As a result of Governor DeSantis’ announcement today that youth activities can move forward in Florida without restrictions, Lake County Schools is changing plans for its high school graduation ceremonies.

Last week, the district announced plans for ceremonies that would have kept spectators in their cars while graduates walked across a stage in their caps and gowns to receive diplomas and awards and have their photos taken. The idea was crafted in alignment with safety guidelines that recommended social distancing and advised against large gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

With today's announcement giving the green light, the district has opted to move forward with traditional graduation ceremonies.

 "We have always wanted to give our students a traditional graduation experience, but I had to work within the boundaries of the safety information we were given regarding large group gatherings," Superintendent Diane Kornegay said. "Thanks to the Governor lifting the restrictions, we can now give our students the experience we all want them to have." 

Lake County Schools will continue working with the county's health department and other agencies to work out the details. The graduation dates are expected to stay the same, but locations will change to outdoor football stadiums, which may require capacity limits. Schools will work with district leaders to determine stadium capacity and how many guests will be allowed to attend.

The district will maintain its plan to livestream the ceremonies so that physically vulnerable family members can watch from the safety of their homes.
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Other questions have been raised about hand sanitizer stations, entry and exit protocols, and restroom cleanliness, but the district stated those answers will be provided in the coming weeks.

​For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, click here.

By Marc Crail
District 4 City Council member

​I have several items from the May 19 City Council Meeting that I think are important to share with you. This report is coming just from me and is not necessarily representative of City Council as a whole.

Hubbard Construction Company owns about 180 acres of land located on the west side of US Rt. 441 and south of SR 46. That property has been used for many years now as a construction materials landfill. It accepts solid waste (not garbage) generated by construction projects, mostly road projects. It is currently located in unincorporated Lake County but it borders Mount Dora. Hubbard is beginning the process of asking that this property be annexed into the City. We passed a preliminary resolution that is a precursor to annexation. When that process is completed we will generate an estimated $170,000 a year in "host fees" for Mount Dora. An added benefit for the City is that after the construction landfill is full it could be donated by Hubbard to Mount Dora for use as park property.

The economic effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic are going to be serious for our city budget over the next few years. Our state and local tax revenues will undoubtedly be reduced. To begin dealing with that anticipated revenue shortfall,  City Manager Robin Hayes has established what she calls a Budget Stabilization Account. She asked each department to "give back" a minimum of 5% of their budgets. That has resulted in a little over $1.3 million that will be available for use when we need it most. That's good management in my opinion.

Earlier this week Mount Dora, Tavares and Lake County partnered up to submit a federally funded BUILD Grant for the purpose of buying railroad tracks right-of-way property and building a "rails to trails' bicycle and hiking trail that would run from downtown Mount Dora west to downtown Tavares and east through Lake County. This is a very important tool for tourism and economic development. The partnership makes our grant application very viable. We won't know for several months if our grant is funded but it is an exciting possibility.

In another attempt to be proactive we had a good discussion about our plans to build 3 new fire stations over the next few years. In November of 2018 we sold $21.74 million of bonds to cover the anticipated costs to purchase the necessary property and to fund the construction costs. This has been a years long process involving over 700 community members' input, an extensive study and the goal of reducing our EMS and Fire response times to under 4 minutes. We are working to find consensus as to how best to proceed during this economic downturn. We heard form the Fire Chief and the City Manager and we are prioritizing our needs so that we can continue to make progress toward this highly desirable but expensive goal. Our top priority is to replace our current fire station 35 that is in poor condition and located on the extreme west side of town. I'm sure you'll be hearing more from me on this topic as we go forward. We're trying to balance public safety needs with economic reality.

I came across a quote for you that reflects the unusual times we are living in. It is by L. P. Knost. "Life is amazing, and then it's awful. And then it's amazing again. And in between the amazing and the awful it's ordinary and mundane and routine. Breath in the amazing, hold on through the awful and relax and exhale during the ordinary. That's just living heart-breaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. And it's breathtakingly beautiful."

Thanks for the opportunity you have given me to be a part of Mount Dora City Council. Thanks too for your interest in our community.

Dr. Marc Crail
District 4 City Council Rep.

It’s a time-honored tradition -- with a twist.  Every year Lake County’s high schools have 'Color Wars' during Spirit Week in the lead-up to their Homecoming.  Freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior classes each are assigned a different color and compete to see which class can show the most spirit with their color.  

Due to COVID-19,  seniors in all local schools are foregoing their traditional graduation festivities, so the communities of Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis are being asked to ratchet up Color Wars a notch or two.  During what would have been the week of graduation, May 18 through  May 23, Mount Dora Buzz is encouraging residents, business owners, students, civic clubs and city governments to show their support of their local Class of 2020 by proudly displaying their colors.  Mount Dora will use orange, Eustis blue, and Tavares red.

The sky's the limit for creativity.  People can splash their community’s color on mailboxes with bows and cars with ribbons or they can opt to go big with colored outdoor lights, colorful store displays, posters and yard signs.  Restaurants can use colored tablecloths or banners.   It’s the perfect time to “go big or go home.”  Residents, business owners, students  and government leaders are encouraged to send photos of their colorful community spirit in support of their seniors to Mount Dora Buzz, so it can be posted and shared.  

