By Dr. Marc Crail
District 4 City Council Member

The Tuesday March 19th schedule featured a 1:00 Work Session and a 6:00 Regular Meeting. I've picked out several items from each meeting's agenda that I think you might be interested in hearing about. Please keep in mind that I am not writing in any official capacity and certainly not on behalf of City Council as a whole. I am just one member and what follows are my own observations.

The Work Session included discussions about several interesting topics. The first was a review of a community meeting held last month in the Lakes of Mount Dora neighborhood where city staff members and about 160 concerned residents discussed options to improve safe ingress and egress as residents, tradespeople and guests pull out of the development onto S.R. 44 which is currently the only exit/entrance for nearly 600 homes with another 400+ still to be built. Residents at Lakes of Mount Dora (LoMD) are very concerned that they are putting their lives on the line every time they leave their neighborhood and attempt to merge onto S.R. 44 where drivers are often clipping along at speeds in excess of 55 m.p.h. Residents at the February 13th table-top workshop worked in teams to voice their concerns and to identify their preferred solutions.

Just a couple of weeks ago Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) announced that it has plans to install a traffic light at the nearby intersection of S.R. 44 and Britt Rd. City staff will be meeting next week with their counterparts from FDOT and Lake County to discuss how that future traffic light can be constructed so as to help LoMD residents exit and enter their neighborhood more safely. A followup meeting with LoMD residents has been scheduled for May 8. It's good to see that this safety problem is being recognized by the City, the County and the State.

The recent increase in the residential Fire Assessment Fee from $50 per year to $219 will help fund the construction and staffing of three new fire stations which will shorten our emergency response times throughout Mount Dora. I think that this will save lives and property and I support that 100%. City Council members are concerned that some homeowners will be hard pressed to pay their Fire Assessments so we are looking for options to help low income homeowners who live in homes that they own (eligible for Homestead Exemptions) with some kind of a hardship reduction. This is a work in progress but I will keep you posted as we progress.

During the Regular Meeting we heard a presentation from a recently formed group who plan to offer free advice and help to Mount Dora small business owners who could use some short term assistance perfecting their business plans, planning for slow sales seasons and the like. The group called the "Volunteer Business Solutions Advisory Committee" is comprised of veteran entrepreneurs whose goal is to lend their business expertise to new business owners. What a great concept!

We passed a resolution to purchase a new forklift costing $91,761 to replace our current forklift that is about 20 years old. Three departments will be sharing the cost and the use of the new equipment.

We also adopted our new Parks & Recreation Master Plan which has had the benefit of numerous public meetings and on-line surveys completed by hundreds of residents over the past year. That plan will be our blueprint over the next decade as we strive to improve access and opportunities for all Mount Dora residents to enjoy city parks near their neighborhoods while improving our existing parks and our recreational opportunities.

In the wake of the tragic slaughter of 50 innocent people worshiping in Christchurch, New Zealand I've come across a quote for your consideration. It's from Connie Schultz a syndicated columnist and professor at Kent State University who wrote; "Forty-nine (now 50) people were murdered during Friday Prayer in two mosques in New Zealand. We feel helpless in these moments, but we are not powerless. We can be kind to strangers who do not look like us or are different in other ways. We can be daily signs of hope for our hurting world."  Let's all work to be signs of hope, the world could really use that right now!
Dr. Marc Crail
District 4 City Council Member

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It was intended to be a partial solution to a nagging problem.  Last November, the City of Mount Dora purchased property for $798,000 (including closing costs) to develop as a downtown parking lot to help reduce the parking shortage.

The plan was to tear down the unsafe metal barn, as well as two small historic homes on the property located at the intersection of Third Avenue and Baker Street and replace them with a parking lot to accommodate varied estimated of 43 to 60 cars and public restrooms.

On January 30, the proposed demolition of the historic homes and barn, all built between 1925 and 1927, went before the Historic Preservation Board which denied the request.  The Board, comprised of seven residents appointed by the City Council, is responsible for all matters relative to historic preservation in the city.

From the outside, one of the houses appears in poor condition, but the condition of the other is more difficult to ascertain.

The city could have brought its plans to the board for a preliminary review as part of its due diligence prior to purchasing the property, but instead opted to bring the proposed demolition for review only after the hefty transaction was complete.   

