Winter Haven Celebrates Increased EV Charging Stations

Winter Haven Mayor Brad Dantzler (right) addresses crowd at unveiling on new downtown EV charging stations

Winter Haven officials on Monday celebrated the addition of more electric vehicle charging stations in the downtown area

The new charging stations are in addition to facilities that had been previously installed in the city’s downtown parking garage.

“Electric is the future,” said Winter Haven Mayor Brad Dantzler, one of a crowd of EV owners who turned out for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

He said this event marks a significant change in transportation technology.

“I never thought in a million years I’d be talking about electric vehicles,” he said.

City officials tied this event to annual celebration of Earth Day, which will occur later this month.

The expansion of charging stations, which initially be available at no charge to EV owners, has been a goal connected to the increased public acceptance of electric vehicles.

Monday’s event attracted a crowd of about 50 EV owners and other members of the public.

Sierra supports increased use of electric vehicles as one approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that have been connected to climate change.

Ancient Islands Chair Tom Palmer, Vice Chair and Conservation Chair Marian Ryan and Clean Energy Committee Chair Karen Freedman attended the event.

This week President Joe Biden announced plans to increase regulations on emissions; from internal-combustion engines, which have powered vehicles for more than a century. In an attempt move the automobile market toward the adoption of more electric vehicles in coming years.

Florida is a key state in the climate change discussion because of the effects of sea-level rise and increased tropical storm activity.

This could affect inland areas of Florida in the future as climate refugees put more pressure on natural resources in this part of the state.

ICYMI It Has Been Hotter and Drier Around Here

What a difference six months makes.

Last fall many residents were worried about floods as torrential hurricane-related rainfall caused some rivers to surge into torrents few people alive today could recall.

Now residents are concerned about wildfires as local officials are imposing outdoor burn bans because the rain faucet is down to a drip .if that. in many places though there are predictions of some relief by next week.

According to the National Weather Service in Ruskin’s preliminary March data, it was the second driest March on record in Winter Haven, the fourth driest in Bartow and the fifth driest at Archbold Biological Station.

Meanwhile, it was the sixth warmest March on record in Lakeland (tied with a previous ranking from 1935), and the 9th hottest in Winter Haven and at Archbold. Other stations in the area are at double-digit rankings.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of spring goes between now and the start of hurricane season.

 

Sierra Wins Conservation Panel Appointment

Ancient Islands Group Chair Tom Palmer was appointed Tuesday to Polk County’s Conservation Land Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee. He was the only member of a local environmental organization to be named to t he 10-member committee.

The committee, which will be chaired by County Commissioner Rick Wilson, will make recommendations to the County Commission on purchases of land or conservation easements restricting future development. The purchases will be funded with a property tax approved in November by the voters.

The levy is estimated to generate $11.2 million in its first year of the 20-year authorization.

The amount of expected revenue became an issue when it was revealed that although the ballot measure called for a levy of 20 cents per $1,000 of taxable property, the authorizing ordinance states the levy not to exceed that amount of millage. That gives commissioners the authority to levy a lower amount if they choose.

This issue was raised by some members of the Polk Forever committee during Tuesday’s meeting.

Commissioners did not respond at that time, but following the meeting Chairman George Lindsey said there had been some discussion among he and his colleagues to reduce the millage in all of the funds by 3 percent to give taxpayers a break.

Commissioners will make a decision on the proposed millage later this year in preparation for public hearings in September to adopt next year’s budget.

 

Rainless Spring Start May Affect Outdoor Adventures

Spring began last week in the region, but if you want to get out on the water, check out conditions first.

The effects of last year’s moisture-laden hurricanes that raised water levels to record levels in some parts of the Peace River Valley have disappeared.

At the present time, water levels are barely high enough in some parts of the river to float a canoe.

As previously noted, there may be downstream obstructions that may have carried over from last year’s dry season despite efforts to promote a Blueway corridor in the incredibly scenic upper reaches of the Peace River.

The best advice is to check out conditions at various public lands along the river, particularly Peace River Hammock south of Fort Meade where last year two large trees blocked downstream passage.

Conditions are likely better south of Zolfo Springs.

If You’re Stuck In Traffic, Thank The Florida Legislature

Polk County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to update the impact fees they charge against new development to keep up with the increased traffic congestion that development causes.

But there’s a catch.

Legislators passed a law a few years ago that requires local officials to phase in the increases to provide relief for developers at your expense, commissioners were told as they prepared to vote.

That means the total effect of the impact fee increase won’t be felt for five years.

Add to that the local ordinance that gives developers several months of delay between the time the impact fee increase is improved and the time it actually takes effect.

