Commercial Truck Insurance in Bartow, FL

Housing and Neighborhood Development (HND) works to improve Polk County’s communities and help its most fragile residents. It does this by prioritizing federal and state grant funds across a range of policy areas including affordable housing development and preservation, homelessness and homeownership. HND develops activities directed toward revitalizing neighborhoods and partners with nonprofit organizations to improve communities for low and moderate-income residents. These policy areas are fundamental to HND to create strong, sustainable communities and quality affordable homeownership and multifamily housing.

If you are searching for information on housing assistance or affordable housing, HND can help.

Programs and Services

This grant program provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs. Each CDBG-funded project must meet one of three national objectives:

The Community Development Block Grant also funds the county’s demolition program, which is designed to eliminate slum and blight in unincorporated areas of Polk.

Polk County Board of County Commissioners Notification of a 30-Day Public Inspection Period and Public Meeting Notice and Request for Public Comment for the 2023-2024 Action Plan

Polk County is required by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to prepare a 2023-2024 Annual Action Plan to govern the use of Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) and Home Investment Partnership (HOME) funds. These funds must primarily benefit low- and moderate-income persons and meet the following objectives: 1) Providing Affordable Housing that is both safe and decent, through construction/rehabilitation of owner-occupied units, rental assistance and preserving the housing stock. 2) Creating and maintaining a Suitable Living Environment, by providing needed infrastructure improvements, providing access to public facilities and public services, and reducing blighting conditions. 3) Expanding Economic Opportunities by supporting public services that help provide skills training, other tools needed to achieve self-sufficiency and promoting employment opportunities for low-income persons affected by activities and programs outlined in the 2023-2024 Annual Action Plan.

ESG grants assist nonprofit organizations to provide emergency shelter and associated support services to homeless individuals and families.

HOME grant funds are used to build, buy and/or rehabilitate affordable housing for rent, homeownership or to provide rent assistance to low-income individuals.

Section 3 of the United States Housing and Urban Development HUD Act of 1968, (12U.S.C. 1701u) (Section 3) and implementing regulations at 24 CFP Part 135 states the purpose of Section 3 is to ensure that employment and other economic opportunities generated by certain Housing and Urban Development (HUD) financial assistance shall, to the greatest extent feasible, and consistent with the existing Federal, State and Local laws and regulations, be directed to low and very low income persons, particularly those who are recipients of government assistance for housing and to the businesses which provide economic opportunities to these persons.

If you have questions, call the Housing and Neighborhood Department office at (863) 534-5244, or email NancyHurley@polk-county.net, labor and environmental compliance specialist. Visit HUD.GOV for additional information regarding Section 3.

State Housing Initiative funds are used to preserve affordable housing for very low to moderate income families. These funds are given to local governments and are based on a population-based formula.

2022-2023 Public Notice NOFA Availability of Funds for SHIP Allocation

A Public Review and Comment of the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) will be held during the Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting Friday, December 15, 2023, at 2:30 p.m. in Room 413, County Administration Building, 330 W. Church Street, Bartow, Fla. This meeting is scheduled to receive comments on Polk County’s October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023, Consolidated Annual Performance & Evaluation Report (CAPER). This report will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) on or before December 30, 2023. The CAPER report provides annual information on program accomplishments in meeting performance measures for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program.

A link to the October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023, CAPER is now available below, and a printed copy is also available for examination and comment by the public at the Polk County Housing and Neighborhood Development Office, 1290 Golfview Ave., Bartow, Fla. 33831 during office hours 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

For questions or copies of any information referenced in the CAPER please contact Nancy Hurley at NancyHurley@polk-county.net.

CAPER-2022-2023-Draft

The 2021-2022 Consolidated Annual Performance & Evaluation Report (CAPER) is available for the public to review. For questions or copies of any information referenced in the CAPER please contact Nancy Hurley at NancyHurley@polk-county.net.

2021-2022 CAPER

For information or to file a Fair Housing complaint, contact: Cedric Cox – Housing Administrative Supervisor at (863) 534-5241.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Housing information webpage: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/online-complaint#_How_To_File

Federal HOME funds have a component called the Community Housing Development Organization, also known as the CHDO. At least 15 percent of HOME funds must be set aside for specific activities to be undertaken by a special type of nonprofit called a Community Housing Development Organization.

