The CRA (Feat. Robin Gibson) - #014

Robin Gibson has been a faithful city servant for many years—he's been especially involved in the Community Redevelopment Agency. In this episode, we talk about what the CRA is responsible for, how it affects you, the city, and the county, and we take time to answer a listener's question! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Hello, Lake Wales, and welcome to episode number 14 of the Mayor and the Manager. This is a weekly podcast produced by Providence Voice, which is the media ministry of High Point Church. And we created this podcast so that you as a citizen could stay informed of the events in our town and that you could get to know the people that you elect and pay to serve you a little bit better. And after a short time away, we're joined again with our city by our city manager, Mr. James Layton. James, welcome back. Thank you, Mary. Good morning. And this morning we're also joined by a special guest who recently finished his, was it your third term as a city commissioner?

SPEAKER_00 0:56

I think it was three. Three terms. It changed sometimes it was one in one number of years and the other time is another.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Okay. Well, just recently ended his term to the service, our deputy mayor and the chair of the CRA, and kind of a small town legend here in Lake Wales, Mr. Robin Gibson. And uh Mr. Gibson, none of us oh, by the way, welcome. We're glad you're here.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

None of us were happy, I think, that your tenure in the commission had ended, but the benefit for us all is that we can actually have this conversation together. And uh I think there are very few people who have been uh as deeply involved and committed to the progress of the city as you have. So I wonder if you could take a few minutes um to begin this episode and just tell us tell us your story, but mostly your Lake Wales story. How did you wind up in a little town in the middle of Polk County, Florida? And how and uh tell us a little bit of your history here.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

I was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Oh, okay. My dad was So now wait a minute, are you naturalized or you got your green card?

SPEAKER_00 1:59

When I was 21 years old when I was 21 years old, I had to make a choice. Did I want to be a citizen of uh it was an English possession then of uh England, Great Britain, or the U.S. Um, I chose U.S. Okay. I was insulted that uh neither country asked uh I had to do it in order to get a passport.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Okay. Okay. Not till you were 21. Yeah, all right. Okay. All right, go ahead. I interrupted you.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Oh, uh uh so um, and that was because my dad was a pilot for Pan American. He flew seaplanes, he was a pioneer aviator, he was one of the Navy's first carrier pilots, and and eventually that brought us to uh Miami. Grew up in Miami and uh went from there to the University of Florida for college and then law school. And so from there, um I went back to my married uh and I've been married for 64 years and went back to uh we went back to Miami and had a wonderful opportunity with a magnificent law firm trying uh cases down there uh with this law firm. And but then our kids started coming along. And uh I was one of four, she had uh she was uh one of three, and uh so and Miami was changing, and and uh my family really uh comes from Palatka. I knew what small town life was like, and uh we wanted to raise our kids in a small town. Okay, so started looking for a small town, had a zone. Uh I was done with uh palm trees and sand and salt water and hills, lakes, and uh oak trees. Okay, okay. And uh uh Lake Wales is right in the middle of that at the highest point, as a matter of fact. But one of the initial things was a great law firm. Okay, which I was uh was a surprise. I thought I'd be giving up a quality law practice in Miami to come and sit in front of the drugstore and spit and chew with the boys. And uh that wasn't it at all. Okay. Uh Neil Myers was the first editor of the Florida Law Review. Um, and uh Roy Craig was a Harvard law graduate. These guys did uh uh sophisticated law work. Uh they needed a guy like me that had tried some cases, and so uh it was it was a very good match. Okay. Wonderful, wonderful for our family.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Yeah. Nice to have that kind of opportunity in a town like Lake Wales.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Oh, yeah. Yeah, that that was just uh and and I've it looked in a bunch of other towns too. Uh but this uh suited us, and it was a very good choice. And from that, we have uh four wonderful kids that grew up in a good place to grow up.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

You know, and you said that was 1966?

