7/2/2 City of Live Oak and Suwannee County Update

 Suwannee has $7M approved in signed budget By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com One small project in Suwannee County got cut when Gov. Ron DeSantis approved the state budget Monday. As part of the more than $800 million in line item vetoes that DeSantis cut from the state’s $117.6 billion spending plan, which went into effect Wednesday, was $350,000 toward a water line extension for the Wellborn Water System. Nearly $7 million in funding for other projects across the county remained in the budget, including more than $5 million toward the master planning and design for the regional emergency shelter that is planned for Suwannee County just north of the Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 129 interchange. That state project has already received nearly $47 million for the shelter, also dubbed Project Summit, including $38 million in December as part of funding awarded for infrastructure improvements across the state along with funding in the past two state budgets toward the land purchase and planning and design on the project, including utilities. Suwannee County also is receiving $750,000 toward replacing the McAlpin fire station to go along with $1 million in local funding toward the new station. The McAlpin station currently is a double-wide mobile home that has to be evacuated and closed during disasters such as hurricanes. The new facility would be a storm-ready facility. According to the request, the station, which is in the center of the county,  and responds to calls county-wide, would lead to better response times during states of emergencies. The county also received $475,000 —  half of the $950,000 requested —  toward the wastewater treatment plant at the Catalyst Site west of Live Oak. The funding is needed to offset price increases since the project was initially planned three years ago. The state has already provided funding for the plant through the Rural Infrastructure Fund, the Job Growth Grant Fund and from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. “This funding will support critical next steps in the construction phase of the Wastewater Treatment Plant and help us avoid delays in getting the project operational so we may support new businesses,” the request states. The county is also currently considering bonds to help pay for the cost of the new plant. The City of Live Oak is receiving $450,000 to install a hyperlocal flood monitoring sensor network and data intelligence platform. The request said the platform would lead to quicker notification to the public about flooding in the city, as well as proactive road closures to help mitigate damage. The funding would install 25 self-contained water level sensors around the city. 

 Finance transition sparks one deficiency in city audit By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com A transition in its financial department turned into a significant deficiency, according to the City of Live Oak’s independent audit. That deficiency, though, is not abnormal considering the the city losing its longtime finance director in Joanne Luther and replacing her with Tammie Girard. “This is absolutely a common finding when you have a transition of this type,” Meagan Camp with Purvis Gray, the city’s independent auditor, told the Lake City Council in a special meeting Monday to present the audit  That was the only deficiency that Purvis Gray’s review of the city’s financial statements turned up. Camp also added that the city was in stable financial condition with enough reserves to handle an emergency. Due to Luther’s retirement and Girard taking over, Camp said there were some issues with the city’s year-end closeout processes where some reconciliations weren’t done on a timely basis. She said that resulted in some material audit adjustments. “This is absolutely not out of the ordinary in a transition of this kind,” Camp said. “It’s not necessarily any issue on the part of the individual leaving the position or the new individuals coming into the position, it’s just a disconnect in terms of what is common knowledge to a finance director of 30-plus years and someone just coming into the position.” In response to questions from Councilman Tommie Jefferson, Camp reiterated that there is nobody to blame for the deficiency. Rather, she said it was the result of someone with Luther’s experience leaving and a replacement having to learn the complexities of governmental accounting. “Simply, it takes time when you go through a transition of this type to build up those processes, to build up steps and templates in ways that work for the new team coming in,” she said. While the city was a victim of a fraudulent vendor scheme early in 2025 that caused the city to lose funding, although insurance covered a portion of that loss, Camp said the audit team looked at the city’s response to that cyber attack. She said the updated policies and controls, including stricter verifications before releasing funds, were a positive step. “We have looked at it to ensure that adequate safeguards are in place,” Camp said. “These schemes are getting more and more sophisticated. This is something that is happening to everyone. It is important to be vigilant. “This is a risk that is out there. It’s not going anywhere. It’s going to get worse before it gets better and it’s never going to get better. Stay on your toes in your professional as well as your personal lives.” Camp also told the council that since the new policies have been implemented in the city, it did catch another attempt and not get hit a second time. Councilor Vanessa Brown Robinson asked Camp about the current state of internal controls within the city’s finance department, including following government accounting standards. Camp, though, said the city is in good shape. She said the only area of concern is just Girard and her team building up the steps that work for them when it comes to closing out financial statements. “We are seeing very strong culture of following those internal control processes, where they exist, to the letter,” she said. Camp added that the city’s financial condition was determined by the audit to be in a “very, very strong” position. She also said the city’s debt burden was in much better shape than most that are of similar size. The Live Oak Community Redevelopment Authority received a clean audit from Purvis Gray. Camp also presented that audit to the CRA board in a brief special meeting Monday ahead of the city meeting. 

06/22/2026 League of Voters Candidate Forum

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, June 24, 2026

• Suwannee County School Board member Ronald White, who represents District 5 and is seeking re-election, said he opposes the half-cent sales tax because of a lack of information from district officials. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Does the Suwannee County School District need a half-cent sales tax? It matters on which candidate for the Suwannee County School Board you ask.

During the Suwannee County Voters League Meet the Candidates forum at the Suwannee County Coliseum on Monday, two of the three candidates that took part opposed the district’s desire for a half-cent sales tax that will help fund facility and technology upgrades. The half-cent sales tax referendum will be voted on by voters in the November general election.

The third, District 3 candidate Malcolm Hines, said he was behind the initiative.

“I’m going to be the outlier in this because I am 100% in favor of it,” said Hines, who recently retired as an assistant superintendent from the district.

On the other side of the issue was Clifford Bean, who is also running for the District 3 seat on the school board, and District 5 board member Ronald White. White’s challenger, Aaron Bass, did not attend the forum.

“We are taxed a lot in everything that we do,” Bean said about his opposition to the half-cent sales tax measure, adding he didn’t know all the ins and outs about the initiative.

“One more tax, I would not be in favor of it. We can find the money somewhere else instead of another tax.”

White also opposed it and actually voted against placing the referendum on the November ballot. He told the approximately 50 people in attendance at Monday’s forum that he did so because he didn’t feel like the board was presented with enough information by district officials.

“I’m a business owner and I pay enough taxes as it is,” White said. “I didn’t feel like I was presented with all the information to make an educated decision to take it back to the public. I was not in favor because of a lack of information.”

Hines, though, had plenty of information on why he felt like it was needed by the district. District officials have said that the idea of trying to obtain sales tax funding was broached within the past decade but was dropped when funding came flowing into districts after the covid-19 pandemic.

Hines, who also served as the district’s director of safe schools before becoming an assistant superintendent, said the funding would help address a number of things for the district, including making sure students have the necessary tools to learn in an ever technologically-evolving world.

“We have older schools, we are one catastrophic situation away from having to figure out how we can have school,” he said, later adding that if the tax is approved, there would be a committee of community members that will help oversee and decide how the funding is spent on the eligible projects.

“From technology to facilities, making sure we improve our facilities, we want to make sure we have our kids in a safe environment, we want to make sure kids come to school and aren’t worried about a roof caving in or anything like that. All the money that would come in on that half-cent would benefit our school district.”

Part of the district’s need for that funding boost is a result of declining enrollment and the financial hit that has caused as the state has increased access to vouchers and funding for students to utilize in private and charter schools as well as home schooling.

Hines identified that as the biggest issue facing school districts across the state.

“We need to go back and reexamine some of those things (school choice) and what it means for our schools and for our county,” he said. “I’d like a reexamination of that across the state so that we can get a better handle on it and don’t drain the resources out of our public schools and shift that somewhere else.”

Bean agreed that a lack of funding was causing issues for the district, notably in athletic facilities as he pointed out he is a “sports guy,” noting he has coached for decades through the Parks and Recreation department as well as at Suwannee Middle and, now, Suwannee High. That experience has been built around supporting the youth of the community and he said he now wants to extend that support to serving on the school board.

White, though, said the biggest problem for the Suwannee County School District is that the state treats it and all the other 66 districts across the state exactly the same. White said the biggest help for local districts would be for the state to allow school boards the ability to control its own curriculum and how local schools should be handled.

“The state thinks all 67 districts are the same and they treat us all the same and they give us the same rules to play by,” White said. “The dynamics of kids from South Florida to here is totally different. It’s hard to compete with that kind of scenario when you’re trying to run a school district and you’re having to compete with these bigger school districts.

“I’d love to see local representation come back so we can control our own district.

 District 2 Commission candidates look to boost ‘good board’ By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Nothing is broken with the Suwannee County Commission but four potential members made their pitch for joining the board Monday. During a 90-minute Suwannee County Voters League Meet the Candidates forum at the Suwannee County Coliseum, four people vying for the District 2 seat on the commission touted their experience and abilities to round out the board. Three of the candidates — Stefan Blue, Cynthia Robinson and Billy White Sr. — will face off in the Aug. 18 Democratic primary while the fourth, Republican candidate Shea Deloach, will await that winner in the November general election.  During the forum, the foursome was asked what was the biggest problem in the commission and how could they fix it. All four said there is currently nothing wrong with the board. “I haven’t seen any problems but I have seen concerns,” White said, adding that includes rising fuel prices or road improvements. “The more we talk about it in a real way without somebody shutting down, then we’ll come up with solutions that will work better for the county.” Added Deloach: “I’d say we’re pretty lucky. Mr. (Maurice) Perkins did a great job, Mr. (Clyde) Fleming has done a great job, it’s just a matter of picking up where they left off and keep going in the right direction.” Robinson stressed the importance of the board members listening to each other and to their constituents because a “good servant listens to what the people want.” In fact, Blue said he knows the county has a good commission because of the praise it has received from Sen. Corey Simon (R-Tallahassee). “When you have a state senator that says this is one of the best counties he enjoys coming to and working with because of the members on our board, that says it all to me,” Blue said. Blue, a military veteran who has been serving on the county’s development authority, said he hoped to continue to build on the good relationship county officials already have with Simon as well as Rep. Jason Shoaf (R-Port St. Joe) in order to help continue addressing the community’s needs. Blue said those included getting a hospital back in Suwannee County. Shands Live Oak Regional Medical Center closed in 2020. HCA purchased the facility and now operates it as a standalone emergency-only facility. “Not having a hospital here has hindered us from getting manufacturing companies to come here,” he said. “When they come here, they look at schools, they’re looking at whether you have a hospital and other things they think you should have as a community that’s going to benefit us as a whole.” Both Robinson and White said they hoped to be the people’s voice on the board, leaning on their experiences as community leaders. Robinson, a former reporter with the Suwannee Democrat, has started a Christian radio ministry and manages a radio station while White is a church founder with two decades of military experience. White said his slogan was “Suwannee’s voice for the people’s choice.” That was a major point for Robinson, too. “I’ve spent my life listening to people,” she said. “My campaign is about something simple: listen to what our people have to say. My life has been built around giving a voice to our community.” Deloach, meanwhile, currently works as a salesman at Crystal Tractor in Live Oak. That follows experience in both working for the state and for himself. That all combined, he said, to make him more than capable to working on the board. “I see where we need leadership in the county and I have the ability to do that,” he said. “I just know I have what it takes.” Both Deloach and Blue, when asked about the North Florida Water Utilities Authority, an upstart utility group handling maintenance and operations of the utility assets for both Suwannee and Columbia counties, said they weren’t aware of the group and would need to do further research. Currently, the two counties are subsidizing the NFWUA with $500,000 apiece. White and Robinson both said water and natural resources are vital to the area and everything should be done to take care of those resources. The group also stressed the importance of collaborative efforts when it came to paving streets in the City of Live Oak, a large portion of which their district represents. “I think there is some tension between the city and the county and it has been for awhile,” Blue said, adding that more attention needs to be paid to funding opportunities for road improvements. “We need to bring that to a halt so we can serve our people.” White and Robinson both said working together to solve that problem should be a priority for all local elected officials. “We have to start somewhere,” Deloach said, adding there are other infrastructure improvements needed along with road upgrades. When it came to data centers, Robinson again said she would listen to what the community wanted before deciding if they should be welcomed in Suwannee County. White, meanwhile, said the Floridan Aquifer and the multitude of springs within the county should be treated as a top priority. Deloach said he would look at the pros and cons, considering what the data centers could possibly bring to the county in terms of jobs, before making a decision on whether to support bringing one in. But Blue said he was against them completely. “We’re known for our springs in Suwannee County,” he said. “Data centers take a lot of, not just energy, but a lot of water. I’m not for them at all.” 

06/18/26 City Update

Flooded Heritage Square project still not completedBy JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Recent rains, and a not completed project, have turned the Heritage Square parking improvements into a small pond. Nicholas Frigiola, the Live Oak Community Redevelopment Agency director, said Wednesday that the puddling is just the result of the project not yet being completed. “It’s a shame that people, unfortunately, have seen that and are assuming the project is done,” Frigiola said. “It’s still not completed yet. I know what everybody is seeing what it looks like. It’s not completed and once it is completed, in theory, that will not happen.” The majority of the $1.029 million New school funding delayed a year By TONY BRITT tbritt@lakecityreporter.com MAYO — State funding that the Lafayette County School District was expecting to receive from the state for construction of a new county school won’t be coming this school year. The Lafayette County School District will have to wait an additional year for its state funding to begin constructing a new K-12 school for the county. During Tuesday night’s school board meeting, district officials heard a presentation where they were told what happened to the funding. The key information came from a presentation by Culpepper Construction’s Eddie Dixon, who informed school board members that the funding for a new school would be delayed by at least a year as he relayed the names of the school districts that are currently in line to receive funding in the state budget. The Lafayette School District is still in line to receive funding and doesn’t have to restart the LAFAYETTE COUNTY Lafayette’s plans for PK-12 school is state’s top-ranked project. LIVE OAK COURTESY Water sits on top of the parking improvements at the Heritage Square redevelopment area on Tuesday after recent rains. The flooding is due to the project not yet being finished, according to city staff. parking improvements for the Heritage Square redevelopment site just north of the railroad tracks in Live Oak, was completed in April. However, crews ran short on the semi-permeable material — KBI Flexi-Pave — that the city is using for the parking improvement project and couldn’t finish it at that time. While waiting for additional material to arrive, the rainy season also came in and have put a stop on the work. Frigiola said the rocks below the special material have to be dry in order for it to be applied and to properly bond together. The specially-trained crews that will apply that material are expected to return to Live Oak early next month. Their return, coupled with some dry days, will allow the final portion of that step of the project to be completed. Frigiola said the parking spaces and roadway will then be striped — the project calls for 24 angled parking spaces, three handicapped parking spots and and a parallel parking aisle — and lighting will be added to the area as well. “Then we’re hoping there will be little to no sitting water,” Frigiola said. “You’re always going to have a little bit of sitting water, even with the super hyper pervious material just because of the ground.” Prior to the material running short, the project was slightly delayed due to bad soil in the area. Additional dirt needed to be brought in to go below the surface to help with the draining and that has helped, Frigiola added. He said it was also a good lesson as the city hopes to utilize the material in the future for additional projects as well. “That’s where it’s not flooded, at all,” he said. “It’s taking it very well.” The CRA had a master plan created in 2018 for Heritage Square that called for it to become a mixeduse area for the city, including a hotel, townhouses, restaurants and an entertainment center with dining and shopping. Currently the Heritage Square area, which runs between the railroad tracks and Duval Street on the eastern side of U.S. 129 up to Mussey Avenue, includes the Suwannee County Historical Museum, the North Florida College Live Oak Learning Center and the John Yulee Building that houses the Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce.

Wayne Hannaka comment: It looks like someone got sold a bill of goods that was not true. It appears the ground below the new fancy paving is not capable of water percolating and allowing it to seep into the ground. If this is the case it wouldn’t matter what was put on top if the ground cannot take the water The only portion not complete is part of the east driveway. Another misinformed or misguided decision by the City.

