WEST ORANGE TIMES
WOTimes.com
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015
governance by Peter M. Gordon | Contributing Writer
Winter Garden leaders begin eminent-domain proceedings The property at 37 N. Boyd St. is part of the city’s revised downtown parking plan. WINTER GARDEN — The Winter Garden City Commission took a significant step toward building a parking lot on the north side of downtown when it passed the first reading of a resolution to begin eminent-domain proceedings on the warehouse property at 37 N. Boyd St. Bert Valdes’ family has owned this property since the 1940s. Valdes grew up in Winter Garden and also owns the Moon Cricket Grille at 141 Plant St. In January, 2015, the City Commission revised the downtown parking plan. The new plan reduced the size of the proposed indoor parking facility on Tremaine Street and called for an outdoor lot to be built at 37 N. Boyd. The city did not own the property, but at the time, staff officials said they could negotiate with Valdes to buy it or take it via eminent domain. City Manager Mike Bollhoefer said he and city staff met several times with Valdes earli-
er in the week, and that “even if we reach an agreement, the (eminent domain) process would benefit Mr. Valdes.” Mayor John Rees invited Valdes to speak on this matter. “We’re trying to work through something that would satisfy both parties, and I’m at peace with that,” Valdes said. “It’s probably beneficial to both parties to move forward.” Valdes said he began negotiations with the city without hiring a lawyer to represent him but that he would probably hire one in the near future. Design and consulting company Prism One rents space in the warehouse, but that lease ends in 2016 before any construction or demolition work on property would begin. Bollhoefer said taking the property through the eminent-domain process could provide more favorable tax treatment for Valdes’ capital gains. The ordinance authorizes the process to start; the city cannot take any final action
without bringing a proposal back to the commission for approval. After hearing from Valdes, the commission voted 4-1 to approve the ordinance, with Commissioner Bobby Olszewski dissenting. “I can’t stress enough that I believe in Mike and what the city is doing,” Valdes said following the vote. “I hope we don’t butt heads, but if we do, that’s business. I have to do what’s right for me and my family.”
CONDEMNATION POSTPONED
A public hearing scheduled to condemn the property at 160 E. Plant St., owned by the Winter Garden Gateway Corporation, was continued for 30 days to the second commission meeting in May. Community Development Director Ed Williams said the property owner requested time to correct multiple violations that led to the condemnation
hearing. As part of the process, city staff provided the property owners with a written schedule for inspections, plans and other goals that they must reach to continue postponements. “If they don’t proceed with work products, we will ask you to condemn the property,” Williams said. If the property owners meet all the deadlines by the May meeting, staff will ask the commission to continue the hearing for another 30 days. If the owners are able to bring the property up to code, they plan to lease it to a business, Williams said. Commissioner Bob Buchanan said there have been issues with this property for seven years. He supported this current plan but didn’t want to give the owners any more flexibility. After more discussion, the commission voted 4-1 to continue the hearing as recommended by Director Williams, with Commissioner Bobby Olszewski dissenting.
IN OTHER NEWS • Commissioners passed the second reading of an ordinance to rezone .316 acres at 553 W. Plant St., on the north side of the street, from city R-NC residential neighborhood commercial to city C-1 Central commercial district. This fits the city’s comprehensive plan, and recognizes that the property has housed an auto repair shop since 1947. As he did during the last meeting, Commissioner Kent Makin recused himself from the vote. The ordinance passed unanimously, 4-0. • The commission unanimously approved a resolution to begin a plan to realign the West Orange Trail in downtown. Passing the resolution enables Winter Garden to apply for a matching grant of up to $200,000 to help pay for the cost. If the city spends less than $200,000, the grant will match whatever the city spends. Bollhoefer said the resolution starts the process; final plans still need to come back before the commission for approval. • Commissioners unanimously approved the Bradford Creek Subdivision Right of Way maintenance agreement. • The commission unanimously approved the site plan and binding lot combination
3A
agreement for 1006 E. Crown Point Road and 835 Crown Point Cross Road. This will enable the West Orlando Baptist Church to proceed with a major expansion on the site. It plans to build a 29,000-square-foot addition with about 750 seats for worship services, along with 250 additional parking spots. • Commissioners unanimously approved the site plan for 1011 and 1099 Pineloch Industrial Drive. This will enable 84 Lumber to build a 30,000-squarefoot warehouse for additional storage next to its current facility. • The commission unanimously approved shutting down both ends of South Central Avenue for the May 9 grand opening of Plant Street Market. Even with the street closed, alcohol sales and consumption will still only be allowed within the market’s fenced-in area. • Commissioners conducted an executive session with outside counsel to discuss strategy in a lawsuit Halscott Industries Inc., doing business as Unbreakable IT Inc., filed against the city and Frank Gilbert. After the closed-door discussion, City Attorney Kurt Ardaman advised the city to file a counterclaim.
