By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

Economic development, impact fees and consolidation of services with the county were the hot-button issues at the St. Cloud Greater Osceola Chamber of Commerce Candidate’s Forum Tuesday in the St. Cloud Council Chambers in City Hall.

This year’s format was a little different. Candidates for seat 2, seat 3 and mayoral seat 1 were asked as many questions as they could answer in 12 minutes. The event was not debate-style; rather, candidates said their opening and closing statements in the company of their opponents but faced the question-and-answer portion alone.

The candidates were overwhelmingly against consolidating services, such as fire and emergency departments and the parks and recreation department with Osceola County government. The current City Council has had discussions with county commissioners on this issue.

“St. Cloud is in good standing right now. (the County) wants to jump on our bandwagon,” Donny Shroyer, candidate for seat 2, said.

Some candidates did say while some consolidation was off the table for them, code enforcement and the building departments are the services they are willing to discuss consolidating.

“These are uniformed, standardized and easy to administer,” Tom Griffin, the incumbent for seat 2, said.

The candidates were all on board with finding ways to lessen impact fees for existing businesses looking to expand and to lure new businesses to the city. Impact fees are paid to a city or county to offset any costs to public services caused by new or expanding development.

“The future of Central Florida is in St. Cloud,” Eric Dolhon, candidate for seat 3, said. “With all the land and the opportunity for growth, we can use this as an opportunity to make (the town) Central Florida’s beacon of opportunity.”

Some candidates had specific suggestions for ways to help existing small business owners and lure in new companies and entrepreneurs.

Jay Polachek, running for mayor, suggested sunsetting impact fees for a couple years for both commercial and residential projects to allow development to occur. Edith “Edie” Sheehan, a candidate for seat 2, suggested implementing a deferred payment plan for new businesses and waiving permit fees until the economy improves.

Shroyer said St. Cloud’s impact fees are the highest in the state and keeps people from wanting to expand into the city.

“It’s supply and demand. We have a lot of empty buildings. I’d like to see them used,” he said.

Rebecca Borders, candidate for mayor, said the impact fees are also hurting the city’s tax base because residents are going outside the city and even the county for certain services, such as recreational activities not currently offered.

“We need some family-type things open in the evenings, such as a bowling alley,” she said.

Russell Holmes, candidate for seat 3, wants to “sell” St. Cloud to encourage tourists and growth to the city. He suggested creating a brochure and a video about the town as well as installing a sign welcoming people to the city.

“A lot of pressure is put on our elected officials to come up with all the ideas,” he said. “We need to find something that will bring people downtown.”

Early voting begins Monday and runs until Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 2.