ROUND UP FOR PROJECT CARE

HOW IT WORKS: $245.34$246.00

$.66

if your utility bill from Lakeland Electric is:

you pay:

contribution to project care:

Visit lakelandelectric.com to sign up today!

As a City-owned utility, our goal is to provide Lakeland with reliable electric service, but we also feel it is our responsibility to help improve the quality of life for our customers. In partnership with Catholic Charities of Central Florida, Lakeland Electric is pleased to offer a program that assists those less fortunate. Project Care was developed to assist customers who are 60 and older and/or disabled with paying their electric bills.

With your support, Project Care can help provide emergency assistance to eligible seniors or customers with disabilities in our community who have experienced a recent crisis that has placed them in danger of losing their utility service. Project Care raises thousands of dollars each year through customer donations. Since its inception in December of 1994, Project Care has raised almost $500,000 to help families and individuals.

Lakeland Electric offers a convenient way for customers to participate. Through the Round Up program, Lakeland Electric customers can choose to automatically round up their utility bills to the next highest dollar amount. For example, a participating customer’s monthly bill of $153.75 would be automatically rounded up to $154.00 with the additional 25 cents going to Round Up for Project Care. With your contribution, this program will continue to help our neighbors in need.

Each month the donation will vary, depending on the amount of your electric bill. There will be a separate line on your utility bill indicating the amount donated to Round Up for Project Care for that particular month. The minimum amount you contribute each month is one cent and the maximum is 99 cents. The maximum any customer can contribute in a year is $11.88 ($0.99 times 12 months).

The program provides emergency relief for temporary financial hardships — not chronic or long-term debts. A customer is eligible for a maximum benefit of $150.00 per year. If you are interested in participating in the Round Up program, simply go to www.lakelandelectric.com and click on Customers>Programs and Services>Project Care from our drop down menu. Fill out the enrollment form and we will do the rest. You can also sign up by calling our Customer Service at 863-834-9535 to speak to a representative Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 8:00 pm. Together, your small change makes a big difference.

Y O U R S M A L L C H A N G E C A N M A K E A B I G D I F F E R E N C E !

CITY OF LAKELAND NEWS & EVENTS

NOVEMBER 2018

LEDs BURN BRIGHTERLOWER YOUR BILL THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

CHRISTMAS RECYCLINGDON'T TAKE A HOLIDAY FROM RECYCLING!

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHTMEET COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR NICOLE TRAVIS

GET TO KNOW WAZETHE CITY IS UTILIZING THE APP THAT MAKESAVOIDING TRAFFIC A BREEZE

30290-I-0201

LEDs ARE BRIGHTER &USE LESS ELECTRICITY

Understanding how much electricity Christmas lights use helps to plan which lights will work best with your home and better prepare for an increase in utility bill charges. Your display size and choice of bulbs, whether incandescent or LED, will influence your energy bill the most.

So, how much electricity do Christmas lights use? It depends on the type of lights used for holiday decorations. A 100-count string of incandescent mini lights runs at 40 watts, while a 70 count of 5mm Wide Angle LEDs is approximately 4.8 watts total. In fact, because incandescent wattage is 80-90% more than LED wattage, the cost to power incandescent decorations can be up to 90x greater than powering a LED.

To calculate, we will use the average price of electricity for a residential customer using about 1,500 kwh of electricity per month.

As you can see, changing from incandescent holiday lighting to LED’s can save you money immediately on your utility bills. LEDs typically burn cooler and brighter than incandescent bulbs as well.

INCANDESCENT WATTS

21

42

408

164

635=$1078

LED WATTS

4

4

48

40

96=$163

One Wreath

One Garland

Ten Strands of Lights

Two Outdoor Decorations

Total

www.lakelandelectric.com

@mylakelandelectric

SIGN UP TODAY!

RECYCLE GARABAGE YARD WASTE• Cardboard and Envelopes• Cookie Tins• Gift Boxes• Holiday Cards• Paper Gift Bags• Plain Wrapping Paper• Tissue Paper

Have a safe and happy Holiday!For more recycling information, visit our website atwww.LakelandRecycles.com

• Artificial Trees• Bubble Wrap• Cellophane• Christmas Lights• Foam Peanuts & Styrofoam• Holiday Decorations• Laminated or Coated Gift Bags• Ribbons, Tape & Bows• Tree Decorations

• Live Christmas Trees After Christmas, place your tree curbside on your yard waste collection day for pickup\

Nicole Travis was born and raised in the US Virgin Islands. After graduating from high school, she moved to Virginia to attend Hampton University, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture. She went on to earn her Masters of Business Administration after relocating to Central Florida. Travis worked for two architectural firms but she had a desire to do more for her community. Which is why in 2010 she applied for a position as Project Manager with the City’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). The CRA works with businesses, developers and property owners in Dixieland, Downtown and Midtown to eliminate blight improving the quality of life for citizens. This position was perfect for Travis, allowing her to use her architectural and design background while showcasing her collaborative spirit to solve community challenges.

In 2018, with the encouragement of her husband, Travis applied for and became the Community and Economic Development Director for the City of Lakeland. Travis now oversees Code Enforcement, Building Inspection, CRA, Transportation and Development Review, Planning, Housing, Business Development, Property Information and the Business Tax Office.

Since her appointment, Travis has spent time with over 70 community members to learn what her Department should start, stop and continue doing to better serve the community. One idea coming soon is an express permitting counter that will issue some permits in 30-minutes or less.

