WHITE SPRINGS

Mayor Refuses Resignation Request

By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com WHITE SPRINGS — A week after storming out of a special town meeting to find an interim manager, the White Springs mayor refused to leave that seat as easily. During the council’s meeting Tuesday night, Vice Mayor Nicole Williams requested Mayor Tonja Brown resign her position as mayor while remaining on the council based on her actions at the June 12 meeting and other inappropriate steps the mayor has taken, Williams said. Brown refused. “I’m not stepping down,” Brown said. Williams had said if Brown refused, she would lead to have the council take a vote to remove her. However, the rest of the council desired to end the discussion on the matter. “We’ll table this and end it for now,” said Williams, who called Brown’s departure from the previous meeting as her “storming out like a child.” The move to end the discussion on removing Brown as the mayor came after Councilman Robert Gamsby said he thought it was an “extreme first step for disciplinary action.” Gamsby, who had previously requested the council begin holding weekly meetings in order to keep the meetings shorter and more timely instead of the marathon sessions the council has been enduring, said he would like to see additional training and the council try to work through the issues first. He added that with Elmon “Lee” Garner set to begin Monday as the town’s interim manager, that would also alleviate some of the issues. Currently the town has no clerk or manager. “She’s been jumping on grenades coming in the front door,” Gamsby said of Brown. “She’s made some mistakes. I have too. We all have. Let’s try to fix it and then move forward.” Gamsby said for the town to properly move forward with any such step, it would need to investigate Williams’ claims and have documentation to make that decision. Williams said those mistakes have i n c l u d e d calling a staff meeting and threatening to fire a town employee, potentially creating a hostile work environment, as well as allegedly opening town mail not addressed to her. But Williams also said she was “very disappointed” in Brown’s behavior at the special meeting when she left shortly after opening the meeting. Brown tried to immediately adjourn the session, saying she wasn’t ready to interview candidates and that the packet of information provided to the council was not organized. The rest of the council said Tuesday that it had organized packets, which also had been online for two weeks. “As the vice mayor, a member of the White Springs Town Council and a citizen of this beautiful town, it is my duty to protect the town, its citizens and its interests,” Williams said. “White Springs has suffered significant damaged and we’re diligently working to repair our town’s reputation and rebuild our community’s relationship. “I am regretfully, yet respectfully, asking you to resign your position as town mayor. This, in my opinion, would be in the best interest of the town and the council, allowing us to move forward with integrity and cohesion.” INTERIM MANAGER ARRIVING Garner arrives in town Monday to begin his stint of up to six months as the town’s interim manager. Garner was the council’s backup choice for the interim position behind former Fort White Town Clerk Connie Brecheen. Brecheen, though, declined the position Friday. Garner brings with him 39 years of city management experience, including a five-month term as interim manager in Palatka in 2019. He most recently has served as the manager in Sneads for three-plus years. The council plans to hold a welcome reception for Garner on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Suwannee Hardware & Feed, 10572 Bridge Street, in conjunction with a Hamilton County Chamber of Commerce event at the White Springs landmark.  

