By JAMIE WACHTER on Friday, December 12, 2025Subhead

Utility board will discuss compliance issues Monday.

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• NFWUA Executive Director Shannon Roberts said he was unaware of problems at Ellisville and Suwannee County water plants prior to his June hiring. (FILE)

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The Ellisville wastewater treatment plant’s problems with properly treating the water has cost Columbia County.

More state fines could be coming if the issue with meeting permit standards aren’t met.

Columbia County was fined $11,375 in September by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as part of a consent order after testing at the plant showed 37 violations of the plant’s permit. The plant could be fined $200 per day for every violation moving forward as well.

“It’s not purifying to specifications,” North Florida Water Utilities Authority Executive Director Shannon Roberts said about the violations as the NFWUA now handles the operations of the plant. “The treatment is not being done to specifications.”

Those issues — and similar permit violations at both wastewater and water plants in Suwannee County — will be addressed by the NFWUA board at its 9:30 a.m. meeting Monday at the Columbia County Tourist Development Conference Room at Duval Place, 971 W. Duval Street in Lake City.

Roberts said he was not aware of the problems in either Ellisville or the Suwannee County plants prior to the being hired by the group in June. Roberts said he — and Columbia County officials — were notified of the consent order issued by DEP in September when it was issued.

His focus, he said Friday, was how to fix the problems and move forward.

“I’ve been more focused, on a high level, what are we dealing with, what does our strategy need to be to do this,” he said. “How do we engage with DEP to start a dialogue to show we’re being responsive and accountable to getting these things fixed and back in compliance.”

The September consent order was the second DEP has issued on the Ellisville plant. It also received a consent order in 2021, although a fine was waived at the plant at that time, which was a result of permit violations on various levels tested at the plant.

According to a timeline of compliance issues Roberts assembled for Monday’s NFWUA meeting, a warning letter was also sent in November 2024 that dealt with multiple permit violations ahead of the consent order this fall.

In addition to the 37 permit violations — Roberts said six different things are tested at the plant every two weeks and the 37 violations were the total count of those various levels during testing over a period of time — the consent order also said the plant was not in compliance with the Santa Fe River Basin Management Action Plan that was created six or seven years ago. That violation means the water treated by the plant contains nitrogen levels higher than what the BMAP calls for.

“It forced everyone to remove more nitrogen,” he said of the BMAP.

The fine issued in September has already been paid by Columbia County, Roberts said.

How much in additional fines the plant will face is unknown, he said. While the order said the plants faces a $200 fine per day per violation after Oct. 14, Roberts said it is not clear how the number of days will be calculated. The plant only tests every two weeks, so if there is a violation, Roberts said, he doesn’t know if that counts as just the day of the testing or the entire two-week period covered by the testing.

“We are taking steps to address it,” Roberts said, adding he was uncertain if there have been any additional violations since the consent order was issued. “The language is not clear there and we’re going to have to dialogue with them to understand what does that mean, when does the clock start ticking, how does this actually work.”

Among those steps was to get an engineering evaluation done at the plant, as required by the consent order. NFWUA and county officials have met to discuss the issue and outline a plan moving forward to fix the problem, based on FDEP’s order.

The water plants in Suwannee County at the Catalyst Site west of Live Oak and on County Road 137 near White Springs as well as the sewer plant on County Road 136 near White Springs have also experienced compliance issues with FDEP permits. The sewer plant received a warning letter in January for exceeding permit allowances, an expired permit and also missing test sample reports. In August, the CR 137 water plant was issued a letter for missing test sample reports and lead line inventory, while the Catalyst Site plant was warned in October for the same issues.

Roberts said he received those notifications and alerted Suwannee County Interim Administrator Jason Furry at that time.

What has led to the issues at all the plants is not Roberts’ main concern. Rather, he wants to get input from the NFWUA board members on how they can fix the issues and get the sites all back into compliance moving ahead.

That could mean additional resources from both Columbia and Suwannee counties as well in order to possibly modify and upgrade the plants to better treat the water and wastewater.

“We don’t own these assets yet,” he said. “These issues are really opportunities to do better, to make changes and resolve issues. This is what the Utility Authority was created for. We can step in and facilitate working through these processes.

“We probably need some additional resources to do that. It’s probably not going to be crazy. We’ll start making a plan and then work that plan with DEP and the counties where everybody is involved.” 

