When a small group making up representatives from Plant City and the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce met with lawmakers in Tallahassee last week, they had two things on their mind: agriculture and the stormwater bill.
The group included City Manager Greg Horwedel, chamber Chairman Jim Scott, chamber Board Trustee Gary Pike and his wife, Tina Pike. They spent two jam-packed days, meeting about every 20 minutes with a plethora of representatives, including Rep. Dan Raulerson, Sen. Tom Lee and Agriculture Secretary Adam Putnam.
“We’re always trying to keep Plant City in the forefront,” Scott said. “Especially (because) we’re here, in-between Lakeland and Tampa. As far as Hillsborough County goes, Tampa gets a lot of the limelight.”
With strawberries accounting for 46.6% of the total value of commodities in Hillsborough County in 2011, the group was especially interested in talking with representatives about agriculture.
In recent years, the U.S. tomato industry has suffered, because of an influx of Mexican tomatoes. This is driving the price of domestic tomatoes down. With more strawberries being imported from Mexico, Scott said he’s worried about the future of Plant City’s staple crop, as well.
“We want to let them know that agriculture is the top of mind,” Scott said. “I’m not a farmer, but I do sell trucks. Farmers buy them, workers buy them, shippers buy them. There’s a chain. Our community could really struggle.”
Another issue the group addressed was a new stormwater bill working through Tallahassee. Acres of cracked concrete slabs have been sitting vacant for years just south of historic downtown Plant City off Collins Street. The slabs sit in the future home of Midtown, a redevelopment plan that would put cozy shops, upscale apartments and green parks in the heart of the city.
Work on Midtown started in 2007 but came to a standstill, because of a law regulated by the South Florida Water Management District stating that retention ponds must be placed in areas where any impervious surfaces, such as the concrete slabs, are removed. Swiftmud has remained steadfast to the law, despite the city’s downtown stormwater drainage system, which has been in place since the 1950s.
A new bill would grandfather in any impervious surface, even if pulled up, as long as it was replaced.
“It’s quite frustrating to deal with this year after year,” Horwedel said. “So frustrating.”
In the past, the city has tried to work with Switfmud. Now, Raulerson and Lee hope they can assist in changing the regulation.
“Everyone we met with seemed very supportive,” Horwedel said.
Horwedel also was curious about any changes made to the Florida Pension Reform to be able to plan for those that can potentially affect the city.
“It’s still too far away to see what will come of that,” Horwedel said.
Overall, the trip was a success.
“It was refreshing to meet with them,” Scott said of the legislators. “A lot of them are new and ready to go. They have a fire in their bellies. I hope they’ll do good things for the state of Florida.”
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com. AngelEye
