MOUNT DORA CITY COUNCIL: June 21 meeting update

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora Vice Mayor and District 4 representative
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Here are several items from the June 21 Mount Dora City Council Meeting that you might be interested in hearing about. You probably are already aware that what follows comes from me and not on behalf of City Council as a whole.

We heard an interesting presentation on a new business called Olde Mount Dora Carriage Company. Two Mount Dora residents are planning to offer electric carriage tours and carriage ride dinners throughout downtown. Their vehicles have all the charm of a traditional carriage but without the horse. Instead they are electric powered. They plan to begin testing their concept in the next few months. It sounds like fun to me.

If you are looking for a convenient place to park for FREE just a few blocks from downtown, use the parking lot across the street from the First United Methodist Church on 5th Ave. We renewed our 10 year lease with the church. Feel free to park there anytime except for major festival weekends.

We took the first step in the process of setting the Fire Services Special Assessment for the upcoming budget year. We will discuss the proposed amount of that fee which is currently pegged at $209 for homes. This fee can only be used to pay for fire related capital items such as fire trucks and our new fire stations.

The cost of everything seems to be going up these days. We authorized the purchase of up to 600 new water meters before a July 1 price increase. They are getting hard to find with a lead time of 4-20 weeks. If we decide to buy all 600, we will save about $45,000.

We approved the final reading to annex 154 acres of property owned by the Lake County Water Authority into the City. We want to help ensure that this ecologically fragile land is protected from future development.

If you didn't have a chance to experience the Juneteenth Celebration on Saturday you missed out. Fun, food and fellowship were all there in abundance. It was a hot day and wet for a few minutes but plan on attending next year.

While this next item wasn't a part of the City Council meeting, it was included in the City Manager's Report. Close to 300 Lakes of Mount Dora residents met Tuesday 6/21 to hear an update on the proposed traffic light at the intersection of Lakes of Mount Dora Blvd. and SR 44. The project has been approved and design work is now underway. FDOT is streamlining what is normally a 3 year long process into 6-8 months because of significant safety concerns. Design should be completed by early fall and they hope that the traffic signal will be installed shortly after the new signal going in at 44 and Britt Rd. With supply concerns, FDOT is doing "early ordering" of items with long lead times. Our meeting was encouraging to say the least!

Our quote of the day comes by way of Father Nathan Monk of Welsh Church. "At the end of the day, I'd rather be excluded for those I include, than be included for those I exclude!"

Thanks to the opportunity you have provide me to serve as your District 4 Council Rep. and Vice-Mayor.

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora Vice Mayor and District 4 representative

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