County offices to close March 11 for furlough day

With the exception of public safety and other specific operations, all Osceola County Board of County Commission offices and departments will be closed Friday, for an unpaid staff furlough day.

Most departments and buildings, including libraries, parks, road and bridge, animal control, permitting and others will be closed to the public.

Remaining furlough days – all Fridays – following Friday, March 11 include: April 1, May 13, June 17, July 15, Aug. 12 and Sept. 16.

Furlough days do not apply to the Constitutional Offices (Clerk of Court, Property Appraiser, Sheriff’s Office, Supervisor of Elections and Tax Collector) or city and state offices.

For more information, contact the Osceola County Community Outreach/Public Information Office at 407-742-0100.

Two locks back in service

The South Florida Water Management District recently placed the S-65 and S-65A navigation locks in the Kissimmee Basin back in service for boaters.

The 45-year-old navigation locks are two of four in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes and on the Kissimmee River that have undergone more than six months of refurbishment. Work will continue at both the S-65 and S-65A for about another month while the locks remain in operation.

“The last several months of refurbishment work will help ensure another half century of reliable service from these navigation locks for boaters in the Kissimmee region,” Tommy Strowd, SFWMD deputy executive director of Operations and Maintenance, said. “The smooth navigation of local waterways provided by these locks is crucial to Central Florida’s recreational and sporting culture and its economic well-being. We appreciate the public’s patience and understanding as we near completion of these renovations.”

The S-65 navigation lock allows boaters to travel between Lake Kissimmee and the Kissimmee River. The S-65A lock, located about 11 miles south of the S-65 on the Kissimmee River, enables navigation between the river’s northern stretches and its restored central segment.

Among the other navigation locks:

The S-65D lock – located on the Kissimmee River 16 miles north of Lake Okeechobee – also is back in service. One gate will remain stationary for continued repairs. The lock will accommodate boats up to 13 feet wide while the affected gate is out of operation. Passage of larger boats and barges will require a 48-hour prior notice.

The S-61 lock, known locally as the Southport Lock, has been back in service since Jan. 4, allowing boats to pass back and forth between Lake Tohopekaliga and the C-35 canal.

Built in the early 1960s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, all four navigation locks are undergoing complete renovation for the first time. The S-61 lock, the busiest of the four, moved 2,700 boats in 2009 alone.

Each navigation lock is receiving new concrete, paint, utilities and mechanisms to operate and seal the lock gates. The locks allow boats to navigate around water control structures, providing navigation from the Upper Chain of Lakes to Lake Okeechobee. Their purpose is purely navigational, and they have no impact on water flow or flood protection.

Scheduling the renovation of all four locks at the same time saved taxpayers approximately $480,000 in design and engineering costs. The winning bids for all four lock refurbishments totaled $9.4 million.

The navigational lock refurbishment work is part of an ongoing effort to maintain and upgrade the infrastructure of the Central and Southern Florida Project, a massive system of flood control works authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1948. The district has established a 50-year operations and maintenance plan to ensure regular, timely maintenance of the system.

For more information about the locks, contact the SFWMD Orlando Service Center at 407-858-6100 or the SFWMD Okeechobee Service Center at 863-462-5260.