The matter is slated to go before the City Council on March 5 when its members will decide whether to uphold the historic preservation of the buildings or replace them with the parking lot.  If the council supports the historic preservation, it will then have to decide what to do with its newly acquired property.    ​

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, visit the area's website and download the area's free mobile app.  Free subscriptions to Mount Dora Buzz' monthly updates are available here.   ​​

By Dr. Marc Crail, District 4 City Council Member
​ 
Today was a busy day. There were two important ribbon cutting events. The first was for the 22,000 sq. ft. Adventist Health Medical Office Building located on U.S. Rt. 441 near Country Club Dr. This new facility is due to be completed by fall of this year.

The second one marked the completion of the reconstruction of Magnolia Ending cul-de-sac. Magnolia Ending is in the Dogwood Mountain neighborhood. It is on the edge of one of the steepest embankments in Mount Dora and the roadway suffered a catastrophic collapse as a result of Hurricane Irma about 18 months ago. The street has been completely rebuilt and the drainage system vastly improved to prevent any future reoccurrence. Neighborhood residents, city staff and officials including Congressman Michael Waltz were on hand to celebrate the "grand re-opening".

I've picked out several items from our 1:00 City Council Work Session and our 6:00 Regular Meeting that I thought would be of interest to you. I'm not writing in any official capacity so what follows is just my opinion and not necessarily representative of Mount Dora City Council.

During our work session we began a review of our draft Parks & Recreation Master Plan. After months of public meetings, online surveys, and work by our consultant and city staff we received the draft plan late last week. It is several hundred pages long and its importance cannot be over emphasized. I for one pushed for a several weeks to carefully read and discuss the draft master plan before formally considering its adoption. We will be asking questions and studying the draft plan over the next month.

I always try to represent the needs of residents from all over Mount Dora but in this case I will be partial to the residents of my district, District 4 which has no city parks of any significance. I strongly believe that our parks need to be located throughout the city so that all of our residents can easily access and enjoy them. Our parks are concentrated near the center of town. That was acceptable when Mount Dora was a compact village but as our town grows I'm going to insist on equal access to parks for all of our residents. I'm looking forward to hearing from members of our Parks & Recreation Advisory Board and other city council members.

During the regular meeting we gave our final approval to the PUD for Timberwalk which will include 376 new homes on Round Lake Rd. near Round Lake Charter School. Look for dirt to begin being moved later this year.

We approved the first reading of an important ordinance which will help protect our citizens from the prospect of having our citizen-owned utilities such as our water, wastewater, sewer and electric utilities sold by city council without the approval of our residents.

February is Black History Month and I've selected a quote from Harriet Tubman that struck me as inspiring. She said:

 "If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.  If there's shouting after you, keep going.  Don't ever stop, keep going.  If you want the taste of freedom, keep going."

In order for all of us to be free,  each of us must "keep going" toward the goal of equal opportunities for all. Thanks to brave leaders like Harriet Tubman we have made progress toward that goal but there is still work to be done.

Thanks for your interest in your Mount Dora city government!

Marc Crail
District 4 City Council Representative

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, visit the area's website and download the area's free mobile app.  Free subscriptions to Mount Dora Buzz' monthly updates are available here.   ​

By Dr. Marc Crail, District 4 City Council Member

There were actually three city council meetings on February 5th beginning at 1:00 with a Work Session, a 6:00 Regular Meeting and a brief Northeast Community Redevelopment Agency Board meeting that wrapped up at about 9:00. I've selected some items from these meetings that I thought you would like to hear about. Please remember that I am reporting not as a spokesperson for city council as a whole but only from my own perspective.

Several important topics were discussed during our Work Session. We all know that traffic is ever increasing on our roads in and around Mount Dora. With the recent completion of the Wekiva Parkway this trend will continue and accelerate in upcoming years. In order to help us to make informed decisions about "traffic calming" options we will be undertaking a citywide study over the next several months. There will be opportunities for public input and consultations with experts as we  begin to implement recommendations to deal with excess speed in our neighborhoods and on our streets.

There are many worthwhile organizations that seek money from the City to help them run programs and facilities that benefit our residents. These include; The Merchants Association, Chamber of Commerce, Donnelly House, Lake Cares Food Pantry and the sponsors of the African American History Festival among others. We want to develop a set of standards by which proposals for City grants can be rated and scarce resources awarded.

During the Regular Meeting we passed a series of Resolutions mostly dealing with utility line relocations, State Revolving Loan Funds to finance the construction of utility lines, and awarding a contract for the construction of an interconnect project so that we can get additional reclaimed water when its needed from the City of Apopka.

