REGULAR MEETING

LEVY COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

October 6, 1998

 The Regular Meeting of the Board of Levy County Commissioners was held on October 6, 1998 at 9:00 a.m. in the Levy County Board of County Commissioners’ meeting room, with the following Commissioners present:

Chairman Don Foley

Vice Chairman Don Lindsey

Comm. Wilbur Dean

Comm. Sammy Yearty

Comm. Frank Davis

 Also present were:

County Attorney Gregory V. Beauchamp

Clerk of Court Douglas M. McKoy

Administrative Assistant William C. Cobb

 The Chairman called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.. The invocation was given by Mr. Skip Hammell followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

EXPENDITURES

 Comm. Lindsey moved to approve the following expenditures presented for payment. Comm. Davis seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

 FUND                                                        AMOUNT
CHECK NUMBERS: 15814-15960 (VOIDS 15814;15822 )

 GENERAL FUND                                 $830,853.24

 ROAD & BRIDGE FUND                         11,476.68

 FINE & FORFEITURE FUND                    1,685.56

 E911 COMMUNICATIONS                         203.30

 LANDFILL & RECYCLING                       9,758.23

 FLORIDA POWER GRANT FUND           1,698.36

 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE         3,951.70

 SPECIAL CONSTRUCTION                     2,415.00

 FIRE CONTROL FUND                           25,202.00

 UTILITIES FUND                                          367.25

                                                  TOTAL $887,611.32

 MINUTES

Comm. Davis moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of September 22, 1998 and the special budget meetings of September 14, 1998, September 28, 1998 and September 30, 1998. Comm. Dean seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

 SHIP

Mrs. Carol McQueen said a request has been made by a SHIP recipient for approval of a subordination agreement allowing the recipient to refinance in order to be able to better handle personal indebtedness. Mrs. McQueen reported that the individual was having extreme difficulty in making intereest payments and reducing the principal amounts and that refinancing would allow the recipient to cope with the situation much easier. Mrs. McQueen said the request has been investigated and she would recommend granting the request for the subordination agreement. Comm. Yearty moved to approve the request for the subordination agreement with Capital City Bank upon the recommendation of Mrs. Carol McQueen investigation. Comm. Davis seconded and after much discussion on the policy for subordination agreements the MOTION CARRIED.

 AGENCIES

Ms. Heather Alexander, Board Secretary said Mr. Tom Toland, Levy County Forester requested the Levy County Cooperative Forestry Assistance Program be included into the record. Comm. Dean moved to include the Forestry report into the record. Comm. Davis seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

 COUNTY ENGINEER

Ms. Alexander said the contract with Mills Engineering for engineering services is up for renewal and the contract amount has remained the same as last year’s contract. Comm. Dean moved to approve renewal of the contract with Mills Engineering. Comm. Davis seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

 ROAD MAINTENANCE

Mr. Skip Hammell presented the following requests for maintenance on a one (1) time basis:

N.E. 110th Avenue from N. E. 80th Street to N.E. 70th Street, 4 loads of lime rock and grading, 50' right of way, University Estates.

Comm. Dean moved to approve the request for maintenance on a one (1) time basis. Comm. Davis seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

S.E. 188th Terrace, ½ mile long, dedicated right of way, grading only, located in Gilmore Acres.

Comm. Yearty moved to approve the request for maintenance on a one (1) time basis. Comm. Davis seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

Mr. Skip Hammell presented the following requests for acceptance into the maintenance system:

N.E. 109th Court (South of SR 24), 0.15 mile long, dedicated right of way, located in University Oaks.

Comm. Dean moved to accept into the maintenance system. Comm. Lindsey seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

N.W. 92nd Place, N.W. 18th Terrace in 7 Chiefs Subdivision, 60' deeded right of way, 1 mile long.

Comm. Yearty moved to accept into the maintenance system. Comm. Lindsey seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

 ZONING

Mr. Rob Corbitt said he would obtain a recommendation from the Plat Review Committee to address if any changes are necessary in the Subdivision Regulations relating to the development of 20 acre parcels.

 PLANNING, COUNTY

Mrs. Krista Kelly said the Planning Commission has been proceeding with their review of the Evaluation and Appraisal Amendment (EAR) and she is recommending a public hearing for the Planning Commission to hear input from the public on November 2, 1998. Mrs. Kelly said a recent meeting with a representative of the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) was informative and she presented a tentative scheduled for submission of the EAR report to DCA.