Live Oak staff: Council causing ‘adversarial environment’ By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Live Oak City Council has created an “adversarial environment” within the city government, according to a group of city employees. Those concerns, as well as the proper duties of city councilors, the mayor and city administration will be discussed in a future workshop Mayor Frank Davis called for during Tuesday’s council meeting. The allegations detailed by city staff from the City Hall Annex — building department, Community Redevelopment Agency, planning and zoning, code enforcement and fire inspection — in a signed letter sent to City Manager Larry Sessions was just part of the dysfunction Tuesday that led to two full rows of concerned residents leave the council chambers during the meeting. Those attendees left during a rant from President Pro Tem Tommie Jefferson about the duties of Sessions as he ignored President Matt Campbell’s repeated banging the gavel in an attempt to restore order to the public meeting. “We have a policy for decorum, which right now is probably not being followed,” City Attorney Todd Kennon responded once Jefferson finished his remarks. Campbell replied: “One hundred percent it’s not.” That led Davis to call for a workshop rather than continue the discussion during Tuesday’s meeting that lasted for two hours. Davis, though, said while he can call for a workshop, the council doesn’t have to attend, which had Jefferson questioning whether he was being singled out by the mayor. Davis assured him he was not. “I was getting a little angry there,” Jefferson replied. Davis said he desired the workshop to allow Kennon — who has experience working in other municipalities — or someone else to provide input to all parties about their “lanes” in providing an efficient government for the Live Oak residents. “There are roles for each of us,” Davis said. “We need someone to speak boldly to all of us, this is your lane, this is how it works. “We are all passionate. We all love our community.” Kennon said he’d be happy to provide input and recommendations on how to make parts of the city’s operations work more efficiently, including on setting agendas. He added he wanted to meet with the councilors to get their thoughts and input as well. That also didn’t sit well with Jefferson, who questioned what Kennon’s duties were for the city. “Is it handling legal matters or is it making your recommendations to this board,” Jefferson said. “You’re trying to tell us about some other cities. We’re no other city. These constituents, this city has adopted how they want a form of government ran. Not based on your opinion. You live in Lake City. Go there and stand before that council and tell them your opinion. You live there.” Jefferson had earlier requested information on when Kennon’s contract ended with the city — July — and if it required a performance evaluation similar to Sessions, which must be done by the council in January. That request came as Jefferson also took offense to how items he desired to be placed on the agenda were left off. He said Sessions’ job duties were specifically laid out and known when Sessions applied for the position — which Sessions immediately pointed out he never applied for it. Rather, Jefferson reached out and asked him to take it on an interim basis. “It works out fine if the city manager does the due diligence and responsibility of what they’ve been hired to do,” Jefferson said. “Your job is not to scrutinize what I want to put on the agenda. “If you get back in line with the form of government that we have, all the other things can be done.” Sessions said he has no problems with doing his job, but added that if staff provides him with information on potential agenda items in advance, they can be looked at and discussed and may not even need to be talked about in meetings. But he also told the council that he is not going to just sit in his office and push papers. Rather, he said he is a hands-on worker and goes out to see problems himself when complaints come in. “If you give me a chance to do my job, I will do it,” he said. Those disagreements followed Councilwoman Vanessa Robinson’s concerns over the letter from city employees as well as a letter Sessions sent to the council members, reiterating the staff’s complaints. “That’s a big accusation for the people who sit on this board without having anything specific given here,” she said. “We need specifics on this. “I need to know what was done other than, I’m going to say, gas lighting and staff and Mr. Sessions playing the victim.” Sessions, though, said his job is to protect his employees. He said multiple department heads have threatened to quit if they are “beaten up” by the council during another meeting. He said the lack of department heads at Tuesday’s meeting was a direct result of him not wanting to put staff in that position again. Jefferson said if staff comes up to the dais during discussion of a topic, he will ask questions. “The only person you have to beat up is me,” Sessions said. “I think it is an adversarial relationship the way I see it too. It is accusatory in a lot of ways and a lot of half-truths get thrown at me.” Robinson disagreed that she has been adversarial with staff. “I see it as passionate,” she said. “When I asked the people out here in District 2 to vote for me, I said I would stick up for you all…I don’t know if this was targeted at me or who, but I am going to be very passionate about what I do and what I say for the citizens of Live Oak. “When it comes to our employees, it’s called customer service. We’re in government. They work for government. We have to develop thick skin.” Sessions said those that sit up on the dais at meetings —  the council, Davis, himself, Kennon and City Clerk John Gill — have to have to the thick skin, not the rest of city employees. “I call myself the complaint department,” he said. The staff letter, which was signed by Nicholas Frigiola, Anthony Marrillia, Emily Seaman, Tim Williams, Christian Dixon, George Curtis, Jamie Fisher and Beverley Lucas, said concerns throughout the annex have begun impacting employee morale, job performance and the overall workplace environment The complaints from the staff include: HOSTILE OR COERCIVE INTERACTIONS WITH STAFF The staff members said they believe there have been “hostile, targeted and coercive” interactions with staff by members of the council, who they believe are attempting to pressure staff into taking actions or making decisions that don’t follow the proper process, policy or legal requirements. “This is inappropriate, places employees in compromising positions, and undermines the safeguards that ensure the City operates lawfully and responsibly,” the staff wrote in the letter. PUBLIC ATTACKS ON STAFF AND MISREPRESENTATION OF FACTS The staff also allege that during meetings the council misrepresent staff actions and accuse staff of failing to perform their duties, present false narratives or incomplete information as fact that leave staff unable to defend themselves without looking combative. “These statements often made without prior discussion or fact-finding damage public trust, harm staff reputations, and contribute to an increasingly adversarial environment,” the letter reads. ALLOWING PUBLIC BERATEMENT OF STAFF The actions of the council, the staff and Sessions claim, have given members of the public the belief they can also treat staff in a similar fashion. “Our goal is not confrontation but clarity, respect, and healthier working relationship for the good of the City of Live Oak,” staff wrote. “We remain committed to serving our residents with professionalism and integrity, and we are asking for the respect and support necessary to continue doing so.” Sessions, in his letter, also requested a workshop similar to what Davis was calling for, to “reaffirm roles, responsibilities, and expectations of elected officials and staff.” “My goal is not conflict but (to) clarify standards,” Sessions wrote. “The City’s operations depend on constructive working relationships between the council, administration, and staff. Restoring these boundaries is essential to ensuring the continued success of our organization and the well-being of our employees.

