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Kudos & kudos

Opinions

Saturday, 24 April 2010 00:00

Kudos to Kissimmee Commissioner Art Otero for taking the lead in convincing a college looking for space to find it in Kissimmee.
Otero drove the point home – literally – by being a little pushy in getting Edwin Colon Cosme to move his Mech-Tech technical college, based in Puerto Rico, here instead of somewhere in Orange County, where it initially was headed.
“He was insistent, like a jab, an uppercut: ‘You gotta be here. You’re needed,’” Colon Cosme said of Otero’s aggressive tactics.
Mech-Tech will be located on a 6.3-acre site at 2499 N. Orange Blossom Trail.
The college will have some 300 students in its first years, as well as provide jobs for 15 on the faculty and 15 more on the administrative side. It will specifically cater to students interested in racing mechanics and auto mechanics with computerized fuel injection.
There also will be other degree programs offered, such as marine mechanics, industrial welding, diesel mechanics, tool and die making, industrial electricity and refrigeration and air conditioning. According to Colon Cosme, the price of the programs is about half compared to similar ones offered elsewhere.
Otero’s gutsy persistence paid off in this instance. We have chided him in the past for some over-the-top proposals, but we now must give credit where credit is due.
Fine job, Mr. Otero.
ooo
Osceola County commissioners made a good decision Monday in denying a project that would have allowed a housing development on 28 acres within the Great Oaks rural enclave along Boggy Creek Road.
Omar Garban brought the matter before commissioners, wanting to develop 84 single-family homes. Buracos Property Investment, of Orlando, owns the site, and Garban, also of Orlando, is a managing member of the company.
Commissioners, on a 4-0 vote to deny it, said the development would increase population without offering jobs and would hamper current county services to the area, particularly fire protection.
A Great Oaks resident added that Boggy Creek Road in its current state could not handle any more traffic.
The commissioners were right in saying the development would be incompatible with the area.