Deric C. Feacher
City Manager
863-421-3600
|
|
Each year, I have the opportunity to give the State of the City Address at the Greater Haines City Area Chamber of Commerce Luncheon. This year, the Communications and Marketing Division, working in conjunction with our Department Directors, created a list of Citywide achievements from this past fiscal year. Click on the link below to see the many achievements throughout the City, continually moving HCForward!
|
|
Jeffrey Brown
Deputy City Manager
863-421-3600
|
|
Stephanie Snively
Communications and Marketing Manager
863-421-9951
|
|
Margie Wells
Senior Executive Assistant
863-421-5560
|
|
Linda Bourgeois
City Clerk
|
|
The City Clerk’s office is happy to announce the success of the Emerging Youth Advisory Council’s Community Service Project which was completed during Florida City Government Week, October 22-28, 2018. This year, participation consisted of giving back to the community as a way to show support of our youth within the community we serve. We would like to give a special thank you to City Staff who came out and volunteered and supported the EYAC in this much deserving project for the Haines City Boys and Girls Club. The councils “action” was to revitalize the Boys and Girls Club of Haines City with an overhaul of their facility. The EYAC raised over $10,000.00 in monetary and in kind donations for their project including;
·
Furniture
·
2 Smart T.V.’s
·
Games
·
Painting
·
New Lighting Fixtures
·
New Bathroom Fixtures
·
New Seating
·
Billiard sets
·
Volunteers
·
Floor Striping and waxing
·
Paint and supplies
·
And much more….
The Council is grateful for the community support and opportunity to show, “Why they Love their City”.
|
|
Cemetery Clean-Up Notice
Please review the Public Notice about Haines City Cemeteries in the attached document below.
|
|
Community Information and Events
|
|
Stay Informed On What's Going on
in the Business Community
The Haines City Area Chamber of Commerce is an excellent way to promote your business and showcase your services. Click on the link below to keep up-to-date on all the wonderful things your Chamber is doing to promote businesses in and around Haines City and contact them to become a member!
|
|
Attention Business Owners and Developers
Become a Part of Haines City!
The Haines City Economic Development Council is here to assist you with any of your business and development needs. Contact Cyndi Jantomaso, President, to set-up an appointment to review any of your upcoming projects or business transactions/acquisitions. Click on the link below for additional information.
The Haines City Economic Development Council (EDC) is always excited to share news and developments in and around Haines City. Click
HERE
to read the EDC's September Newsletter.
|
|
Piano Concert at Lamb of God Lutheran Church
Come enjoy an afternoon of Christmas hymns & sacred piano pieces by Dr. Jonathan Reed on Sunday November 25th, 4:00 pm at Lamb of God Lutheran Church, 901 Scenic Hwy, Haines City, Fl. Dr. Reed is Assistant Professor of Music at Warner University in Lake Wales. Dr. Reed has achieved professional success despite a disability that would discourage most people from pursuing a career in music: as a result of medical treatment as a young child, Dr. Reed has serious hearing loss and a slight speech defect. His story is inspirational. Free will offering accepted. Call 863-421-2811 for more information.
|
|
Farmers Market
Our Farmer's Market is new and improved! Visit the market at Railroad Park in downtown Haines City starting November 7th. The Farmer's Market will take place every Wednesday from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM.
|
|
Special Events, Athletics, Library, Recreation, Parks
|
|
Terrell Griffin
Parks & Recreation Director
|
|
Click on this link to see the
Aquatics Information:
|
|
Click on this link to see the
Parks & Recreation Athletics Information:
|
|
Recreation, Seniors, Wellness
|
|
Click on this link (and scroll down to "City Calendar) to review the
entire calendar of events for Recreation, Wellness and Senior Events:
|
|
Glitter Glisten and Snow
Count down with us as we light up thousands of lights and our 31 ft. Christmas tree at Lake Eva Park, which will be on display throughout the month of December. To kick off the night will be our 1
st
Annual “Dashing through the Ridge 5K” which will start at 5pm. The participants will run through our beautiful town of Haines City, and will end at Lake Eva Park. Glitter Glisten and Snow which begins at 6:00 PM will have
snow slides, arts & crafts vendors, local children’s entertainment, food vendors & more! Guests of honor include: Mr. & Mrs. Claus!
|
|
Breakfast with Santa
Join us for Breakfast with Santa at Beef O Brady's in Haines City. The event will take place on Saturday, December 8th from 9AM-12PM and admission is included with the purchase of a meal. Beef O Brady's is located at 902 Old Polk City Road, Haines City, FL 33844
|
|
Click on this link (and scroll down to "City Calendar) to review Other Upcoming
Special Events:
|
|
Haines City Public Library
|
|
In addition to the multitude of books the Haines City Public Library provides, it also offers age-specific opportunities of discovery and fun with programs like the Needlework Group, Scrabble Club, Story Times, Teen Programs, and movies every month in English and Español. Come find your heartbeat at the Haines City Public Library!