Furry tops county admin candidates By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The best candidate for Suwannee County’s vacant county administrator position is already in Suwannee County, according to the Florida Association of County Managers. The FACM’s search committee, which is helping conduct the county’s search, ranked Interim County Administrator Jason Furry as the county’s top candidate out of the six applicants the county received in October. Furry and Christopher Todd Edwards, who the F A C M r a n k e d s e c o n d, were recommend - ed to the Suwannee County Commission for further consideration. The commission plans to discuss the FACM’s recommendations and its next steps f o r w a r d , i n c l u d i n g whether to hold interviews, at its 5:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday at the Judicial Annex, 218 Parshley Street SW in Live Oak. “As you are aware, a County’s selection of a County Administrator is one of the most crucial decisions a Board of County Commissioners makes for its community,” Michele Lieberman, the Alachua County Manager, wrote in the cover letter as part of the committee’s final report to the commission. Lieberman was joined on the committee by Mandy Hines, the county administrator in Desoto County and Jonathan Lewis, the county administrator in Sarasota County. According to the report, the committee ranked Furry ahead of Edwards due to his “long-term service to the county, proven performance as demonstrated by his rise through the ranks over more than thirty years of service, and his deep operational and institutional knowledge, which significantly lowers transition risk and supports organizational stability.” Furry has worked for the county for 32-plus years, starting in Parks & Recreation and becoming its director in 2022. He was named the assistant county administrator earlier this year and then was named the interim administrator when Greg Scott retired in September. That institutional knowledge of the county’s operations and history are among the strengths the committee listed for Furry along with his leadership as a department director and at the county administration level; experience in budget development, capital projects and grant management; long-standing relationships with county staff, constitutional officers, community partners and regional agencies; and demonstration of stability, loyalty and commitment to public service. The committee, though, also said the commission should potentially consider that Furry’s leadership experience has been primarily internal and doesn’t have multi-jurisdictional management experience that his management style and strategies may reflect continuity over transformational change and his exposure to county administration elsewhere is more limited. Edwards is currently the owner and operator of Align Business Logistics, a small courier business, in Daytona Beach. He previously served as the economic development director in New Smyrna Beach as well as working in economic development in Tallahassee, Marion County and Leesburg over the past 19 years. “While Edwards is a strong second-ranked candidate who offers valuable external perspective and economic development expertise, his experience is more specialized and less comprehensive in full-scope county administration,” the report states. Still, the committee considered his experience working in multiple areas a strength as it provides a broader perspective. Edwards’ strengths also included his strong economic development, redevelopment and strategic planning experience, as well as his experience in dealing with state and federal agencies and managing partnerships across different sectors and his Master of Business Administration degree. The committee said his limited full scope county operations experience and limited county administration experience are things for the county to consider, as well as his lack of institutional knowledge of Suwannee County’s operations. Other applicants for the position include Bill Haren, a previous Suwannee County Airport manager who left in 2023 for the same position at the airport in Habersham County, Georgia; Eric Williams, the vice president of Tri-County Irrigation in Live Oak for 30-plus years; George Dickens III, a deputy fire chief in Georgia; and Roger Omenhiser, who recently retired after a career in the Coast Guard.

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

12/2/25 BOCC Meeting:

Perkins recalled for integrity, selflessness, love of community  JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter Maurice Perkins’ seat on the dais sat empty and draped in a black cloth for Tuesday’s Suwannee County Commission meeting. Perkins, the District 2 commissioner, died Nov. 26. Final Remembrance will be at the Coliseum 12/5/25 & 12/7/25 with interment to follow at the Eastside Memorial Cemetery. Leo Mobley, the District 4 commissioner who was elected in 2022 alongside Perkins, said that helping hand was evident from Perkins in all walks of life. A preacher in addition to being a contractor, Perkins was always willing and ready to assist, even to fellow building professionals. Mobley, who also does some contracting work, said Perkins would assist with permits and anything else someone needed. “Maurice wasn’t a selfish guy, he would help you no matter what,” Mobley said. “Whether it was business, building, whatever, he would help you. He was just that kind of man. “We’re going to miss him. I don’t think we’ll be able to replace him with another Maurice, that’s not happening.” Three years ago, Perkins was elected to the commission to replace Clyde Fleming, who decided not to seek re-election. Since then, Perkins leaned on Fleming for guidance, asking questions about county business. Fleming leaned on Perkins too. The best of friends, Fleming enlisted Perkins to build him a new home. Fleming said the house is nearly finished and when he spoke with Perkins just days before he passed, Perkins told him they were “right on the threshold.” At the time, Fleming believed he was talking about the construction work. “I didn’t know that he meant the threshold of him leaving but obviously that’s what it was because it happened,” Fleming said, noting Perkins also oversaw around 18 churches. “I miss him. He would reach out and help you in any kind of way that he could, in the right way. He was a people person.” Other county leaders are also missing Perkins. “I highly respected Commissioner Perkins,” District 3 Commissioner Travis Land said, adding Perkins’ thoughts on construction projects carried a lot of weight with the entire board due to his background. “He was a strong man of faith. He was a good businessman. His moral compass was always true. He was just a true asset to the board and to the community. He was just a solid, genuine good guy.” District 1 Commissioner Don Hale echoed those sentiments. “Great guy,” Hale said. “To me, he was a man of integrity. He was a wonderful commissioner. He was really respected by all of us and by the community. Just a great guy.” Franklin White, the commission chairman and District 5 commissioner, said Perkins was a key member of “Team Suwannee.” “You can’t say enough good stuff about him really,” White said. “You couldn’t help it. If you dealt with him much, you would know, you would see, it’s just how he was. I don’t think he met a stranger, whoever it was, he was nice to them, it didn’t matter.” Furry, who moved into the county administration office earlier this year as assistant county administrator following a lengthy career in parks and recreation, said he developed a special bond with Perkins over the course of this year after getting to work with him closer. That bond was developed on trips to various conferences around the state as they got to spend time together. “He just had Godly wisdom,” Furry said. “He was strong in his faith, just the way he approached things kind of helped me. It was a common sense approach, trying to bring people together. Just a calming nature about him, a steady hand. He’s just a leader. He’s what a leader is.”  

