Mount Dora City Council update: November 2 meeting

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council, District 4 Representative

Our November 2 (Election Day) City Council meeting was held at 1:30 p.m. instead of 5:30 because some council members and city staff serve on the Lake County Canvassing Board and need to be at the Supervisor of Elections' office by 5:00. The agenda was fairly brief. I've picked out some agenda items and discussion items to tell you about hoping that you find them to be of interest. As always, I report to you from only my own perspective and not on behalf of City Council.

We heard a report from our fire chief who recognized the accomplishments of 3 firefighters who recently completed their 1,100 hour of Paramedic training along with nearly 500 additional hours of hospital study in order to become Paramedics. That is nearly as many hours as a full time worker puts in in a year! We also learned a bit about an ultra sound study that our MDFD participated in and saw a "Lucas Device" that our fire fighters use to provide an electronic version of CPR. We are lucky to have these talented and hard working public servants to help keep us safe.

Speaking of public servants, we recognized Pam Burtnett and Harman Massey for their service as out-going members of Mount Dora City Council. We will miss them but we look forward to welcoming new members at our 11/16 meeting. Today is election day and I'd like to thank all of the candidates who have stepped up to the plate and run for public office. Later this evening we will know the results of our contested mayor's race and District 1 city council race.

I've gotten a couple of questions recently about the schedule for this year's holiday events in the downtown area. Our events coordinator, Chris Carson used the word "evolve" to help explain some changes that we will see during the upcoming holiday season. He explained that in 2019 due to loads of publicity on TV, radio stations and electronic media our "Light Up Mount Dora" event that was held on the Saturday evening following Thanksgiving resulted in huge crowds, parking problems and even safety concerns. Last year, because of COVID concerns, we were forced to postpone  or cancel several popular holiday events.

This year we will be trying to find a "happy medium" and spread the holiday events across more days to benefit our downtown merchants and alleviate the worst of the traffic and parking snarls. Chris mentioned the planners hope to reclaim the local, home town, family feel.

Rather than have tens of thousands of visitors from all over central Florida flood into Mount Dora for "Light Up" that is co-sponsored by The Mount Dora Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Leasing who provides the Christmas Tree and the City, they have cooperatively decided to make some changes.

Mount Dora residents will receive a day or two of advanced notice about when the Christmas lights will be lit up. That will probably be a few days before Thanksgiving, likely on a week night so that our guests in town for Thanksgiving can see the display without an onslaught of out of town traffic.

The "Christmas Walk" is being rebranded and could have a new name, but it will be held on Friday evening December 3rd. We'll all look forward to shopping, hearing carolers, sipping hot chocolate and getting into the Christmas spirit after last year's pandemic. The Chamber of Commerce representative expressed her support for spreading out the events this year.

The Main Street Leasing tree is being put up now and we should be seeing the dancing lights a bit earlier this year.

The City sponsored "Snow in the Park" event is scheduled for Saturday December 11th. The " New Year's Eve" celebration and fireworks display are a go but I don't have the exact times for you today.

I was taking notes as fast as I could but I'm sure I've missed something but rest assured that the holiday celebrations that we all enjoy will continue to evolve and hopefully be better than ever.

My quote of the day comes from Jonathon Safran Foer, an American author. "Being attentive to the needs of others might not be the point of life, but it is the work of life."

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council, District 4 Representative

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