Government & Education news

EUSTIS' FERRAN PARK CLOSES FOR IMPROVEMENTS

2/26/2020

Construction on the fourth phase of improvements to Ferran Park began on the day after GeorgeFest and is expected to be completed by the end of June, 2020.

The improvements to Ferran Park will include:

Removal and replacement of curbing on Ferran Park Drive
Replacing asphalt on Ferran Park Drive with brick pavers
Installation of brick pavers on Magnolia Ave. and McDonald Ave. between the railroad and Bay St.
New brick pavered areas
New pavilion along the seawall
New sidewalks north of Magnolia Avenue
Relocation of Veterans Memorial
New shade structures at the bandshell
New columns and park entrance features at McDonald and Magnolia entrances
New storm structures and conveyance system
New landscaping
New electrical and new lighting

During the construction process the following streets and amenities will be closed to the public:

Ferran Park and Ferran Park Drive, north of Orange Avenue, south of the bandshell and west of the railroad tracks will be closed
The parking lot at the south end will be fenced off for staging.
All public restrooms will also be closed until further notice.
Magnolia Avenue between the railroad and Bay St. will be closed to traffic.
McDonald Avenue will be closed between the railroad and Bay Street with a small section remaining open to access the El Marie restaurant. This small section will eventually be completely closed to facilitate construction.

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.

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RESIDENTS ANGERED OVER CITY'S CHANGES TO MOUNT DORA CEMETERY

2/25/2020

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ABOVE: The long swaths of dirt are where some of the historic coping was removed from family gravesites.

It was once touted as one of the nicest places to be laid to rest in the area. Located in the center of town, Mount Dora’s historic Pine Forest Cemetery lived up to its name of a peaceful place where towering pines dotted the lawn among the paths of headstones and monuments. Inside the aging cemetery are the humble gravesites of the city’s founding families, as well as burial sites of recent residents.

Earlier this year some of that peace and beauty changed after City staff were directed to remove some aging landscaping and damaged gravesite coping in order to make maintenance easier and to remove potential tripping hazards at the City-owned cemetery, according to Amy Jewell, Mount Dora’s Director of Leisure Services that oversees the city-owned cemetery.

A 1969 City ordinance prevented more coping from being added to the cemetery. That was the year after the City's cement mason, Carl Risley, passed away. Last September the City Council, as well as the City’s Parks Advisory Committee comprised of residents, voted unanimously to adopt a policy that reaffirmed the prohibition of the coping at Pine Forest, said Jewell in a letter dated February 24.

Staff members were not directed to remove all of the gravesite coping. However, an overzealous supervisor removed excessive amounts of coping, according to Jewell. As a result, swaths of unsightly scarred earth were left behind and those parts of the cemetery appeared desecrated (see video below). Residents began complaining to Jewell and City Manager Robin Hayes. The issue lit up on social media last weekend with dozens of angry residents accusing the City of disrespect and desecration.

One of the vocal residents is John Tremain, whose forebears are among the City’s founding families buried at the Pine Forest. Decades ago, Tremain was in charge of maintenance at the cemetery, and he states that during his tenure the coping never presented a maintenance problem or a tripping hazard for visitors.. At that time, staff regularly used a weed- eater to trim vegetation around the coping and headstones and cleaned the mold from headstones using a bleach and water solution when needed. Today the maintenance of the headstones falls solely on surviving family members. If they are unavailable, the cement headstones become blackened with mold and buried in several inches of soil and overgrowth. Tremain retired from the City several years ago, but has been a vocal critic about what he believes is a lack of proper maintenance, as well as the recent removal of the coping at the Donnelly Street cemetery.

Surviving family members were not notified in advance of the removal of the gravesite coping designating their families’ sites, but Jewell stated that only coping identified as hazardous or buried will be removed in the future and the CIty will now coordinate with family members.

The Pine Forest historic coping elements were made by Carl Risley, the owner of a local cement company that also created the vertical street markers in the historic district and much of the rusticated cement blocks used on the city’s historic buildings.

The recent barrenness of the cemetery will be addressed with a plan to replant after the removal of some landscaping and the 34 trees marked for removal due to disease or risk of falling, according to Jewell.

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.

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THE TOUCHING STORY BEHIND MOUNT DORA'S NEW POLICE K9 PUP

2/24/2020

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ABOVE: Mount Dora Police Officer Adam McCulloch with Mac. (Photo by Mount Dora Buzz)

It all started with a simple love of dogs and community, but then the tale takes a sad and unexpected turn.

In 2014, Mount Dora resident Kevin McMurray enrolled in the first Citizens Police Academy, a program offered by Mount Dora Police Department (MDPD) to familiarize residents with the inner workings of local law enforcement. McMurray, a technical analyst who moved to Mount Dora from Lakeland, was a devoted dog lover who rescued four-legged best friends from area kill-shelters. After his involvement in the academy and volunteering in the community, McMurray, along with his wife Amber, counted MDPD officers among their friends.

Sadly, in September, 2018, Kevin was diagnosed with cancer and passed away nine months later.

“When we found out Kevin was diagnosed with cancer, we were devastated,” said Mount Dora Police Chief Robert Bell who visited the ailing McMurray shortly before he died.

While he was sick, McMurray told Amber about his desire to fill a void at MDPD by gifting something near to his heart. Last November, Amber surprised the police department by donating $30,000 in Kevin’s name to fund the purchase, training, care and equipping of a new K9 officer. The departments two K9 officers, Stryker and Titan, had each retired for health reasons in recent years before passing away in 2018 and 2019.

