Victoria For Winter Springs Archives - Page 14 of 19

Winter Springs Gee Creek Flooding

To address the many locations in the Gee Creek basin that experienced flooding due to Hurricane Irma in 2017, the City of Winter Springs initiated a comprehensive stormwater study of the entire Gee Creek Basin in Winter Springs. The study was performed by CDM Smith, a stormwater consulting firm, and it addressed three main items: 1) what happened during Hurricane Irma; 2) why did it happen; and 3) what can be done to minimize future flooding in the basin.

The study looked at the basin as a whole, and examined specific problem areas including: 109 Lido Road, Hacienda Village, Moss Road at Gee Creek, etc. The intention is to give everything a “fresh look” based on the current conditions, explore any solutions that may be available, and to then prioritize and implement projects.

The City paid $50,000 for the study and it was completed in March 2018, however we don’t believe anything was ever done.

We need a fresh set of eyes and ears added to our city government. We need someone who will hold our city accountable for taking care of the residents and their needs. We need someone serving on the commission who will follow up on these important action items.

We need Victoria Colangelo.

Kevin Cannon Winter Springs Record

My participation in local government started when Kevin Cannon knocked on my door in 2018 campaigning for the last election…. He spoke with me about the local issues and how he was against development. He spent 45 minutes with me that day on my front porch. It was a nice conversation.

A few days later I received a cease and desist letter from Kevin Cannon with a stack of paper highlighting his arrest for hitting his wife. Along with his demand letter, was a request for my homeowners insurance, my guess as a threat to sue me. At the time I had no idea why I was receiving this letter.

That is when I realized it was time to for me to get involved in more city government. I would not let this bully scare me or anyone else again.

I then started listening to the city commission meetings online and noticed many things that didn’t add up. The FDEP consent orders, the revolving door at Police Chief, Director of Utilities and Public Works positions. All of these things were a concern.

I started attending more meetings in person, and each time I did, I was targeted and singled out in some way. Cannon would either make reference to me or a member of the audience, an obvious Cannon supporter, would harass me in some way. Sitting really close to me, look over my shoulder or take videos and pictures of me sitting in the audience. All attempts to intimidate me.

When I am elected, it will be safe once again to participate in local government meetings without fear of being bullied or singled out.

In 2007, The Orange County Sheriff’s Office Found Probable Cause to Believe Cannon “Committed Aggravated Battery With A Weapon” and Battery (Domestic Violence)”

We Need a Commissioner With The Temperament To Lead, Not One Who Suppress Police Findings

Vote Against The Loose Cannon

Kevin Cannon Cease & Desist Letter from VictoriaColangelo

Winter Springs Wetland Mitigation

My Opponent, Kick the Cannon, has been very negative of my business with Wetland Mitigation Banking.

However, did you know, that in 2017, The City of Winter Springs received a SJRWMD permit which authorized 0.63 Acres of Direct Wetland Impacts for a NEW Parking Lot and Basketball Courts at TORCASO PARK!?

So add hypocrite to the list of things Kevin Cannon attributes. Not the advocacy we need in Winter Springs

The City purchased 0.147 UMAM Mitigation Credits which provided 2.5 Acres of Wetland Mitigation for Torcaso Park from Lake Jesup Mitigation Tract!!

Within the SJRWMD Technical Staff Report it actually states that Elimination or reduction of impacts was not required for the 0.63-acre direct impacts to W1 because the ecological value of the functions provided by the area of wetland to be adversely affected is low, and the proposed mitigation will provide greater long term ecological value than the area of wetland to be adversely affected, pursuant to Section 10.2.1.2(a.) ERP A.H. Volume I.

If you like to learn more about my industry and how we work with both the state and federal agencies to protect natural lands please visit https://mitigationbankinginc.com/

Victoria’s Campaign Kick-Off Event

WHEN: Saturday October 8, 2:00 – 4:00 PM

WHERE: 129 Cherry Creek Circle, Winter Springs

Although her campaign really started a few months ago, with great success, we are excited to finally throw a kickoff party for her strongest supporters. The event is by invitation only, and RSVP’s are required. If you have never been to a Victoria party, you are in for a treat! During the RSVP process, there will be an opportunity to support the campaign and all monies collected will be used to keep pushing for victory all the way up to November 8th.

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you on 10/08 at 2:00pm.

Questions? Please contact friends@victoriaforwintersprings.com or call 407-808-2222.

