Winter Garden lift station renovations will cost $154,283

The Winter Garden City Commission unanimously approved the waiving of formal procurement procedures and hiring of Control Services LLC to replace routers and renovate 44 lift stations. 

Assistant City Manager Steve Pash said the city has budgeted money to renovate 94 lift stations throughout the city to replace outdated routers, modems and antennas, and enclosures, as well as update the communication software. 

The project approved at the April 10 meeting covered 44 of the 94 lift stations. Pash said the 44 stations are the ones in most need of renovations. 

It will cost $118,220 to hire Control Services LLC to install the equipment, which costs $36,055, for a total project cost of $154,283. 

Pash said the equipment has been installed at one lift station that had 329 communication failures in January. 

“There’s been zero since we got this software equipment update,” he said of the lift station. 

Pash said the renovations will reduce the overtime hours associated with repairing lift stations by 80-90% when all 94 stations are complete.

Pash said the project is expected to be complete in its entirety this year.

General RV plans approved

The City Commission unanimously approved the site plan for 740 Garden Commerce Parkway, subject to conditions.

General RV, the applicant, is planning to construct a 42,070-square-foot office/maintenance building. The site also will consist of outside RV storage and parking that will be screened with enhanced landscaping and a 6-foot, precast wall. 

This site plan runs concurrently with the General RV site plan at 12565 W. Colonial Drive, which the commission also unanimously approved at the meeting.

The site plan at 12565 W. Colonial Drive is for an expansion for General RV. The proposed project includes the construction of a 39,065-square-foot recreational vehicle sales office with limited vehicle storage and parking on the proposed 5.15 acre lot. 

Site improvements include the completion of Garden Commerce Parkway, stormwater management, landscaping and parking. 

Property rights amendment

The commission unanimously approved the first reading of an amendment that would add a new property rights element to the city’s comprehensive plan. 

The state requires local municipalities to adopt the amendment. 

The new property rights element “provides goals, objectives and policies to confirm that the city respects judicially acknowledged and constitutionally protected private property rights” and ensures private property rights are considered in the city’s decision-making. 

The second reading and public hearing of the amendment will take place at the commission’s April 24 meeting. 

Drop Savers Poster Contest

Commissioners read a proclamation for Florida’s Water Conservation Month, which is the month of April. The city then honored winners and honorable mentions in the 2025 Drop Savers Poster Contest. 

Donna Corbus, sustainability and community liaison for the city, said 67 students in Winter Garden participated in the contest, but no students from Division 2, which is second- and third-graders participated. 

Zane Brushwood, a first-grader at Dillard Street Elementary School, was the Division 1 winner. Emmalynn Elliott, a fifth-grader at Creation Village World School, was the Division 3 winner. Yasmine Makaron, a sixth-grader at Foundation Academy, was the Division 4 winner. Emma Quintana, a junior at Foundation, was the Division 5 winner. 

Honorable mentions were given to Dillard Street Elementary’s Nathan Welch and Foundation’s Claire Helmick, Emma McCleary and Avery Olesen.