The so called workforce project, now called Signature Crossing, was NOT presented for discussion at today’s County Commission meeting. Further, all five County Commissioners agreed it would NOT be discussed or presented on the 17th, next week’s meeting as there are more than enough items for that agenda and the County Manager’s office has not yet received any official request to be on any future county agenda. A certain amount of paperwork is required to be submitted along with the request and none of that has happened as of this afternoon!

The project was first brought up by many residents/taxpayers who spoke during the first citizens forum and all spoke against the apartment projects.

During the Commissioner’s time, Ken Smith brought up the projects saying he just wanted fairness in allowing the item on to the agenda. He admitted he thought it was slated for the 17th, but the Manager stated he had received no such request. As each Commissioner spoke, they all agreed it should be given a fair hearing, but also said they believed it should come before the new Commission, to be seated in two weeks. Chairman Shipley stated, before hitting the gavel, that all 5 have stated the item should come up at a future date, but NOT the 17th. Looks like we’ll just have to watch the future agendas for when it will be before the Commission.

One item we forgot to mention in the last blog was that there is no leak in the Holopaw landfill! We received an email from Fred Hawkins who told us this has been a rumor for the past few weeks. He said the facility is inspected quite often and the soils are tested and there is absolutely NO leaks or damage to the landfill’s liner! Good news and we appreciate Mr Hawkins straightening this out for us.

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The much talked about Convention Center received approval and it does appear that this may actually work out for the County, especially the County taxpayers! It was repeated a few times that absolutely NO ad valorum funds, or any taxpayer monies would be spent on the project. TDC money will assist to the tune of several million dollars, however, everyone is confident the Osceola taxpayers will NEVER have to pay towards this project. Good deal.

While the slot had remained open for a few weeks, Paul Owen, knowing full well he would not be returning to office, took what we hope was his last swing at the citizens of Osceola County and re-appointed Big Jim Murphy who lacks the class to resign from the TDC. This act of defiance is an example of what is wrong with some politicians and we hope there’s a way for Mr. Harford to correct that appointment by releasing Mr Murphy and appointing someone else. Mr Murphy has clearly NOT been a community leader in the way the TDC has been run under his chairmanship. Also, while we believe Paul Owen is a nice guy, he disappointed many, many citizens this afternoon!

We’ve heard that Commissioner elect Mike Harford had a bit of a disagreement with some staffers regarding the swearing in to his office. Seems that he wanted his swearing in to be held outside in the Square so ALL citizens would be able to view the ceremony. In fact, we’re told it went so far that he allegedly was demanding that it be done his way. He was advised, we’re told, that he was not a Commissioner yet and could not demand anything of staff. Further, if he decided not to attend the swearing in ceremony INSIDE the building, the Governor’s Office might be notified to place the seat back up for special election! Could this possibly have happened? We’ll believe that there may have been a misunderstanding and leave it at that. You know how rumors go!

It was good to see the many people who attended the Commission meeting today. Even Billy Newman attended and voiced his objections to the Signature Crossing housing projects. We hope even more people will email, telephone, and attend the meeting this item is finally up before the Commission. $1.7 million is a lot of jobs, a lot of money, and a lot of other people will be making fistfulls of money, like the developer, Jonathan Wolf. The project needs to be stopped!

Until next time, God Bless you all. Be healthy, and please be safe!