BY MELISSA PYLE
Telegraph Staff Writer
LAWTEY — At the Oct. 2 Lawtey City Council meeting, Police Chief Jerry Feltner called for a discussion about public comments at monthly meetings.
Feltner suggested this discussion needed to include the clarification of questions versus comments from the public.
Citizens addressed the council with questions and comments about ditch grants, the city council agenda, and proposed discussion time limits.
Vyunda Strong addressed the council with her concerns and frustrations about the lack of advanced notice of the council meeting agenda. She stated that the agenda is not produced in a timely manner and this causes the public to have to come to the meeting to ask questions rather than give comments.
Strong said, “If we don’t ask questions then we don’t know what’s going on. We have a right to be able to ask our council members what is going on at the meeting. If we don’t, then we have to wait until next month and by that time, it’s old news because you have already approved it.”
Mayor Jimmie Scott asked what would be a timely manner for the public to receive the agenda. Strong cited the county as an example and said it posts the meeting agenda in advance on the website. Citizens are given county meeting topics far enough in advance to come properly prepared for discussions. She said the Lawtey council should be able to provide the residents of Lawtey with the same courtesy by providing the agenda at least one week in advance.
Scott responded that the city doesn’t have a website, but the agenda can be made available to the public a week in advance and be picked up from the city office.
Citizens suggested that Lawtey have a website. The issue of Lawtey not being up to modern standards was brought up again when a resident addressed his frustration with the city’s inability to accept a credit card payment for water bills. Scott said they are currently in discussion with the bank about getting a credit card system installed.
The topic of comments versus questions was brought up again by Feltner when he was giving his departmental report for the month. Feltner said if you read the Sunshine Law it states that citizens are allowed to give comments not questions. He also felt five minutes to comment is sufficient . Attorney Aaron Dukes said it is always at the discretion of the chair to allow more or less time for citizens to speak.
Councilwoman Emily Hoffman and the mayor stated that citizens should submit their questions in advance to be added to the meeting’s agenda. Hoffman said this should make the meetings more productive. The approval of releasing the agenda a week in advance should allow for residents to preview the topics and submit questions in advance of future meetings.
Councilwoman Debra Norman responded by saying that Lawtey is a small city and is not a large meeting like the county and citizens should feel free to come and ask all their questions. She said she has received some complaints from her constituents that they don’t like the comments being at the beginning of the meeting and would prefer them to be at the end of the meeting.
After much discussion among the board, the consensus was that comments should remain at the beginning as long as residents receive the agenda one week in advance and the public can submit questions prior to meetings. Mayor Scott proposed that the members give more thought to this topic, outline a plan, and approve the final plan for public comments at the next meeting.
Norman said she also feels like Feltner’s suggestion of limiting the public to comments and not questions is not appropriate because some things require a question. The council members spoke over one another until a resident in attendance interjected by asking the mayor to bang the gavel and call the meeting back to order.
Scott clarified that council meetings are to serve as a public observance of city business and it is not to be a time of open discussion from the public. He suggested questions should be discussed with members prior to meetings.
School zones
Resident Mike Brown questioned the council about the legality of the school zones. He cited the lack of crossing guards on U.S. 301 and the lack of a sidewalk on C.R. 225. He said he is all for safety and slow speed in a school zone, but there are no children walking in these zones. Feltner responded by saying there are kids who miss the bus and have to walk and there is a safety issue for the school buses as they pick up and drop off.
The issue of the school zones was later mentioned with the second reading of speed camera ordinance, which upon final approval, will allow for the installation of cameras in the Lawtey school zone. These cameras will be used to automatically send citations to school zone speed violators.
Hoffman proposed Lawtey has the DOT come and survey the roads and crossing situation in the school zones so the public has a better idea on the safety and legality of the current zones.
Code enforcement, CSX, more
The city also discussed needing a new ordinance for enforcing city code violations in regards to abandoned or run down properties. Dukes said he had sent an ordinance to be reviewed by the council, but a couple of the council members had not yet seen the new ordinance and could not approve it.
The new ordinance would allow the police to write a citation for properties within city limits that are filled with trash, vagrants or other unsafe conditions. Dukes asked that councilmembers review and propose changes so the ordinance can be finalized and approved at a future meeting.
Streets and sanitation were presented by Councilwoman Amy Blom. In the September meeting, the ownership of property surrounding the railroad tracks and First Street was a topic of interest. Originally, the city was going to send a demand letter to CSX, but Blom said she began doing a lot of research into the history of the relationship of Lawtey with CSX and discovered the long standing issue is not as clear as the council had originally thought.
Dukes said there is a vague legal description of what CSX granted to the city in regards to an easement, but said there needs to be a new land survey to establish what property can be listed as legal and continual use by the city of Lawtey. Dukes said there are some legal avenues to take with CSX, but there needs to be further research before the council proceeds.
Hoffman interrupted this discussion with a complaint about how the council had voted at the September meeting to send a demand letter to CSX and the plan was changed without notice to the council members. Hoffman said that future clarity on issues would allow the board to move forward with city business in a more efficient manner. Dukes apologized for any confusion and said, as city attorney, he should have personally notified the board members of the changes.
Once Dukes explained the vague legal language on the property owned by CSX and the city, council members made motions to get a bid for a new survey to achieve a clear legal description of the easement and ownership. City Clerk Lisa Harley is going to check with the engineers to see if there are currently any updated surveys from recent work in that area.
The meeting wrapped up with updates from council members Hoffman and Norman. Hoffman said the city needs a new agreement with the county for the fire department.
Norman shared the success of the school supply drive that was led by the recreation department. She also presented the need to appoint a new recreation board member to replace a resigning member. This prompted heated discussion among the council about the appointment process. The discussion became intense when members asked what the charter says about the appointing of members.
Dukes stepped in and said the charter is poorly written and doesn’t clearly explain how resignations affect the appointing process and suggested that the nomination be given to the next council member in line to make an appointment to the recreation board. Dukes encouraged a revision to the wording when it is up for review in January. The appointment was postponed due to confusion on the process.