As a result of the McMurrays’ generosity, last week a strong, playful 67-pound Czech Shepherd from Southern Coast K9 was welcomed by MDPD.

“We are proud to honor Kevin by naming our new K9, Mac,” said Bell. “Our heartfelt thanks go out to Amber and Kevin for their generous donation. His memory will live on through Mac.”

Mac, an alert, lanky bundle of energy, just began lengthy training with his partner, Officer Adam McCulloch. The K9 will get specialized training in narcotics detection, criminal apprehension and missing persons tracking. The certification is expected to take between 6 and 14 weeks, depending on the dog’s progress.

Although Mac needs to learn the ropes, McCulloch has a decade of experience handling canines. Most recently, he was partnered with MDPD’s K9 Officer Stryker who was credited with over 140 arrests before retiring in 2017.

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.

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MOUNT DORA CITY COUNCIL UPDATE: February 18 Meeting

2/19/2020

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

I've selected some items from the February 18, 2020 Mount Dora City Council meeting agenda to share with you. I'm reporting to you as an individual not in any official city council capacity.

We approved a memorandum of understanding Philips Corp. that manufactures ultrasound machines. Phillips has agreed to provide training by physicians for our Mount Dora firefighters to learn how to operate their ultrasound equipment. Eventually we may be able to have those ultrasound machines on our fire trucks. That way our firefighters would be able to check traffic accident victims on the scene to help determine if their injuries require immediate transport to a trauma center. There is no cost to the city for this training.

We also approved our part of a joint resolution along with the City of Tavares and Lake County Commissioners identifying a cooperative initiative to develop a "rails to trails" recreation trail. The proposed rail trail would be about 12.5 miles long running from Sorrento through Mount Dora and on to Tavares. I think that this cooperative effort could help us to obtain state or federal funding to help make the rail trail a reality. I'm excited about the prospects!

Ordinances were approved that will enable our police officers and firefighters buy up to 60 months of their military experience. This is a common benefit for first responders and the costs are minimal.

We finalized a much needed ordinance that amends our land development code pertaining to Bed and Breakfast establishments. These changes will help B&Bs which are important businesses in our town to host special events and help their bottom line

In my opinion, back in November of 2016 city council foolishly approved an agreement with Medallion Home in order to settle a pending law suite. Part of that agreement (which I opposed) was that the city got a temporary deed and had three years to build and occupy a fire station on a small parcel of property located near the S.R. 44 entrance to Lakes of Mount Dora where the retention pond is currently located near the Medallion sales office. Since that site was not at all well suited to house a fire station, there was never any serious intention to build one there. The three year timeline for building and occupying the fire station is now over so we authorized the mayor to execute a Quit Claim Deed reverting the ownership of that parcel to Medallion Home.

Allow me to end with some good news. We passed a resolution for a 2020 summer youth work experience program for up to 30 high school students who reside in our Northeast community redevelopment area. These students will be able to earn $11 per hour gaining job experience over 7-10 weeks this coming summer. This program was a great success last summer and it has been tweaked to make it even better this year.

February is Black History Month so I'll give you some words of wisdom from Booker T. Washington who said; "A lie doesn't become the truth, wrong doesn't become right and evil doesn't become good just because it's accepted by the majority."

It's a privilege for me to represent District 4 on Mount dora City Council. Thank you.

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

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.

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MOUNT DORA HIGH SCHOOL NAMES NEW FOOTBALL COACH

2/6/2020

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ABOVE: Mount Dora High School Football Coach, Cameron Porch (Mount Dora Buzz photo)

The Mount Dora Hurricanes will be a force to be reckoned with. That statement could be true if Mount Dora High School’s new football coach is successful in developing the players and team on and off the field.

After various high school coaching positions in the Gainesville area and Georgia, Cameron Porch began his new role at Mount Dora High School on January 27 knowing that it’s not without its challenges.

Porch said he plans to work hard every day to create a family atmosphere on the team that sticks with the players throughout the entire year. His vision for the end of the upcoming fall season is simple -- he wants the teammates to be proud of what they have accomplished and embrace his simple motto: “Win every day.”

In 2004, at age 19, Porch ran into his former high school football coach who asked the teen to help coach the team. Porch had planned to pursue his passion of meteorology, but after that first coaching experience, he was hooked and went on to assume various high school coaching positions in the Gainesville area and a stint at a school in Georgia. Many of the programs were struggling when he arrived and Porch helped turn them around.

“I look forward to opportunities that are challenging and we know that we’re presented some challenges within this program and that’s okay. That’s to be embraced, I think,” said Porch. “I enjoy the things that make the end goal all the more rewarding,”

The average number of boys per school in 11-player football in 2018-19 was 70.6 according to the National Federation of High School Association's latest participation survey Last season, Mount Dora High School fell short of that average, but Porch began recruiting existing students to play and within six days there were 71 students interested in playing. Although he’s optimistic, Porch is also realistic and knows those numbers will fluctuate because some attrition in the roster is normal.

Porch is under no illusion that positive changes happen overnight. He works hard and expects the same from his players, but also wants their time on the team to be enjoyable.

High school football players often dream of competing on the next level -- college. One of Porch’s priorities is helping those players with college opportunities and assisting them in the recruitment process. In return he just asks them for one thing -- effort. This includes effort not only on the field, but also in the classroom, weight room, community, as well as making the effort to be a good person.

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.

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