The only somewhat bright spot in this imbroglio is that the County Commission has asked its staff to come up with a formula to determine how impact fee charges might be adjusted to account for developments such as warehouse distribution centers that generate more truck traffic than car traffic because of the obvious congestion truck traffic causes locally in places such as the State Road 33 corridor.

This is reportedly the first such attempt in Florida to deal with this disparity.

However, motorists may have to wait awhile on that change, too.

Happy driving.

 

East Polk Sprawlway Proceeds, Financed By Taxpayers, Not Tolls

While the long-sought eastern leg of the Central Polk Parkway remains unfunded, the development community has come up with an abbreviated Plan B.

This involves the extension of Powerline Road from its intersection with South Boulevard along an arching northwesterly route all the way to U.S. 17-92 on the north side of Davenport just north of the predominantly African-American Jamestown community.

This will be a public road, not a toll road. The original proposed route of the toll road would have taken it to U.S. 17-92 somewhere near Loughman with some sort of planned connection to an already congested segment of Interstate 4.

On Tuesday the County Commission quickly agreed to a $10.8 million reimbursement package in impact fee credits and cash from the taxpayer-funded county budget to the project’s developers, who will handle design, permitting and construction costs.

County Manager Bill Beasley said the project aligns with the commission’s road priorities of creating a parallel route in northeast Polk County to relieve current and future congestion on U.S. 27 and 17-92.

That’s the official story anyway. But it is only half the story.

For one thing, most of the congestion on those highways involve travel headed to destinations along those highways or beyond in places like Orlando and Tampa.

Additionally, what this, as with any developer-backed road project, is not about regional congestion, but is all about is opening more land in the countryside to more intense development.

The list of corporations scheduled to be reimbursed are all housed in the offices of the Berry-Cassidy development entities based near downtown Winter Haven.

This may be a shocker, but it seems the Berry-Cassidy folks already own substantial acreage near the road’s planned route. Once the new road is constructed, the now landlocked parcels will be eminently developable. There may be other nearby major landowners, such as Standard Sand & Silica, that could be interested in taking advantage of the new road as well

That, coupled with some of the leapfrog annexation and development approvals that Davenport officials have supported within the past year will eventually radically transform once-rural areas east of Davenport into another urban sprawl complex similar to what’s already happened elsewhere in the area.

And the idea that this will relieve congestion on U.S. 17-92 is laughable, since what it will really do is dump a lot more traffic onto what is not a relatively uncongested section of US. 17-92. There will be a traffic light, though, to keep traffic from moving too quickly.

But hold on to your wallets.

This is just the first phase.

The second phase that has been discussed would involve extending Powerline Road from Hinson Avenue in a southwesterly direction through even more undeveloped farmland to link to State Road 17 and maybe U.S. 27 itself somewhere on the south side of Haines City.

The land ownership along that potential route is more mixed, but that same Winter Haven address pops up on corporate ownerships of some of the major parcels. Just a coincidence, I’m sure.

 

 

Legislature May Seek To Put The Rights of Hunters, Anglers In Florida Constitution To Follow Growing National Trend

A review of the upcoming issues that the Florida Legislature will deal with when it convenes next week includes a proposed constitutional amendment submitted by Sen Jason Brodeur, R-Lake Mary, that would enshrine the right to hunt and fish into that document if legislators agree to put it on the 2024 ballot and if voters approve.

This was a head-scratcher at first, but a little research was enlightening.

It seems this is part of a trend in a number of states in recent years—Vermont passed a measure to this effect in 1777, but no other state bothered to raise the issue until Alabama did so in 1996—to enact such a measure.

Since then, voters in 23 states have enacted similar measures.

It seems to be a reaction to efforts by animal rights advocates, who are sometimes falsely portrayed in media reports as environmentalists, to limit hunting and to deal with the fact that population growth, urban sprawl and changing demographics in many states have reduced the amount of land available for hunting and that hunters comprise a much smaller part of the population than in earlier times and feel threatened.

There actually was a proposed measure that never made it to the Florida ballot a couple of years ago that proposed to ban hunting of “iconic species.”

It was actually an attempt to prohibit Florida black bear hunting, which was approved in 2016 for a single season and may be on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s agenda in the near future. The other species on the ballot measure’s list, such as red-cockaded woodpeckers and Florida manatees, had been protected species for decades or were never game species in the first place.

There is already an active campaign to oppose further bear hunting in Florida and this proposed constitutional amendment may have been filed in response to it or filed simply to make Florida’s constitution consistent with those in the other states in the Southeast that have already approved similar measures.

Stay tuned.