Christian Peterson
reporter.riverbendnews@gmail.com
On Tuesday, Feb. 25, the Lafayette County Board of County Commissioners met for its regularly scheduled meeting. The meeting began with the approval of the previous meeting's minutes, followed by a call for public comment, to which there was no response. The next item on the agenda was an ordinance requesting a zoning change for a parcel of land. Chairman Anthony Adams explained that, in January, the board met as the Planning and Zoning Board and recommended that the ordinance not be approved. The board members agreed with their previous decision and denied the ordinance. The next item on the agenda was an ordinance amending the Comprehensive Plan in conjunction with the previous ordinance; it was denied as well.
The board then moved to hear the department head reports. First was Marcus Calhoun with the maintenance department. He told the board that the crew was hard at work at the ballfield. After him was Public Works Director Seth Jackson. He started by telling the board that he and two other employees were heading to the prison the week after the meeting. He explained that they were going there to take a course so the county could get inmates to help with work. Jackson then requested that the county look into the issue with employees and Commercial Driver's Licenses (CDL) again. He explained once more that some employees did not have their CDL. He was looking for a way to help the employees get their CDL when hired by the county. The board members stated they were comfortable paying for the CDL training, with a couple of exceptions. First, they didn't want to pay for people to fail the test. Second, they wanted assurance that the employee, after getting their CDL, would remain an employee in Lafayette County for a little while. They also discussed the possibility of a small raise for employees after successfully passing the test. The board directed Jackson to work with Clerk of Court Steve Land and County Attorney Leennette Fredrickson to draft a contract for future employees. The final report was from Shawn Jackson with the extension office. He told the board that the extension office was offering pesticide licenses until the end of August; however, after that, they would no longer be able to offer the licenses.
The next item on the agenda was a presentation from Spencer Nabors and Jeffrey Winter with In Touch Consulting, a consultant group focused on CDBG and SHIP grants. Nabors explained to the board that they had taken the liberty of looking into Lafayette County's CDBG grant likeliness. He told the board that the county scored very high and would have gotten funding for the past four years if they had applied. The pair told the board they were willing to put together the county's application free of cost and with no expectation of their company being chosen as the consultants. The board readily agreed to the opportunity, thanking the duo for their willingness to help Lafayette.
The board followed up by approving an interlocal agreement with Taylor County for 911 call transfers and routing. Sheriff Brian Lamb explained that this was a common agreement. This means that if Taylor County's 911 system is completely knocked out, calls will be transferred to Lafayette County so that they can respond. Lamb continued by saying that Lafayette County actually has the same agreement with Suwannee County in case Lafayette's system goes down. The board asked if both the Lafayette County Sheriff's Office and the Taylor County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) were comfortable with this. Lamb responded in the affirmative, as did Undersheriff Marty Tompkins from TCSO.
The next item was an agreement with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant. Lamb told the board that this was a consistent grant the county receives, and it is typically used to purchase patrol vehicles. The board approved the agreement. The next item on the agenda was appointing a representative to the Board of Directors for the Suwannee River Economic Council. The position had been most recently filled by Jimmy Witt, who had indicated he would be fine continuing in that position. The board approved him to continue to serve on the council.
The board had a small discussion about moving to a design-construction firm style for future building projects. However, after some discussion, it was decided that there was more information needed, and no action was taken. Finally, the board opened the bids for the repairs of the chain link fence around the Edward Perry Sports Complex. There was one bid from Coast to Coast Fencing at $35,110. The board approved the bid unanimously. After this, the meeting was adjourned. The next Lafayette County Board of County Commissioners meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 11, at 9 a.m. in the Lafayette County Courthouse, located at 120 W Main St., in Mayo.