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Suwannee reverses course on new fire station By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com LIVE OAK — Suwannee County’s north station has a new, yet old, location. One month after voting to construct a new station on the property purchased for a regional emergency shelter, the Suwannee C o u n t y C o m m i s s i o n reversed course at its Tuesday meeting. The commission, by a 4-1 vote with Chairman Travis Land dissenting, agreed to purchase the Live Oak Sanctuary property on U.S. Highway 129 north for $515,000 as the site of the new fire station with a closing date set for Oct. 24. The decision to purchase the former Jehovah’s Witness church property came after the seller — Christine Schueler — reduced the price $30,000 and agreed to cover the real estate commissions. Last month, the commission balked at the $545,000 asking price. The county had previously discussed that site as well but the price was even higher and negotiations stalled. The county also had originally planned on utilizing a property closer to the Interstate 10 interchange at U.S. 129, but had since decided it wasn’t the right location. The reduced price was still too high for Land, especially considering the appraised value was at $364,000 when the county had that performed. “I feel like we’re the only buyer in town,” Land said, noting he doesn’t like he being forced into making a rushed decision. The county also had to make a decision Tuesday since the seller, according to Ron Meeks, the county’s development services director, who negotiated the price reduction, wanted the deal to be closed by this next week so she could use the proceeds for a different project. Land had asked if the closing could be delayed so Greg Bailey with North Florida Professional Services could do an analysis on the property to give a better idea of the cost of renovating and completing the fire station on that property. Dan Miller, Suwannee County’s fire chief, estimated the renovation of the 5,400-square foot property would cost about $200,000. Add in $250,000 for a metal building to be added with bays to house the fire truck and ambulance, and Miller said the total cost should be around $1.2 million. The county currently has $1.5 million allocated toward the project between a $750,000 state appropriation that must be spent by June 2025 and $750,000 in CARES funding. “I’m confident we can get in that building for less than that $1.5 million,” he said, adding the leftover funds would be allocated toward rebuilding the McAlpin station in the future. The McAlpin station has had to be vacated in recent years during storms. Miller added the sanctuary property was the best location for the new station in order to provide better coverage in the north end of the county, including over to the county’s Catalyst Site on the west side of Live Oak. “That location is the best spot for a station in that area,” he said, adding he felt it was his job as the fire chief to push for what was best for the department. Meeks added he had the conversation on the property with Schueler mainly because he didn’t want to see the project end since the state funding has a deadline in eight months. Commissioner Don Hale, whose district resides in the north end of the county and would benefit from the north station, said he definitely wanted a station up there but also wanted to do what was best for the residents and taxpayers. Resident Moses Clepper, though, felt the county’s best option would be constructing the new station on the Project Summit — regional shelter — property. Clepper said he believed a new building constructed there would end up being cheaper than the renovation. The commissioners, though, were curious if that was an apt comparison since one was entirely a metal building while the church building is a hardened, concrete block structure. “I want it to be clear to the public what we’re dealing with here,” Commissioner Franklin White said. Land, too, said they could probably save money through purchasing the sanctuary building, but wasn’t sure how much. “There’s apples, there’s oranges, there’s grapefruits being thrown around here,” Land said. Hale added: “And some lemons too.” Miller also told the board that he also plans to open another station at the currently unmanned station in Luraville. He said he had employees stationed there during the recent hurricanes as a test run and noted their response times were much better to areas in the western portion of the county. Land was curious how either station would be manned since the county would need to provide that funding as well. However, Miller said he planned to apply for a federal grant — Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) — which would provide 100% of the funding for a three-year period, allowing the county time to figure out that funding aspect. “I’m pretty confident we’ll get that grant no problem,” Miller said, adding he would request funding for about 1
By JAMIE WACHTER on Saturday, September 21, 2024ImageBody
LIVE OAK — The Suwannee County Commission has had enough with one county resident’s repeated attempts to sue the county.
During the commission’s Tuesday board meeting, County Attorney Adam Morrison asked for direction from the board on how to handle his response to a new lawsuit from Ana Van Der Berg. The commissioners supported Morrison requesting Van Der Berg pay legal fees if the county wins in getting the case dismissed.
Morrison told the board that Van Der Berg’s previous lawsuit over the board’s approval of an RV park in western Suwannee County had been dismissed. Ethics complaints and Florida Bar complaints filed by Van Der Berg had also been dismissed.
The current lawsuit claims the meeting wasn’t properly noticed.
