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.   ​