Government & Education news

RECAP: April 21st City Council meeting

5/30/2026

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council, District 4 Representative

I have chosen several discussion or action items from the City Council's April 21 meeting to tell you about. Please keep in mind that I'm not reporting to you in any official capacity on behalf of City Council.

Sixteen years ago, in 2010, the city purchased a parcel of land outside the city limits on Thrill Hill Road. I'm not exactly sure what the plans for the property were back then, but the acreage is no longer needed, and it's not adjacent to the city. Council approved an addendum to a contract to sell it for $500,000.

We approved a warehouse type development on 4.92 acres located at 1649 Lincoln Avenue.

Each budget cycle at the mid-year point we amend our city budget. There are always changes from what was anticipated when our budget was approved 6 months ago. This year, the flood event of October 26 changed our budget priorities significantly. Our local costs for flood-related repairs have been about $3.5 million. Just like with your family budget, if the roof starts leaking or the transmission on the car craps out, those high-priority items mean that we need to change our plans in order to deal with emergencies. We have the money in our budget, but we need to shuffle it around to meet critical needs.

Another thing that we can count on every April and May after our dry winter months is that reclaimed water is hard to come by. We have several "perk ponds" in which to store reclaimed water, but Florida is in a drought, and those storage ponds are running low. That will change dramatically once the summer afternoon rains begin in June, but for now, we are pumping underground water from an augmentation well to help, but there are intermittent outages. Reclaimed water users are asked to limit lawn watering to once per week and not to water between 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Thanks!

Our quote for today Ronald Regan; "We are a nation that has a government, not the other way around."

Thanks for your interest in Mount Dora.

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council, District 4 Representative

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, visit the area's website and sure to follow Mount Dora Buzz's Instagram and Facebook page for more local info

RECAP: May 19th City Council Meeting

5/30/2026

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora District 4 City Council Representative

There were lots of positives to report from your Mount Dora City Council's May 19th meeting. I have selected several items and please remember that I am reporting to you as one council member, not on behalf of city council.

A certificate of recognition was presented to Carla & Edon Pereira who are retiring from their Piglet's Pantry Dog Bakery. located on 4th Ave. and Donnelly St. They have owned the business for 29 years and have been active in making downtown Mount Dora someplace special.

Council approved a 10 year lease agreement between the city and a company that will provide cell phone antennas on the top of the city water tower at 1207 N. Tremain St. This will help AT &T customers get far better cell service in the downtown area. The city will collect $378,000 rent over the term of the lease.

We approved participation in Lake County's Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard and Resilience Plan. This should help us garner future emergency grants.

We approved naming the Frank Brown Sports Complex football field; Johnny "Tonk" Copeland Football Field. Johnny Copeland brought youth football (Pop Warner) and cheerleading to young athletes in Mount Dora. The council meeting room was full of family members and former players who sung the praises of Johnny "Tonk" Copeland. He was called "a man of great character", "a father to the fatherless" and "a man who got the best out of the kids he coached". This will be a fitting tribute to a person who contributed a great deal to our younger citizens for decades.

The reconstruction of Donnelly Street and a new concrete sidewalk is scheduled to finish up on Thursday morning. A brief ribbon cutting ceremony will held at 1:00 p.m. and the street opened to traffic and pedestrians soon after. This is a few days less that 7 months after the October 26-27 flood event. That's lightning speed . Many kudos are due to state and federal partners and to our city staff and our contractor.

Our quote for today comes from Theodore Roosevelt. "The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency."

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora District 4 City Council Representative

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, visit the area's website and sure to follow Mount Dora Buzz's Instagram and Facebook page for more local info.

RECAP: May 6 City Council Meeting

5/6/2026

Marc Crail
Mount Dora District 4 City Council Representative

There was plenty of city business to attend to at our May 5th Mount Dora City Council meeting. I'm going to try to provide you with several brief pieces of action and information items. Please keep in mind that what follows comes from me as one individual council member. I'm not reporting in any official capacity.

We often refer to the parking lot constructed in 2019 on the corner of Baker Street and 3rd. Avenue as "the grass parking lot". It is well located and often used but it's in poor repair with ruts and deep potholes. During the slower summer months renovations and improvements will made including the addition of crushed stones to fill in the pot holes and the driveway loop into and out of lot will be replaced with pavers. The Downtown CRA has money set aside to cover the costs.

We heard an appeal from a property owner to reduce or wave code lien fines on a dilapidated yard that has become a safety hazard for neighbors at 1422 Plymouth Ave. After a discussion that included the current property owner who lives out of state, we approved a fine of $10,000 plus city costs and the removal of tree limbs, dead leaves and other plant debris by June 4. If the fine isn't paid or the debris isn't hauled away by June 4, the owner will be required to pay over $40K.

The 250th. birthday of the United States will be celebrated in Mount Dora on July 3rd. "Freedom on the Waterfront" will included a fireworks display costing about what was spent for last year's event. You won't want to miss it.

We discussed and approved a set of Guiding Principles and Core Values for our Nathaniel Bell Community and Resource Center that will open in August. Safety, Accountability, Community Partnerships and Integrity will be the foundation of it's Operational Framework.

We heard updates on ongoing efforts to repair stormwater facilities damaged in our massive October 26 flood event. We are attempting to reel in 9 different grants to improve our damaged drainage system and enlarge our pond capacity.

The reopening of Donnelly Street roadway, sidewalk and enhanced drainage is on schedule for a grand reopening, hopefully by the end of this month.

Our quote of the day comes from author Kurt Vonnegut. "You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society."

Thanks for your interest in our wonderful town that was recently recognized by National Geographic.

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, visit the area's website and sure to follow Mount Dora Buzz's Instagram and Facebook page for more local info.