06/09/26 City Council Meeting Updates

Collins unseats Jefferson in District 1 By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Live Oak City Council will have a new member. Adam Collins defeated incumbent Tommie Jefferson in Tuesday’s runoff election for the District 1 seat on the council. Collins, an engineer who currently serves on the city’s planning and zoning board, received 48 votes to Jefferson’s 28. “It feels fantastic,” Collins said moments after the results were announced at the Suwannee County Supervisor of Elections office Tuesday night and as he accepted congratulations from local residents and other council members. “I knew it was going to happen when I got started.” Jefferson, who has served one term on the council, actually won the vote Tuesday on Election Day, receiving 12 votes at the polls at the Judicial Annex to Collins’ 10. However, Collins received 13 votes during the week of early voting to Jefferson’s seven and dominated vote by-mail, receiving 25 votes there to nine for Jefferson. The runoff win for Collins came after he also was the top vote-getter in the three-person race during the May regular election with 31 votes to 22 for Jefferson out of the 68 ballots cast. “I grew as a person because (of running),” Collins said. “It made me realize how many good people are out there. I got the warmest welcome.” Collins was motivated to run for office after looking into the planned housing development on the south end of Live Oak in 2024 that was looking to annex property owned by his cousins into the city. When the Council approved that annexation request, Collins decided he would try to make a difference by becoming part of the local government moving forward. “I picked the engineering report apart and then the engineer threatened me after the meeting,” he said. “I told Tommie Jefferson, who voted for it, that I was going to run against him. I’m a man of my word. That’s what I did.” That began, first, by bringing his engineering expertise to the city’s planning and zoning board. He now hopes that it can pay dividends for the council and the city residents as a whole. “I can look at their processes and say, ‘Wait, you’re not doing this right,’” Collins added, citing a discussion at the Live Oak City Council meeting that preceded the return of the election results about repairing potholes and road paving. “It’s just being the jerk sometimes, and I have the background to allow me to be that with expert testimony and evidence. “I understand complex concepts and I know how to present them to the lay person where they can understand them.” The 76 ballots cast in the runoff election was a 20.27% turnout for the 375 registered voters in the district.

Council willing to discuss assistant manager positionBy JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Live Oak City Council is considering adding help to its chief administrator. During Tuesday’s city meeting, the council expressed a willingness to consider the possibility of creating an assistant city manager position as part of its 2026-27 budget, pending a workshop to discuss the topic further and examine its budgetary impact. Council President Matt Campbell requested the discussion Tuesday on the matter, wanting to gauge the interest in the rest of the council in at least looking into the new staff position. “I feel like there is room within the budget to restructure some positions maybe, combine some workloads here and there, and want us to be open minded to consider the possibility of someone being an assistant city manager,” Campbell said. “I think it’s worthwhile looking into whether we can afford it, move around some positions and have some creative, outside the box thinking that we don’t miss any beats.” George Curtis, the city’s development manager and previous city manager, said he believed it was a needed position in the city’s day-to-day hierarchy. Curtis was sitting in Tuesday night for City Manager Larry Sessions, who was absent on vacation. Curtis said having an assistant manager would allow Sessions to delegate some responsibilities, including oversight over some of the city’s departments, while also helping with job coverage when Sessions is out of the office as well as future transition plans. “I think it’s a very important and needed component for us. I’d like to see it looked out strongly,” Curtis said. “It’s very, very difficult to keep up with everything as a single person because you’re on call and you’re pulled in a lot of different directions at the same time. Things fall through the cracks, unfortunately, and the citizens suffer, projects suffer.” Campbell said he believed there may be ways to combine some duties from current staff into those assistant city manager duties, including possibly the public works director. Or, if the city created an entirely new position, Campbell said that person could handle Human Resources responsibilities for the city, which Sessions handles and was previously assisted by former Finance Director Joanne Luther. Sessions had previously expressed a desire to the council to promote a current staff member into the assistant manager position while retaining their current responsibilities. Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson said she would be willing to consider the position, noting she has discussed the need for an assistant manager previously. Councilman Tommie Jefferson, though, said he objected to creating another high-priced city administrative position and asking city taxpayers to pay for that. Jefferson said the city had bigger needs like paving roads and adding sidewalks rather than add a new staff position. “We just got done talking about infrastructure, streets, all of that and now he wants to… bring in and hire an $85,000 a year job,” Jefferson said.”How can we justify to these taxpayers and when they look at their streets and the roads and the sidewalks not being done and now we add on another. “How we can put all that on these citizens and they not see a return on what they’re investing in.” Robinson and Campbell agreed those were valid concerns but said they just wanted to have discussion on the matter during the budget process. Robinson, holding up a copy of the June 4 Live Oak Reporter that detailed the impact of the proposed property tax referendum on the city’s budget, said that also needed to be part of the discussion. According to the Suwannee County Property Appraiser’s Office, the city would be facing a $410,298 hit to its ad valorem tax collections if the voters this November approve the referendum to raise the $50,000 homestead exemption to $150,000. That would increase to an additional $59,182 hit to the budget when the exemption is raised to $250,000. “We don’t know what’s going to happen with the property tax thing,” Robinson said. “I am open to getting one but right now…we don’t know what our budget is going to look like.”

City planning and zoning denial reversed on appea By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Live Oak City Council has overruled the city’s planning and zoning board on a site plan application. During its meeting Tuesday night, the Council granted an appeal to Omar Martinez after the planning and zoning board denied his site plan last month for a three-duplex development along Ohio Avenue (U.S. Highway 129) on the south end of town. “I feel like our hands are tied,” said Council President Matt Campbell, who made the motion to approve the appeal. “ Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson added: “We have no choice.” The decision to grant the appeal was unanimous by the council and came after City Attorney Todd Kennon said in its quasi-judicial capacity of hearing the appeal, the council could only consider what was in the record from that planning and zoning meeting. Kennon said any testimony provided during the public hearing on the matter Tuesday couldn’t factor into the council’s decision. Nor could the personal thoughts on the project by the individual council members. “All you can review tonight are the records, the documents,” Kennon said. “You can only consider what was put into the record to decide if their decision was correct or incorrect.” At the start of Tuesday’s meeting, a pair of neighbors in the Sherwood Forest subdivision that includes the vacant land where the duplexes are planned spoke out against the project, citing a restricted covenant in the subdivision. Campbell also read off a statement from another neighbor that couldn’t attend the meeting. George Curtis, the city’s development manager, though told the council that he was advised by former City Attorney Ernie Sellers when he first arrived in Live Oak that those covenants shouldn’t factor into the city’s decisions. Rather, it was governed only by its Land Development Regulations. Kennon agreed Tuesday. “(Deed restrictions) are private matters,” he said. “If someone thinks they are valid, that would be for one neighbor to bring private litigation against the second. That’s not for the council to decide or base its decision on.” Although testimony Tuesday wasn’t allowed to be considered in the council’s decision — the councilors all cited the staff report provided to the planning and zoning board as well as the applicant’s submission in granting the appeal — Adam Collins, the engineer on the project, told the council that the project would actually alleviate flood concerns in the city not create new ones, which were a concern of the planning and zoning board. “The pond that was designed to hold all this extra water when there is impervious area now covering grass, all the extra water is held in the pond. That’s what the pond is for,” Collins said. “There will be no extra flooding by a factor of three. It holds 300% better on rate control and 189% more water than what is necessary by law. I didn’t shrink the pond down because people are concerned about flooding. “Everything floods there whether something is built on the property or not. There will be flooding whether any more development takes place in this town or not. There will be flooding period. This one improves that flooding condition.”

Suwannee candidates all officially qualified Staff report All the known candidates in Suwannee County races have qualified for this fall’s election. According to the Suwannee County Supervisor of Elections Office, Democrats Stefan Blue, Cynthia Robinson and Billy White Sr. have all qualified for the primary in the District 2 County Commission race. Republican Shea Deloach also qualified in that race and will face the winner of the Democratic primary in the November general election. Leo Mobley, the current District 4 commissioner, also has qualified and currently is running unopposed. Qualifying ends Friday at noon. Also currently unopposed is Ed daSilva, the District 4 school board member, who also qualified for his re-election campaign Tuesday. The other two school board races have a pair of qualified candidates. Malcolm Hines and Clifford Bean are both qualified in the District 3 race while incumbent Ronald White and Aaron Bass have qualified to run in the District 5 race. Terry Huddleston, the former Branford High principal and Columbia County superintendent, had filed earlier this year to run in the District 5 race but has withdrawn from the election. Andy Jackson (Group 1), Wesley Wainwright (Group 3) and James Williams (Group 5) have all qualified unopposed for seats on the Soil and Water Conservation board.

Live Oak wants ‘fair share’ of gas tax

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Council seeking increase of 13% portion of revenue.

Campbell

The City of Live Oak wants its “fair share” — an increased share — of gas tax revenue collected in Suwannee County.

Discussing a late item on its agenda Tuesday — a one-year renewal of an interlocal agreement with the county as well as the Town of Branford on the distribution of gas tax funds — the Live Oak City Council decided not to approve the agreement, which begins June 1 and must be ratified by all parties by July 1, according to the documents provided to the city by County Attorney Adam Morrison.

Instead the council unanimously approved tabling its decision on the matter so city officials can see if their share of the funds can be increased.

“I see this as an opportunity to stand up for ourselves and get what we deserve,” Council President Matt Campbell said, adding the late nature of the agreement wasn’t the city’s fault. “I view this as an opportunity to get our fair share.”

Campbell added he believed the city should be receiving more than what it currently gets out of the agreement. The proposed renewal would keep the current distribution funding model the same — 85.911% going to the county, 13.089% going to the city with 1% going to Branford — while allowing time for the parties to review and renegotiate the distribution moving forward.

Currently the county has two separate 3-cent gas taxes in place, one that will run through 2039 and a second that doesn’t expire until 2055. Gas tax revenue is used for road infrastructure improvements.

City Attorney Todd Kennon told the council that according to Florida Statute 336.025 the gas tax funding is supposed to be divvied up among the various entities using a five-year review of how much each had spent on those types of improvements.

“This gives us the time to get together and make sure our percentages are in line with what we’ve actually been doing over the past five-year period,” he said.

Campbell said that worked against the city, noting it has received the same 13% during that window so it had less to use on road projects. He added the county, whom he noted was a critical partner for the city, also relies heavily on the Florida Department of Transportation for road paving and other improvements as well.

City Manager Larry Sessions said he believed it would be better if the revenue could be split based on where the fuel — whether unleaded or diesel — was sold: in the city or in the county. Kennon said that is not how the statute states it is to be shared.

Still, Campbell said he felt like there should be additional revenue coming to the city and that would also benefit the county. He noted there is an estimated 50-60 million gallons of fuel sold in the county annually. With 6 cents worth of gas taxes on that fuel coming back to the county and its municipalities, any shifting of that percentage could pay off in a big way for the city.

“We’re missing out on a large chunk of money here that could drastically improve some of our infrastructure and some of these capital projects,” he said. “When you’re talking that much money in a pot, just a small percentage of a percentage can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Sessions’ contract renewed with raise By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Live Oak’s city manager has a renewed contract with a raise. The Live Oak City Council approved by a 4-1 vote to renew its contract with City Manager Larry Sessions through January during its meeting Tuesday. Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson cast the dissenting vote. The council also approved a resolution by a 3-2 vote to raise Sessions’ base salary to $115,000. Robinson and Councilman Tommie Jefferson voted against the resolution to enact the raise the council approved at its April meeting for Sessions. Both Robinson and Jefferson voted against the increase at that meeting as well. Jefferson requested a roll call vote on that resolution Tuesday. City Attorney Todd Kennon said the resolution was required by Sessions’ contract to ratify that previous decision. “We’ve already voted on it,” Kennon said. “This is just putting it in the appropriate form. “You can roll call it, it just needs to be consistent with the minutes from the last meeting.” The vote to renew Sessions’ contract through the remainder of this year followed an unanimous approval of a resolution to have him retroactively serve in the role from January 2025 to this past January. Kennon said it was necessary since it had not occurred last year. “This is just to bring us into compliance with the contract,” he added. “The year’s gone but we need to adopt it. We paid him and he performed the services from January ’25 to January ’26.” That retroactive action led Robinson to asking who was responsible for keeping up with that. Kennon said he and City Clerk John Gill were already working on the city’s internal calendar to make sure there is proper notice to staff on those renewals and similar issues. Kennon added the contract with Sessions doesn’t include an automatic renewal, which means the council must take action each year. He said that is something the board may wish to look at in a workshop, which is already needed to solidify an evaluation form to use to review Sessions’ performance. The contract calls for an annual evaluation from the council, but this year only two members did so — Council President Matt Campbell and Councilman David Alford. There was confusion about various forms to use with Sessions offering the city’s current evaluation form while Robinson had proposed using a sheet from the International City/County Management Association, of which Sessions is not a member. Even after the council voted in January to keep the current evaluation form until a workshop could be held, no other councilor completed the required evaluation of the manager.

03/26/26 City of Live Oak Update

Davis, Gill unopposed for city positions By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com 

Four vying for District 1 council seat, two running in district 4.Two Live Oak officials are back for another four-year term. Two members of the Live Oak City Council, though, will face opposition in their hopes to remain on the city’s governing board. Following the city’s qualifying period last week, Mayor Frank Davis and City Clerk John Gill were both re-elected without opposition. District 1 Councilman Tommie Jefferson and District 4 Councilman Matt Campbell both qualified but also will be opposed in May’s election. Davis will be serving his third term as mayor, also going in unopposed four years ago. He previously had served as a city councilman. Gill will serve as the clerk for a fifth term, the past three times running without opposition. Jefferson, who has served one term representing the city’s northeast district, is facing multiple other candidates to remain on the council. Robintina Reed, who preceded Jefferson as the District 1 councilor, is running for election again. Jefferson defeated Reed, who became the council’s first female member after defeating longtime councilor John Yulee in 2018, to win the seat four years ago. Also running for the District 1 seat is Adam Collins, who currently sits on the city’s planning and zoning board; and Terry Richardson. Campbell is also winding down his first term on the council, representing the city’s southern district. Robert Brady Jr., who ran for State Representative against Chuck Brannan in the 2024 election despite the district not including Suwannee County, is opposing Campbell. The city’s election is Tuesday, May 5. Early voting for the election runs from April 27-May 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day. The final day for a city resident to register to vote in this year’s election is April 6. If there is a runoff for the District 1 seat, the runoff election is set for June 9 with early voting from June 1-6. The books close for that election on May 11.