County seeks SAFER grant to expand fire service

tbritt@lakecityreporter.com LIVE OAK — Suwannee County Fire Rescue is poised to go through a whirlwind of changes in the near future by adding new trucks, upgrading fire stations, building at least one new station and plans to add more than a dozen more firefighters, while keeping the fire assessment fee as low as possible. D u r i n g T u e s d a y n i g h t ’ s Suwannee C o u n t y Commission meeting, Suwannee County Fire Chief Dan Miller gave a 20-minute presentation laying out his plans. Key among Miller’s plan is to apply for a federal SAFER Grant, which can be used to fund additional personnel for three years at a reduced cost to the county and would only equate to a $31 fire assessment fee increase for residents. Miller said it’s been a great year for SCFR in past 12 months including changes like building a new station north of town, looking at redistributing assets, personnel reorganization and internal promotions. “its lots of moving parts,” he said. “The next step in this is we’re going to need to open the new station, so I need more positions. In order to get the positions, we’ve got to pay for them. So, instead of burdening the citizens with more tax and more increase on them, we’ve developed ways over the year on how to generate other revenue streams. Approximately $1.3 million is needed to fund 15 new positions. Miller said the partnership with Air Methods on Suwannee Air Rescue will be a big revenue generator. He’s also suggested adjusting some ambulance rates and medicare costs to increase funding, plus an interlocal agreement with the Town of Branford will all bring in additional funding. “The SAFER Grant is a way of getting funding for three years to cover the expense of those added positions,” he said following Tuesday evening’s commission meeting. “In year four, whatever department gets it, you have to cover that expense 100%. With other revenue streams we were able to generate, the cost to the citizen is a $31 increase. “The Safer Grant would be a shot in the arm. It would allow us to get the positions, but that’s just Step 1.” While Miller noted that just having the open positions won’t guarantee an influx of job applications, he did said having 15 more people in his department will make a huge difference for the county. “That breaks up into three battalions, an extra five people per day. Currently we have 20 people on a day, so we’ll go from 20 people to 25 in staffing, daily,” he said. “Two more ambulances and another fire truck staffed is what we’ll be able to do with that 15.” Miller, who has been in the position for 11 months, noted that the department’s newest truck has already arrived and firefighters equipping the unit, which is a 105-foot long ladder truck which costs $1.3 million. Another truck has been planned for the fire station in McAlpin next year. “McAlpin is getting a brand new fire station — ground up built fire station,” Miller said. “Pending the budget gets approved, my plan is to start construction on that hopefully by the end this year,” Miller said. “They’re currently in a double-wide mobile home that we have to evacuate and close down every time a storm comes by. It was a temporary structure that’s been temporary for how many years now?” Plans also call for additional personnel at the Dowling Park station and a new living area. The station in Wellborn is also slated to get improvements. “We’ve added people to that station this year, added a truck there and we need to put an awning in the back to park the truck under so it’s protected and do some remodels,” Miller said. The new Suwannee County Fire Rescue Station on the north end is expected to be completed this year, by Oct. 1, after the building was retrofitted to serve as a fire department. The new Station 6 will serve 75 square miles of Suwannee County, inclusive of 2,044 structures, 148 road miles and 3,137 parcels. The structures and property in the coverage area has a $338,870,153 value. “It will be ready to open in September or October, but I don’t have the people to open it,” Miller said. “If I’m not able to secure the funding or the SAFER Grant or the (revenue) increase, we’ll have to figure out a way to get the 15 positions somewhere. “The administration and commission in Suwannee County is just amazing,” Miller continued. “They truly care about the citizens and they want to make sure every tax dollar is accounted for. It’s awesome.” Suwannee County commissioners unanimously approved Miller’s request to apply for SAFER Grant funding. The application deadline is July 3. 

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, June 18, 2025Subhead

Budget includes $3.7M for Lafayette; $2M in Hamilton.

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LIVE OAK - The regional storm shelter eyed for the north side of Live Oak has more than $4 million in state funding scheduled to help firm up those plans.

The state’s $115.1 billion budget passed by the Florida Legislature on Monday evening after failing to pass the budget during its normal 60-day session, leading to an extension into the middle of June, includes $4.86 million in projects for Suwannee County, $3.785 million geared for local items in Lafayette County and $2.085 million for Hamilton County.

The budget now heads to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who holds line item veto power, ahead of the July 1 start to the new fiscal year.

“We’re excited,” Suwannee County Administrator Greg Scott said. “Especially in somewhat of a lean year for the region.”

The bulk of the funding headed to Suwannee County is for the planning of the regional storm shelter, which was awarded to the county last year with funding from the state to help with the purchase of 390 acres of land just north of the Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 129 interchange.

This year the legislature awarded $3,304,635 toward the master planning and design of the shelter, which the county expects to request for an additional $20 million toward the construction in future years.

An additional $1 million was appropriated for the utility design plan for the shelter.

That funding would provide the engineering and design on extending both water and wastewater utilities from the city’s system to the shelter site.

“It will work out just like it is supposed to,” Scott added. “We have to be gracious for what we get. The good Lord will bring it to us when it’s time.

“It’s headed in the right direction.”

The other funding for Suwannee County is to benefit the Live Oak Fire Department with the purchase of a new fire truck. The LOFD received $558,054 for an E-One fire engine, half of what the department requested.

The LOFD’s current fire engine is 34 years old and “beyond ready for retirement life,” according to a funding request filed by Shoaf. The new engine would help with safety, emissions, serviceability and and reliability.

