First reading of the ordinance vacating and abandoning the portion of Kindel Avenue between Benjamin Avenue and Lewis Drive within the Ravaudage Planned Development and Home Acres Subdivision area.

• Request of the city of Winter Park for the property at 2908 Temple Trail:

o First reading of the ordinance changing the Future Land Use Designation of Single Family Residential to Open Space and Recreation.

o First reading of the ordinance changing the zoning of Single Family (R-1A) District to Parks and Recreation (PR) District.

Remember, if you are unable to attend City Commission meetings, you can watch them live, gavel-to-gavel as they happen. During the meeting, simply log on to cityofwinterpark.org/cclive to easily stay tuned-in to official city business.

Upcoming candidate forums

Winter Park Public Library

• Mayoral debate: Thursday, Feb. 19, from noon to 1 p.m.

• Commissioner debate: Wednesday, Feb. 25, from noon to 1 p.m.

• Both debates will take place in the Winter Park Public Library’s first floor Community Room located at 460 E. New England Ave. For more information, please visit wppl.org or call 407-623-3486.

Rollins College Democracy Project

• Town Hall with Winter Park Mayoral Candidates: Friday, Feb. 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

• The debate will take place in the Galloway Room, Mills Memorial Hall, Rollins College, at 1000 Holt Ave. For more information, please email [email protected] or call 407-691-1232.

WPPD only “Performance Driven Organization” in USA

On Feb. 12, the Winter Park Police Department (WPPD) became the first law enforcement agency in the United States to be designated as a "Performance Driven Organization." This distinction is the result of a series of training programs that involved every officer of the department from the police chief to the executive command to the newest recruit. The training is based on the best-selling book "Performance Driven Thinking," written by authors Bobby Kipper and David Hancock and published by Morgan James Publishing in New York.

Kipper said, "After serving almost three decades in the Newport News Police Department in Virginia, I strongly believed that a different style of training and message was needed to move police organizations from status quo thinking to embracing a higher level of performance. We appreciate Chief Brett Railey and his staff for having the vision to move his department in the direction of a higher level of performance."

Chief Railey said, “This training is designed to reinforce our commitment to providing our residents the absolute best that we have to offer each day we report for work. It also fortifies our pledge encompassed in our mission statement – to ensure public safety, to enforce the law with integrity, and to provide extraordinary services to our community.”

New smartphone app for WPPD

The Winter Park Police Department is proud to announce the release of its official smartphone app called “The WPPD App.” In the department’s ongoing effort to keep city residents safe and informed, WPPD developed this new app for iPhone (iOS) and Android devices.

The app will allow users to easily receive information about crime and traffic-related incidents. Residents can also use the app to help keep the community safe by submitting tips about crimes that occur in the city. When necessary, the police department will use the app to broadcast urgent messages to residents, in addition to the OUTREACH program. This app does not replace emergency calls. To report an emergency, the department urges residents to still call 911.

Major features include:

• Get quick access to criminal activity that has occurred in your neighborhood

• If you see a crime in the city of Winter Park, take a picture and forward it to WPPD anonymously

• Use the app’s “Mark Where You Parked” feature utilizing GPS

• Use voice notes to help you easily report a crime and send it to WPPD anonymously

The official WPPD smartphone app can be downloaded for free at either at Apple App Store or Google Play by searching “Winter Park Police Department App.”

The WPPD strives to continue to provide its citizens with the high quality of life enjoyed here in Winter Park. You may also keep informed by following them on Twitter (@WinterParkPD), Facebook (Facebook.com/WinterParkPD), or visiting WPPD.org.

For more information regarding the city of Winter Park, please visit the city’s official website at cityofwinterpark.org. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and watch us on both Vimeo and YouTube.