The Lake County School Board has agreed to ask the Board of County Commissioners to place a referendum on the November ballot asking voters to approve the continuation of a 0.75 mill tax that has been levied since 2019 to enhance school safety.
 
The tax, approved by voters in August 2018, was the result of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act enacted by the Florida Legislature after the tragic shooting at the south Florida school by the same name. The act made significant school safety reforms and imposed upon all Florida public school boards numerous additional requirements to achieve greater safety for students and staff. 
 
The Lake County School Board determined that the funds allocated by the state were insufficient to satisfy the objectives and requirements in the act without compromising the quality of instructional and other services provided by the board. The board requested the tax and voters gave their approval. 
 
Proceeds from the tax have been used to:

• Hire psychologists, social workers and counselors to help troubled students before their issues reach crisis levels;
• Put a nurse in every school, which became extremely helpful during the height of the COVID pandemic; 
• Hire and retain school safety guardians and help cover the costs for school resource officers and deputies;
• Open Lake Success Academy to provide short-term alternative educational placements and programs to address the social, emotional, behavioral, academic and mental health needs of at-risk students in grades 6-12; and
• Create the Positive Alternative to School Suspension (PASS) Program to remove students with disciplinary referrals from the classroom for a period of time, while still allowing students to attend school, maintain their academic progress and learn the skills needed to manage their behaviors. 

 
District leaders have said that without a renewal of the tax, preventative programs that enhance school safety, security and mental health services could cease to exist.
 
If approved by voters in the November 2022 general election, the tax would be levied between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2027, with a proportionate share going to charter schools based on enrollment.

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.  ​​​​​

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora Vice-Mayor

​I'm providing you with several highlights from City Council's March 15th. meetings. There were 2 meetings, a regular meeting and a brief Community Redevelopment Agency Board Meeting. Please keep in mind that what follows comes from me as an individual rather that from City Council as a whole.

There was a presentation regarding the extension of the Wekiva Bike/Hike Trail. Two segments of that trail will connect in Mount Dora (Segments 1 and 5). When completed this bike/hike trail will be a real economic driver. The trail will replace the railroad tracks with a 14-foot-wide paved trail. Along with our project partners, Lake County and the City of Tavares, we have submitted an application for a RAISE Grant. Fingers crossed that it will be approved.

Related to the trail, we also approved a resolution to approve our participation in a $25 million RAISE grant along with our partners. Building a trail is expensive but the benefits are highly beneficial. Lake County has pledged $15 million to buy the railroad right of way.

We passed a resolution to authorize raising  the guaranteed minimum price for the makeover of Cauley Lott Park. This over due, complete park renovation has been our top park priority. Inflation has driven up the cost of those improvements. We did get a $600,000 grant to help pay for the renovations but we still needed to approve an increase of about $210,000 to keep the project moving forward.

Mayor Stile had put a discussion item on our agenda regarding our City Attorney. The City Attorney is a "contracted service" meaning that for nearly 20 years we have opted to contract with a law firm for their services rather than to hire an "in house" attorney. There have been some criticisms of our city attorney  including a petition signed by 47 residents calling for her dismissal. During our discussion our current City Attorney received the unanimous support of all seven council members. We also asked our City Manager to provide us with some sample City Attorney evaluation metrics so that we can evaluate the attorney's work on a regular basis.

During our CRA Board Meeting we approved a request to make a 3rd. installment in what is called a High Value Job Creation Grant. This has been a real success story because the applicant, Steamroller Studios, a local animation studio located in the  Sunset Building  (3rd. Ave. and Baker)  has already brought 81 employees and contractors to our city. They will be adding another 45 well paying new jobs to our downtown area. These jobs must pay 115% of the median salary in our county. The State of Florida has targeted jobs in thei high tech category. These well paying jobs and Steamroller's excellent record made this a slam dunk for approval.

I'm adding in this next item which was not on our meeting agenda and applies only to residents of The Lakes of Mount Dora neighborhood. LoMD residents are invited to attend a community meeting with Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) officials on Wednesday March 23rd. at 7:00 p.m. in the social hall for an update on the potential traffic light at the neighborhood entrance onto SR 44. The meeting will wrap up no later than 8:30. Pleas plan to be there!

My quote for you today comes from John Steinbeck. "All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal."

Thank you for allowing me to help represent you on Mount Dora City Council

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora Vice-Mayor

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.  ​​​​

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora Vice Mayor
​
Our March 7th. City Council Work Session was held to discuss the age old topic of parking. I'm reporting from my own perspective and not on behalf of Mount Dora City Council. I'm in my 7th. year on Council and parking has always a major concern. As with most things, there are no easy answers and every suggestion rankles someone or some group. The costs of adding parking spaces is quite high adding to the dilemma.

Here are some numbers regarding downtown parking:

• We have about 137 on-street parking spots in the "core area" and 260 "fringe area spots. 397 all together.
• We have 62 parking lot spots in the "core" and 305 in the "fringe". That's 367 all together.
• Adding in handicapped spaces, electric car spaces, etc. there are 211 "core" spots and 591 "fringe"spots. 802 in total.
• We are currently about 400 spaces short of meeting our needs.
• There are 8 loading zones (7 a.m. to 11 a.m.) and some scattered 15 minute spaces.
• A few years ago we implemented 4 hour parking and removed over 100 unnecessary signs.
• A couple of years ago we added 49 parking spaces in the grass lot near 3rd. Ave. and Baker plus a set of public restrooms.

There seemed to be consensus that we might be able to add about 17 additional on street spaces on either side of 3rd. Ave between McDonald and Alexander on property already owned by the City and 3 more on W. 7th Ave. between N. Donnelly and N. Alexander near the former Post Office. City staff was asked to work on costing out those possibilities and reporting their findings back to Council.

We had some discussion about changing from our current 4 hour parking limit to 2 or 3 hour parking. We also discussed getting figures on the costs and benefits of paid parking. Another topic that was discussed was the possible use of autonomous shuttles to bring visitors to the center of town from "fringe" parking areas.

These "Work Sessions" are for discussion purposes and don't include voting but they allow us to discuss and ask questions since they are public meetings. I find them useful and worthwhile.

Our quote for the day reminds me of the plight of the unfortunate, innocent people of Ukraine who have been brutally attacked when they were simply minding their own business and harming no one. The quote is from Rudy Francisco. "She asks me to kill the spider. Instead, I get the most peaceful weapons I can find. I take a cup and a napkin. I catch the spider, put it outside and allow it to walk away. If I am ever caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, just being alive and not bothering anyone, I hope that I am greeted with the same kind of mercy."

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora Vice Mayor

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.  ​​​​​