Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Construction has begun on the long-planned Advanced Drainage System manufacturing plant in Lake Wales. Work preparing the nearly 100-acre site east of South 11th Street is currently employing more than a dozen earth-moving machines, as well as surveyors and other crew. Meanwhile, Duke Energy workers are installing upgraded electrical service along Hunt Brothers Road to the site. The manufacturing building and associated offices could eventually cover 400,000 square feet and...
A very serious crash blocked SR 60 in both directions only a half-mile west of US 27 Saturday afternon, causing a massive backup for both east and west-bound traffic. UPDATE: All lanes of SR 60 were cleared by 3:30 p.m., allowing normal traffic to resume. The 1:48 p.m. incident drew nearly a dozen emergency vehicles and nearly a score of personnel to the scene to redirect traffic. Although no official word has been released, it was apparent that at least one vehicle had been...
With much of central Florida in a serious drought situation and wildfires becoming a growing threat, forecasters are at last predicting a potential start to the normal summer rainy season. Conditions across the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico will begin to normalize over the coming week as the "Bermuda High," a sprawling moisture pump that feeds moist tropical air northward to Florida, beginning to set up in the Atlantic. At the same time, a persistent high-pressure area that has...
The drought and intense heatwave that has gripped the Ridge and most of central Florida has led Polk County to declare an outdoor burn ban which will go into effect next week. The move comes just as the 2024 hurricane season begins. The annual six-month cyclone season is predicted to be far more active than normal by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a host of private weather predictions. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center has released a forecast...
Work has begun on Hickory Ridge, an 85-lot single-family subdivision that will rise just east of Lake Wales Country Club. The project is the work of Garden Street Communities Southeast, based in Pensacola, FL. It adds to the growing list of residential projects now under development in the southeast quadrant of the city. Site work is underway, being conducted by Diamondback Civil. The 47-acre project site lies in unincorporated Polk County and includes a significant wetland...
A new 24-hour Dunkin outlet is planned for a small outparcel facing SR 60 East at Southgate Shopping Center in Lake Wales. Dunkin has two existing outlets in the city, which are expected to remain. Approval of the site plan will be considered by the city's Planning and Zoning Board at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 28. Designs for the proposed free-standing building include the 24-hour one-lane drive-through service window as well as an indoor lobby open during more limited hours....
The newly-bricked and landscaped Park Avenue served as the backdrop for a recent ribbon cutting marking the official start of service by the new downtown shuttle known as The Squeeze. A happy crowd of citizens and officials representing Lake Wales Main Street, the Citrus Connection, the City of Lake Wales, and the Community Redevelopment agency shared the moment, celebrating the rapid changes coming to the city. The service is already earning great reviews from shoppers and lu...
A new convenience store "with gasoline service and outdoor display and sales" is planned for the northeast side of Lake Wales, according to a proposed site plan on the Tuesday agenda of the city's Planning and Zoning board. The seven-member P&Z board will consider whether to recommend approval of a Special Exception Use Permit for the 3.1 acre site on the southwest corner of Burns Avenue and Buck Moore Road. The intersection is presently signalized but a long-term...
Lake Wales City manager James is among a group of five finalists and two alternates that have been winnowed from a long list of candidates being considered for the city manager's job there following a Thursday evening special meeting of the beach town's city commission. The discussion among that city's board focused on the mechanisms that will be employed in interviewing the candidates, some of whom come from distant states and will fly in to inte4rviews. Discussion within...
A community "open house" planned for Monday, May 20 will give area residents an opportunity to discuss key economic issues and and perceived opportunities that may help shape the future of Lake Wales. The five-hour "drop in" will be hosted by the Central Florida Regional Planning Council under a contract with the City of Lake Wales. Residents are invited to share their thoughts on the draft Economic Development Strategy and discuss the "identified goals, strategies, and next...
Lunch-hour diners and shoppers will find getting around downtown Lake Wales a breeze beginning Monday as the newest city service arrives in town. Described as "fast, frequent, and fun," The Squeeze will offer free transportation around the city's center, ranging between Central and Crystal Avenues between First Street and Market Street. The service will utilize new 8-passenger open-air "golf cart" style vehicles to shuttle guests to and from area businesses. The shuttles will...
A brief swearing-in ceremony at the start of Tuesday's city commission meeting saw newly-elected Commissioner Carol Gillespie join the board. Gillespie, joined by her husband Gary Robillard, stood before the audience and repeated the oath as read by City Clerk Jennifer Nanek. Gillespie won seat 4 on the five-person commission by a wide margin over incumbent Danny Krueger. The swearing-in event was met with applause from an enthusiastic group of supporters. Speaking during...
Attorneys representing the City of Lake Wales have filed a motion for final judgement in their two-year pursuit of a lawsuit against Dixie Walesbilt LLC. The motion seeks to dismiss all counts in the suit beyond the two already decided in favor of the city. The two counts already decided by the court concluded that Dixie Walesbilt principal Ray Brown had committed "fraud in the inducement" to trick the city into assigning the title to his firm. The city had granted title to th...
