By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council, District 4 representative

We had  three meetings today. What follows are simply my own thoughts as I am not reporting as a representative of city council as a whole. I've selected some items from our agendas that I thought you might like to hear about.

We had a 2:00 p.m. Work Session that was intended to focus on reviewing a development proposal for the Mount Dora Golf Association located on Highland. Here's some background information. Last year city staff began discussions with Golf Association leaders about possibly constructing up to 16 pickleball courts on golf course property. The Golf Association also had some interest in the project hoping that pickleball players might also want to golf and utilize the food/bar at the golf course. Contrary to rumors, the golf course has not been sold. According to Association leadership the numbers of rounds of golf played there has been rising over the past three years and they are not interested in selling the course but conversations will continue with city staff to further explore the possibility of a partnership that could vastly increase the number of pickleball courts available to Mount Dora residents and boost golf play too.

We walked from city hall to the new "green" parking lot on the corner of 3rd. Ave. and Baker St. There was a ribbon cutting and you can begin using the 49 new parking spaces immediately. Restrooms will be added to the site in the next few months. The parking lot is grass to minimize water runoff. Check it out!

During our Regular Meeting we learned about a plan that would increase Mount Dora Electric's use of solar energy that is currently less than 5% to 20% by 2024. We will be joining with several other municipal electric utilities to make this happen.

Look for land clearing to begin soon on 13 acres of city owned property on Limit Rd. That property will be the future home of a public works building and a new fire station.

We approve a settlement agreement with former police chief John O'Grady who will be paid $64,000 for his unused vacation and sick days. There are several other non-monitory provisions to this settlement agreement.

We discussed the recent decision not to use the services of GAI Community Solutions Group to make technical design plans for renovating the city pool. This was a drawn out discussion but in the end we asked city staff to find another vendor to move that project ahead ASAP. The pool needs work and everyone would like to see improvements made.

I've got a quote for you from Jaime Barone who said; "When all is said and done, the only thing that will truly matter is this: Did we love? Did. We. Love?

Thanks for your interest in the city we call home.
Marc Crail
District 4 Mount Dora City Council Representative

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

'll begin with my usual admonition that I am reporting to you entirely from my own perspective and not on behalf of City Council as a whole. I've selected some topics that we discussed and/or acted upon today that I think you might like to hear about.

Our meetings began with a 2:00 Work Session around the topic of continuing to revise our Special Events Ordinance and Policies. We've been reviewing Special Events (festivals) for awhile and after conversations with event organizers, downtown merchants, city staff, etc. we aim to clarify, simplify and update our Ordinance and Policies. Mount Dora is known as "Florida's Festival City" and our festivals and other events are a big part of our tourism and our commerce. Thanks to a great deal of hard work by our city staff we are closing in on the completion of this project. We got an update today and should have a final product soon.

Next up was our Final Budget Public Hearing. After nearly 6 months of hard work, we have asked our City Manager to reduce the proposed budget by $114,000 which represents .1 mill. We voted 6-0 to reduce the millage rate from 6.3 mills currently in effect to 6.2 mills for the upcoming 2019-2020 budget year that begins October 1. That new budget will be about $98,822,000. Because of the addition of new houses and businesses over the past year and rising property values we will take in more real estate tax dollars next year even though the millage rate will be slightly reduced.

During our Regular Meeting a proposal to award a contract to a company called GAI for planning renovations to the Lincoln Park pool, locker rooms and a proposed splash pad failed on a 3-3 vote. Mayor Girone, Mr. Massey and Mr. Rolfson voted "yes' while Mr. Tucker, Ms Stile and I voted "no". I can't speak for the others but my reason for voting no was that GAI was the company that produced our Parks & Recreation Master Plan over the past year and I was not happy with their work. I favor the idea of improving the pool, locker rooms and adding a splash pad but I think we should find another company to do the work and possibly save some money too.

We approved the final reading of an Ordinance to change the zoning of the property the City owns on Limit Ave. so that a fire station and a new public works building can be constructed there. These are important projects and I'm glad to tell you that we are moving forward with them.

Everybody wants to strive for success and my quote for today is from Tim Fargo who said; "Success is normally found in a pile of mistakes". In my experience I think he's spot on.

Thank you for the opportunity to help represent you as your District 4 City Council Member.

Dr. Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council 
District 4 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.  

During the public backlash over the 2017 project and the City’s policy,  city council members firmly advised Hayes they were dissatisfied with the process that eroded the public’s trust and that the City should be held to the same Historic Preservation Board approvals and permitting standards as residents and businesses.   Council members also advised that multiple design options should have been presented, in order to ensure that the best remedy for downtown was selected. One council member at the time, Mark Slaby, passionately warned Hayes and his colleagues about the potential for incrementally destroying downtown’s uniqueness.   