Travis is striving to provide a more customer friendly experience for Lakeland’s citizens through transparency, honesty and innovation. These are the very traits she admires in City management because staff

can be creative in solving problems when leadership is engaged in the process. Travis said, “Lakeland is small enough to make a noticeable difference but large enough to try innovative approaches to problem solve. We are fortunate to have leadership that challenges status quo and constantly works to develop a culturally inclusive world-class community.”

Travis says her husband Shawn is her biggest cheerleader and they have been married for nine years. They have two young daughters and the family travels to the US Virgin Islands every year to see family and visit the beach. Travis has a smile on her face and says, “It’s home and the best beaches in the world are there.” The family leaves their Lakeland home and heads to Anna Maria Island when they need a local beach fix.

Travis is currently reading Radical Candor by Kim Scott, a management book on building sound relationships, achieving results and creating a better workplace. Even in her down time, she is always looking for ways to be a better mom, wife, citizen and leader. Her favorite foods include West Indian and Puerto Rican fare. She loves peas and rice, stewed chicken and plantains. Her bucket list includes a family Mediterranean cruise and a long visit to the Netherlands. A fun fact about Travis is she is terrified of toads and frogs. She recently discovered a frog in her office and she climbed over her desk in heels to escape. Travis spent the remainder of the day working in another area until her office was declared amphibian free. Nicole Travis, thank you for making Lakeland a great place to live, work and play.

CITY OF LAKELAND EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

NICOLE TRAVIS COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Don't take a Holiday from Recycling....HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

CITY OFFICES WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF:

THANKSGIVINGNOVEMBER 22-23, 2018

NO SOLID WASTE PICKUP ON NOV. 22.Collection will occur one day later for remainder of week.

CHRISTMASDECEMBER 24 & 25, 2018

NO SOLID WASTE PICKUP ON DEC 25. Collection will occur one day later for remainder of week.

NEW YEAR'SJANUARY 1, 2019

NO SOLID WASTE PICKUP ON JAN 1.Collection will occur one day later for remainder of week.

Online | www.lakelandgov.net In Person | City Hall • 8AM – 5PM • Monday-FridayFACEBOOK TWITTER SNAPCHAT NEXTDOOR INSTAGRAM VIMEO YOUTUBE | Listen Lakeland • First Sunday • FM 97.5 WPCV @ 8:30AM | FM 98.3 WWRZ @ 8AM | AM 1430 WLKF @ 8AM | AM 1230 WONN @ 9AM

Public Meetings | City Commission Meetings • First and Third Monday • 3PM | Utility Committee Meetings • First Monday • 1PMLive Broadcast on LGN | Channel 643 (Spectrum) | Channel 43 (Frontier FiOS)

IMPORTANT NUMBERS:City Hall • 863.834.6000 Lakeland Electric Customer Service • 863.834.9535 Power or Water Outages • 863.834.4248Pollution Hotline • 863.834.3300 LPD Crime Tips Hotline • 863.834.2549 LPD (Non-Emergency) • 863.834.6900

PAYING YOUR UTILITY BILL:ONLINE | www.lakelandelectric.com BY PHONE | 863.834.9535IN PERSON | Lakeland Electric has partnered with over 50 local businesses including area AMSCOT offices to accept your utility payment.ST

AY CO

NNEC

TED

Lakeland is a Waze Connected Community! We are excited to announce the City of Lakeland has begun a data-sharing partnership with Waze’s Connected Citizens Program (CCP). Waze is a GPS navigation mobile app that allows drivers to share real-time traffic and road information.The app provides turn-by-turn navigation instructions, user-submitted travel times and route details. This information and the way-finding navigation allows users to work together in outsmarting traffic. Waze users receive alerts about accidents, road hazards or traffic jams, all shared by other drivers in real-time. It's like a personal heads-up by others travelling the same route. The City of Lakeland is now communicating road conditions with Waze and Google Maps so users are notified about road closures and other City related construction projects that may impact roadways. Elizabeth Hollida, Webmaster for the City of Lakeland and and a member of the team that initiated the CCP program said, “The map evolves with every driver and data point added giving “Wazers” a greater ability to circumvent road closures and traffic jams. This is just another way we are using technology to better inform our Citizens.” The City will be sharing a variety of data with Waze—anything from a pothole on S. Florida Avenue, an accident on US 98, a scheduled road closure for First Friday, lane closures for the Holly Jolly Jingle Bell Jog 5K and scheduled Public Works road projects. These traffic and road events will show up on Waze and Google Mapsmin order to give drivers the very best real-time, location-based information on what’s happening on Lakeland’s roads. For more information, visit waze.com. You can download the Waze and/or Google Maps applications at the Google Play store (Android) or in the App Store (Apple). Waze—we’re all in this together! Have City-related Waze questions? Email communications@lakelandgov.net.

REGISTRATION - 6:30AMCleveland Heights Golf Course2 9 0 0 B U C K I N G H A M A V E

$35 ENTRY FEEHOLLY JOLLY ATTIRE

ENCOURAGED!

DECEMBER 15THTHREE PARKS TRAIL

RACE BEGINS - 7:30AM

CHIP-

TIMED

FOR MORE INFO:JingleBellJog@lakelandgov.netPROCEEDS BENEFIT THREE PARKS TRAIL PERPETUAL CARE FUND

REGISTER ONLINE AT: REINDEERDASHREINDEERDASH

Kid’s Fun Run

8:15AM

$10INCLUDES FINISHER MEDALRUNNERS GUARANTEED RACE T-SHIRT IF REGISTERED BY 11-27-18 AGES 9 & UNDER

OR