County still supports utility group Regional approach favored by state agencies for funding. By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com LIVEOAK — The North Florida Water Utilities Authority is still full-speed ahead. Following 90 minutes of discussion about the authority, which consists of Suwannee and Columbia counties, Tuesday night, the Suwannee County Commission moved on to other business. Commissioner Don Hale had requested the discussion to gather additional information and have questions answered about the independent district and its potential impact on the county moving forward. Hale told the Reporter last week that he was possibly looking at a six-month pause on the NFWUA’s operations, notably hiring Shannon Roberts out of Suwannee County’s administration to serve as its initial director. There was no talk from the commission about slowing down the NFWUA on Tuesday night. “It’s like I always said, ‘It’s an investment,’” said Suwannee County Commission Vice Chairman Franklin White, who is a member of the NFWUA board.

The lengthy discussion began with Hale laying out several concerns, including what impact the authority ty would have on current grant-funded infrastructure projects at Suwannee County’s Catalyst Site, what would happen to the current contractors conducting the required testing at the county’s utility plants, the rate study the authority is having performed and what the impact is on the seed money the two counties are currently putting into the NFWUA to fund its operations and what the county’s plan is to replace Roberts, who oversees the county’s grant writing and grant administration process. On replacing Roberts, who was hired Wednesday morning by the NFWUA as its director, County Administrator Greg Scott said while Roberts will be missed, he was confident the county would be able to move forward success fully in still obtaining and administering grants. “We have other grant writers who are available that we can tap into,” Scott said, including some of the engineering firms that have continuing contracts with the county as well as a lobbyist that is contracted to help the county. “Shannon will be missed, but I feel very confident that with Shannon’s help continuing on through the utility and the staff we have in place and contractors we can make things happen. Not really concerned at all with that.” Land added that he would like to see the county move away from an in-house grant writer and utilize outside firms to handle that work. He said additional manpower from those firms should lead to a quicker turnaround on projects being completed. “I can get vertical and get in business quicker,” Land said. Roberts provided the board and the packed room at the Judicial Annex with an overview of the benefits of the two counties forming the authority, especially its focus on a regional approach to utilities, something that state agencies prefer and are more likely to provide funding for, he said. He added that the NFWUA would be a trusted partner with both counties — and any future members — when it comes to economic development projects. He said that growth is vital to the success of the authority in obtaining more clients. He said he hoped to pattern its working relationship with the counties to that of Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative. “I don’t know of a single economic development project in this county where (SVEC CEO) Mike (McWaters) and his team have let us down by refusing to or not having infra structure delivered to support a project,” he said. Both Roberts and Rocky Ford, a Columbia County commissioner who chairs the NFWUA board, added that the goal for the authority is to remove politics from the utility operations, something it hopes to do down the road by having fewer elected officials on its board. They also admitted that mistakes have been made in previous decisions since the authority was created a year ago that have caused delays in finding its footing. “The executive director role probably should have been filled earlier because that individual can help drive that process,” he said. Several members of the public, notably Wayne Hannaka, voiced their concerns with the authority and the amount of money being spent on its opera tions currently. Hannaka suggested an alternative path forward instead of the regional utility and that would be the county letting the City of Live Oak operate its utilities. City Manager Larry Sessions said the city could handle that on a small scale but not on a larger scale moving forward like the NFWUA hopes to eventually do. Sessions, who is also a member of the Suwannee River Water Management District governing board and agreed that a region al approach is supported by state groups, said he could envision the NFWUA becoming much larger. “I could see this utility, if it gets off the ground, having about 10 counties in it, giving it a little clout in Tallahassee,” he said, listing off Suwannee, Columbia, Hamilton, Lafayette, Baker, Dixie, Gilchrist, Madison, Taylor and Union county as the area situated between Jacksonville and Tallahassee that could benefit from working together. “I think there is strength in numbers. I think if you’re going to have the utility, make it bigger. But in the end, combining forces, we’re all going to be better.” Still, Hannaka said he didn’t see the authority as a wise move forward. He asked the commissioners, as businessmen, would they invest in a business that doesn’t have a track record, doesn’t have a business plan or a strategic plan, no assets, no funding other than what the two counties provide and few customers. “I don’t think you would,” he said. Land, though, later disagreed. “Would I invest in this utility myself? I’d do it because my grandkids would be happy one day, I guarantee you that,” Land said 

By JAMIE WACHTER on Friday, March 21, 2025Subhead

Newly created position will focus on project management.

