Christian Peterson
reporter.riverbendnews@gmail.com
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, the Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners met for its regularly scheduled meeting. The meeting began with the approval of the Tuesday, Oct. 15, meeting's minutes. The board then called for public comment.
First to speak was Janet Beagle, who was concerned about the high traffic on her road due to an Air BnB near her home that was consistently occupied. She was concerned that the road could not handle the amount of traffic, and asked if there was a maximum occupancy length for rentals and if there was a way to limit the people on the road. The board discussed what they could do, as they were limited due to it being a private road. No decision was made, but the board offered a few ideas for how to handle the issue. Next to speak was Otelo Anahory, who told the board about the upcoming Toys for Tots fundraiser and chili cookoff event happening on Saturday, Nov. 30, at the Wellborn Community Association. Commissioner Franklin White also announced a chili cookoff hosted by the Branford Rotary Club that happened on Saturday, Nov. 9.
The board then moved to hear presentations. The first to speak was Mike McWaters with Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative (SVEC). He was there to speak on the damages and financial cost of the storms that had hit the area. He then introduced SVEC's new Manager of External Affairs Caitlin Berrington. McWaters also thanked the board for its support throughout the hurricanes. The board thanked McWaters and SVEC staff for their hard work in restoration efforts. The next presentation was from Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce Director Danielle Hampton, who announced the chamber's annual Business of the Year banquet, which was going to be held at the Coliseum. The board followed this by approving the consent agenda, pulling one item for discussion.
The item pulled for discussion was the adoption of a resolution securing title commitment for the purchase of real property in Branford. County Attorney Adam Morrison explained that the item was pulled because the closing agent had requested a revised, simpler resolution. Morrison proceeded to read the new resolution into the record, where it was then approved unanimously. The board then moved on to commissioner items.
Chairman Travis Land brought up a previous board decision from 2021, where the board had changed how vacant land was taxed for the fire assessment. According to the meeting notes, “as the fire protection was assessed currently, a property owner that owned, for example, 10 acres of land, but only lived on five of those acres, was being charged the homestead residential fire assessment, as well as the assessment for the other five acres of vacant property.” Land felt that this was double charging residents, and it was not a practice before 2021. He voiced his want to change it so that the resident would only be charged the residential amount and not incur the additional vacant land taxes. He then asked County Administrator Greg Scott to research the item, its history, and present it to the board at the next meeting.
The board then heard updates from its consultants. This included Locklear and Associates, which said it anticipated the 137th Road block culvert project to be completed before Thanksgiving. The board also announced that the county had received notice to proceed on the County Road 250 project.
The board then moved on to general business. The first item was discussion on tree thinning at the Suwannee County Regional Shelter property. County Administrator Scott told the board that, due to the hurricanes, there was a lot of tree damage at the property. Chairman Land said it would be best to either thin the trees or cut the entire property before springtime. There was also a concern about the healthy trees being infected by bugs and disease from the dead trees. The board told Scott to work with staff and bring recommendations to the next meeting. The next item was a discussion on hay production and harvesting at the Suwannee County Regional Shelter property. Chairman Land explained that, before the county had acquired the property, it was leased to a hay production company. After some discussion, the board agreed to have staff work on a proposal for hay bailing servings from a tenant under a temporary lease.
The board then moved on to administrator's comments and information. First was the announcement of Officer Lee Abersold's retirement from the Veteran's Office. The process to find a new officer was underway, but the board wanted to thank Abersold for his work. The board heard a few more updates before approving advertising for bids for clearing and grubbing the McCook property. The board also approved advertising for bids for County Road 137 guard rail repairs. The board continued approving the possible rebidding of fencing repairs by individual site. Finally, the board approved the previous owners of the Project Summit property as a sole source, and authorized the purchase of a used Kubota tractor and skid steer. The meeting was then adjourned.
The next Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners meeting was held on Tuesday, Nov. 19. See the Wednesday, Nov. 27, edition of the Riverbend News for coverage of this meeting.