Government

The City of Ocala will provide free parking in all metered spaces in downtown Ocala beginning on Thursday, December 1, 2022, through Monday, January 2, 2023, in an effort to encourage residents to support local businesses during the holidays.

The City of Ocala has announced that the Ocala International Airport-Jim Taylor Field recently passed its annual inspection, which was conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office will host its free six-week Citizens Prosecutor Academy course at the Belleview Police Department beginning in February, and residents of Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion, and Sumter counties are eligible to sign up.

The unemployment rate in the CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion region held steady at 3.4% in October, which is unchanged from the previous month and 0.8 percentage points lower than the region’s rate a year ago. In the Ocala metro area, which covers all of Marion County, the mining, logging, and construction industry added 500 new jobs and grew by nearly 6%.

The City of Ocala has announced that an informational public session will be held at the end of the month to cover the process of redistricting, including demographic information and map utilization, along with the city's proposed redistricting.

The City of Ocala has released its holiday schedules for sanitation collection and the SunTran bus system ahead of Thanksgiving.

During the Marion County Board of County Commissioners meeting that was held on Tuesday, Solid Waste Director Mark Johnson and Solid Waste Resources Liaison Lucy Flores kicked off an anti-litter campaign in Marion County.

The City of Ocala Water Resources Department will host a cooking oil recycling day on Tuesday, November 29 at two locations. This event is part of the department's “Protect Your Pipes” campaign that focuses on educating Ocala residents to not pour fats, oils, and grease down their drains.

At the Marion County Board of County Commissioners regularly scheduled meeting that was held on Tuesday, the commissioners declared the week of November 16 to November 23 as “Farm City Week.” There are just over 37,500 agriculture or related industry jobs in Marion County, and agriculture brings in $2.06 billion, according to estimates from the University of Florida.

During the Marion County Board of County Commissioners meeting that was held on Tuesday, Carl Zalak, III and Kathy Bryant were sworn in as commissioners for another four-year term.

The City of Ocala has announced that two additional public meetings about the proposed redistricting will be held this week. Both meetings, which are free and open to the public, will cover the proposed redistricting maps, and city staff will be available to answer any questions.

A team of PNC Bank employees from Ocala recently presented a $3,000 check to the Friends of the Ocala Public Library to help support the Marion County Public Library System’s educational programs for local children and families.

The City of Ocala is seeking approval of a two-year, $190,000 contract with a local video and film production company to produce and manage concerts throughout the year.

Ocala Electric Utility crews are working throughout the city to restore power after multiple outages were caused by Tropical Storm Nicole.

The Marion County Division of Emergency Management has announced closures for several government offices and services in preparation for Tropical Storm Nicole.

The Marion County Board of County Commissioners declared a state of local emergency on Wednesday, November 9 in anticipation of the potential for severe weather resulting from Tropical Storm Nicole as it nears the Sunshine State.

The “Building Strong Communities” award was presented to Ocala Electric Utility during the Florida Municipal Electric Association’s annual Energy Connections Conference and Trade Show, which was held earlier this week in Orlando.

The City of Ocala is reminding residents to roll back the clock and reset automatic sprinkler systems beginning on Sunday, November 6. Irrigation restrictions will be in effect for the city on specific days during Eastern Standard Time (early November through mid-March), and no irrigation should occur between the hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.