Eagle Lake Could Extend Sunday Alcohol Sales Hours
Eagle Lake commissioners meet Monday to take a first vote on extending alcohol sales into Sunday morning, weigh utility rate increases, and revisit the fate of the city’s oldest building.
What Would Change
Ordinance O-26-09 would let stores, bars and restaurants in the city sell and serve alcohol from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. the next day, seven days a week, including holidays. Under the current rule, Sunday sales cannot start until after noon, and Christmas and Thanksgiving are treated as if they fell on a Sunday. The ordinance would apply the same schedule to every business holding a state beverage license and to every kind of alcohol, from beer and wine to packaged liquor.
Monday’s hearing is the first of two readings, with a second public hearing set for Sept. 9. If commissioners approve the ordinance at that second hearing, the new hours would take effect immediately.
How Eagle Lake Would Compare
The ordinance states that its purpose is to bring Sunday and holiday hours closer to what Polk County and other nearby communities already allow.
Nearly every city in Polk County treats Sunday differently from the rest of the week. Some cities permit restaurants to serve on Sunday morning while keeping package stores closed, and others do the reverse, allowing package sales in the afternoon while bars remain closed all day. Sunday starting times across the county range from 7 a.m. to noon; most cities stop Sunday sales at midnight. Others attach conditions to which businesses qualify, such as requiring that a restaurant earn the majority of its income from food.
Two cities, Mulberry and Polk City, operate on the same hours every day of the week with no separate Sunday rule, which is the approach Eagle Lake is proposing. Polk County itself has kept its distinctions in place, allowing packaged beer and wine to be sold from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. any day of the week. On-site service begins at 11 a.m. on Sundays, and packaged liquor sales start at noon; both end at midnight.
The practical effect of the ordinance would be less a change in the clock than a change in structure, since it would remove the separate Sunday rules that most of the county still maintains and apply a single schedule to every business and every category of alcohol.
Who It Would Affect
The ordinance would reach a small number of businesses inside city limits.
The city’s gas stations and convenience stores, which are open on Sundays and sell beer and wine, would be permitted to begin selling earlier in the day
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R&D Liquors, the only package store in the city, stands to gain the most, because packaged liquor is the category the current Sunday rule keeps off the shelf until afternoon. Owner Narata told The Citrus Tea that she was not aware of the proposal, and said she would likely open earlier on Sundays if it passes.
Also on Monday’s Agenda
Older business includes bids previously awarded for a building demolition, along with an item from the Eagle Lake Historical Society. The demolition covers three city properties, one of them the Eagle Lake School House, the red brick building that residents have organized to save. Eleven residents spoke in support of preserving the building at the commission’s July 20 meeting.
On July 20, commissioners voted 4 to 1 to grant the Historical Society an additional four-month extension to present a plan for repairing and using the property, with Commissioner Williams voting no.
They then voted unanimously to restore electricity to the building. According to Stephanie and David Floyd, the shutoff had also cut power to the senior center across from City Hall, affecting residents who rely on the space.
The Citrus Tea News sat down with the Floyds about the effort to save the schoolhouse, and will publish that interview as a full feature.
Commissioners will consider a policy requiring that when one commissioner requests public records, the city clerk provide the same records to all other commissioners.
Commissioners will consider a policy requiring that when one commissioner requests public records, the city clerk provide the same records to all other commissioners. They will also vote on a resolution rescinding an incomplete informal transfer of an inoperable city vehicle, reconfirming it as surplus property and directing its disposal.
Utility Rates Rising
City Manager Tom Ernharth is asking commissioners to raise both water and sewer rates by 5 percent and trash collection by 6 percent in the coming budget year, with the city’s 1.5 percent administrative fee added to each. Nothing has been settled, as the rates would be approved during budget discussions with a decision expected in September.
The 6 percent trash increase comes directly from Republic Services. The 5 percent sewer increase is a placeholder, as the city has not yet been told what Bartow intends to charge and will adjust the rate once it has that number.
Utility rate increases are on the table in nearly every Polk County city this budget season. Lakeland has already approved its increase. The largest increases are on the county side, where commissioners this month approved higher connection fees and irrigation rates, and where customers using 20,000 gallons of water a month could see increases of as much as 80 percent, with reclaimed water rates continuing to climb through 2030.
Eagle Lake sets its own utility rates and is not a Polk County Utilities customer, so the county’s increases do not apply to city bills. The city operates its own water system and purchases sewer service from Bartow.
City utilities staff said average households in Eagle Lake currently pay about $110 a month for water, sewer, trash and stormwater combined. Stormwater is not part of the proposed increases.
Ernharth’s report also states that the city’s road resurfacing project is expected to come in over budget once six small stretches of roadway near Highway 17 are added, with new bids due Aug. 14. Separately, Polk County is moving ahead with a sidewalk along Starling Road connecting the high school to Eagle Avenue.
If You Want to Go
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3, at 675 E. Eagle Ave. Public comment is taken at commission meetings. Residents who need an accommodation in order to attend can contact the City Clerk’s Office at (863) 293-4141 at least two working days in advance.
Editor's note: The Citrus Tea News reports on local government actions without taking a position for or against any proposal, official or outcome.
Sources: City of Eagle Lake Regular City Commission Meeting Agenda, City of Eagle Lake, August 3, 2026; Ordinance No. O-26-09, City of Eagle Lake; From the Desk of the City Manager, Monthly Report, City of Eagle Lake, August 3, 2026; Eagle Lake City Clerk Dawn Wright, City of Eagle Lake, July 2026; Eagle Lake utilities staff, City of Eagle Lake, July 2026; City of Lakeland City Commission agenda, July 20, 2026; Polk County Land Development Code, Section 224 and Table 2.4; City of Auburndale Code of Ordinances, Section 4-2; City of Davenport Code of Ordinances, Section 3-5; City of Fort Meade Code of Ordinances, hours of sale of alcoholic beverages; City of Haines City Code of Ordinances, hours of sale; municipal codes of Bartow, Dundee, Frostproof, Lake Alfred, Lake Hamilton, Lake Wales, Lakeland, Mulberry, Polk City and Winter Haven; Section 561.01, Florida Statutes; owner, R&D Liquors, Eagle Lake, July 2026