“We’re well past fourth time’s the charm,” Morrison said. “Candidly, I’m not worried about the eventual outcome.
“When we got sued last time, I didn’t move for attorney’s fees or any of the aggressive actions I could take when someone sues us without merit.”
The commission — and several members of the public in attendance Tuesday — supported Morrison getting aggressive in his response.
Morrison, who said Van Der Berg had looked into hiring an attorney following the first lawsuit but that attorney wouldn’t move forward with litigation, said he is all for taking the aggressive action. But he wanted the board’s direction since Van Der Berg is a county resident.
When asked by Chairman Travis Land, Morrison said there is no limit to the number of times someone can file lawsuits against the county. But there are other actions the county can take, such as seeking remedies like having them pay legal fees if their lawsuit is not successful.
“We’re spending taxpayer dollars paying you to defend a woman who continues to sue us and has lost and sues again and has lost,” Land said. “At some point, it’s not fair to the taxpayers that contribute to our budget whether they live in Wellborn or Luraville or Branford or Live Oak.
“At what point does the county say, ‘we’ve had enough of lawsuits paying our taxpayer dollars defending these lawsuits on the same matter.’”
Commissioner Leo Mobley added he would definitely seek the penalties in an effort to stop any future lawsuits from being filed.
Chairman Don Hale added he didn’t think it was fair, either, to have the county attorney continue working on this matter instead of the regular county business.
Both Richard Snyder of Branford and Wellborn’s Bo Hancock said the county should seek the remedies to stop additional litigation from taking place.
“You have to have the ability to be just as aggressive back at the person,” Snyder said. “You have to call it quits and put the person in their place.”
Hancock added: “That’s the only way you’re going to stop it. She’s wrong. She didn’t do her due diligence.”
By JAMIE WACHTER on Saturday, September 14, 2024Subhead
Jefferson questioned $94K for finance positions in dissent.
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LIVE OAK — Despite questions and confusion over $94,000 in positions in the city’s finance department, the Live Oak City Council passed its tentative budget Tuesday night.
The city’s $53 million budget was approved by a 4-1 vote with Councilman Tommie Jefferson dissenting. Jefferson questioned how the council could be asked to approve a budget that had not fully been discussed and finalized.
The city held a budget workshop on Aug. 26 before canceling a second workshop for Sept. 3 to further delve into the budget.
Council President Matt Campbell told Jefferson the council also could discuss anything it wanted from the budget during Tuesday’s meeting prior to voting.
“I could talk all day,” Jefferson said. “We get different reports put in our boxes, we have meetings and we discuss one thing, numbers show up differently a couple days later.
“How we can approve a budget with all these differences and additives without anybody knowing anything about it?”
Jefferson, when asked for specific areas he had questions about, kept referring back to the finance positions at a cost of $94,000.
City Manager Larry Sessions said those positions were for two new employees, one to replace a lady retiring who handles grants, as well as training someone to be the next manager of the department, which had been discussed with the council.
“Yes, we discussed it and we talked about it, there was no decision made on it,” Jefferson said.
“That $94,00 hasn’t changed,” Sessions said, adding based on discussions in the workshop, he also added some funding for the Eastside cemetery to get potential improvements equal to funding the Live Oak Community Redevelopment Agency may provide for the Live Oak Cemetery.
“I’ll go on the record, there’s no new information.”
Campbell added that funding was in the city’s budget in documentation provided to the council previously.
Joanne Luther, the city’s finance director, said the budget is a living, evolving product through discussions with department heads and then workshops with the council, never reaching a final form until the council actually approves it.
Luther also asked if there were items in the budget that the council wished to change.
Jefferson, though, instead complained about the city’s process for devising the budget rather than discuss any desired tweaks to the budget.
Campbell interrupted, looking to speed up the discussion, and get to any discussion and changes that were needed.
“You’re sitting here and having rhetoric,” Campbell said. “I’m not sure what the rhetoric is about.”
The council unanimously approved tentatively setting its millage rate at 9.2623, which is the rollback rate or the tax rate that brings in the same amount of tax revenue as the current rate of 9.5 mills.
The city’s final budget hearing, when it will finalize both the tax rate and the overall budget, during a Sept. 24 public hearing at City Hall, 101 SE White Avenue, starting at 5:30 p.m.
By JAMIE WACHTER on Saturday, August 31, 2024ImageSmall ImageRobinsonBody
LIVE OAK — Following some contention over how much is being spent on certain projects, the Live Oak Community Redevelopment Agency’s budget for next year has been approved.