 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Mr. Osburn Barker said the new contract with Florida Power Corporation has allowed funding of a utility vehicle up to $25,000.00 for the radiological employee hired by the contract. Mr. Barker said he was requesting authorization to advertise for bids for a utility vehicle. Comm. Davis moved to authorize the advertisement for bids for a utility vehicle. Comm. Lindsey seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

 SHERIFF

Sheriff Glass said he had researched the possibility of grants becoming available for the radio communications proposal and had not received any affirmative agreement on grants being available for the replacement of communications equipment to be in compliance by 2007. Sheriff Glass said he thought the opportunity being presented by Midlands USA to allow the county to be a test program and allow for demonstrations to be held by prospective buyers once the system is installed was beneficial to the county and to Midlands USA. Sheriff Glass said discussions had been held to determine various funding options with no agreement for any specific funding option. Sheriff Glass said the Midlands USA communication system was the least expensive of any other system. Comm. Lindsey said the purchase price for the communications system seemed to be very reasonable. Comm. Davis said he was concerned on what future costs would be for equipment upgrades and purchasing new equipment. Comm. Dean said he was uncertain on purchasing a communications system which was not in use and would be an experimental system and that technology could possibly reduce the cost of the equipment in the next few years. Sheriff Glass said the total cost for the communications system to serve all of the departments within the county would be $1,093,607.00. Comm. Lindsey moved to authorize the chairman to sign a memorandum of agreement for the purchase of the communications system from Midlands USA. THE MOTION DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND. Further discussion followed but no additional action was taken.

 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

Mr. Bill Beddow said he had been contacted by Mr. Frank Small with a request to assume the full operation of the building and ambulance in Cedar Key which is privately operated. Mr. Beddow said work is progressing on the site for the Advanced Life Support station, however, it is not ready for occupancy. Mr. Beddow said it is his understanding the funds held by the private ambulance service will be returned to the City of Cedar Key and in turn to the county. Comm. Yearty moved to authorize Mr. Beddow to commence operations of the ambulance service in Cedar Key at the current location. Comm. Davis seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

 ROADS, COUNTY

Ms. Peggy Young said she was asking for consideration by the Sheriff Glass to increase patrols on LCR 117 and to begin issuing citations to the speeders who traverse the road. Ms. Young said she was not concerned about the road being paved but was concerned of the use of the road by out of county residents who were not contributing to the repair of the road.

 ZONING

Mr. Dave Davis, General Manager for Williams Broadcasting radio station 102.7 said he was asking if an exception could be considered for the fall zone for their tower site. Mr. Davis said approval has been received from FAA and FCC to increase the elevation of the tower to widen their broadcast area but they have been unable to obtain a release from property owned by the Thompson Group indicating they do not object to an increase in height of the tower and would not be placing a habitable structure in the fall zone area. Mr. Davis said the other surrounding property owners had provided written approval with no objection to the increase in height of the tower. Mr. Davis said the permitting approval would be expiring in December, 1998. Comm. Yearty said there is an ordinance in place and an exception could not be made in contradiction of the ordinance but recommended Mr. Greg Beauchamp, Mr. Rob Corbitt and Mrs. Krista Kelly review the request for a special exception to extend the height of the tower.

 FESTIVALS

Mr. Greg Beauchamp said Ms. Margaret Knight has submitted a request for the Fall Withlacoochee Bluegrass Jamboree permit with her application fee. Mr. Beauchamp said the Jamboree would be held November 6, 7, 8, 1998 within the guidelines established by the county. Comm. Yearty moved to grant the permit for the jamboree. Comm. Lindsey seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

 COUNTY LAND

Mr. Greg Beauchamp said Mr. George Steele donated property for a fire/ambulance station and is requesting a reverter clause be added to the deed. Comm. Yearty moved to accept the donation of the land from Mr. Steele and to include a reverter clause in the deed if the property is not used for emergency services. Comm. Dean seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

 ORDINANCES

Mr. Greg Beauchamp said the advertisement for the public hearing for occupational licenses was not placed in time for the regular meeting and the advertisement would be placed to notify the public for a public hearing on November 3, 1998 to review the ordinance on the occupational licenses. Comm. Davis moved to reschedule the public hearing and to properly advertise the hearing. Comm. Dean seconded MOTION CARRIED.

 AMBULANCE

Comm. Davis said the auditors have recommended writing off the uncollectible fees for ambulance service for 1994 - 1995. Comm. Davis said the uncollected amount of fees is $88,562.91. Comm. Davis said alternative methods for billing are being reviewed. Comm. Davis moved to write off the uncollected fees for ambulance service for 1994-1995 in the amount of $88,562.91. Comm. Dean seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

 TAX ROLL

Comm. Dean said the final date on filing for refunds on the special assessments for per parcels had passed. Comm. Dean said a review on paying interest on the refunds of the special assessments had been reviewed and it did not appear this was an affordable option. Comm. Yearty moved to transfer funds from the Special Construction fund to reimburse the Landfill and Emergency Medical Services funds of $135,000.00 to each respective fund for the repayment of the special assessment refunds. Comm. Dean seconded and the MOTION CARRIED.

Mrs. Gilreath said she thought the county should refund the interest to the taxpayers who were owed refunds for the special assessments.

 LEASES

Mr. Greg Beauchamp said the Yankeetown School has requested confirmation of authorization to use the Dog Island lease for the clam aquaculture classes. Chairman Foley asked Ms. Heather Alexander to send the school a copy of the minutes concerning the authorization of the school board to use a section of the lease.

THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS THE MEETING ADJOURNED.

Don Foley, Board Chairman

ATTEST:

Douglas M. McKoy, Clerk of Court