Christian Peterson
reporter.riverbendnews@gmail.com
On Tuesday, Jan. 21, the Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners met for its regularly scheduled meeting. The board began the meeting by approving the minutes from the previous regular meeting. After that, the board called for public comment. First to speak was Steve Fontana, who thanked the board for assistance with the KrisAnne Hall event that had taken place a few days prior. Wayna Hannaka, the next speaker, went into detail about various emergency management grants that the county had gone after. Moses Clepper was the final public comment for the evening. He expressed disappointment that only one elected official was in attendance at the KrisAnne Hall event. He also brought up House Bill 31, which would allow Florida to become an open carry state. He commented that the bill was being opposed by sheriffs and urged the public to speak up on the matter. The board then turned to its single time-sensitive item: holding a public hearing to consider closing all rights and interests of the county in Louisiana Avenue, beginning at the south boundary of lots 62 and 63 in the plat of Dowling Park and continuing to the south boundary of lots 90 and 91 in the plat of Dowling Park. Development Services Director Ron Meeks clarified that this was for a property that should have been part of a closure request approved a few meetings ago. He also noted that the properties were all owned by the same individual, and no one's access would be cut off. The board approved the item unanimously, then approved the consent agenda. The board then called for constitutional officers' items. First, the board discussed the return of excess revenues from the fiscal year. Clerk of Court Barry Baker 2023-2024 explained that his office had received $119,249 in excess revenues. He requested that the office keep $18,000 for security software, which benefitted not only his office but also the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office, and was required by Criminal Justice Information Services. The board accepted the excess revenues while letting the clerk's office retain $18,000. County Attorney Adam Morrison then presented the board with a local state of emergency for Winter Storm Enzo. The board approved it unanimously. The board continued the meeting by accepting the audit committee's recommendation of Powell Jones for the county auditing work. On top of that, it approved the contract with Powell Jones for $110,000 per year. Finally, the board moved to general business. The main item of discussion was an agreement with Sincere Care Foundation. Attorney Morrison started the conversation by reiterating the proposed agreement, explaining that the county was offering to provide a $500,000 mortgage for the land with the belief that the women's facility would be fully built in three years and would be operational for at least five years in order for loan forgiveness to take place. Chenelle Harris was there to speak on behalf of the foundation. She began by expressing her excitement at the opportunity to work with the county. She then explained that the facility would hopefully be the standard for healthcare across the United States, adding that the facility would be for women's health needs and could even run a birthing center for low-risk pregnancies. Commissioner Franklin White asked that there be benchmarks of some sort before the three-year period so that the county could be up to date with the progress that Harris was making. He explained that he had no issue with the facility, he just wanted benchmarks as a form of security. Morrison suggested that there be an 18-month check to determine whether progress was being made. Additionally, Chairman Travis Land acknowledged there was one easement shown. However, he requested there be a 30-foot utility easement on the east side of the property. This would allow access to a 17-acre property behind the proposed facility. The discussion continued with Commissioner Maurice Perkins commenting that the adjoining property owner was requesting a concession about a wedge of property for drainage purposes. Morrison quickly responded that the board should not allow third-party property rights. Land commented that his main concern was that the Sincere Care Foundation would renege on constructing the facility. He clarified that this was because he was concerned that the property would be purchased at $500,000 and sold at a high markup with a loss for the county. His suggestion was to raise the mortgage to $750,000. Harris responded that the foundation was planning on investing millions into the property and saw no reason why they would sell the property. However, she stated that she was fine with the increase in the mortgage. Clepper then stood up to speak once more. He expressed a few concerns regarding the lack of a written statement that the foundation was anti-abortion, along with increasing the mortgage to $1 million. His third and final concern was the property where the building would be located, which he considered to be very valuable. Instead, he suggested that the county level the property for future development. Harris responded to Clepper's concerns, stating that the foundation was opposed to abortion. She also said that the building would have office space for the foundation but possibly also for government-related agencies, such as WIC and Healthy Start. She acknowledged that Sincere Care Foundation was a startup, however, it had been going over models for a year and a half. On top of that, its members were mostly comprised of long-time healthcare professionals. Harris ended by saying that her roots were in Madison County. She hoped to bring big-city services to small communities. After all the discussion, the board chose to add a few requirements to the agreement with Sincere Care Foundation. These were a check-in at 18 months to show reasonable progress, allowance of a 30-foot easement on the east side of the property for potential utilities, and a $750,000 mortgage that would be forgiven after eight years if the benchmarks were met. The board then continued with its general business with the priority road list for the Florida Department of Transportation. The board chose County Road 252, County Road 137, County Road 250 Phase II and 184th Street. The final board-approved item was a contract for guardrail repair on County Road 137. The board elected to go with Grading and Bush Hog Services at $30,646. After this, the meeting was adjourned. The Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners met again on Tuesday, Feb. 4. Keep an eye on the Wednesday, Feb. 12, edition of Riverbend News for full coverage of this meeting.