CRA plan update eyes new priorities By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The draft of the Live Oak Community Redevelopment Agency plan update received strong support Tuesday night. Inspire Place making project manager Meagan Barrow presented the draft plan update to the CRA board at its Tuesday meeting to provide an overview of the plan, receive feedback and start the process that will also include staff feedback before the plan is finalized, including what should be prioritized for the short term and the long term. Barrow said the update, which was necessary since the CRA is expanding its district, also allowed the board and staff to also refocus on any changes in the goals they want to accomplish in the past 10 years. The city’s CRA plan, which was originally adopted in 2009, was last updated in 2017. “Things change in 10 years, priorities,” Barrow said. That update, particularly some project ideas that Inspire identified as possible areas to improve the CRA and bring more visitors to the city, was well received. “I’m encouraged by this,” CRA Chairman Matt Campbell said. “A lot of great ideas, stuff I never would have imagined or thought of.” Added CRA Director Nicholas Frigiola: “I’m a fan of the plan and what it is right now and what’s in there.” Using public feedback as well as data and analysis on the city’s history, streets and infrastructure, flood zones and housing inventory among other categories, the Inspire team crafted the plan that is built around three goals: unity, spirit and knowledge. Each goal includes a handful of strategies below them and action items inside each strategy sub-category. Under the unity goal, which is to connect neighbors and neighborhoods across social and physical barriers, Barrow said the strategies include:  Complete streets and connected mobility;  Parks, public spaces and streetscapes;  Safe, clean and code compliant neighborhoods;  Quality housing and infill; and  Resilient utilities and stormwater. The spirit goal, which centers around the notion that the CRA should develop a “shared yet diverse identity whose high self-esteem attracts attention from inside and outside the community,” includes the following strategies:  Downtown and corridor platemaking and branding;  Destination readiness and promotion;  Small business growth and storefront vitality; and  Market ready catalyst sites. To meet the knowledge goal, which is a more internal goal to make sure staff operates with a culture of directed, purposeful conversation and collaboration; the CRA aims to enact the following strategies:  Organization capacity and governance;  Data, performance and grant readiness;  Community engagement and partnerships;  Business and homeowner education; and Policy and regulatory alignment. With those goals and strategies in mind, Barrow identified nine potential projects that the city could focus on for the next 30 years, the length of its plan, starting with the Heritage Square redevelopment area that already is a main focus for the group. In addition to continuing to build on that “signature” development in the heart of the city’s downtown, Inspire proposed the city could look to extend the existing Heritage Trail that runs alongside the old rail line just east of downtown and connect it through some existing neighborhoods to Ohio Avenue (U.S. Highway 129). “When you have a trail on the edge of the city, it’s recreational,” Barrow said. “But when you bring it closer to where people live, they will use it more.” That isn’t the online trail that Inspire wants the city to focus on as a way to increase access and connect ability throughout the district. The plan also proposes another walking and biking path added along Howard Street on the west side of Live Oak near Goldkist Boulevard to help provide safe access for people to reach businesses on that side of the city. The plan also calls for pedestrian and bike improvements along Pinewood Drive, both near the Suwannee County School District campuses and the commercial development west of the schools; as well as a multi-use path along Walker Avenue to help increase walking and cycling. The proposed trail that most intrigued the CRA board was a potential U.S. 90 Sun Trail to help extend Heritage Trail along Connor Street or Fifth Street in the heart of downtown next to U.S. 90. Barrow said Sun Trail is a state program that helps fund greenway projects. “If the state picks up the tab, that would be way better,” Campbell added. Other proposed projects in the plan include implementing design standards within the CRA district for future developments to help improve the streetscape, as well as branding and a potential Heritage Gateway on U.S. 90 on the east side of the city right near the Heritage Trail with signage and potential artwork or shade. “You can have something that says, ‘Welcome to Live Oak.’ It’s something where people can stop and take pictures,” Barrow said. “That may sound trivial, but it’s not. People start spreading the photos, spreading the news about this cool place. “I think this could be a real cool project.

  2/19/26

 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

 Let’s get the facts straight Live Oak : Live Oak City Manager Mr.  Larry Sessions is being accused  of theft and mismanaging funds  without any facts to support  those accusations.  Well, here are the facts, not: I  guess, I believe, or maybe he did  this. If you really want to know  what happened read on and  become informed.  In February of 2025, $481K  was stolen from the city via a  wire transfer the same as you or  I would do at any bank to pay a  debt, make a purchase such as  property, home etc. A scammer  mirrored the company receiving  the payment and intercepted it  undetected at first. There was a  impossible. The city insurance  company reimbursed $350K.  Bottom line is the city man ager had no involvement in the  theft; anyone claiming differently  is just full of nonsense, and too  lazy to go get the truth, or just  wants to spread lies. second payment in the process  in excess of $200K which was  halted by the finance director  when the first payment account  was closed, the red flags went  up, payment stopped, and the  Live Oak Police Department was  notified and began an investi gation and in turn notified the  Secret Service, FBI and asked  city officials to keep the infor mation confidential while their  investigation was ongoing.   Captain Jason Rountree stated  the trail went through multi ple banks and states until the  last stop was in Chicago prior  to going international and the  trail went cold at that point. He  stated the likelihood of finding  the money overseas is next to  As for the $60K spent on a res idence at 215 Meadows Street, I  have reviewed a log kept regard ing the sewer backup due to a  hole that opened up in front of  CVS on 129.  The city manager and pub lic works could not determine  why the sewer backed up after  DOT had repaired the hole,  not informing the city that they  had injected foam which seeped  into the city sewer causing sew age backups in the area. Mr.  Sessions responded to the own ers of 215 Meadows believing  the city had caused their house  to be flooded with sewage which  also turned into taking multiple  loads of sewage from the system  by truck to prevent any further  damage.  The 215 Meadows house was  initially cleaned and repaired by  Serve-pro at a cost of approxi mately $7K , however the sewer  issue continued and additional  cost were incurred at multiple  times, all well within the spend ing limits of the city manager.  Unfortunately the cost added  up to $62,104.68 before it was  determined the foam injected  by DOT was the culprit. No one  handed the home owners $60K  or wrote their self a check there  are logs and documents support ing these findings all of which  are public record. The city man ager advised city council at the  2/10/26 meeting they could sue  DOT however legal fees may  exceed the reimbursement. The  council took no action to pro ceed with legal action. Bottom line is the city man ager responded quickly by  stopping any further theft by a  scammer and doing what was  the right thing for a citizen. Isn’t  that what he is supposed to do? Wayne F. Hannaka Concerned Citizens of  North Florida 

02/17/26 BOCC Meeting

Residents, commissioners express concerns over aquifer recharge project

By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Suwannee River Water Management District is looking for a wave of support for its $1.1 billion aquifer recharge project. Concerns, instead, are pouring in from Suwannee County residents and officials. Troy Roberts, the district’s communications and outreach office chief, presented the plan — which is a joint effort between the SRWMD, the St. Johns River Water Management District, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and utility groups like JEA, Clay County Utilities, Gainesville Regional Utilities and St. Johns utilities — to the Suwannee County Commission on Tuesday as part of an ongoing effort to provide awareness about the project. Roberts added it also allowed opportunities to answer questions and combat mis- information. JEA has committed $400 million toward the project with an additional $120 million committed by the SJRWMD and additional funding earmarked for it by the state. The project, which is in its infancy planning stag es currently and will take more than 13 years until any water is being put back into the aquifer as part of it, would take 40 million gallons of reclaimed water from Jacksonville daily and using it to recharge the aquifer to combat the need for additional water use in the future. That water, which would already be treated to reclaimed water status, would then also be funneled through treatment wetlands in the SJRWMD area before being piped to locations in this area for recharge. The location of the wetlands and the recharge sites are not yet known Hailey Hall, a geologist from O’Brien, said the concern of many is the Suwannee Valley area becoming a ‘dumping ground for Jacksonville.’ COURTESY “We don’t want to get to a point where we can’t provide water for our citizens,” Roberts said early during his presentation, which included a short video and then became a question and answer session. “This project helps with that. It secures our long-term water security. We have confidence in this project.” One question that the commission — and some residents — asked repeatedly was if local residents, or governing bodies, had a vote on whether the state project became a reality. Roberts said there would be no vote of individual commissions or councils, but noted they all have the option to express support or concerns. “Obviously, we want support of our community All The Water First North Florida project calls for piping reclaimed water from Jacksonville to treatment wetlands for further treatment before it gets placed back into the ground for aquifer recharge in the Suwannee River Water Management District area. ties,” he said. “We would love to have our coun ties behind this project because I think that means a lot for a project like this advancing. We want that support, we need that sup port to have this project thrive and exist. “This is not something that would require county approval or city approval.” The project comes after more than a decade’s worth of studies that examined more than 800 potential projects. It was chosen due to its project ed positive impact on the aquifer as well as its cost effectiveness. Roberts said desalination projects that included the same volume of water cost 2-3 times as much. He added many areas have been trying already to conduct their own recharge projects. “We need something that is a regional large project to address this issue,” he said. The purpose of the project is to help restore Minimum Flows and Levels for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee rivers, which currently are not being met, Roberts said. Still, many in the packed Judicial Annex wanted to know if the reclaimed water and recharge project was such a benefit, why didn’t Jacksonville keep the water in its own area instead of piping it to the SRWMD. “If it’s already being taken care of over there, why are we going to get it?” Stephen Patak, who lives on the Suwannee River, said. “I hope there’s something this board can do because this is wrong.” Live Oak resident Marion Fowler added: “If it’s so safe and so good and it’s such a wonderful thing, then why isn’t Jacksonville just keeping it over there?” Roberts said the recharge benefit is greater in this area due to the geo logical makeup than in the St. Johns area. Additionally, Roberts said if the water remained there, the local area would not get any ben efit in the future for its own growth and development. Commissioner Travis Land, on the heels of Commissioner Leo Mobley asking if there was any financial benefit for any one to take this reclaimed water in locally, wanted to know how much benefit there would be locally for that growth and development. “Is there talks with JEA or St. Johns River Water Management about a per gallon usage back to the Suwannee River district as far as a fee based,” he asked. Roberts said he was unaware of any amount being allotted to the local communities. “What’s in it for us?” Commission Chairman Franklin White asked. to Subscribe Most of the concerns, though, stemmed about the safety of the water before its placed into the aquifer. Despite concerns about it being wastewater, Roberts said repeatedly that it is not wastewater but reclaimed water, meaning it has gone through additional treatments to reach that higher standard that makes if safer for recharge. He added that the treatment wetlands will further treat the water before it also goes back into the ground, noting they have been used across the state for decades. “Water does not go back into the ground unless it meets those standards,” Roberts said. “We all live here too. We want to make sure our water quality is clear. We want to make sure it’s clean and we want to make sure we have an ample supply, not just for today but into the future.” That still didn’t satisfy some, noting that there are problems that occur at wastewater treatment plants that lead to spills and other issues. The recurring problems with wastewater spills in Valdosta, Ga., were mentioned by several. “Our issue is not treatment wetlands, we want local wetlands to better deal with our own waste here,” said Hailey Hall, a geologist from O’Brien. “Our issue is our area becoming a dumping ground for Jacksonville. We’re already downstream of Valdosta, we don’t want to be downhill of Jacksonville too.” Hall added that a bill passed five years ago in the legislature mandated that JEA has to stop dumping water into the St. Johns River by 2032, thus leading to its push for Water First North Florida

Former commissioner will fill out Perkins’ term until election. By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Suwannee County Commission is full once more. Clyde Fleming, a former commissioner, was appoint ed to fill the vacant seat on the Commission by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday. Fleming was then sworn in by Suwannee County Judge Jennifer Griffin at the outset of the County Commission meeting Tuesday and took his seat on the dais for the remainder of the meeting. Fleming was appointed to fill out the rest of the term of Maurice Perkins, the District 2 commissioner, who passed away in November after a bout with pancreatic cancer. “There’s a song that’s called, ‘the second time around is better than the first time,’” Fleming said Tuesday night at the end of the commission meeting about his appointment. “I guess I’ll find out. “I thank God for the appointment, for the governor looking at little ol’ me, a country boy.” Following the meeting, Fleming said it’s been a whirlwind from hearing from state officials, including a call from DeSantis’ office, to learning of his appointment on Friday. He also thanked countless county officials and resi dents for their support and well wishes since his appointment was announced. Fleming, who served on the commission from 2010-22 before not seeking re-election to a fourth term, was really close friends with Perkins. “He was dear,” Fleming said Tuesday. “God knows what he meant to me.” Commissioner Travis Land, who was joined by the rest of the Commissioners Don Hale, Leo Mobley and Franklin White in welcoming Fleming back to the board, said that knowing how close Fleming and Perkins were, he was sure Perkins was proud to see who got to replace him. “I know what he meant to you and you know what he meant to us,” Land said of Perkins. “I know, without a doubt, that my buddy Perkins is up top, looking down, and he’s proud that you’re in that seat representing him because I know how close you were to him and he was to you. “I know you’ll do him right and he’s proud that you’re there and that the governor, the good Lord and all the stars aligned.” During Fleming’s first tenure on the board, he was the recipient of the Florida Association of Counties Trailblazer Award. A former technician at W.S. Badcock Corporation, Fleming is also a member of the Suwannee County Quarterback Club. “I thank the community for accepting me once again,” Fleming added. “I just appreciate it. I’m kind of an emotional guy.” Fleming will serve in the position until after this fall’s election. Currently there are a pair of Democrats who have filed for that seat, Cynthia Robinson and Billy White Sr.

County settling ‘is this a road’ question

By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Suwannee County is looking to solve a long, ongoing problem of identifying which roads are actually county roads. During its meeting Tuesday night, the Suwannee County Commission unanimously gave consent to County Attorney Adam Morrison and Public Works Director Brenda Flanagan to continue work on creating a list of all the roads that the county maintains. Morrison said that list would come back for a vote by the board in the first of a two-step process to definitively declare which roads are true county roads and which are not. “There is a lot of ambiguity and questions,” Morrison said about what currently is or isn’t a county road, particularly when people called either the Property Appraiser’s Office or Public Works. “It’s kind of absurd that people can call the county and ask is this a road and the county doesn’t know the answer to that.” Part of the problem, Morrison told the commission, is that the county could have maintained a road at some point in the past. If it was constructed by the county and maintained for at least four years, Florida Statutes dictate that it is then a county road. If it was constructed by someone else or maintained for seven years, it also becomes a county road. So, if something was maintained years ago but nobody remembers it, technically it is still a county road. “That creates title issues,” Morrison said, adding it is a ques tion that comes up regularly. It has happened so often that Morrison said he has created a form letter to send back when people request the title opinion on the various roads. “The answer is, ‘I dunno,’” he said. “Because I don’t. I can’t go back in time.” Morrison said by creating a list and declaring that list as county roads, it gives a clear answer moving forward as to what is or will be a road. Morrison said Flanagan has already done a great job of creating that list, utilizing work logs that show which roads have been maintained every day over the past few years. That list, he said, is seven pages long, single spaced. “I think it’s a good idea,” Commission Chairman Franklin White said. “You have to know what you have to know.” Flanagan said she would like to have the individual commissioners review the list of their respec tive districts to make sure that no roads were missed. Once the commission declares that list by resolution in a meet ing, Morrison said the second part would come a month or so later when it issues a disclaimer on any rights to any other road being a county road. “We declare that anything not on the list is not a county road,” he said, noting that Property Appraiser Ricky Gamble was in full support, wanting to know why the county had not created the list previously. “That gives the certainty of it’s a road, it’s not a road. We can say yes or no to that question and gets rid of the ‘I dunno know question.

Covid isolation building underway By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com  Work is underway on constructing a handful of new Suwannee County facilities. Crews have begun assembling the walls of a covid isolation building near the Suwannee County Fairgrounds, while site prep has begun on other projects, both in Live Oak and just north of Branford. “The block walls are going up,” County Administrator Jason Furry said Tuesday. “It’s pretty big. It’s hardened to be a shelter. We have to come up with a name, Community Shelter, County Shelter, something. “It’s supposed to be used for covid isolation for five years.” All of the projects are grant funded and need to be completed by the end of the year. The covid isolation building, which will be around 20,000 square feet and include a paved parking lot, is the furthest along as work has begun on the actual building. “We’re looking at the beginning of September,” Furry said, adding that will allow some leeway for the county complete paper work and make sure all the details are completed on the grant funding. The other projects are to replace the John Hale Community Center in Live Oak, construct a new build ing at the Douglass Center as well as constructing a new community center at the rodeo arena just north of Branford. Site work has begun on those projects. The Branford facility will be larger than the other two new community centers and will include a new classroom, telemedicine room, computer lab and multi-purpose room to provide health, education and workforce development benefits to southern Suwannee County, a “historically underserved area.” The county has already demolished the Hale Park Community Center, which was built in 1957. It will make way for a new metal building. The new building at the Douglass Center will be through an African American Cultural and Historical Grant through the Department of State and will be similar to the new Hale Park Community Center. “They’re all working on site prep, scraping, putting down pads,” Furry said. “Metal buildings for those, they’re trying to time it. “They’ll move pretty quick. They’re smaller.”

