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It’s sometimes hard to keep up with all the news that affects Kissimmee residents. If you haven’t had a chance to catch up with the local news, let us provide just a few of the local highlights in which you might be interested.
1. New signage in Osceola County coming. These signs are historical in nature and are designed to impart knowledge to residents and visitors. The county commissioners have approved approximately 15 signs in order to create a permanent marker at the location of historically-significant events and important sites in the area that may not be well know. One of the historical markers may be on the site of the fords created over Shingle Creek that helped create the east-west wagon train, without which Kissimmee may never have been originally created. After the Babb Family settled on the site in the early 1900’s, the area became known as Babb Landing at Shingle Creek.
2. A major snag in the Kissimmee River restoration project has been smoothed over. The snag included a disagreement related to land purchases between the South Florida Water Management District and the US Army Corps of Engineers. At issue was the purchase of flowage easement on flood-control property, which could have cost millions of dollars and extended the project for several more years.
3. People currently living in local rent-by-the-week Kissimmee motels may be given an opportunity to purchase new Habitat for Humanity homes. Many of these people have faced economic hardship, are technically homeless and have a difficult time coming up with first and last month’s rent as well as security deposit. Unlike most Habitat for Humanity homes, these will not be built brand new. These houses will be renovations of local homes in need of repair purchased with a $240,000 grant from the government. Habitat for Humanity is hoping to raise another $240,000 from local donations.
4. There may soon be a new restaurant in town. If you’ve wondered what that construction is occurring at the corner of Broadway and East Darlington, wonder no more. It’s not a church (as some have thought). It’s not a store. It’s a new restaurant and bar, called Hatfield’s. The concept and execution is due to owner David Morales. Morales promise the new space will provide upscale dining and will include outdoor seating. This is sure to provide a unique customer experience in that part of town. Look for a June opening.
5. Runway 06/24 at the Kissimmee airport will also soon be open. It will not be a primary usage runway. Instead, this runway will be used for emergencies, when strong winds blow or when the main runway is closed for maintenance. This has been a 2.7 million dollar project and is the first major resurfacing project to occur at the airport since the 1980’s.
6. Walmart is opening a new neighborhood market store on East Osceola Parkway. This new store build is a smaller footprint store than the traditional mega-store usually associated with the Walmart brand.
