BY TRACY LEE TATE
Times Staff Writer
LAKE BUTLER — The Dec. 20 regular meeting of the Lake Butler City Commission saw a much higher attendance by members of the community than is usual at a city meeting, with the spectator area of the meeting room packed with city residents, as well as others, and a few seats taken by persons there to give information to the board.
The meeting began as usual, with citizens of the city addressing their concerns with the board.
Cindy North commented in a problem she was having with having garbage out for pickup after the annual city clean-up that had still not been picked up. Commissioner Melissa Hendrix said she had looked into the matter and had been told that the materials had not been placed on the right-of-way as was required.
Angus Huggins complained about the unkept landscape around city hall and young people out on golfcarts and four-wheelers behind the forestry building – citing a lack of a railing along the ditch line as a hazard to the children.
Jean Cornett spoke on the issue of cars speeding on Lake Avenue, many of which were also in violation of the city noise ordinance. She asked about having speed bumps installed on the street. City Attorney John Maines suggested that she call the sheriff as the city was generally opposed to speed bumps since they slowed emergency vehicles. City Manager Dale Walker said that the FDOT had established standards for “speed tables” but not speed bumps, but that the tables were very expensive to install and also suggested that she call the sheriff’s office for assistance.
When the consent agenda came up for approval, Hendrix asked why vehicle logs were no longer included in the commissioner’s agenda packets and said she would like to see them included as they had been in the past. Commissioner Fred Sirmones agreed. Hendrix made motion to restore the logs and the motion passed the board 4-0.
Hendrix then questioned Walker about the monthly financial statement included in the consent agenda, saying that she was concerned that numerous line items were already over-spent or already spent out in only the second month of the new fiscal year. She said she also had concerns about credit cards used by the city and unbudgeted items appearing in the financial report. She asked her fellow commissioners to hold a special workshop to look into financial matters and they agreed to meet on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023 at 6 p.m. to discuss the issue.
Former City Manager Dave Mecusker commented from the audience about the spending being done by the city. He cited the contract with the company Retail Strategies which has cost the city $120,000 over four years with no result (no new business brought into the city).
“The city is a sinking ship financially and the spending is not slowing down,” Mecusker said. “Walker does not even own a car but drives the one provided him by the city everywhere he goes, even on vacation.”
It was noted by commissioners and members of the crowd that several new businesses had tried to locate in the city in the past and that the local land owners refused to sell to them the needed property. Most recently this was the case with O’ Reilly’s Auto Parts, which wanted to open a store in Lake Butler.
Quite late in the meeting an agenda item labeled simply “Hotel” came up for discussion. Walker reported to the board that he had been in discussions with a hotel chain based in Wisconsin that had given verbal encouragement that they were interested in locating a hotel in Lake Butler. He said that they had requested that the city have a feasibility study done to see if it met their criteria and, if it did, verbally committed to placing one here. Walker then signed a contract with a company to do the study for the sum of $12,500, with half up front and the other half due when the study was done, if it proved favorable to the city.
Hendrix immediately commented that it was her understanding that Walker did not have the authority to sign a contract without board approval. Walker countered that he had been told to proceed with securing a hotel by Acting Mayor Annette Redman. Redman confirmed that she had told Walker to proceed but that she had not specifically authorized him to sign any contracts. She than passed the gavel to Vice-Mayor David Stegall so she could make a motion to approved the unbudgeted expenditure of $12,500 for the study and the motion passed the board, with Hendrix dissenting.
In other action and discussion the Lake Butler City Commission:
—Approved the signing of an engineering services contract with Mittauer Engineering for work on three grant funded projects for the city. The projects are the planning and design of the new wastewater treatment plant, the design and construction phase of the ARPA funded rehabilitation of the city lift stations and the CDBG grant funded refurbishment of the city’s main lift station and the installation of back-up generators at the other four lift stations.
—Voted unanimously to accept the request for proposals for grant administration services from Fred Fox Enterprises in the sum of $245,900. The funds for this are allowed to be paid from the grant funds as the grants require that an administrator be used for the projects.
—Heard a report that Union County Supervisor of Elections said she could run a special election for the city in the third week of March at a cost to the city of $3,000-4,000, with an absolute maximum of $5,000. The commission currently has a vacant seat, left open by the resignation of Mayor Jack Schenck and the seat must be filled either by appointment or election. The board chose to hold an election to allow citizens to pick from an already large group of candidates.
—Heard comments from Hendrix questioning the reason that in 2020 the board had removed the requirement that all city checks require two signatures and made a motion that the two-signature requirement be reinstated and the motion passed 4-0.
—Discussed the interlocal agreement with the county, that covers a number of necessary services for the city. The board had voted to cancel the agreement, but the county commission asked that they renew under the same terms as had been in effect.
—Maines advised the commissioners to take the offer, saying that any negotiation they felt necessary could be conducted with the agreement in effect. Without the Interlocal agreement the city would have no law enforcement, fire or emergency medical services for its citizens after Dec. 31, 2022, services it is required to offer under Florida law.
—The commission voted to renew the agreement as written and County Commissioner Ryan Perez was on hand to thank the board for doing so.
