2/19/26

 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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

02/17/26 BOCC Meeting

Residents, commissioners express concerns over aquifer recharge project

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

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

County settling ‘is this a road’ question

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

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

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

2/13/26 

 City Manager Larry Sessions being the victim of a witch hunt by a few misinformed citizens and council members  

Mr. Sessions is being accused of thief and mismanaging funds without any facts to support those accusations. Well here are the facts not: I guess, I believe, or maybe he did this. If you really want to know what happened  read on and become informed . 

The $450K which was stolen from the city was a scammer from who knows where that managed to intercept a payment made by the city through a bank transfer. Mr. Sessions contacted the bank to stop all payments until it could determine what had taken place preventing any further funds from being stolen. Captain Roundtree at numerous council meetings explained that the city police department was informed  immediately and   an investigation began including FDLE and FBI. To this date none of their investigation has turned up a suspect like many scams that have happened in the past few years around the country, some reaching into the millions.  At the start of the investigation the city police department ask the city manager to keep all information confidential since there was an ongoing investigation. The city's insurance company did reimburse for a large portion of the funds but not all.

As for the $60K spent on a residence at 215 Meadows. I have attached a log kept regarding the sewer backup due to a hole that opened up in front of CVS on 129. The city manager and public works could not determine why the sewer backed up after DOT had repaired the hole not informing the city that they had injected foam which seeped into the city sewer causing sewage backups in the area. Mr. Sessions responded to the owners of 215 Meadows believing the city had caused their house to be flooded with sewage which also turned into taking multiple loads of sewage from the system by truck loads to prevent any further damage. The 215 Meadows house was initially cleaned and repaired by Servopro at a cost of approximately $7K , however the sewer issue continued and additional cost were incurred at multiple times, all well within the spending limits of the city manager. Unfortunately the cost added up to $62,104.68.

Bottom line is the city manager acted in good faith to help a citizen which he believed was the city's fault. He did his job by stopping any further theft by a scammer and doing what was the right thing for a citizen. Isn't that what he is supposed to do?

I wrote this article in response to a social media blitz that is not true or even remotely correct to set the record straight

By Wayne Hannaka

215 Meadow sewer backup. Live Oak, Florida

Date

Description

1/19/2024

Hole opened up in front of CVS at 1005 south Ohio at sidewalk and US 129.  

Fire department responded to this issue approx. 1800.   

Public works director stayed on site until FDOT arrived at 2030.   

FDOT covered hole and placed cones and barricades.

1/20/2024

City manager verified FDOT was continuing work approx. 0830

   After this date FDOT continued to fill the hole with sand and   monitored and filled 

   again multiple times.

2/20/2024

Met Dan Morgan and Brad Long of FDOT at the intersection of US   129 and 90. 

 Neither of them were aware of the issue in front of CVS.

2/21/2024

Foam injection after 1700 by FDOT.

 We called Dan Maorgan at 1725 to ask about the CVS   situation. The FDOT was

   effectively finished at that time.

2/22/2024

H20 stared using vac truck at Westmoreland and US 129 remove   high water

   out of sewer manholes.

   Tried use Jet truck to   clear line without success due to undetermined blockage.

2/23/2024

H2O removed 18 loads of water and sewer, also trying to   determine the source of

   the back up.

2/26/2024

H2O removed 18 loads of water and sewer, also trying to   determine the source of

   blockage.

2/28/2024

H2O removed 18 loads of water and sewer, also trying to   determine the source of

   blockage by jetting from Westmoreland south toward the   undetermined blockage.

3/1/2024

H2O removed 19 loads of water and sewer still trying to   determine the location

   of the blockage.

3/4/2024

Customer called to have   sewer mains checked.

   H2O removed 20 loads of water and sewer form the system.

3/6/2024

H2O removed 17 loads of water and sewer from the system.

3/8/2024

H2O removed 18 loads of water and sewer fom the system.

3/11/2024

H2O removed 21 loads of water abd sewer from the system. Jetted the line again.

   Could not get the blockage broken free.

3/13/2024

H2O removed 17 loads of water and sewer from the system.

3/15/2024

H2O removed 19 loads of water and sewer from the system.

3/18/2024

H2O removed 21 loads of water abd sewer from the system. 

3/20/2024

H2O removed 19 loads fo water and sewer from the system.

3/21/2024

H2O removed 18 loads of water and sewer fom the system.

