Mount Dora City Council Update: Sept. 21 meeting

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council, District 4 Representative

Mount Dora City Council held a rather long but productive meeting on 9/21. I've chosen several of the more important items to tell you about in this report. I'm a member of City Council but I'm not representing the council as I'm writing this report. What follows come only from me as an individual council member.

During our previous meeting I suggested that we ought to form a Citizens' Building Height Advisory Committee to study and discuss how best to manage building heights in the downtown historic area. The building height issue has been a hot button topic that has driven a wedge between segments of Mount Dora residents over the past year. It needs to be dealt with as soon as possible to help heal the rifts within our community and to address the concerns of our residents regarding future development in the downtown area.

To that end, a 13 member committee will be formed. The committee will consist of 6 members who have relevant professional experience and expertise to be nominated by the City Manager and 7 members nominated 1 each by the 7 council members and approved by a majority vote. Watch for nomination forms to be widely available in the next few weeks. If you are interested in serving please apply. Once the committee is formed it will have up to 6 months to come up with its recommendations and report back to city council.

We adopted a resolution to submit a grant requesting $3.3 million from the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund for public infrastructure. If we're successful, this state money would be used to help address utility and traffic issues in the area near Round Lake Charter School (Vista Ridge Dr.).

You may be familiar with a 12 acre property known as Forest Park. It's located directly behind the library on a steep, environmentally sensitive parcel. That land has a number of trails running through it. We will be applying for a $50K grant to study the possibility of developing a child friendly outdoor education area there over the next several years. This area would be an extension of the W. T. Bland Library's kids education campus. The first steps will be to do an environmental assessment and a trails assessment. Properly planned, minimal development will be necessary to preserve the character of the property and a plan for maintaining the property will be crucial as well. If everything comes together over the next year or so, these plans could come to pass. If not, the grant money can be returned if we decide not to proceed. Community involvement will be encouraged.

We discussed and approved the first reading of an ordinance dealing with the requirements for future murals in Mount Dora. Permits, materials, maintenance and aspects of historic preservation are all included in this proposed ordinance.

As I mentioned last time, the final approved millage rate for the upcoming tax year was approve for 5.9603 mills, slightly under our goal of 6.0 mills. It's a done deal.

Our search for a new City Manager is nearing its end. Four finalists will be in town for interviews next week. There will be a public "Meet & Greet" event on Tuesday evening September 28 at 6:00 in the Community Building.  Please plan to attend.

I think we had a productive meeting that will enable us to continue moving forward. Thanks for providing me the opportunity to serve as your District 4 City Council member.

Our quote today comes from former First Lady Barbara Bush. "Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people." Amen to that!

By Marc Crail
Mount Dora City Council, District 4 Representative

Follow Mount Dora Buzz on Facebook and Instagram.  For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, visit the area's website and download the area's free mobile app. ​