The proposal, which was initiated by Winter Haven’s planning staff, involves revising the growth map to change 932 acres from institutional to industrial and conservation.

There was no public opposition at Tuesday’s hearing.

The Winter Haven City Commission will consider the changes on March 22, when it will transmit the change to the Florida Department of Community Affairs for review.

DCA comments are expected by this summer.

Tuesday’s vote is a prelude to eventual development of the site as a warehouse and distribution center that will complement the 318-acre freight terminal that was approved as a development of regional impact in 2008.

The terminal will be developed by Evansville Western Railway, a CSX subsidiary.

The next step will be an application to develop the 932-acre site.

No one has submitted an application, but information in the backup information for the map change indicates that the ultimate build-out will contain 5.2 million square feet of warehouse and distribution facilities, 2.2 million square feet of light industrial facilities and 500,000 square feet of offices.

Development in the first five years will contain 500,00 square feet of warehouse, 50,000 square feet of light industrial and 30,000 feet of office.

Unlike the first phase,the second phase of the project will not face development of regional impact review because of a change in state growth law approved last year by the Florida Legislature.

The change exempts what are known as “dense urban land areas,” which are cities with at least 1,000 people per square mile.

Winter Haven, Lakeland, Fort Meade and Haines City in Polk County are among 236 Florida cities that are exempt from the process.

For more information, please contact Tom Palmer at The Ledger.

He’s been a lawyer, public servant, successful businessman, progressive in green technology, and now is an activist for a social need.

The latter role is what currently excites Roberts and his wife of 47 years, Marjorie.

They have founded the not-for-profit Roberts Academy at Florida Southern College, scheduled to open in August, for gifted children with dyslexia in first through fourth grades. All basic elementary school subjects will be offered during full days, as will training and support for families of the special youngsters.

LABOR OF LOVE

The academy is very near to the Roberts’ hearts because three of their grandchildren are gifted and have dyslexia. Though highly intelligent, these youths have trouble learning to read, causing great frustration and social problems at school.

“The tuition here is roughly one-fourth what it is in Atlanta for a similar program,” Roberts said. “Early on it has to be low to offer the opportunity to everyone and get word about.

“It will be primarily local. Kids in their first three or four years of school need to be with their families. They need to be able to address dyslexia in the first three years (of school) so that they learn to overcome it. Otherwise it’s a matter of accommodating to it.”

He said the recession has not affected the program, though it may well have affected the families of some students.

LONG CAREER

For three decades, Hal Roberts has been an innovator with EarthLinked Technologies on Pipkin Road in Lakeland, for which he is CEO.

And before that, Roberts, a lawyer, served as Lakeland city attorney from 1971 to 1980. He represented Lakeland Electric and teamed up with its assistant managing director Robert Cochran, who invented the technology used by EarthLinked. Now retired, Cochran founded the company in 1976 as Geo-Solar Energy Corp.

A native of Atlanta, where his grandchildren attend an academy like the one he’s starting here, Roberts earned a law degree at Emory University. He married Marjorie, a Lakeland native whose maiden name is Hollis, in 1962. They have lived here since 1967.
GREEN TECH

Explaining what EarthLinked is about, Roberts said: “We exchange heat in the shallow earth, the upper 100 feet. Our heating pump is a refrigeration system, like simple air conditioning, but can also operate in reverse and deliver heat as needed.

“Most heat pumps use ambient air as their heat source. We use the earth, which is a much more stable temperature. Under our feet in Lakeland, it is 76 degrees year-round. That’s close to the desired temperature in a building. It varies only ever so slightly, season to season.”

As Cochran put it, “It makes a dent in pollution and global warming. To put it in a very crude way, what we do is take one unit of electricity, add three units from the earth, and deliver four into the building. An EPA (federal Environmental Protection Agency) test proved that. It was finished a year and a half ago. It took about a year.