3/22/2024

H2O removed 18 loads of water abd sewer from the system. Jetted the line again.

   Could not get the blockage broken free.

3/25/2024

Complaint for sewer smell from 215 meadow. H2O removed 23 loads of water and

   sewer from the system. Jetted the line again and could not break the blockage.

3/26/2024

Jetted the line again. Could not get the blockage broken free.

3/28/2024

H2O removed 18 loads of water and sewer. Jetted the line again. Cold not break

   the blockage free.

4/1/2024

Jerald Lee called H2O approx. 0910 reporting that 215 meadow had   a backup over

   the weekend. Their was no emergency call out for this over the   weekend. H2O

   removed 21 loads of water and sewer from the system . Jetted the line again and

   could not get the blockage broken free but was able to remove   lots of sand, silt

   and debris from the pipe.

   Moved occupants to local hotel and called Serve Pro to clean and   repair damage.

4/2/2024

H2O removed 12 loads for water and sewer from the system. Jetted the line again.

   could not get the blockage broken free. H2O was able to run the camera approx. 

   200 feet of the main line from Westmoreland towards Meadow   street. The pipe is 

   lined and in good condition. H2O put the camera in the storm drain from Meadow 

   toward Westmoreland and found a patch at location where we are   hitting a 

   blockage from both directions of the main on US 129.

4/3/2024

H2O removed 18 loads of water and sewer from the system. Jetted the line again.

   Could not get the blockage free.

   Called serve Pro to inquire about progress. Found out Serve Pro had done nothing 

   so far. Instructed Serve   Pro to begin work immediately.

4/42024

Used camera and determined that foam from FDOT was the blockage

   From Westmoreland south toward colonial. Pictures and videos are 

   available.

   Serve pro started tear out of the bathroom at 215 Meadow.

4/5/2024

H2O removed 19 loads of water and sewer from the system.

4/6/2024

H2O removed 19 loads of water and sewer from the system.

   City manager verified tear out had commenced at 215 Meadow.

4/8/2024

H2O removed 21 loads of water and sewer from the system.

4/10/2024

H2O removed 35 loads of water and sewer from the system.

4/11/2024

The city of Live Oak received over 3 inches of rain in a very   short period of time

   which caused 215 Meadow to flood again. This flood effectively ruined all of the 

   work that Serve Pro had completed to this point and also flooded   the rest of the

   house until the flow from the sewer was stopped. The house on 215 Meadow

   water in around it and water flowed out of the house also. The City Manager

   worked with the owner Mrs. Patricia Evans and the renter Ms.   Jennifer Hudson all

   day to mitigate the problems that have arisen. City manager contacted H2O 

   Management and urged them to inform their insurance carrier   about this problem.

   The City Manager contacted FMIT (the City's insurance carrier)   to explain the

   entire situation. 

   Invoice from Servpro for $8377.53 for sewer backup repairs.

4/12/2024

An E-mail was sent to Brad Long and Dan Morgan of FDOT to ask   for an ETA on 

   repairs to correct the problem with the City's sewer issues   caused by the FDOT's

   attempt to fill a hole on US 129 in front of CVS. 

   To this point the renters involved have been moved around quite   a bit and by

   Monday the 15th they will have been in 3 hotels an 2 Airbnb's in   2 towns.

   The owner will be losing income due to damage to her house until   it is repaired

   and inspected for occupancy.

   The City is continuing to remove water at this time. So far the City has removed 

   a documented 366,000 gallons to alleviate the problem.

5/30/2024

Meeting with Ms. Evans and Ms. Hudson 1300. Explained to them that the City's

   and FDOT's insurance deny any responsibility. Immediately after the meeting

   I started to procure furniture for the house at 215 Meadow,   since Ms. Hudson said

   she had thrown all her furniture away due to contamination and   that she could not

   move in without furniture.

   After dealing with both   Badcock Furniture and Morrell's of Lake City,

   only Badcock could have the furniture delivered by the afternoon   of 5/31/2024.

5/31/2024

215 Meadow ready for occupancy. 

   10:22 I sent a text to Ms. Hudson stating that the house would   be furnished 

   between 1300 and 1700 on 5/31/2024 so she and her family could   move back in.

   At around 10:51 Ms. Hudson sent me a text and then called me   telling me that she

   would pick out her own furniture befor she moved in. She said cancel the 

   furniture. At this point   I called Badcock 10:59 and cancelled the furniture order.

