Government & Education news

MOUNT DORA ADVISORY COMMITTEE SENDS CLEAR MESSAGE AGAINST N.E. PICKLEBALL COMPLEX

1/21/2020

When the CIty of Mount Dora presented a preliminary concept to build 18-24 pickleball courts on land in the city’s Northeast Community, the reaction from the area’s advisory committee and the residents in attendance was a predictable mix of polite frustration, disappointment and perplexity.

Pickleball courts, let alone the proposed tournament venue, didn’t resemble any of the stated priorities for Mount Dora’s historically lower income Northeast Community. Rather, affordable housing and a community recreation and resource center with after-school activities were high on its lengthy ladder of needs.

The idea for a pickleball tournament facility in the Northeast began when the City demolished its dilapidated Public Works building on the southeast corner of Lincoln Avenue and Highland Street which had blighted that community for several years.

The demolition resulted in the 4.3 acre site in the Northeast being available for redevelopment, and since the land is adjacent to Lincoln Park’s western tennis courts, the expansion of recreational amenities was a logical proposal. However, pickleball courts, let alone a tournament venue, did not align with the area’s priorities, according to all of the members of the Northeast Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Committee and residents in attendance at the committee's January 14th meeting.

City of Mount Dora Director of Leisure Services, Amy Jewell, presented rough drawings at the meeting and stated the pickleball venue was in very early conceptual stages, but staff had been given the green light by the CIty Council to explore grants which could fund a pickleball complex at the site. Jewell noted a $200,000 grant for pickleball courts could be pursued, plus Lake County’s matching grant program for projects that attract tourism to the county could also help fund the complex. Jewell’s intention was to seek input at the meeting from the members.

Jewell stated that the City has 70 active pickleball players and they have been requesting more courts for two years, so when the new site became available in the Northeast, she thought it could be the solution. The issue -- the Northeast Community has been patiently waiting to have its more basic priorities of affordable housing and a community center for children and adults for far longer than two years. Additionally, those projects could positively impact a more diverse demographic and than just 70 part-time and full-time residents.

The Northeast CRA committee members, along with a few residents that spoke, were united in sending a firm message that the City missed an opportunity to present a concept that understood and addressed the specific priorities of the Northeast community.

The Lincoln Avenue site is walking-distance from the City’s public high school and middle school, so it uniquely lends itself to a recreational facility with after-school programs and resources for the Northeast Community, as well as the entire City.

The Northeast CRA Advisory Committee members were unambiguous in their message that even if the City used other land for affordable housing, pickleball courts in that community were an ill-conceived idea. The committee was also unified in expressing the desire for the City to be more diligent about understanding the community’s important and long-standing priorities.

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, this month, click here. Discover the area's online entertainment calendar here. Also download the area's free mobile app.

0 Comments

MOUNT DORA CITY COUNCIL UPDATE: January 21 Meeting

1/21/2020

0 Comments

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council
District 4 City Council Representative

Before I tell you about the 1/21 Regular City Council Meeting I'd like to let you know that on Friday 1/17 your City Council held an all day (8:30-4:30) Work Session primarily to begin the process of updating our Strategic Plan. There will be some follow up meetings and I will let you know when we have a final product.

Our regularly scheduled meeting today covered several important topics and I've selected some items that I think you might want to hear more about.

We passed a Resolution reaffirming that our city street sweeping machine will now be able to visit the Waterman Village community. A similar Resolution involving street sweeping service for the Loch Leven neighborhood was passed a couple of months ago and I anticipate that soon residents of Lakes of Mount Dora will also begin receiving street sweeping services. This was actually a verbal agreement advocated by our former District 4 Council member, Denny Wood. Now that these written agreements are in place this service will commence on an "as needed" basis.

One of the top priorities of the 2019 Parks & Recreation Master Plan is a major renovation of Cauley Lott Park. We approved moving ahead with concept plans and design services that will involve lots of community input. This is a much needed project and it's good to see it's moving ahead especially since a $200,000 grant will help fund the park improvements.

Depending on where you live in Mount Dora your electric service provider could be SECO or Duke Energy or for most residents and businesses in the older sections of town, Mount Dora Electric could be your electric utility. If you are a customer of Mount Dora Electric you should know that a Resolution was passed tonight authorizing the negotiation of a new agreement to meet your electric power needs for the next five years. Since Mount Dora Electric does not generate its own electricity, it buys about 24 megawatts of power that will likely be provided by OUC (Orlando Utilities Commission) if a suitable contract can be agreed to. OUC looks to be the best of eight bidders who would like to sell us electricity. The final details will be worked out but some substantial cost savings are expected.