“We produced the most efficient water heater ever tested at Florida Solar Energy Center,” Cochran said of another test. “Then we met with three Florida utilities and they all said we needed to apply it to space heating and cooling, which we did. We did demonstration projects for 10 utilities, three in Florida (Lakeland Electric, Florida Power & Light, and what is now Progress Energy) and other states.”

FAR-REACHING

“The 75 percent electric savings were verified by the EPA,” Cochran said. “We heat water for nursing homes, public housing, condos. We have product in 47 states and 16 countries produced right here in Lakeland.”

For more information, please contact Larry Everhart at The Ledger.

The Central Florida Development Council is coordinating the trip, called Passport to Prosperity.

Merlin Entertainments Group purchased the Winter Haven theme park Cypress Gardens in January. Merlin, the world’s second-largest owner of tourist attractions, currently operates four Legoland parks – three in Europe and one in California.

The company will transform Cypress Gardens into Legoland Florida.

Officials from the CFDC and local chambers of commerce will first travel to Legoland in California on March 11-15.

The trip is being described as a business trip to introduce local officials to how Legoland operates and for marketing purposes. Tom Patton, executive director of the CFDC, said the CFDC and each chamber would pay for their representatives’ expenses out of their travel budgets.

CFDC’s budget comes from tax dollars collected through local business license fees, a “bed tax” paid by hoteliers and vacation home rentals, and contributions from private businesses.

The CFDC and county officials have spent upwards of $50,000 the past two years for a series of trips to Europe with the intent of developing new business leads and partnerships. Recently, a contingent from the CFDC and University of South Florida Polytechnic attended the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. The CFDC spent about $7,400 on that trip.

A May trip to Legoland in London is for local chamber members.

That trip – May 11-16 – should cost about $2,000 per person for plane fare and accommodations, Patton said. Those who want to attend will have to pay their own way, Patton said. Social events and limited ground transportation for attendees are being paid through sponsorships, he said.

Since Monday’s announcement of the London trip, 11 sponsors have signed on: Envisors, The Ledger, TECO, Mary Ann Touchton Realtor, Fantasy of Flight, Play It Again Sports, Tarver’s State Farm Insurance, the East Polk County Committee of 100, Southern Investments Realty, University of South Florida, Polk State College and NCT Group CPAs.

In a flier handed out about the trip, Patton said benefits would include showing the Polk County delegates the educational aspects of Legoland; helping form business opportunities; experiencing the European mass transit system; creating partnerships with Merlin Entertainment; and increasing community involvement.

Legoland Florida should open in late 2011 and will provide as many as 1,000 new jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue. Of those jobs, 700 are expected to be full time and 300 seasonal.

“Our main focus is to clearly understand their brand, strategy and tactics from a tourism and economic development stand point,” said Mark Jackson, the county’s director of tourism and sports marketing. “We’ve got to know the product inside and out if we are going to market it and sell it.”

Individuals who are planning to go to London include County Commission Chairman Bob English; Greater Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bob Gernert; Sandy Fortin, president of Play It Again Sports; and Jesse Douthit, general manager of Fantasy of Flight.

“I have a keen interest to promote Polk County,” said Douthit, who sits on the county’s Tourism Development Council. “I think it’s a good move to solidify the relationship.”

Winter Haven city officials haven’t discussed going on the trip yet, said Joy Townsend, spokeswoman for the city.

The Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce is in the process of confirming who will be participating in the trip, said Kathleen Munson, the chamber’s president.

“We are excited to join with the Polk delegation in welcoming Legoland to our county through this visit to their London operations and look forward to confirming which representatives from our chamber will be attending.”

Patton said Legoland’s reputation internationally can be compared to Disney’s in the United States.

“The name recognition is tremendous,” said Patton. “We’re going over there to grasp what both Legoland and Merlin Entertainments can bring to our community.”

English, who currently is the only county commissioner attending the trip and is paying his own way, said the trip is a good idea to show support to Legoland and to make officials with the company feel more welcome to Polk.

