Lakeland officials expect plenty of big things as the new year approaches.

LAKELAND — For those in city government, years tend to be fiscal years rather than calendar years, and New Year's resolutions require a majority vote, but Lakeland officials expect plenty of big things as the new year approaches.

Significant undertakings include everything from planning to infrastructure in Polk County’s largest city. City Manager Tony Delgado said staff will have a heavy focus on development and all that entails.

Development

“Wanting to go ahead and get the Heritage Plaza garage started will be important for moving new development downtown,” Delgado said.

The public-private project would create more than 800 spots downtown and is expected to cost $11 million with the city footing more than $6 million of that estimated bill.

“Downtown is about to have a lot more new construction,” said Julie Townsend, executive director of the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority. “I’m very much looking forward to downtown expansion beyond the core area.”

Townsend also mentioned that ground is scheduled to break for the Mirrorton apartment complex, which will consist of more than 300 units on Lake Mirror. Townsend added that Catapult 2.0, a co-working space, is expected to be completed in 2019.

“Having more people live close to these developments will provide support for these businesses,” Townsend said. “Parking has been an obstacle to these things coming and that is being addressed. Living in a downtown with a lot of hustle and bustle is something residents can look forward to. That’s the most exciting thing to me.”

Delgado added that a new, 130-room Marriott SpringHill Suites hotel is being built near the RP Funding Center. The quest to add commercial flights, hangars and cargo to the repertoire at Lakeland Linder International Airport will also be a point of emphasis.

“Road infrastructure will be at the forefront, especially around the airport,” Delgado said. “We need to take a look at the airport and how that affects everything around it.”

Planning

While new construction is taking place now in the downtown area of Lakeland, the city and its partners are also planning for what the area may look like in the decades to come. In the pre-planning stages to complement the new hotel and RP Funding Center is a 3,500-seat soccer stadium, which could also be used to attract events like lacrosse or rugby.

“That is a sports and entertainment district,” said Nicole Travis, the city’s Community and Economic Development Department director. “Our goal is to grow sports and entertainment. Soccer is increasing in popularity in this country and pretty fast.”

Travis added that staff is working to put together long-term plans for downtown that is set to come before the City Commission during the first quarter of 2019. From there, commissioners will give staff direction on what to prioritize.

“We’ve got a lot of developers and interested people looking to do different things,” Travis said. “The City Commission will decide where we need to start. It will definitely come up during budget and planning sessions. It’s important for the community to buy into the vision and us to follow through with the vision.”

Notables

Commissioner Justin Troller noted that his term will end late in 2019, but looks forward to the summer when the commission will get to review the business plan put forward by Magellan Broadband to make the city an internet service provider. The commission approved the $138,000 contract with the Denver-based firm earlier this month.

“My major focus is going to be on broadband,” Troller said. “This is something I’ve been pushing for a long time and we need to be bold on this.”

The controversial Confederate monument at Munn Park is also set to be moved in 2019. In November, commissioners voted to use red light camera revenue to relocate the statue to Veterans Memorial Park.

“We’re working actively with our contractor,” Delgado said. “Relocating that to Veterans Park is our mission.”

Both Troller and Delgado mentioned maintaining the city’s financial health.

“This past year, we lowered our ad valorem (property tax rate) by one-tenth of a mill,” 10 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, Delgado said. “Our hope is to keep up our (cash) reserves.”

Mike Ferguson can be reached at Mike.Ferguson@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson.