February 2014 - Access Lakeland

30290-I-0141

City of Lakeland’s Monthly Newsletter

February 2014

IN THIS ISSUE

How Does Public Power Benefit You?

A Brief Bit: Public Works Tue, Feb 25 • Florida Southern College Thu, Feb 27 • Atlanta Braves Fri, Feb 28 • New York Yankees

Meet Michael Mustard: LGN Cablecast Producer

Sat, Mar 1 • Houston Astros Mon, Mar 3 • St. Louis Cardinals Tue, Mar 4 • Pittsburgh Pirates Thu, Mar 6 • Philadelphia Phillies Sat, Mar 8 • New York Mets

Spring Obsession: Lakeland In Full Bloom

Tue, Mar 11 • Toronto Blue Jays Thu, Mar 13 • Miami Marlins Fri, Mar 14 • Washington Nationals Sat, Mar 15 • Houston Astros Mon, Mar 17 • Washington Nationals Tue, Mar 18 • Toronto Blue Jays Sun, Mar 23 • Miami Marlins

228 S. Massachusetts Ave. Lakeland, FL 33801 863.834.6000 www.lakelandgov.net

Tue Mar 25 & Thu, Mar 27 • Atlanta Braves Fri, Mar 28 • Tampa Bay Rays *** ALL GAMES AT 1:05PM

This year marks the Tigers 78th season in Lakeland, extending the longest-lasting relationship between a major league baseball team and a current Spring Training host city. The Detroit Tigers began coming to Lakeland for Spring Training in 1934 and have been coming back ever since.

The 2014 spring season will be the clubs's 49th consecutive season of exhibition play at Joker Marchant Stadium in Tiger Town. Tiger Town is the Spring Training headquarters for the Detroit Tigers and the regular season home of its minor league farm team in the Class A Florida State League, the Lakeland Flying Tigers.

Tiger Town is owned and operated by the City of Lakeland and the City of Lakeland's Parks and Recreation department is responsible for maintaining the facilities. Named in honor of the late Joker Marchant, Lakeland's former parks and recreation director, Joker Marchant Stadium was used by the Detroit Tigers for Spring Training for the first time in 1966.

With 8,000 stadium seats and an outdoor berm that seats 1,000 guests, there is not better place to enjoy a baseball game!

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Tigers website at:

detroit.tigers.mlb.com

Monthly Comparison of Residential Electric Rates

Source: Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) Monthly Utility Bill Comparison • November 2013

www.lakelandelectric.com

*per 1,200 kWh usage

WHAT IS PUBLIC POWER AND HOW DOES IT BENEFIT YOU? Lakeland Electric has been owned by the community since 1904 and provides electricity for over 120,000 customers. This local ownership means that utility decisions are made for the benefit of the people and businesses of Lakeland.

The Lakeland City Commission sets the utility’s policies – not a corporate board located across the country or around the world.

Almost all the actions we undertake in our home and business environment require electricity.

Because of that, Lakeland Electric is not only in the community power business, but also in the community planning business. The availability of safe, reliable, and cost effective electricity is a major factor in Lakeland’s ability to attract and keep businesses and help those businesses and individuals who work for them prosper.

No tax dollars are used to support our electric service. We operate our utility on a not-for-profit basis, setting electricity rates to cover all costs.

Rates are set so that some money can transfer to the City of Lakeland’s general fund, holding down community expenses while delivering a high level of community services, such as fire protection, a dedicated police force as well as first-rate recreation programs and award-winning parks facilities.

Lakeland Electric’s contribution not only helps support the police and fire departments, but it also allows us to have one of the lowest property taxes in the State, especially for a community that offers the level of services that we do. Last fiscal year alone, this transfer amounted to $24.5 million.

Without Lakeland Electric’s contribution, the City of Lakeland would have to raise taxes to help cover all of the community’s needs. In fact, Ad Valorem Taxes would have to more than double if the dividend was eliminated.

The City of Lakeland collects about $18 million in property taxes as part of general fund revenues.

The entire general fund budget is $93.4 million

Over $38 million of the City’s general fund budget comes from dividend transfers. These dividend transfers are from enterprise operations such as Lakeland Electric, Water Utilities, Wastewater Utilities and Solid Waste.

Lakeland Electric’s dividend is derived from a small percentage of the base rate. Lakeland Electric makes no profit on fuel used to generate electricity.

Our customers are charged only what we pay for fuel as a part of making and delivering electricity to your home or business.

If an independent electric company provided service to Lakeland, it would pay its shareholders a cash dividend. A community based utility that pays back to the City in order to keep property taxes in check is a good thing.

Valuable dollars stay within the area and contribute to the community’s quality of life instead of a stock holder’s wallet. If contributions from Lakeland Electric went away tomorrow, the city would have to increase property taxes or drastically reduce city services. Either way, the quality of life enjoyed by the community would suffer.