“It’s one of those moments in Polk County history that’s going to have a gigantic effect,” English said. “We’re going to treat this opportunity in a much deliberate manner.”

For more information about the trip, contact local chambers or Fay Downing at 863-534-2506.
For more information, please contact Merisa Green at The Ledger.

“You have to have the courage to do it and to do it right,” Pat McCrory, former mayor of Charlotte, N.C., said at a regional transportation forum at The Lakeland Center.

Tuesday’s forum, which was organized by the Central Florida Development Council, brought together about 350 business leaders from the region between Tampa and Orlando to learn about how to connect the region to spur economic development.

McCrory was the driving force behind an effort to launch one of the largest transportation projects in North Carolina’s history to bring light rail and to expand the bus system and other forms of mass transit.

The system was financed with the proceeds from a 1998 sales tax referendum, similar to what is being proposed this year in Polk and Hillsborough counties.

He said the key to success is for everyone in the region to work together and to continue to communicate.

“We’re talking about a process, not a project,” McCrory said.

He said in Charlotte the development of the new and revitalized transit corridors changed the face of the city and converted blighted areas into new commercial and residential buildings.

But it takes a practical approach, McCrory said.

“Sixty percent of that effort was not about light rail, but about expanding the bus system,” he said, explaining the buses are clean, there are shelters, there are express routes and other features that will attract riders and form an integrated system that provides true choices for commuters and other travelers.

In addition, McCrory said the system has to be sustainable and it has to involve connecting transit, roads and other transportation routes with economic development, housing patterns, tourism, culture and public safety.

“Don’t think in isolation,” he said.

McCrory also said transit decisions should be based on data, not politics, explaining they have to reflect the best decision on cost, ridership and long-term operating costs.

He said it’s important to think long-term.

“You’re the group that’s responsible for the future,” he said. “You can plan for it or ask the next generation to react to it.”

McCrory’s comments came against a backdrop of speakers from the business and transportation community that repeatedly emphasized the need to think regionally about transportation and economic development.

By regionally, speakers said they mean the area from Tampa’s metropolitan areas to Orlando’s metropolitan areas, both of which include Polk County.

“Polk County is a critical element in the future transportation system,” Stuart Rogel of Tampa Bay Partnership told the crowd.

Local officials also used the forum to pitch efforts to link transit to future land-use planning.

They pitched a planned referendum scheduled for November’s ballot to seek voter approval for a sales tax increase to pay for a countywide transit system.

For more information, please contact Tom Palmer at The Ledger.

The facility is intended to process recyclables from commercial and government customers in Polk and other Central Florida counties, said Mark Talbott, Republic’s general manager in Polk.

Construction is scheduled to begin in July, Talbott said.

Talbott said the facility will handle cardboard, office paper, junk mail, aluminum, glass, polystyrene and newspapers.

Talbott said he is approaching commercial customers through the Go Green at Work program.

“We have contracted with over 400 commercial businesses in Polk County for commercial recycling services,” Talbott said, adding he will offer commercial recycling to all businesses.

Commercial recycling, like residential recycling, is voluntary in Polk County, though county officials are considering proposals to provide more incentives to recycle.

Talbott said the facility, which he hopes to open in November, will employ 15 people. The projected volume is 10,000 tons a month.

He said any material that comes in that can’t be recycled will be taken to the county landfill.

Talbott said there are also plans to start a construction and demolition debris sorting facility at Republic’s Cedar Trails Landfill in Bartow in 2011.

 For more information, please contact Tom Palmer at The Ledger.

The Park Ranger Security position is one of an expected 1,000 jobs available at the new theme park. Nick Varney, chief executive officer of Merlin Entertainments Group, didn’t specify at the January press conference how much investment would go into Legoland Florida. However, local government and economic officials have confirmed the investment to be between $100 million and $200 million. Legoland Florida is a part of Merlin Entertainments.