A CHDO is a specific type of private nonprofit entity. CHDOs must meet certain requirements pertaining to its:

For more information about applying to be a Polk County CHDO, contact Nancy Hurley, housing compliance manager for the Polk County Housing and Neighborhood Development office at (863) 534-5244, or (863) 534-5240.

BARTOW – From 2006 to 2012, Blake Jones spent his days as a multiple launch rocket system specialist, but these days he’s firing up for Italian cuisine.

On June 14, Jones officially opened Tua Pasta, a fine-dining Italian restaurant with its own fresh pasta-making machine. It’s been a dream and a goal the young restauranteur and chef has had since first entering the restaurant business working as a sous-chef from 2015 to 2018 at Winter Haven’s renowned Arabellas Italian restaurant.

And along the culinary path to becoming the head chef in a restaurant, Jones garnered personal experience and cooked with other skilled chefs over the past 11 years. He’s also had to deal with and overcome stage 4B tongue cancer, have half of his tongue surgically removed and reconstructed.

It has been a challenging route to restaurant success for the 35-year-old executive chef, but for now, he said business is bountiful.

During a recent preparatory day in his 50-seat restaurant -- formerly another restaurant at 315 E. Main St. in Bartow – Jones took time to show off improvements and additions that have been made since becoming Tua Pasta’s executive chef June 1. He initially saw posted online that Tua Pasta was open early June, mentioned his interest in cooking to Debbie Winters, event coordinator at Lakeland’s The Club at Eaglebrooke, who passed his name on to Tua Pasta owner Gerardo Alaniz.

“I got a call from him and two days later I was sitting across from him being handed the keys to a newly renovated, fine-dining restaurant,” said Jones, a Winter Haven native who grew up in Auburndale. Jones now cooks at Tua Pasta (“Your Pasta”) along sous-chef-in-training Melanie Smith, one chef, two servers and a food runner. Jones wrote the entire menu, hired the staff, and has what he calls “creative freedom” with the restaurant’s dishes. That freedom is the result of working for a series of renowned area restaurants, starting at Winter Haven’s Arabellas in 2012, where he was under the tutelage of expert Italian chef Italo Casini. Casini has been one of the top chefs in Polk County for over three decades and has run the kitchens of several top-rated Polk County restaurants.

Jones worked at Nineteen61, Lakeland, and worked at Balmoral for two years prior to being diagnosed with cancer in Feb. 2021.

Casini said he thinks Jones was dedicated in his commitment to learning to be a chef and he feels Jones will be successful at the helm at Tua Pasta. Now the chef at Chef T’s Garden Grill, Lakeland, Casini grew up cooking in his family’s restaurant in Florence, Italy and moved to Lakeland in 1989 where he has since cooked at Palm Court and other Polk County restaurants for 30 years. He said Jones managed the grill and fryer at Balmoral Resort.

“He was good,” said Casini, who said he and Jones cooked for 186 people on Valentine’s Day. “He’s very dedicated and I never had anything to complain about when we worked together.”

The cooking skills Jones acquired, and the accolades Jones received, led him to chef de cuisine at Lakeland’s Nineteen61 Latin from 2017 to 2019, where he helped the establishment win a Golden Spoon Award. He spent from March 2020 to April 2021 as the executive chef at Balmoral Resort, Haines City and from Oct. 2021 to Oct. 2022, was chef de cuisine at Nutwood, Winter Haven. Prior to Tua Pasta, he was chef de cuisine at The White Oak Cottage, Lithia.

In addition, Jones topped 20 other applicants to become chef de cuisine running a James Beard Foundation Award and Michelin Star restaurant for Chef Steven Rojas at Nutwood, Winter Haven.

“I'm a professional chef, with more than 12 years of experience in many different cuisines, capable of managing dining services of up to 200 seats while supervising and motivating staff to perform to best of their abilities while never compromising food quality,” said Jones, who has a 3-year-old daughter, Bella Grace Jones.