Morrison: Developer didn’t properly sub-divide parcels. By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com  Some new Suwannee County landowners may be stuck with unusable land. During the Suwannee County Commission meeting Tuesday night, County Attorney Adam Morrison alerted the commissioners to some potential dirty land deals that have occurred in recent months. Morrison said Development Services Director Ron Meeks first noticed the problem, which could impact 14 parcels around the county. “It’s spread out throughout the county and you may get some very angry constituents calling you,” he told the commissioners. All of the impacted property owners are new to the county, Morrison said. Morrison said Meeks planned to send letters to the impacted property owners that alerts them to the fact that their new proper ties are non-conforming within the county’s Land Development Regulations and, thus, can’t be built on. He said the letter also planned to advise them to seek legal representation. “We have some innocent pur chasers here,” Morrison said. “Since we know it’s a problem, it’s better for us to let them know now than have these individuals find out when they come to the building department that this was a problem and we knew about it. “We have to enforce our LDRs, it’s that simple.” The problem, according to Morrison, was a developer/investor had purchased larger tracts of land — such as 20 acres in one instance — and then subdivided them into four equal portions and sold those five-acre lots off, making a significant profit on the deal. However, the individual — who Morrison would not identify — did not properly subdivide the property. The county’s LDRs dictate that any acreage that is subdivided must be at least five acres in size. But if the land is subdivided into more than three parcels, it must go through the subdivision process. These did not. “The investor/developer seemingly tried to circumspect those by basically buying property and then parceling it out in five-acre lots,” he said. County staff identified the problem after one person had applied for and was granted a building permit. Suwannee County Attorney Adam Morrison warned the commissioners about a string of land deals the past few months that have left 14 property owners with non-conforming land that can’t be built on .Morrison advised that one individual will be allowed to build and the county could “make that work.” “Technically, that one’s going to work because they were first,” Commissioner Travis Land said. Land also asked if there was a way to put any checks and balances in place to prevent something like it from happening again in the future, including any third-party companies that did work connect ed to the properties. Morrison, though, said the deals were all done through the developer as owner-financed mortgages. The developer also devised the contracts, he said, noting that individual has com plied with the county’s regulations previously on different projects. “When you buy real property, get title insurance,” Morrison said is the best protection against a similar deal in the future. “This developer knew exactly what they were doing.

January 13, 2026 City Council Meeting

Robinson rescinds motion to terminate; Council agrees on manager evaluation form By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The full Live Oak City Council is now set to evaluate its city manager’s job performance. A f t e r more than 40 minutes of discussion Tuesday night, a failed vote on one step forward with an acceptable evaluation form and a motion and second being rescinded to terminate City Manager Larry Sessions, the council unanimously approved using the city’s managerial evaluation form to conduct the annual job performance review on Sessions. The unanimous vote also came after the back-and forth bickering between the councilors led to rows of residents leaving the meeting for a second straight month. “You all can get up and walk out if you like, but this is you trying to become the victim,” Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson said as people left City Hall as she talked through Council President Matt Campbell’s repeated banging the gavel to try to restore order to the meeting. “I’m not out to fire Mr. Sessions. I’m out to try to set this council the way it’s supposed to be run, the right way…The way he handles some of the city’s business is not great.” Robinson’s proclamation that she was trying to make sure the council — and the city — operated correctly followed her opening the discussion on Sessions’ contract, which City Attorney Todd Kennon said didn’t need to be voted on for renewal since it automatically did so, by making a motion to fire Sessions, who was hired in 2023. After rescinding the motion following discussion among the council and Sessions in regard to the evaluation process and the form to be used, Robinson said there was never an agreement between the manager and the council on what that form would be, as his contract states. Campbell and Councilor David Alford both said they conducted their evaluations after Sessions sent out the city’s current form. They both gave Sessions glowing reviews as well. Alford, who completed his evaluation on Jan. 6, scored Sessions as a 50 out of 55 total in the 11 categories. Campbell, whose evaluation was completed Monday, scored him a 52. “We haven’t done an evaluation that we both agreed to,” Robinson said. “The original form was the form done by someone else, not by this council, the five people who sit on this council. “This councilor right here wants a little bit of input on the categories that we use.” Councilman Tommie Jefferson, who seconded Robinson’s motion to terminate Sessions, said the whole discussion of firing Sessions was inappropriate and not following the right process. “This item shouldn’t even be on the agenda,” he said. “We have not done an evaluation and everybody getting out there and talking about this and that, but this shouldn’t even be brought up until we actually do his performance review.” Jefferson said the email from Sessions about his evaluation didn’t “make a hill of beans to me or some sense to me.” That form, Sessions said, was a comprehensive evaluation that included 11 different areas of the manager’s job duties for the councilors to mark his performance on a scale of 1 to 5. The city form also includes areas for the council to expound on their thoughts on the performance, which Campbell said he took advantage of. Kennon said the council could use either that form or could also choose to utilize an evaluation form from the International City/County Management Association that was presented to him by Robinson. However, Campbell and Sessions said that form would not be appropriate to judge Sessions’ work on since he is not an ICMA member. Kennon added that the form mentions the ICMA Code of Ethics, which probably would need to be altered to the Florida code of ethics since Sessions isn’t governed by the ICMA’s ethics since he’s not a member. “It’s like we’re re-inventing the wheel for absolutely no reason whatsoever,” Campbell said. “It seems a little staged, a little not in good faith to be quite honest.” A vote to use that form as an addendum to the city form died by a 2-2 vote with Campbell and Alford against. Councilwoman Gladys Owens was absent from Tuesday’s meeting due to a “pretty serious medical condition.” That eventually led to the unanimous vote to move forward with the current city form for the current evaluation with the council wanting to hold a workshop before next year to devise a new evaluation form to follow. No matter what tool the council uses to rate Sessions’ job performance, the overwhelming majority of residents who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting were solidly behind the city’s top administrator. Seven individuals, including a pair of developers, urged the council to retain Sessions for an additional one-year term, citing his ability to get things done and accessibility to address issues. Only one person, Anita Williams, spoke out against Sessions’ performance as city manager. “He gets more done by accident than most people do on purpose,” Harry K. “Kin” Weaver Jr. said. Both Cheryl Pruitt, a Live Oak resident, and GSMS Developers’ Milton Smith praised Sessions for his availability to answer questions or to help solve issues when they arrive. Don Wainwright, who owns the property along U.S. Highway 129 north that is currently busting with new activity and construction including the Chick-fil-A and Ellianos Coffee, said Sessions has been vital to that development because he jumped in to help make sure the infrastructure was in place. “I’m appreciative of where the city is right now, but it isn’t by accident,” Wainwright said. “Larry Sessions has been the leader we need.” Wayne Hannaka, with the Concerned Citizens of North Florida, added: “You hired the man to do a job, let him do his job. We need consistency in the city and we need someone that cares about it. He certainly does.” Wainwright and Virginia Smith, another local resident, both called for cooler heads to prevail when it comes to deciding whether to keep Sessions in place. Smith urged the council to follow the golden rule and treat others as they want to be treated. “This is taught in kindergarten, but apparently some missed class that day.

Council rehashes pros, cons of Flock cameras By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Public privacy concerns were aired about the Live Oak Police Department’s use of Flock safety cameras. The LOPD, in partnership with the Live Oak Community Redevelopment Agency, installed eight of the cameras, which capture photos of the license plates and other vehicle attributes like bumper stickers that could help identify and locate them, around the city six months ago. The Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office has also installed cameras around the county as well. Their installation has sparked invasion of privacy concerns among residents, leading Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson requesting information at Tuesday’s council meeting on how the city got to this point. “How did they get here without discussion,” Robinson said. “For the public, who would like input about their privacy, it would be something we should have done before.” The council, as members of the Live Oak CRA board, did discuss the Flock cameras during a CRA budget workshop last May. Additionally, the purchase of the cameras was approved in both the CRA and the city budgets last year, a point Police Chief Keith Davis made Tuesday night. “Once the budget was approved, that’s when we went ahead and purchased the cameras,” he said. LOPD Capt. Jason Rountree said the agency followed the city’s purchasing policy in purchasing the cameras, but also said the discussion about the use of the technology is not new. “We’ve been pursuing this technology since about 2017 or 2018,” Rountree said, noting the information gathered from the cameras is deleted within 30 days. “Our idea is we want to pursue the bad guy and bring them to justice as quickly as we can.” That hold back for most of that time was the recurring annual cost in operating the cameras. The CRA is footing the bill for four of the city’s cameras since they reside in the CRA district. The LOPD is covering the others. Rountree added for that annual cost — $12,500 to lease the four that the LOPD is responsible for — some have suggested the city just hire an additional police officer. “Imagine now that that position is now eight positions for 24 hours, seven days a week around town because that’s what the cameras do,” he said. That work has already paid off. Rountree said officers were able to make an arrest in a domestic situation where a GPS tracker had been placed on a victim’s car with assistance from the cameras to locate the suspect. Last February, a murder suspect from Gadsden County, Dominic Caroway, was stopped in Live Oak as he fled because of Flock cameras finding him on the interstate. Caroway was later shot and killed by Live Oak police officers after he opened fire on them and had also wounded a Suwannee County deputy. Stolen vehicles have also been recovered with help from the camera system. “It’s been an invaluable service to us so far,” he said. Still, Rountree admitted there are privacy concerns, some he shares as well. But he also compared their use for investigations by officers to security cameras and doorbell camera footage that is obtained when crimes occur as well. Addison Snyder, a Live Oak resident who has spoken out on the Flock cameras previously, said he was “disgusted” by the fact there was no council discussion of the cameras prior to their installation. “I don’t think our founding fathers would approve of mass surveillance but whatever,” Snyder said. “I think they were unilaterally installed by the police department. I don’t think anybody was notified and nothing was discussed. That disgusts me. “A lot of arguments against these Flock cameras will probably be met by police with some sort of pinky promise or ‘you can trust us for your safety.’ In my eyes, they have completely broken that trust when they installed these without bringing it up to the City Council or to the public for input.” Virginia Smith, another local resident, added that she felt the cameras were an invasion of privacy. However, Rountree said the LOPD have policies in place to, hopefully, prevent bad actors from misusing the system as Robinson pointed to a case in Echols County where the cameras were used to stalk somebody. He said the system is audited by himself and Davis monthly and any inquiries placed into the system by an officer have to be signed off on by administration. Photos by JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter Live Oak Police Capt. Jason Rountree said Tuesday night that the Flock cameras installed around the city have already helped solve several crimes. He added the LOPD has policies in place to make sure the cameras are not misused as well. LOPD: Approved cameras have solved crimes.

City finance director hire delayed achter@lakecityreporter.com Live Oak’s hiring of a new finance director will have to wait a month. Despite a recommendation from Live Oak City Manager Larry Sessions to promote Tammie Girard to that position, the Live Oak City Council didn’t approve the hiring at Tuesday’s council meeting. A motion to table Girard’s hiring failed by a 2-2 vote with Council President Matt Campbell and Councilman David Alford voting against. Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson made the motion to table the vote until Sessions could provide resumes for the eight applicants, who interviewed last week. “What I’m looking for is an even playing field,” Robinson said after questioning Sessions on his statement that Girard’s credentials were better than the other applicants but unable to recite them at the meeting. “He gets up here and speaks about ‘she was the most credentialed’ but can not tell me what her credentials are.” Sessions also told the council that Girard was hired last February to work with and learn from the city’s long time Finance Director Joanne Luther, who retired in December. That included going through the city’s full audit process. “I’m just doing my job, trying to move the city forward,” Sessions said. However, the council requested in December that the city do a full search to try to find the best candidate for that position. Sessions said that search did attract some good candidates. However, after conducting interviews, he said Girard was that person. “I really feel like Ms. Girard, with what she’s learned and with her credentials, she will be the best fit for the next finance director for the City of Live Oak,” he said. Robinson, though, said she wanted to see the credentials of the applicants herself. Girard, who has been the city’s assistant finance director for 11 months, previously served as the finance officer at the Suwannee River Water Management District and has worked in accounting departments at various financial institutions. She also has a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in accounting. The only other applicant to have those degrees withdrew from consideration due to pay. One other applicant has a master’s degree, in public policy, while one had a business management bachelor’s degree. Campbell said he felt the council needed to trust Sessions and his process of identifying staff since he was in charge of the city’s day-to-day operations. “I feel like this is where we go backwards once again,” he said. “Either we have faith in our city manager or we don’t have faith in him. Either we have faith in what he’s done and what’s going to happen in the future and his judgment or we don’t. “I feel like we get to the point sometimes where we’re becoming hindrances as a council member and/ or a micromanager out of our field.” Both Campbell and Sessions said there were opportunities for council members to reach out and have discussions with the manager ahead of the meeting to get an update on the search process or to have concerns addressed. Robinson, and Councilman Tommie Jefferson, said that is a twoway street and Sessions could also reach out to the individual councilors to provide that information as well. “The problem we have here is a lack of communication going both ways,” Robinson said. “I’m not trying to turn this into a circus, but it goes both ways. The lack of communication with this council and the city manager that is where the problem is.

12/3/25 BOCC Special Meeting:

LIVE OAK — Mismanaging $38 million in potential grant funding — and possible fraudulent spending — are leading to changes in emergency management.

The Suwannee County Commission is sending state and law enforcement officials the full report into the missed opportunity and flagged potential misspending to state and law enforcement officials. The commission also is taking control of emergency management away from the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office.

During a three-hour special meeting Wednesday to review an independent audit by Cherry Bekaert Advisory into the grant management and financial operations of the EOC, the commission unanimously agreed to send the SCSO a 90-day written notice of pulling back oversight of emergency management. The board also unanimously approved sending the 110-page audit report from Cherry Bekaert to Sen. Corey Simon (R-Tallahassee), Rep. Jason Shoaf (R-Port St. Joe), Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, the criminal division of the Department of Financial Services, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and any other appropriate law enforcement agency. Cherry Bekaert also was unanimously authorized to release all information gathered during its inquiry into the EOC’s operations to those state and law enforcement officials if requested.

“I don’t see how we don’t take it back,” Commissioner Travis Land said, noting he didn’t want it under one department but rather see it be responsible to the entire county. “We have to do better than what’s been being done.”

The county, which plans to set up emergency management as its own stand-alone department, also was given the green light by the commissioners to begin either requesting proposals from consulting firms, or to find a contract to piggy-back on, for assistance in setting up that department and to devise the job description for a new emergency management director and assistant director.

Dan Miller, the county’s fire chief, will serve as interim director once emergency management is turned over by the SCSO after 90 days if a new director has not yet been hired.

The county engaged Cherry Bekaert to perform the audit in April after then-Emergency Management Director Chris Volz accused county administration of costing the county nearly $7 million in grant funds at a commission meeting.

In that meeting, Volz said he had made repeated requests for assistance in securing those grant funds from the county but was denied.

According to Cherry Bekaert’s Kathleen Kizior, that did not happen.

During Wednesday’s special meeting, county staff played a recording of a virtual interview between Cherry Bekaert staff and County Attorney Adam Morrison and Commission Chairman Franklin White. During that interview, Morrison asked Kizior, the grant management solutions manager for Cherry Bekaert, if there was any evidence that Volz had sought that help as his two-person department attempted to navigate the aftermath of three hurricanes in 13 months.

“We found no evidence to support that version,” she said, adding she requested emails or voice recordings of those attempts to find help.

While Volz claimed nearly $7 million in grant funding had been lost, the audit said the amount of grant funding that was lost determined on one’s interpretation of that word, lost.

GRANTS MISMANAGED

• The audit said the Federal Emergency Management Agency had designated $13 million for Suwannee County in disaster remediation funding following Hurricane Idalia in 2023. An additional $25 million was earmarked for the county following Hurricanes Debby and Helene in 2024. That funding would be reimbursed to the county based on project expenses for approved disaster remediation work.

• The county originally was seeking $6.2 million from Idalia but withdrew that application “mostly due to limited staff capability and the inability of EOC to complete applications for both the Idalia and Helene and Debby funding at the same time,” the audit report stated.

Those projects were instead submitted for Helene and Debby funding. However, no funding has actually been received by the county for any remediation work.

Morrison asked if those hazard mitigation or remediation projects could have included something like addressing the known flooding problem in downtown Live Oak following heavy rains.

“Absolutely,” Kizior said. “Those are the types of projects they would have done.”

FUTURE PLANS

Moving forward, Cherry Bekaert’s team recommended the county, revisit its FEMA funding agreement with the EOC to improve grant administration if it didn’t take over oversight of that department. The auditors also suggested the county develop a comprehensive hazard mitigation readiness plan, establish a grant oversight committee (including representatives from the ECO, county administration, finance department, Clerk of Courts, municipalities and external experts), formalize grant administration policies, increase staffing and training, improve interagency communication and leverage external expertise strategically.

