- March 4, 2026
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The Winter Garden City Commission unanimously approved Thursday, Feb. 26, the purchase of an AI public safety non-emergency answering system to better support the Winter Garden Police Department’s dispatch center.
The city is set to pay the tech company Aurelian $55,000 per year under a three-year contract for its platform, a tool adopted by departments across the country, including the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office in August 2025.
Winter Garden Police Chief Steve Graham said the decision to implement an AI system was intended to address staffing and overtime concerns while providing a less stressful environment for the department’s telecommunicators.
The police department currently has four vacancies in its communications center. The agreement is expected to fill three of those vacancies, Graham said.
The department handles more than 90,000 telephone calls per year, of which one-third is 911 calls, while the rest are administrative in nature, Graham said.
David Jones, a digital solutions transformation executive with Aurelian, said Aurelian’s “conversational AI” detects whether a call is emergent and transferring it accordingly; transfers callers to appropriate departments for matters such as paying parking tickets; and lastly captures information that officers can follow up on, such as complaints about a loud party.
Aurelian runs on Amazon Web Services. If Amazon Web Services goes down, Jones said the city’s 911 calls will continue through to dispatch as they have in the past. There will be no degradation of service.
Waste disposal in downtown Winter Garden is getting a makeover, as the City Commission unanimously approved the purchase of 12 Molok waste containers for $70,680.
The containers are installed mostly underground and can hold more trash than a standard above-ground dumpster, Assistant City Manager Steve Pash said at the meeting, adding that the containers also look “much better.”
To remove the trash from the containers, a crane will have to hoist the Moloks from the hooks at the top of each pod. Pash said the city has a truck that works at pulling the containers out but mentioned that for next year’s budget, the city intends to purchase a specialty truck.
The city plans to place four of the Moloks at Tucker Ranch and will install the remaining eight across downtown Winter Garden, Pash said.
Winter Garden Mayor John Rees proclaimed Feb. 26 Earl Brigham Day, honoring the life and legacy of the devoted barber in downtown Winter Garden.
Having lost his hearing at age 2, Brigham learned American Sign Language at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, graduating in 1966. He later learned barbering and completed the Orlando Barber College, reportedly in record time.
Earl Brigham’s Barber Shop opened in Winter Garden in 1976 and has since become an institution, serving customers of all ages throughout the community.
In Brigham’s spare time, he has led a deaf ministry at West Orlando Baptist Church and traveled to 28 countries to minister to deaf communities.
Brigham was surrounded by friends and family to hear the proclamation, offering a speech in sign language to the roughly 150 residents in attendance.
“It really is such an honor,” Brigham signed to the crowd. “I can’t believe it’s been 50 years already since I came into this town. It’s changed so much, it’s grown so much. I love Winter Garden, the community and everyone here.”
