REGULAR MEETING

LEVY COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

APRIL 5, 2011

 

 

The Regular Meeting of the Board of Levy County Commissioners was held on April 5, 2011 at 9:00 AM in the Levy County Board ofCountyCommissionersmeeting room, with the following Commissioners present:

 

Chairman Danny Stevens

Comm. Marsha Drew

Comm. Ryan Bell

Comm.ChadJohnson

            Also present were:

Clerk of Court – Danny J. Shipp

CountyAttorney– Anne Bast Brown

CountyCoordinator– Fred Moody

Assistant to theCountyCoordinator– Dick Tummond

 

 

Chairman Stevens called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM.  Bruce Greenlee gave the invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

 

EXPENDITURES

 

Comm. Bell made a motion to approve the following expenditures presented for payment.  Second was made by Comm. Johnson and the MOTION CARRIES.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MINUTES

 

Approval of minutes for the Public Hearing held March 8, 2011 and the Regular Board Meeting held March 22, 2011.

Comm. Drew made a motion to approve the minutes for the Public Hearing held March 8, 2011 and the Regular Board meeting held March 22, 2011 with corrections.  Second was made by Comm. Bell and the MOTION CARRIES.

 

 

 

 

ZONING

 

Rob Corbitt, Director

A.    Hardship Variance

 

Mr. Corbitt requested Board approval of Petition No. Ha.Va. 1-11, a Hardship Variance for Linda Cunningham.

Comm. Stevens asked if there was any ex-parte communication from any of the Commissioners.  There was none.

Comm. Stevens asked if anyone in the audience would like to speak for or against the petition.

Mr. Scott spoke in favor of the petition stating the petitioner is his mother in law.

Comm. Drew made a motion to approve Petition No. Ha.Va. 1-11 as presented.  Second was made by Comm. Johnson and the MOTION CARRIES.

 

Atty. Brown swore in anyone wishing to speak for or against the petitions presented.

 

B.     Final Plat, “Crane Acres”

 

Mr. Corbitt presented and requested Board approval of Petition No. FP 4-10, Final Plat of “Crane Acres.”

Comm. Stevens asked if there was any ex-parte communication from any of the Commissioners.  There was none.

Comm. Stevens asked if anyone in the audience would like to speak for or against the petition.  There was none.

Comm. Johnson made a motion to approve Petition No. FP 4-10, Final Plat of “Crane Acres” as presented.  Second was made by Comm. Bell and the MOTION CARRIES.

 

 

PUBLIC HEARING

 

Bruce Greenlee, Administrative Superintendent

A.    Resolution 2011-08, Approving a Petition to Vacate, Abandon, and Close Portions of Roads inBronsonHeightsSubdivision.

 

Mr. Greenlee requested approval of Resolution 2011-08, a petition to vacate, abandon and close portions of roads in Bronson Heights Subdivision.

Comm. Stevens asked if anyone in the audience would like to speak for or against the petition.

Rex Paramore asked if 92^nd Court would remain open.

Comm. Stevens responded 92^nd Court would remain open.

Comm. Bell made a motion to approve Resolution 2011-08 as presented.  Second was made by Comm. Drew and the MOTION CARRIES.

 

 

VFW

 

Ivan Chubb

A.    Award forCountyEmployee.

 

Mr. Chubb presented an award from the VFW to Willie Barnes of the Levy County Sheriff’s Department.

 

B.     Proposed Proclamation 2011-11 “Because We Care” Day.

 

Mr. Chubb requested approval of Proclamation 2011-11, “Because We Care” Day.  Atty. Brown read the Proclamation into record.

Comm. Drew made a motion to approve Proclamation 2011-11 as presented.  Second was made by Comm. Bell and the MOTION CARRIES.

C.     Letter of Thanks.

 

Mr. Chubb presented a letter of thanks to the Board from the local Veterans.

 

Mr. Chubb also let everyone know of the Memorial Day Services planned for Sunday May 29^th and Monday May 30^th in Cedar Key.

 

COMMISSIONER MARSHA DREW

 

A.    Certificate of Appreciation.

 

Comm. Drew thanked Mr. Barney and Mrs. Renate Cannon for their service and dedication toLevyCounty.  She then presented a Certificate of Appreciation to them.