According to Mark Jackson, the director of Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing, Legoland Florida is in the process of hiring a general manager and a director of marketing for the park. Jackson said the hiring process is expected to take two or three months.

Attempts to contact Legoland Florida Media Relations Specialist Julie Estrada were unsuccessful.

Jackson and Tom Patton, executive director of the Central Florida Development Council, will hold meetings in the near future to get a better idea of how Legoland Florida wants to run the park, community involvement, marketing and sales.

“We are doing things in advance for Legoland Florida,” Jackson said. “We’ve discussed a marketing platform with them and we are now waiting to hear from them about our discussions.”

According to Jackson, some of the people responsible for the creation and design of the theme park have been in Winter Haven for quite some time assessing the layout of the theme park.

Legoland Florida will be built on the site of Cypress Gardens theme park.

“They are on the grounds running at a hectic pace,” Jackson said.

Jackson said Legoland Florida should be constructed significantly differently from Legoland California because the theme park in California was built from the ground up. However, Legoland Florida already has a structure to build around and there also is a time frame for when the theme park is expected to open.

According to the Orlando Business Journal, construction on the park is scheduled to begin in May.

Varney said at the press conference that the theme park is expected to open in late 2011.

“That time frame is a big challenge for the theme park to be ready,” Jackson said. “But if anyone can do it, it would be Merlin because they have 59 theme parks worldwide and know what they are doing.”

 For more information, please contact Charles Gonzalez at The Ledger.

That’s the idea behind a new branding initiative fostered by the Central Florida Development Council, University of South Florida Polytechnic and other area colleges and private firms.

Officials with the CFDC and USF Poly unveiled their new moniker in Las Vegas last month during the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a major annual showcase for technology manufacturers and suppliers.

Marshall Goodman, chief executive for USF Poly, said the university is trying to raise its profile now that it has opened two fledgling business incubators in Polk and has a new campus on the way in off Interstate 4 in Lakeland.

“We have a huge job ahead of us,” Goodman said. “We’re not Silicon Valley, we’re not the (North Carolina) Research Triangle, we’re not Boston. You say those to people and they get it instantly. When you say Central Florida people think of Disney, they don’t think high tech.”

CFDC officials spent about $7,400 to fund their portion of the Las Vegas trip, while USF Poly spent roughly $9,300.

Central Florida Innovation isn’t just about USF Poly. Officials say the brand is also representing entities such as Polk State College and clusters of private firms here that do work in radio-frequency identification technology, logistics and other fields.

“We thought (CFI) was a good, middle-of-the-road name that projected our thoughts long-term on where the county is going,” said Rodney Carson, director of business development for the CFDC. “It ties into everything we’re doing across the board at all the local institutions.”

The CFDC sent Carson and two other CFDC reps (Executive Director Tom Patton and Senior Business Marketing Manager Jim DeGennaro) on the five-day CES trip.

Goodman was accompanied by six other representatives from USF Poly, and two from the University of Florida. Goodman said his travel costs were covered by private dollars from the USF Foundation.

Additional funds for the trip were provided by the Florida High Tech Corridor, an economic development partnership between USF, UF and the University of Central Florida.

Major electronics manufacturers might not consider Polk for their next expansion, but Carson and Goodman said the area would be a good fit for suppliers from California and other states who want an East Coast presence.

The Polk delegation at CES also spoke to firms working in communications, robotics, software development and other industries in an effort to recruit for USF Poly’s new incubators in Lakeland and Winter Haven, which will assist in the development of new companies and products related to technology.

For more information, please contact Kyle Kennedy at The Ledger.

Merlin recently announced plans to locate its fifth Legoland attraction at the former Cypress Gardens on Lake Eloise in Winter Haven.

Legoland Florida, as it will be called, to open in 2011, providing 1,000 new jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue. Of those jobs, 700 are expected to be full time and 300 seasonal. The $5 million will be paid in $500,000 installments once the park opens.