SPEAKER_00 5:34

That was when we moved up here. May 15, 1966.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

So you in in your telling your that story, you you brought to mind something that I've thought about Lake Wales. Jenny and I moved here in 19. Well, we moved here in 89 to go to school, and then back in 97 to pastor the church. And I tell people there you find so much unexpected in the city of Lake Wales or in the town of Lake Wales. Um, you have an idea, like you said, I'm I'm I'm gonna have to go sit and sit and spit and chew with the boys in front of the drugstore. But then you find out it's not like that at all. So many hidden um gems around here, really. Oh yeah. Yeah. So has that been your experience too, James, that it's kind of an underrated little town, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 6:17

It it really is. And, you know, kind of along those same lines when when I first uh started here back in two 2003, um, I had folks tell me to, you know, be careful, don't don't let those don't let the people of Lake Wales get in get in your system. Um, and so you need to spend about a year over there, get your experience, and then move on. And 23 years later, here I am. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Yeah. I, you know, and again, I was I when we left, we came here because our denomination's uh Bible school is just down the road, Warner, it was then it was Warner Southern College. And when we left, I remember saying to my wife, well, say goodbye to Lake Wales, you'll never see this place again. And here we are well over 30 years later. But I often tell people that you will walk into these little cafes or diners around here, and you'll be sitting within earshot of some of the most fascinating people that live around here, and you just don't know it. So many good things about the about the city of Lake Wales. Okay, so Mr. Gibson, you have done um, you have done an awful lot in the time you've been here.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

My friends call me Robin.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

Okay, Robin. Thanks. You've done an awful lot. I mean, I just as this morning as we were preparing to get together, I listed since I've been here, the charter system, the charter school system, you you led the charge to get that going. Lake Wales Connected, you were a big part of bringing Dover Coal in and getting that up and running, which has been a big deal here for the last several years. You founded the CRA back in the mid-80s here, um, and then revived it a few years ago. And then so out of all of those things, what do you think has been the most challenging and what's been the most gratifying for you?

SPEAKER_00 8:05

Well, one segment that people in Lake Wales know very little about was uh a um a little bit of uh exposure to state and federal. Uh and uh in Miami, I was the uh president of the student body of there were two major high schools. And uh I in one and Bob Graham in the other. And so we got to know each other. We went to the University of Florida together and pledged the same fraternity and got to be real good friends. And then he married a girl I went to elementary school with. Okay. So uh, and our kids started coming along about the same time. So uh when he got elected governor, when and I spent a lot of time trying to help him uh get there, and and was so glad when he was elected because I go back and 100% practice law. He says, I want you to be my general counsel. I didn't even know what a general counsel was. Right. Well, it's the governor's lawyer. Okay, and so I said, I'll give you six months, and I gotta come back to Lake Wales and and kids and everything. So the whole family, we went up to Tallahassee for that. Well, everybody wanted to try out the new governor, and we went through an awful lot. Uh and um I thought it was gonna be difficult. It was not. All you I was really surprised. All you needed was a copy of the Florida Constitution and good judgment, and you were there. And uh fortunately, uh Graham was one of those people with uh good judgment. We saw eye to eye on uh a lot of things, and from then on through his career, I was basically his lawyer. Okay. And the uh and we had a good friend that we graduated from University of Florida with, uh a uh guy, Buddy Schorstein was his name, and the three of us went through a lot together. People in Lake Wheels don't know about that segment of things. Um, but it was a it was a uh good exposure. I did a lot of stuff with the Florida Bar, and uh that exposed me to or I got to know some wonderful, wonderful people. Um, and all that was outside of Lake Wales. So the things you've taught talked about were in Lake Wales. The charter schools came about. My interest in um education was because uh Graham appointed me to the Board of Regents for the University System. Then they uh elected me as the chair of the Board of Regents, so I was uh doing that for our university system, and we were we turned out to be uh quite successful. We hit the upper quartile of universities while we were there. And then uh when I come to I've uh Lake Wales and I look at our schools, and they were really at in the pits at that point, and they had been very good. Uh and so uh and our kids were in schools, so uh, you know, get going, and and uh this was a uh uh opportunity with looking at the charter law, we could do something that other people hadn't done, and that was basically form a community school system, which is what we have. Uh so in a way, that outside stuff that people in Lake Wales don't know much about got imported and and helped out a lot, as far as I was concerned, with it with that uh particular project. Other things just because I I'm a community person. Yeah. And uh I just I like the people and I want it to be as good as it can be, and I just spend my time doing that.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Okay. So in the time that James and I have served with you, you've been a it's the C R A, C R A, C R A, C R A. So talk to us about that. Talk to us about where did the passion for CRA come from, and then it you've shared that it was really the CRA that that prodded you to finally run for public office.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Uh that's true. Um I tell you, I think it kind of starts with uh an interest in history.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

And one thing that I didn't realize until kind of down the road a ways was history comes in components and what we are is a uh one of the components of history. That's boom time Florida.