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LIVE OAK — Help is on the way for Suwannee County’s administration.

The Suwannee County Commission unanimously approved creating an assistant county administrator position to work alongside County Administrator Greg Scott at the end of its meeting Tuesday.

That position will be advertised internally first, Scott said, before he would look to bring in someone from outside the county’s operations.

There is no timetable for when a hire will be made, but Scott doesn’t expect it to alter the county’s current budget.

“I’m motivated to try and find the right person, quickly if I can,” Scott said Thursday about the process of finding that assistant administrator. “If I can find the right one that can grow and learn what I know and then do better than me where they’re the natural fit as the next administrator, then I’ve done a better service for the county to do the legwork ahead of time.

“It’s exciting times for us, I think. We have a lot of opportunity ahead of us. We get the right people on board, it will really streamline things.”

Scott noted if the hire is made internally, the budget impact would be minimized by the person’s current salary. He also added that there are funds available with Jimmy Norris’ recent resignation as economic development director.

Scott asked the board for permission to seek an assistant administrator as a way to make the county’s operation more efficient. He said too many of the projects the county is working on aren’t getting done as quickly as he’d like.

“We can get closer to projects and get them moving,” he said. “It would lighten the load on the day-to-day things that I have and clean up processes and get more efficient.”

On Thursday, Scott added: “I’m chasing rabbits all day and you can’t really get work done unless you have someone to do the work while you’re chasing rabbits…The problem we’ve always ran into, you’re always working on that thing and you don’t have time to do strategic planning or thinking.”

While Scott mentioned the assistant administrator would oversee some departments during Tuesday’s meeting, he said Thursday that most of the county’s departments are basically self-sufficient and don’t need much oversight.

Instead, he said he views the position’s focus as more on project management and project development, as well as monitoring budgets and providing assistance to any departments when necessary.

“Making sure we have the right consultants or the right staff making projects get done,” Scott said. “We’ve got projects stacked up for awhile and we can’t get out of our way sometimes.”

The commissioners were on board with that direction, noting the county’s growth will mean the need for more staff to provide services.

“Were getting to the size of organization and community growing and demand on that office…it’s something that needs to be discussed,” Commissioner Don Hale said.

In addition to seeking permission to add that position, Scott informed the board that he had officially made Charissa Setzer the county’s economic development coordinator. Setzer, who has been the marketing coordinator for the county’s Tourist Development office, which is combined with the economic development office, will oversee the day-to-day operations in economic development through the end of the legislative session or possibly even the end of the state’s fiscal year in June.

“She’s very capable of taking care of things,” Scott said, noting the county can make a decision later this spring or summer on how it wants to try to fill the economic development director position vacated by Norris earlier in March.

By JAMIE WACHTER on Friday, March 14, 2025Image

• Live Oak City Council President Matt Campbell said it is better for the city and, possibly, Suwannee County to find out about potential solutions to the traffic and parking problems in downtown than doing nothing. (FILE)

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LIVE OAK — The Live Oak City Council envisions a new look to downtown Live Oak.

At its Tuesday meeting, the council unanimously authorized City Manager Larry Sessions to talk with Suwannee County Administrator Greg Scott about a possible joint effort to purchase property downtown that could help lead to an extra lane in both directions on Ohio Avenue (U.S. Highway 129) as well as have discussions with the Florida Department of Transportation about those traffic changes.

“I don’t think it’s any secret there’s definitely issues with through traffic especially on 129,” Council President Matt Campbell said. “It’s been a battle, it’s fair to say, with DOT about eliminating the turn lane and making it not only a turn lane there on 129 and 90.

“I think it’s needed.”

Sessions said the traffic there and the turn lane is one of his top issues to discuss with DOT officials.

The discussion was requested by Campbell who said he wanted to see if perhaps two problems could be solved at one time through the joint effort.

Campbell said by possibly purchasing two properties along the west side of Ohio Avenue in between the Suwannee County Courthouse and the old post office, the buildings could be demolished to make way for additional parking in the downtown corridor.

That additional parking would offset a possible elimination of on-street parking along Ohio Avenue, which could make way for the extra travel lanes.

