NEW UPDATE: Recap of January 7 Mount Dora City Council meeting

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council District 4 Representative
 
I've selected several items of interest from City Council's January 7, 2025 meeting to share with you. Please understand that I'm reporting to you as one member of City Council and not in any official capacity on behalf of the Council.

A food drive to benefit Lake Cares Food Pantry is coming up on January 25. It's a friendly competition with our neighboring cities for a very good cause. You can drop off canned goods, etc, at either of our fire stations anytime between now and 1/27. Thanks in advance for your help!

There was an update on the Donnelly Street temporary sidewalk construction. Beginning this Thursday, 1/8, expect one lane to be closed while the contractor is working on the temporary walkway. We anticipate completion in about two weeks. As a side note, we still haven't received notification that our grant proposal for the "permanent" sidewalk has been approved although it still seems likely.

We also got updated on the noxious odor issue. We received a preliminary report a few days ago from the company that has been monitoring the smell for six months. Here are the highlights greatly simplified. Hydrogen Sulfide that results in a strong rotten egg smell appears to be lower inside our Wastewater Plant 2 than it is in other surrounding areas. It is 0.1 parts per million at intake which is extremely low. This seems to confirm that our wastewater treatment plant isn't the source of the bad smell. If that is the case, the next step will be to zero in on the actual odor source. We have hired Halff, an environmental engineering firm, to figure out where the smell is emanating from.

City staff, council members and affected residents are all frustrated and desperate to find solutions asap.  The fact is that this is very complex and a quick fix isn't likely but we are committed to continuing to do all we can as quickly as we can. We are hoping to get Lake County, Orange County and the FDEP (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) involved to help share data and the costs involved with solving our mutual problem.

We adopted a resolution to apply for a Federal RAISE Grant for the proposed Wekiva Bike/Hike Trail. We have applied for similar grants previously but this time CSX Railway Company has signed on and their cooperation could be a game changer.

A Parking Workshop meeting will be held on Monday 1/13 at 6:00 p.m. Community members are invited to attend but generally during workshop meetings, public comments are not allowed.

Thank you for your interest in the goings-on in Mount Dora government. It is my privilege to serve as your District 4 representative.

Our quote for today comes by way of Gotta Giggle Memes & Funnier. "The difference between me and Superman is... he has super vision and I require supervision".  I think they've nailed it!

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council District 4 Representative

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