“We’re creating wealth for Polk County,” said Mark Jackson, the county’s director of tourism and sports marketing.

He said the money for Merlin, which was part of the negotiations to attract it to Polk County, will come from tourist tax funds, not general revenue.

Jackson said he expects Legoland will increase hotel stays in Polk as well as other purchases from local businesses.

He said the estimated 2 million visitors a year the new park will generate will probably increase tourism in Polk County by at least 10 percent to 15 percent.

In addition, the agreement includes a number of provisions that will increase Polk’s exposure in the world’s tourism market.

“We couldn’t afford to buy that kind of exposure,” Jackson said.

Commissioner Sam Johnson said Legoland Florida will help to pull the county out of its tough economic situation before other areas of Florida recover and preserve an important part of Polk’s heritage.

Jackson reflected on the parallel between the openings of Cypress Gardens and Legoland Florida, both during tough economic times.

Cypress Gardens opened in 1935 in the midst of the Depression.

County Commissioner Randy Wilkinson said the new attraction will fit nicely with other new developments, such as the USF Poly campus in Lakeland and the expected advent of high-speed rail.

“This will be a great economic spark for Polk County,” County Commissioner Ed Smith said.

John Ussher, general manager for Legoland Development, told commissioners Polk’s response to the project was “overwhelmed by the support and can-do attitude of Polk County.”

Ussher presented commissioners with a Polk County logo made from Legos.

Ussher said in addition to the initial investment in the park’s development – he declined to reveal the amount Merlin plans to spend – there are plans for further expansions over the 10 years after Legoland Florida opens.

Rodney Carson, Polk’s director for business development, said in addition to the 1,000 jobs directly related to the attraction’s opening, he estimates the creation of 6,000 spinoff jobs will be created.

For more information, please contact Tom Palmer at The Ledger.

Lakeland-based Quantum Marketing Inc. (QMI), an automotive additives manufacturer, plans to add roughly 30 jobs and expand its facilities this year as it combines operations with a sister firm from California.

The projected job growth makes QMI eligible for a number of state and local incentives, one of which is entirely new: the Expedited Review and Permit Process.

Approved by Polk government in late 2009, the program allows qualifying companies to obtain land and building permits in as little as 15 days. That compares with a traditional permitting process that can sometimes stretch on for three to four months.

“I have two businesses that still have to keep running and supplying goods while we’re doing this relocation, so time is everything,” said Dan Shupsky, director of operations for QMI. “If (the new permitting process) works, what a great thing Polk County has for businesses who want to expand here.”

QMI’s sister firm in California is losing its lease at the end of the year, and parent company Illinois Tool Works needs to move operations quickly to Lakeland, Shupsky said.

As part of the expansion, QMI will add a minimum 27 jobs to its Lakeland headquarters on Craftsman Park Drive (it employs 47 there currently), as well as expanding its facilities by 1,400 square feet and adding a 2,500-square-foot tank farm. The expedited permitting means QMI shouldn’t have to worry about getting its local headquarters ready in time for the move, Shupsky said.

QMI’s expansion plans were submitted to the county Jan. 22, and five days later an initial review was held with Polk planning officials, as well as the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Final approval for the permitting should come within 30 days of the initial submission, according to Lakeland-based JSK Consulting, which handled permitting for QMI.

Officials say the expedited permitting doesn’t cut corners, and works quickly because documents can be filed online and submitted to designated staff.

The new jobs at QMI will have an average salary of $39,000, according to the Central Florida Development Council. The company will also receive a total $120,000 in tax breaks for meeting local and state benchmarks for job growth and salary levels.

Amy Palmer, senior business development manager for the CFDC, said QMI is currently the only firm scheduled to take part in the expedited permitting program. She says she hopes more will follow.