Commission notifying state of Perkins’ deathBy JAMIE WACHTER0 jwachter@lakecityreporter.com With one seat draped in a black cloth, the Suwannee County Commission held a somber meeting Tuesday. Six days after District 2 Commissioner Maurice Perkins passed away after a bout with pancreatic cancer; the commission honored Perkins during its meeting. A moment of silence was held for Perkins at the outset of the meeting before former Commissioner Clyde Fleming, one of Perkins’ best friends, delivered the invocation. Perkins, a preacher, routinely handled the invocations during his three years on the board. At the end of the meeting, the board unanimously approved Chairman Franklin White sending a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office, alerting him of Perkins’ passing. According to Florida Statures, the vacancy on the commission must be filled by a gubernatorial appointment based on the proximity to the upcoming election. County Attorney Adam Morrison told the board that until DeSantis issues an executive order about Perkins’ death, the seat is technically not vacated. That order will come following the letter being sent from the county. The letter also urges the governor to make an appointment so the residents in District 2 are represented. “None of us have any idea,” Morrison said of when an appointment would be made. “It could be quick and may not happen at all and there’s no way for us to tell you that.” The appointment would fill the seat until the 2026 election when the District 2 position is on the ballot. Bo Hancock, a Suwannee County resident, asked the board to amend the letter and make a recommendation on who should fill that seat. “We need to fill the seat,” Hancock said. “We have someone who is willing to go back into that seat and that’s Clyde Fleming. “I think y’all need to make a recommendation. We need someone sitting up there as soon as possible. You’re not going to find anyone more qualified than Clyde Fleming.” Morrison said the letter is the first step in the statutory process. But he added county officials are in communication with DeSantis’ office and will provide input when appropriate. “The letter only serves the purpose of notifying the governor,” Morrison added. “You’re not the first person to have that idea (of Fleming rejoining the commission.)”

County welcomes Elite Industrial By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Suwannee County rolled out the red carpet for a new business and a familiar face. During Tuesday’s Suwannee County Commission meeting, Economic Development Director Jimmy Norris introduced Suwannee County resident Bobby Cason and his business, Elite Industrial & Refractory, which recently relocated to the East 90 Commerce Centre industrial park on the east side of Live Oak. Cason’s business previously was based in Lake City. “He basically stopped in the office one day and said, ‘Hey, I have a business and I want to move it to Suwannee County,’” Norris said. He wanted his business in Suwannee County enough to work through several stumbles in working through in obtaining the building in the industrial park. The building was in foreclosure at the time and Norris and Cason said it took multiple attempts to work through that process before Elite was able to get the building and then get in and renovate the building. “I’ve got kids here, they’ve got friends here, I wanted to be back here, I wanted them to have something to last in Suwannee County,” Cason said, noting he has worked in the industry on power plants and paper mills all across the country for decades. “We appreciate the work of Jimmy. He went above and beyond.” Cason said the Live Oak location is up and running but will officially open in January. Elite, which is owned by Texas-based American Industrial Services, works in industrial maintenance and repair, including structural fabrication and design, welding, engineering as well as project management and procurement. “I don’t even know what some of that is,” Norris said listing off a long list of services the company provides. “The point is they are here in Suwannee County now.” Cason’s crew of about 67 workers, whose median pay is $32-35 per hour, are already hard at work locally and across the state and region. Cason said 90% of those workers are from Suwannee County. Cason said the company has employees that work at Nutrien full-time as well as Binderholz Live Oak, the Ash Grove cement plant in Branford. Others are working at lumber mills in Alabama, a power plant in Georgia and a steel mill in Ocala. “Having a home for the whole company, the AIS group, in Live Oak because you have I-10 and 75 was the perfect place to have an office,” Cason said. “Any heavy industry that we can bring to this county, we have the people in Suwannee County and the surrounding counties to build it up from the ground up, to maintain it and to operate it.” Cason said in his years of work in the industry, traveling from coast to coast, he always sees other North Florida individuals working on those jobs. He said it is a testament to the work ethic instilled in people from the rural area. “We have some of the best construction hands,” he said. We have the absolute best that there is. It’s a farm community, it’s what we do, we work.” Commissioners Travis Land and Franklin White thanked Cason for bringing his company to Suwannee County

Setzer earns economic development certification By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@la.kecityreporter.com Suwannee County’s economic development coordinator is now certified. Economic Development Director Jimmy Norris and the Suwannee County Commission recognized Charissa Setzer at the board’s meeting Tuesday night for earning her Basic Economic Development Certification through the University of South Florida. The USF program includes courses on economic development marketing and attraction, economic development finance, real estate, small business, workforce development, business expansion, business retention, managing economic development organizations and strategic planning. Setzer thanked the board for its support in allowing her to pursue the training. “It’s incredibly valuable,” Setzer said of the coursework. “I was able to increase my knowledge about economic development as well as validate some of the things I’ve already learned from my time in the office with Mr. Norris. “The professors gave me some new tools I was able to learn about and some new perspectives I’m excited to bring back to the county and put into place here.” Setzer added the training included people from across the country, including as far away as Idaho. She said one thing she learned is that not every economic development office has the support behind it the way Suwannee County’s commission backs its efforts. “That made me even more grateful and thankful for the support I’ve received from you,” she said. Commissioner Don Hale, as the board was offering congratulations to Setzer for her efforts, said she is the “muscle” behind the county’s ongoing economic development efforts, noting she keeps them organized when they go to various events and conferences. In addition to that work on the economic development side, Norris also informed the board that Setzer was recently appointed as the chair for the board for Visit Natural North Florida, the regional tourism group. Setzer has been a board member for the group for six years. “It’s really good to have her sitting at that seat and representing Suwannee the way we’ve been able to do that for economic development,” Norris said. “She’s still doing all the marketing for tourism, all the marketing for economic development, but this role puts her in connection with Visit Florida and other agencies in the state. “We’re super proud of that.” County staffer also named regional tourism board chair. Photos by JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter Suwannee County Economic Development Coordinator Charissa Setzer recently earned her Basic Economic Development Certification from the University of South Florida. Setzer was honored for the achievement at Tuesday’s Suwannee County Commission meeting by Economic Development Director Jimmy Norris (from left) and Commissioners Leo Mobley, Don Hale, Franklin White and Travis Land. Charissa Setzer said the coursework provided her with new tools and perspectives that she can bring to help Suwannee County’s economic development off

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. 

