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Highlands Today

County Talking About Grants ForWashington Heights

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By Jim  Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: May 25, 2008

SEBRING — Highlands County commissioners will consider seeking grant money to continue the neighborhood revitalization of the Washington Heights neighborhood from the city of Sebring into the abutting Lincoln Heights area, which lies in the unincorporated area.

Commissioner Barbara Stewart raised that idea last week after the five commissioners voted unanimously to donate $1,000 for equipment rentals for the June 21 Juneteenth community festival in Washington Heights.

Both Stewart and Edgar Stokes, chairman of the county commissioners, said they were impressed by the streetscape project, which is improving the appearance of Lemon Street at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the center of the Washington Heights neighborhood.

Further improvements to the neighborhood will be discussed by neighborhood residents and city leaders at two "visioning" sessions, scheduled for 6-9 p.m. Friday, July 18 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 19.

Stewart said county commissioners should attend those meetings. And, she said, the commissioners should look into seeking grant funding to expand the Washington Heights revitalization project to include the portion that lies in the county.

"That's definitely a good idea," said Robert Saffold, the leader of the New Washington Heights and Lincoln Heights Concerned Citizens. The neighborhood group has been meeting regularly for four years to discuss improving aesthetics and safety in the two adjoining neighborhoods.

Pete Pollard, executive director of the Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), also praised Stewart's idea.

"I think it would be very positive if they (county commissioners) were to share in the interest" of improvement projects in the Washington Heights/Lincoln Heights neighborhoods, Pollard said.

Plans for neighborhood improvements beyond the current streetscaping will be made based on the input of neighborhood residents, Pollard said. He said any involvement by the county should start, as Stewart suggested, by the commissioners meeting with residents at the two "visioning" sessions.

Saffold said Stewart has been wanting to get the county involved in neighborhood improvement for some time.

"Barbara and I talked about that (the county seeking grant money) before, some time before she presented it at the commission meeting," he said. "I concur with her wholeheartedly.

"When you see the improvement that has transpired from the city project," Saffold added, "and we expect them to be involved even more, you can see that the county needs to come in and see that every neighborhood – and I mean every neighborhood in the county – should have the aesthetics and the safety that it needs."

Last August, when commissioners set the county budget for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 of this year, the county's annual donation to Juneteenth festival was deleted as part of the overall budget cutting.

This week, though, at Stewart's suggestion, the commissioners voted to donate $1,000 to the community festival.

Juneteenth is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. June 21 in Washington Heights. Saffold said there should be more vendors than the 28 who participated last year, and he expects attendance to top 2,000.

"This is the ninth year (of the Juneteenth festival) and attendance has been going up every year," he said. "Last year we had just under 2,000 people during the day, and we're expecting more this year."

The county commissioners did not commit to seeking grant funding to expand the city's revitalization of Washington Heights into Lincoln Heights.

But, commissioners were agreeable to discussing this issue in the future.

The two visioning sessions for the Washington Heights project will be held in the gymnasium of the Bountiful Blessings Church of God at 820 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

"I think we'll have a good crowd there for those sessions," Saffold said.

The county has supported the Washington Heights project indirectly, by agreeing to resurface two of the three main main streets in the neighborhood: Martin Luther King Boulevard (formerly Highlands Avenue) and East Center Street, Pollard said.

Pollard stressed that future projects of the Washington Heights redevelopment project will be planned with neighborhood residents.

"The end result (of the two visioning meetings) will be a neighborhood planning effort that is collaborative with the neighborhood residents involved in the plan," he said. "It will not be something that the government just comes in and decides, 'This is what you get.'"

"I think it would be very positive," Pollard added, "if they (county commissioners) get involved in the planning process and talk with residents about this."

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