Live Oak Police Capt. Jason Rountree, during public comments in the meeting, suggested a collaborative approach to running emergency management. It was an idea also supported by Tracie Daniels with Suwannee PAWS.

Rountree said the various emergency support functions that take part in emergency response could all be part of a committee that would steer the county’s emergency management moving forward.

“That would give you oversight in the areas pertaining to the professional response,” he said.

The county instead chose to bring emergency management into its own department within the county.

“We owe that to every one of you out here to do our very best,” Commissioner Don Hale said.

LEADERSHIP SEARCH

Multiple members of the more than 100 residents packed into the Judicial Annex for the meeting requested the county keep Heather Henderson-Scheu as director and Gia Edwards as assistant director. Henderson-Scheu was elevated to director in July after Volz departed for a job with the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response team. Edwards was then hired as assistant director.

Henderson-Scheu also pleaded with the board for her and Edwards’ jobs.

“My No. 1 priority for this county has been the community and the citizens of this county,” she said. “I can work with anybody in this room. I care about the citizens of Suwannee County and I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

“You have a tremendous team that runs it now.”

Land and Interim County Administrator Jason Furry both said Henderson-Scheu and Edwards would be considered for those positions if they apply. Currently they work for the SCSO and not the county. Land noted the county has a hiring process and he didn’t want to begin cherry picking people for positions without going through a search.

“I would lose respect as a commissioner if I started finger pointing and placing people as department heads without other people having to go through the process,” Land said. “If the cream rises to the top through the process, and whomever those people are, the process produced them.”

Furry said he hoped the two current EOC employees would seek those positions with the county.

“They have been great to work with since they’ve been in the position,” he said, noting he hoped to move quickly to bring in that consultant and to get the job for a director advertised.

SHERIFF’S RESPONSE

During his brief comments, Sheriff Sam St. John assured the board that his office would help make sure a transition was seamless if the board pulled emergency management back.

“I fully respect and support that decision,” St. John said. “We will ensure a smooth transition and orderly transition under the board’s direction with no interruptions of service that our community relies on.”

Quoting St. John from a release by the SCSO last week when former finance director Megan Corbin was arrested and charged with credit card fraud, Suwannee County resident Bo Hancock told the sheriff he needed to resign from his job.

“He has failed at that,” Hancock said after St. John said in the release that he holds everybody in his office accountable. “If he’s going to require it from his employees, if he’s a leader. A leader, please. He has failed. He has demonstrated his incompetence. He cannot manage people.”

POTENTIAL FRAUD

In the other portion of the audit, Cherry Bekaert found several instances of potential fraud, including missing equipment that the Florida Department of Emergency Management gave to the county during the response to Idalia, possible fake vendors and invoices and potential payment of services completed for personal use. The EOC and sheriff’s office also co-mingled credit cards and finances, according to the audit.

• After Idalia, FEMA provided 40 RV trailers to the county for displaced families to stay in. Currently, 14 of those trailers are in possession of the SCSO but the rest are gone and nobody knows what happened to them. According to the audit, which recommended additional research into those trailers, the missing trailers had a combined value of $625,000.

• Cherry Bekaert also is recommending additional research into travel expenses, noting there were limited information provided related to $80,408 in travel expenses, including a flight from South Dakota to Tallahassee that had no other related expenditures from that trip.

• The audit also noted that there were three vendors identified in which possible fictitious invoices may exist or funds may have been misused. There were other transactions that the auditing firm said it couldn’t properly identify the related expenditures in the department’s general ledger.

• According to the report, $400,000 was reportedly spent in three months with one vendor, but invoices showed only approximately $41,000 worth of work performed there. Still, Cherry Baekert recommends obtaining additional invoices from FDEM with that vendor for further examination since Henderson-Scheu informed the auditors that the invoicing was done through the state.

• Another vendor believed to possibly provide fake invoices was one alleged that Volz was using for personal use. The audit said one check was paid to the company before the invoice was dated, noting it could be fake, while an invoice numbered 1155 was dated prior to the invoice numbered 1147, and was formatted differently than other invoices from the company.

According to the audit, some of those invoices were paid using a grant fund account set up in a Quick Books general ledger in January. The audit adds that the SCSO and emergency management finances were normally operated out of ledgers using American Data Group software.

Chairman Franklin White, in his summary calling for the special meeting, referred to the second ledger as a “slush fund” set up by Volz.

When asked by Morrison why a second ledger would be set up, Cherry Baekert’s Jodi Lewis said she couldn’t “determine why.”

Morrison also asked about one of those invoices that was paid in February, making sure that was after Corbin had left the agency.

Lewis, the company’s risk advisory manager, confirmed it was.

• The report listed significant overall deficiencies within the operations of the EOC, including a lack of financial oversight and internal controls, federal and state grant compliance risks (110 transactions — or 20% — of the Emergency Management Performance Grant were possibly unallowable or have questioned costs of $35,749.20 primarily related to equipment purchase, fuel and vehicle maintenance), technology challenges, lack of an effective emergency management agreement, lack of collaboration and teamwork, and no formal emergency management policies and procedures in place during declared emergencies.

In addition to addressing those issues, the report also states the county should adopt policies that govern the use of county equipment and clearly prohibiting personal use, including all EOC equipment and resources. An appendix notes that there were reports of county commissioners using the EOC equipment for non-county use

11/26/25  

Arrest of Former Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office Finance Director

The Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office is sharing the following information regarding the arrest of former Finance Director Megan Corbin.

In early 2025, Ms. Corbin was removed from her position as Finance Director due to performance concerns and was reassigned within the agency. After a new Finance Director assumed responsibility for closing out the fiscal year, inconsistencies were identified that suggested possible misappropriation of funds.

Sheriff Sam St John was immediately notified of the findings. When Ms. Corbin was confronted with the allegations, she resigned from the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office then reported the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which opened a criminal investigation.

FDLE’s investigation was paused pending completion of the agency’s annual fiscal reconciliation and the routine yearly audit conducted by Powell and Jones as part of the countywide fiscal review. Completing this process required considerable effort due to significant irregularities and improper accounting entries documented in the prior fiscal year’s records.

Once the reconciliation was finished, all relevant records were sent to FDLE to support the ongoing criminal investigation. Powell and Jones also completed their annual audit and submitted their report to the Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners as required by Florida law.

FDLE proceeded with its investigation using agency records, criminal subpoenas, and financial documents obtained from multiple sources. As a result of the independent investigation, FDLE determined that probable cause existed to seek a capias for Ms. Corbin’s arrest.

On November 25, 2025, Megan Leigh Corbin, 38, of Live Oak, Florida, was arrested in Taylor County as a result of FDLE’s investigation. She faces eight counts of Grand Theft and two counts of Fraud: Unauthorized Use of a Credit Card. All case-related questions should be directed to FDLE.

Contrary to recent rumors, this matter was never hidden or ignored. It was identified internally, reported to FDLE immediately, and handled through appropriate legal, financial, and auditing channels. Financial investigations of this nature require time due to audits, reconciliations, document recovery, and evidentiary procedures. The Sheriff’s Office followed every required step to ensure the case was handled correctly and with full transparency to oversight agencies.

Sheriff St John has not been able to comment publicly while the criminal investigation was active to protect its integrity and allow investigators to proceed without interference.

Statement from Sheriff Sam St John

“I am deeply disappointed that the trust placed in a member of this office was violated. The public expects honesty and integrity from every employee of the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office, and I expect nothing less. When concerns were identified, we acted immediately, turned the matter over to an independent law enforcement agency for investigation, and cooperated fully throughout their investigation. I hold all employees accountable for their actions, and I will always take swift and appropriate steps when that trust is broken. We have also implemented internal safeguards to strengthen our financial oversight and ensure that something like this cannot happen again. The people of Suwannee County deserve to know that their Sheriff’s Office will always do what is right, even when it is difficult.” – Sheriff Sam St John

11/18/25 BOCC Meeting

Suwannee board honors Gwinn’s legacy

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, November 19, 2025

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New fairgrounds building will be named for farmer.

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Gigi Gwinn, the widow of Donnell Gwinn, is pictured with Suwannee County Commissioners Leo Mobley (from left), Don Hale, Chairman Travis Land and Franklin White after they passed a proclamation in her late husband’s honor. The county also plans to name a new building at the fairgrounds after Donnell Gwinn. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

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A legendary Suwannee County farmer’s legacy will be honored at the Suwannee County Fairgrounds.

During Tuesday’s Suwannee County Commission meeting, the board unanimously approved a proclamation in honor of Donnell Gwinn, who passed away in August. As part of the proclamation, the board committed to naming a new building at the fairground complex in honor of Gwinn.

“I want to express my deepest gratitude for this honor,” Gigi Gwinn, Gwinn’s widow, said prior to the board’s vote. “Donnell was born and raised right here in this county and it shaped the man he became. He believed in giving back and showing up and serving the community that poured so much into him throughout his life. Whether it was through his work, his time or his willingness to lend a land whenever somebody needed help, Donnell lived his life with humility, integrity and a genuine love for people.

“Our family is deeply moved and we are grateful that his legacy will continue to be remembered in the community he cared for so deeply.”

Gwinn, who operated Gwinn Brothers Farms with his family for more than 40 years, growing it from 200 acres to more than 1,000 acres, has previously been named Outstanding Agriculturalist of the Year by the Florida Association of County and Agricultural Agents. He also has held leadership positions with the Florida Peanut Federation and the USDA Farm Service Agency for Florida. Gwinn’s trailblazing agricultural career also included becoming the first black farmer in Florida to be awarded a license to grow medical marijuana.

“It’s a wonderful family and we appreciate everything all of you have done,” Commissioner Don Hale said.

Added Commissioner Franklin White: “Donnell was a good neighbor, a good friend. I always though a lot about him. If you needed something, he’d help you with it or loan it to you. Very proud of what he accomplished.”

EXPANDING COMMUNITY PARAMEDICINE PROGRAM

The board also provided Suwannee County Fire Chief Dan Miller consensus to begin moving forward with plans to use additional opioid settlement funding to expand the county’s community paramedicine program.

Miller said the county currently has one community paramedic through Suwannee County Fire Rescue as well as a couple casual paramedics, which are currently assisting 400 individuals in the county for treatments from the opioid epidemic.

Miller is seeking to add an additional five full-time positions to that program, utilizing the new funding, which is more than enough for the first few years of their salaries.

The county is set to receive $775,000 this next year with leftover funds rolling into future years, which will hit $193,750 in 2028 and then remain at that level for a dozen years.

Miller, though, said he hopes to have the new positions — which will cost $467,722 — fund themselves through various other contracts his department can enter into though other partners, such as HCA Suwannee ER, the Suwannee County Health Department and doctor’s offices.

Miller added the expanded program will allow SCFR to provide assistance to patients in between hospital stays and being entered into rehab facilities.

“Its primary use is for emergency response to overdose or suspected overdose cases,” he said. “This money is going to help us expand it to provide medical assisted treatment.”

The board supported the plan but both Land and Hale expressed concerns with the long-term financial impact of the new positions should those other contracts not occur. Hale asked Miller to bring a detailed financial plan back to the board.

NEW CHAIR, VICE CHAIR APPROVED

At the outset of Tuesday’s meeting, the board approved new leadership for the next year.

Starting in December, White will serve as the board’s chairman with Hale serving as vice chairman. Land has served as chairman the past two years with White as the vice chairman.

County buying 100 acres for future complex By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Suwannee County now has the home for a future county campus to expand government offices. At Tuesday’s Suwannee County Commission meeting, the board unanimously approved the purchase of approximately 100 acres along U.S. Highway 129 just south of the Live Oak city limits to house a public safety complex, including a new emergency operations center. The property could also be the future site of additional government offices as multiple departments or constitutional offices are running out of room in their current locations. Land said the property appraiser and tax collector, who are both housed in the Courthouse Annex, have expressed concerns about space. The Third Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office, which is adjacent to the courthouse as well is also in need of additional room. “With what all it offers, it checks all the boxes at what I think is a fair price,” Commissioner Franklin White said during the discussion on purchasing the property which recently went on sale. Travis Land, the commission chairman, negotiated the purchase with county staff for $11,750 per acre for a total approximate purchase price of $1.175 million. Land pointed out, both in the meeting and in a summary in the backup material for the meeting, that a property adjacent to the land the county is purchasing is asking for $22,413.79 per acre. “We may be overpaying a little bit for that property but due to its location and proximity to the city limits…if we buy it, 20 years from now the boards will look back and say, ‘That was a pretty good move,’” Land said. “At least I hope so.” The rest of the board, though, didn’t think it was too high either. Nor did members of the public. Bo Hancock, who lives in eastern Suwannee County, told the commission that he thought the purchase made a lot of sense, noting the board had been looking for the site of a county campus for more than 10 years. “Y’all have an opportunity, a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy something,” he said. “You’re not going to find this again. The good Lord isn’t making any more property. “If you don’t jump on it now, you’re going to cost this county and its citizens in the future 10 times as much money. You have to do something.” Land added that previous board members told him that the land the county was looking to buy was previously identified as a great location for the county to expand its services and operations. However, it had not been for sale. So when Land heard that it was on the market, he said he acted quickly to try to lock it up and then seek board’s approval on the negotiated contract. Land said its location made it ideal for the future county plans. It sits across the street from the Suwannee County School District office, which is its operations center during storms, and is close to the Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative headquarters, making it a great spot for the public safety complex. Its location just south of Live Oak’s city limits allow it to already have access to sewer and water from the city as well as keep government employees and visitors close to businesses in the city to not negatively impact their economic viability. “It would hut the businesses significantly,” he said about moving offices away from Live Oak while also noting the majority of the county’s residents also live south of Live Oak so it would be better for the bulk of government offices to be on the south side of the city rather than the north on the Project Summit property. Hancock also told the board that the property is also big enough that it could alleviate another county problem in the future: the jail, which is also located in downtown Live Oak. “You could put the jail out there or a jail facility,” he said. “It’s also an ideal spot for another fire station.” In addition to approving the purchase, the board also authorized staff to fund the purchase out of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) funding that the county still has in its budget. That $8 million budget line had been set aside to help fund the wastewater treatment plant at the county’s Catalyst Site industrial park on the west side of Live Oak. However the board decided to use that funding now and address the wastewater plant in the future when that project is ready for a contract to be awarded.

Legislators await tax plan By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com During a recent shopping trip, Sen. Corey Simon picked up more than just hardware. Rather the Tallahassee Republican also obtained more concerns from constituents about Florida’s property tax problem at that hardware store. “An older couple stopped me and said if we don’t do something about these property taxes, they’re going to lose their home and their home is paid for,” Simon said during Wednesday’s legislative delegation hearing at Suwannee County’s judicial annex. “That’s a problem. There’s no question that’s a problem. “At some point we have to stop renting spaces that we paid for.” Both Simon and Rep. Jason Shoaf (R-Port St. Joe) addressed a question from Moses Clepper, an outspoken Suwannee County resident, seeking where they stand on the issue about if they support Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan or the handful of proposals put forth in the Florida House by representatives who Clepper called “RHINOS.” Simon and Shoaf both said they are in favor of property tax reform. They also are still awaiting to see a written proposal from the governor’s office to start comparing it to what has already been put forth by House members. “I’m glad that it’s now become a major issue,” Shoaf said. “Now comes the hard part of putting pen to paper, explaining how we pay for it. “As soon as that plan comes out, that’s when we will the hard look at what’s the impact.” Simon agreed. “We need to put some bullet points, some fine points to it so we make sure we’re not bankrupting the state long term and not killing communities,” he said. Shoaf also disagreed with Clepper’s belief that the proposals currently filed in the House are meant to make sure no measure gets approved on the 2026 ballot by Florida voters. He said it won’t be a “pick your favorite” contest. Instead if multiple measures are on the ballot, voters could vote for all of them. “It’s yes or no on all of them and should they pass, then we come back and implement them,” Shoaf said. But no matter what proposals are put forth for discussion, Simon said the job of the legislators will be to make sure Florida residents aren’t negatively impacted either, particularly those in rural communities like Suwannee County. That is the same thing Ricky Gamble, the county’s property appraiser, has noticed as he has studied the proposals already filed and tried to devise plans of his own to submit. There is no Band-Aid fix that works for everybody. “We all recognize there’s a problem, we’ve recognized it for years,” Gamble said. “I probably wrote up 8-10 of my own proposals to send back to you and the problem I keep running into is you go, ‘Man, this is going to work, this is great.’ Then you get down here and it’s, ‘Oh no. If we do it this way, it’s going to mess somebody up over here.’ “If you help A what does B have to pay for? I don’t know the solution.” Gamble added he was willing to provide whatever information the legislators needed to come to a successful solution on the matter. He added about $55 million was collected last year through ad valorem taxes across the county with the majority of that going to the Suwannee County School Board and then the county. Shoaf said while there may be ways for some places to eliminate waste and tighten their belts some, there isn’t a way to overcome the loss of up to 40-60% of the budget. “We’re working through different options that won’t bankrupt towns and cities, our fiscally constrained counties, that’s who we represent,” he said. “We can’t do something that’s going to wipe out their budgets. It’s not going to happen.” Simon added: “How we make those fiscally constrained counties whole at the end of the day is important because you all don’t generate enough revenue for the services that you need. There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered but I’m glad we’re having the conversation.” Clepper said state and local officials were using “scare tactics” that weren’t true in trying to defeat tax reform. “Scaring everybody that if they remove property taxes, how are we paying for everything,” he said. “With the fraud and abuse and tightening up the strings and the excessive salaries, there’s ways.”