The CRA board approved a $2.4 million budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, sending that budget to the City Council for approval during its budget process.
That budget also included $1.576 million in unexpended funding from the current year.
That funding, particularly nearly $1 million for the Heritage Square development in downtown, was concerning to Councilwoman Vanessa Robinson. Nearly $300,000 is allocated to reconstruct a wall in the downtown Festival Park, while $210,000 is budgeted toward land and property acquisitions — the CRA is looking to get an appraisal done on the Huffman & Gilmore property for possible purchase, and $215,000 is earmarked for housing project-based infrastructure support within the district.
Robinson said she’d like to see the money distributed more evenly across the entire CRA district.
“I’m seeing this huge amount that I see going into one side, one area,” she said. “We’re saying spread it around over the whole city.”
Robinson focused on the large amount dedicated for that project while CRA Director Nicholas Frigiola and other staff would tell members that there wasn’t enough funding for other projects.
For instance, Councilman Tommie Jefferson had requested beautification projects in the city’s cemeteries. The Live Oak Cemetery, the only one that resides in the CRA district, had $50,000 budgeted for those efforts in the upcoming year.
“Oh, that’s too much to do for that area,” Robinson said, referencing sidewalks desired by Jefferson, in addition to beautification in the cemeteries. “We don’t value the sidewalk over there because it’s too much money. It’s too much money to put over there for a fence.”
Cindy Robinson, a long-time CRA board member, said the Heritage Square project, which has been in the works for nearly a decade, is a huge undertaking that will boost the entire city.
“It’s for the entire community to have a gathering place is what the vision is for,” she said. “It’s going to take a lot to get that place (up and going.)”
Jefferson said that would be nowhere near enough to provide fencing or other portions of what he’d like to see done. He said black iron fencing, which he’d like to see, would probably be closer to $200,000.
Matt Campbell, the CRA board chair, and Tammy Mobley, a board member, said the money budgeted would provide a start to the beautification efforts, noting it would probably be a multi-year effort.
Still, Vanessa Robinson felt that the entire CRA district should get funding and benefits, not just one specific area or project.
“We need to the vision for the entire CRA,” she said. “Next year I’ll be on top of this.”
The budget, though, was eventually unanimously passed.
By TONY BRITT on Tuesday, September 10, 2024Subhead
Governor announces $8M for local infrastructure
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Columbia County officials, who have been searching for funds to address area roads for years, received a financial surprise Tuesday afternoon from Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis hand-delivered a check for nearly $3 million to address Birley Road as he announced more than $122 million in financial awards to small county governments and rural communities during a press conference at the Florida Department of Transportation office on Marion Avenue.
Other regional counties that received the funding included: $594,000 for Hamilton County; $1.63 million for Lafayette County; and $3.66 million for Suwannee County.
The press conference, which was attended by more than 120 people, featured contingents of officials from local governments and municipalities.
During the press conference, which lasted for nearly an hour, DeSantis touted his record for addressing rural counties’ needs. He noted Florida’s population has experienced a steady increase during the past four years, which when combined with hurricane damage, have placed a bigger emphasis on improved infrastructure.
He said he held the press conference to “bolster rural communities” and address their needs for infrastructure and services.
“These awards allow the Florida Department of Transportation to fund projects that support infrastructure for evacuation and emergency preparedness, for safety on state and rural highways, and to strengthen rural communities,” DeSantis said.
Since 2019, FDOT has invested more than $1.2 billion to assist counties with critical transportation projects. The FDOT has funded the Small County Outreach Program with $865.3 million and $292.3 million through its Small County Resurfacing Assistance Program.
“The governor really understands that transportation infrastructure is critical and has a direct impact on your quality of life and also has a direct impact on our economy,” Jared Perdue, FDOT secretary, told the audience. “It helps us grow in a way that maintains that quality of life for many years to come.”
Shayne Morgan, Columbia County emergency management director, also addressed the audience and spoke of the relationship between Emergency Management and FDOT in order to have safe roads during emergencies and natural disasters.
“The funds will help tremendously,” he said following the press conference. “It will help in evacuations, moving supplies, moving people or if we have to get personnel in for search and rescue. You have to have that solid infrastructure foundation. If you look at the day-to-day operations of fire, EMS and law enforcement, having good road infrastructure allows them to do their jobs better and more safely and, hopefully, it eliminates some of the hazards that are on the roadway by having that solid infrastructure in place.”
David Kraus, Columbia County manager, said the county is very appreciative of the funding.
