BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The City of Keystone Heights’s external auditor told the city council that it found problems while examining the municipality’s financial statements for the year ending September 30, 2023.
Annie Nock of Reddish and White said the city overspent its budget, which is an automatic finding. Secondly, the municipality’s Community Redevelopment Agency underspent money on some of the projects it was working on and did not properly document the carryover of those projects to the following year.
Nock also said her firm had to make a $39,000 adjustment to the city’s accounts receivable and that the city staff could not produce 10 documents that auditors requested to view.
The CPA said she understood that office staff turnover caused most of these problems. City Manager Charlie Van Zant emphasized that point after Nock’s presentation.
“I just want to state out loud,” the city manager, who was hired in January 2024, said, “there is not a single person inside city hall that was here on September 30th, 2023, when this audit was finalized. We’ve got the same public works crew, but the people that were doing the accounting and the invoices and paying the bills and going into all the online portals with the state’s chief financial officer and the Department of the Treasury and making those entries (are gone).”
Kiwanis fishing tournament approved
The council approved a request by Lake Region Kiwanis to hold a kayak fishing and cornhole tournament at the municipality’s beach park on March 30, 2025.
Kiwanis representative Fred Goetzman told council members that fishing tournament participants would launch at 6 a.m. from any point on Lake Geneva and return to the beach park at 3 p.m.
“They cannot come out of the water for any reason until three,” he said.
Goetzman added that when anglers reel in a fish during the catch-and-release event, they measure and photograph it. The image is sent to tournament officials, who approve or reject the catch.
The entry fee for the event is $85, and the first-place winner will receive 50% of the purse. Second through third-place finishers will win 30% and 20%, respectively.
Councilman Tony Brown said he wanted a chase boat in the water during the event in case any of the participants encountered an emergency. Goetzman replied that he would ensure the added safety measure was in place.
Land use and rezoning
The council approved a land use change and rezoning for property owned by Dr. George Restea.
Restea’s residential-zoned parcel extends from North Lawrence Boulevard, adjacent to the north side of the Family Dollar property, to Lake Brooklyn behind the Ride and Shine Car Wash on Cargo Way.
The change approved by the council rezones the one-acre section of the parcel closest to North Lawrence Boulevard to commercial while leaving the section closest to the lake residential.
China Chef demolition to be rebid
Council members directed its staff to rebid the demolition of the China Chef Restaurant at the corner of South Lawrence Boulevard and East Walker Drive.
In response to its first request for bids, the municipality received two responses, one from Jacksonville’s ELEV8 Demolition for $34,714 and a second from C & S Site Prep of Lawtey for $77,004.
Project Manager Beau Wright said that six other companies inquired about the job after the bids were received.
The council also approved an $8,000 purchase to replace a public works trailer and told Wright to look into replacing the city’s bucket truck, which he said could cost $30,000. The project manager is also researching the acquisition of a side-by-side for public works, which he said would cost around $20,000.
Wright also told the council he is making progress on demolishing the rebuilding of the municipality’s tennis courts and resurfacing the pickleball and basketball courts.
Council members also approved joining the Florida State Retirement System for its employees.
Airport negotiating with Florida State Guard
Airport Chair David Kirkland told the council that the airport and the Florida State Guard are negotiating for the state military agency to move some of its air assets from Lakeland to Keystone Heights.
“A recent meeting that we had with the Florida State Guard confirmed a very strong interest in using the Keystone Heights Airport as a base for many of their aviation resources,” Kirkland said. “They will have helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and drones. So, they’re looking for an apron area and a hangar, and essentially, they’re looking at 15 acres to lease at the airport.”
Kirkland added that State Guard officers are attracted to the airport straddling the Bradford and Clay County lines because of its proximity to Camp Blanding.
“They want to have Keystone as their primary aviation resource area,” Kirkland said. “They will be doing a lot of work with local entities, FDLE, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and a lot of their training is done in Camp Landing, so they’re excited to be at the airport.”
Kirkland added that the Florida Department of Transportation approved three grants for the facility. One is a $400,000 grant for three generators, the second is a $950,000 grant for a fuel facility upgrade, and the third award is for a Jet A fuel truck for $300,000.
The chair also said that in 2025, FDOT money will fund a three-year, $4.3 million rehabilitation of the airport’s 11/29 runway.