Simon: Mental health needs addressed before campus carry By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com It’s an image that Sen. Corey Simon won’t soon forget. In April, shortly after the shooting on the Florida State University campus, Simon watched the video of the two murdered victims being shot alongside law enforcement officers. So while Simon, a Tallahassee Republican, said he supports the Second Amendment and people’s right to carry firearms, including his own, he told the full room at the Suwannee County Judicial Annex during Wednesday’s legislative delegation hearing that he wants to see a more robust bill put forth before he considers supporting legislation to allow the right to carry firearms on college campuses. “After just going through the hardship of losing two people at Florida State University, it was the right thing to do,” Simon said after being blamed for a previous bill allowing campus carry failing by Suwannee County resident Moses Clepper during Wednesday’s hearing, adding that there was no companion bill in the Florida House so the bill wasn’t going to move forward. “Until you see somebody’s head get blown off in person and you’re looking at that film with law enforcement and you’re seeing the aftermath of the students on that campus, until you see that, please,” Simon continued. “I’m not interesting in talking points, I’m talking people. I’m talking real life and what I saw on that film on that day on that campus…I still see it. I still see it.” Clepper said that all law-abiding citizens, even those on college campuses, should be allowed to carry firearms and be able to defend themselves, adding that gun-free zones are “soft targets for mass shootings.” A big part of an improved campus carry bill that Simon wants to see would address mental health problems, especially among teenagers and young adults. Simon said the state and nation is facing an “epidemic” when it comes to mental health and behavioral health. “I think there are much deeper issues we’re dealing with with our young people,” he said. “I think we need to fix that problem, desperately, before we are putting a bunch of guns on our college campuses. “If that bill comes up and has those components where we’re strengthening the mental health capacity of what’s going on on our campuses…then we may be able to get there. But I’m not there right now.” Julie Ulmer, coordinator of career and technical education with RIVEROAK Technical College, agreed with Simon about the mental health epidemic that is occurring in the country. She told the legislators that mental health concerns were part of a healthcare roundtable discussion with U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack that occurred at the college in September. Rep. Jason Shoaf (R-Port St. Joe), who said he is in favor of campus carry, agreed that the mental health crisis is a real problem but said the state’s recent ban on cell phones in schools during instruction periods was a huge step in the right direction on improving mental health for teens. “One hundred percent banning phones was the right thing to do,” Ulmer said, adding it’s something noticed at RIVEROAK not one with high school students but also with adult students. Simon said young people, like his 22-year-old son, need to understand that what they see on social media isn’t real life, that most young adults aren’t rich like the influencers they see on their phones while scrolling through social media. “The pressure for them to succeed is heightened because they’re comparing themselves to something that’s not real,” he said. That all needs addressed, Simon said, as part of the larger problem before he would consider moving forward with a campus carry bill. Suwannee County resident Harry “Kin” Weaver Jr., a longtime law enforcement officer with the Florida Highway Patrol, agreed with Simon that campus carry isn’t the answer to solving problems like the shooting at FSU or other campuses across the country. Weaver said the officers that quickly responded and arrested the suspect, 21-year-old Phoenix Ikner, have all undergone extensive training that helps them run toward the gunshots rather than away and not put others in harm’s way. “We’re trained, that’s the difference,” Weaver said. “If they go through all the training, that’s a different subject.” Weaver, too, added that he understands where Simon is coming from when it comes to the lasting mental image of those two victims —  Tiru Chabba and Robert Morales —  on the FSU campus. Weaver said he can still remember the first deceased person he encountered during his law enforcement career. “That stuff hangs with us all our lives,” he said. “It stays in my mind too Corey. I get it. It’s horrible. But when you’re there, you smell it, you feel it, it’s visceral.”

Delegation still holds concerns with CRAs By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com While the City of Live Oak is planning to expand its Community Redevelopment Agency district, CRAs aren’t completely safe at the state level. During Wednesday’s Suwannee County legislative delegation hearing, Live Oak CRA Director Nicholas Frigiola sought support from Rep. Jason Shoaf (R-Port St. Joe) and Sen. Corey Simon (R-Tallahassee) in protecting the city’s district and others like it around the state. Shoaf and Simon, though, both expressed concerns with the wasteful spending that has occurred in other areas by the agencies instead of trying to combat slum and blight as they are supposed to do. “I just want to make sure the little bit of money that comes into these communities in tax dollars are being spent correctly,” Simon said. “When we were going through that whole exercise last year with CRAs and hearing some of the horror stories…it’s concerning. “I said this in my comments last year in the Senate committee, this is the shot across the bow to clean up operations across the state that aren’t doing things the right way.” Both asked Frigiola why a CRA is needed, rather than the tax funding that supports CRA projects be handled at the county level instead of through a CRA. Shoaf, who said he was a proponent of the CRA in Port St. Joe when it existed, said Frigiola could do the same job through the county. “I do find it funny that city and county governments are always making it clear to us that they want local control,” he said. “This is a local control issue between the city and county. “I think the more we legislate how your local dollars must be spent, I think we’re kind of being hypocritical.” Frigiola agreed that it could work through counties but also said CRAs, specifically the one in Live Oak, are focused solely on the growth and development of those areas within the city that have been neglected or have deteriorated. He said that would be necessary to make sure that still occurs if CRAs are abolished by the state. “We get to provide small businesses with grants that they reinvest that money they pay in taxes back into that district,” he said, noting the Live Oak CRA has awarded 60 grants the past two years that have totaled $500,000 of local tax revenue back into the community through growth and development. He said the city has had three straight years of growth within the district. Frigiola said the Live Oak CRA is also currently working on plans to help with residential growth of 100-plus homes by helping fund infrastructure improvements within the district. “I make every dollar stretch,” he said. Frigiola, who agreed with the legislators that there has been dollars misspent by some CRAs across the state, said eliminating all of the districts for the misdeeds of a few is an overreaction. “It’s cutting down a tree when you have a bad branch,” he said. “You have a branch with disease and you’re cutting down the whole tree. “Get rid of wasteful dollars and spending.” JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter Nicholas Frigiola, the Live Oak Community Redevelopment Agency director, speaks with the Suwannee County legislative delegation Wednesday about CRA

Citizen Concerns by Wayne Hannaka

Mr. Hannaka voiced the need for more DOT funding so that road repairs could be completed rathen a portion of a road , For example CR49 is being widened and resurfaces for approximately 6 miles but the last 3 miles would not be done due to funding shortages. He also stated that the city needs infrastructure funding so that their roads could be repaired after water and sewer was updated and repaired. The last thing of concern was the North Florida Water and Sewer Authority and the fact that they have been funded $1.5M over two years with no return in sight and excessive spending. 

11/4/25 BOCC Meeting

Six apply for Suwannee county admin role

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, November 5, 2025

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Furry, Harden, Williams have Suwannee ties.

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Suwannee County’s vacant county administrator seat has attracted six applicants, including three with local ties.

The position closed Friday with the county sending the list to the Florida Association of County Managers, which is helping guide the search for the county for a $5,000 fee. The FACM’s hiring committee will vet the candidate and send back a list of recommended candidates to consider.

That list was, hopefully, going to include seven possibilities. But the county only received six applications, including Interim County Administrator Jason Furry. Bill Harden, who was the Suwannee County Airport manager for three years, also applied as did Eric Williams, who was the Vice President of Tri-County Irrigation in Live Oak for for 30-plus years. Other applicants are George Dickens III, a deputy fire chief in Georgia; Christopher Edwards, who previously worked in city and county governments across Florida; and Roger Omenhiser, who recently retired after a career in the Coast Guard.

The county is seeking a county administrator after Greg Scott’s retirement at the end of September. He had served in that role for nearly three years and promoted Furry to assistant county administrator earlier this year. Furry has worked for the county for more than 30 years, spending all of it before his move to county administration in the parks and recreation department, including two-plus years as the director.

“I bring a deep understanding of our community’s operations, a proven record of leadership, and a steadfast commitment to public service,” Furry wrote in his cover letter. “Suwannee County deserves a leader who kings its history, understands its challenges, and is ready to guide it forward.”

Williams said his decade as the Vice President of Tri-County Irrigation before it was sold several months ago honed his skills in setting goals, implementing policies and developing procedures along the lines of budgeting, capital project management, economic development and grant acquisition at the county level.

“Suwannee County’s commitment to growth through strategic projects resonates with my professional ethos,” Williams wrote in his cover letter, which is dated Monday although his application was received by Friday’s deadline. “My ability to work collaboratively while maintaining a focus on detailed analysis will contribute positively to your team’s objectives.”

Harden worked as the manager of the Suwannee County Airport from 2020 to 2023 before leaving for the same position at the airport in Habersham County, Georgia. During his previous stay in Suwannee County, his resume said he increased the airport budget by $100,000 and rewrote 10- and 15-year outlook plans. He also was the assistant airport manager Williston and worked for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as a biologist.

Dickens is a deputy fire chief in Midway, Ga., as well as working for the Savannah Fire Department and serving as a state fire inspector. He also has a master’s degree in public administration and is currently attending law school.

“I am seeking the opportunity to serve in a new capacity with greater responsibility and personal accountability,” Dickens wrote in his cover letter. “I am competent, capable, and prepared for the opportunity to serve this community. I am highly motivated and ready. I have been waiting for this opportunity to demonstrate my knowledge, skills, and abilities in service.”

Currently the owner of Align Business Logistics in Daytona Beach, Edwards worked from 2020 to 2024 as the economic development and Community Redevelopment Agency director in New Smyrna Beach. He also worked for the City of Tallahassee as a business advocate and the deputy director of the Office of Economic Vitality and worked in economic development for both Marion County and Leesburg.

“In my role as County Administrator, I would assert my core values of integrity, accountability, professionalism, and productivity into providing the County Board of Commissioners, county personnel, businesses, industries, and overall community citizens/stakeholders with incomparable customer service and competent management,” Edwards wrote in his cover letter.

Omenhiser recently retired after 24 years of experience with the Coast Guard, including the past three years as the commanding officer at Coast Guard Base Miami, overseeing a $5.5 million budget. He previously worked as the executive officer there and was a division chief at Coast Guard headquarters as well.

“I am excited by the prospect of applying my leadership experience, strategic thinking and passion for public service to benefit Suwannee County,” he wrote in his Sept. 30 cover letter. “I am excited about the prospect of setting down roots with my family in Suwannee County.”

I-10/129 improvements to begin in December

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, November 5, 2025

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$15M project should be done by Dec. 2027.

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Improvements to the Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 129 interchange north of Live Oak are set to begin in December. (FILE)

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The upgrades at the main Suwannee County interchange will begin in time for the holidays.

A $15 million improvement project at the Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 129 interchange on the north side of Live Oak, which will include adding traffic signals at the interstate exit ramps and at the Busy Bee just north of the interchange, is set to commence in December.

David Tyler, the transportation planning manager for the Florida Department of Transportation told the Suwannee County Commission at its meeting Tuesday night that dirt will start moving on the project next month and should be completed in December 2027.

The project will include the signals at the I-10/U.S. 129 exit ramps as well as a left-turn lane at both the eastbound and westbound off ramps. During the work, the right-turn lane for the I-10 westbound on ramp will be extended as well as the left and right-turn storage lanes at both off ramps, and the left-turn lanes on U.S. 129 in both directions.

In addition to the work at the interchange, DOT is also looking to widen U.S. 129 from two to four lanes north of the interstate to the northern entrance for the Busy Bee Travel Center, which also will get a traffic signal.

According to DOT, sidewalks and bicycle lanes will also be added to U.S. 129 within the scope of the project.

Tyler also said Tuesday that resurfacing work on U.S. 129 will also be conducted in conjunction with the interchange improvements, both from U.S. Highway 90 in downtown Live Oak to the interchange as well as north of the interchange to the Hamilton County line.

Other U.S. 129 resurfacing projects are coming in the next few years as well according to DOT’s tentative five-year-work program report for 2027-31. The public commenting period on the work program is open through Nov. 20 before it will go to review by the Florida Legislature and the governor’s office before being adopted next July.

That plan currently has U.S. 129 being widened and resurfaced from 208th Street to County Road 252 in 2027 at a cost of $6 million with another resurfacing planned for the roadway from the Gilchrist County line to U.S. Highway 27 in 2029. The total project cost for that is nearly $3 million, including engineering.

Tyler also advised the board that the last phase of the County Road 250 resurfacing, from the Lafayette County line to 193rd Road, is planned to be occur in 2028. That phase has a $7.8 million cost.

The first phase of that project is under design and about to be bid for construction from 193rd Road to State Road 51.

Currently, Anderson Columbia is widening and resurfacing a portion of County Road 49 from U.S. Highway 90 south toward CR 252. Commissioner Leo Mobley asked about that project and Paul Webb, local programs engineer with DOT, said it won’t reach all the way to CR 252 due to funding but the department is hopeful that it can be included in a future phase.

“Worst case, the county may need to request a third segment,” Webb said.

Those county road projects are utilizing state funding from DOT’s Small County Road Assistance Program and Small County Outreach Program, which Webb said had a pool of approximately $36 million for District 2 in the current year. The projects submitted across the 18-county district to be worked on totaled $201 million.

“My only complaint with SCOP and SCRAP is there’s not enough funding,” Tyler said. “It’s the lifeblood of these rural communities.”

Travis Land, the board chairman, said residents should help lobby local legislators to increase the funding for those programs, which would speed up the process for getting road improvements conducted.

“It’s not DOT’s fault, the legislature is telling you how much money you have to work with,” he said.

Legislative delegation meeting set for Wednesday 11/12/25 Staff report Suwannee County’s legislative delegation will be in town Wednesday to hear from their constituents. S e n . C o r e y Simon (R-Tallahassee) and Rep. Jason Shoaf (R-Port St. Joe) will hold their annual legislative delegation hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Suwannee County Judicial Annex, 218 Parshley St. SW, in Live Oak. The annual meeting gives local residents, and public officials, a chance to request legislation or state f u n d i n g during the upcoming legislative session , which convenes Jan. 13, 2026, in Tallahassee. Residents and officials can also express their opinions on issues that will be considered by the legislature.

