PLANT CITY TIMES &
Observer
Salute to Agriculture luncheon.
SEE PAGE 6.
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 5, NO. 9
FREE
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2017
City manager search underway Efforts are being made to have final candidates interviewed as early as December. SEE PAGE 3 YOUR TOWN
Raiders rising to the challenge
Breanne Williams
An evening to die for The Friends of the Bruton Memorial Library’s Mystery Dinner Theater received a packed house Aug. 25 at the Trinkle Center. The annual show featured prominent citizens in Plant City and raised money for the Bruton Memorial Library. Attendees were provided a catered dinner and an open bar during the show. Toward the end of the play the cast sold clues on the murder mystery and audience members guessed the culprit, method and motive behind the crime. The final act revealed which table guessed correctly and the winner received a prize at the end of the show.
Plant City hosts Hillsborough tonight. SEE PAGE 12
Breanne Williams
Justin Kline
The Raiders are looking to get the on the right track against the Hillsborough Terriers.
City pays U.S. EPA more than $50,000 in settlement The settlement payment stems from an alleged April 2015 violation of notification guidelines
Miles for Smiles reaches goal Margie Gonzalez walked 87 miles for her 87th birthday. A member of Plant City’s General Federation of Women’s Clubs, Gonzalez raised money for Operation Smiles. She walked the final mile on Aug. 25 while joined by club members, friends and family. Gonzalez was able to successfully raise $5,300, which will provide 21 surgeries for those in need. She is still taking donations for the cause and anyone interested can contact her at 813-754-4656.
DANIEL FIGUEROA IV STAFF WRITER
The City Commission Aug. 14 approved a settlement agreement of almost $52,000 with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stemming from an April 2015 incident at a Plant City water facility. According to documents provided by the city, between the evening of April 20 and the morning of April 21, 2015, 4,000 gallons of sodium hypochlorite, also known as bleach, was leaked and pumped into a “small closed basin swale for rainwater onsite” and “percolated into the ground and did not leave the site” at the Airport Road facility. The plant’s chief operator, Patrick Murphy, was called to the site around 5:15 a.m. Cleanup and repairs began immediately. Sodium hypochlorite is commonly used in water treatment. According to
Turkey Creek Reunion
Daniel Figueroa IV
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “sodium hypochlorite appears to offer the best mix of low cost, ease of use, safety, and effectiveness in areas where there is enough water to drink and water is not exces-
sively turbid. These characteristics are the reasons most water treatment systems in the US and Europe have been using chlorine for disinfecting SEE EPA PAGE 3
The Plant City water treatment facility 2905 Airport Road where the Sodium Hypochlorite leaf occurred.
Strawberry school alumni gather at Expo Hall.
SEE PAGE 7.