Candidate Night Recap

The afternoon started with a little rain, but the residents still came out and enjoyed the food trucks and community. The Trotwood Park pavilion provided excellent cover. After spending a few hours with the residents, it was time to head over to Tuscawilla Country Club for Meet the Candidate night. It was a fantastic day. The opportunity to speak with residents of our community is the fuel that powers my campaign. The things I hear and learn during these events are the very things I will be fighting for when I am elected. Collaborative leadership is what our city needs right now.

“We need to be a good steward of the land and also our neighbors as far as the school board, and the county and the other municipalities around us, and right now I am not hearing favorable things about our city and they’re begging me to win,” District 2 candidate Victoria Colangelo said.

“Let’s not rip down 100-year-old trees and then plant a tree that’s, you know, a seedling,” she said.

Check out this article and full audio from the event: https://oviedocommunitynews.org/2022/09/21/candidates-trade-jabs-at-winter-springs-forum/

Please learn more about the issues facing our city, please visit my blog https://victoriaforwintersprings.com/blog/ and if you need to reach me, please contact me directly friends@victoriaforwintersprings.com

What has Kevin Cannon’s Advocacy Done For Winter Springs?

City Budgets and Fiscal Responsibility

Cash Rich, Water and Infrastructure Poor

In the spirit of bragging about our strong financials, Kevin Cannon and our City Manager have ignored the lessons of the past. In 2017 during IRMA millions was set aside to avoid this situation, but it was never executed. We have a multimillion dollar Lake Jesup Waste Water Plant that has never worked right and we recently learned will never work correctly. So we brag about the money we save but watch our city’s infrastructure completely fail across the board? Not the advocacy we need for our community.

Please watch the video below.

Voting on Development to Increase Traffic

Although Commissioner Cannon (elected 8 years ago in 2014) made campaign promises to stop development and reduce traffic, here is a partial list of projects which have been passed while he has been in office since 2014, all of which a) he has voted to advance at some point or b) have passed through a commission whose votes he controls. These developments have overburdened our roads and water systems as we all saw during Ian.

Some Projects Since 2014

Southern Oaks (54 units)
The Blake Apartments (279 units)
Vistawilla ALF (77,000 SFT)
Integra 360 (360 units)
The Enclave at Dunmar (8 units)
Redbug (Morningstar) Self-Storage
Northern Oaks (35 units)
Tuscawilla Crossings (379 units)
Hawthorne ILF (145 units)
The Gatherings (108 units)
Dream Finders (114 units)
The Studios at Tuscawilla
Hickory Grove (132 units)
Winter Springs Marketplace (Aldi’s, etc)

FIRE THE CANNON SAVE OUR CITY

Former Seminole County Commissioner, John Horan, Endorses Victoria Colangelo

John Horan

Former Seminole County Commissioner

Term: 2010-2018

Victoria Colangelo is highly qualified. She is intelligent, experienced, knowledgeable and personable. She will be a servant leader who will make our City Commission better. I endorse her for City Commissioner District 2, Winter Springs.

Former Seminole County Commissioner
Winter Springs Resident
Retired Partner of Foley & Lardner

Victoria Colangelo is highly qualified. She is intelligent, experienced, knowledgeable and personable. She will be a servant leader who will make our City Commission better. I endorse her for City Commissioner District 2, Winter Springs.

Winter Springs Development Plans

How do you plan to deal with development in Winter Springs? Once a land owner/developer has a permit from the water management district, what can or would you do to minimize the impacts from that development-on the environment, on our roadways, on the sprawl we’ve been experiencing?

Trees: The City has the rights to the Trees. Therefore, I would make sure that the Trees are incorporated into the development; and the natural landscape is priority – more green space; more OLD trees.
Drainage: Make sure the drainage engineers are done right (Chao Medical- currently has issues and it was just developed)
Planners: The City of Winter Springs currently does not have a Planner and outsources it to the East Regional Planning Council; I will have a qualified expert in-house working directly with the landowner/developer on future site plans. This includes access roads, emergency exits, etc…. The current Aldi Development entrance by Chipotle is not acceptable. The Rise so close to the street! Hickory Grove, only saved 3 trees out of 1,000.
Most importantly, I want to be helpful to the landowner/developer; not giving them a run around (like what is currently happening at City Hall). I want to make it an easy process to work with The City; but also understand the high standards of working with the City of Winter Springs. Currently to get a permit to have a shed takes several steps with several departments. The residents are fed up with the red tape bureaucracy and want an efficient process!

Winter Springs 2022-2023 Property Tax Rate

At the City Commission meeting held on Monday, July 11, 2022, our Mayor and City Commissioners approved the 2022-2023 Property Tax Rate. The millage rate for the City of Winter Springs, Florida for the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 is set at 2.4100 mills. The tax rate remained the same as the previous fiscal year.

