Ordinance No. 2205 amends the Apopka Code of Ordinances, Section 2-113, "Fees for Copies of Documents" and Section 2-116, "Fees for Police and Public Safety Servies," and creates a new Section 2-122 entitled "Fees for Extraordinary Services".   - Adopted unanimously by Council at December 29th meeting.

Ordinance No. 2206 amends the Apopka Code of Ordinances, Chapter 66, "Solid Waste", Article II, "Municipal Refuse Collection Service, by creating a new Divison 5 to be entitled "Secondary Metals Recyclers".  - Adopted unaimously by Council at December 29th meeting.

January 5th - Ordinance No. 2207 - Amends Apopka Code of Ordinances, Capter 22 - Building and Building Regulations, Article III - Permit Fees. - Adopted unanimously by Council.

Family Dollar Store Final Development Plan - 1319 Rock Springs Road - Unanimously adopted by Council after much debate and concerns expressed about market saturation.

January 19th - Sweetwater Oil/Lube and Car Wash Final Development Plan - NE corner of Piedmont-Wekiva Road & U.S. 441 - Unanimously adopted by Council.

 

Do these priorities align with the State's? For the most part the answer is "yes". Several legislators are talking about the need for significant pension reform to insure public employee pensions are sustainable well into the future. This will be a tough, uphill battle but cities, counties and state government acknowledge this is a growing "crisis" if comprehensive reform is not addressed.

 

Growth management and economic development are closely tied together. The State is looking to remove some of the restrictions for business development by restructuring the Department of Community Affairs, streamlining the permitting process, establishing public/private partnerships and funding urban infrastructure projects through various means such as leveraging private investments through state tax credits.

 

However, priority #1 for the State is balancing the budget with an approximate $3.5 billion shortfall and no stimulus dollars to "fill the gap". Governor Scott is scheduled to release his budget on Monday, February 7th.

 

As part of my commitment to keeping you informed and fostering the sense of "community" in Apopka, I'm happy to introduce a new feature, "Neighbor to Neighbor".  Our first neighborhood is Oak Hill Reserve. Below are comments from the current HOA President, Cheryl Kilsheimer

 

Oak Hill reserve is a recently developed community north of Errol Estate. OHR has two entrances, one off Vick Road; one off Lester Road. Homes were built by Ryland and the HOA was turned over to the residents in 2008.

 

As a new board, we felt is was very important to do business with businesses in the Apopka area. So the first year was spent replacing all the vendors with those from Apopka. We utilized the Apopka Chamber web site and also relied on "word of mouth".

 

Next, we identified that OHR needed more community spirit. We needed to find a way to bring people together. We were confident once people met their neighbors they would "care" more about making this a "family friendly environment."

 

We had our first Holiday in the Park party in December, 2010. It was a big hit. We had activities for kids, pizza, soda and cookes. Since it was our first event we didn't know what kind of participation we would have, but to our surprise, over 100 people showed up! This year we hope to have our first Pool Party, Easter Egg Hunt, Community Garage Sale and another Holiday Party. Little by little, we are creating a premier community within the city of Apopka.