MOUNT DORA CITY COUNCIL UPDATE: September 24 Meeting

(Mount Dora Buzz file photo)

By Marc Crail,
Mount Dora City Council, District 4 Representative 

As usual, I have selected several items from City Council's September 24th. meeting that I think you might be interested in to share with you. Please keep in mind that although I am a member of Mount Dora City Council my report  is from my perspective and not necessarily representative of city council as a whole.

Over the past several months we have continually monitored our city's safety requirements related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the new school year began last month one major concern has been for the safety of Mount Dora students, teachers and school staff. Although things could change quickly and adjustments might need to be made in the future I was pleased to hear reports from both our public schools and from Mount Dora Christian Academy indicating that there are currently no reported cases of the virus locally.

We formally adopted our final millage rate for fiscal year 2020-21. As I explained after our September 10 meeting, we were able to balance our budget at the roll-back millage rate of 5.9603. That means that the City of Mount Dora portion of your real estate tax bill will not increase this year. This is very good news.

We also approved our final budget for FY 2020-21. The total budget including loans for capital projects like building 2 new fire stations and a new public works complex along with about $773,000 in CARES Act funds from Lake County totals $126,277,375. I think our city staff and city council have done a good job of working through the long and complex process of building our new budget. Of course COVID-19 has greatly impacted our economy and that only added to the difficulty of planning for our city's future needs.

A company called Hubbard Construction has requested that a 180 acre construction waste landfill that they own and operate located south of Rt. 46 and about a mile east of U.S. Rt. 441 be voluntarily annexed into Mount Dora. That property is currently in unincorporated Lake County. We are working our way through the process of learning about the potential benefits and disadvantages of that. Several nearby residents have expressed concerns about odors they believe emanate from the construct material landfill. We decided to postpone our possible annexation process for now so that we can gather additional information before making a decision on Hubbard's request.

Our country is morning the resent passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader ?Ginsburg. This woman who stood just over 5 foot tall was a giant intellect and a forward thinker. Her efforts to work for equality under our Constitution are legendary. Among her many noteworthy quotes was the following; "Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." We will miss Justice Ginsburg.

Thank you for your interest in our wonderful community. It's a privilege for me to serve as your District 4 City Council Representative.

By Marc Crail,
Mount Dora City Council, District 4 Representative 

​For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, click here.  ​​​​ For local things to do, click here and for the area's free mobile app, click here. ​

Things to Do

Entertainment Calendar