   I am still waiting for the inventory of all the things including   furniture from Ms.

   Hudson that I asked for on 4/1/2024.

6/4/2024

Ms. Evans called me and said she had not heard from either the   City's insurance or

   the FDOT insurance. I   told Ms. Evans that at this point she should possibly retain 

   a lawyer. I told her that   the City was not making any headway either with the 

   Insurance companies.

6/5/2024

Invoice from Servpro for $38555.49 for flood repairs. Also an invoice for removing

   the contents of the house to a storage container for repairs for   $1806.05.

6/11/2024

Air BNB invoice For Hudson and Timms $484.40.

   Total spent to refurbish 215 Meadow. $62104.68 

January 10, 2026 City Council Meeting

Council still has not reviewed Sessions By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Live Oak City Council still isn’t saying how its city manager is performing. One month after a heated debate about what manager evaluation form to use to gauge the performance of Larry Sessions, three members of the council still haven’t done the annual review of the top city executive, which is supposed to be completed in January, or if they will at all. “This is something we will have to put in place on how we will use these evaluations,” Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson said during the discussion of Sessions’ evaluation. “Nowhere in the charter does it say an evaluation is what determines whether or not the city manager is (retained) or released. “For me, the evaluation would be futile because everyone does one individually and it’s not a consensus of the council.” Brown Robinson, Gladys Owens and Tommie Jefferson haven’t filled out their evaluations. Council President Matt Campbell and David Alford completed their performance review of Sessions last month.Campbell opened the discussion Tuesday night curious about the state of the evaluations and the timeline for having them completed. In January, there was a back and forth between the council on whether to use the existing No timeline on when required evaluations will be completed.  The council has not fully completed its annual performance review of Sessions. Using city evaluation form or the International City and County Manager Association form before it unanimously agreed to move forward with the current city document and then workshop a new, comprehensive form to use for the future. Jefferson, though, Tuesday said he was awaiting clarification on what form to use before doing his review. “I could have completed the old form but I thought we were trying to incorporate something from the new form,” he said. City Attorney Todd Kennon then reminded Jefferson of the action taken in January. Kennon also said Brown Robinson was correct when she said the evaluation had no basis on determining whether or not to retain the manager. Instead the manager’s retention is dependent on a council vote at any time. “The main purpose of the evaluations is on an annual basis for him to get input from all the council members as to what they think the strengths and weaknesses are,” Kennon said. Campbell, though, was curious as to why some members of the council had not done the evaluations, especially following a lengthy discussion in January as to the form to use to do so. He added that he felt it was only fair to make sure the manager knew what areas council members wanted to see improvement before they possibly were looking to move on from him. “If someone is going to try to terminate my position, I think in good faith I would appreciate an explanation, the communication of here’s why,” he said. Jefferson agreed, noting that at the previous meeting he said he wanted to have discussion about the evaluation process because he didn’t think the council should try to terminate Sessions without doing the annual review. “We still haven’t done the evaluation,” Campbell replied. Jefferson added: “That’s because we didn’t know what form we were going to use.” Campbell responded: “No, we voted on that.” Campbell added that he was concerned with the city’s ability to attract high-quality administrators in the future if the council doesn’t follow the process of conducting evaluations and instead chooses to fire a manager on a whim. “It’s not personal with Mr. Sessions,” Brown Robinson said. “It’s just about leadership style. We can work on these things when we’re talking about developing an evaluation, we can maybe tie that in to the charter.”

