Windermere Town Council approves dock relocation

WINDERMERE -- After much discussion among involved parties, the Windermere Town Council and the public, the council unanimously approved relocation of a dock at 13 Chase Road with conditions.

Those conditions include providing at least 10% more than the appropriate vegetation as required by Orange County law and planting cypress trees of no less than 3 inches in diameter every 10 feet along the affected shoreline, stemming from Councilman John Armstrong's similar initial suggestion. The idea is to have a visually appealing, ecologically appropriate array of trees along that part of the shoreline.

Concerns about the dock location on the eastern shore of Lake Butler pertained to people walking to use the dock -- particularly children -- just after a sharp turn of traffic onto Chase Road from Main Street and another significant bend in Chase Road immediately thereafter, as well as what vegetation would be in the area in what amounts.

Orange County officials approved relevant permits sometime Sept. 3 for the property owners involved to relocate the dock, but Windermere Town Council had held final approval.

LOT SPLITS

The council unanimously approved two lot splits: one at 133 Main St. and another with stipulations at 728 Forest St.

The council discussed at length portions of town law that pertain to splitting lots and found some parts too ambiguous or deficient, such as pieces regarding 50-foot lots, properties built across multiple lots and certain plats dated before June 10, 1975. For these particular aspects of lot splitting, the council passed the staff recommendation to subject the splits to the approval of Town Manager Robert Smith until the council takes further action on the matter.

ROADS

Two right-of-way use agreements received council approval. One was for a new single-family home at 729 Main St.; the other was for Windsong at Windermere.

Public Works Director David Grimm said important construction projects should be done by Sept. 18, allowing time to finish before the fiscal year ends or next fiscal year's budget is finalized. Grimm said nothing can really prevent problems with puddles and dips in dirt roads from rain, which often causes dangerous silt blooms in the surrounding lakes from runoff. The council will need to decide whether to pave certain areas, which could save money longterm, based on costly repairs to dirt roads from frequent rains, Mayor Gary Bruhn said.

Councilman Richard Gonzalez was absent from the meeting.

IN OTHER NEWS

• The council approved appointment of Shawn Diedrich to the Development Review Board and Avani Desai to the Long Range Planning Committee.
• The final budget hearing for Windermere's coming fiscal year is scheduled for Sept. 21.
• Bruhn read two proclamations: One declared September Childhood Cancer Awareness Month; the other declared October Sandhoff Disease Awareness Month. Sandhoff Disease is a rare recessive carrier lipid storage disorder in which a progressive destruction of the central nervous system usually leads to death, virtually always in children. Windermere Police Chief Dave Ogden spoke about Sandhoff disease, which took the life of his child.
• The council passed a revision to its fire protection assessments and service charges, removing provisions about a certificate of occupancy for property to be assessed.
• Smith said an update regarding town annexation plans would be available sometime this week.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].