Oakland talks state of the town

The town of Oakland held its annual State of the Town event, with Mayor Shane Taylor and town commissioners Wednesday, Oct. 22. 

“More than looking back, tonight is about looking forward,” Taylor said to attendees at the  Healthy West Orange Arts and Heritage Center. “This new chapter we are writing together is one of opportunity, resilience and community spirit.”

Public Works 

Public Works Director Mike Parker shared several accomplishments. 

For Fiscal Year 2024-25, the public works team has acquired the final parcel to complete Catherine Ross Road. The whole project has taken more than 10 years to complete and will be finalized by 2026. 

Public Works has finished the first phase of converting sewer lift station No. 1, a duplex station pumping the town’s wastewater to Clermont for treatment, to a triplex station. 

“This facility was originally constructed with two pumps and was planned to eventually have the third pump installed once the sewer flow exceeded 150,000 gallons per day,” Parker said. “Phase two of this project is scheduled for Fiscal Year 2026.” 

The town has been able to produce and distribute more than 330 million gallons of water to customers. 

This year, Parker said the town will work on the water plant and ground storage tank design. 

“Due to the rapid growth in customers, the town’s water system is very near its capacity,” he said. “Developments that have been improved but not fully constructed yet will cause the system to achieve the regulatory storage capacity by the end of 2025. Likewise, the ability to meet adequate water volumes and pressures with the existing puffing configuration is becoming increasingly difficult. The design is expected to take one year to complete with the construction effort to follow.” 

The town will continue with the development of the alternative water system, which is a system made up of a series of facilities that takes surface water from Lake Apopka, filters it and then sends it out for irrigation purposes. This project has been in development for several years and is nearing construction, with a contribution of $4 million from the state. Once completed, it will provide irrigation water to nearly 1,000 existing homes.

Public Works also hopes to create a digital mapping of water, sewage and pipelines so staff can  access information. 

Parker said the town also will continue working on unpaved roads. 

“These unpaved roads are no longer suitable in most cases,” he said. “Prioritization of these improvements along with the funding mechanism to enable the improvements has been approved by the (Orange) County Commission.” 

Finally, Parker said the town will continue with the development of Sadler Park and Trail. 

Oakland Nature Preserve

“The Oakland Nature Preserve is a living chapter of our story, one that connects us to the land, to history and to generations yet to come,” Taylor said. “It’s an attraction in town we should all be proud of.” 

ONP is open from sunrise to sunset daily, and offers a multitude of activities and beautiful scenery. 

The preserve reintroduced its Yoga on the Lake event and its Science Saturdays, which is a family-friendly program. 

ONP also increased its homeschool classes by 50% by adding a class to its roster to accommodate more kids. 

Managing Director Nicole O’Brien said the preserve has had more than 1,000 trees and flowers planted for its habitat restoration program. 

Furthermore, O’Brien said the preserve has received $40,000 in grants. 

She also recalled Hurricane Milton, which did extensive damage along the boardwalk and in other parts of the preserve. After taking the issue to social media, ONP received a donation large enough to cover the boardwalk repair without having to dip into the preserve’s reserves. 

The preserve also has clocked 6,400 volunteer hours just last year and continues to look for new volunteers. 

One of ONP’s main goals for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 is to develop and implement a fundraising plan. 

“We rely on grant funding, donations from private citizens, from foundations and we really want to put that into perspective and have a cohesive plan in place moving forward,” O’Brien said. 

ONP soon will expand due to the Briley Farm subdivision, allowing the preserve to obtain some acreage. 

“We really hope to develop it into a little bit of a recreational area,” O’Brien said of the land. “We desire to put in a pavilion that can be multi-use. It can be used as a classroom space. We could have birthday parties there and really for it to be a community gathering space as well.“ 

Oakland Avenue Charter School

Principal Pamela Dwyer proudly talked about the Oakland Avenue Charter School’s achievements and its goals for the future. 

The school was recognized as an “A” school and one of the top 10 elementary schools in Orange County for student performance on FAST assessments. It also was identified by the Florida Department of Education as one of the top 14 performing schools in Orange County.

Through Jeans for a Cause and non-uniform days, the school was able to raise and donate more than $5,500 to nonprofit organizations. 

“As we look to the future, we’re setting clear, intentional goals to build on the success and continue creating an exceptional learning environment for all students,” Dwyer said. 

She said the school hopes to maintain its grade of an “A” by continuing to focus on high-quality instruction and student achievement. 

Dwyer also said she hopes to complete the purchase of portable classrooms to eliminate monthly lease costs and provide long-term stability to programs. 

Other goals of OACS are to complete a school-wide painting project to ensure a refreshed and welcoming environment; upgrade fire alarm systems; strengthen parent and family engagement by offering more volunteer opportunities and an increase in-person school activities; and finalize a math intervention process to go along with the school’s Multi-Tiered System of Supports Program. 

Oakland Police Department 

The Oakland Police Department secured $70,000 in equipment and training during Fiscal Year 2024-2025. One of the big assets the department was able to secure is a four-wheel drive, side-by-side vehicle to use during major events in town but also in case of emergencies. 

OPD also has obtained additional grant funds to purchase a surveillance drone and train two pilots. 

“Drones really are the future of law enforcement and the future has come to Oakland in a very big way through the hard work of the civilians that work here,” Police Chief Darron Esan said. 

Taylor made an announcement during the event to inform the community of a new, fully-funded police vehicle the department will be receiving from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. 

Esan shared OPD is one of the first agencies in Central Florida to implement a school zone speed enforcement program, monitoring traffic in the school zone during school hours only. 

“Instead of issuing citizens uniform traffic citations, which tend to be very, very expensive, this is a set amount through the program, and it’s far less money, but it’s more just trying to get cars to slow down in schools, reducing traffic, crashes and any incidents, which would put students who walk to school or their parents who are walking students to school… in danger,” Esan said. 

In 2026, the department hopes to expand its recruitment efforts. 

“We are really trying to get into the police academies and build relationships with the coordinators and hopefully start to explore the possibility of a sponsorship so we can sponsor recruits in the academy,” he said. “We would pay for their education and then basically they would sign a contract that they would have a job upon graduation. That’s something that would be due to the town and I think it’s something that would really, really benefit the agency.” 

Esan hopes to develop a five-year strategic plan to move the department forward in the future and as the population grows.