“I think we have some opportunities to alleviate all the problems,” Campbell said.

Campbell also noted that there could be some pushback from business owners who would lose the parking in front of their businesses. He added the additional parking could also make the vacant post office more attractive to potential buyers and developers.

Other councilors, while supporting Sessions having the discussions with Scott and looking into the cost of the purchases, also had concerns about the total cost of the project.

Councilwoman Gladys Owens noted in addition to a purchase price, there also would be the cost of demolition. Councilwoman Vanessa Robinson said purchasing those buildings would also tax those properties off the tax rolls, negating potential revenue from the city as well.

“I’m not sure it’s the best idea at this time,” she said.

Councilman Tommie Jefferson pointed out that the first phase of the Heritage Square project on the northern side of the railroad tracks in downtown included public parking alongside the Suwannee County Historical Museum.

Still, Campbell said he thought the proposal was worth considering to eliminate the traffic congestion that plagues the downtown area. The extra lane would allow additional traffic to move through the Ohio Avenue and Howard Street (U.S. 90) interchange where currently there is only one lane of through traffic in each direction as well as a turn lane.

“Anything I think we can do is better than sitting here and doing nothing,” he said. “It’s not going to fix itself.”

Resident Cheryl Pruitt thanked Campbell for the idea, noting traffic is horrible on U.S. 129.

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By JAMIE WACHTER on Friday, February 14, 2025ImageSmall Image

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LIVE OAK — Despite concerns from both residents and a pair of council members, the City of Live Oak is moving forward with bigger trash cans and an increased cost for pickup.

During its meeting Tuesday night, the Live Oak City Council approved by a 4-1 vote the second reading of an ordinance to increase the monthly fee for solid waste pickup $2.50 to $24.17 per month. As part of that fee, the city will provide all residents one 96-gallon trash can.

Commercial customers in the city who do not use dumpsters will also get just one of the larger trash cans for its base charge of $67.11, also a $2.50 increase. Previously, commercial customers were allowed four 32-gallon cans.

Vanessa Brown Robinson, the lone councilor to vote against the change, expressed that concern during board discussion.

“We’re giving them less and charging them more,” she said. “I’m concerned that we’re charging more for less.”

Gladys Owens, who did vote for the ordinance, also had concerns about that, particularly for businesses in the city. Owens said she’d like to see the city provide a second can to those businesses at an additional $2.50 charge.

The ordinance reads any customer — residential or commercial — that needs a second can will have to pay an additional $7.50 per month.

Eight city residents also expressed their concerns about the trash change, including the potential loss of capacity.

Janice Atkins said her daughter runs a daycare business in the city. She said with the less garbage can space for the business, it could lead to a stinky problem.

“Think of how many diapers will be on the ground with only one trash can,” she said.

Shanice Brown, who said she had experience with the more automated trash pickup service when she lived in Miami, told the council that with just one can, the city needed to expand its pickup. Currently, the city only provides pickup one time per week without an additional charge. Brown said there needed to be at least two pickups weekly.

“It’s not 1997,” she said, noting that many residents do shopping now through Amazon and have countless boxes to throw away. “Everything has trash.”

City Manager Larry Sessions, though, tried to tell the concerned residents multiple times that the city needed to move forward with the services it provides. He added that currently nobody knows how the process will work until the city gets started. According to the ordinance, it will go into effect March 1.

“This is all new to us,” he said, adding that city calculations determined less than 10% of all customers would possibly need a second can. He also said the city is providing the first can where previously people had to provide their own.

NEW P&Z MEMBER

The council also filled the final seat on its seven-member planning and zoning board during the meeting, selecting Adam Collins, an engineer for that spot.

Collins was appointed by a 3-2 vote with Robinson and Owens dissenting.

Robinson had made a motion to appoint Patricia Bennett to the board, which Owens provided the second. That potential appointment, though, failed by a 3-2 vote. Bennett is the bookkeeper of Bennett’s Glass.

Tommie Jefferson then made a motion to appoint Kenny Beasley. That motion died for lack of a second. Beasley works for the Suwannee County Road Department.

HALE CHANGE BACKED

The council also provided consensus to Jason Furry, the director of the Suwannee County Parks and Recreation Department, of supporting the possibility of demolishing and rebuilding the John Hale Community Center instead of renovating the facility.