with open arms by Zak Kerr | Staff Writer
FAMILY FIRST by Amy Quesinberry Rhode | Community Editor
Home at Last family gets warm Oakland welcome
High-ranking military officials helped locals welcome the Wittwer family to West Orange.
Amy Quesinberry Rhode
Justin Taboada and Jessica Vanscoy are grateful their daughter, Sadie Taboada, has a chance at a normal life following her spine surgery.
FINALLY, A MIRACLE After seven miscarriages, Winter Garden resident Jessica Vanscoy welcomed daughter Sadie last December. But she was born with spina bifida, and now, the young family needs the community’s help. Jessica Vanscoy tries hard never to forget this saying: Sometimes, you just have to take a step back and realize just how lucky you are. She’s certainly been tested. Vanscoy, 30, had seven miscarriages before prematurely giving birth to a daughter in December. Once the worries of Sadie’s survival were over, Vanscoy and her partner, Justin Taboada, were told their daughter has a form of spina bifida and needed spine surgery to avoid being physically disabled for the rest of her life. In March, 3-month-old Sadie spent four-and-one-half hours in surgery followed by four days in recovery in the special-care unit at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. She is at home with her parents in a modest manufactured home in Winter Garden. The family recently moved there, down the street from Vanscoy’s mother in the neighborhood where she grew up. Times are hard now, Vanscoy admits. She isn’t working while Sadie recovers. Bills are piling up. Past-due notices arrive in the mailbox. She and Taboada don’t like asking for help, but the fear of their electricity being turned off is forcing them to reconsider. They created an
account on the GoFundMe website that allows people to make donations to others in need and have graciously accepted the few hundred dollars that have been given to them. That means another month with the power on. Already, Sadie has grown several inches and is able to spend time on her tummy and roll over. She is finally out of newborn clothes. “That little girl, she’s my miracle,” Vanscoy said. “I didn’t think she would live.”
SADIE’S ARRIVAL
Vanscoy lived through the mentally exhausting highs and lows of anticipation and grief over and over as she discovered she was pregnant and then lost the baby. One pregnancy was actually a molar pregnancy, in which a benign tumor develops in the uterus. With another pregnancy, she delivered a girl, Cherish Serenity, at 24 weeks — but it was too early, and the baby did not survive. When Vanscoy developed placenta previa at 28 weeks with Sadie, she was put on bed rest and given weekly shots to keep her from going into labor. This meant she had to leave her quality-control position in the kitchen at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., at Universal Orlando Resort.
HOW TO HELP
Anyone who would like to help Vanscoy and Taboada can go to their GoFundMe page or send a donation to 1190 Meadow Finch Drive, Winter Garden, Florida 34787.
Sadie was born Dec. 15 with her spinal cord attached to the spinal column. This is known as a tethered cord and is common in people with spina bifida, according to the Spina Bifida Association. A normal spinal cord hangs loose in the canal, able to freely move up and down with growth, bending and stretching. A tethered cord does not move. If the tethering band is left intact, the patient’s spine develops a curve as he or she grows. The neurosurgeon said Sadie’s surgery was successful but will have to check her spine again when she is 1 to make sure it has healed correctly. “I look forward to her having a normal life now,” Vanscoy said.
