CITY COUNCIL UPDATE: MAY 2 MEETING

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council Member, District 4

I'm happy to give you this update on the May 2 Mount Dora City Council Meeting.   I am just one of seven city council members and not its spokesman.  I try to be unbiased in my reports, but what you're receiving is strictly from my perspective.

City Council meeting was fairly brief but several resolutions were passed. Let me share a few of them with you.

1.    We approved a resolution to make several mid-year budget adjustments. All budgets change over time. Events such as Hurricane Matthew caused unexpected overtime pay for cleanup of debris. Sometimes expenses are lower than anticipated and money saved can be returned to the General Fund or shifted to another fund. The City Manager presented her list of mid-year fund transfers that were approved unanimously.

2.    We lease a city owned building located at 1560 North Highland St. to Episcopal Children's Services at no cost so they can run a Head Start program that serves 3-4 year old children in Mount Dora. Episcopal Children's Services is obligated to maintain the building in exchange for their use of it. They have received a federal grant to replace the roof, windows, etc. and generally improve the facility. We needed to approve those renovations. Good news for Mount Dora preschoolers and good work by Episcopal Children's Services!

3.    Disc Golf is a rapidly growing sport that can be enjoyed by players of any age and ability. We currently have a 9 "hole" course in town and we will be adding another nine "holes". Other Lake County cities are also building disc golf facilities. Together we will have the Lake County Disc Golf Trail. Sports tourism is a great way to increase tourism in our county and our city.  Representatives from the Florida Disc Golf Foundation were on hand and expect to compete to host regional, national and possibly even world disc golf events in future years.

These were all positives as far as I'm concerned.

The quote for today is from Mother Teresa who said; "Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you."

I appreciate your interest in Mount Dora city government and I also appreciate the opportunity to serve our great town.

Marc Crail
District 4 City Council Rep.

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