Operating Hours
Monday:
10:00 AM-7:00 PM Tuesday: 10:00 AM-8:00 PM
Wednesday:
10:00 AM-6:00 PM Thursday: 10:00 AM-6:00 PM
Friday:
10:00 AM-5:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM-3:00 PM
Sunday:
CLOSED
|
|
Internet Information and Citizen Assistance
|
|
Lynda.com a leading online learning platform with over 7,000 courses that can assist anyone with learning the following: business, software, technology, and creative skills to achieve personal and professional through video-based, self-paced courses available 24/7.
Through individual, corporate, academic and government subscriptions, members have access to the Lynda.com video library of engaging, top-quality courses taught by recognized industry experts.
For 20 years, Lynda.com has helped students, leaders, IT and design pros, project managers—anyone in any role—develop software, creative, and business skills. Now part of Linkedin, Lynda.com serves more than 10,000 organizations. With tutorials in five languages, Lynda.com is a global platform for success. Access to
Lynda.com
is free with a Haines City Public Library card.
Ancestry.com® is a website that brings together science and self-discovery to help anyone find their story.
Bringing together science and self-discovery,
Ancestry.com
helps everyone, everywhere discover the story of what led to them. Our sophisticated engineering and technology harnesses family history and consumer genomics, combining billions of rich historical records, millions of family trees, and samples more than 7 million people in the AncestryDNA database to provide people with deeply meaningful insights about who they are and where they come from.
Access to Ancestry.com is available to our patrons through the computers at the Haines City Public Library.
ProQuest® African American Heritage is a groundbreaking digital resource exclusively devoted to African American family history research.
ProQuest
is committed to empowering researchers and librarians around the world. Its innovative information content and technologies increase the productivity of students, scholars, professionals and the libraries that serve them. Through partnerships with content holders, ProQuest preserves rich, vast and varied information – whether historical archives or today’s scientific breakthroughs – and packages it with digital technologies that enhance its discovery, sharing and management. For academic, corporate, government, school and public libraries, as well as professional researchers, ProQuest provides services that enable strategic acquisition, management and discovery of information collections.
ProQuest is available to our patrons through the computers at the Haines City Public Library.
The
Emergency Home Energy Assistance for the Elderly Program (EHEAP)
assists low-income households, with at least one person age 60 and older, when the households are experiencing a home energy emergency.
A home energy emergency may result from a delinquent utility bill, lack of fuel or wood, or the receipt of a shut off notice. Payments are for home heating or cooling and other emergency energy-related costs during the heating (October-March) and cooling (April-September) seasons. Eligible households may be provided one benefit per season, up to $600 per season. Payments are made directly to the vendor or by a two-party check to the vendor and client for electricity, natural gas, propane, fuel oil, kerosene, or wood.
|
|
Stay Connected With All Our Upcoming Library Events!
Want to know what is going on at the Haines City Public Library? Check out our
Facebook page and get the scoop. You can also see what's going on at the Library by viewing our calendar for adults and children!
Click on this link to review the
entire calendar of events for the Library:
|
|
Richard Greenwood
Development Services Director
|
|
Grand Opening of Culver's - Haines City
|
|
On Monday, October 29th, Development Services staff went to lunch at the new Culver's restaurant for their grand opening. Located at 37061 US Highway 27 (in front of Lowe's), Culver's is a restaurant chain specializing in frozen custard and "Butter Burgers". The facility was very busy! While at the facility, staff met City Manager Deric C. Feacher and Deputy City Manager Jeff Brown who were also enjoying the great food.
The City of Haines City welcomes Culver's and looks forward to many more great meals!
|
|
On Wednesday, October 17th, Development Services Staff hosted a Planner's Working Group meeting with representatives of the Polk County School Board Facilities and Operations staff. Also included in the meeting were representatives from the Cities of Lakeland, Winter Haven, Auburndale, Lake Alfred, Lake Wales, the Central Florida Regional Planning Council (representing Dundee and Frostproof), plus County planning staff. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss numerous items related to growth and development, and corresponding impact on schools (see agenda below under "Downloads"). During the meeting, Development Services staff learned that a new elementary school and high school are proposed for Northeast Polk within the next five (5) years as part of the current School Board Capital Improvement Program.