City cyber security audit still on deck By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com A year after the City of Live Oak lost nearly half a million dollars in a cyber attack, it appears finally ready to move ahead with a cyber security audit. During Tuesday’s Live Oak City Council meeting, Councilwoman Vanessa Brown Robinson asked about the status of the audit on the city’s cyber security and financial policies that was requested by the council last summer. City Manager Larry Sessions said he had information from five auditing firms —  Cherry Bekaert, James Moore, Purvis Gray, BerryDunn and Baker Tilly — who answered a Request for Proposals in August. However, he was waiting for further direction from the council to move forward with awarding a bid. “Nobody followed up and asked me to do more,” Sessions said. “I’ve just been waiting for y’all to say whether you wanted to do something with it or not.” That did not sit well with Brown Robinson, who questioned why Sessions brought forward responses from other RFP’s without follow up from the council. “How long is this going to take us really to get this done,” she said. “We have gone through this not once, but twice if not more. “Now we get the answer of ‘y’all did not tell me to move forward with it.’ That really bothers me as to trying to get to the bottom of this. You’re using, I’m going to say excuses for not following through on what the council has presented.” Brown Robinson made a motion to direct Sessions to hire an auditor on Tuesday night. However, City Attorney Todd Kennon said city staff needed to rank the responses and bring back that recommendation to the council, likely at its March meeting. Sessions added he would also reach out to each firm and check to see if the prices quoted in August are still accurate. Last February, the city authorized an online payment of approximately $450,000 to what was believed to be an email requesting payment from a familiar vendor. However, the email was fraudulent and the payment was sent to scammers. Live Oak Police Capt. Jason Rountree told the council on Tuesday that the LCPD’s investigation followed the money trail until it was converted into cyber currency. At that point, he said it is extremely hard to track. He said that investigation included an individual also being scammed by the same group of individuals near Chicago. “This is a $27 million industry, they’re really good at what they do,” he said, noting he did not have high hopes for recouping any of those lost funds. “Hopes of sourcing where that money is at this point is low.” Sessions, though, reminded the council that the city was repaid $350,000 of the lost money by its insurance company. He also added that staff reviewed its own policies and compared those to what are in place in other municipalities and came away feeling good about what they were doing compared to others. “Our policies were just about as good as anybody’s, probably better than a lot,” he said.

Zoning change back for Circle K station By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com A new convenience store on the west side of Live Oak is one step closer to becoming reality. The Live Oak City Council unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance Tuesday night to change the zoning district on a pair of parcels along 5th Street SW from commercial-general to commercial-intensive. The parcels, as well as a pair of additional parcels along the Howard Street (U.S. Highway 90) and Walker Avenue intersection are proposed to become a Circle K gas station. Ken Fioretti with HSKC, LLC, a site developer for Circle K on the project, told the council that the only reason the zoning change was requested was to get matching zoning on all of the parcels. That is required by the city’s Land Development Regulations in order to apply for a special exception, which is also required for a gas station. “It’s a quirk of the zoning,” Fioretti said. “If the special exception rule allowed split zoning, we’d go right to there.” Quinn Skierski, who owns adjacent property, told the council that he thinks it will be a good addition to the city, noting the parcels currently are not used and overgrown. “It would be a good thing to get that corner cleaned up and get that going into production,” Skierski said. “I think they’ll be bringing a good addition to that corner.” According to Fioretti, the construction on a new store generally takes 6-12 months once all the permits are obtained. However, he said that work may be slightly delayed because of an existing environmental contamination issue on the site from a previous gas station. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection was not prioritizing that work because there were no plans for the site. The Circle K is speeding up that work. “They’re going to put more money into the cleanup process, they’re going to take care of it and get it moving as quickly as possible,”  

02/03/26 BOCC Meeting

County: Growing budget is success, not waste By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Context is key when it comes to growing budgets, according to Suwannee County officials. After Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia recently called out $53 million in what he described as excessive government spending in Nassau County as the latest in Florida DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) crackdowns on local spending, Suwannee County Administrator Jason Furry told the County Commission and residents Tuesday that there were not any problems occurring locally. “I think we’re doing a good job,” Furry said. “You guys are doing a good job. If something does come out, I want to try to get ahead of that and we will take that into consideration when we do get into our budget process.” Furry said he recently discussed the matter with Clerk of Court Barry Baker and Property Appraiser Ricky Gamble after the press conference in Nassau County. Furry said in looking at Suwannee County’s budget from 10 years ago to the current budget, since that is what the state typically looks at to “make a comparison of how much waste there is,” is interesting. Grant funding causes ‘misleading’ increase in total local spend In rough numbers, Furry said the county’s population has grown from around 43,000 residents in 2016 to between 47,000 and 48,000 now. Meanwhile, the county has gone from 300 employees to 400 employees, although 100 of those are casual employees, like lifeguards or aides at the library who only work in the summer. But with the state’s minimum wage increasing from $8 per hour in 2016 to $14 per hour currently, the county’s salary total has doubled from $8 million to $16 million. Additionally the health insurance for county employees has gone from $1.5 million to $3.2 million and the county’s retirement contribution has more than tripled from $1 million to $3.7 million. The biggest difference in the county’s budget from 2016 to now comes in grant funding. Ten years ago, Suwannee County only received $7 million in grants. This year, the county budget includes $63 million in grant funding and that doesn’t include the recent $38 million grant toward the regional storm shelter. “We’ve had that conversation before that the grants is not truly operating budget, but it does make it look inflated,” Furry added, noting the county’s actual operating budget went from $35 million in 2016 to $75 million now. Meanwhile, the county’s millage rate has remained the same throughout the decade until the board decreased it from 9 mills to 8.8 mills this past year. The county’s ad valorem tax revenue in that span grew from $6.5 million to $12 million. “It’s all pretty much doubled,” Commission Chairman Franklin White said. Commissioner Travis Land also said the “devil is in the details,” when it comes to these local budgets and the perceived wasteful spending. “Sometimes they are discounting the success some counties have had in chasing grants and getting different things,” he said, noting the large increases shown in some budgets are total to total, rather than just an operating budget. Commissioner Don Hale said that shelter grant will again cause the county’s budget to appear bloated next year when it is added in even though it is state funding. “It is misleading,” Furry said. “It would be a lot easier not to fool with them, but it helps our community, so of course we’re going to do them.”

