Council Highlights – January 11, 2021
Last updated on January 11, 2021
Council Update - January 11, 2021
General Items
Remembering Michael Mennello
Last month, Michael Mennello - one of Orlando’s greatest supporters of the arts and a generous philanthropists – passed away. Orlando would not be the vibrant city that it is today without Michael’s influence, enthusiasm and investments in the arts, including our Mennello Museum of American Art. He has left a lasting legacy with his passion and certainly made our community a more creative place to live.
COVID-19 Update
This is our first City Council meeting of the new year and 2021 has brought hope for a better tomorrow. The arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine is one of the reasons why many are so hopeful.
The distribution process has begun for residents who are 65 years of age and older and although the State of Florida has not shared when other residents will have access to the vaccine, we want to encourage every person in our community to consider getting it as soon as it becomes available to them.
That’s why Mayor Dyer joined Mayor Demings a few weeks ago to receive his first dose. We want to show the confidence that we have in the vaccine and in the guidance of the medical professionals who’ve shared that these vaccines are safe and effective.
Although the vaccine brings hope during this pandemic, the number of positive COVID-19 cases are rising and it’s easy to focus on the things that we cannot do. Instead think of the things we can do.
We are very fortunate to live in Orlando, where sunshine and comfortable temperatures are a regular part of our winters. Take advantage of this.
Getting together with family in friends outside with social distancing can be a great way but a safe way to be with one another. By doing so we can keep ourselves and our families and loved ones healthy.
Items of Note
F#9 – Emergency Rental Assistance Program
Speaking of COVID and helping residents in need, we wanted to provide a final update on the rental assistance program we launched in September in partnership with Heart of Florida United Way.
We assisted more than 550 households get current on unpaid rent payments as far back as March 2020 through December 2020.
We want to acknowledge our partners at Heart of Florida United Way and the entire staff in our Housing Department for working up to the last minute before the deadline to help residents in need.
And, while we are glad that we were able to provide much needed relief to those residents, we know there are more residents in need. More than 900 residents applied for assistance and unfortunately, we were not able to help them all before we exhausted the funds we had available.
That is why, on today’s agenda is an item that will allow the city to pursue up to $8.6 million in federal funds to help residents with rental assistance. We are waiting on additional guidance from the U.S. Treasury to determine exactly how the funds can be administered, however we want to do ALL we can to leverage additional resources to help our residents in need. Any specifics about how the funds will be administered will come back to City Council at a later date.
B#7 – Award to CDM Smith, Inc. for Professional Services for the Orlando Urban Trail Gap and Extension Project
And lastly, on today’s agenda, we will vote on an item that will move the construction forward for the Orlando Urban Trail Gap and Extension Project. This project will improve connectivity and expand our bicycle facility network by completing two trail segments.
Keeping Orlando moving continues to be a priority for us. With more than 360 miles in our bicycle network, we remain committed to providing safe, comfortable and accessible transportation options for everyone who lives, works and plays in the City of Orlando.