Mount Dora, FL (Lake County) - Feb. 8th, 2013
Yesterday, the Lake County Board of Commissioners Chair Leslie Campione hosted a 4 hour "Regional Summit on Land Issues Impacting the North Shore of Lake Apopka".
The main reason was to disclose plans for developing the North Shore of Lake Apopka (partially in Lake county plus Orange County) into an "eco-tourism" attraction, AND to discuss issues affecting those plans caused by a planned expansion of a nearby "Orlando North Airport", located on Long & Scott property.
The Lake County and Orange County governments have been discussing these issues for months due to the proposed airport expansion which would cross County borders and affect local bird populations due to "bird strike" situations.
Below is the two part agenda.
View this photo - Agenda cover
View this photo - Agenda with speaker names and topics
Here is the press release: http://www.lakecountyfl.gov/media/news_releases/news_release.aspx?id=2047
You can see our three part VIDEO of the event at our Youtube "FiscalRangersFlorida" . The first video is here: http://youtu.be/9snmO6VVFv0 (Note: Part 2 & 3 are in process of downloading - probably not active until tomorrow - Sunday).
See Orlando Sentinel article by Steve Hudak here: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-lake-apopka-north-shore-summit-20130208,0,5073878.story
See the Daily Commercial article by Greg Jones here: http://www.dailycommercial.com/News/LakeCounty/09feb2013ecotourism
Channel 9's Berndt Petersen was at the Summit, and this report is related to the concerns regarding the proposed airport expansion. If you search on the Channel 9 website on "Apopka", you will find more of his reports on this issue: http://www.wftv.com/videos/news/residents-near-lake-apopka-concerned-with-airstrip/vqFfX/
You can find the Powerpoint presentations here: ftp://ftp.co.lake.fl.us/InfoOutreach/020813_RegionalSummit/
No decisions were made but all the parties attending learned different perspectives.
The one negative issue is when an Audobon Society representative recommended they also involve the US Fish & Wildlife Service and plans to make the area a Federal Park. I objected because the Feds are too intrusive and the FWS is known for taking land rights and land away from farmers and other groups due to excessive environmental restrictions, including endangered species acts. We should retain local power of the area.
Vance Jochim
