Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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A long-awaited audit of the operations of a business incubator funded by the city of Lake Wales using federal grant funds has turned up several shortcomings but few details, despite a long delay. The audit, which covers only the first year of operations of the incubator, operated Florida Development Corporation, was ordered by the city following the arrest of the former FDC chief financial officer Charles Young on felony fraud charges. Young was accused by his former business...
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...
Charles Young, the chief financial officer of the BizLinc business incubator in Lake Wales, has been arrested at a residence in Lithia in Hillsborough County on an active Polk County warrant, Lake Wales News has confirmed through multiple sources. Available online information shows that Young has been charged with grand theft of $100,000 or more, and a second count of obtaining property by fraud, grand theft, $50,000. After his arrest on Saturday morning, he was transferred...
Business owners lined up at the beginning of the Lake Wales City Commission meeting Tuesday evening to explain to commissioners the various ways they are working to enhance the Lake Wales economy and the Northwest Neighborhood. They joined Florida Development Corp, Inc. COO Derrick Blue and CEO Frank Cornier after a special presentation period was added to the commission agenda. FDC operates the BizLINC business incubator under a $1.2 million contract with the City of Lake...
A new business incubator funded in large part by the City of Lake Wales was celebrated at a recent ribbon cutting featuring a host of government and business representatives. The 3,570 square-foot incubator was developed from a former dental office by Florida Development Corporation, which will be moving its headquarters to the new facility from Tampa, according to city sources. Some 75 guests joined officers of the corporation for the celebration. The $1.2 million...
The re-growth of a business district in the heart of the Northwest Neighborhood is the goal of a $1.2 million investment of American Rescue funds by the City of Lake Wales to spur creation of a business incubator. A ribbon cutting ceremony is now scheduled for noon on August 1 to mark the grand opening of BizLINC, located in a former dental office at 225 Lincoln Avenue. The grant of the federal funds last July has allowed Florida Development Corporation, a Tampa-based...
The sale of five lots owned by the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency will spur the development of new affordable housing for workers and retirees. An agreement for the sale of the five properties for a total of $34,157.00 to Florida Development Corp, Inc. (FDC) will allow the company to develop five two-bedroom rental units on the lots, located on Sessoms Avenue, D and E Streets. Although a staff report lists the units as having a single bathroom each, an attached floo...
A long-desired re-do of the aging Grove Manor housing complex north of downtown may be closer to reality if the recent actions of the city commission bear fruit. Commissioners, on a 4-0 vote, approved allotting all of the original funding, once spread over several phases of a reconstruction project, to be assigned to phase two of the 300-unit project. Commissioner Daniel Williams was absent. Housing Authority Executive Director Albert Kirkland Jr. and construction management...
The steady expansion of city limits is expected to continue at Tuesday's Lake Wales city commission meeting when the board will consider the annexation of 67.73 acres of land south of Lake Bella Road and east of US Highway 27. The property lies at the extreme southern tip of the municipal limits, and will bring those limits into contact with Blue Lake for the first time. Property owners and applicants for the annexation include Rama Food Mart LLC, Mckenna Brothers Inc, Hunt...
In a further plan to facilitate the growth of the City of Lake Wales, city commissioners are poised to adopt an exclusive utility service area ordinance intended to keep neighboring municipalities from intruding into city interests. Citing "the City's municipal home rule powers under Chapter 166, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 180, Florida Statutes," the ordinance will provide a legal basis for defending the city's interests. An intrusion by the city of Winter Haven into the...
A $1.2 million contribution from the City of Lake Wales will empower a new business incubator designed to increase the number of new businesses and entrepreneurs in Lake Wales. Funds for the project will come from the American Rescue Act which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden last year. The city received some $7 million which must be directed to economic development projects. The funds will be directed to the operations of "Bizlink," which will...
The parade of development proposals that have stirred citizen concerns of runaway changes to Lake Wales continued to be evident at the most recent city commission meeting as details emerged for several more projects. A calculation by LakeWalesNews.Net staff has indicated that more than 12,000 new single-family homes, townhomes, apartments, and mobile homes are included in developments already on the drawing table. At least three other projects have been proposed but remain to...
The fate of the storied Walesbilt Hotel has been placed in the hands of the courts after the City of Lake Wales and the Community Redevelopment Agency filed a twelve-count lawsuit in Circuit Court. The lawsuit effectively deters any immediate work to rehabilitate the structure, which has been the focus of interest by a team of developers working with current owner Ray Brown. The lawsuit alleges that Brown, through his corporation Dixie Walesbilt LLC, defrauded the City and...