The city has allocated $100,000 toward restrooms at the center. The Live Oak Pilgrim’s is contributing $75,000 in addition to the $808,614 Florida Commerce Multi-Purpose Community Facility grant that the county received for the project.

After the Suwannee County Commission approved the grant and discussed building a new building at its Feb. 4 meeting, Furry also said he felt it was a better option if the numbers make sense.

The current building was constructed in 1957.

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, January 29, 2025ImageSmall Image

Norris

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LIVE OAK — The new year has brought some new interest in Suwannee County from potential businesses.

That has Jimmy Norris, the county’s economic development director, hopeful not just for a great 2025 but for a great stretch of years coming up.

“We’re positive in our mindset,” Norris said. “It appears as if there’s been more activity. The phone has been ringing a little more. We’re hopeful that’s a great sign for the future.

“We’re hoping this will be a great next several years, not just in 2025 but the next several years.”

That optimism stems not just from those additional calls and revived interest after a slower 2024, Norris said. With last year’s election out of the way and the possibility of interest rates dropping in the months ahead, even some projects that had already chosen Suwannee County as a future home may resume those developments.

Norris said county officials heard from a number of companies last year that they were pushing back on plans to expand and develop for several months or until the new year.

If interest rates do drop, Norris said that should help lead to those plans picking back up.

“The cost of doing business just kept escalating for those companies,” he said. “It just doesn’t make sense. We understand that. We know this is a marathon, not a sprint.”

While some of those projects — Project Shark and Project Snowman as well as Wave Armor, which broke ground before pulling back — have stalled their plans while waiting for a better economic climate for development, the county has not.

Norris pointed to the continued infrastructure improvements the county is progressing with at its Catalyst Site west of Live Oak as an example. Water mains are currently being extended from the plant at the site both to the west and to the east. The plan is for those lines to be extended to the eastern side of the Interstate 10 interchange at U.S. Highway 90.

Additionally, the county is currently having a wastewater plant for the park designed and completed a master plan for the whole area last year. That plan includes not only the water and wastewater projects, but also natural gas, fiber internet and additional roadways.

“That has helped us identify where we’re going, which direction we need to go in,” Norris said. “When people see that, I think they’ll understand how important that site is to us and how seriously we’re taking it.”

While some of those projects at the Catalyst Site have slowed down, the commercial and retail development along the U.S. 129 corridor near I-10 on the north side of Live Oak certainly has not. IN the past year, a Huddle House, Firehouse Subs and Starbucks have opened right at the I-10 interchange. A Mavis Tire is currently under construction in an out parcel in front of the Publix just south of the interchange and more development is planned for that area, including a Wawa, Chick-fil-A, Ellianos Coffee and Tidal Wave Auto Spa.

“We’re working real hard to still support other stuff coming out here and there’s quite a bit coming,” Norris said. “We’re talking with several people about development north of town and at some of the interchanges on the commercial side. That remains steady.”

So does the county’s continued push on a major project north of the I-10/U.S. 129 interchange. The county was selected last year by the state to host a regional storm shelter with the county purchasing 390 acres for that project.

Norris said the county has issued a request for qualifications to do the design of the shelter. The county also has sought support from surrounding communities for the project as it awaits additional state funding for the construction.

“It would be an economic driver, not just for Suwannee but for the whole entire area,” Norris said. “We’re really hopeful in about three years we’ll have something sitting out there on top of that hill.”

Even prior to that, Norris is hopeful the county will have additional good news on other projects, including one possibly announced later this year at the catalyst site.

“We’re very positive about what we’ve got going,” he said.