“It makes it more attractive if there is a tight deadline for a project and companies know this process is available in Polk County, and might not be available elsewhere,” Palmer said.

For more information, please contact Kyle Kennedy at The Ledger.

So do we reserve a grave site for Legoland before the ground is even broken to build it?

That’s what a lot of people are thinking.

My neighbor Julie’s response: “They don’t have a clue.”

Actually, they don’t have little kids.

Julie is not an industry analyst. She is the mother of children between the ages of pre-school and pimples.

So she knows the Cult of Lego.

Children love Legos. Moms love Legos. Dads love Legos.

It doesn’t matter that Legoland will be located on the out-of-the-way corpse of Cypress Gardens. Parents will parachute in with their kids if that’s what it takes to get there.

Legoland will live long and prosper because the concept driving it is sheer genius.

Lego takes $5 worth of plastic, heats it to 232 degrees, injects it into molds and creates bricks. It then puts 3,803 of these bricks in plastic bags, throws in an instruction booklet and charges $399 for them.

That is if the bricks, once snapped together, form a Star Wars Death Star, complete with tractor beam controls, emperor’s throne room, operational laser cannon and 24 mini-figures.

That’s on the high end. You can get by with $10 for a Lego Army Men kit from Toy Story.

Between the extremes are Hogwarts castles, Bob the Builder’s Big Farm and Indiana Jones’ Temple of Doom. There’s not much you can’t build these days.

In a toy era dominated by digital interfaces and squealing electronic hamsters, Lego has kept building blocks on the playroom shelf. They are elaborate three-dimensional puzzles, which you figure have to be a plus for young brain synapses.

Once completed, they are not ships-in-a-bottle. They are toys to be played with for hours on end, toys with moving parts, toys that come with a wide assortment of characters, toys that provide a blank slate for creativity.

Across the globe, toy sales fell 5 percent in the first half of 2009. Lego sales went up 23 percent. In my neighborhood, it was closer to 50 percent.

As another friend said, “I feel like I’ve got Legoland in my living room.”

Yes, Lego also is in video games. Thank goodness.

I suppose that, technically, they are violent because the characters in Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones do battle with one another. They shoot bazookas, blast away with lasers and brandish light sabers.

But defeating a foe does not entail reducing him to a bloody, gory heap on the screen. The villain simply disintegrates into his individual blocks.

I have never seen anything inappropriate for any age child with a Lego seal on it. Nor have I seen any toy brand of such consistently high quality.

That’s why the Lego store at Downtown Disney is constantly mobbed.

Children will not have to badger parents into going to Legoland.

The Legoland in Carlsbad, Calif., outside of San Diego, had its best year last year during what must be the worst tourism year since the Great Depression.

The New York Times’ Travel section calls it “a great option for families because there are no lines, the grounds are immaculate and there is a surprising lack of pressure to buy souvenirs. The 128-acre park focuses on interactive, educational attractions…”

It includes an aquarium. Last month, Legoland announced the addition of a water park. Of course, at the press conference, there was a Lego model of the new attraction.

Legoland doesn’t have mega roller-coasters or high-tech thrill rides. But it does have an endless number of smaller, clever rides, play areas and interactive activities aimed at a younger audience. Most everything designed in the Lego block style, including the Volvos in the driving school.

The park’s Web site has a link called “What to do when you’re 2.” The list is impressive.

The Legoland that will open up here by the end of next year will be bigger and more elaborate than the Legoland in California. It is being built by Merlin Entertainments, a leisure company that comes in second only to Disney.

Blackstone Group is the major investor in Merlin. It owns SeaWorld and half of Universal Orlando.

Legoland is not going to be some second-tier, cut-rate roadside attraction. It will draw families with young kids away from the Orlando theme parks for a day. Likewise it will draw families from beach resorts on Florida’s west coast.

As for me, I’m hoping the annual pass comes with a discount on the Death Star.

For more information, please contact Mike Thomas at Orlando Sentinel.