Courthouse dome repair back out for bid By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Repairs to the damaged Suwannee County Courthouse dome will have to wait a while longer. The Suwannee County Commission unanimously approved rejecting the line bid the county received for the repair of the copper dome — which was damaged by Hurricane Helene in October 2024 — and rebidding the work. The lone bid for the work was above $400,000. The county originally was going to piggyback on an existing contract to do the work at a cost of approximately $300,000. The board ultimately decided to instead bid the repairs to try and get a reduced cost. Now that will have to wait on the results of a new bid process. County Administrator Jason Furry told the commission that additional drone pictures taken of the top of the courthouse, which led to more measurements and photos of the dome, which will maybe help in that regard. “We’re not pushing a hard, firm deadline,” he said. “I still think we can do better on a more competitive process there.” The hurricane in 2024 damaged two of the four clock faces on the courthouse tower and peeled off some of the copper from the dome of the historic courthouse. While the clock faces have previously been damaged, the damage to the dome was something that had not been witnessed previously. And while only a few sections of the dome were damaged, Suwannee County officials said last year that the entire outside of the dome would have to be replaced due to the look of the copper, which patinas over time. Marcus Durham, the county’s facilities director, added last year that the original dome was made out of a better grade of copper than what is available now, so there would be no way to have a matching look even once the new portion would patina. The work on the dome is only on the copper itself as the support structure was found to be sound.

Commission approves mitigation strategy plan By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com Suwannee County’s massive local mitigation strategy plan update was approved by the Suwannee County Commission on Tuesday night. That approval came after Heather Henderson-Scheu, the county’s emergency management director, gave a “cliff’s note” version of the 194-page main LMS plan, which also included an additional 300-plus pages of documentation to support it. “It’s a lot of different fire plans, different hazard plans and maps,” County Administrator Jason Furry said Tuesday before turning the explanation over to Henderson-Scheu. The plan has to be updated every five years, she explained, and the current process, which took several months, began with the county’s previous plan and included a slew of departments within the county providing the necessary updates in their area. The plan also has been reviewed and made public to gather feedback and input before being submitted to the Florida Department of Emergency Management, which also has approved it. Public meetings were also held to gather input. “If we don’t have an LMS plan, basically we can’t apply for mitigation money,” Henderson-Scheu said. “You have to have one to (qualify). “It identifies our hazards and our risks for Suwannee County.” The plan ranks flooding, sinkholes, hurricanes/tropical storms, thunderstorms and wildfires as high ranking hazards that occur once or more each year. Tornadoes and drought/ heat waves are medium/ high risks with an occurrence every three years. Epidemic/pandemic, riverine erosion and winter storms/freezing temperatures are low-ranked hazards that occur every 10 years. The LMS working group that devised the current plan included members of the emergency management department, Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office, county administration and other county offices, including facilities, public works, clerk’s office, fire rescue, property appraiser, planning and zoning, economic development and parks and recreation. The Suwannee County School District and the Suwannee County Health Department were also represented on the group as well as town officials from both the City of Live Oak and the Town of Branford in addition to members of the Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Suwannee River Water Management District, FDEM, Florida Department of Transportation, Advent Christian Village, Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative and emergency management officials from from Lafayette, Columbia and Madison counties. The plan also includes six pages of mitigation projects that could be eligible for future mitigation funding. Among those plans are a $25 million Live Oak flood mitigation plan, which is being submitted for possible funding, as well as $28 million to construct a new Emergency Operations Center and $39 million for SVEC to move overhead electric drops underground. That project is also being submitted for funding. Commissioner Don Hale asked about streams that he believed were still blocked with debris from past storms. Henderson-Scheu said she believed waterway clean up had already been completed. “Is there anything moving forward we can do?” Hale asked. “With the river as low as it is, anybody can go out now and see trees up against bridges and columns. If we have a flood or a big rain, some of that will do damage as they cut loose.

