May Council Meeting - Charter Schools
May 9, 2013
Announcements/ Presentations
- The Cleveland Clinic of Florida is opening in Donald Ross Village.
- Scott Fetterman, Deputy Chief, Fire Rescue was recognized for 31 years of service.
Items of Resident Interest
- Amanda Buckley golf tournament was well attended.
- Nothing was resolved with the Inspector General lawsuit.
- Bert Premuroso gave a State of the City speech before the PGA Corridor Association.
- PBG is hosting a Youth Soccer Tournament from May 10-12th.
- A Florida Judge James Peterson III denied Florida Regional Medical Center’s Tenet Hospital to build an 80-bed hospital at the Briger Tract.
The meeting was very well attended.
The big topic of discussion was two charter schools – The Renaissance School and the Franklin School. Several people spoke for the Renaissance School. This school will appear before the Planning and Zoning Board on their May meeting.
The Franklin Academy School was passed with a 5-0 vote on first reading in Ordinance 7, 2013. The school is on Hood Road at the former Batt location. The school is projected to have 1300 students. Several area residents commented on the traffic situation. To mitigate the traffic situation the applicant proposed staggered start times, an automated pick-up/drop-off system, additional turn lanes, additional parking spaces, hiring of off-duty police officers, and regular meetings and dialogue with concerned area residents. Part of the complication is due to the fact that Hood is a county road. Several councilman recommended that the County accelerate the Hood lane widening that is part of the 5 year plan and Marcie Tinsley recommended the construction of an additional right turn lane on Central Boulevard turning west on Hood Road to eliminate a crucial bottleneck.