Winter Park City Talk

CoffeeTalk returns

If you have “a latte beans to grind” or simply want to “espresso your thoughts,” CoffeeTalk may be the cup for you. On Thursday, June 5, at 8 a.m. I have the pleasure of kicking off the first CoffeeTalk of the 2014 season at the Winter Park Welcome Center located at 151 W. Lyman Ave. This is the first of an ongoing series of CoffeeTalks that were originally initiated in 2005, where citizens can talk to city leaders in a more casual, informal environment and avoid the stage fright that is often experienced at large meetings.

Between June and November 2014, each month features a different city leader. Mayor Ken Bradley’s CoffeeTalk is scheduled for Friday, July 11, in conjunction with the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce’s Good Morning Winter Park at the Winter Park Welcome Center. Networking begins at 7:45 a.m., and the mayor’s CoffeeTalk will begin at 8 a.m. Please make note of the following complete schedule for the upcoming 2014 CoffeeTalk season with our city leaders:

City Manager Randy Knight; Thursday, June 5

Mayor Kenneth Bradley; Friday, July 11

Vice Mayor Steven Leary; Thursday, Aug. 14

Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel; Thursday, Sept. 4

Commissioner Carolyn Cooper; Thursday, Oct. 2

Commissioner Tom McMacken; Thursday, Nov. 6

All CoffeeTalks are held at 8 a.m. at the Winter Park Welcome Center located at 151 W. Lyman Ave. Please mark your calendars for a cup of conversation and great coffee courtesy of Palmano’s Café, Coffee & Wine Bar. For more CoffeeTalk information, please call 407-599-3428.

Hurricane season begins June 1

The city would like to remind you to be prepared for the upcoming hurricane season by following the steps below to keep you, your family and property safe.

Step 1: Assemble an emergency preparedness kit & “to-go bag.”

Step 2: Prepare your family, home and business.

Step 3: Stay informed.

Official city online resources:

■ cityofwinterpark.org > Info at Your Fingertips > Hurricane Preparedness

■ cityofwinterpark.org > Departments > Fire-Rescue > Emergency Management

■ Facebook cityofwinterpark.org/facebook

■ Twitter cityofwinterpark.org/twitter

Sign up for OUTREACH:

OUTREACH is the city’s emergency notification system that uses technology to send out notifications such as extreme weather conditions, boil water alerts, power restoration status and hurricane/tornado warnings directly to you. Upon hearing the tornado siren, you should tune to local media for specific weather information.

In addition to outdoor warning sirens throughout Winter Park, OUTREACH will notify residents and business owners of impending emergencies via their home phones, cell phones and/or email.

To sign up, please log on to cityofwinterpark.org, click on the OUTREACH button and follow the sign-up instructions. The city can then keep you informed immediately of any major emergency situation that may impact you, your business and neighbors.

Important resources:

■ Non-emergency information line (goes live upon Emergency Operations Center activation): 407-599-3494

■ Message Center Information email (goes live upon Emergency Operations Center activation): [email protected]

■ Winter Park Electric Utility power outages: 1-877-811-8700

■ Water & Wastewater Utility outages: 407-599-3219

Report power outages

Call 1-877-811-8700 or submit a report via the button on the home page of cityofwinterpark.org. When reporting an outage, if you receive a busy signal, it most likely means Winter Park Electric is aware of the outage. Most outages affect numerous customers and the busy signal means we are receiving calls about your outage and are working to restore power as quickly as possible.

Sustainability survey

Currently in draft form, the city is looking for public input to help fine tune its Sustainability Action Plan that will ultimately help the city have a more sustainable future. Please help the city shape this plan by sharing your feedback in a survey found at cityofwinterpark.org/SAP by Monday, June 30. For more information regarding the Sustainability Program or action plan, please visit the cityofwinterpark.org/sustainability or call 407-599-3364.

REAL ID & your driver license

REAL ID is a coordinated effort by the states and the federal government to improve the reliability and accuracy of state-issued identification documents. The federal REAL ID Act of 2005 requires you to provide original or certified copies of documents to renew or obtain a driver license or state ID. If you are REAL ID compliant, your license or ID will have a gold star in the upper right hand corner and you will not need to provide these documents again. If your driver license does not have a gold star you will need to provide three categories of documents to obtain or renew your license. No earlier than 2016, you may be prohibited to board federally regulated commercial aircrafts to travel if you are not REAL ID compliant. In compliance with the federal REAL ID Act, the Orange County Tax Collector’s Office will issue REAL ID driver licenses and state photo IDs. For more information, visit octaxcol.com/driver-licenses.aspx

Visit the city’s official website at cityofwinterpark.org, find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, watch us on Vimeo.