MOUNT DORA BUZZ
  • Home
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Business & Real Estate
    • Outdoor Life
    • Real Estate Buzz
    • Government & Education
    • Profiles
    • Newsworthy
    • What's Hot...
    • Development Buzz
    • Who Knew?
    • Buzz Polls
  • Calendar
  • Festivals & Events
    • Annual Festivals
    • Monthly Events
    • Fall Festivals & Halloween Events
    • Best Local Pumpkin Patches
    • Holiday Event Guide
    • Mount Dora Community Toy Drive
  • The Best of....
    • Best of Mount Dora
    • Best of Eustis
    • Best of Tavares
    • Best of Mount Dora Take-out
  • Things to Do
  • Dining
  • Live Music
  • Lodging
  • Photos
    • Doors of Mount Dora
    • City Scenes
    • Colorful Cottages of Mount Dora
    • Holiday Lights
    • Views from Above
    • Palm Island Boardwalk
    • July 4th Americana
    • Vintage Photos
    • Donnelly House
    • Sydonie Mansion
    • The Howey Mansion
  • History
  • Mobile App
  • Contact
    • News Desk
    • Advertising Inquiries
    • Writing Services & Content Marketing
    • Design Services
    • Social Media Services
    • Suggest a Restaurant Visit
    • Submit Pic of the Day
  • Subscribe

Government & Education

CITY COUNCIL UPDATE:  trees, capital improvements, & economic development

4/28/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council Member, District 4

I'm happy to give you this update on the April 27 Mount Dora City Council Work Session/Special  Session.   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.

​

Mount Dora City Council met for a marathon 4 and 1/2 hours Thursday evening in a combination Work Session/Special Session.

The "Special Session" had just 1 item which needed to be dealt with by the end of April. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is pushing us to to get into compliance with their regulations on back-flow prevention which have changed in recent years. We needed to approve a "cross connection control program" to get into compliance with the State law. There are many details remaining since some of our neighborhoods use reclaimed water for irrigation while others use potable water. Our action on Thursday meets the State's deadline but there will be more info to report to you as those details get fleshed out.

The "Work Session" took up most of our meeting time. Here are some highlights of non-action items we covered.

1. We got an update from our arborist firm which has been systematically inspecting and mapping trees located on City owned property. They have already inspected thousands of trees in our parks and along our streets. They have more work to do but real progress has been made. As these 3 experts evaluate each tree they give it a grade ranging from good to dead and recommend corrective action if a tree needs pruning, removal, fertilizing, etc. E Sciences began its work in February and should wrap-up their inspections in a couple of months. We have about 85 different species of trees on city property mostly oaks and palms. There are about 126 trees (so far) that need to be removed. Next steps include developing an Urban Forest Master Plan and to prioritize the work needed to care for our beautiful trees. I'm happy that we are making progress and I'm impressed with E Sciences, our vendor.

2. We heard from another potential Economic Development consultant. Richard Levey made a very impressive presentation outlining what he thinks he could offer us as we continue to to work on our top priority strategic planning goal. Can you tell that I am growing impatient? I believe we are more than ready to make a decision on this choice and get to work! I'll be pushing hard to make that happen sooner rather than later.

3. We are beginning to work on our Capital Improvement Program budget (CIP) that will go into effect in October. There is an enormous list of needs and wants but we are constrained by the realities of a limited budget. This initial discussion involved a line by line review of the merits of each proposed item. In my estimation, capital spending must be closely linked to the priorities of our Strategic Plan which are Economic Development and taking care of our Infrastructure. We will rehash and refine this long list to pare it down and make it fit into our budget.  Our top priorities should be the construction of a new public works facility and dealing with our downtown parking problem.

Spending taxpayers' money wisely is a big responsibility. As we work to develop the budget for next fiscal year I am reminded of this observation by comedian Bill Murray; "The best way to teach your kids about taxes is to eat 30% of their ice cream".

Thanks for the opportunity to help spend your money (wisely)!

Marc Crail
District 4 City Council Rep.


For more events and news in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, click here. Find out what's happening locally with just a tap on your phone by downloading the area's free mobile app.  Monthly issues of Mount Dora Buzz are available here.

Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Terms of Use
Copyright Mount Dora Buzz 2022
​All rights reserved.



  • Home
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Business & Real Estate
    • Outdoor Life
    • Real Estate Buzz
    • Government & Education
    • Profiles
    • Newsworthy
    • What's Hot...
    • Development Buzz
    • Who Knew?
    • Buzz Polls
  • Calendar
  • Festivals & Events
    • Annual Festivals
    • Monthly Events
    • Fall Festivals & Halloween Events
    • Best Local Pumpkin Patches
    • Holiday Event Guide
    • Mount Dora Community Toy Drive
  • The Best of....
    • Best of Mount Dora
    • Best of Eustis
    • Best of Tavares
    • Best of Mount Dora Take-out
  • Things to Do
  • Dining
  • Live Music
  • Lodging
  • Photos
    • Doors of Mount Dora
    • City Scenes
    • Colorful Cottages of Mount Dora
    • Holiday Lights
    • Views from Above
    • Palm Island Boardwalk
    • July 4th Americana
    • Vintage Photos
    • Donnelly House
    • Sydonie Mansion
    • The Howey Mansion
  • History
  • Mobile App
  • Contact
    • News Desk
    • Advertising Inquiries
    • Writing Services & Content Marketing
    • Design Services
    • Social Media Services
    • Suggest a Restaurant Visit
    • Submit Pic of the Day
  • Subscribe