DEP Central District Holds Open House

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 8, 2014

CONTACT: DEP Press Office, 850.245.2112, DEPNews@dep.state.fl.us

DEP CENTRAL DISTRICT HOLDS OPEN HOUSE 

~More than 110 attendees took part in the district’s first Open House event~

Visitors Gather at DEP Central District Open House.

Visitors gather at DEP Central District Open House.

ORLANDO- The Florida Department of Environmental Protection Central District office hosted its first open house to meet and greet customers. More than 110 guests took part in a variety of offerings by district staff, including tables staffed by experts in each program area and breakout sessions covering important topics. Two sessions were available to accommodate all customers.  

“The open house was a great success, and I appreciate that our customers took the time out of their busy schedules to come meet with us and learn more about the services we provide,” said Central District Director Jeff Prather. “In the end, we’ll achieve better environmental results because of our interactions today.”

In addition to the regulatory program tables manned by district experts, both the Florida Park Service and Clean Marina programs representatives were present with displays. The Florida Rural Water Association was also on hand to provide numerous attendees tailored assistance with Consumer Confidence Reporting. Tallahassee’s Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration and State Revolving Fund as well as the Office of Emergency Response also had a visible presence at the Open House.  

Morning breakout training sessions were standing room only, and included instruction on OCULUS, MapDirect, Information Portal, eDMR, e-permitting and the Environmental Resource Program; most attendees took part in one or more of these training sessions. Staff who weren’t serving as subject matter experts at program tables were available to hold one-on-one meetings with customers upon request, and several impromptu and scheduled meetings took place. There were numerous informative interactions at each table between district staff and customers.

Guests included representatives of many local counties and municipalities, consulting/engineering firms, utilities, health care systems, and theme parks. Feedback from participants was extremely positive, and the event was a great success. Discussions are already underway on how to improve near year’s open house.