Good money,
bad times
It would seem that Osceola County commissioners and their manager are  attempting to use a page out of the federal government’s playbook in dealing with these economic hard times. By that I mean the recent flurry of purchases or possible purchases of vacant businesses along the U. S. Highway 192 tourism corridor.
It’s their version of all the economic stimulus packages that the feds have floated out over the past year to try revive this pathetic situation that our country has fallen into. I guess their idea is to spend tourism dollars as well as our tax dollars to try and breathe life back into the flagging situation that the 192 corridor has become.
The Osceola County Tourist Development Council (TDC) and Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) spend millions of dollars in tourism revenue on a national and international market to attract tourists to West 192 and the theme parks. I mean, to Osceola County, forgive my mistake. TDC/CVB has come under intense scrutiny over the past few years from county officials over the spending of said money and whether it was being expended wisely. “Heads in beds” is the catch phrase when it comes to doling out tourism dollars. My question is this,  do the acquisitions or possible acquisitions by our county live up to that mantra. Do they or will they put throngs of tourists into our county? Probably not. Especially if the economy doesn’t recover for a number of years.
I applaud the job that the Osceola County Veterans Council has done with their museum over the years and I have the utmost respect for each and every U.S. veteran, living or otherwise, who has served our country honorably. Sure, it would be nice to have a big brand new, freshly redesigned facility with all the amenities. Every veterans group, civic or community service organization would aspire to have a home such as that, but at what cost? It’s bad enough to spend tourism dollars on such endeavors, but to consider taxpayer money being spent on it would not seem prudent during these hard times.
I seem to recall back in the fall of 2008, some 200 county employees getting their ticket punched as county government realigned to deal with budget shortages of monumental proportions. As these folks search the job market or hold down multiple jobs to make ends meet, what must they think when they see their county leaders so willing to spend millions of dollars at the drop of a hat? They must wonder why some of those dollars could not have saved their jobs. To them I say it’s all in priorities and they at the time were not the priority. I have heard all about the different segments of the county budget only being able to be spent on certain things, and folks, it’s all just a bunch of smoke and mirrors that our leaders engage in while they do their job.
My Daddy had a saying, “Err on the side of caution.”
During hard times such as these, maybe a little more caution should be used. Regardless of what our government tells and shows us, you can’t fix everything with a stimulus program.
County leaders, please be more cautious with our tax dollars. Most everybody works pretty hard to pay their taxes, please give us that respect. Thanks.
Preston L. Tyson
St. Cloud

Plan threatens
To the editor:
Osceola County’s “NE District Conceptual Plan” threatens the delicate Upper Econ Mosaic.
Red flags to urban densities in this ecologically rich 17,000-plus acres are more than can be penned in one letter. The lack of need is clear.
At a recent foreclosure seminar, Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham conceded “we have more than enough development even if they never approve another plan.” Already vested in Florida is enough residential capacity for 80,000,000 more people.
State law requires “need” to be shown before approving development outside the Urban Growth Boundary. More than 12,000 acres in this NE plan lie beyond the UGB. It’s hard to fathom “need” for 46,000-plus new residential units.
This sprawling plan is incompatible with surrounding lands; with residents’ right to stable zoning; and with adjacent Split Oaks Wildlife Mitigation Park, established by Orange and Osceola counties and managed by FFWCC to conserve and protect native wildlife, including the threatened gopher tortoise. The NE plan would block animals’ ingress and egress to/from the park.
According to the Osceola’s Community Visioning and other surveys, the public favors wild land conservation, not megacities in the sticks.
Although the NE Plan studiously sidesteps any duty to the endangered Florida panther, at least three panthers have been documented in Osceola by USFWS in the past four years, and telemetry data show hits on Deseret Ranch — the single owner-entity which would lucratively benefit from the plan.
The “Assessment of Habitat North of the Caloosahatchee River for the Florida Panther” (a 2006 study for USFWS) names Osceola, Orange and Polk counties as key to dispersal and survival of Puma concolor coryi.
The very “mosaic” pattern of wetlands and ridge-and-swale and hydric/mesic flatwoods — i.e., the fact that the bulk is either wetlands or floodable, with only a tiny percentage true xeric uplands — make this tract unsuitable for intense urban use, especially within the context of the plan’s claim of “ecological sustainability.” It’s hardly “smart growth.”
Most damning is that this tract graced the Florida Forever CARL (Conservation and Recreation Lands) list for conservation acquisition, for its unique niche near the econ headwaters and as north-south wildlife corridor linkage to Split Oaks, Hal Scott Preserve and the St. Johns River. It only was delisted due to the unwilling landowner.
The county commissioners are the final custodians of the land and wildlife in Osceola County. Residents who value this lovely, bio-diverse region should view the “NE District Conceptual Plan” on the county Web site, then before or at the Feb. 15 hearing urge commissioners to reject it.
No project on this scale should pass without public consent.
The best legacy Osceola government could leave: this property is to commence partnering with the state to acquire it or an in perpetuity easement to safeguard this vital link in the Upper Econ Mosaic for the people of Florida. If ever a place was not right to develop, this is it.
Rebecca Eagan
Winter Park