A new Panera Bread restaurant is expected to rise soon on a vacant parcel adjacent to the Aldi grocery on US 27 north in Lake Wales. City officials have revealed that they have conducted a pre-construction meeting with the developer, and construction should begin within weeks. Panera is the latest in a wave of chain restaurants finding sites on the fast-growing corridor near Eagle Ridge Mall. Panera Bread, based in St. Louis, MO, offers a bakery-café style restaurant that...
Scorching temperatures are expected to bake the Ridge area this week before increasing clouds bring growing rain chances to the area early next week. Floridians acclimated to warmth may still be shocked to encounter temperatures rising into the 90s to near 100° this week under sunny skies. Long-range models are showing that relief could come with more cloud cover beginning as soon as Sunday. The baking temperatures are adding to the stress of gardens, lawns, and even trees....
The oldest business in Lake Wales is celebrating yet another significant date. On May 15 the venerable Yeoman's Feed and Seed marks its 111th year and its first year under the ownership of John and Chuck Elam, who purchased it from Richard Jahna. The company has remained in continuous business in Lake Wales since 1913. The Orange Avenue operation is receiving high marks from area residents for the many improvements the brothers have brought to the operation. The business...
A new Park Avenue is steadily emerging in downtown Lake Wales as work continues on the first phase of a multi-million dollar reimagining of the city's heart. The ongoing work is creating a shady pedestrian oasis in the heart of the city, replete with rows of spreading live oaks, new benches, lighting, wider sidewalks, and brick-paved streets and parking areas. The stretch of Park Avenue between First and Market streets is rapidly nearing completion, offering business owners an...
An affidavit released by Lake Wales Police and the District State Attorney’s office Monday afternoon contains new details in the case that has resulted in the arrest of Charles Young, CEO of BizLinc, a city-funded business incubator in Lake Wales. Young was arrested on two felony counts by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputies at a Lithia residence on Saturday, to be transferred to Polk to face the charges. Young was a partner in Florida Development Corporation. FDC rec...
Lake Wales City Manager James Slaton is on a short list of finalists under consideration to serve as city manager of New Smyrna Beach. Two Lake Wales city commissioners reached by Lake Wales News were unaware, and withheld comment. Slaton, 46, has managed the city for almost four years after the prior city manager, Ken Fields, was forced to resign by unhappy commissioners. Slaton was offered the job in October 2020 after having served as an interim manager for over five months...
A proposal that some city commissioners and staff saw as the best opportunity so far to implement the Lake Wales Envisioned plan died Tuesday night on a 3-2 vote. The concept of a 24-unit single-family community on a 1.46 acre parcel generated intense opposition from residents of the neighborhood, located around the 3.566 acre Lake Alta Park. Commissioners received a letter signed by two dozen of them asking that the proposal be denied, and multiple speakers had criticized the...
A community gathering drew a large group of current, future, and former city officials Sunday evening to initiate what some hope will become a new "unity" effort in Lake Wales, Current city commissioners Keith Thompson and Daniel Williams joined commissioner-elect Carol Gillespie, former commissioners Terrye Howell and Curtis Gibson, and former mayor Gene Fultz at the cookout at the city's B Street Center. The officials were greeted by several dozen citizens who enjoyed a...
Lake Wales Charter Schools Superintendent Dr. Wayne Rodolfich has spent more than two weeks "working from home" after anonymous grievances were filed, apparently by employees who had worked with him in the school district's home office on Central Avenue in Lake Wales. The charter school's human resources officer, LaQuanda Burroughs, reported to the at a special meeting on March 28 that three different grievances had been filed. After hearing of the grievances, charter school...
The vision of a "Big Green Network" of environmental lands flanking Lake Wales to the east and west moved a small step closer to reality this week as Polk County's environmental lands program addressed the possibility of acquiring a large tract of land just northeast of the city. The expanse of lands totaling 1,195 acres spanning Masterpiece Road and partially surrounding the former Masterpiece Gardens tourist attraction belong to corporations or individual members of the...
The popular network of walking and biking trails weaving through Lake Wales is about to grow a great deal better, thanks to grants received by the city. New planned segments include the Ridge Scenic Highway Connector Trail that will connect the western end of the Lake Wales Trailway to the new Park Avenue Trail near Crystal Lake. It will run south along Third Street from a point just west of the Lake Wales Little Theatre, thereby also accessing the Lake Wailes Trail. That link...
A one-vote margin in a Lake Wales election between incumbent Commissioner Daniel Williams and challenger Brandon Alvarado has cast a bright light upon the processes required in the situation by city ordinance and Florida statutes that Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson called "unbelievably complicated." The three-way race for a new three-year term on the District 2 seat of the city commission ended Tuesday with Williams and Alvarado as the top two vote-getters collecting 939 and 938...