SPEAKER_02 13:43

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

You know, I I've thought uh history was uh when the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, but I've heard that when the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, St. Augustine was undergoing urban renewal. That's right. So so uh They were complaining about the new kids that were so uh and and then realizing that this is a uh very valuable component of Florida history, and here we are. One of the best things that ever happened to Lake Wales was when that Highway 27 that I drove for years back and forth to the University of Florida from Miami and everything else was to be expanded, they went west. They didn't come through the town like they had on the East Coast and torn up the towns. Um and so the place was relatively undisturbed, right? And there it is. And there is a um book, I was just looking at it recently. Uh there is a book, and it's the historic uh um structures in Florida and they go county by county. They have fifteen in Polk County, yeah, seven are in Little Old Lake Wales, right? Isn't that amazing? Yeah, and so uh to be able to play a role in enhancing that historic nature of it, and then I I love the term community redevelopment, community, love a community. I'm I'm a community person, um, redevelopment, not development, redevelopment. When you redevelop it, you are building on the shoulders of the historic people that preceded you and built that structure. You look at the roads built arcade, my goodness, that thing is really remarkable. Yeah. Um, and there there are so many others. So I thoroughly enjoy it. I think it's important, and uh that's why I uh am a nut about uh community redevelopment.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Yeah. So uh James, we did a whole episode on the CRA, and you've served in the city of Lake Wales for a couple decades now, haven't you? If I if I remember your story well, did you start as the IT guy? Is that where you started? I sure did. Okay I did. Okay, so I I my understanding is that we had the CRA, which is an incredible valuable tool in in any community tool chest, and it just was being neglected. And so you've saw Mr. Gibson came back on board, Robin came back on board. And how has that how has that lit a fire under what happens in our city?

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Let me let me make one comment. It wasn't neglected, it was abused. Okay. Okay, well that's absolutely abused. The money was never used for redevelopment. It was used for um city expenditures as opposed to redevelopment. Okay. So excuse their interruption.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

So tell me how it's tell me how it's lit a fuel at uh little fire at our city in the last several years. The focus on the CRA.

SPEAKER_04 17:36

Well, you know, while there's been there have been a lot of changes, certainly over the last six years or so, I think that the most significant has been uh changes have been to the historic core. I think that that is the that is the piece of our community that really sets us apart from the other cities and communities around us. And I I believe that that historic core and the work that we're doing there through the CRA is what's going to truly transform like Wales into a destination community, quite honestly. So it's changing the the trajectory of the city, I think, forever.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

Aaron Powell It made it possible. I mean, that from where I sit, and I've only been serving on the commission for about five years now, but um as my as my understanding has grown, we couldn't have done any of this had the CRA not gotten back re-engaged in doing what it was supposed to do.

SPEAKER_04 18:29

Aaron Powell You're spot on with that. We would not have been able to have uh accomplished any of this without the CRA. And once we really got going in earnest, through our redevelopment efforts, we've been able to grow that trust fund through the increased tax increment, which just gives us more money to redevelop more of the community. So it's working uh by my account, and I I think uh Robin would agree with me here, it's working exactly as CRAs were designed in the first place. Exactly. Really for the first time, I think, um, in the 23 years that I've been here. I don't know. What do you what do you think about that, Robin? I I don't know what happened back in the 80s. Well, obviously, because you you started the you all did the first streetscapes, you know, 50 years ago. But so maybe there was a long there was a big gap in between that that period of time and and more, you know, probably 2020.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

I'm just gonna tell you when we came again, we moved here um in the late 80s to go to school, and it wasn't too long uh past when that initial streetscape had been done. But almost nothing happened in downtown Lake Wales between then and just a few years ago. That's right. So so CRA um and so maybe the people in Lake Wales don't understand also the unique position we're in in the city of Lake Wales with RCRA legally. We just kind of came into that in the last couple of years. Can you explain that, uh, Robin, a little bit more because of when we founded RCRA?

