News Cast 2/4

ByTaylor

February 4, 2025

News Cast February 4th:

12 presentations were made to the Okeechobee State Legislative Delegation of Senator Erin Grall and Representative Kaylee Tuck this year at the annual delegation meeting.

Among the presenters were the city of Okeechobee, Okeechobee County, the Okeechobee County Sheriff, the Okeechobee Utility Authority, the Okeechobee School Board, the Village of Indiantown, Indian River State College, and various non-profit agencies.

The city requests include support for the rural and family lands protection program, and funds to harden the former police state and fire department.

Okeechobee County asked for funding for a new fire station and $1 million for a special needs shelter.

Sheriff Noel Stephen asked for support of a bill to treat police dispatchers as high risk employees. That would help the employees get more retirement benefits from the state. It would also provide them more counseling and services for post traumatic syndrome.

The OUA asked for funds for a waste water treatment plant and to help residents to pay for tying onto OUA sewer once it is available.

The village of Indiantown requested $60 million for a new water plant.

The Okeechobee school board asked for more education funding, more support for school resource officer costs, more

mental health counseling services, and money for more career and technical education.

Superintendent Dylan Tedders told the delegation that changing school start times, with high schools starting no earlier than 8:30 am will have huge impacts on rural districts.

St. Lucie County Commissioners gave final approval to the P 1 Motor Club project on Okeechobee Road.

The private club will include two race tracks, a go kart track, 125 single family homes, many garage mahals or condominiums of two stories with living quarters on the top floor and a garage to house vintage vehicles on the first floor.

Other amenities and commercial uses, related to vehicles, parks and an event center are also in the plan.

Neighbors during the process complained about noise, lights at night, and additional traffic on route 70.

Planner Thad Crowe told commissioners that there will be a 200 foot setback from route 70 for the race tracks. They also will allow special lighting that won’t spread light pollution to neighbors.

The tracks will be rented by private car clubs and will not always be open to the public. The applicant does plan to hold special

events each year that will allow the general public on the property.

Congressman Scott Franklin ® has called for a federal investigation into FEMA after an incident in Lake Placid last October.

A FEMA supervisor was later fired after she told employees not to visit homes damaged by the tornado and winds that had Donald Trump campaign signs on the front lawn.

Franklin said he was disappointed this incident happened in his district.

“The last thing a resident needs after a disaster is politics,” he noted.

He said he’d like to see the red tape streamlined in FEMA. He also supported additional funds in the FEMA budget to help Californians greatly impacted by the wild fires this winter.

An Okeechobee man, Cory McGuigan is charged with molesting a child six years ago.

The victim was six years old at the time.

McGuigan was arrested on January 30th on a warrant charging him with lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12 and held on $75,000 bond.

A school resource officer at a local school started the investigation January 7 after a student came forward about troubling text messages they had received.

ByTaylor