Winter Park City Talk

Thanksgiving wishes

This week, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, I ask that we take a moment to acknowledge the true meaning of the holiday and pause to appreciate all of the wonderful people, blessings and gifts around us.

The city is a magical stage for so many delightful, annual events to help celebrate the holiday season. A complete listing of holiday events can be found at cityofwinterpark.org.

On behalf of the city staff, I wish each and every one of you a very happy Thanksgiving. We are thankful for your continued support as we work hard to make Winter Park the best place to live, work and play in Florida. Warmest wishes to each of you for a holiday season filled with many blessings.

Nov. 24 City Commission highlights

Mayor’s Report

• Saturday, Dec. 6, was proclaimed as “Small Business Saturday”

Non-Action Items

• The Keep Winter Park Beautiful & Sustainable Advisory Board’s Sustainability Action Plan was presented for informational purposes.

Consent Agenda

• The minutes for Nov. 10, 2014, were approved with a modification.

• The purchase requisition and formal solicitation was approved (for a complete listing visit cityofwinterpark.org/ccpackets).

• The Mayor was authorized to execute a Master Fiber Lease Agreement between the city and Summit Broadband.

Public Hearings

• Request of Jewett Orthopedic Clinic: The second reading of the ordinance to vacate a utility easement at 1245 Orange Ave. was approved.

• Request of DePugh Nursing Home: The second reading of the ordinance to vacate a utility easement at 500 W. Morse Blvd. was approved.

• The second reading of the ordinance amending the Fiscal Year 2014 adopted budget was approved.

• The request of English and Swoope Investment, LLC and Village Park Senior Housing Partners, Ltd. (Atlantic Housing Partners) to amend the Conditional Use for the redevelopment of the property at 796 W. Swoope Ave. in order to build four new detached, single-family homes on the property, zoned R-3 was approved.

• The first reading of the ordinance removing the requirement for supermajority votes for the approval of certain conditional uses was approved with an amendment.

A full copy of the Nov. 24 City Commission minutes will be available at cityofwinterpark.org the week of Dec. 8, pending approval by the City Commission. Remember, if you are unable to attend the 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.

Skate off those Thanksgiving pounds

Finished with Thanksgiving dinner and wondering whether to sleep or skate? We say skate! Come to the city’s annual holiday ice skating rink “Winter in the Park” before the after-turkey-dinner-tryptophan kicks in and skate between 3 and 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. For only $12 per skater, you can chisel those calories away at the ice rink located in Central Park West Meadow (corner of New York Avenue and Morse Boulevard). If you want to check out the scene before you go, log on to cityofwinterpark.org/WITP and click on the Skate Cam tab to see live streaming video (compliments of WKMG Local 6) of the skaters in action! For more information, please call 407-599-3203 or visit cityofwinterpark.org/WITP.

Holiday Pops Concert

The city and Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra invite you to celebrate the spirit of the holiday season at their annual Holiday Pops concert Sunday, Nov. 30, at 4 p.m. in charming Central Park. This free public concert is made possible by the Charlotte Julia Hollander Trust. Bring a blanket and picnic for a concert program that has become a family tradition in Central Florida.

Conductor Paul Hostetter will lead the Philharmonic in a beautiful program of holiday favorites for all ages. Highlights will include instrumentals such as “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,” “Festive Sounds of Hanukah,” and “Sleigh Ride,” as well as vocal selections including “O Holy Night,” “Grown-up Christmas List,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and “White Christmas,” featuring soloist Marine Jurica.

In the spirit of the season, audience members are encouraged to bring non-perishable, canned or dry food items to help restock the pantries at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Over the past 12 years, the orchestra has helped collect over 5,000 pounds of food for families in Central Florida.

For more information regarding the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra or this special performance, please call 407-770-0071 or visit orlandophil.org.

Police chief receives J. Stannard Baker Award

On Oct. 28, Winter Park Police Chief Brett C. Railey was presented with the J. Stannard Baker Award for Highway Safety from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) at the IACP’s annual Highway Safety Awards in Orlando. The award acknowledges sustained, continuous, career-spanning commitment, as well as unusual initiative and creativity in developing and implementing highway safety programs with agencies or communities served.

For more than 30 years, Chief Railey has been a practitioner in the field of traffic safety. Throughout his career, he has apprehended more than 400 impaired drunk drivers and was one of the first Florida instructors to teach driving-while-intoxicated, and occupant protection usage and enforcement classes. Chief Railey was also on the leading edge of data to direct place-based traffic enforcement.

The J. Stannard Baker award is named in honor of the late J. Stannard Baker, who is known as the “father of accident investigation.” He served as director of Research and Development at the Northwestern University Traffic Institute, which is now the Center for Public Safety. Mr. Baker studied techniques of collision investigation and reconstruction, and his textbook, “Traffic Accident Investigation Manual,” is now the worldwide standard.

Forestry grants assist with tree canopy

The city’s Urban Forestry Division has recently completed the first phase of its tree inventory and risk assessment. The project is a multi-year effort, which is funded by an Urban & Community Forestry Grant from the U.S. Forest Service. The first phase of the program was funded with a $15,000 grant that was matched by the city, with cost-savings through hazard mitigation of assessed trees. Winter Park will now embark on the second phase of the program funded with a $20,000 grant, and the third phase will occur in 2015. The U.S. Forest Service and Florida Forest Service departments work together to issue urban and community forestry grants to cities throughout the country that are proactive in tree canopy maintenance. The grant was presented to Winter Park for its partial rights of way tree inventory and the city was awarded the highest amount offered through the grant process. This partial inventory will assist the city in managing rights of way maintenance cycles.

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