 

 

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

 

Jordan Greeen

A.    Tentative Five Year Work Program.

 

Mr. Green gave a presentation to the Board and discussed the Department of Transportation’s five year work program.  He stated each year he comes to meet with theCountyCommissionto solicit for work program priorities, projects the Commission would like to see DOT undertake inLevyCounty.

Mr. Green went over the work program timeline the DOT will use.  He stated they are requesting LevyCountysubmit their letter of work program projects by May 15^th.

 

 

LEVY COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT

 

Barbara Locke, Swain Strickland

A.    Proposed Resolution 2011-15, Establishing a Health Care Citizens Advisory Board

 

Barbara Locke introduced Swain Strickland, who works in Health Promotion and Education at the Health Department.  She requested approval of Resolution 2011-15, establishing a Health Care Citizens Advisory Board which would consist of 17 members.  The Advisory Board would provide access to the Health Care Community; help the Commissioners to identify some gaps in the health care services ofLevyCounty; research funding sources to enhance current health care services.

The Commissioners questioned if a board consisting of less than 17 members would work better.  They had concerns of the 9 members necessary to have a quorum.

After discussion, Mrs. Locke agreed to come back to the next meeting with a definite number of members for the advisory board.

 

 

CLERK OF COURT

 

Danny J. Shipp

A.    Report on School Board Proposal and Space Committee Meeting.

 

Mr. Shipp spoke to the Board in reference to purchasing the old BronsonHigh Schoolproperty for Courthouse expansion.   He stated the Space Committee met on March 15^th and presented information on the property available from the School Board and price.  Mr. Shipp asked the Board to make a decision to either move forward with the school property purchase or seek other accommodations.

The consensus of the Board was to pass on the school property acquisition and to look into other property options.

 

 

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

 

PLANNING

 

Shenley Neely, Director

A.    Request the Board Schedule a Public Meeting to Hear a ProposedSmallScaleLandUse Amendment for May 3, 2011. – TABLED –

 

Rob Corbitt requested the Board set a Public Hearing for Tarmac on May 3, 2011 at 6:30 P.M. in Courtroom A.  The Board agreed to set a Public Hearing on the date and time requested.

 

B.     Letter of Support for the Town ofBronson.

Ms. Neely requested a letter of support for the Town ofBronson’s proposal to expand the Town’s existing sewer collection system.

Comm. Bell made a motion to send a letter of support to the Town ofBronsonas requested.  Second was made by Comm. Johnson and the MOTION CARRIES.

 

 

PUBLIC COMMENT

 

Carol McQueen stated the 47th Cedar Key Spring Arts Festival held this past weekend was a success.  She then shared with everyone a few upcoming events to take place inLevyCounty:

 

LevyCountyFair begins April 7^th –April 10th

Garden Festival atFanningSpringsState Parkthis weekend

Wild Hog Canoe Race on April 30^th benefiting LARC

 

 

COUNTY COORDINATOR

 

Fred Moody

A.   EMSTax Assessment Proposal

 

Mr. Moody presented the Proposal from Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson for professional services for the EMS Tax Assessment program.  The fee for professional services from Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson will be $13,800 and the fee for GSG’s scope of services is $25,000.

Mr. Moody stated there are three options the Board could choose from for the scope of services:

 

1.      Update the existing methodology by incorporating the tiers used in the Fire Assessment methodology as opposed to square foot rates for non-residential properties.

2.      Update the existing methodology by incorporating more discrete property use categories based onEMScall data.

3.      Develop a new methodology using occupancy factors to create fore discrete property use categories (similar to methodology used for County’sEMSimpact fee program).

 

After discussion among the commissioners, it was agreed to leave the EMS Tax Assessment as is and not have another study done at this time.

 

 

SHIP/WATER

 

Dick Tummond

A.    Satisfaction of Mortgage.

 

Mr. Tummond requested Board approval of the Satisfaction of Mortgage for Mary Simmons in the amount of $4,600 in Purchase Assistance.

Comm. Drew made a motion to approve the Satisfaction of Mortgage as presented.  Second was made by Comm. Johnson and the MOTION CARRIES.

 

B.     CDBG

 

1.      Request Approval to Advertise for Proposals to Provide Administration Services for CDBG Housing Rehabilitation Grant.

