CITY UPDATE: Recap of July 2 Mount Dora City Council meeting

Marc Crail
District 4 Representative and Vice-mayor

I've selected several items from City Council's July 2nd meeting to share with you. Please keep in mind that this is not "official", it comes from me and not on behalf of City Council as a whole. Here are the highlights.

Parking has been a leading concern for as long as I've served on council. The lack of a large downtown open space and traffic concerns pretty much preclude the practicality of constructing a parking garage within convenient walking distance to downtown. What else can be done? We're going to try a pilot parking shuttle program scheduled to begin in October. Two electric shuttle vehicles will begin service from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. During this yearlong trial period we will gather data to help us decide if this can be one viable option. This isn't "THE" parking solution but it could be one significant piece of the parking puzzle.

Over the next few months there will be more details and publicity about the shuttle but, our shuttle vendor will be Freebee, a Florida based company that is providing shuttle services in 40 other cities, all of which began with pilot programs that were eventually made permanent. They have a great record of success. The funding for our pilot will come from our Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and not from the General Fund.

It's hurricane season and things are getting active already. We've entered into a contract with Ceres Environmental Services for emergency debris hauling and disposal services. That way we won't be scrambling to get a vendor should a hurricane hit here.

We approved the first reading of change ordinances to our Comprehensive Plan and our Land Development Code that will limit the building heights of future developments in the Wolf Branch Innovation District Employment Center to 100 feet.

We are required at least once every five years to review our City Charter and consider changes and updates to our Charter. This year we will all vote on seven proposed changes in November.  A committee of local residents has done a great deal of work on that project, meeting multiple times for several months. City Council made some modifications before approving the Charter Review Committee's Final Report. We appreciate the hard work of our volunteer committee members. You'll be getting plenty of information on the proposed amendments so you'll understand what you'll be voting on.

I've got a quote for you from Sir William Brass, a Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 1915. I would change the word "Christianity "to "Religion" but none the less, I agree with Sir William. "Christianity and science are opposed... but only in the same sense as that which my thumb and forefinger are opposed and between them, I can grasp anything."

Thanks for your concern for our great city!
Marc Crail
District 4 Representative and Vice-mayor

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