by Marty Proctor
Annamarie Reno was approved as city manager for Mascotte effective January 26, after an extended executive search by the city. Finance Director Dolly Miller had been the interim city manager for the last several months. Annamarie is one of many new city and county managers put in place locally in recent months. She brings a wealth of experience and dedication to the position. She has an extensive background in economic development and city government and management.
Annamarie was Township manager in Richland Township, Hemlock Michigan for 7 years. Prior to that she was Clerk/Executive manager for Lyon Township, MI for 14 years. These cities had different structures but throughout that time she was engaged in managing and helping those cities grow. Annamarie stated “I’ve enjoyed every position I have ever had.” Adding “the communities I’ve had the privilege of managing become home and many of the residents are like family.”
Annamarie has been married for 26 years. She has a married daughter living in Sumter County who is a health educator in Ocala and is expecting her first child in June of 2022. Annamarie also has two sons from her husband’s previous marriage living outside the area and is the proud grandmother of 8. She and her husband are currently residing in Wildwood and look forward to being long-term and permanent residents of the Central Florida area.
The new city manager has been very active in community events. This is a welcome change from prior city management. She has been attending events and seeking public input from the onset of her employment. Among the events she attended were Coffee with a Cop in February at the Rainbow restaurant, the American Legion Auxiliary Charter presentation in March at the Groveland-Mascotte American Legion post 239. and the Autism Awareness program presented during April. She has also attended several South Lake Chamber of Commerce meetings and functions throughout her tenure.
Annamarie is joining with officer Kenia Abreu of the Mascotte Police Department to begin the “Community Outreach with the Manager” program. The goal is to visit every city based company and organization to better understand their needs and how they visualize the city going forward.
She joins Groveland city manager Mike Hein for monthly meetings. The two bordering cities share significant history and services under their joint services agreements. Groveland is providing much of the wastewater treatment capacity needed to support the impending large-scale growth of Mascotte. Road and school issues as well as emergency services and response are also intertwined.
Under her newly established watch, the City has embarked on a future planning and visioning process. The current Planning (Land) Development Code was adopted in April of 2008. The current City Council agreed it was time to review the code. The process will evaluate both the Code and Comprehensive Plan. The goals are to eliminate inconsistencies, update the code and plan and consider the city’s vision for the future. The City Council held a productive workshop on March 23rd. At that workshop it was agreed that a follow up workshop April 27 will focus on getting resident and local citizen input. A series of surveys in different formats may also follow.
Mascotte has an existing Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) in place for much of the downtown area. The CRA is intended to help drive the city forward and fund many of the changes needed to accommodate the inevitable growth that is coming to Mascotte. The CRA was established in 2005 and has not been updated since. At the March 19 City Council meeting the annual CRA audit will be presented for Council approval. The audit shows the CRA has assets of $464,768 and a restricted fund balance of $478,854. These funds are restricted for the purpose of the City of Mascotte CRA.
There are also plans to enhance and improve the Sunset Park area of downtown and the Mascotte Recreational Complex creating more use and citizen benefits. The plan will consider the use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to upgrade and enhance these facilities to meet the needs of the city going forward.
Ms. Reno is also uniquely aware of the challenges facing the current residents. These challenges are highlighted by frequent public comment about the condition and capacity of the road system through and around Mascotte. She is also aware of the challenges with school capacities and access going forward.
She intends to ensure that the city is well represented at the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) local Municipal Planning Organization (MPO) to get a voice in the use of the county, regional and state money available for road improvements. This is also timely as the city prepares for the impending arrival of the Florida Coast to Coast (C2C) trail largely funded by the FDOT. The trail will pass directly through downtown Mascotte and will provide the residents with safe access to other regional trails throughout Florida. The C2C trail development has been a significant economic driver in other cities throughout Lake County and Florida.
She reminds us that “the City of Mascotte has a manager/Council form of government” meaning that every resident should understand that “this is your town.”
