By SUZIE SCHOTTELKOTTE
The Ledger, 11/17/1999

WINTER HAVEN -- After eight months of planning and brainstorming, members of Winter Haven's long-range planning group has funneled a spectrum of ideas for the community's future into a unified vision.

On Tuesday evening, the group of more than 100 residents gave preliminary approval to the goals that have been set for Winter Haven through the visioning process and the means by which those goals will be achieved.

"Think of how far you've come," said Derek Okubo, director of the civic assistance team at the Denver-based National Civic League, who was hired by the visioning group to assist.

The plan, called Our Future by Design -- A Greater Winter Haven Community, identifies six areas that will take on a new direction in coming years: economic development, education, lakes, community, health and growth.

Committees within the visioning group have been meeting since May to outline concerns in these areas and to determine strategies addressing them.

Some ideas spawned by the process include a centralized recreation and cultural complex that would attract diverse groups. Initially, it was proposed this would replace the city's two existing recreational complexes in southeast Winter Haven and in Florence Villa. On Tuesday, the group decided that the proposed complex, perhaps in the Lake Silver area, would augment the existing centers.

Another proposal calls for the creation of a waterfront development zone skirting Lake Howard and extending into the downtown area, with pedestrian walkways linking Lake Howard, Central Park and Lake Silver.

The proposed plan also includes the drafting of a comprehensive design strategy for downtown Winter Haven.

Now that the major components of the vision plan have been outlined, a writing committee will pull these together in a draft proposal of the final vision plan, said Dan Costello, who is co-chairing the program with Seretha Tinsley. That process should be completed by mid December, at which time the visioning group will come back to approve the draft.

"Then we will take it to the community for their input," Costello said Tuesday.

Representatives plan to meet with civic groups, government boards and neighborhood associations to elicit support and ensure the plan reflects the needs of the community.

Suggestions generated through those meetings will be incorporated into the plan.

By early spring, the group hopes to stand poised to begin implementation.

Organizers will carry about $45,000 into the implementation phase of the process, Costello said. An estimated $96,000 was collected to finance the project, and about $50,000 has been spent for Okubo's services. Other expenditures that had been budgeted, including printing and research expenses, were donated.

Jane West volunteered to manage the program, which saved the group the $16,500 that had been budgeted for a part-time director, Costello said.