Zoning, land use changes approved By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Suwannee County Commission supported a zoning and land use change that could help spur a housing subdivision on the west side of Live Oak moving forward. During its meeting Tuesday, the board unanimously — Commissioner Maurice Perkins was absent with an illness — approved a land use classification and zoning change on 97 acres on two parcels of land for Frier Finance from Agriculture-2 to Residential Single Family-1. Ron Meeks, the county’s development services director, said the change would allow the density for development to go from one dwelling unit per two acres to one acre. Meeks said the plan is for the property to be developed into a neighborhood similar to Old Sugar Mill Farms, which lies directly across State Road 51 from where the new subdivision would be. Meeks added that it’s possible in the future there could be a secondary access from the development to 129th Road. Travis Land, the county commission chairman, said he supported the plan for the site and the change to promote it. “If this community is going to provide housing for any families or the elderly, where do you want one acre lots at? Do you want them next to town, closer to the services that government provides whether that’s sewer, water, 911, sheriff’s office,” Land said. “Do you want them there or in Luraville? From where I sit, I’d rather have them closer to town. You don’t want one-acre lots scattered all over the county.” As part of any development of the parcels into a subdivision, Meeks said new paved roads would have to be installed by the developer. Those roads would have to meet county standards. The board also unanimously supported a land use and zoning change on 29 acres of land from Conservation to Agriculture-1. Meeks said the land was previously owned by the Suwannee River Water Management District before being surplussed and sold in 2012, which led to the Conservation zoning. Meeks said the current land owner, Anthony Boggess, who has used it for hunting, is looking to sell the parcel but with the current zoning there could be no development on the land. “If you were to buy it with a Conservation land use, you couldn’t build any Meeks said.

10/21/25 BOCC Meeting

Potential fraud among issues audit finds at sheriff’s office By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office has deficiencies in its financial management according to the county’s independent auditor. Brad Hough with Lake City-based Powell and Jones CPA delivered the county’s 2023-24 financial audit to the Suwannee County Commission on Tuesday night, an audit that included just eight findings county wide in all departments and constitutional offices. All eight were in the SCSO’s operations, including potential fraudulent use of a credit card that is being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as well as a pair of repeat findings, including an inadequate separation of duties within the office’s finance department. Sheriff Sam St. John and Michelle Emmons, the SCSO’s previous finance director who is again overseeing that department for the sheriff, said the office is in the process of implementing changes to meet the auditor’s recommendations. “We’ve corrected quite a few of the problems he’s mentioned and we want to do better,” St. John said Tuesday at the meeting, adding Wednesday morning in a phone call with theReporter that the issues are not a recurring problem for his agency. “This is not the way we do business. “I take the blame for it all. I’m the sheriff, so I take the blame for it. I want to apologize to the people of Suwannee County for this occurring. It falls back on me.” According to the audit report, Powell and Jones noticed numerous credit card charges that appeared to be potentially wasteful or fraudulent on several user’s accounts. That included the previous finance director, Megan Corbin, whose credit card charges were turned over to the FDLE. That investigation is still ongoing according to the report for a total of less than $10,000. Part of the problem, according to the audit, is there were no documentation to explain how the purchases were for governmental use and the purchases were not independently being reviewed or approved after the fact, so there was no effective oversight of the use. That also tied into the inadequate separation of duties finding, which was a repeat finding for more than a second time. It also noted that checks are printed pre-signed, eliminating a safeguard to require all purchases have two signatures. Additionally, the SCSO finance director has full control to the accounting system and can initiate, approve and process payments without independent review. Chairman Travis Land asked Hough if the lack of addressing that issue potentially allowed the credit card issue to occur. “I can’t definitively answer that,” Hough replied. “What I can say is we’re a risk-based company. We say if you had implemented those, the risk would have been significantly reduced.” The other findings identified by the audit were a repeat finding of insufficient training on the accounting software leading to unreliable and inaccurate statements, not updating fixed asset listings to reflect disposed assets, not preparing budgets for all funds, a lack of completing bank reconciliations, inaccurate netted amounts and backwards accounts and “significant” weaknesses in grant management processes. St. John said the issues all stemmed from the previous finance director being “inexperienced” as well as the “perfect storm” of the three disasters encountered by the county the previous two years in Hurricanes Idalia, Debby and Helene, a personnel transition with Emmons moving to Human Resources in 2022 followed by Heather Henderson Scheu transitioning to the Division of Emergency Management in October 2023, and the software conversion as well. He said when Emmons previously served as his finance director there weren’t any problems. He added her return earlier this year when problems were identified with Corbin has coincided with addressing the shortfalls. “For six years we didn’t have anything,” he said Tuesday night, before adding Wednesday in a phone call with the Reporter, “we did our job, we did it right and everything. All the stars aligned and it just caught us. There’s no denying it. It caught up with us. “This is not a pattern for us at all.” Land, though, disagreed with St. John, in part. He pointed out that several of the findings were repeat offenses. St. John said Wednesday that the repeat finding of the lack of separation of duties was first noted on the 2021-22 audit when Emmons was finance director but not as a finding, but as a recommendation. St. John added the previous five years of clean audits Emmons also was solely overseeing the duties of the finance department. Commissioner Maurice Perkins asked Hough if there had been discussions with the sheriff’s office on how to make the necessary changes. Hough said there were ongoing discussions during the audit process about what needed to occur. Franklin White, the board’s vice chairman, said he’d like for the board to be alerted when the SCSO finished implementing the recommendations from the auditor. St. John said that would happen. He said Wednesday the recommendations will be fully implemented and verified by an independent third party by the time the commission meets again in November. That wasn’t enough, though, for some residents. Bo Hancock called for change at the SCSO. “Sheriff, you need to resign,” he said. “You cannot manage the sheriff’s department, period. You have demonstrated that. I’ve supported you in the past, I will not support you for dog catcher in the future.

Link to the 2023/2024 Audit: Suwannee County Report Final FY2024.pdf

County bumping salaries, changing titles By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Lower paid Suwannee County employees are going to receive a pay increase. How the county addresses compression issues caused by those raises as well as future salary increases to position the county better for recruiting and retaining employees will be further discussed moving forward by staff and the Suwannee County Commission. During Tuesday’s commission meeting, the board unanimously approved adopting proposed reclassifications to realign the job title with the functions being performed, updating the existing classifications to reflect the work being done and adopting the new market-responsive pay plan, including implementing pay increases to bring all staff up to the pending minimum wage requirement. Those increases impact 117 employees across the county, totaling $320,000 in wages and an additional $98,000 in benefits, according to Interim County Administrator Jason Furry. Those increases were recommended as part of a compensation and classification study performed by Evergreen Solutions earlier this year for the county. It was the first study the county had done on its wages in 30 years. “Let’s not get in that position again,” Furry said, adding the company suggested doing another study in 3-5 years, although he believed that may be a little quick. “There’s been no rhyme or reason in some cases (for employee salaries). We need a plan to work in.” The increases, which are all being funded by the individual departments out their previously approved budgets for the current fiscal year, will cause some compression issues that also need to be addressed, Furry said. He said across the county, a first glance at salary compression identified 94 employees that need to be looked at for an additional $383,000 for salaries and benefits. The commission budgeted $250,000 to help with the minimum increases and compression issues. Furry said some of the compression issues can also be funded by the departments, leaving $170,000 that would need to come out of that $250,000 pot. Furry added those raises could be addressed in the coming months after the county fills its vacant administrator position. “There are several upper level, not department heads, staff that, in my opinion, need an adjustment based on the market,” he said, noting there are some other positions where the county should look at individually to possibly rectify under-funded employees. “There are some positions historically have not been brought up in their field.” The board had no problems with the departments addressing the compression issues but did want to see updates on what positions were addressed and by how much. The study also recommended the county start using a consumer price index annual salary increase to employees to deal with cost of living adjustments as well as look into merit-based raises as determined by evaluations. The suggestion by Evergreen was for a 0-3% CPI increase annually, while Furry said he was thinking more along the lines of 0-2%. Currently, the county provides all employees a 50-cent raises as well as 1% for longevity. Furry said the county already is supposed to do annual evaluations on all employees, however there were no pay increases tied to those evaluations. The board, though, wasn’t ready to make any determination Tuesday on how to provide those raises. Rather, they preferred to see numbers on what those raises — both COLA and merit-based — would look like across the entire county with data to look at. “I like merit-based, I don’t believe in handing someone something just because they show up every day,” White said. “There’s a minimum for that. “I’d like to see some figure what that may cost the county before we do anything.

 State officers raid Mills repair shop By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com State officers raided a Live Oak business Tuesday and issued a pair of subpoenas to Suwannee County government offices. Officers with the Florida Department of Financial Services or Florida DOGE executed a search warrant at Mills Gas and Diesel Repair on E. Howard Street on Tuesday, while also delivering subpoenas to the Suwannee County Public Works office and Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management, seeking 18 months of records. County Attorney Adam Morrison updated the County Commission about the state agency’s actions during Tuesday night’s commission meeting. “They actually physically, without warning, took the items from Mills Gas and Diesel Repair,” Morrison said. “The government agencies, the county and the EOC, were served with a subpoena.” Morrison said both the county office and the EOC have 20 days to timely respond with the records sought by the subpoena. The state is seeking records from the county offices on any transactions made from Jan. 1, 2024, to June 1, 2025, with Mills Gas and Diesel for work performed on behalf of the EOC and the county. He said both the county and the EOC have indicated that they will be able to meet the timeline provided by the state. “How they were paid, that sort of thing, related to those issues,” Morrison said. “I just wanted the board to know that we have been served with a subpoena in conjunction with that search warrant earlier today. “We will timely reply.” 

10/7/25 BOCC Meeting 

County offers to offload roads to city By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Suwannee County Commission is looking to remove one possible roadblock on infrastructure improvements within the City of Live Oak. During the commission’s meeting Tuesday night, it unanimously authorized County Attorney Adam Morrison to send a letter to city officials offering to give the city all county-owned roadways inside the city limits. “We’ve all had our districts touch the City of Live Oak and we’ve heard, ‘why isn’t his road paved?’ or the road situation,” Chairman Travis Land said as he brought up the discussion. “Why do we even own roads inside the city limits? That’s their sandbox.” Land said he wanted to see what the other commissioners thought about the idea after having been approached by several residents in his district wanting to know why the county hadn’t repaved Helvenston Street. Land said it wasn’t a new issue either. Rather, it’s one all the commissioners have dealt with at times, both now and on previous boards. But Land said, in this case, it didn’t make sense for the county to repave Helvenston Street because the city had infrastructure beneath the street and it needed to be repaired or replaced before money was spent on a paving project. “Why don’t we just give them the roads and then they can pave them or not pave them or close them, whatever they want to do with them,” he said, repeating that he didn’t know why the county owned what he believed should be city streets. “I just think we need to get out of the way.” The other commissioners agreed. Morrison said the logical step would be sending a letter to gauge the city’s interest in taking over ownership of those roads. “They could just say, ‘no,’ in which case we’re up a river as it were,” he said. If the city is interested, Morrison said there would then need to be negotiations on what that conveyance looked like, including which party would be responsible for getting a survey done on all the roadways being transferred. That survey work would be extensive, according to Morrison. Land questioned why there was a need for a full metes and bounds survey on roads that have existed in the community for more than 100 years. “Accurately describing it wouldn’t be saying, ‘Helvenston Street,’” he said. Using Helvenston Street as an example, Morrison said the survey is necessary to fully identify where rights-of-way exist. He said the county technically owns 40 feet of the parcels that line that street on the south side of downtown Live Oak from when that roadway was established and then given to the county by the state. “I’m telling you that as a matter of passing title, you have to have a metes and bounds description, just saying ‘the road’ doesn’t cut it,” Morrison said. Morrison noted there is another option the county could pursue if it didn’t want to fully turn over the roads to the city and get the required surveys that go along with that. Instead, the two parties could entertain an interlocal agreement that would give the city control over the roadways. But under that agreement, the county would still legally own them. Land added that he thought transferring ownership of the roadways to the city could also benefit the city as it continues to seek grant funding to update its aging infrastructure as it would be able to show ownership over those areas and wouldn’t have to come back to the county for permission to do work. Commissioner Maurice Perkins, whose district includes a large portion of the city, noted that those city residents are also still county residents. He said he would still be interested in helping making improvements to the roadway infrastructure in the future even if they are no longer county owned. “I will come back and ask for some help to repair some new roads,” he said. Land agreed. “I’m not opposed to helping them whatsoever; I just don’t know why we want to own the roads in the city,”

SCSO adds ‘useful tool’ in Flock cameras By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office has unveiled a new ‘useful tool’ to help solve crimes. The SCSO is in the process of installing 18 Flock Safety cameras, which read license plates, at select locations across the county. Sheriff Sam St. John told the Suwannee County Commission on Tuesday night that those are the only cameras his office is currently planning on utilizing. The City of Live Oak also has installed some of the Flock cameras. “We’ve got them placed out in different areas of the county where we think will be most beneficial to us,” St. John said. According to St. John and a release from the SCSO, the sheriff’s office is utilizing the cameras as a way to strengthen public safety and help speed up investigations. The cameras are used throughout the state and country by different law enforcement agencies. “The reason that we got them is to solve crimes,” St. John said. “They’re a very useful tool. “I know there are some concerns about them being Big Brother and watching where you’ve come and where you’re going, but it’s not that.” St. John said the cameras have already proven beneficial to his deputies. He said during a recent vandalism of a church on River Road, a camera at the church was able to get a clear image of the getaway vehicle but not the license plate number. Deputies were able to utilize that image of the vehicle — a blue Ford Ranger with an off-color door — to find the tag number once it drove past one of the cameras and arrest the suspect. He said the system has also helped lead an ongoing theft investigation to a possible suspect in St. Johns County. “Some aren’t even online yet, but the ones that are online have been successful in finding missing persons and solving crimes,” he said. “That’s our use for it.” The Flock system also helped lead authorities to track Dominic Caroway, a suspect wanted in Gadsden County from a shooting at a convenience store, to Live Oak in February. Caroway shot Suwannee County Deputy Justin Dalton after being stopped in Live Oak. Caroway was later shot and killed by Live Oak police officers after he opened fire on them. Dalton, meanwhile, has recovered and returned to work. “It’s a very useful tool for us and, so far, it’s been very successful for us,” St. John added. St. John also noted the cameras don’t use facial recognition software, instead only capturing license plates and vehicle attributes. He added the information obtained from the cameras is deleted within 30 days. “It’s not an invasion of privacy or following people where they come or go, what we put in there is what we get back out,” St. John added.

Board supports no wake on lower IchetuckneeBy JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The push to idle down speeds on the lower Ichetucknee River has unanimous support from the Suwannee County Commission too. After the Columbia County Commissioners backed a citizen petition to request a no wake zone as part of a springs protection zone from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last Thursday, the Suwannee board followed suit at its meeting Tuesday. “I’m a thousand percent in support of the no wake zone, a thousand percent,” Chairman Travis Land said. The board had plenty of support for their decision as well. After Alden Rosner, the county’s parks and recreation director, told the board that FWC was looking for input from the county on the request, which was filed by Linda Weseman, a Columbia County woman who lives on the Santa Fe River, the board heard from 11 different individuals from southwestern Columbia County, southeastern Suwannee County and northern Gilchrist County pushing for the support. John Quarterman, a Georgia man who is the Suwannee Riverkeeper, also urged the board to back the push. Most of those pleas from the area residents dealt with public safety and the fact that fast-moving boats — or personal watercraft which Weseman was requesting restrictions on their presence on the shallow, narrow river — are dangerous due to the number of swimmers and floaters on the Ichetucknee. Cathy Rieker, who lives in Three Rivers Estates in Columbia County, said she has not been on the river for a year after nearly being hit by a jet ski or wave runner three or four times in her kayak. “I would love to safely go back on the river and enjoy myself where I call home,” Rieker said. Larry Cyrier, who lives in northern Gilchrist County, mentioned similar concerns to the Suwannee Commission on Tuesday. He said he witnessed a family in a canoe pulling a paddle board when a boat came around a corner and cut in between them, which drug the paddle board beneath the boat. Cyrier said just moments earlier a young child had been riding on the paddle board. “I just want to protect what we have,” he said. “The Ichetucknee is a jewel.” The board agreed with that too. Franklin White, the commission co-chairman who represents the southern portion of Suwannee County, asked Rosner about the belief that there already is a no wake designation on that waterway. Rosner said there is no actual designation for that, although many believe it already exists. “Well it just makes common sense,” White said. “You just have to have a little respect. It’s a sad day that we’ve got to do things like that.” Land added: “Clearly there’s some folks out there that lack common sense.” But Rosner, after all the public comments on the topic, reminded the commission that FWC wasn’t considering public safety as it decides whether or not to grant the designation. Instead it would be basing it off of environmental concerns, which Weseman had noted at the Columbia County Commission meeting include shoreline erosion, disrupting turtle basking as well as stirring up dirt and sediment that limits the sunlight from reaching the aquatic vegetation that feed the animals in the water. James Mullis, who lives in Fort White, mentioned similar concerns to the Suwannee Commission on Tuesday, while adding that he also believes it is a public safety issue as well. “The habitat for the animals is no longer there,” Mullis said, noting there have been fewer fish in the area due to the issues caused by the boats and personal water craft. Added Merrilee MalwitzJipson: “For the next generation, it’s important now that we do something to protect it.” While the commission did fully support the no wake zone being placed on the lower Ichetucknee, the Suwannee commissioners, much like the Columbia board last week, weren’t fully on board with the restrictions on personal watercraft like jet skis or wave runners. White, Land and Commissioner Don Hale all said they weren’t sure how FWC could enforce a restriction on the personal watercraft, such as limiting how far up the river they could ride. So, following Morrison’s advice, the board directed Rosner to alert FWC that the board was unanimous in its support of the no wake zone but was offering no opinion on the PWC restriction. “How do we make it safe for everybody and enjoyable for everybody,” Commissioner Maurice Perkins said.