“It will help us re-pave roads and make the roads safer, specifically Birley Road and some of the others,” he said. “We’ve been working with DOT as a partner for a long time on it and we’re excited to get everything finished up.”
Suwannee County’s funding will go for work on County Road 250, DeSantis announced during the press conference.
By JAMIE WACHTER on Friday, July 19, 2024Subhead
BOCC agrees to pay $27K to restore building permit info.
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LIVE OAK — The Suwannee County Building Department is still trying to rebuild its system following storms in May.
The Suwannee County Commission unanimously — Chairman Travis Land was not able to attend the meeting — approved a $27,000 payment Tuesday to help the building department recover lost permit data that was wiped when storms on May 10 took out the department’s server and backup, according to County Administrator Greg Scott.
According to Scott, St. Louis-based Fields Data Recovery will be able to fully recover the information lost from that crash.
“When you restore, you have layers as you collect information and they have to take the pieces apart and put it back together,” Scott said, confirming to Commissioner Leo Mobley his understanding that the company would fully restore all the information.
“Basically they take the data that was lost and reconfigure it so we can restore what was gone.”
Commissioner Don Hale asked if Fields Data Recovery had already performed the work, noting the building department was back up and running.
That isn’t the case, Scott said, noting there are still a lot of old permits that have not been recovered.
“We’re still limping,” he said. “There’s a lot of old information we can’t retrieve.”
Scott also said, in responding to Commissioner Maurice Perkins’ question, that the county would be looking into an insurance claim to cover the cost since it came during the storm.
That isn’t the only issue with the building department that was discussed during Tuesday’s meeting.
Both Elizabeth Sapp and Treea Foster aired issues with staff in the building department during the meeting, including poor service and a lack of timeliness in issuing permits.
“I’m sick of going into that place and being rude to and our permits are six, eight, 10, 12 weeks out,” Sapp said. “When you go in there, it’s like you’re imposing on them when they’re there to do a job.”
Foster reiterated some of the same issues.
“The way I was treated today and the phone call I received after I left, I don’t appreciate it,” she said. “I think changes need to be made.”
Foster said there is a permit that she turned an application in for in April for a mobile home that still has not been processed.
Both said the inaction in the building department is affecting their livelihoods, asking the commissioners to take action.
“I can assure you it’s being looked into,” Vice Chairman Franklin White told Sapp, before telling Foster that he had spoken to Scott after talking to her earlier in the day. “There are some things in the works to alleviate the problem.”
MAX MILLAGE REMAINS 9 MILLS
Also in Tuesday’s meeting, the board set its not-to-exceed, tentative millage at 9 mills, the same rate the county has used to tax property owners for the past 11 years.
According to Barry Baker, the county’s clerk of court and comptroller, the county’s roll-back rate, or tax rate that would generate the same amount of tax revenue as the current rate, was 8.528 mills.
Setting the rate at 9 mills is 5.5% above the roll-back rate.
Baker stressed to the board that it can lower the millage rate at any point during the budget process up through the final budget hearing. However, the rate could not be increased from the value set at Tuesday’s meeting.
“I say leave it where it is until we have the budget hearings,” Commissioner Leo Mobley said.
The tentative rate would generate nearly $1.25 million more than the roll-back rate.
BUDGET HEARINGS SET FOR SEPTEMBER
The board also approved its budget hearing dates in September.
The county’s tentative hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 5, at 5:05 p.m. at the Judicial Annex, 218 Parshley Street SW in Live Oak.
The final hearing will be Monday, Sept. 23, also at 5:05 p.m. at the Judicial Annex.
By JAMIE WACHTER on Saturday, September 7, 2024Subhead
Tourism marketing efforts garner county Flagler Awards.
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LIVE OAK — Suwannee County’s efforts to attract visitors is officially one of the best in the state.
During the Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism last week at the Tampa Convention Center, the Suwannee County Tourist Development Council received a pair of Flagler Awards from Visit Florida. The awards, named for Henry Flagler, recognized outstanding tourism marketing in the state.
“Very honored to receive the best of the best, so to speak, in rural, but then also Best of Show,” Jimmy Norris, Suwannee County’s TDC director, said Wednesday about the awards. “It was very unexpected.”
Suwannee County was honored for its “Soul of Suwannee” campaign, which was launched with the help of the Suwannee County TDC’s advertising partner, Madden Media.