Making Jones’ climb to the upper tiers of the culinary crest more noteworthy after developing a canker sore in 2020, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 tongue cancer in Feb. 2021 after suffering from a severe cough.

Jones, who spent from 2006 to 2012 in the U.S. Army as a multiple-launch rocket system specialist, was sent to the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa in Feb. 2021. February 23, he underwent a 36-hour surgery to remove 75 percent of his visible tongue, had a full lymphadenectomy and tongue reconstruction. He was in the Intensive Care Unit four weeks, had six months chemo and went through radiation, when he lost 100 pounds in a week and had to be fed through tube. He said once his taste came back after 10 months, he recovered enough to become a chef at Nutwood.

“Really, the only reason I’m alive is for my daughter. I wasn’t going away, she gave me a reason to live,” he said.

Eventually, Sheila Flecha, former sous chef at Balmoral, encouraged him to keep pushing, despite his health setbacks.

“She put a foot in my ass and just motivated me to keep going; she wouldn’t let me quit,” he said.

Flecha, now owner and chef of Agape Agora, Winter Haven, called Jones “focused and persistent” and knew he could move on to bigger culinary goals and achievements. For instance, in Oct. 2021, Jones beat 20 other applicants to become chef de cuisine, running a restaurant for a James Beard Foundation Award-winning, Michelin star Chef Steven Rojas at Nutwood.

Agape Agora has been open in downtown Winter Haven for seven months under Flecha, a native of Puerto Rico who graduated from culinary school in Guam in 2009.

“He’s unstoppable; he’s a phenomenal chef. He takes over things and then he adds his owns twists. He’s very creative and this is a great opportunity for him,” she said, adding he’s able to work even through adversities.

Jones said the accolades and recognition were nice but not on the front burners of his culinary goals. He said his job as a chef is “to teach people how to eat by providing them with an experience, not just a meal.” He said getting the recognition he’s garnered over the past few years wasn’t just handed to him.

“I battled an addiction my entire life; food saved me and helped me kick my addictions,” he said. “I was handed this restaurant and I hope to change how Bartow and Polk County sees food while supporting local residents and businesses.”

As for his future culinary goals, Jones said he’s also like to win a James Beard Award and Michelin Star to “bring home for Central Florida.” his is my home. He said he’s also like to open more of his own restaurants to show his daughter “anything is possible.”

Polk County Fire Rescue provides Advanced Life Support transport to all residents and visitors of Polk County. It also provides fire suppression, rescue services and fire prevention services to all of unincorporated Polk County and the municipalities of Eagle Lake, Polk City, Mulberry, Lake Hamilton and Hillcrest Heights. Whether you want to know “how do I request a fire report?” or “where are fire stations located?” Polk County Fire Rescue can help. PCFR can also help you figure out how to pay an ambulance bill or how to deal with fire hazards.

Fire Rescue Operations

Fire Rescue operations has oversight of the department’s uniformed EMTs, paramedics and firefighters. Polk County Fire Rescue operates more than 45 fire and rescue stations that are equipped with various apparatus.

Fire Rescue ISO Letters

Public Records Request

Office of Professional Standards

Do you have kind words, a complaint or concern that you’d like to share about Polk County Fire Rescue? The Office Professional Standards within Fire Rescue is the place where residents can provide an assessment of the agency’s overall performance. The office investigates all complaints of performance and misconduct against our agency or its personnel as well as commendations to recognize exceptional public service.

Polk County Fire Rescue serves Polk’s residents and visitors with courage, integrity and pride. This office is committed to ensuring that its members meet the highest standards of professional conduct. As with any organization our size, it is prudent that we take measures to ensure the mission of the department meets the requirements and fundamental expectations of the public we serve.

Fire Rescue employees take great pride in receiving recognition for their service to the community. That atmosphere improves morale and encourages its members to improve their individual performance and the quality of the services they provide.

To commend a member of our team for a job well done, please complete the Fire Rescue Citizen Commendation Form below.

Commendations are delivered to the team member and his or her supervisors, and a copy is placed in the employee’s personnel record.

