Highland Park Manor Organizers Call a Second "Town Hall" Meeting

A "town hall" community organizing event is planned to take place Monday at the Mary Norma Campbell Resource Center in Highland Park Manor. The 7:00 pm event is the second meeting of the community located southeast of Lake Wales.

Concern over the lack of transparency by the City of Lake Wales over rezoning of an industrial site to accommodate proposed plastic pipe factory appears to be one of the catalysts for the revival of the neighborhood association. Both Highland Park Manor and the nearby Village of Highland Park lie adjacent to the Florida Midland Railroad and near the proposed site of the plant.

"The meetings to date have been aspirational," said event spokesperson Bruce Francis, "with...residents of the community listing many ways to improve the community, with the goal of making Highland Park Manor the best place to live in the area." Francis moved to the primarily minority-owned residential neighborhood several years ago.

Some 150 single-family homes line the streets in the neighborhood, and and adjacent mobile home park contains another 50 residences. The area is served by a Citrus Connection bus route that connects it with Lake Wales, Babson Park, and Frostproof.

The gathering will hear a presentation from Jessica Philips, a county code enforcement officer. The meeting agenda also includes discussion of county services available, and a proposal for welcoming signs at the entrances to the neighborhood.

Leading the Monday meeting will be lifelong Lake Wales residents Susan Burch Neumon and Kathryn Burch Neumon, a sister duo intent on leading the community to its goal of being the "best, most unified community" in the area. The conversation will include the discussion of legal options open to the community.

"The community will be united to the point that we can demand attentive representation from our elected representatives, county, state and indirectly city," Francis said.