Fast forward two years: The City has again commenced a seemingly unvetted project on taxpayer property involving the same property owner without presenting options, without reviewing it with the Historic Preservation Board, and without having architectural plans of its finished design.  The difference this time is that the project is on the most visible intersection of the historic district, and no one at the City knows what the completed project will look like. ​

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

By Marc Crail
District 4 City Council Representative

Mount Dora City Council held two meetings on September 5. The first meeting concerned the 2019-20 budget and the second mainly focused upon a proposed new residential development called "Cottages on 11th". I'm reporting to you from my own personal perspective and not as a spokesperson for City Council as a whole.

Our budget meeting was held to meet the legal requirements to pass resolutions to set the TENTATIVE millage rate for FY 2019-20 and to define the amount of the proposed budget. There is a state required timeline and this is another step in the long budget building process. I need to stress that this was not the final step of adopting the budget. That final budget adoption will take place on Thursday September 19 at 5:30 p.m. that will culminate a six month long journey that began back in March involving many hours of discussions, asking thousands of questions, and resulting in getting seven divergent council members to agree on the "right" budget for our city. That's how good government works.

Important city needs were left unmet in previous years mostly due to a long and deep recession. We've been playing catch up during my four years on city council. Progress has been made but we still have miles to go and our "rainy day" reserves are nowhere near adequate in my estimation. I favor keeping our millage rate the same as it has been at 6.3 mills. I consider myself to be a fiscal conservative and to me that means that we should restrain our spending when we can but also that we must provide for our city's needs in a fiscally responsible way. There were rounds of applause from the audience when token millage rate cuts were suggested, but I remain unconvinced that doing so would be prudent. After another long debate the tentative millage rate resolution remains at 6.3 mills after a 5-2 vote with council members Tillett and Stile opposing and the proposed budget amount being $98,800,000 on a 6-1 vote with Ms Tillett voting no. The final millage and budget amount for FY 2019-20 will be determined on September 19.

The second meeting was dominated by conversations about a proposed  27 home residential development off 11th Ave. The developer would like a zoning change from R-1A to PUD. This would allow smaller lot sizes in exchange for higher end architectural designs including garages in the rear of the homes. I thought that the many community members who spoke, as well as the developer, made excellent points. There was a great deal of unanimity among city council members who expressed concerns that setbacks, landscaping, parking, drainage, traffic on 11th Avenue and the number of houses need to be addressed. I sensed that there is a willingness to compromise in order to resolve these issues so that this exciting project can move forward. We approved the Preliminary PUD and over the upcoming months the developer and city planning staff will work together to tweak the concept before asking for final council approval.

My quote for today comes from the well known philosopher, Groucho Marx who quipped; "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies."

Thanks for your interest in Mount Dora!

Marc Crail
District 4 City Council Representative

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

Sandbags will be made available at five Lake County locations beginning at 7 a.m. on Thursday. Residents must bring their own shovels and are allowed to take 20 bags of sand per household per 24-hour period. No tools will be provided at sand deployment sites and residents are responsible for filling their own sandbags. Sandbags will only be offered during designated times before a storm threat. No sandbags will be dispensed during storm conditions. Sandbags operations will cease as announced after the storm threat is over. Pickup hours are 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. at the following locations:

·         Fire Station 10
23023 State Road 40, Astor 
·         Fire Station 14 
18840 County Road 42, Altoona
·         Fire Station 39
31431 Walton Heath Ave., Sorrento
·         Fire Station 110 
6234 County Road 561, Clermont
·         Solid Waste Residential Convenience Center
1200 Jackson St., Lady Lake

Additional sandbags may be made available by municipalities. Check with local cities for locations, availability and hours.

“Lake County Emergency Management is closely monitoring Dorian and communicating with national, state and local stakeholders to prepare,” said Thomas Carpenter, Director of Lake County Office of Emergency Management. “Residents should have a communications plan in place, prepare a disaster go-kit, stock up on supplies, have a working NOAA weather radio and continue monitoring reliable sources for the latest information.”

For Lake County-specific information, residents may call the Citizens Information Line at 352-253-9999 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. beginning Thursday morning.  To sign up for the latest emergency notifications, visit www.alertlake.com. ​

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

Like everywhere, doing business in downtown Mount Dora has its challenges.  The City of Mount Dora invited commercial property owners to a work session today to discuss their issues owning property in the downtown corridor.  

During the public meeting, an open panel discussion is planned between the City Council and the property owners, according to the City’s invitation.

The questions distributed to the owners attending include:  

•   Do you require a business plan from potential tenants?
•   As a commercial property owner, what do you look for in a prospective tenant?
•   What challenges do you face when considering a new tenant?
•  What concerns are potential tenants sharing with you?
• Where do most of your leads for new tenants come from?
• What are the biggest reasons why tenants have left your properties?
•  Do you allow similar businesses to occupy the same building?
• Do you have prospective tenants you do not have space for?
• How do you view the effect of vacancies in your building on other businesses?

Additional questions may be raised by City Council members during the work session that takes place in the lobby at the Mount Dora Community Building located at 520 North Baker Street.  Two hours have been allotted for this discussion which is expected to begin at 1:30 p.m.  

The commercial property owners were asked to limit their answers to three minutes in order to allow time for any final comments and additional interaction with the Council.  The meeting is open to the public.

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