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Well, yes. Uh it was in 1985 uh I got involved, and uh the the uh law had recently been passed. I thought this was a pretty darn good opportunity and and uh advocated to the then city commission that we do this, and they they kind of said uh they were very skeptical. Thought it was smoke and mirrors and and that you'd come up with this trust fund and all this sort of stuff, and didn't want to do anything crazy. And so, okay, well, okay, the guy and and we had had done the streetscape improvements without a penny of city money. Okay. That's another story, but um, and uh so they did it, and and then it started to grow, and then the city got in real financial trouble um mismanagement. And uh they reached over and got our money out of our trust fund, and uh I almost left town really seriously uh and um so uh uh stepped away from it and did this stuff with the state and everything and while uh a uh significant law practice also. And um but then like you alluded to uh to s to know that the CRA statute is a brilliant strategy and what it could do. And what it had not done and how it had been abused, um, it drove me nuts. So I did, as you uh mentioned, one of the things I never thought I would do, and that's run for public office. Uh I'd supported people in the but never run for public office. I did it, got elected, and then uh eventually we made a uh change at the city uh tactful change with the city manager, got this guy, and uh things just and and and the folks on the city commission, and this is uh a little bit before you came, but then you rode the wave with us, yeah, and um we really put that thing to work as it is designed to work, and it is an absolutely brilliant strategy. One quick note this was deserves another episode, but uh we were fortunate enough to have done it early enough to get in before the county got home rule. Yeah, yeah. That's what so then we were in charge of the CRA. Yeah. And and the CRA brings in both city and county money, and the people at the county are not happy with that. Right.

unknown 23:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Uh they lose sight of the fact that everybody who lives in the city pays county taxes. Yeah. Yeah. So guess what? We're keeping some of that county money home.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

Yeah. Nothing, nothing wrong with that. Yeah. No. So yeah, that's what I'm talking about. It's an interesting, and I don't know. We're pretty unique in that. I'm not sure that there's another municipality that that's in that situation in Polkand. Lakeland might be. Yeah, they're they're they're they're on to it. Okay. Uh so let's talk about one of the things that's happened in the last couple of years is we're working to expand our CRA and uh pretty significantly. And so talk to our folks about what a difference it would make for the City of Lake Wales if we expanded the CRA.

SPEAKER_00 24:23

Well, we are presently in litigation with the county over that expansion. And uh the critical issue is um what I a little bit about what I mentioned earlier. We did it early enough to precede the county's uh adopting home rule. So, and our contention is we are grandfathered in. Okay. And we get to determine what the boundaries are. What the boundaries are.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

Okay. And um and that's what's in litigation now. We feel pretty good about the outcome, uh what that outcome is going to be. Yeah. And um and that's very significant for us because long term it will generate a great deal for the trust fund. And with that, we will be able to do the things that the statute is designed to do. Okay. Uh and it'll it'll be a uh significant uh opportunity. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

We're still in litigation on that. We think it's gonna go our way. We don't know. But if it did, and this is important because in our next episode, we're gonna talk more about the Dixie Wales built hotel. But talk, James, tell tell us, give us an idea um of what financial impact it would have on the city if we were made to get this expansion.

SPEAKER_04 25:54

Okay. If you don't mind, before I do that, I want to I want to put some of this in context for some of the folks that maybe didn't listen to the CRA episode or don't quite understand. It was one of our first five episodes, yeah. Yeah. So so and and I'm gonna I'm gonna simplify it. But uh but essentially, you know, uh everyone that owns property within our city limits pays taxes. They pay taxes to both the county, they pay taxes to the city. Um two-thirds, about two-thirds of everyone's property taxes go to the county. And we get about you know, uh a third of that. I'm sorry, say that again. Two-thirds goes to the county. Okay. And we we get about, you know, we get about a third, roughly of the taxes goes to the city, city resident. So we we use our third of those taxes to run all of our municipal operations, and then the rest goes to Polk County to spend however Polk County uh sees fit. So when you create a CRA uh special taxing district, we get to keep, we being the city of Lake Wales through our CRA, a portion of those taxes that would otherwise go to Polk County. That's important because we get to direct where those dollars get spent. We get to decide and keep that money inside our city limits and make sure it gets spent on improvements and investments to the citizens of Lake Wales rather than that money just being spent, it goes to the county. Um, you know, it could be spent over in Lakeland. It could be spent I mean, let me mention one thing. Go ahead. By all means.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

It's it has to be in order to have that advantage and keep that county uh tax revenue here, it has to be spent on community redevelopment. Yeah, it has to be cannot be general. Sure. Okay. Good point.