 

Mr. Tummond requested approval to advertise for proposals to provide administration services for the CDBG Housing Rehabilitation Grant.

Comm. Drew made a motion to approve advertising for proposals as requested.  Second was made by Comm. Bell and the MOTION CARRIES.

 

2.      Request  Board to Appoint a Committee to Review, Evaluate and Rank Applicants and Submit Back to the Board at a Subsequent Meeting.

 

Mr. Tummond requested the Board appoint a Committee to review, evaluate and rank applicants.

Comm. Stevens suggested appointing Danny Shipp, Fred Moody andDick Tummondto the Committee.  All agreed to these appointments.

 

 

The meeting recessed at 10:50

 

The meeting reconvened at 11:00 A.M.

 

 

COMMISSIONERS’ REPORTS

 

Comm. Drew stated she went to Legislative Day inTallahassee.  Some of what she learned was two entities, the Veterans and the Elder Affairs would not be cut but the Transportation Disadvantaged will be cut by 7%.  Comm. Drew stated she along with Mr. Moody and Donna Capps toured theAlachuaCountyDispatchCenterand saw how they are using technology to streamline their system.

 

Comm. Bell stated there will be a Greenways & Trails meeting this Thursday at 10:00 A.M. in Fanning Springs.  Comm. Bell also let everyone know CLM Workforce is still in need of representation.

 

Comm. Johnson reported the Suwannee River Fair was a success, having $615,000 in sales this year.

Comm. Johnson stated coming up this Sunday at the Levy County Fair there will be a Trashy Art Can Sale.  The cans are painted by different school organizations and the proceeds will go back to the schools.

Comm. Johnson stated he had also attended Legislative Day and spoke of House Bill 5005 which deals with deregulation of several different industries.

 

 

COMMISSIONERS’ ROUND TABLE

 

A.    Open Discussion on Projects Underway or Items that Commissioners Feel Need to be Addressed.

 

Comm. Drew stated she had requested the round table so the commissioners could discuss openly topics with each other.

 

Comm. Bell stated he is working with Atty. Brown to present a Special Events Ordinance to address some concerns with festivals.

 

Comm. Bell is checking into utilizing a work crew from the Jail.

 

Comm. Bell shared his thoughts on how they could organize working with each department to prevent double work.

Comm. Bell stated he is in favor of a department liaison for the commissioners to work with in each department on budget matters.

Comm. Stevens stated this is how it was done with the departments when he first was elected as a Commissioner and was in favor of it then as well as now.

Comm. Johnson stated he is in favor of a liaison and going back through the county administrator and does not like having a commissioner “over” individual departments.

 

Comm. Drew discussed ideas for Fire andEMSand a Fire/EMS consolidation as a future consideration.

Mr. Moody stated there are vacancies from people retiring or leaving, two retired recently, and just this week Royce Barber and Trish Seibold have resigned fromEMS.  They will be trying to fill these open positions from within.

Comm. Drew spoke about the current phone system and she was interested in having a single phone system for the Board in an effort to lower the cost of phone lines and is also trying to work with one company for all office machines for the County.  Discussion followed of new technology available which could reduce the number of phone lines needed and lower the total cost.

 

Comm. Drew brought up the idea of moving offices from rented office space to County owned office space not currently being used to reduce the cost of rent.

 

Comm. Drew discussed the need for an application and selection policy for selecting the different Boards within the County, as currently there is not one.

Rob Corbitt stated the Board of Adjustments is down to two members and will soon need at least one other member in order to function.

The Licensing Board currently has only three members.

Comm. Stevens advised Mr. Corbitt to put this item on the next agenda to fill the vacancy on the Board of Adjustments Board.

Comm. Drew stated she is interested in having a County grant writer; an employee incentive program; using an intranet service for the County.

 

Comm. Drew asked about Atty. Brown’s contract with the Board.  Atty. Brown answered her contract comes up for renewal every year on October 1^st.

 

 

THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THE COMMISSION, THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 12:19 P.M.

 

 

ATTEST:                                                                                             BOARD OFCOUNTYCOMMISSIONERS

LEVY COUNTY,FL

 

 

____________________________________                                    ____________________________________

Clerk of Court, Danny J. Shipp                                                          Chairman, Danny Stevens