“Our objective was to establish Suwannee County as the quintessential small-town retreat, ideal for those seeking a serene getaway infused with numerous opportunities for outdoor adventure and nature immersion,” Charissa Setzer, Suwannee County TDC Marketing Coordinator, said about that award-winning marketing campaign.
That campaign was tops in the Rural Category, which included all types of advertising (print, internet, mobile, social media, television, radio, etc.) for all 30 counties across the state that are designated as rural. That includes some areas with budgets that are six to seven times larger than Suwannee County’s TDC budget, Setzer noted.
The “Soul of Suwannee” campaign success, though, led to a second Henry Award as well, as Suwannee County also captured the Best of Show award for those with annual budgets less than $150,000.
Norris said he and Setzer were so busy celebrating the first award win with their partners from Madden Media at the conference that they didn’t even hear them being named the Best of Show winner.
“Somebody said, ‘Hey, go, go, go,’” he said. “I looked up and they had Suwannee County up there for Best of Show. We didn’t even hear them announce it. We were just so excited to win the first one.”
Setzer added that the awards are not just for her and Norris and their office, but rather was a collaborative effort.
“We are thrilled to have Suwannee County recognized by the state,” Setzer said in a release. “This has been a team effort and we couldn’t have done it without the support of the TDC board and also the Commissioners.
By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, June 19, 2024Subhead
390 acres near I-10, 129 selected for site.
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LIVE OAK — After withstanding Hurricane Idalia last fall, Suwannee County and the State of Florida are hoping to be better prepared for potential future storms.
The Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners announced Tuesday night its intent on purchasing 390 acres just north of Interstate 10 along U.S. Highway 129 to house Project Summit, a regional emergency shelter for North Florida. The board will vote on the $5.5 million purchase at its Aug. 6 meeting.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has already approved $2.5 million toward the project in the state’s budget he signed last week, which will be used for the purchase. The county will be requesting $4.5 million out of the state’s revolving loan fund to close out the purchase as well as begin development of the property. The commission unanimously authorized County Administrator Greg Scott to apply for that funding.
There is no set timeframe on completing the project, which County Attorney Adam Morrison said is entirely a state project as far as constructing the facility.
But Commission Chairman Travis Land said when the state approached Suwannee County officials last fall after Idalia hit with the desire to put a regional shelter in Suwannee County, it was a no-brainer to jump on board and try to identify a property that would work and meet the state’s guidelines — a large tract of land within a half a mile of the interstate.
“As a commissioner, if North Florida is getting a shelter, why would I not want the families in Suwannee County to have the convenience of it being in Suwannee County instead of sending them to Lake City or Madison,” Land said.
Franklin White, who was the board’s chairman when the county was first approached about the shelter, agreed with Land.
“What an opportunity for Suwannee County,” White said. “This has just been a no-brainer for me from the get go.”
Commissioner Maurice Perkins added: “You can’t lose with it.”
Morrison said if Suwannee County said no, the state would have looked elsewhere as it had determined the need for a shelter in the area.
“We just get the first crack at it,” Morrison said.
In a June 11 letter to the county commission, Kevin Guthrie, the state’s Division of Emergency Management director, thanked Suwannee County for its “leadership” in agreeing to host the shelter.
“Each disaster Florida experiences provides lessons learned in how we can continue to improve our disaster response capabilities,” Guthrie wrote in the letter. “In the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, we learned that a regional shelter is necessary in the North Florida area.”
The regional shelter would serve all of North Florida in the event of another storm impacting the area like Idalia. Residents from all surrounding counties, including Columbia, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison and Taylor counties, could be housed at the site. It also will lessen the need for counties in the area to depend on school buildings as shelters. Suwannee County and most of the other rural counties in the area use schools as shelters during storm events.
Additionally, the shelter will be able to be utilized by the state as a safe place to evacuate from other areas when storms arrive.
“Having such a large shelter easily accessible off Interstate 10 will be welcome relief for many people,” Guthrie added in the letter.
How large that shelter will be is still unknown, according to county officials.
Land said the state, though, did advise “Team Suwannee” to visit the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus in Pasco County, which also was originally constructed and designed as a regional shelter.
That facility is 98,000 square feet and is utilized during non-emergency situations as an indoor sports facility with 70,000 square feet of hardwood floor arena space that attracts basketball, volleyball, cheerleading and gymnastics events to the Wesley Chapel site when it is not being needed for emergency use.
Suwannee County will be able to use its shelter, once constructed, for other functions as well.
“The most important thing is it’s going to be a shelter,” Morrison said. “But there has to be something to do with the property when there’s not a storm.”
