By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office signed a 25-year lease this spring for use of nearly 10,500 acres near Harmony to serve as a training facility and as an aid in its community service efforts.

The land also includes several buildings, which the county plans to modify. The bidding process for construction modifications has not yet started and may not take place this year, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office public relations director Twis H. Lizasuain said.

“We’re still in the beginning stages,” Lizasuain said.

The foundation requires approval of all construction slated for the property and before work begins, all construction documents must be submitted to the charitable organization.

Foundation president Hal G. Smith III, as per the lease agreement, may use the 5,000-foot paved airstrip on the property with reasonable notice to the Sheriff’s Office.

The foundation declined to comment on the lease at this time.

While the county is responsible for all taxes associated with the property, no money will be exchanged for rent. As per the lease, rent will be provided in the form of security for the property to keep people from fishing, capturing, poaching or hunting any animals or removing any plants from the premises.

The perpetual preservation of the property’s natural habitats for the enjoyment of the general public is a paramount objective to the foundation, foundation officials stated in the lease.

While the Sheriff’s Office has remained tightlipped about the type of training that will occur on the property, the lease gives specific examples of such training, including manhunt exercises in wooded areas, K-9 training, horse-mounted patrol exercises, a gun range with a state-of-the-art bullet trap system and an archery range.

Additionally, the foundation requires the Sheriff’s Office also use the property for charitable purposes, such as the Teen Driver Challenge and the Explorer Program.

For five weeks this summer, the Sheriff’s Office hosted 30 youngsters per week at its annual Sheriff’s Adventure Camp for at-risk youth, according to Lizasuain.

The Kenneth Kirchman Foundation was created by a banking software pioneer by the same name that established the Kirchman Corporation in Orlando in 1968. Kirchman died in 2007. The company often held meetings and events at the Lake Conlin site.

Several years ago the foundation considered turning over the Mercury Marine facility to the Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts to be used as a camp, which would have been owned and operated by the foundation. However, the Boy Scout proposal stalled when the transfer of the land was tied up in court, local Scouting officials have said.