Yesterday was the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday. Dr. King has been a hero of mine since my childhood. Our quote today is from Rev. King. It is brief but very meaningful: "The time is always right to do what is right."

Thanks for your continuing interest in our wonderful city!
By Marc Crail
District 4 City Council Representative

0 Comments

DOWNTOWN MOUNT DORA’S NEW EYESORES RAISE CONCERNS

1/13/2020

0 Comments

ABOVE: BPAs installed last week downtown on Donnelly Street near 3rd Avenue.

The recent rollout of a new City of Mount Dora requirement has arguably left much to be desired.

The City’s new backflow program improvements for water safety left many commercial property owners scrambling and visitors perplexed at the unsightly, but federally-required, Backflow Prevention Assemblies (BPAs), dotting historic downtown.

In mid-December, tenants of some of the City’s commercial buildings received terse letters stating the property needed to be in compliance with the City’s new BPA program or face their water being shut off. The first problem was the wrong individuals were notified -- tenants aren’t responsible for a building’s compliance. That responsibility falls on the buildings’ owners, and they weren’t notified.

The second and third issues were the curt tone of the letter and an impractical January 12 City-imposed deadline. As a result, affected building owners were left scrambling to comply during the holiday season when the ability to secure competitive bids and schedule installation is predictably compromised. It also didn’t consider any foreseeable hardships it could create for tenants who could face business interruption during their limited peak season. The cost of a BPA installation can range from hundreds to thousands depending on the required configuration.

One downtown landlord expressed resistance to tearing up downtown sidewalks during high season which would be an economic hardship on certain retail tenants and be a hazard to pedestrians.

A miniature jungle gym of BPAs was conspicuously installed on public property at the southeast corner of Donnelly Street and 3rd Avenue (see photo above) last week. The cluster of seven BPAs not only presents potential tripping hazards and liability issues, but is also an eyesore to the City’s quaint downtown. Similar BPA devices will soon appear on the sidewalks in front of Piglet’s Pantry, Becker’s Best Shoes, Let’s Do, Gold in Art, Love Home Harmony and One Flight Up.

The devices are intended to prevent contamination of the City’s water and must be installed above ground level in order to operate properly. To date, the City has not advised of any plans to mitigate the safety and aesthetic issues by covering the devices with a housing of some kind.  Mount Dora Buzz presented a few basic questions about the City's program to City Manager Robin Hayes last week, but they remained unanswered.

"If I were to install backflow prevention units in the sidewalk in front of my buildings in the 400 block of Donnelly in the same manner used last week for the building at 3rd and Donnelly, they will surely be tripping hazards as well as unsightly." said Sandi Weld, property manager and leasing agent for CFL Properties that owns commercial buildings in downtown Mount Dora.

"I know they (BPAs) are not designed to be pretty, but in good conscience, I cannot and will not knowingly create an unsafe situation for pedestrians and people legally parking and exiting their vehicles," said Weld. "It might be a City-owned sidewalk, but if these devices are sticking up from pipes in front of our building and we had a hand in the installation, we are both going to be liable when, not if, the injuries start rolling in, not to mention the potential damage to the equipment from car doors, strollers, and vandals."

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, this month, click here. Discover the area's online entertainment calendar here. Also download the area's free mobile app.

0 Comments

MOUNT DORA TEACHER CHOSEN AS FINALIST FOR TEACHER OF THE YEAR

1/10/2020

0 Comments

UPDATED 1/31/2020: Palmer won Lake County's Teacher of the Year!

Three deserving teachers were named finalists this week for Lake County Teacher of the Year. Christine Palmer, an art teacher at Mount Dora’s Triangle Elementary was among them.

Palmer joined the district in 2011 and has taught art at Triangle for two years. She remembers struggling as a student and being told she was “not the brightest crayon in the box.” Then, she met an 8th-grade English teacher who was determined to help her succeed. That teacher changed her trajectory and inspired her to want to do the same for others. Her goal at Triangle was to make visual arts fun and engaging, especially for students who may have struggled in other areas.

“I wanted students to look forward to art,” she wrote. “I wanted students who would normally not come to school, to come to school because they had art that day.” Far from simple free time with coloring, Ms. Palmer offered standard-based instruction and held high expectations for her students.

“Watching the pride our students had when they saw their amazing art being displayed showed them, and the world, that they were capable of so much more than they originally thought,” she wrote.

At a celebration on January 30, one of the three finalists will be named Lake’s newest Teacher of the Year and will drive away with the grand prize, a 2020 Hyundai Elantra from Jenkins Auto Group. The Lake winner will go on to compete at the state level for the title of Florida Teacher of the Year.

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, this month, click here. Discover the area's online entertainment calendar here. Also download the area's free mobile app.

0 Comments