In February the commission voted 5-2 to hire John O Grady, Mount Dora s former police chief and public safety director, for a contracted part-time position in Deltona s code enforcement department.
John Peters III, acting city manager, said O Grady has the right set of skills for the job, the contract for which expires Oct. 1. There s a lot of good things going on, but it could probably be better, O Grady said by phone Wednesday. We just need to hear from the community on how best to serve them through code enforcement services.
Deltona s biggest issue? Illegal parking
O Grady said the biggest issue citywide is illegal parking.
Both groups want their region s notable rural areas left alone by developers.
In Deltona, it s about 110 acres of land located west of Little Lake, though part of the lake is included in the boundary, and just south of Lake Hutchinson. A developer has plans to put 189 single-family homes on the site. The surrounding area also includes several miles of the River of Lakes Heritage Corridor, which was designated in February as a National Scenic Byway.
On Monday night, Deltona s commission voted 4-3 with commissioners Loren King, Dana McCool and David Sosa dissenting in support of the request to change about 110 acres from county prime agriculture to city residential planned-unit development dubbed Hickory Lakes Preserve.
DELTONA John Peters III can easily recall what his first City Commission meeting as the director of public works and utilities was like he heard the F-bomb dropped nearly 60 times.
Since the infamous June 2019 meeting where some residents, filled with fury over then city manager Jane Shang, yelled and cursed at those on the dais Peters has become the acting city manager.
And though the tide seems to be turning since Peters was promoted last November, he and some commissioners say they continue to receive feedback from residents about behavior exhibited during city meetings from residents and officials alike.
During Monday s workshop, the commission reached a consensus to have Peters work on establishing policies and procedures relating to decorum for meetings of the Planning and Zoning Board and the Special Magistrate.
DELTONA The city has yet to reach a resolution with resident Brandy White over actions, described by many as retaliatory, taken against the vocal critic nearly three years ago.
The City Commission on Monday night saw a settlement agreement drafted by Acting City Manager John Peters III and reviewed by White and Skip Fowler, city attorney.
But, following a last-minute addition to the agreement and comments from White, the commission unanimously voted to have the trio meet a third time. The overall feeling that I have is, that while this settlement was reached by both parties, there s still parts of it that are not amicable to both parties, Commissioner Dana McCool said.
For all its residential development, there s a good amount of blue because of its several lakes.
While some residents and elected officials worry about the pace of development in the city, some city officials are hoping to get the community excited about a different kind of development. We’ve been developing, as you know, eco-parks for several years now, but we’re now at the point where we have a product that we want to start advertising, Jerry Mayes, manager of economic development and ecological tourism sustainability, told the City Commission during a recent workshop. World-class trails, some of the finest on God’s earth, and they’re right here in our city.