Having a community-owned utility like Lakeland Electric has many distinct characteristics that benefit the citizens of Lakeland.

These benefits include: • • • • • • • •

Lower property taxes Responsiveness to customer concerns All customers are represented by the utility board Open utility meetings – aired on television Long-term goals that parallel with City’s strategic planning initiatives Quick response from crews that live and work in the community Greater portion of revenues stay in Lakeland Local employment

Academy Topics Include: Electricity Explained Power Plant & Substation Tours Accessing your “Smart Meter” information on the web Energy Efficiency Utility Financials & Rate Structures CLASS 2 BEGINS APRIL 8, 2014 SIGN UP TODAY! The Lakeland Electric Customer Academy is a free, interactive informational program that allows you, our customer, the opportunity to gain insight into your community-owned electric utility and discuss energy industry “hot topics” with subject matter experts.

The academy will consist of six (6) two (2) hour evening sessions, with sessions held on every other Tuesday from 6-8 p.m. Refreshments will be served prior to each session between 5:30-6:00 p.m. Participants are highly encouraged to attend all six sessions to get the most from the program.

Class size is limited to the first thirty (30) Lakeland Electric customers who sign up, under Education & Careers at:

www.lakelandelectric.com

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Public Works Many might consider the City of Lakeland’s Public Works Department to be the backbone of the City.

A uniquely diverse organization made up of (7) divisions and 265 full-time employees, this department maintains a variety of vital services that we use everyday but often don’t think about. The divisions under the Public Works umbrella of services are: n Engineering - provides for the construction and acquisitions of necessary right-of-ways for transportation facilities throughout the City n Construction & Maintenance – maintains streets, sidewalks, drainage facilities and alleys within the City n Traffic Operations & Parking Services - provides safe, convenient parking facilities and assist businesses by reducing parking issues through consistent enforcement n Lakes & Stormwater - provides programs and services for the preservation and enhancement of surface water and other natural resources in the City including flood control and stormwater infrastructure n Solid Waste & Recycling – provides efficient, reliable, cost effective, and environmentally conscious solid waste and recycling collection services n Facilities Maintenance - maintains and constructs safe, clean and secure City facilities for visitors and employees n Fleet Management - purchases, manages, maintains, and services City vehicles and equipment

LIKE US ON

Did YouKnow?

traffic operations maintains over traffic signs

26,000

While most of the divisions provide services to our citizens, two divisions, Facilities Maintenance and Fleet Management, provide services solely to the internal functions of City of Lakeland departments and divisions.

For more information on Public Works visit our website at www.lakelandgov.net.

G OV E R N M E N T E M P L OY E E S AT WO R K

Meet Mike Mustard Meet Mike Mustard Cablecast Producer for the LGN, the City of Lakeland’s government access television station. The City of Lakeland airs programming on Channel 615 for those citizens that have Bright House Networks cable and on Channel 43 for those on Verizon FiOS. Mustard is a Florida native. He was born in Miami and during his formative years, he fell in love with cameras.

Mustard said, “I’ve always been interested in the observation of government.” He added, “I blame that on my mother because growing up, she would always watch the Dade County School Board meetings on PBS and we watched every minute of the Watergate Hearings.”

Even though he had a passion for video and photography, Mustard initially went into the field of law enforcement. He received a criminology degree from Florida State University. He said, “I realized while at the police academy right before becoming a sworn officer that I wanted to pursue video production so I enrolled in the communications program at Florida International University.”

Mustard’s first job in the field of television production was at the Tallahassee public access and government access stations in 1980. He said, “Those early years of cable television are really what drove me toward a career.” After a few years in Tallahassee he moved to Coral Gables to assist in the start-up of their government access television station. Mustard said, “I was there for over 11 years and basically started their program from scratch.”

He then went to Orlando and worked as the station manager for Orange TV, the Orange County government access television. He said, “I was there for over 10 years and oversaw a dozen employees.

However, I missed being in a smaller environment and wanted the challenge of starting a new station so I went to Punta Gorda and helped them get their government access station off the ground.”

Mustard came to Lakeland in 2004 as the City looked to expand their very minimal government access television operation. He said, “I’m proud to say that I played a large role in Lakeland expanding their government access programming from City Commission meetings aired only on Mondays to a 24 hour a day operation that includes all live meetings and many mobile productions.” He added, “I guess my niche is injecting mobile productions and broadcast engineering services to communities wanting to start government access television stations with very little or no budgets.”

When asked about the future of television, Mustard responded, “I envisioned video on demand decades ago, long before its existence. The ability to watch issues on demand and search video clips by agenda items help people access local government.”

He added, “The internet is changing the way we view things and it will continue to evolve.”