City Council Meeting 11/10/25

Naming historic city hall after Yulee approved By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The historic old Live Oak City Hall officially has a new name. During its marathon meeting Monday night, the Live Oak City Council approved the final reading of an ordinance to rename the historic building that houses the Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce as the John W. Yulee Building by a 3-1 vote with Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson dissenting. Yulee, who served on the council from 1998 to 2007 and 2010 to 2018, helped play an instrumental role in saving the historic 1908 building and having it renovated. Yulee passed away in August. “Thank you for this opportunity to recognize a man who made an impact on the city that he loved so much,” Casandra Yulee, his widow, said during the public hearing on the ordinance Tuesday night. “John Yulee was a quiet man who didn’t always have something to say about everything. He didn’t make a lot of speeches but his voice was heard loudly in the work that he did.” In addition to his service on the council, Yulee served the community in many ways. A veteran, Yulee also worked for the U.S. Postal Service and as a police officer. He also was a supporter of the youth, both through the Suwannee County Police Athletic League but also through 4-H. After Yvonne Scott, the leader of the D.E.V.O.T.E.D. 4-H Club spoke at the previous reading of the ordinance to honor Yulee, a 4-H member recognized Yulee’s impact on the group at Monday’s meeting. Yulee’s granddaughter, Meghan Spencer, and Robert Ford, who attended Douglass High School with Yulee, also urged the council to recognize Yulee for his countless contributions to the community. Ford Late councilor played key role in saving, renovating building. Yulee said while not everybody is appropriately recognized for their impact, he said the city had a chance to properly honor Yulee. “Former Council member John W. Yulee was and remains the genuine article, the real thing,” Ford said, noting Yulee was a true patriot. “He was a man of principle; he was a public servant who gave of himself at every level of community life from the front line of civic service to the quiet corners where authentic leadership is felt most deeply.” The council passed the second reading with the only discussion coming in a question from Robinson to City Attorney Todd Kennon about the legality of renaming a building based on city ordinance 1322. That ordinance outlines the criteria the council needs to consider in naming a street or a building after someone. The guidelines for that public recognition includes: n The honor should only be bestowed upon those with a history of serving with the community; n Any naming or renaming should be done by ordinance with the two public hearings on the matter; and The city appropriately notices the hearings. “He carried a Bible and sang hymns on Sunday, he carried the mail Monday through Friday and carried a gun and a smile on the weekend,” Casandra Yulee said. “Whether you called him deacon, mailman, officer or deputy, councilman, board member, he would answer because he was all of this and more. “The legacy of John Yulee will live on because his life epitomized a life well lived from a native son of Live Oak.” YULEE Continued From 1C Casandra Yulee, the widow of former Live Oak City Councilman John Yulee, thanked the council for considering the renaming of the historic old City Hall after her late husband during Monday’s meeting. “He carried a Bible and sang hymns on Sunday, he carried the mail Monday through Friday and carried a gun and a smile on the weekend. Whether you called him deacon, mailman, officer or deputy, councilman, board member, he would answer because he was all of this and more. The legacy of John Yulee will live on because his life epitomized a life well lived from a native son of Live Oak.” — Casandra Yulee about her late husband John Yulee

Live Oak expanding CRA district By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Live Oak’s Community Redevelopment Agency district is growing. After hearing a presentation from Inspire Placemarking’s Megan Barrow, the Live Oak City Council unanimously approved a resolution to expand the city’s CRA district. That approval came after Barrow said Inspire found a necessity for the expansion to further address slum and blight within the city. “I’m happy to see this,” City Manager Larry Sessions said following the presentation. Inspire did the study over the past two months into whether expanding the district would make sense for Live Oak. A previous study in 2017 didn’t find the same need in the areas the CRA was looking to expand at that time. Barrow said the city’s CRA district, which currently includes downtown Live Oak as well as the U.S. Highway 129 corridor, would be able to expand into areas west and southwest of downtown Live Oak as well as areas to the north and east of downtown. “We found instances throughout the study area,” she said. That expansion was based on one condition of slum and four conditions of blight as listed by state statutes, according to Inspire’s research and data collection. At least one slum factor and two blight conditions are needed in order to have a Finding of Necessity. The study found that conditions exist which endanger life or property by fire or other causes to meet the slum factor as well as for blight that there is a predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, parking facilities, roadways, bridges or public transportation facilities; unsanitary or unsafe conditions; deterioration of site or other improvements; and governmentally owned property with adverse environmental conditions caused by a public or private entity. The expansion will allow the city’s CRA board to begin expanding its funding programs in those areas to help spur growth and development, both in economic development as well as residential progress. Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson said those conditions exist throughout the city. She asked if Inspire had looked at the entire city or just those areas where the district is looking to expand. “Based upon the blight, the slum, the different things we need,” she said. Barrow said while Inspire considered some data from the city as a whole, its focus was on the areas where staff and board members hoped to expand the CRA. According to Barrow, the city’s next steps after the approval to expand the district would be to rewrite the city’s CRA plan, which was originally developed in 2009 and revised in 2017. The city’s plan currently is set to sunset in 2039. The rewrite could extend the plan through 2055.. “It would give you more time to actually implement the CRA’s goals,” she said. COURTESY The Live Oak City Council unanimously approved Monday expanding its Community Redevelopment Agency district after Inpsire Placemaking found a necessity for the expansion to further address slum and blight within the city.

