Toho Water line flushing continues next week in St. Cloud
Crews contracted with Toho Water Authority will not continue flushing this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but will restart Monday-Friday of next week. Areas where customers are likely to experience a temporary drop in water pressure and discolored water during flushing are: Anthem Park, Jefferson Green at Anthem Park, Natchez Trace, Niles Manor and three Osceola County buildings west of Old Canoe Creek.
Water pressure and clarity will return once flushing operations in the area are completed.
Mercury Marine earns ‘zero-waste-to-landfill’ designation
Mercury Marine has announced it Plant 7 manufacturing operation in St. Cloud, has achieved a zero-waste-to-landfill designation. The factory makes electrical and plastic components for the company’s marine engines and related parts, accessories and technologies.
The St. Cloud operation has the distinction of being the company’s first plant to earn the zero-waste-to-landfill label and the first facility to employ waste-to-energy methodology to help achieve this sustainability benchmark.
“As part of our sustainability goals, Mercury is taking decisive measures to reduce our climate impact, including reducing our dependence on landfill disposition of our waste across the enterprise,” said Scott Louks, Mercury sustainability manager. “In all cases, this was no simple accomplishment. The distribution centers extensively deal with packing materials and containers that — without focused efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle — could generate considerable landfill waste. And avoiding the use of landfills when manufacturing electrical and plastic components likewise requires careful analysis and creative waste-stream solutions to minimize the impact on the environment.”
According to Bob Rock, materials manager at the St. Cloud facility, one of these creative solutions involves converting waste into a source of energy.
“Plant 7 recently launched a program to divert 250 tons annually of manufacturing waste — including paper, wood, plastics, cardboard and packaging materials — away from landfills to a company that manufactures a product it calls Enviro-Fuelcubes. Designated by the EPA as non-waste fuel, the cubes are an engineered alternative fuel designed to be a cost-effective and cleaner pound-for-pound replacement for coal and other traditional fossil fuels. Plant 7 waste materials will now go toward creating clean fuel for energy-intensive industrial processes such as the manufacture of cement and lime, as well as creating power for public consumption,” Rock said.
“After working for many years to put a lasting recycling program in place for waste generated by our injection-molding process, we have finally accomplished an even better solution. I’m proud to have led a team effort to develop a process that avoids contributions to air, soil and water pollutants resulting from landfill disposals,”
Kissimmee seeking food and beverage vendor
The City of Kissimmee is searching for a food and beverage vending machine service provider at multiple City of Kissimmee facilities from Dec. 14 to Sept. 30, 2023.
Those interested must notify the Procurement Coordinator no later than Nov. 25, to receive the proposal requirements. Proposal Packets will include a list of all requirements, terms, and conditions.
Packets are now available, and all proposals must be submitted to the City no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1.
Email them, as well as any questions about the process, to debbie.luke@kissimmee.gov, or mail to Debbie Luke, 101 Church St., Suite 430, Kissimmee, FL 34741.
The Parks & Recreation Department will review, evaluate, and score each submitted proposal by the criteria included in the RFI Packet and award the contract by the end of December 2022.
For more information, contact the City of Kissimmee Parks & Recreation Department at www.kissimmee.gov/parksandrecreation or call 407-518-2360.
“Swim For Life” license plate now available for pre-order
The Florida Swims Foundation (Foundation) has unveiled its new “Swim for Life” license plate that is now available for pre-order through the Florida Swims Foundation website in conjunction with the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles.
Sales of the plate will benefit the Foundation’s mission to fund swimming lessons for children throughout the state of Florida.
“We are thrilled to share this new opportunity with the public as a way to invest in the Foundation’s mission of providing education around water to under resourced children. Swim lessons are life changing and every child should have access to them,” said Elizabeth McMurray, FSPA Executive Director.
The license plate is currently accepting pre-orders through a variety of options, which are detailed in the graphic included.
“The partnership between the Florida Swims Foundation, FSPA, and various state regulation agencies is stronger than ever after our collaboration on this important project,” said Dallas Thiesen, FSPA Senior Director of Government Affairs. “We look forward to continuing our work together as we move into the implementation phase
with license plate pre-sales.”
The specialty license plate will be offered to motor vehicle owners statewide once it hits a 3,000 minimum pre-order threshold. Once met, production will begin immediately on the plates and they will be distributed to drivers statewide.
