PRSRT-STD US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #91 FOUR CORNERS NEWS SUN 34711 - Wednesday, August 19, 2020 VOL. 19 NO. 69 www.fourcornersnewsleader.com An Edition of the Sun INSIDE THIS EDITION East Polk County Polk Commission Association of Realtors plans for improvements to names new CEO Northeast Regional By ANITA TODD Park Contributing Writer PG 2 WINTER HAVEN – Each year, as a little Osceola School girl from a small town District to offer near Cincinnati, Jennifer Garula anticipated the curbside meals for family’s summer vacations. digital students It wasn’t the first PG 2 portion of the trip – the sandy beaches at Cape PHOTO PROVIDED Coral – that she looked forward to as much as the Newly renovated Davenport Elementary second leg – the tourist Flooring is your local flooring companyattractions. providing Back in professionalthe installation services, as well as flooring and wall application70s and products. 80s, the familyFree measurementsPHOTO PROVIDED and estimates; ready to welcome students Jennifer Garula free carpet removal & disposal; venturedfree standard annually furniture to Walt removal & replacement; as By ANITA TODD New construction and extensive Disney World and, finally, to Cypress Gardens. Contributing Writer renovations “Weof Davenport only love Elementarysurprises on family“It’s soholidays, strange hownot lifewhen brings making you full purchases; circle sometimes,” we School weres recently completed, just in said Garula, the new chief executive officer of the East Polk DAVENPORT – For Shannon Brown, time for the first day of school on Aug. 24. County Association of Realtors (EPCAR). “I’ve had lots of déjà the new principal at Davenport Elementary, Built in 1927, theFrank original Hollinger two-story Family main redFlooring offers the following services: CEO | 3 Florida to be part opening the newly-renovated school has been brick building remains along with two other of COVID-19 like waiting to open a big Christmas present. original structures. The main building houses vaccine pilot “I am superDigital excited Hearing for the first Lab day,” is Brownlocated theat school’s290 administration, a 200-plus seat Haines City’s Food Truck Citrus Tower Blvd Ste. 105. Call us PG 3 said. “I’ve been staring at it for all these auditorium and seven classrooms. months andat it’s352-988-0274 finally time.” for a complimentary“The campus is elegant and regal – just Marketplace debuts RENOVATED | 4 timeOur I’ve calledView: you” America is one of the first ways exclusive offers on hearing products. Visit HAINES CITY – The Food Truck Marketplace has is not broken Our office is located at rolled16201 into Hwy town. 50, Clermont, 407.654.4503. www. Delicious and much different from the truck next PG 6 Haines City resident’s secular invocation door, the food trucks promise to bring residents causes stir at Lake Wales meeting different ways of filling their bellies and quenching Disney ‘bubble’ was their thirst. good to Orlando By CHARLES A. BAKER III Before Sarah Ray, a Haines City resident Haines City’s Community Redevelopment Agency City SC Staff Writer and the co-founder of the Atheist Community and Growers Commerce Center have partnered of Polk County, gave a two-minute invocation, together to create, and now realize, the weekly PG 7 POLK COUNTY – The invocation that commissioners Al Goldstein and Curtis Food Truck Marketplace in Art Alley in the city’s began the Aug. 4 meeting of the Lake Wales Gibson both stood up from the dais and City Commission caused two commissioners walked out of commission chambers in downtown district. Every Thursday through Sunday, Four Corners area various food trucks provide food and/or beverages home sales to exit the chambers and led to nearly an hour protest. of public debate. 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GRAND HWY • CLERMONT, FL 34711 • 352.243.5868 4 Page 2 FOUR CORNERS NEWS-SUN August 19, 2020 Capital improvement plans include additions at Northeast Regional Park By CATHY PALMER routine business, and will spread over a building with more near the Lakeland Regional Medical Center in north Contributing Writer than 700,000-square-feet of space. Lakeland. A ground-breaking on the project is expected to occur According to presentations made at the workshop, Topping this year’s capital improvement plans for Polk within the next several months. the county’s Utilities Department plans to spend some County for the coming fiscal year will be the construction The Processing Center for PCSO, already under $41 million in upgrades to both water and wastewater of a new Polk Government Center in Auburndale and the construction, carries a final tab of about $9.3 million, Polk treatment plants countywide. The cost of those projects completion of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Processing County Commissioners learned at a project briefing. That will be paid for by user fees generated by water and sewer Center in northwest Winter Haven. facility should be completed in February. usage by residents and businesses. The Polk Board of County Commissioners heard the Also on the list for projects tentatively okayed by The bulk of the Roads and Drainage Department’s details of the overall capital improvement plans (CIP) at a commissioners recently was some $15 million in budget is earmarked for capacity projects, totaling well workshop last week, but took no official action about the improvements, including a wetlands treatment system to over $250 million spread out over six major projects and entire CIP or individual projects on the drawing boards. clean runoff from landfill operations at the North Central dozens of small projects. Another major project highlighted by Polk County’s Landfill in greater Winter Haven. Topping the list of major projects, most of which are Parks and Recreation Department is the upgrade and Other facilities improvements such as roof replacements multi-laning projects, is the widening of Lake Wilson installation of a dog park and new baseball fields at the or repair, air conditioning and generator replacement or Road, at a cost of $32 million in total for design, right of Northeast Regional Park. The project costs were not cited installation should cost the county about $3 million a year way acquisition and construction, explained Polk Roads at last week’s briefing, but included four new ball fields over the next several years, officials said. and Drainage Director Jay Jarvis. along with the construction of a concession stand and The county’s Fire Rescue Department should be But the biggest item on Jarvis’ list of things to do is paved parking facilities. breaking ground for four new joint fire and ambulance the widening of County Road 557, from Auburndale to The new government center, to be built on a 27-acre site stations in the coming year, officials told the county Interstate 4. That project will cost about $89 million in near Auburndale, will also include space for an additional governing board last week. total, according to the department director, and widens Polk Tax Collector’s office and tops the county’s to-do list Those targeted for construction this year, with a cost the county road from two lanes to four and feeds into an with a price tag of about $28 million. of about $4 million each, are in Kathleen, Frostproof, intersection improvement at I-4 that will be paid for by The new facility will include administrative offices for Galloway and Loughman. the Florida Department of Transportation. routine county operations like code enforcement and Also included in the Polk Fire Rescue building projects building permits, along with clerk’s offices for processing wish list is an additional ambulance facility, to be located Osceola schools to offer curbside meals for digital learning students Beginning Monday, August 24, Osceola School District’s Florida Virtual School (FLVS) are not eligible for the families will be charged the regular lunch price $2.40 for School Nutrition Services Department will provide meals curbside meal program. each meal unless parents apply for and are approved for for digital learning students as part of a Curbside Meals • Parents must provide a student’s school ID with name free or reduced priced meals or are directly certified. Program. and ID number to pick up meals, and are encouraged Families are encouraged to apply for meal benefits if Details of the program are as follows: to have the student’s name and ID number written on their income has changed at www.osceolaschools.net/ • Breakfast and lunch meals will be available daily for paper in large font for social distance viewing. Other SchoolNutrition beginning Friday, August 14. A list of CEP parents or students to pick up at each individual school. acceptable forms of identification include a passport or and non-CEP schools can also be found on this website. Parents and students are encouraged to visit www. birth certificate that attaches the child to the parent. “I am very proud that the Osceola School District osceolaschools.net/SchoolNutrition for locations and • The Osceola County School District provides every can continue to ensure that our meal program supports times for meal pick-up. The schedule and pick-up times student with breakfast at no cost.