SPEAKER_04 27:52

That's a really good point. And so I I bring that up because this is why we're we're in litigation right now with Polk County. Um they don't want to lose some of that revenue. Sure. And to uh Robin's point, um, you know, that every citizen inside our city limits is also a county resident. They pay county, they pay county taxes. And so that that's true that's really the basis for for this lawsuit.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

So another thing too, excuse me. Sorry. Another thing too is, which is uh, I think to the credit of our city commission and our city manager, we have seen eye to eye. We've been pretty aggressive. Yeah. We've we've mentioned uh one lawsuit we have, and you know, I I have a lot of confidence in the court system. Been in it for my whole career. And um and and on another episode, we'll be talking about uh the Wales Build Hotel, which is uh we've obtained through litigation. Now, a lot of communities are timid about going to court. If we felt that it was the right thing to do, our city commission has not hesitated. Yeah, it all our votes have been unanimous.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

You're right. And I think that part of that is um, you know, people hear the word litigation and they automatically think it has to be mean and nasty. And and you know, like for instance, in the interactions we've had with the county, and I've not been deeply involved in those, but in the parts that I've been a part, you know, it's not it's not been contentious. I mean, we all understand why everyone needs these monies and wants these monies. And it's only common sense that you would want to try and keep as much local control as you can. So I don't I think everyone understands that. And I feel really good about our position right now. So let me come back though to if we do, if if the courts rule in our favor and they say we're in we are we're in the right and we're able to expand the CRA to the degree because it's a pretty large expansion and we know what's coming, what financial diff impact is it going to have on the city?

SPEAKER_04 30:12

Well, for for clarity, um we have expanded, and the the uh we're beginning to collect some revenue now. And I think if the county is successful, and um I don't think they will be, then um you know our our expansion will then get uh retracted. But but we we've already expanded and the large development, the uh Via Terra, it's called, is within that new CRA area. You know, it's hard to it's hard to you know quantify um w without them you know having built structures yet, but but they are well on their way now. Um and it it could be, you know, that's such a large development. It it could be in terms of revenue, tens of millions of dollars. Yeah. I mean tens of millions.

SPEAKER_01 31:07

And I only and again, that's all those are all possibilities. There we're we're feeling really good about it. We are but I think that that's important because in our next episode, again, we're gonna talk more about the Dixie Wales build, and we're talking significant investment from the city on that. And everybody gets a little nervous with those numbers, but it's helpful for the for helpful for them to understand some things that they are not privy to, and this might be helpful. Understood. We see, we see we I feel like, and we'll get into this next episode. I feel like we're okay where we are, but we're in real good shape if this all comes down the pike.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

I want I want to command. I want to commend the courage of our city commission, uh, city manager, mayor. So many people are just timid or um reluctant to step out and and uh assert ourselves like we have done. And um I've tried a lot of lawsuits, and my personal standard for going to trial or not is if we have an 80% chance and uh a lot of people unless it's a hundred percent, they've scared to death of it and and not gonna do it. Um but uh we have taken the position that if if we feel that it's a it's a position that we're entitled to, we're not going to be timid. We'll make that move. And yeah, I think uh I think if we had not done these things.

SPEAKER_03 32:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

Golly.

SPEAKER_04 33:00

Had we not been, and I'll say this um so so that you know all the listeners can connect the dots, had we not finally run the CRA and really initiated and engaged in true redevelopment to increase the tax increment revenue, we would not be in a position today to even be discussing restoration of the Wales built.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

Yeah, which okay, yeah, I can't. We're gonna do an episode on the Wales Bill. So let me finish up this episode because we're getting close to our time limit here. So, one more question I want for both of you because uh you both have been serving the city for quite some time. So, Mr. Gibson and then James. Um what Robin Robin and James, what are what has been the most significant positive changes that you have seen in the city, and what do you think are the biggest current challenges for the city?

SPEAKER_00 33:58

I want both of you to talk about that. Okay. Uh the significant changes to me are perfectly obvious. The reality of the physical changes that you see on Park Avenue in in the marketplace uh is only the beginning of what we're doing. But there it is, it's proof positive. And about forty percent of what we've done is underground.

