Plant City Observer
y Observer
YO UR HOMETOW N. YO UR NEWSPAP ER .
VOLUME 6, NO. 130
YOUR HOMETOWN. YOUR NEWSPAPER FREE
•
THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021
. YO UR NEWS PAP ER . CITY PREPARES FOR REPAIRS AND MORE Commissioners went shopping for the city Monday evening and approved the next round of road resurfacing.
BREANNE WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
Ballfields and courts across the city will soon have new lighting following commissioners decision to enter a contract with Montoya Electric Service, Inc. for repairs to lighting systems at various park locations. Across the city, the Parks and Recreation Department has 61 various ball fields and courts that are lighted for evening use. The lighting systems “consist of 231 individual poles holding 1,414 light fixtures. Nearly 30 percent of these systems were installed in the 1990s or earlier,” according to the report.
Florida’s harsh climate and the age of the units have led to many poles needing new bulbs, ballasts, wiring and other repairs. It’s led to fields having a “lower than preferred” lighting level due to several issues that have begun to occur. The plan is to have all of the bulbs replaced while also repairing the dark fixtures and wiring. The total cost of repair on each pole will be unknown until the work begins. Repairing ball field lighting is consider to be a specialty, so the city piggybacked off of a Polk County contract with Montoya Electric Service, Inc. and proposed a contract “for repairs is a not-to-exceed $150,000.00, providing flexibility to do the repairs found at each pole.”
Queen
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
McKenna Jordan
®
CROWNED 2021 FLORIDA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL
Courtesy of Deanna Hurley Photography
In a year unlike any other, 29 girls went out in hopes of being crowned Strawberry Queen. Hundreds attended and hundreds more streamed the event from the comfort of their own homes. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3