Line Dancing in the Forest Tonight 

 

Youth & Adults Welcome - Yee-haw! Everyone can learn to line dance. Music ranges from country to modern pop music, and anyone of any age can learn to side-step and sway. 

Forest Community Center at Sandhill Park

        

Ocala's New Mayor      

 

Well, it is officially official. Ben Marciano will be Ocala's next mayor. Current Mayor Kent Guinn had announced that after 12 years he would not be looking for re-election. Ben Marciano is the owner of Zone Fitness. His campaign was completely unopposed and drew a lot of financial support for his mayoral seat. The firemen and police agreed on something during this election, they both endorsed his candidacy. As no opposing candidate stepped forward to run, and July 14th was the cut-off for the qualifying period, Marciano won by default. The term will begin December 5th. City Councilperson Kristen Dreyer also ran unopposed and so will continue for a second term on the City Council. There will be an election for the third seat on the council which will be between Ire Bethea and Reginald Landers. The election for that will be on Sept 19.       

 

69 Acre Housing Development at i75 & Hwy 484

 

A permit application on file with the Southwest Florida Water Management District says that the company seeks permission to clear and grade 65 acres to make way for “a future planned unit development.” A company representative told the Star-Banner that the plan is for “mixed-use, multifamily property.” 484 Investment LLC paid $8.75 million for 69 acres total in December. At the time, a company representative said there were no firm plans for the land. Area residents are concerned about the morning traffic jam at i75 and 484 which is a daily nightmare for morning and evening commuters. To add 69 acres of additional homes would be difficult until such time as the infrastructure at that particular bottleneck has been remedied. Many wonder what is taking so long, but because much of the required changes involve i75 it takes monumental effort on a national level to get any major changes approved and completed.