Fort Meade Hires New City Manager to Deal With Nearly $7 Million in Grants

Courtesy City of Fort Meade

Arriving in the midst of a crisis of riches, Edward Walker Dean will take over as Fort Meade's new city manager later this month.

After a year of interim managers, Fort Meade has at last settled upon a new leader to manage city affairs, and he is arriving just in time to face a "problem" some wouldn't mind dealing with.

On a 4-1 vote, city commissioners had offered the role to Edward Walker Dean last month, and his signing of the deal was reported during Tuesday's meeting of the board. His immediate challenge: trying to salvage an unused $5 million grant.

Fort Meade was the only Polk County city to receive the maximum $5 million amount as a "recovery" grant during the Covid-19 pandemic. Originally intended by former city officials to be used to expand a network of broadband internet throughout the city, that challenge was met by private enterprise, leaving the pool of money unspent.

The word that those grant funds will have to be redirected comes on the heels of a state grant of $1.95 announced last month to assist in developing the city's fire services. Those funds include $1.5 million for a new firehouse and $450,000 for a new command vehicle and safety equipment.

Dean has previously served as the city manager in Haines City during 2022 after coming from the north-Florida town of Greenville, where he had worked since 2017.

Dean lasted only eight months in Haines City before being fired by a divided city commission, also on a 4-1 vote. He was called back to Greenville in November to serve as the interim manager there.

Dean will earn an annual salary of $130,000 during his three-year contract.