SPEAKER_01 34:34

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

Because of the sophisticated way that we've handled drainage and utilities and all that kind of thing. So step one, what are the positive changes? Obvious, perfectly obvious. And a quick word about horticulture. My goodness. Um Kevin Polk, uh everybody, if if if he decides to leave town, he can't do it.

SPEAKER_01 35:07

We're gonna let the air out of his tiger.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

That's right. Uh so and the significant challenges in the future are twofold, in my view. Uh one is to keep this going economically, okay. But the other is very important, is to retain the small town quality. Okay. And that and and this is uh needs really another session, but the way to handle the economics so that you keep a small town quality is is critical. The the things that we are doing, the hotel, for instance, that's people coming and going, coming with disposable income, leaving that income in this town and going home, getting out of here. Um so that those um and that is what uh James has alluded to, us being a destination. That that should be our priority to be a destination. We are not aspiring to be any Orlando or Tampa or Lakeland for that matter.

SPEAKER_01 36:42

Yeah. Okay, great. Okay, now you, James. Biggest what do you think has been the most positive change recently, and what do you think is the biggest challenge in front of us?

SPEAKER_04 36:54

Well, uh I in general, let me just say, you know, uh incrementally even, um, you know, from where I said as a city manager, you know, to kind of scan the environment. You know, we and I would hope you all agree with me. Um, you know, being primarily a service, you know, provider here at the city, I think we we've been increasing our level of service across the board. Everything that we do has just gotten better. Um, and that's from you know, from public safety to parks and recreation. I mean, you know, at the end of the day, everything we do improves the quality of life for the people that live inside our city limits. And I think that that has uh become pretty obvious to me. Um but the uh the work we're doing in in our CRA, I would say is uh I'm extremely proud of that. It's been extremely positive. The community's behind it, and it it's making a real difference. And that's everything from the uh physical, you know, the physical realm improvements in the downtown to um you know, think about you know what what we've done and what we're doing with the legacy housing. I mean, we're we're over 70 homes we've re rehabbed at this point for low-income seniors. So we're we're really making a difference in people's lives. Um, I would say just across the board, I think we're doing pretty well. But um the the CRA, I think, has has been really the most positive in the work that we're doing there. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 38:23

Biggest, did you say biggest challenge in front of us?

SPEAKER_04 38:26

I did not say that, but um I I would say, you know, in general, um j just growth management. Yeah. You know, just growth management. Um and and you know, exacerbating that is the state legislature and and what they're constantly doing to preempt you know local government decisions as it relates to growth management and land development regulations. That that makes it that makes it extremely difficult uh for us um you know at the city, but for our residents as well.

SPEAKER_01 38:58

Okay. Thanks. Now, you know that we always solicit questions, and sometimes we get them. So uh you're the city manager. I'm gonna put one in front of you before we end this episode. Can't wait. We've got a question from a listener who is concerned about the gaps in sidewalks along Buckmore Road. They say that they see sidewalk developed in front uh put out in front of the new developments, but then there's places, big gaps in that. Are there any plans to get one continuous sidewalk down that road?

SPEAKER_04 39:27

I I think there's always ultimately a plan, but I'm gonna have to speak on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners. So Buckmore Road, though it's inside the city limits, is a county asset. So that's owned and maintained by the Polk County Board of County Commissioners. And the reason there have been some new sidewalks is because of the development that's occurred on that road. So as the county reviews those development plans, they'll require those developers to build sidewalks. Um, but in terms of you know our involvement, we we're not responsible for those sidewalks. However, I would um I would be very happy and glad to relay these concerns along to the folks within the Polk County government that actually uh maintain that road in the right of ways.

SPEAKER_01 40:11

Our our county representative is Mr. Wilson. It's Rick Wilson, yes, sir. So uh in case he doesn't listen to the mayor and the manager, we'll reach out to him and let him know about this citizen's concern. Absolutely. All right, very good. Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate you being a part, folks. This is episode number 14, and we always want to remind you that we are uh open to receiving your questions. Right there in the description that's underneath this podcast is the link to the email where you can send your questions, and we hope you all have a great day. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Mayor and the Manager. The goal of this podcast is to keep you up to date on all that is happening in the great city of Lake Wales. To that end, we would love to take questions from you and take the time to answer them. So if you have any questions, just click on submit a question in the description above this podcast.