Congratulations, Class of 2020, we're so proud of you!
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For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, click here and download the area's free mobile app.  ​​​​
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The COVID-19 testing locations operated by Adult Medicine of Lake County in Mount Dora and Leesburg will merge into one site at Lake County Fairgrounds. Testing will be available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and the site is open to both residents and non-residents of Lake County. 
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The subsidized test price of $20 for Lake County residents has been discontinued.  The new cost for the FDA-approved swab or antibody tests is $85.  No symptoms or appointments are required at the Fairgrounds which is located at 2101 N. County Road 452 in Eustis. 

“The data gathered is helping us to identify people needing treatment and isolation, as well as supporting the reopening of our local economy,” said Lake County Commission Chairwoman Leslie Campione.

In addition to testing performed by local physicians and labs, free testing is available to Lake County residents that are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.  Those tests are available by appointment at Florida Department of Health and without an appointment at the Orange County Convention Center. 

Residents with symptoms who are unable to receive testing through their primary healthcare provider should call the Florida Department of Health Hotline at 352-742-4830. Callers who meet the criteria for testing will receive an appointment for free testing at a Lake County testing location.  Residents can also call the Lake County's Citizens Information Line at 352-253-9999.

​For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, click here and download the area's free mobile app.  ​​​​

As the 2019-20 school year comes to a close, leaders at Lake County Schools are making plans for the next academic year. That includes big administrative changes at two Mount Dora schools.

Marlene Straughan Kurecki is heading back to Mount Dora High School, where she began her teaching career and later served as the school’s popular Assistant Principal for four years. Most recently, Kurecki served as Principal of Triangle Elementary, remaining in the Mount Dora feeder pattern where she has continued to grow community partnerships while leading Triangle’s significant student achievement gains. Kurecki will serve as Principal of Mount Dora High, following Dr. Rhonda Boone who was principal of the school for six years.  

Boone has accepted a new administrative position supporting  a growing partnership between the district and Lake-Sumter State College.  

“It is exciting to be given the opportunity to continue working with Lake County high school students and assisting them into academics at the college level,” said Boone.

Filling the Principal spot at Triangle Elementary is Debbie Hartog, a life-long resident of Lake County, where she has spent her career in education. During her 25 years as an educator, she has had many opportunities to lead as a teacher, mentor, coach and administrator. She spent the last six years at Triangle Elementary, the last five of which were as its Assistant Principal.  Hartog is Lake County’s 2020 Assistant Principal of the Year. ​

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, click here and download the area's free mobile app.  ​​​​

By Marc Crail
District 4 City Council member

Our May 5 Mount Dora City Council Meeting was held in the Mount Dora Community Building which afforded us the opportunity to practice social distancing among council members and also to safely enable community members to attend the meeting and speak if they wanted to. Citizens who were not present were also able to ask questions or make comments by mail, by phone or by email.  As usual, I am reporting to you not in any official city council capacity but only from my own perspective. I've picked out several items I think you might like to hear about.

The final approval of the Donnelly Woods development consisting of 24,000 sq. ft. of professional office space and 112 apartments located north of Limit Rd. and east of Donnelly St. was approved on a 5-2 vote. District 1 council member Pam Burtnett and I voted no. The rational stated by proponents included the expertise of those conducting the traffic study, the need for economic development, increased tax base and that this development meets the minimum requirements of the city. While I have nothing against the Developer,  G3 or the agent, Tim Green who are both local, I voted my conscience that the drainage and increased traffic impacts will be problematic.

We also approved a resolution to spend $145,000 to develop a storm water system master plan. Our current plan is outdated and having a new master plan could help us to obtain county or state grants to help pay for needed storm water improvements. That was also passed by a 5-2 vote with John Tucker and Crissy Stile voting no.

Another resolution passed unanimously pledged Mount Dora will provide ongoing maintenance on our part of the proposed bike/hike trail we will share with Tavares and Lake County. Funding will be provided for that project if our BUILD grant application is approved. Even with the financial downturn I think it may be possible to move forward with this project since we are applying along with our partners and in my experience partnerships really help to bring in grant money.

A storm last December caused some structural damage to our 4th. Ave. boat docks. We approved a contract not to exceed $52K to get those repairs made. That work should begin very soon.

There were a couple of non-agenda items worth mentioning. One of the city's largest landlords, Main Street Leasing has stepped up and offered all of their downtown building renters a 100% rent holiday for May. That's a generous gesture and should help many of our local shops weather the COVID-19 storm. Thanks Main Street Leasing!

At-Large city council member Crissy Stile announced that she will be running to replace outgoing District 31 State Representative Jennifer Sullivan. There several other candidates so it appears that there will be both Democrat and Republican primary battles in August to determine who will be on the November ballot. Crissy must not run for re-election to city council since you can only run for one office in any election cycle. I will miss having Crissy Stile on city council but she certainly deserves our consideration for higher office. She is well informed and energetic.

I have a Michael Jordan quote for you. "I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and I missed. I've failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

That's how champions think and we can learn to emulate their positive attitude and high standards. Thanks for your interest in our city.  Stay safe!

By Marc Crail
District 4 City Council member

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.  ​​​​