Mount Dora City Council: Recap of October 16 & 17 meetings

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora Vice Mayor & District 4 Representative 
​I'm reporting  on two Mount Dora City Council meetings held this week. We participated in a joint meeting with Lake County Commissioners at Sorrento Elementary School on Monday, October 16th and had a Regular Mount Dora City Council meeting on Tuesday October 17th. at City Hall. I'll provide you with some of the high points. Please remember that what follows comes from me as an individual and not from City Council as a whole.

The joint meeting was all about a potential new mixed use development out in the Wolf Branch Innovation District by a developer named, Richland. Their property is currently in unincorporated Lake County and would eventually be annexed into Mount Dora. What came out of the meeting is that City planners will be meeting later this month with Lake County planners in a cooperative effort eventually including representatives from Richland. The hope is to mutually agree on the plans. I believe that the joint meeting was a good beginning and I'm hopeful the this was the first of a series of joint meetings. The eventual success of the Wolf Branch Innovation District will depend upon excellent communications and cooperation. The potential exists for needed job creation and we all seemed to agree that we get one chance to make the best of this opportunity.

Our Regular meeting was unusually brief. We continue to work with the Department of Environmental Protection to reduce odors that neighbors believe emanate from one of our Waste Water Treatment facilities on the east side of town. There are also other potential sources as well. Our City Attorney and City Manager gave a report on their recent meeting with DEP officials and next steps in the process of making sure that we are are being good neighbors to residents who have been experiencing odors in their neighborhood. All concerned would like a quick and easy resolution but this complex situation requires gathering lots of data hopefully leading to incremental progress.

Our quote of the day comes from Mother Teresa.
"You will teach them to fly, but they will not fly your flight.  You will teach them to dream, but they will not dream your dream. You will teach them to live, but they will not live your life.   Nonetheless, in every flight, in every dream, in every life the print of the way you taught them will remain."

Thanks for your interest in our great city and thanks for allowing me to represent District 4.

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora Vice Mayor & District 4 Representative

Sign up for Mount Dora Buzz