In addition to conducting future meetings of the Planner's Working Group, School Board staff have committed to conducting follow-up meetings with the municipalities. This will further coordination between the various governmental agencies to ensure we continue to have quality schools in our community.
|
|
Planner's Working Group Attendees
|
|
Planner's Working Group Attendees
|
|
Thomas Murphy
Interim Fire Chief
tmurphy@hainescity.com
|
|
Thanksgiving Safety
For most, the kitchen is the heart of the home, especially during the holidays. From testing family recipes to decorating cakes and cookies, everyone enjoys being part of the preparations.
So keeping fire safety top of mind in the kitchen during this joyous but hectic time is important, especially when there’s a lot of activity and people at home. As you start preparing your holiday schedule and organizing that large family feast, remember, by following a few simple safety tips you can enjoy time with your loved ones and keep yourself and your family safer from fire.
Thanksgiving by the numbers
·
T
hanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires, followed by the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. and Christmas Eve.
·
In 2015, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 1,760 home cooking fires on Thanksgiving, the peak day for such fires.
·
Unattended cooking was by far the leading contributing factor in cooking fires and fire deaths.
·
Cooking equipment was involved in almost half of all reported home fires and home fire injuries, and it is the second leading cause of home fire deaths.
Safety tips
·
Stay in the kitchen when you are cooking on the stove-top so you can keep an eye on the food.
·
Stay in the home when cooking your turkey and check on it frequently.
·
Keep children away from the stove. The stove will be hot and kids should stay 3 feet away.
·
Make sure kids stay away from hot food and liquids. The steam or splash from vegetables, gravy or coffee could cause serious burns.
·
Keep the floor clear so you don’t trip over kids, toys, pocketbooks or bags.
·
Keep knives out of the reach of children.
·
Be sure electric cords from an electric knife, coffee maker, plate warmer or mixer are not dangling off the counter within easy reach of a child.
·
Keep matches and utility lighters out of the reach of children — up high in a locked cabinet.
·
Never leave children alone in room with a lit candle.
·
Make sure your smoke alarms are working. Test them by pushing the test button.
Source: NFPA's Fire Analysis & Research Division
|
|
On Thursday, October 11
th, at approximately 6:15 a.m., the Haines City Fire Department responded to a liquid ammonia leak at the Sun Orchard Juicery. Upon arrival, crews discovered a leaking 600 gallon ammonia tank. Officer Joseph Warren-Kahles took command of the scene while operating 3 tac channels, which included one for Hazmat Operations, a second channel for Medical Operations and a third channel for Scene Operations. There was a total of 16 trucks consisting of crews from Haines City, Davenport & Polk County Fire Departments. All occupants of the Juicery, along with Haines City High School staff and students, were evacuated. Students were transported by bus to the Event Center in Haines City. Once the Polk County Hazmat team resolved the leak, it was turned over to the company for further repairs.
|
|
Santa At the Station
Santa will visit the Haines City Fire Department Saturday, December 22 from 5:00 pm-8:00 pm. Please bring your cameras for pictures! Hot chocolate & cookies will be served, and our station will be open for tours.
|
|
Auburn Taylor
Human Resources Director
|
|
Would you like to be part of the City of Haines City Team? Apply today! All interested applicants are required to submit an employment application, unless otherwise instructed on the City's website position announcement page.
Employment Applications and copies of complete position announcements can be accessed on the City of Haines City's website at
www.hainescity.com
.
Positions are considered "Open Until Filled," unless otherwise denoted. Corresponding pay grade ranges are included to represent earning potential and shall not be an assumption of potential starting wage, which will most likely be at the minimum rate of pay. If a conditional offer of employment is made, please note everything included during the application process will be verified.