The year just completed saw a number of big stories that impacted the Lake Wales community, and we've taken a look back at them through the perspective of the new year. Here's how our staff ranked the biggest stories of 2021. 1) A development surge saw multiple projects brought forward for consideration by the Lake Wales Development Services and the City Commission, including the long-dormant Winter Haven Corporation project which is expected to include more than 6,000 new...
A proposed multi-million dollar rehabilitation and redevelopment of the eleven-story Walesbilt Hotel in downtown Lake wales crept closer to reality Tuesday as representatives of a development team met with city officials to negotiate an agreement on the project. A second meeting is planned for Thursday. The city issued a statement on Wednesday evening characterizing the initial meeting as "productive." Representatives of the developers offered no comment on the negotiations...
Population growth on the US 27 corridor has led transportation planners to plot the future course of an "alternate" route that will parallel the busy inter-regional highway. The proposed limited-access toll expressway will thread its way around the west side of Lake Wales before crossing US 27 near the north city limits to run along the Ridge east of Dundee and Haines City. Planning maps released by the Polk Transportation Planning Organization, a multi-agency body which...
Only months after a May 4 grand opening, the 335-unit Serenity Apartments near Eagle Ridge Mall have hit more than 96% occupancy, and expect to be filled "in a week or two" according to leasing staff on site. "People are coming from all over," said Leslie Adams, leasing consultant for the owners, NM Residential. "We have several new residents who work at the hospital in Sebring. We have people from New York, South Florida, the islands..." People are cominig to Lake Wales for...
Say what you will about Florida (and many of you have), but we’ve sure got some unusual crimes here. A surprising number of them involve reptiles. You have probably heard about the guy who, in 2016, tossed an alligator through a Wendy’s drive-thru window in Royal Palm Beach. Last year, Sanford police recovered a five-foot pet iguana named “Smog” that had been kidnapped (lizard-napped?) from a smoke shop. Earlier this year, someone stole 13 Argentine tegus from a reptile...
The Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency has agreed to sell a parcel of land at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and B Street on which developers have proposed a mixed-use building that includes both commercial and residential space. After the city issued a request for proposals, two bids were received to develop the vacant tract, currently owned by both the city and CRA. Florida Development Corporation was unanimously approved as the firm to move forward with its...
Eleven shovels broke ground Saturday, May 1 to signal the ceremonial start of an affordable housing initiative in the city's northwest community. "I hope you feel as optimistic as I do about the future of Lake Wales," said Lake Wales City Manager James Slaton. "We are providing hope to families to move into beautiful homes." The groundbreaking was for the first two homes being built as a partnership of the Keystone Challenge Fund, the city's Community Redevelopment Agency,...
May will be a big month in the city's northwest business district. Community Redevelopment Agency Coordinator Darrell Starling called it the "coming out party for economic development on Lincoln Avenue." The Lincoln Community Development Corporation will host its first Northwest Community Market from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 1 at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and B Street. The event will include vendors, entertainers, a Kids Zone with bounce house, spoken word and...
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated by Executive Editor Chevon Baccus after the Sept. 16 CRA meeting. City commissioners agreed to invest $460,000 to help finance a proposed redevelopment of the 140-unit Grove Manor public housing complex. Pantheon Development, which in 2018 formed a partnership with the Lake Wales Housing Authority to do the work, requested the money from the city's Community Redevelopment Agency as part of a plan to help finance the construction of six...
This is the tenth installment in the Lake Wales Renaissance series. Lake Wales City Commissioner Robin Gibson serves as Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. Best Bang for the Buck Trees are the best. Their mere presence improves individual property values. Collectively they improve the town's tax base as a whole. The improved value comes from the purchaser's desire to buy the advantages of appearance and aesthetics. Not only do trees...
The largest single development project in Lake Wales history has taken the first small step to becoming a reality. Winter Haven Corporation has revealed plans to develop 1,800 acres of vacant land south of Thompson Nursery Road. The company hopes to master plan all 1,800 acres at once, company officials said. About 600 acres of the property would remain undeveloped, officials added. As such, city commissioners approved a first-reading Feb. 18 of an ordinance that would allow a...
The president of the newly formed Lincoln Community Development Corporation is calling for Lake Wales police to start wearing body cameras to document interactions with suspects and the general public. Attorney Sara Jones said she also would like to see police get more training and make a stronger commitment to community policing to enhance relationships with citizens, especially in the northwest community. To discuss Jones' requests, city commissioners will hold a workshop...