Land said it has not been determined what that use would be.
Whatever it ends up being, though, the county plans for the shelter facility to generate enough money to pay off that state loan used to help finalize the purchase. It is negotiating the repayment terms so that no money is paid back until the shelter is constructed.
“The project will fund itself,” Land said.
And, the county expects, it will fund much more. It was also serve as a magnet for other development. The Pasco County site has led to an influx of restaurants, hotels and other retail spaces in the near vicinity.
“If we can come up with a design and a plan and everybody can agree to what this should be under blue skies, think about the economic impact that thing could have over the next 25 years and the financial benefit that comes from that to the county and to the community,” he added.
The worst-case scenario for Suwannee County, according to Morrison, will be if the state changes its mind. As a state project, it will be funding the construction of the facility through the Division of Emergency Management. Should the state not fund it, the county would instead just sell the property at some point in the future and recoup its money for that purchase, plus some, Morrison said.
“Suwannee County would be up $2.5 million,” he said, noting the state appropriation toward the purchase.
Well Done Suwannee Commission
At the regular county commission meeting of June 18thit was announced that the State of Florida Emergency Management had selected Suwannee County as a site for a regional shelter provided the county purchase 390 acres close to I-10 and 129. The state will give a grant for a portion of the purchase and will also float a loan to the county for the remainder of the purchase. The real up side is the state will pay for and build the facility and it will be owned by the county to manage. In the end the facility will belong to the county to use as they see fit. In my opinion this is a win win for the county. The commissioners have been working on this agreement for a year. There are lots of positive things going on behind the scenes that will help the county grow in a controlled manner, this is a big one. Thank you county commissioners for working so hard to better our community.
Wayne F. Hannaka
Concerned Citizens of North Florida
By JAMIE WACHTER on Friday, July 5, 2024SubheadBOCC also may take ownership of historic building.Image
BodyLIVE OAK — The Suwannee County Historical Museum is not a part of history itself.Facing the “breaking point” with its budget due to costly repairs and drastic insurance increases on its 121-year-old building, the Suwannee County Historical Commission received a much-needed lifeline from the Suwannee County Commission on Tuesday with more help possibly to come in the future.At the request of Eric Musgrove, the Historical Commission chairman, the BOCC agreed by a 4-0 vote to provide $5,000 immediately to get the museum through the remainder of the fiscal year. During the county’s budget workshops coming up, the BOCC will also discuss possibly taking over ownership of the historic building as well. Commissioner Maurice Perkins, a member of the Historical Commission board, abstained from voting on the matter.“I think the museum is an asset,” BOCC Chairman Travis Land said. “We certainly don’t want to sit and watch that old building rot and decay because you’re unable to take care of it.”The need for the county to do so is a result of various factors, Musgrove said in a presentation to the county commission. For starters, Musgrove said rental revenues have been reduced since covid-19 with its front office space no longer rented out and rentals of the back dock on the Atlantic Coast Line Freight Station for events still not back to pre-covid levels.On top of that, the building has needed a slew of repairs the past year to remain safe as well as meet fire codes, including the addition of a rear exit and steps and repairs to flooring as well as brick and mortar repairs.“These expenses were more than we had prepared for,” Musgrove said. “Those prices have gone through the roof.”The biggest impact, though, has been felt in insurance costs, Musgrove said. When the Historical Commission, which was created in 1980 and was deed the building in 1991, began paying its own premiums in 2015, the cost of insuring the building was $975 for that year. The current premium is nearly $21,000, double its cost from the previous year.“Our budget was never meant to take such a hit,” he said. “Every year we’ve taken a hit on insurance.“It has basically taken us to the breaking point. At this current rate, we’re not going to be able to meet our financial obligations until the end of the fiscal year.”That insurance cost would be reduced, Musgrove said, if the county were to take over ownership of the building as it would be lumped in with the remainder of the county’s facilities. While the Historical Commission is a joint venture between the county and the City of Live Oak, Musgrove said the city was OK with the county taking over ownership of the building, possibly as part of Suwannee Parks and Recreation, which is another joint effort between the county and the city.Musgrove added the county’s maintenance department could probably handle some of the upkeep on its own, representing another cost savings.The Historical Commission would continue to operate the museum in the building, while both the dock and the front office could continue to be used for rentals.Commissioner Don Hale agreed the county needed to do whatever it could to protect the building and its contents.“It’s not only the building that could go to waste, it’s our history of Suwannee County,” he said. “It’s why we’re here because of that and what it represents.”
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