Citizen Commendation Form

We recognize that there are times when residents have questions or concerns about an interaction with an employee or something they observed. Supervisors will address your concerns and/or answer any questions about our policy and procedures.

To discuss your concern or questions with the appropriate supervisor, contact the Polk County Fire Rescue Headquarters at (863) 519-7350, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Fire Rescue welcomes all complaints from the public. The complaints are investigated by the Office of Professional Standards, which allows the agency to examine the services we provide to our community and to make necessary improvements in the delivery of those services.

To file a formal complaint, please complete the Citizen Complaint Form below.

We respect your privacy and will not distribute your personal information except as necessary to resolve your request or complaint; however, you should be aware that this information is subject to the state’s public records law and may be disclosed upon request.

Fire Rescue policies prohibit retaliation against anyone making a complaint against its employees. Strict adherence to these policies is expected and an employee’s non-compliance will be addressed accordingly.

Citizen Complaint Form

Anonymous complaints are accepted with the understanding that the investigation is more difficult when the complainant is unknown. The Office of Professional Standards highly recommends providing contact information. This allows us to ask follow-up questions that may be crucial to the investigation. All complaints are accepted regardless of immigration status and investigators will not ask complainants or witnesses about their status.

Complaints are submitted directly to the Office of Professional Standards for review and are issued a tracking number. Depending on the severity of the allegation, the case is assigned to either the Professional Standards investigator, or the employee’s supervisor for a thorough investigation.

Administrative investigations are conducted under the guidelines of the Florida Firefighter’s Bill of Rights, Florida Statute 112.82 and the member’s respective collective bargaining agreement, if applicable.

The complainant and the affected employee(s) will be kept informed of the investigation’s status throughout the process and will be notified of the finding and final disposition once the investigation is complete.

You may contact this office directly with additional questions, or to check the status.

Once the investigation is complete, the file is reviewed by a commanding officer or supervisor for a recommended finding and disposition. Possible dispositions include:

If the allegations are sustained, the following disciplinary or corrective actions may be recommended:

Polk County Fire Rescue assumes and expects that residents will not file frivolous, vindictive or false complaints against employees who have properly performed their duties. Florida state law prohibits providing a false statement under oath or in writing with the intent to mislead a public servant.

Investigators may request a statement in connection with any investigation.

If a complaint is made on good faith belief of the truth and the agency member is exonerated, the matter will be considered closed.

The posthumous accolades keep coming for Ken Riley, a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and Bartow native who never forgot about his community.

Bartow is set to name Gibbons Street after Riley at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in a street-sign unveiling at Gibbons and Bennett Court, the city said.

The new street will be christened Ken Riley Way. Riley’s wife still owns a home on Gibbons Street where the couple had lived.

The street renaming follows Riley’s induction into the Hall of Fame in February and after his death almost three years earlier at age 72. He retired from the NFL 40 years ago.

Riley played cornerback for 15 years with the Cincinnati Bengals and by the time he hung up his helmet for the last time, he had accumulated multiple records.

He held the Bengals' records for the most seasons played, most regular-season games played, career interceptions returned for yardage and postseason interceptions, according to the Hall of Fame. He also led the Bengals in interceptions seven times and led the AFC three times.

'Never say never'Bartow's Ken Riley is finally enshrined in Pro Football Hall of Fame

A pictorial remembranceKen Riley through the years in Polk County

East End CatalystBartow picks, with apartments, possible rehabbed cigar factory

Another highlight in his football career was his appearance in Super Bowl XVI, when the Bengals faced the San Francisco 49ers in a contest the Bengals ultimately lost.

Riley was picked in the sixth round of the 1969 draft. He played high school football at the all-Black Union Academy in Bartow before before the integration of schools. He was a quarterback at Union and later at Florida A&M.

In 1982, he was inducted into the Florida A&M Athletic Hall of Fame. After the NFL, he was the school's head football coach from 1986 to 1993, leading his teams to two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles and two coach of the year awards.

Riley was also an NFL coach from 1984 to 1985 and finished his career as the defensive backs coach of the Green Bay Packers, the Hall of Fame said.

City Commissioner Steve Githens said Mayor Leo E. Longworth worked with the city attorney to ask residents along the street to be renamed, and none of the residents objected.

