Mayor to ask City Council for approval to buy Wewa

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Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson wants to have Camp Wewa – currently owned by the Central Florida YMCA – under the city’s ownership by summer and have it full of campers and others utilizing the facilities on the 70-acre parcel at 221 South Binion Road in Apopka.

The mayor will seek approval from the City Council at its meeting on Wednesday, March 3, to move ahead with the acquisition of the property, funding the estimated $5-million purchase through various means, including the use of city impact fees for parks and recreation, selling of other city-owned property, a grant from the state and federal governments, and the use of city reserves or borrowing funds.

“For summer camp, I want to be up and running full bore. We’re not messing around. We can do these things simultaneously. We can start working on the (camp) programming and all that while we’re closing on the property, so that’s my goal,” Mayor Nelson said.

While the official appraisals for Camp Wewa and some of the city-owned property are expected to be in the hands of city officials by today, Friday, February 26, the YMCA property has an estimated value of $5 million.

“My hope is on March 3, next Wednesday, that we bring it to the City Council – and we should have by Friday the two appraisals – and at that point, we’ve got something to offer YMCA,” Nelson said.

“Obviously, it has to go to the City Council to approve the purchase price and then it goes to the Y. Based on their financial challenges, they want to get it done sooner rather than later. We can make it happen as fast as we want to make it happen. If we had to just go right to the reserves, we know that we can go borrow the money in 60 or 90 days or as we sell these properties and replenish those reserves. All of that is definitely on the table.”

Nelson said the city has about $1 million in impact fee money in the Parks and Recreation Department that could be utilized for the purchase, and Apopka has applied for a state/federal grant of $1 million that could be used for Camp Wewa.

In addition, there are two parcels of property on Harmon Road the city owns about two miles south of Camp Wewa.

The larger parcel on Harmon is a site that a charter school has expressed interest in purchasing. Currently, the city utilizes a part of the property for a communications tower, which the city would eventually move.

The charter school wants to open its doors in August 2022, Nelson said.

“That 23-acre site we have with the tower fits exactly what they want,” the mayor said.

“Obviously, this is in preliminary discussions. They’ve got to be the high bidder, but they’re willing to take the site on with the understanding that when that tower comes down and we replace it somewhere, that they would roll into that land as well.”

The extended version of this story begins on page 1A of the Friday, February 26, issue of The Apopka Chief. The Apopka Chief and The Planter are weekly community newspapers, independently owned and family operated, that have served the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923 and 1965 respectively. Subscribe today!