REZONING FOR NEW TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNICAL SCHOOL IS APPROVED.
On June 23, at the new time of 6:00 p.m. instead of the traditional 7:30 p.m., Mayor Nate Kilton called to order the Regular Meeting of the City Commission. The meeting began with an invocation by Joe Bowles, pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church, and the assembly reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting proceeded with its agenda items.
25-251 – City commissioners presented a proclamation recognizing July 2025 as “Park and Recreation Month in Plant City.”
During the period slated for public comments, 12 residents stood, in turn, to speak. Each person is allowed three minutes. Eight of these people addressed what they see as problems with flooding. Two believe drainage pipes that replaced ditches in their neighborhoods are not adequate to handle rain from a major storm. They proposed returning to the ditch system to control flooding. Two other residents complained about home damage from Milton that still has not been repaired. The founder of the Plant City Flood Initiative asked for a factual report on the water diversion plan for Madison Park, Lincoln Park, and Marshall Terrace.
24-261 – A resolution approving an agreement with Flotech Environmental, LLC. for as-needed storm sewer rehabilitation under City of Oviedo Contract No. 24-20. This is for the replacement and rehabilitation of damaged storm sewer pipes at an annual cost of $50,000.
25-257 – A discussion of a Florida Department of Environmental Protection settlement agreement. Since sewage overflowed during Hurricane Milton, the FDEP has fined Plant City $75,000. The city is contesting the fine due to the overwhelming amount of rain from Milton.
25-240 – A resolution approving the city’s street resurfacing program list of streets for fiscal year 2024-25. When completed, the city will have 80 percent of city streets recently repaved. The cost of $5,250,000 is available in the city’s budget.
25-268 – A resolution authorizing a construction work order with Killebrew, Inc. to replace the sewer main on Reynolds Street.
24-603 – Consideration of a resolution appointing members to the Library Board.
25-248 – Consideration of a resolution approving an appointment to the County Community Action Board.
These items all passed with 5-0 votes.
25-271 – A quasi-judicial public hearing on an ordinance to modify the Palm Cove Planned Development District, located on the East side of Shannon Avenue, South Frontage Road, and North of East Cherry Street (PB-2025-10). The purpose of the applicant’s request is to change zoning for the current planned development (PD) from multi-family residential to zoning that allows for the operation of a technical school on the property. The current PD allows for 312 apartment units. The change would make use of an already partially-constructed, abandoned building to convert it to a training facility. Additional dormitory space with 231 rooms to house students would also be constructed. A technical school, currently in Tampa, would relocate to this parcel of land in Plant City. This technical program is a joint venture with the U.S. Department of Defense to train exiting veterans in telecommunications skills such as construction, repair, and maintenance. Depending on the certifications a veteran wants, the program would last from six to eight weeks. Veterans would go straight from military service to this program. It also allows for up to 25 percent of the students to be new high school graduates who are selected by T-Mobile for the same training. Approximately 30 instructors and other staff would work at the facility.
This hearing generated an hour of questions and discussion. Two citizens stood to air concerns about veterans, likely in their 20s and 30s, sharing housing with new high school graduates, and also a conc about how coed living arrangements would be handled. City commissioners questioned representatives of the school about these concerns, and discussed potential negatives of the facility location on nearby residents. One of the larger concerns was whether traffic flow would negatively affect residents who live on Shannon Avenue. However, the representatives stated once complete, consistent traffic would come only from the 30 staff members. Since the program is run like boot camp, only buses would bring in students one time for the multi-week program, and take them away at the end of the program, so there would be no daily student traffic. Commissioners also discussed the possible impact of over 300 students on the residents in the area. However, like boot camp, lights will turn off at scheduled times, and students would be restricted to the school grounds until they complete the program, with the exception of buses taking them on outings on Sundays. Twenty-four-hour security would be in place on the property. For reasons other than the hearing, Vice Mayor Jason Jones visited the school in Tampa in the past and observed that the program is well run. Since the school will have far less impact on the surrounding community than multi-family housing, the program helps veterans and new graduates obtain high-paying jobs, the plan makes use of an abandoned project, Vice Mayor Jones had knowledge of the program, and the facility will bring job opportunities for Plant Citians, the city commissioners voted 5-0 in favor of the modification to allow for the school.
The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
