MOUNT DORA CITY COUNCIL UPDATE: February 16 meeting

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council Representative, District 4

I've selected a few items of interest from today's agenda to share with you. Remember that I'm reporting from my personal perspective not on behalf of City Council as a whole.

We got a promising progress report on our new Fire Station #35 that will be located on Rt. 19A on 3.35 acres near the intersection with Eudora Rd. Our architects showed us design concepts for that new station. Look for ribbon cutting to take place in late October. Plans for our other new fire station to be located on Limit Rd. near the intersection with Donnelly St. are also progressing but not as quickly as I would like.

A priority for the city is to help fill the need for "attainable" housing that is in short supply in Mount Dora. To that end we passed a resolution to accept a right-of-Way Deed that will eventually extend 20th. Ave. between Donnelly and Grandview near the new Dora Landings neighborhood. Eight affordable new homes will be constructed through cooperation with Homes in Partnership.

Over the past 2 years our Mount Dora Police Department has experienced organizational turmoil. One Police Chief was terminated and another chief retired. Several supervisors and about half of our officers have turned over. A top priority for our Acting Chief of Police, Brett Meade has been to conduct a comprehensive departmental assessment in order to develop a plan to help resolve Police Department issues. At the close of tonight's meeting we were give a copy of that 222 page assessment. It is based on survey responses from 634 citizens, interviews with police department employees, etc. Our City Manager and your City Council members will be reading that report and helping to implement needed changes based on the data that has been gathered. There was no discussion of the report tonight but it will be helpful moving forward.

I read a quote from Mahatma Gandhi that I found encouraging. "When I despair, I always remember that all through history the ways of truth & love have always won. There have been many tyrants and murders and for a time they can seem invincible but in the end, they always fail. Think of it - ALWAYS.

Thanks for believing in our Beautiful City and for allowing me to serve as your District 4 City Council representative.

Dr. Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council Representative, District 4