Mustard and his wife Sharon give back to the community by participating in the foster parent program. They have been foster parents for the past four years and he serves on the State’s Foster Parent Advisory Committee. “We’ve had eight children stay with us over the past four years,” he said. “Some have been with us as little as a month and others have been with us for over two years.”

The Mustards currently have three foster children living with them. He said, “We take care of infants and toddlers and it is very rewarding when kids are successfully reunited with caring parents.

It is also very rewarding to come home after a hard day and have a toddler crawl into your lap and smile.

Mustard has gone above and beyond his duties as a foster parent even assisting young mothers get their life back together so they can be reunited with their children.

Mustard’s favorite food is Cuban fried pork with yucca and black beans. Interestingly enough, he hates mustard as a condiment but loves mayonnaise. When not watching the news or LGN, his favorite television show is Scandal and he enjoys any movie with Jodie Foster. He said,“I really like All the Presidents Men but Silence of the Lambs is probably my favorite movie.”

When asked about his favorite color, Mustard said, “I like green. In fact, the green in the LGN logo is my favorite color.”

His hobbies include decorating his house and collecting off-the-wall decorations for Halloween and Christmas. The Mustard’s home is very easy to identify during those times of the year. He married his wife on Halloween so that day is very special to him.

They have a 24 year-old son AJ. Those that work with Mustard know that his a very passionate about what he does and that includes his work for special needs children and foster children. He said, “I feel that someone needs to lobby and take care of those that can’t take care of themselves.”

DO YOU KNOW WHERE CLIPPINGS SHOULD GO? Sweep them back onto your lawn

EVERY TIME you mow!

STAY CONNECTED

2014 Spring Obsession Lakeland in Full Bloom

Come to Munn Park on Saturday, March 8, 2014 from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. for the 12th Annual Spring Obsession, Garden and Art Festival. Enjoy a free family day of activities while exploring the many flowers and plants for sale, attend garden presentations, purchase art for the patio and listen to live music from the jazz band Free Time.

It is time to stock up on all your spring plant needs including: flowering plants for house and garden, outdoor plants for your landscaping, and garden art and accessories to spice up your lawn or patio. Learn about jazzing up your yard from landscaping professionals as part of the garden presentations. There will also be a presentation on rain barrels and water conservation with decorative rain barrels available for purchase.

Delight in hard to find exotics, orchids, Florida native plants, roses, herbs, gingers, and more as you stroll through Munn Park to the sounds of Free Time.

Free Time will play an eclectic and entertaining blend of musical styles ranging from Al Jarreau and Stevie Wonder to Bob Marley, Miles Davis, Grover Washington, Duke Ellington and BB King. Spring Obsession is a nonprofit event with this year’s proceeds contributing to the funding of bicycle racks for Downtown Lakeland.

City Adopts New Zoning Code

POLLUTION HOTLINE 863.834.3300

springbreak CAMP MARCH 25-29 • 7:30AM-5:30PM KELLY RECREATION COMPLEX $50 per child • K-5 Swimming • Movies • Parks & More REGISTER @ KELLY RECREATION COMPLEX

ONLINE www.lakelandgov.net

The City of Lakeland has adopted a new zoning code (land development code) and a new zoning map which will take effect March 3rd, 2014. The new code is the first major rewrite of the zoning regulations in twenty years. Until the new code and map take effect, the current land development regulations and current zoning map remain in force.

Although the code has been completely reorganized, many of the standards and procedures are unchanged.

The zoning districts and the list of permitted land uses remain essentially the same. The primary change is the addition of development standards that promote better site design, connectivity and walkability and prevent the intrusion of suburban forms that detract from the character of the central city. The new standards regulate such things as block size, parking location, how buildings orient toward the street, open space and outdoor lighting. The new zoning map adds context districts that divide the city into urban and suburban neighborhoods, centers, corridors and special purpose districts. The development standards vary depending on the context district.

Some development standards have been reduced and some and procedural requirements have been adjusted to allow greater design flexibility.

The new code and a generalized version of the new zoning map can be viewed at www.lakelandgov.net

L O G O N. T U N E I N. G E T C O N N E C T E D.

www.lakelandgov.net

IN PERSON City Hall is open 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Monday-Friday PUBLIC MEETINGS City Commission Meetings First and Third Monday 9:00 a.m.

Utility Committee Meetings First Monday 1:00 p.m.

Watch the live broadcast on:

Channel 615 (Brighthouse) or Channel 43 (Verizon FiOS) IMPORTANT NUMBERS City Hall 863.834.6000 Lakeland Electric Customer Service 863.834.9535 Power or Water Outages 863.834.4248 Pollution Hotline 863.834.3300 PAYING YOUR UTILITY BILL ONLINE www.lakelandelectric.com

BY PHONE 863.834.9535 IN PERSON Lakeland Electric has partnered with over 50 local businesses including area AMSCOT offices to accept your utility payment.