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Ocoee honors Black History Month essay winners; staff announces AAA bond rating and sidewalk progress
Summary
City staff and community members celebrated the Black History Month essay contest winners; staff also announced Fitch rated the city’s water and sewer bonds AAA and provided an update on the sidewalk replacement program. A local girls’ basketball team requested $2,000 in travel assistance.
Caitlyn Ooa, the city’s community event specialist, introduced winners of the 21st annual Black History Month essay contest at the March 3 meeting and recognized students and their schools. The contest’s overall winner, Rashni Beher Singh, read the essay recognized as the contest’s top entry.
Ooa described the contest prompt and thanked sponsors and volunteers; she listed participating schools and said the overall winner would receive a $200 Best Buy gift card, first-place winners $100 each, and second- and third-place prizes of $50 donated by Dr. Sandria Foster.
In a separate staff report, the city manager told commissioners that Fitch had completed a re-rating of the city’s water and sewer bonding capacity and that the rating “remains very stable at AAA,” a sign the city’s debt position for those utilities is strong. The manager also updated the commission on a sidewalk replacement program that began in January and listed neighborhoods where work is complete or underway, and said a second phase had been bid for additional areas.
During public comment, Dara Murthy, captain of a girls varsity basketball team, asked the commission for a $2,000 donation to help cover travel and lodging for the state championship game in Jacksonville on March 13. A commissioner volunteered to provide the amount from a discretionary fund; staff agreed to assist with paperwork and to prepare a check so the team could pick it up.
Other public commenters announced a community cleanup at Stark Lake, a $500 journalism scholarship for Orange County seniors, and a community health and family fair planned for July 11. The meeting closed with mayoral reminders about upcoming events including a plant giveaway and workshops and a March 14 drive-through document shredding event at the police department.
Next step: staff will circulate contest follow-up details and the city will continue sidewalk project updates at upcoming meetings.