However they also claimed they are saving us money, when actually since our property values have increased, the amount of taxes we will be paying will increase too. They city could have rolled back the mileage rate, something that is not done often, but they could have done that and really saved us money. If they had rolled back the rate, they really would have saved us money since the approved budget is 9.2% above the roll back rate.

The City of Winter Springs payroll has ballooned from $7M only a few short years ago, to $9M today. Our City Manager almost makes more money than our Governor. Our longest standing City Commissioner Cannon has kicked the can on our water systems, body cams and what else? It’s time for change in City Hall.

FACTS:

The City of Winter Springs has adopted a measure to increase its property tax levy from $6.8 million to $7.6 million for this upcoming year.
This represents a 10.5% increase of taxes over the prior year.
The tax increase was passed by the commission unanimously, with all commissioners voting in favor of increasing taxes.
This vote directly contradicts the tax-payer funded social media campaign in which the commission wrongfully claimed they are “Saving you money”, when taxes are in fact being increased. (See tax increase notice Winter Springs placed in the Orlando Sentinel which was required by the State)

The City of Winter Springs has allocated $197,000 tax payer dollars for an election year marketing spree, which has included misinformation sites touting a science center which doesn’t exist, and the video below which claims the tax burden on residents was decreased (i.e. “Saving you money”) when the public notice above states taxes were in fact increased (i.e. “Notice of Proposed Tax Increase”).

Lake Jesup Restoration Site

Site 10” is owned by The City of Sanford, this 1,000+ acre parcel would be an excellent preservation/restoration project to clean up Lake Jesup.

Site Details:

3.2.3 CITY OF SANFORD “SITE 10” FACILITY The Sanford Reuse Land Application Facility (“Site 10”) is located on the northeastern shore of Lake Jesup. Site 10 is approximately 1,868 acres, of which 1,252 acres are in the Lake Jesup Basin. Agriculture (pastures and citrus groves) and wetlands are the major land uses on the site. The City of Sanford NPDES permit allows discharge to a permitted capacity slow-rate reuse system on Site 10, including reclaimed water storage on site in two holding ponds. The water from the ponds is used to irrigate the hay fields and citrus groves on the site. In addition, the previous permit identified Site 10 as an area where land application of residuals occurred and this application began in May 1997 (CDM, 2007). Residuals application on Site 10 was discontinued in 2009 and the current permit prohibits land application of residuals on Site 10. As noted above, the TMDL only accounted for the surface runoff loads from the site and did not estimate the TP loads associated with the reuse water and residual application activities. During the BMAP process, the stakeholders requested that the total loading from Site 10 be determined. To help accomplish this, two studies were conducted: one by CDM as a consultant for the City of Sanford (City of Sanford Site 10 Data Evaluation) and one by the FDEP Ground Water Protection Section (Ground Water Assessment Report for Site 10). CDM and FDEP used two different models with different assumptions and EMC values, which resulted in different loading estimates. Details on both of these studies can be found in Appendix G. The purpose of the CDM analysis was to model runoff from the site with revised land use information. This analysis estimated that the site has a stormwater loading of 883 lbs/yr of TP or 573 lbs/yr of TP with BMPs in place (CDM, 2007). The FDEP assessment focused on shallow ground water conditions on Site 10. The purpose of this assessment was to provide current information for shallow groundwater in the hay field areas that drain to Lake Jesup. The TP concentrations from the monitoring wells ranged from non-detect to 5.3 mg/L, with a median for the four hay fields of 0.76 mg/L. A portion of the TP concentration was also attributed to natural conditions in the area (FDEP, 2008).

The 632 lbs/yr of TP that was calculated as the surface runoff load (refer to Section 2.5.2.2) was included in the allocation table as the starting point load for Site 10, which provided the basis for the required reduction. Since the load from the reclaimed water and residual applications were not originally considered in the TMDL, the 3,489 lbs/yr of TP from these sources was not included in the BMAP allocations. However, the City of Sanford has proposed projects to reduce the loading from these sources on Site 10 and also monitoring to determine water quality improvements. The projects to address these loads are discussed in Section 4.1.2 and the proposed monitoring efforts are discussed in Section 5.1.3.4. In the next cycle of the TMDL, the monitoring data will be used to provide a better estimate of the total load from Site 10 and this information will be incorporated into the TMDL and allocations.

Final Order Amending The Lake Jesup Basin Management Action Plan from VictoriaColangelo

Category: Victoria For Winter Springs

Winter Springs Gee Creek Flooding

Kevin Cannon Winter Springs Record

Winter Springs Wetland Mitigation