Avery Smith, a homeschooled sixth-grade student and member of the Live Oak Learners 4-H Club, reads off what she would do if she was ‘Mayor for the Day’ during Monday’s Live Oak City Council meeting. Smith, who won a poster contest about being ‘Mayor for the Day’ as part of Live Oak’s Florida Cities Week celebration, announced other winners from contests during that celebration and highlighted changes she would make to better the community, including hosting an ag expo, making street improvements, starting a community garden and developing a playground that is safe and inclusive for austistic children. 

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.” 

Council feud nearly boils over Monday By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Who determines the agenda for a Live Oak City Council meeting was anything but a dull discussion Monday night at Live Oak City Hall. An item added to the agenda at the outset of the council meeting Monday by Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson following Council President Pro-Tem Tommie Jefferson requesting an additional item led to a disagreement between Jefferson and City Manager Larry Sessions, a heated back-and-forth between Jefferson and Council President Matt Campbell after Jefferson touched Campbell and nearly a recess. When Jefferson requested at the outset of the meeting to have an item added about the discussion of an alcohol license for Darrell Bridgett’s business, which wasn’t added ahead of the meeting by Sessions, Robinson requested a discussion on setting the agenda. To start that discussion, Robinson said there is confusion about what can be put on the agenda and the process to do so, noting councilors had been sending information to City Clerk John Gill to be placed on the agenda but Sessions had requested the same information so he could be prepared for those discussions. “We are in a city manager type of government, so I understand his point of view of not being blind-sided,” Robinson said, adding that it hasn’t worked well to keep Sessions in the loop. Robinson said the council doesn’t have to get approval from the manager to put items on the agenda, but noted everybody should be working in tandem. That is where the disagreement began. Jefferson said as the governing body for the city, the council determines the agendas and sets the “laws” for city operations with Sessions merely to enact those policies. “That is what we were elected to do, be your voice,” he said. Sessions didn’t fully agree with Jefferson’s take. Rather, Sessions said as the manager, he is responsible for setting the agenda for council meetings. But he did agree that he also is responsible for making sure the policies set by the council are then followed. “This is a city manager form of government, I do set the agendas,” Sessions said. “That’s the way it’sdesigned. Live Oak City Council President Matt Campbell (right) and President Pro Tem Tommie Jefferson got into a heated back-and-forth Monday after Jefferson touched Campbell’s arm. Campbell, Jefferson engaged in heated back-and-forth. ‘I have zero confidence in Mr. Jefferson’s  aptitude, ability and willingness to make decisions. I have zero respect for the way you do...’ — Live Oak City Council President Matt Campbell on President Pro Tem Tommie Jefferson FEUD supposed to work.” Jefferson responded: “Not the form of government we’re supposed to abide by. We understand, the city council understands, you’re not our boss, we’re your boss. You answer to us. You get your agenda just like everybody gets their agenda.” After the back and forth between Sessions and Jefferson, Campbell said that Jefferson didn’t speak for the entire council and definitely didn’t speak for him. “I understand how things are supposed to work,” Campbell said. “That system works great if you are doing that.” Jefferson replied that everybody was entitled to their own opinion. He then grabbed Campbell’s arm and asked if he was good. He was not. “Don’t touch me,” Campbell said. “This is the last time I will tell you, do not ever touch me again, please. I’m going on the record saying if you ever touch me again, then it will be defense.” Campbell then said he agreed with Jefferson that everybody has their own opinion and he was about to share his. “I have zero confidence in Mr. Jefferson’s aptitude, ability and willingness to make decisions,” he added. “I have zero respect for the way you do...” before being cut off. But despite pleas from Robinson and Mayor Frank Davis to call for a recess, Campbell declined, saying he could move past the tension and keep the meeting moving, which he did. Prior to the near physical altercation between Campbell and Jefferson, Sessions said part of the city’s problems in handling issues was the lack of communication, noting few councilors come to his office to discuss agenda items or what is happening in the city. “It’s like nobody wants to come to my office and discuss anything,” Sessions said. “Communication is the key to fixing anything.” Jefferson admitted he was one of those. He said he refused to have 1-on-1 conversations, preferring to email his thoughts and requests. He also said he sends items he wants on agendas to City Clerk John Gill, who can then dispense it to Sessions. Sessions said the discussions between himself as administrator and council members can help educate both sides on potential agenda items as well as determining if it really needs to be discussed at a council meeting. Jefferson, though, reiterated his desire to not engage in those conversations with the city’s manager. “This 1-on-1 meeting and all that, that’s why I do emails, to remind you, this is a public setting,” Jefferson said. “Bring these things up in a public setting. The public needs to know and the public needs to see to hear what’s going on.” Later in the meeting, resident Cheryl Pruitt scolded the council for its behavior, likening them to stray cats that show up at her house. Pruitt said it’s hard to get business done with everybody trying to claw each other’s eyes out. “I had a mess with them,” Pruitt said of the 20 strays. “I finally got them all fixed. I’m hoping there’s some way this board can be fixed.

