BY MELISSA PYLE
Special to the Telegraph
The May council meeting in Lawtey had a running theme coming from citizens and council members: It’s time to make decisions!
Public comments at the beginning of the meeting started the conversation about old business needing to be addressed. Vyunda Strong told council she was tired of the public’s concerns being expressed at monthly meetings and the response always being the same: “Look at it later.”
One pressing concern is the building at the Middleburg Road Park. The building’s future has been in discussions for years and last year the city received bids from developers to price its repairs or demolition. The decision was delayed for over a year, so the recreation department head, Councilwoman Debra Norman, requested new bids because costs have probably risen from last year’s estimates.
Newly elected Councilman Joshua Bell also expressed concern about the issue, saying he’d previously requested the engineer’s report from the city clerk but had not received it as of the meeting.
Recreation Board Member Isaac Williams also spoke to council about concerns with the decisions being made — or not being made — about the park, the building and its future.
“You have to have a plan to replace it before you demo it,” he said. Williams expressed the need to have a viable plan prior to the building being condemned and demolished out of respect to Lawtey citizens who have a long history with the park. He acknowledged there are many people who have sentimental attachments to the park’s past.
“Whether people like it or not, the train has moved. … Don’t just leave it where it is,” he said.
Williams submitted various ideas about the potential for the park and suggested members need to think outside the box, look at parks in cities like Gainesville to get creative ideas, and form public and private partnerships to help with costs.
Fellow recreation board member Nathan Blom spoke up and said the first thing to do was to get the council to deem the building condemned and removed, and then the city can look for grants. Williams countered, saying that if you want grant money, you must have a plan to present because organizations aren’t going to grant money to an unknown idea.
Councilwoman Amy Blom expressed concern about the city’s delayed response and is concerned about liability for public safety as the building sits in a dangerous state of disrepair. She too urged the council to decide.
City audit
The state audit has been looming over the city for months and now the city is faced with a choice: allow the state auditors to come in and point out what is being done right or wrong at an estimated cost of $80,000-$100,000 dollars, which the council says the city can’t afford, or hire an outside auditor.
Mayor Jimmie Scott said the city originally thought the state was requiring a forensic financial audit, but it’s an operational audit. The city’s policies and procedures need to be examined. An outside auditor is needed to not only point out incorrect policies or procedures, but to correct them.
Using an outside auditor was suggested as the best course of action by Mayor Scott, Councilwoman Blom and city attorney Dan Sikes. Sikes stated the outside auditor would come at a lesser cost and the services would be more in line with what the city needs.
Safety and street signs
Strong talked to the police department about street safety. Strong noted that since Nathan Blom was no longer a full-time police officer, the patrols on C.R. 225 had decreased and speeding has increased. Strong confronted Chief Jerry Feltner on what she viewed as a lack of availability by the chief.
Feltner defended his record by telling Strong he is available 24 hours a day. Feltner acknowledged there has been a change in police presence due to the recent job turnover in the city’s police department. The department has lost five officers over the last several months but is restaffing. The chief said the department has added three full-time officers but still needs to add one more full-time and one part-time to have full coverage.
In another case of unfinished city business, updated street signs were addressed by Feltner. He asked the council how much longer it would be before the signs could be replaced. City Clerk Lisa Harley said they are still awaiting 30 more signs to be completed before all the signs ordered are ready to be picked up. Councilwoman Blom asked Harley that the maintenance crew be allowed to move ahead on the project by picking up the completed signs and begin the process of replacing the old ones.
Other news
—Councilman Bell announced his appointment to the recreation board: May Merritt.
—Council voted 4 to 1 to hire a part-time, seasonal maintenance employee to help with the extra lawn maintenance and garbage collection during the summer and early fall.
—Chief Feltner stated that officers need to be paid more to keep them with the department. He also reported that of tickets that were issued in the past month, 80 citations went to court and 60 were thrown out.
—A water leak was repaired on C.R. 225, but a new leak has occurred due to old pipes. The leak repair also requires sidewalk repairs.
—Mayor Jimmie Scott reported a YTD general fund surplus of $100,760.
—The next Lawtey Recreation Board meeting is May 19 at 6 p.m. at city hall.
—The next Lawtey City Council Meeting is scheduled for June 2 at 7 p.m.