"He came back to Bartow,” Githens said. “He was always focused on Bartow. ... He never forgot his Bartow roots.”

In a January 2009 Ledger report, he appeared for the opening of “Polk’s Pigskin History” installment at the Polk Historical Museum in Bartow and signed autographs.

According to Charles Luster, museum director at the African American Heritage Museum, Riley connected with the younger generation because after his football career, he interacted with them.

“They can relate to Riley,” Luster said. “He came back and did a lot of programs in the community so the younger generation 20 to 30 years younger would know him personally.”

The museum features a Union Academy exhibit with Riley’s photo and his accolades as well as a Bengals jersey he wore during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, he said.

Luster also said there are several other Bartow streets named after notable people, from Martin Luther King Street to George Gause, the first Black mayor of Bartow, and L.B. Brown, who was born enslaved but become a master carpenter and successful businessman in Polk County, among others.

Of the street naming for Riley, Longworth said “it’s probably overdue” because when he came back to Bartow he was active on committees and boards. "He gave of his time selflessly to the city of Bartow, so it’s not just the Hall of Fame.”

Naming an existing street after someone significant is reserved for a once-in-a-lifetime person and they have to mean a lot to the city, he said.

“He was just a quiet person who didn’t have to talk a lot to say a lot.” Longworth said.

At the Polk County Building Division’s offices in the County Administration Building you will find:

Additional Online and Remote Services:

Same Day Residential Walk-Through Permitting

The Polk County Building Division is experiencing high permitting volume. We are limiting the number of owner/builder applicants seen by permitting and plans examiner staff to eight owner/builder permits per day.

We recommend that you are at the Building Division to sign in before 8:00 a.m. The sign in list will be available in the main lobby of the County Administration Building, 330 W. Church St., Bartow. Support staff is available to answer general questions and to assist you with applying online for permits using our lobby kiosks.

Walk-Through Residential Permitting Business Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Permit applications must be complete prior to entering the permit lobby queue by 12 p.m.

Cut-off times may be adjusted as needed, depending on volume and staffing levels.

Customers are allowed to:

We will make every effort to issue walk-through permits by the close of business; however, customers arriving close to the cut-off time when the lobby is full, or with multiple permit applications, may be asked to return the next business day to finish the permitting process.

Anyone seeking to walk-through a permit will not be allowed to drop it off and return later in the day.

Applicants needing help navigating Accela’s registration, or any other assistance, should call (863) 534-6080.

Affordable Housing Expedited Permitting Process

Pursuant to Section 420.9076, Florida Statutes, Polk County offers an expedited permitting process for qualified affordable housing projects. This expedited permitting process moves these projects ahead in the permitting queue to fast track the process. Please click on the link below to access the application and review the process. Once a building permit has been submitted for the qualified project, please submitted the expedited process request by email to buildingdivision@polk-county.net.

Affordable Housing Expedited Permit Application

Permitting Tools

Develop Polk – Permitting and Land Analysis Tool

Develop Polk will help guide residents embarking on simple or complex projects, such as building or renovating a home and evaluating property for feasibility of residential or nonresidential development. This tool will assist customers in navigating through the county’s building and land development regulations while estimating permitting and project fees.

Visit https://develop.polk-county.net/ for:

VuSpex – Virtual Inspections Tool

Polk County has partnered with VuSpex to provide our customers with the ability to conduct building inspections virtually. For details visit our VuSpex information page.

Using the Accela Portal

Accela is the primary online access point for many of the customer service functions for Polk County’s Building, Code Enforcement and Land Development divisions. Customers can apply for building permits, submit for development review applications or submit code enforcement cases. Also through the portal, you can monitor the status of your applications, complaints or pay application fees.

Building

Land Development

Code Enforcement

Accela How-To: Registration

Accela How-To: Submit a Permit

Accela How-To: Get Additional Permit Information

Accela How-To: Print Permit & Schedule Inspection

Accela How-To: Make a Payment

Accela How-To: Building Division Reports

Accela How-To: Submit Digital Plans

Accela How-To: Revise Digital Plans