Click
here
to view the open job listings and find out how you can be part of the City of Haines City Team!
|
|
Information Technology Department
|
|
New City of Haines City Website
Mobile
App
The Haines City Technology Management Department would like to inform the citizens that our website,
www.hainescity.com
, is now available as a Mobile App. This free app is available for both Android and Apple iOS devices. Many features are available in the mobile app. You can find information about our Cemeteries, Report an Issue with the City of Haines City, view the Staff Directory, and much more!
|
|
To install on an Android device, search “Haines City FL” in the Google Play store. Tap the green Install button and the app will begin downloading to your device.
|
|
For Apple iOS devices, open the App Store and search “CivicMobile”. Tap the blue Get button to allow the app to install on your device. Open the CivicMobile app on your Home screen. When the app fully opens, search
Haines
and tap “Haines City, FL” when it appears. Alternatively tap the Find Your Location button to find our Haines City, FL app. Tap the white box with the pointed arrow to continue to the app services.
|
|
You can choose to sign up and receive app notifications by tapping
Sign Up
at first launch. Enter your details into the New Account fields. First Name, Last Name, and an Email address is required. Read the privacy policy and scroll down and tap the check box next to “I agree to the policies;” indicating you have read the policy. Also, tap the box next to “I’m not a robot” and complete the reCaptcha verification. Tap the green Create Profile button to finish creating your profile. You will receive a validation email to create a password for your account.
|
|
The Alert Center shows all current alerts posted by city staff. Current alert categories include Road Closures, Utility Outages, and Weather Alerts. Tapping [Done] at the bottom returns you to the main screen.
Calendar allows you to see all of our upcoming events by date. Tap a date on the calendar to view all events that occur on that specific date. Events sort by department names.
The Cemetery button opens the Cemetery Information page on our website. You will find pricing for both Forest Hill and Oakland Cemetery, along with access to our cemetery databases.
The Contractor Portal opens the iWorq website portal for searching open permits with the City of Haines City.
|
|
The Employment icon takes you to our job listing website. From there you can view open positions and apply for a job online.
If you have a particular question about the city, you may find the answer in the FAQs section.
News Flash articles inform you of what is happening in and around our city.
If you created an account for the website, you can choose which mobile alerts you receive in the Notify Me section of the app.
The Public Meetings portal allows you to listen to past meetings and listen to live commission meetings. Tapping this icon opens your device’s web browser and displays the meeting portal page. When a meeting is live, tap the green “Listen Live” link on the page.
Recreation Registration opens the Community Pass website where you register for upcoming events held at the Community Center or around Haines City.
Report an Issue is a new service our app offers. You can contact the city when finding issues such as pot holes, graffiti, a broken light, or other concerns. You can include a photo of the incident by tapping the Take Photo button or Choose Existing Photo. Your device’s GPS location sets the location of the incident. You can also set a specific pin on the included map, or type in the address. A name and email address are required when submitting an issue. Someone from the city will contact you within a reasonable amount of time after submitting your issue.
Use the search feature within the app to find more information regarding a topic. For example, you may want to find when a facility is open. Searching “hours” provides results related to your search term.
Lastly, you can also pay your utility bill using our mobile app. Contact our Utility Billing department at 863-421-3600 and choose option 1 to speak to a customer service representative about setting up online access.
If you have any questions regarding the Mobile App, please contact the city at 863-421-3600.
|
|
James Elensky
Chief of Police
jelensky@hainescity.com
|
|
Recent Police Department Events
|
|
Coffee with a Cop
October 3
rd
is National Coffee with a Cop Day. This year, Haines City Police Department partnered with Oerther Foods Inc. McDonald’s. Conversations and connections were made between police officers and community members speaking on concerns, issues, and perceptions.
|
|
Touch -a- Truck
Recently, Haines City Police Department showcased their emergency response vehicles at the Touch-A-Truck event sponsored by Miracle Toyota and Haines City Parks and Recreations.
|
|
Holiday Shopping Safety Tips
|
|
Haines City Police Department wants to Protect You during the Holidays!
Shopping in Stores
- Do not buy more than you can carry.
- Save all receipts together to help you verify credit card or bank statements as they arrive.
- Consider alternate options to pay for your merchandise, such as one-time use or virtual credit cards numbers, money orders or online stores.
- Wait until asked before taking out your credit card or checkbook.
- Carry your purse close to your body or your wallet inside a coat or front trouser pocket.
Parking Lot
- Do not carry large amounts of cash; use checks, credit/debit cards to make purchases.
- Use automated teller machines in highly populated areas.
- Try not to use your phone or text when walking through a parking lot.
- Beware of strangers approaching you for any reason.
- Shop during daylight hours instead of at night.
- Carry your car key fob in hand to be used as a personal alarm.
- Do not leave purchased items visible in your vehicle.
On-line
- When in doubt, throw it out. Delete links in emails, tweets, posts, and online advertising.
- Think before you act. Be wary of offers of amazing deals that sound too good to be true or implore you to act immediately.
- Make sure the site is legitimate. A closed padlock on your web browser's address bar or a Uniform Resource Locator address that begins with shttp or https. This indicates that the purchase is encrypted or secured.
