BY CAROL MOSLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
BROOKER — Mayor Gene Melvin of Brooker was given an award for 45 years of service as mayor.
Eryn Russell from the Florida League of Cities presented him with the plaque at the July town council meeting. The mayor thanked the League of Cities for offering assistance over the years. He expressed how fortunate he’s been to have council members and staff, current and past, who each contributed their piece to keep things running in Brooker. And he thanked his wife, Lynn, who was in the audience, for putting up with him through it all.
Mayor Melvin recalled a special mentor in his life, former council member James Temple, who was a stickler of a teacher. Melvin credits Temple with making him a good student of math, because you wouldn’t get recess if you didn’t know your lessons. Temple, Melvin said, would take the kids out to Kingsley Lake and teach them how to swim.
When Melvin first took office in the 1970s, he thought he would give it a couple of years and then leave. But he realized how important the job was to the town. And he took James Temple’s advice: Put people first; don’t discriminate against anybody for race or wealth or any other factor; and spend the people’s money very carefully. Melvin said they must be doing something right to have an A+ balanced budget each year.
Changes are in the works at the town clerk’s office with Suzanne McRee taking a position at Camp Blanding. McRee said as much as she has loved her two and a half years on the job, this offering was too good to turn down. When asked what is the most important qualification for filling the town clerk’s position McRee replied, “Aside from the usual skills that are advertised, the most important thing is to love the town of Brooker.”
This was to be McRee’s last meeting as clerk.
Meanwhile, former clerk and current accountant Charlene Thomas will take over as interim clerk. The council appointed a committee to look into options for replacing McRee. Thomas spent 32 years as Brooker’s town clerk and may consider filling the position once again, combining it, as before, with the accounting position.
Two sealed bids were opened for the annual grounds maintenance contract that begins in August. One was for $14,600 and the other was for $12,200. The council selected the lower bid with EMT Affordable Lawn Care. The council acknowledged that the current company has had the contract for a very long time, but the savings from the lower bid are substantial for the town.
At the June meeting, the council reviewed bids for repair of the “old park” city building and for interior painting of the community center and offices. Of the three bids received for the old park repair, V.S. Robinson Contracting LLC was selected. The $16,650 will be paid from ARPA funds.
The same company was selected via sealed bid for the community center painting at a cost of $8,750 to commence in September. The estimate from Robinson for repair of the door over well number two came in at $1,560, which is under the $2,000 threshold that requires a bidding process, and was approved.
Thomas suggested a $25 increase for the meter reader from $225 to $250. She said he often has to deal with unusual circumstances and make multiple trips to get the job accomplished. She also suggested a 3% per year increase for the town clerk, starting with the October budget.
The painting and cleaning of the water tower will render it out of service for three weeks. The residents will be notified in advance when a start date is determined. Melvin suggested notifying the DEP in advance of any repairs just to assure they are following all the requirements. The required triennial lead and copper testing of the water was completed and they are awaiting results from the lab.
Water rates came up for discussion and will be officially addressed at the next meeting. It was noted that the current rate is a flat $24 per month for the first 3,000 gallons then $1.75 per 1,000 gallons over that. It was suggested they consider raising the flat rate to $25. Mayor Melvin said that would be an acceptable increase because it would not pose a burden, especially for seniors living on fixed income.
It seems that some people don’t appreciate the fact that water, when pumped into a tower, purified to render it potable, and distributed through a series of pipes, is a commodity that comes with a price tag. There have been some “incidents” of tapping into sources that don’t belong to them.
In other cases, Swamp Cutters was called on four occasions to deal with damaged valves when homeowners attempted to shut the water off to cut lines. This brought up the issue of aged valves, but also the need for cut-off valves at the home, and to find a means for preventing homeowner access to cut-offs at the street.
As a final note of good news Mayor Melvin noted that, for the first time, “All the streets in Brooker are paved.”