Yulee honor one step closer By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Live Oak City Council is one step closer to honoring a former councilman. During Monday’s council meeting, it appr oved the first r e a d i n g of an ordinance to name the old Live Oak City Hall, which currently houses the Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce, as the John W. Yulee Building by a 4-1 vote. Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson cast the dissenting vote. A second public hearing on the matter will be held in November. Yulee, who served on the council for 16 years, also was a dedicated law enforcement officer, becoming a deputy sheriff in Dade County in 1975 after serving in the military following his graduation in 1968 from Douglass High School in Live Oak. He also worked as a police officer in Live Oak and as a deputy with the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office. Yulee also worked for the U.S. Postal Service. That service was noted by multiple residents who addressed the council prior to its vote, requesting they support the push to honor Yulee, who passed away in August. Yvonne Scott, who heads the D.E.V.O.T.E.D. 4-H Club said Yulee is admired by her club for the assistance and inspiration he provided in the past, coming to talk to them and sharing his experiences. Scott said Yulee showed them, through those interactions but also through his life, that they also could make a difference in their community. “ D . E . V . O . T . E . D . stands for Determined, Enthusiastic, Visionary, Optimistic, Together, Effective and Devoted,” Scott said to applause from those in attendance at Monday’s meeting. “That’s John Yulee.” Robert Ford, who spoke on behalf of Yulee in September when the idea was first broached and the council provided consensus to City Attorney Todd Kennon to draft the ordinance, again spoke up for Yulee. After saying the Yulee meets the criteria needed for recognition such as a building being named in his honor, Ford likened the former councilman to Micah 6:8, which says “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” “That is John W. Yulee,” Ford said. Stefan Blue agreed, calling Yulee a “trifecta in life”, noting he was a family man, a public servant and a community activist, someone everybody respected. However, former Councilwoman L ynda Williams urged the council to not name the building after Yulee, much like she did a month before, saying it wasn’t personal but rather claimed the council would be “opening a can of worms.” “This is about being honest and fair to each and every individual,” said Williams, who added she also admired Yulee and that they were close. “There’s not enough buildings in the City of Live Oak to do that.” Williams added that the council should instead consider naming Heritage Park and Gardens after Yulee instead since he cast the deciding vote that made the park a reality

City-county luncheon will kick off Florida City Week By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Live Oak’s first foray into celebrating Florida City Week will also include the Suwannee County Commission for a lunchtime meet and greet. Mayor Frank Davis, who has helped spearhead the city’s plans next week for the Florida City Week celebration, requested the Live Oak City Council, during its meeting Monday, make time and plans to take part in some of the festivities, notably the events planned for Monday through Wednesday. On Monday, the city will be hosting a joint luncheon with the commissioners at Heritage Park and Gardens’ Don Allen Cultural Center, 1004 Helvenston St. SE in Live Oak. The luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m. “This is not a meeting to decide any issues, not even to discuss any projects or issues,” Davis said. “It’s just a meet and greet, a goodwill luncheon.” Davis added there will be several speakers at the event, providing some basic information. He said Eric Musgrove, the county historian and deputy clerk of court, will be among those to talk about the history of Live Oak and Suwannee County. “We wanted to get everybody together and get to know each other,” Davis added. “Just people getting together and fellowship.” Following that luncheon, the council and other city officials will read to students at Suwannee Riverside Elementary School on Tuesday before visiting The Arc of North Florida on Wednesday with refreshments. Other activities planned for the week include a Coffee with the Mayor at Live Oak City Hall on Thursday where residents can meet with Davis as well as City Manager Larry Sessions and CRA Director Nicholas Frigiola. On Friday, people can receive tours of City Hall in both the morning and afternoon, those tours are set for 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Sign-ups are necessary to attend the tours. Throughout the week, the city is also teaming up with UF/IFAS Suwannee County Extension and local businesses to offer a scavenger hunt of historic buildings in Live Oak. The scavenger hunt books can be picked up at City Hall, 101 White Ave. SE, or the Extension Office at the Suwannee County Coliseum, 1302 11th St. SW, on Friday, Oct. 17, or throughout the week of Oct. 20-24. There will also be a pair of contests for students in local school groups, which have already been chosen. There will be an essay contest on the theme of “Why I love Live Oak and Suwannee County,” and a poster contest of “If I Were Mayor.” The poster contest winner will be “Mayor for the Day.” Concluding the activities will be the city’s annual Candy Carnival, which is set for 5-9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Coliseum. The Candy Carnival will include a costume contest for children, ages 0-12, as well as games, treats and food. Businesses that are taking part in the festival can win a booth decorating contest.

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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County cuts tax rate for first time in 12 years By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Suwannee County property owners will see a reduced millage rate in the upcoming fiscal year. At its final budget hearing, the Suwannee County Commission reduced the tax rate from 9 mills, where it had been for 12 years, to 8.8 mills. The reduction, which came after discussion on possible changes to the proposed budget that included pulling $250,000 from its contingency fund to its own line item for implementing a new pay scale, was approved unanimously. Commissioner Leo Mobley was absent while dealing with a family issue. Commissioner Maurice Perkins began the discussion on cutting the millage rate, proposing a half-mill reduction to 8.5 mills, which would have been close to the 8.3567-mill rollback rate, or the rate that would generate the same amount of ad valorem tax revenue as the current rate. The approved rate is 5.3% above the rollback rate. However, that reduction would have cut the contingency to below $1 million, which was more than the other commissioners felt comfortable with. Vice Chairman Franklin White followed by suggesting the 8.8-mill number. That cut would reduce the revenue to the county $590,000, which impacts that contingency. There is $1.688 million left in the contingency fund for the board. White noted that the county is paying for part of the Commission drops millage from 9 to 8.8. JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter Suwannee County Commissioner Franklin White suggested an 8.8-mill tax rate in order to provide some relief to county property owners at Monday’s final budget hearing at the Judicial Annex. COUNTY cost to dispose of garbage for the residents out of the general fund to keep the solid waste assessment lower, which he said is its own tax break. The reduction also came after Moses Clepper, an outspoken Suwannee County resident, criticized the board for its lack of millage reductions over the years. Clepper said he wanted to see at least a full mill reduction, but ideally would like to see a 6-mill rate to help relive the burden on the taxpayer. Clepper’s push for that big cut was due to the rise in ad valorem tax revenue over the past five years of approximately $10 million. Land, though, said the additional revenue is needed in order to continue to provide the services across the county, whether it is for Suwannee County Fire Rescue, Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office and Suwannee County Parks & Recreation, which have to serve more residents than it did 5-10 years ago. “They can’t serve with the same amount of money, and not have the same level of service,” Land said. “The quality of that service is going to have to decrease. That’s just simple math too.” Clepper said he just wanted to see a tax break for the residents. “I think we all do,” Land responded. “It’s a double-sided sword, in my opinion. I don’t like property taxes either, I pay them too.” The board then backed that up. With the reduction in the millage, the final budget approved by the board was $189.989 million, most of which is grant or restricted funding. The only change to the budget made during the hearing Monday was the funding set aside for pay raises. Those raises are a result of a pay rate study the county had performed. Among the options presented by the study, the board desired a $306,000 increase for raises county-wide. Still, the board decided to not fully fund those out of the contingency. Rather, it wants departments to try to fund as much of the increases as possible from their already-approved budgets. “My recommendation would be to encourage all department heads and constitutionals too to find what you can, please, in your own budgets to adopt the new pay scale,” Land said. “If you just absolutely cannot, the board has set aside $250,000 to help those departments to move those funds.