- Protect your personal information. Check the website's privacy policy and how your information will be stored and used.
- Keep a paper trail. Save records of your online transactions, check your credit card statements for any unauthorized charges and report discrepancy to your bank immediately.
|
|
Adriana Trujillo-Villa
Interim Public Works Director
|
|
Beautifying the Downtown
In a joint effort on October 11
th
, a team from Public Works and a team from Parks and Recreation worked together on beautifying the 6
th
Street corridor. The team from Public Works started at the North end of 6
th
Street near Main Street and the Parks Department team started on the South end near 17/92. Both teams cleared and lifted trees to better open up the site line as well as provide for a more inviting pathway to City Hall and the Library.
|
|
The teams worked well together and a lot was accomplished in a short time...great job!
|
|
Public Works Education Center
|
|
The Good… The Bad… The Invasive!
Why do plants love Florida waters?
- Our waters are shallow, nutrient-rich and warm all year
What kinds of plants live in Florida’s waters?
- Submersed plants live underwater
- Emergent plants grow along the edges
- Floating-leaved plants grow deeper
- Floating plants float on the surface and don’t root in the soil at all
Where do aquatic plants come from?
- Some plants are native and naturally occurs in on our waters
- Others are exotic and are introduced from other places
How are exotic plants introduced to Florida’s waters?
- Some plants are hitchhikers that are accidently carried from somewhere else
- Others are dumped into Florida’s waters by aquarium or water garden owners with unwanted plants
How do some aquatic plants cause problems?
- They create monocultures (large groups of a single kind of plant) that are not good habitat for fish and other critters
- They block sunlight to submersed plants
- They reduce water flow, which can increase flooding during storms
- They can entangle boat propellers and swimmers, making recreation dangerous
- They can provide breeding grounds for insects like mosquitos
|
|
Right-of-Way Permits and Road Closures Permits
Right-of Way Permits
The application can be found on the Haines City’s Website. Once the application is completed, the approval is required to be obtained through the Public Works Department.
Road Closures Permits
Effective now, Road Closures Permits will need to be obtained through the Public Works Department. Once the application is completed, approval will be received from the Public Works Department.
|
|
Tracy Mercer
Utilities Director
|
|
Mark Your Calendar for 2018 Lunch and Learn Classes!
|
|
The Utilities Department will host Lunch and Learn classes instructed by the University of Florida from 12:00-1:00 PM at the Haines City Library the following dates:
October 16, 2018
– Pollinators, Not Just the Birds and the Bees
|
|
|
Lawn Watering Days and Times
The District's year-round water conservation measures went into effect August 2, 2017. Lawn watering is limited to no more than twice per week.
Lawn watering days and times are as follows:
- Even addresses may water Thursdays and/or Sundays before 10:00 AM or after 4:00 PM
- Odd addresses may water Wednesdays and/or Saturdays before 10:00 AM or after 4:00 PM
- Locations without a discernible address, such as right-of-ways and common areas inside a subdivision, may water Tuesdays and/or Fridays before 10:00 AM or after 4:00 PM
- Hand watering and micro-irrigation of plants (other than lawns) can be done on any day and any time
|
|
WOW! (Watched Outstanding Work!)
|
The City of Haines City would like to thank all of our excellent, dedicated employees and volunteers who help make the City a great place to work, live and play. We would not be able to serve our community well without the dedicated, excellent employees and volunteers! Have you "Watched Outstanding Work" within the City lately? Let us know at wow@hainescity.com.
|
|
Haines City Commission
Front row (left to right): Mayor Morris West, Commissioner Roy Tyler
Back row (left to right): Vice-Mayor Don Mason, Commissioner Anne Huffman and Commissioner Horace West
|
|
Unity in the Community "Back to School Bash" Recognition
Pastor Anderson, Pastor Adams and Mayor Morris L. West presented several recognition plaques and awards to several citizens, City Commissioners and City staff, for making the "Back to School Bash" a tremendous success!
|
|
Native American Heritage Month Proclamation
|
|
Dr. Angela Garcia Falconetti (President of Polk State College)
Inauguration Day
|
|
City Commission Meetings
Are held every first and third Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers at City Hall, 620 E. Main Street.
For questions or more information, please call the City Clerk at (863) 421-9921.
|
|
Mark Your Calendars for the following City Commission Meetings
Thursday, December 20, 2018 - 7:00 PM
Thursday, January 3, 2019 - 7:00 PM
|
|
City of Haines City| 863-421-3600 | www.HainesCity.com
STAY CONNECTED
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
