Christian Peterson
reporter.riverbendnews@gmail.com
On Tuesday, March 4, the Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners met for its regularly scheduled meeting. The meeting began with the approval of the minutes from the previous meeting. After this, the board called for public comment. First to speak was Bo Hancock, who reminded everyone that the Florida legislature was in session. He spoke on a few different bills, specifically one that could affect the county's ability to reject solar farms and cell towers. Following him was Wayne Hannaka, representing the Concerned Citizens of Live Oak. He spoke about what the board does as an entity and how each of the commissioners fits into the puzzle. John Van Vliet was the next speaker; he thanked the board for its decision regarding the borrow site at a previous meeting. He also asked how to get information to the board in a timely manner. Moses Clepper was the final public comment; he spoke on the Federal DOGE task force and the creation of Florida DOGE, along with his concerns regarding fiscal responsibility in the county.
The board then moved to its next item on the agenda, a presentation by William M. Smith, CSM. Smith was there to award Suwannee County with a Purple Heart designation for the county's dedication to Veterans. The board happily accepted and approved the designation. The board then moved on to its consent agenda, pulling two items for discussion. The commissioners then approved the agenda unanimously. The first of the pulled items was approval to lease six Caterpillar 120 motor graders to replace graders in October when the current lease expires. The board moved to approve the budgeted item unanimously. The final pulled item was to award the bid for tree harvesting at the Suwannee County Regional Shelter property. The highest qualified respondent for the task was Florida Timber Dealers Inc. However, the commissioners began discussing whether or not they wanted to thin the property or clear-cut it. County Attorney Adam Morrison said that if they changed the scope of work, the time requirement would have to be adjusted accordingly. It was also clarified that the bid included options for both thinning and clearing, and the best-qualified bid changed depending on which option. The board chose to table the item, as they wanted to change the scope to clear-cutting the property, which changed the winning bidder.
After receiving a thank you from Robert Ford, the President of the Douglass Center Alumni Association, the board moved on to staff items. The first to speak was Fire Chief Dan Miller. He explained that, every year, Medicare puts out updated rates for reimbursement of transportation costs to local county first responders, and other insurance companies follow this annually revised rate. He continued, saying the board had not been approving the revised rates each year. This meant the county had lost out on higher reimbursement of medical transportation costs; the last time the county had a resolution passed approving the new rates was seven years ago. He urged the board to take a closer look at this and adopt Medicare's updated rate resolution each year.
Then, Economic Development Director Jimmy Norris stood up to speak. After he spoke at a recent meeting in Tallahassee, Norris publicly announced that he was leaving his position as Economic Development Director. He thanked the board and the county for working with him and spoke about how much he enjoyed working for Suwannee County. He made it clear that he would continue to fight for Suwannee County in his new position with North Florida Professional Services.
Chairman Travis Land then told the board that there was someone who wanted to anonymously donate part of his estate to Suwannee County. The board approved and asked Morrison to work with the citizens to write an agreement. After a quick update from Morrison, who told the board about a few things that he would be bringing to the next meeting, the board turned to its general business.
First, the board approved the preliminary plat of the Garrison Place subdivision, including the suggested shared driveways to consolidate as many as possible. The board then engaged in a discussion with Luke McInnis about the COVID Isolation Facility bid. He took issue with the county not allowing building contractors to bid on the project. The board heard his argument but said nothing could be done, as it would be against Morrison's advice. After a few more closing comments, the meeting was adjourned. The next Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners meeting will be Tuesday, March 18, at 5:30 p.m. in the Judicial Annex, located at 218 Parshley St. SW, in Live Oak.