The Suwannee County Commission approved a proclamation declaring National 4-H Week in Suwannee County during its meeting Tuesday.The commissioners also heard from UF/IFAS Suwannee County Extension 4-H Agent Katie Jones and members of the county’s 4-H Council, which represents 13 clubs. In Suwannee County 4-H serves more than 1,500 youth annually.

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, October 1, 2025Subhead

Roberts: ‘Everything is happening just like it did yesterday.’

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• NFWUA Executive Director Shannon Roberts said the transition to having the authority provide utility services went smoothly when the switch-over officially began Wednesday morning. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

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The North Florida Water Utilities Authority officially began operating utilities in both Columbia and Suwannee counties on Wednesday.

Not that anyone would be able to tell the difference, according to NFWUA Executive Director Shannon Roberts.

During the NFWUA board’s meeting Wednesday morning, Roberts said as far as the utility clients in both counties, there was no real difference between Tuesday and Wednesday other than the new date on the calendar.

“Everything is happening just like it did yesterday,” he said. “Yesterday, all the water service in both counties was handled and everything got done. Today, the same thing is happening except we’re overseeing and managing it all.

“The date has changed. Some of the personnel will be under new management and organization but the service is working.”

With the NFWUA, though, taking over operations and maintenance on the utility systems for the counties on Wednesday, Roberts is no longer the lone NFWUA employee. There are now three authority employees with a fourth coming over once the billing system is up and running. He also is looking for a fifth member to fill an opening.

One of the tasks Roberts is trying to tie up around the operations of the utilities is switching the power at the water and wastewater plants in both counties to the NFWUA. He asked permission of the board Wednesday to pay deposits to both Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative and Clay Electric Cooperative in order to do that. Roberts said both required the deposits to new customers without a five-year history.

Steven Dicks, the at-large member on the NFWUA board, asked if he had sought a waiver. He then also requested Roberts seek a waiver from those co-ops’ boards.

“One thing is policy but another is the board can make a decision,” he said. “If they say no, we have to pay it but the bottom line is trying to save a few pennies.”

Roberts said he would go back and seek that waiver from those governing boards. But the board also approved Roberts paying $11,550 in those deposits should waivers not be possible.

EYING GRANT FUNDS

When asked by Vice Chairman Franklin White, Roberts also told the board Wednesday that he is applied for a $5.1 million grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for an extension at the wastewater plant at the County Road 136 and Interstate 75 interchange near White Springs.

Roberts said the grant would allow sewer lines to be extended both to north of the interchange where there had been inquiries about possible developments as well as to further east to the Suwannee-Columbia county line where a couple of RV and trailer parks reside. Roberts said the grant would also help fund taking up to 108 septic tanks offline to convert to sewer.

“All of that was wrapped up in that $5.1 million ask,” he said.

MEETING CHANGES

During September, the board decided to shift its meetings from the beginning of the month to the middle in order to get a better current financial update from consultant Richard Powell.

With that decision, the board approved its meeting dates and locations for the upcoming year Wednesday.

The NFWUA will meet in Lake City at the Tourist Development Council conference room at Duval Place, 971 W. Duval Street, on Nov. 17 and Dec. 15 this year, as well as April 20, June 15 and Aug. 17 next year.

The authority will meet at the Judicial Annex, 218 Parshley Street SW in Live Oak, on Jan. 19, Feb. 16, March 16, May 18, July 20 and Sept. 21 next year.

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LIVE OAK CITY COUNCILE WANTS TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE OLD CITY HALL BUILDING

By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The historic Live Oak City Hall building and home to the Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce may soon have a new name. The Live Oak City Council provided consensus to City Attorney Todd Kennon to draft an ordinance to rename the 1908 structure after former Councilman John Yulee Sr. Yulee, who passed away in August, served on the council for 16 years and during that time was instrumental in saving the historic building. “Each of you are in a position to not only offer words but to take action,” Live Oak resident Gary Caldwell said in support of the idea, which was brought up for discussion by Councilwoman Gladys Owens. “John did not serve in his position for recognition…But it is our responsibility as citizens, as councilwomen, as councilmen, to show our appreciation for those who gave such of their time and dedication as John W. Yulee did.” Only Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson voiced disagreement with naming the building after Yulee among the council. Both Council President Matt Campbell and Councilman David Alford said they didn’t personally know Yulee, but still supported the idea after hearing from multiple residents during Tuesday’s council meeting. “Your testimony spoke volumes about who he was,” Alford said. Councilman Tommie Jefferson noted that it wouldn’t be the first time a former civic leader had been honored with a naming recognition in Live Oak, pointing to John Hale Park. “I think this would be a tremendous thing and a great honor to honor someone who has done so much for this city,” Jefferson said. In addition to Caldwell, Robert Ford and Shanae Wilson spoke in favor of honoring Yulee for his service to the community. Mayor Frank Davis also spoke glowingly about the way Yulee went about his business as a councilman. Davis served alongside Yulee on the council before becoming mayor. “He was kind a mentor to me, he probably didn’t even realize that,” Davis said. “I watched him and listened to him. If Mr. Yulee was for something that indicated to me I voted right.” Ford grew up with Yulee, graduating from Douglass High School one year before the former councilor. He said Yulee’s contributions to the city are easily noticeable and a testament to the legacy he has left behind. In addition to helping renovate and save the old City Hall building, Yulee also cast the deciding vote to move forward with the Heritage Park and Gardens project around the Crapps mansion. He also was a driving force for adding “In God We Trust” to the city seal. “I respectfully submit that naming the old City Hall building in his honor would be both fitting and just,” Ford said. “The old City Hall stands today because of Mr. Yulee’s vision and efficacy. It serves as a symbol of city pride and historical continuity. I submit that this tribute would reflect on Mr. Yulee’s tireless dedication and will inspire future generations. “It would stand as a lasting beacon of gratitude, remembrance and inspiration…A measure of a life is not in its duration but in its donation. Councilman Yulee donated his life to the City of Live Oak.” Wilson said the honor would also be fitting for Yulee because he was a public servant, a soldier, a law enforcement officer and a community activist. “John W. Yulee Sr. developed a passion for serving the community, which he regarded as an extension of his family,” she said. Not everybody, though, was in favor of honoring Yulee by naming the building after him. Former Councilwoman Lynda Williams said that while she too was friends with Yulee, she believed naming the old City Hall after him would be “opening a can of worms.” Williams said when she sat on the council, she had to tell other people that the city ordinance didn’t allow for naming buildings and streets after them. The city does have an ordinance — 1322 — that outlines the criteria for the council to consider in naming a street or building after somebody. The guidelines for that public recognition includes: ■The honor should only be bestowed upon those with a history of serving with the community; ■ Any naming or renaming should be done by ordinance with the two public hearings on the matter; and ■ The city appropriately notice the hearings. Still, Williams said she didn’t think it was right, instead requesting that the council instead dedicate a wall of fame or honor and list names of local legends there as their recognition. “There are so many people who need their names on things, who would like to have their names on things,” she said, noting there have been some who served on the council for 37 years — Bennie Thomas —  and who have not been recognized in the same way. “I love him and his family. That’s not what I’m fighting. “Look at other ways to do this.” The city intends to hold those public hearings on the renaming at its October and November meetings.

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, September 3, 2025Subhead

Raftelis finally has ‘momentum’ on assignment for Utility Authority.

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• Matthew Ori, a senior consultant with Raftelis, talks to the North Florida Water Utilities Authority board on Wednesday about the status of the rate study being performed by the group. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

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LIVE OAK — A rate study is on the horizon for the North Florida Water Utilities Authority.

A pair of representatives from Raftelis, which was hired to put together the rate study by the NFWUA board in January for $130,000, told the directors at their Wednesday meeting that there is “momentum” currently on finalizing the study. The study initially was expected to be completed in eight months.

Matthew Ori, a senior consultant with Raftelis, said he was looking to conduct weekly conference calls with a “committee” from the group in order to keep that momentum rolling. Shannon Roberts, the NFWUA director, said he thought that group would involve himself, NFWUA Attorney Grady Williams and county staff, and most likely Columbia County Manager David Kraus and Suwannee County Assistant County Administrator Jason Furry.

“We’ve got some momentum now,” said Henry Thomas, a senior vice president with Raftelis. “We want to keep that up so we can get to the finish line.

“I’m reluctant to commit to (when will we reach the finish line) just yet, but in a couple months we should have the final cases for you to look at.”

That momentum, he said, has been the result of Roberts fully taking the reins of the NFWUA three months ago. Since then, the group has finalized its Suwannee County independent study and is trying to wrap up its independent look at Columbia County. Roberts said one additional piece of detailed financial data is needed to help Raftelis on that component.

Once that is completed, Ori said the group will then do a combined study for what it recommends the NFWUA set as its rates.

According to Ori, after the rates have been established, Raftelis will then also dive into miscellaneous fees like tap fees and connection or capacity fees that should be charged on future hookups.

Ori and Thomas also said the company planned to do periodic check-ins with the authority in the future to make sure the rate study was still being effective, especially on projections on inflation and other factors.

“Our recommendation is every two-three years, a temperature check,” Ori said.

Thomas said those checks could come earlier than the two-year check-in initially proposed by Ori due to the start-up nature of the fledgling utility.

During those future calls, Ori said all parties will help answer some other questions for Raftelis as it devises the rate study, including what to do with and debt owed on the utilities. There is no debt on Suwannee County’s utilities, which were all grant funded. Columbia County, meanwhile, owes a small amount of debt on its utilities in Ellisville, Kraus said.

There is additional debt on the wastewater treatment plant at the North Florida Mega Industrial Park, but that utility is currently operated by the City of Lake City as part of a two-year contract.

“Discussions I’ve been involved with is any debt the counties have right now is they would keep paying on that debt,” Chairman Rocky Ford, a Columbia County commissioner, said.

 SHERIFF ON THE HOT SEAT AT BOCC MEETING  

Board irked over communication problem on financial, EOC audits AUDIT Suwannee C Photos by JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter Suwannee County Commission Chairman Travis Land points at Sheriff Sam St. John and Deputy Emergency Management Director Heather Henderson-Scheu as they discuss the sheriff’s office and emergency management office’s response to audits during Tuesday’s commission meeting. Sheriff Sam St. John said the emergency management office, which is under his control, has complied with all the requests from Cherry Bekeart, which is audit provided to Suwannee County as a whole for being late on turning in its audit because one department hasn’t gotten its paperwork in. “I don’t mean to sound pissed off but I’m pissed off.” He was not alone. On both sides. After trying to explain what caused the problem leading to Tuesday’s confrontation, both Sheriff Sam St. John and Heather Henderson-Scheu, the deputy emergency management director, took exception to the commission’s continued pursuit of the issue. The board unanimously approved sending a pair of letters to St. John giving a 10-day window to get the information submitted or to appear at the July 15 BOCC meeting to further explain why it wouldn’t be provided. “Some of that, I don’t agree with at all,” St. John said about the reported issues with the emergency management complying with audit requests. “We are complying chairman. We’ve complied with everything they’ve wanted.” Henderson-Scheu said she felt she had provided all the information to Cherry Bekaert, the auditing firm the commission agreed to pay $108,000 in April to examine the operations of the county’s emergency management office, that she could. She said providing the home addresses of both her and Chris Volz, the county’s emergency management director, was not permitted under Florida statutes. “I’ve given her everything she has asked for and then some,” she said. After back and forth between Henderson-Scheu and himself, Land finally called for a board vote on how to proceed, noting they could otherwise be there all night. He added that if the ongoing difference of opinions between Henderson-Scheu and the auditors on if the information has been provided continues, the board may have to bring in another independent party to settle that dispute. “I don’t know where we from there, DOGE, the governor,” he said. Morrison said it would be referred up to the governor’s office. Several county residents believed it was already time to do that. “I’m appalled,” said Kin Weaver. “Call the governor. Let’s get it over with.” Bo Hancock said he felt setting additional deadlines was pointless as it had been proven that the sheriff’s office wouldn’t meet them since it hadn’t yet. He also said he wouldn’t stop just at seeking assistance from the governor’s office. “I think you need to contact the governor’s office and have him assign FDLE to come in and investigate the entire sheriff’s department as well as EOC,” Hancock added. “They’re stonewalling. They’re not going to do anything any different and I’m like you Travis, I’ve had enough of it.” In addition to the addresses, which County Attorney Adam Morrison explained was requested by the auditing firm as a way to make sure no fraud was being committed through the use of contracted vendors that could be associated with an employee, Cherry Bekaert said among the other roadblocks it has ran into include: n refusal to provide listing of all vendors that received funding from emergency management; n failure to provide specific policies and procedures for the Emergency Operations Center; and n refusal to provide access to WebEOC reports. The firm also said its efforts to talk to Michelle Emmons in the SCSO’s financial department had been refused. Henderson-Scheu said Emmons was busy trying to rectify the annual audit for the agency after a change of financial officers, so she was handling the audit for her department, which is overseen by the sheriff’s office. Land, though, noted the county’s request for that audit said it was to be the top priority for all county staff, asking Henderson what gave her the authority to determine otherwise. She said she didn’t, but St. John did. St. John, when asked if he had ordered Emmons to not speak with the firm, said he did not even when it was mentioned that Volz had said otherwise in an e-mail. “The only thing I know is he may have misunderstood what I said,” St. John said. The audit into the emergency management office began due to miscommunication and a misunderstanding involving Volz. He appeared at the board’s April 15 meeting to provide an update on emergency management which turned into accusations against County Administrator Greg Scott costing the county millions in grant funds by sabotaging the agency’s efforts for 17 months and then lying to the board. Scott was not at that meeting as he was recovering from an April 1 heart surgery. Land also wasn’t at that meeting. That wasn’t the only breakdown in communication between the SCSO and the commission. Land said all constitutional officers were instructed in January to have their financial information to Powell & Jones by March 15 to ensure a timely completion of the annual audit. St. John said Tuesday night that his office had just completed it Tuesday. He said the delay was caused by the previous agency financial director becoming overwhelmed with the responsibilities as well as the impact of the hurricanes last fall. “It was just kind of like a perfect storm that made it happen,” St. John said, noting there also then were issues with bank reconciliations on the department’s finances — which all came back accurate he later said — as well as issues with new software the county is using. Still, the board wasn’t pleased with the lack of help requested or just communication about a problem. “We talked about it before with the Mr. Volz situation that we have a communication problem. When in the hell are we going to fix that?” asked Land, who began the discussion quoting Thomas Jefferson. “It irks me that you or nobody from your office can tell us what the heck is going on over there until we go through all this mess to talk about it. Communication and we wouldn’t be here today. “Thomas Jefferson said this, obviously I’ve been doing some soul searching but Thomas Jefferson said, ‘In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.’ Today guys, I’m asking this board to stand like a rock.”