Several ordinances were also preliminarily approved during first readings. The most exciting to me is a 376 unit single family residential development to be located between Round Lake Charter School and Wolf Branch Road. It is called Timberwalk and it will be the first development near the Wolf Branch Innovation District that will be subject to our recently adopted "enhanced architectural standards" which will require developments to include more green space and nice touches that should make homes there unique and help improve property values. Smart, controlled growth is essential to preserving our quality of life in Mount Dora.

I'm proud to be your District 4 City Council Representative and I'm proud to have the opportunity to work with our great staff and my colleagues on City Council. Thanks for the opportunity!

I've got a Mark Twain quote for you to consider; "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."

By Marc Crail
District 4 City Council Member

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, visit the area's website and download the area's free mobile app.  Free subscriptions to Mount Dora Buzz' monthly updates are available here.   ​

“Since our transition to becoming a no-kill community, we’ve struggled with overcrowding at the shelter,” said Lake County Animal Shelter director Whitney Boylston. “The new facility will allow us to better serve the pets as they wait for new homes.”
 
After being designated as a no-kill shelter in 2017, concerns about overcrowding were quickly recognized by Lake County Commissioners, who approved the new facility last year.
 
The new shelter, to be funded by Lake County’s penny sales tax, will also feature an education room, a surgery room, cat and dog isolation areas and adoption areas. Lake County invites the public for a groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility at 12280 County Road 448 on January 14 at 11 a.m.   

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, visit the area's website and download the area's free mobile app.  Free subscriptions to Mount Dora Buzz' monthly updates are available here.   ​

By Marc  Crail
District 4 City Council member

I've just returned from a wonderful induction ceremony as Mount Dora welcomed 16 new firefighters and promoted two of our existing firefighters to Lieutenants. This kind of ceremony is called a "Pinning Ceremony" because the new firefighters have their badges pinned on them by loved ones and are welcomed into the Fire Department by their colleagues. Normally we pin firefighters or police officers during City Council meetings but usually there are only one or two at a time. Tonight, a couple of hundred friends and family members and most of our City Council members were on hand at First Baptist Church along with representatives from several other nearby fire departments to congratulate our newest hometown heroes.

You might recall that I told you several months ago that Mount Dora had been awarded over a $1,000,000 grant from a Homeland Security competitive grant called a SAFER Grant. This grant will pay the majority of the salaries for 12 new firefighters over the next three years. Four other new firefighters were brought onboard to replace others who have resigned or retired from our fire department. Our new lieutenants (one male and one female) were promoted from within the department which is great.

The new firefighters were led in by a departmental bagpiper. They are a great looking and diverse group of women and men who have chosen to be firefighters for a variety of good reasons all of which have to do with serving others and being a part of something bigger than themselves. One by one they took the stage along with their parent or spouse or perhaps a friend or relative who is also in the fire service. Once they received their badge they were welcomed by the fire chief, the city manager and posed for photos while the audience applauded. It was up-lifting.

I don't think there was a dry eye in the house when one new firefighter was pinned by his girl friend and then dropped to a knee and proposed (by the way, she said yes). Another new firefighter was accompanied by his wife and two very young kids who shouted out loud that they loved their daddy.

There were lots of very proud parents, spouses and friends with smiles all around. I was especially impressed by the number of representatives from other fire departments who were on hand to add their congratulations especially at this very busy time of the year. It was a heartwarming display.

Our fire chief, Tim Griner reminded everyone that the job they have signed up for will require each of the new firefighters to live away from their respective families one third of the time, miss one third of future Christmases with their families as well as one third of their weekends, etc. They will witness death and destruction that most of us can't even imagine so support from their families will be essential. Our job is to provide them with the best training and equipment available to help keep them safe and healthy.

I'm glad that this group of dedicated, bright, enthusiastic young women and men are now part of our team. While rock stars and professional athletes will make more money  and enjoy more accolades in their brief careers than these folks will in their entire lifetimes, I for one know that these young ladies and gentlemen have already earned my eternal respect and gratitude.

I have two quotes about first responders that I'd like for you to consider. Denis Leary said; "What firefighters and people in our military and cops do is separate from what the rest of us do; basically these people say, I'm going to protect all these strangers." And from Susan Diane Murphree; "Firefighters never die, they just burn forever in the hearts of the people whose lives they save."

Based on what I heard and saw this evening we can all breathe easier. We're in very good hands!

Marc Crail
Your proud District 4 City Council member

​For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, click here. ​ Free subscriptions to the monthly issue of Mount Dora Buzz are available here.