 Suwannee  administration  moves back  downtown By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com LIVE OAK —  The hub  of government activity in  downtown Live Oak now  also includes Suwannee  County’s administration. Early last month, the  c o u n t y ’ s  admini s t r a t i v e  office was  moved to  the second  floor of the  c o u n t y ’ s  Building Department office,  224 Pine Ave. It was a move  that had been planned far  earlier before Hurricanes  Debby and Helene delayed  that action. “It wasn’t a priority right  then,” Suwannee County  Administrator Greg Scott  said this week about the  delay in the move. It’s a move, though, that  Scott had wanted to make  in order for the county to  better serve its residents. With the administrative  office now downtown, residents can conduct most all  of their government business within a few steps.  The Suwannee County  Courthouse, including the  annex with the tax collector’s office and property  appraiser’s office, is right  across the street from  administration and the  building department. The  Supervisor of Elections  office is right next door and  the Economic Development  office is also right there. “The intent is being  accessible for folks,” Scott  said. “It makes the hub of  county government right  there.” The move provided an  added benefit, though.  After years of sharing space  in the public works office  near the Suwannee County  Airport on 80th Terrace,  that department now can be  more efficient. “You don’t have extra  things going on out there to  distract them,” Scott said.  “But the idea was so we can  be accessible to the public.” That move has been good,  so far, according to Scott.  But there are a few minor  details that still need to be  cleaned up. For starters,  Scott said the county’s website still needs to be updated  with the address change, as  well as letterhead. He said  earlier this week he went to  send a letter when he realized the old address was still  on the form. Still, those small tweaks  will be done and are a small  price for the benefit of better serving the people of  Suwannee County and making the government operations run better as well. “For me as an administrator, is a lot of our people  are right there,” Scott said.  “I love to be able to walk  through and speak and get  a feel for what’s going on. “What’s nice, too, is the  synergy among staffing  now that we’re together.” 

By JAMIE WACHTER on Tuesday, December 10, 2024Subhead

Christmas on the Square impacted by water main burst.

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• A construction crew takes in the scene above a ruptured water main in downtown Live Oak. (ROB WOLFE/Lake City Reporter)

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LIVE OAK — The water main leak that washed out a portion of Christmas on the Square has been repaired.

But Live Oak City Manager Larry Sessions said more help is needed to take care of the larger infrastructure issues in the city that helped led to the problem that opened up in the intersection of U.S. Highway 90 (Howard Street) and U.S. Highway 129 (Ohio Avenue) in downtown Friday.

“If we’re fixing leaks all the time, how can we spend time to really fix the problem by building,” Sessions said Monday afternoon, noting the leak was resolved over the weekend with a sleeve placed over the broken pipe as a temporary solution.

The bigger problem is the city’s 100-year-old infrastructure, which Sessions noted, has been having multiple failures all over the city recently.

“Lately, every day, multiple ones, all over town,” Sessions said of leaks, noting there currently were other leaks Monday on Mussey Avenue, Duval Street and Miller Street.

Even prior to the break in the main intersection in the city Friday, which led to the snow slide portion of Snow on the Square shut down Friday night and the lighted Christmas parade to close out the community’s three-day Christmas festival Saturday night to be detoured, another issue arose last Thursday on Walker Avenue.

That leak led to a major pressure loss on the city that impacted the water at the Live Oak schools in the Suwannee County School District and also caused the release of a boil water notice.

In all that leak emptied a 500,000 gallon water tank along Walker by the schools, Sessions noted.

Sessions added that fixing that leak and renewed pressure on the system following it likely helped cause the issues that followed.

“I guarantee you these other leaks since Thursday has been because of the renewed pressure in the system has found new places to go,” he said. “These old pipes are brittle.

“Doing my arm like this today may not break it,” Sessions added as he pulled on his left arm. “But tomorrow it will.”

Still, the line breaking Friday during the area’s largest festival may have been a blessing in disguise, Sessions said in trying to look on a positive note. He said originally the belief was the break occurred beneath the snow slide because that is where the bulk of water showed up on the surface. He added very little was seen up in the intersection at first.

However, he said the water ran in between the asphalt and an old surface of bricks down to where the snow slide was set up where it finally burst through. A retention pond in the downtown area near Langford Stadium filled with cloudy water, Sessions said, a sign that there was a lot of limestone getting washed out prior to them finding the root of the problem.

“The event probably saved somebody,” Sessions said. “If that leak had happened at any other time, we wouldn’t have had the road closed.”

Sessions said crews were planning to pave the road where the break was fixed Monday afternoon.

With that issue repaired, Sessions now turns his attention back to trying to solve the city-wide infrastructure issues. He said it will be part of a comprehensive plan he aims to present to the Live Oak City Council in January on how to improve and grow the city.

Doing so, though, will also require funding. That will probably have to come with help from the state.

Still, Sessions said he is ready to do whatever it takes to solve the problem.

“It’s a challenge,” he said. “I’m that guy. I’m going to make it happen or die trying.”