Plant City Observer
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VOLUME 6, NO. 129
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FREE • THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021
BUDGET ALTERATIONS AND ORDINANCE CLEANUPS BREANNE WILLIAMS
The first city commission meeting of 2021 was relatively smooth sailing as commissioners sat through a few public hearings and approved some minor budget and ordinance modifications.
STAFF WRITER
The community gathered in City Hall Monday evening for the first City Commission meeting of 2021. It was a relatively light agenda compared to some of the massive public hearings that filled the last few meetings of 2020. However, some small but impactful changes were made regarding alterations to the budget and city ordinances.
One of the updates that came from Monday’s commission meeting was a modification to the consulting work order for the Dog Park Pedestrian Bridge project. Toward the end of 2018, the City of Plant City retained the engineering firm Kimley-Horn under a continuing contract to develop construction plans for improvements to the dog park, which is located near Pennsylvania Avenue and East Calhoun Street.
After the design was done, the city solicited bids. A contract was approved by commissioners and construction is currently underway. However, the lighting originally picked out for the project is now discontinued, so the city had to get it redesigned. The city also requested a review and approval of the bridge structure submittal.
FANCY FARMS
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STARTING NEXT CHAPTER OF FAMILY’S LEGACY: A UNIQUE MARKET ON THE EDGE OF THE COUNTY BREANNE WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
Fresh local produce, delectable desserts, a view that’s hard to beat and the chance to learn more about the strawberry industry are all found at the new Fancy Farms Market. When you pull into the new Fancy Farms Market on Drane Field Road, you aren’t just strolling up to another farmer’s market. You’re walking into a piece of the Grooms’ family legacy. As the sun casts its beams across rows of neatly planted strawberries, families gather around a wooden table to sip on their fresh strawberry milkshakes and fight over a bag of sweet strawberry cookies. Kristi Grooms, daughter of Fancy Farms founders Carl and Dee Dee Grooms, was chatting with new arrivals over a flat of berries that were picked that morning. She gestures toward the field beside them and with a laugh walks the curious
family into one of the rows. Bending over, she points out the different parts of the plant, showing how the sweet berries bloom from the delicate flowers scattered among the plants. The family expected to pop in and grab a milkshake and some produce and leave. Instead they were gifted something unexpected: decades worth of memories, industry knowledge and an inside look at what local strawberry farmers do to bring the crop to life. It’s a memory they likely won’t forget and a large part of why — despite only being open for a month — many customers have become frequent visitors to the market.
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