THE FUTURE
Vanscoy hopes to return to the Bubba Gump kitchen in a few weeks, if she can coordinate her schedule with her
mother and a neighbor, who will be watching Sadie. Ultimately, she wants to go back to school to become an ultrasound technician, something she has dreamed of doing ever since she was pregnant with Sadie and saw her movements on the monitor during a sonogram. But, for now, she is focused on her daughter’s healing and getting caught up on their bills. She said Medicaid has been there for much of the hospital expenses, but they received a $700 anesthesia bill last week. The family is relying on monthly food stamps to supplement Taboada’s paycheck. Anyone who would like to help Vanscoy and Taboada can go to their GoFundMe page or send a donation to 1190 Meadow Finch Drive, Winter Garden, Florida 34787. “I am the luckiest person in the world; I’ve got my baby girl and my rock,” Vanscoy said, patting Taboada’s knee just before he left for his job in the kitchen at Cooper’s Hawk, a restaurant on International Drive. Nearby, their rescue dog, Beauty, lies with one eye open, watching her family. Contact Amy Quesinberry Rhode at aqrhode@wotimes. com.
OAKLAND — For the seventh consecutive time, the Home at Last project will feature a house built in Oakland for a battle-affected member of the American armed forces and his family. This year, that family is U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Brandon Wittwer; his wife, Kassandra; and their children, Kaydance, Karter and Kylee. The Christian Life Center hosted the Wittwers for a welcome reception at 3 p.m. April 26 at Oakland Presbyterian Church. “I am truly humbled to have this opportunity for my family and me,” Wittwer said. “It means for the first time in a long time, we’re going to be able to call somewhere home and know that that’s going to be true for an extended period of time. I’d like to say thank you to everybody for showing us your grace and your love.” Wittwer said he was eager to know the other Home at Last families better and develop relationships and share stories with them. “I’m just honored to be the one that was selected, not so much for me but for my family, for my kids to have a place where they can grow up and my wife and I can watch them grow up,” he said. “That’s really the only dream and goal that I’ve had as a father. Thank you all for that.” Retired Army Col. DeLloyd Voorhees Jr. was the master of ceremonies for the event, and he recognized integral members of the project team, from architect Jack Scott and construction leaders to project chairman Bill Criswell. The guest speaker was Lt. Col. William Yates, soon to be a Marine colonel. “It’s a tremendous privilege to be here for this celebration,” Yates said. “I consider myself
now for the second time a Florida resident, both times courtesy of orders here to the Greater Orlando area, and this is a very special community, a place that I really look forward to coming back to, and Staff Sgt. Wittwer, I know that you will really enjoy this community and the fellowship here in the veterans’ associated organizations.” The type of gratitude shown in Home at Last is an apotheosis of how the country recognizes and appreciates its troops, Yates said, something that Wittwer and his family have earned. “Staff Sgt. Wittwer is a Marine that continues to serve by his example and by raising up a wonderful family that will understand what it means to be a citizen of this nation, and that freedom has a price,” Yates said. “While all veterans serve, some give more than others, not by choice, but by the circumstances. Especially for the combat-wounded and those who return to civilian life with aches and pains and memories that are difficult to live with, we owe a special debt of gratitude.” Sgt. I.W. Hatcher Jr., Detachment 1120 of the Marine Corps League, presented colors before Timothy Corcoran, son of previous Home at Last recipient Sgt. Major Patrick Corcoran, led the Pledge of Allegiance. Wendy Proctor performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Proud to Be an American.” Several other past recipients were also on hand to welcome the Wittwer family to Oakland and West Orange, as well as politicians, including Orange County District 1 Commissioner Scott Boyd, District 8 U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn and Oakland Mayor Kathy Stark. Contact Zak Kerr at zkerr@ wotimes.com.
Zak Kerr
U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Brandon Wittwer said he was honored to receive a stable home in which to raise his children.