September 16, 2025

Letter to Greg Scott, Suwannee County Manager

Mr. Scott as you retire we wanted to let you know the people of Suwannee County appreciate the work you have done over the past 37 years for our county. Your dedication to our community has been noted, and you should be proud of your accomplishments. When commissioner White told me on December 2, 2022 you will be happy with my appointment for a new county manager I said no I will not, well I was wrong. You have created a team that follows your lead and continues to do the right thing on a daily basis. Every conversation we have had through the years has always ended with your acknowledgment of a team effort never an individual. Even during adversity you always found a positive point of view. During hurricanes, tornados, and many difficult times your calm leadership has been a positive reflection on our county.

We will miss you at the helm of our county, but most of all hope you will enjoy life with your family for a long time. Take care and God Bless you.

Thank you

Wayne F. Hannaka

Founder of Concerned Citizens of North Florida 

 City gives final approval to small millage decrease By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Live Oak City Council unanimously approved both its tax rate and budget for the upcoming fiscal year. But not before some discussion over concerns about the price allocated toward making sure city offices remain energized during potential storms and power outages. During a special meeting Tuesday, the council passed the proposed 9.25-mill tax rate, which is reduced from the current 9.2623-mill rate. The new rate, though, is 3.41% above the rollback rate, or the tax rate that would generate the same amount of tax revenue for the city as the current rate. The rollback rate was 8.9542 mills. While that rate received no discussion, from either the council or the public, the city’s $49.896 million budget did spark concerns from the council. Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson questioned the $450,000 line in the budget for a new generator for Live Oak City Hall. “To the people that pay taxes, half a million dollars is a lot of money for a generator,” Robinson said. She later said she would be in favor of looking at other options, including setting aside a smaller amount and putting the remainder into contingency. City Manager Larry Sessions reiterated from early discussions on the budget that he didn’t believe the generator would actually cost that full amount. However, he wanted to be safe and make sure the budget covered the entire cost of the project, which would not only provide reserve power to City Hall but also to the adjacent City Hall Annex. “It is a big number, I think we can do it cheaper,” Sessions said. He added that he believed most of the cost for the generator project would likely be devoted to wiring at the Annex to connect it to the generator, noting it is an older building. Sessions said the current generator that only powers City Hall is an older, used machine that causes issues for city staff when it has to be used, causing glitches on the city’s server. The annex currently does not have backup power. “That’s a concern of ours, cyber security wise and other reasons for our computers to work during any power outage,” Sessions said. “If it’s not letting the server run properly then we can’t do our job properly.” During the discussion on the generator, Councilman Tommie Jefferson asked about the size of the generator and how much power it would provide, while Councilwoman Gladys Owens asked about the possibility of fixing the current generator. When Council President Matt Campbell requested the discussion return to the overall budget and not specific details on a generator, Jefferson took offense stating that he was allowed to discuss the topic. “Either way we’re going to be spending money, taxpayers’ money on this here, so we’re trying to look at the max and all that,” he said around Campbell banging the gavel to try to bring order back to the meeting on multiple occasions. “We are discussing. My opinion matters and I am allowed discussion. We are discussing this matter here.” GRANT FUNDING Following the budget hearing, the council also unanimously approved seeking a handful of grants from state agencies through the Suwannee County Parks and Recreation Department. Two of the grants are $200,000 opportunities from the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. One of the FRDAP grants would be for improvements at John Hale Park, while the other application would be for funding to help with Heritage Trail. The council also authorized seeking funding through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Agricultural Education and Promotion Facility Grant Program for the Suwannee County Coliseum. MEETING DATE CHANGE The council also moved its next two meeting dates. In October, the council will meet on Monday, Oct. 13, at 5:30 p.m., to avoid a conflict with a Florida Redevelopment Association meeting that council members will be attending. The November meeting will also be held on a Monday, Nov. 10, at 5:30 p.m. That normal meeting date is Veterans Day. Photos by JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter Generator sparks debate during budget talks. Live Oak Councilman Tommie Jefferson (left) looks on as Council President Matt Campbell tries to keep Jefferson on the topic of the budget and not minute details of a proposed generator for City Hall during Tuesday’s hearing. Campbell banged the gavel multiple times during the brief back-and-forth to try to keep order in the meeting and stop Jefferson’s line of questioning. Live Oak Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson said she was concerned with the $450,000 being set aside for a new generator for City Hall and Annex during the final bud 

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.”