Moratorium coming on new gaming sites, pain clinics

Home

Opinions

Osceola County

Other Sun Publications

FREE DELIVERY!
Get Free Delivery! Request your Osceola News Gazette Today.

Login Form

2013 Osceola Health

2013 Sexual Predator Sexual Offender List sexualpredatorcover13

Windows on the Classroom March 2013

School Calendar
2012-2013

View our other Special Sections

Moratorium coming on new gaming sites, pain clinics

County News

Friday, 11 March 2011 14:38

borders_rebecca

Borders

By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer
The St. Cloud City Council Thursday unanimously agreed upon first reading to a 270-day moratorium on both new gaming establishments and new pain management clinics to allow staff to write rules and regulations on how the industries would operate in the city. “They’re just Band-aids until we get something in place,” Mayor Rebecca Borders said before the meeting. Borders credited the “forward thinking” of St. Cloud Police Chief Pete Gauntlett for staying updated on issues that could pose criminal problems within the city.
City Attorney Daniel Mantzaris emphasized the moratorium is not a ban. It just allows time for the council to decide on the specific regulations it would place on the opening of pain clinics and gaming establishments in city limits.
Pain clinics, dubbed as pill mills by law enforcement , have been a source of concern in Florida, Mantzaris said. Municipalities and county governments across the state have been cracking down on the clinics, which law enforcement associates with drug abuse and other illegal activity.
“This has been an increasing problem in Florida,” Mantzaris said. “Most of the municipalities in Central Florida are (imposing moratoriums) to stay ahead of the problem.”
Mantzaris also was concerned with gaming institutions that use Internet and slot machine-like gaming sweepstakes as entertainment sources. While some judges have ruled that sweepstakes are not a form of gambling because they guarantee a definite number of winners as opposed to a game of chance, Mantzaris said it is a fine legal line being walked.
“We’re hoping the Legislature is going to address this,” he said, adding nonprofit bingo games and casino-night fundraisers that churches and other organizations offer are not included in the moratorium.
In other news, the council also unanimously approved $90,000 for St. Cloud Fire Rescue to purchase 45 sets of bunker gear, the protective clothing firefighters wear, to replace the current sets showing wear and tear. Fire Chief Bill Johnston said previously the current suits are 5-years-old and on average, bunker gear lasts between five and 10 years.
Council members also unanimously approved a $176,000 project aimed at improving St. Cloud’s water system by looping the pipes and redirecting reclaimed water to Stephanie Rothstein Memorial Park, 2701 Missouri Ave.
The project, called the Canoe Creak Road-Fertic Road-Missouri Avenue Reclaim Main and Water Main Extension, will connect the water mains on Canoe Creek Road and Missouri Avenue to improve pressure and overall water quality, Todd Swingle, public service administrator, said.
“The better the system is looped, the better the system performs,” Swingle said, adding the reclaimed water to be redirected to Rothstein Park will be used for irrigation in place of potable water.
Council members also a-greed to spend $13,300 on a decontamination study for the Kissimmee Police Department’s gun range facility off Hoagland Boulevard. The study, which also will be split between KPD and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, will determine how much lead is in the ground before planned road construction begins on Hoag-land Boulevard.

Gauntlett-Pete

Gauntlett

“There is an awful lot of lead contamination out there,” Gauntlett said. “We’re in the position to have to utilize the gun range for a number of years from now.”
If decontamination is needed, the study would determine how much it will cost, Stacie Miller, KPD spokesperson, said.
KPD allows St. Cloud police to use the facility for free and St. Cloud would not be responsible for the cost of cleaning up the contamination, Gauntlett said.
Council members also contemplated raising the fee for swim lessons at the city pool to deter residents from Kissimmee and Orange County from coming to St. Cloud because the lessons are much cheaper.
Currently, St. Cloud charges $25 per half hour of swim lessons for anyone who signs up over a two-day registration period. City officials want to raise the fee to $35 or $40, which is on par with Kissimmee and Orange County fees for the same service.
The item was tabled until the March 24 council meeting to allow staff to provide council members with additional information.
Moreover, mobile vending will be back on the agenda at the March 24 meeting for the council to determine if it wants the industry within city limits and how it would regulate it.
Finally, the new city of St. Cloud website redesign was displayed Friday at 6 p.m. at www.StCloud.org.