1/20/26 BOCC Meeting

Dirt road is county’s top paving priority By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com A two-mile stretch of dirt road is Suwannee County’s top priority for state funding when it comes to road projects. During its hour-long meeting Tuesday night, the Suwannee County Commission unanimously approved making 184th Street from County Road 137 to the Columbia County line as its top-ranked project to submit to the Florida Department of Transportation. The county is also submitting a resurfacing project on CR 137 for potential funding as well as resurfacing on a portion of County Road 349. “We can stop right there,” Commission Chairman Franklin White said as he applauded when Public Works Director Brenda Flanagan mentioned the 184th Road project, later noting the road is no longer in his district. Leo Mobley, the commissioner whose district includes both the project work on 184th Street and CR 137, made the motion to go with the rankings submitted by Flanagan that made those two the top-ranked projects. According to Flanagan, the dirt-to-pave conversion of 184th Road is projected to cost $4 million for the two miles, including engineering. White said that project was originally forecast to be $2.4 million when he first started pushing for the improvements to the dirt road that serves as a cut-through road to County Road 242 in Columbia County. “That is a vital road to get paved,” White said. “If you ever have to drive it or if you ever see the traffic that is on that road, you 184th Street tops list for FDOT; also submitted are CR 137, CR 349 stretch will understand what I’m talking about. “There’s a lot of people that work in Gainesville every day and that’s a 15-20 minute time saver to go that route.” White added that it was clearly his top pick as he has fought for it to be paved for years. Flanagan said in previous years when the county sought to have that road be paved using the FDOT-funded programs, the state agency wasn’t keen on paving dirt roads. That may have changed now, though. “They seem to be willing to consider doing this,” Flanagan said. “This opportunity may or may not circle back to us.” She added that to help make that project more appealing to FDOT for funding would be to offer the county handling the clearing and grubbing work alongside the dirt road itself. “That would show we have skin in the game,” she added. The 4.7-mile stretch of CR 137 from County Road 252 to U.S. Highway 90 would include widening and resurfacing at a projected cost of $6.5 million. Meanwhile the CR 349 work from 192nd Street to CR 252 is projected to cost $6.3 million and cover five miles of widening and resurfacing. Flanagan noted that stretch of CR 349 is what staff believes to be “the worst part” of that roadway. Commissioner Travis Land said while the old rule of thumb on road paving projects was $1 million per mile, the estimates provided by Flanagan show that is no longer the case with the top projects ranging from $1.25 million per mile to the $2 million per mile for the dirt-to-pave conversion on 184th Street. “There’s a reason the county can’t go out and pave roads and pave roads and pave roads,” Land said. “Paving ain’t cheap, even when it’s resurfacing.” White, when asked by Commissioner Don Hale, about the condition of the other two roads up for discussion, said that stretch of CR 137 has “ruts” in it. Flanagan added that it was an area the county identified as a corridor for improvement years ago for truck traffic. “All three of these have different benefits,” she said. White added: “All are desperately needed.”

Fair Board Donating Land to The County By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com The Suwannee County Fair Association is hoping a longtime partnership will include a new storage building in return for a parcel of land. Wesley Wainwright, the chairman of the fair board, offered the Suwannee County Commission the property just north of the Suwannee County fairgrounds. The 8.5-acre sliver of land, he said, could be used by the county for water mitigation as it moves forward with plans to expand the facilities at the fairground complex. “For us, it’s a partnership,” Wainwright said. “We have, I think, just a really good relationship and allow us to work with these facilities and to enhance and improve it.” In return, Wainwright said, the fair board would like a 60-foot by 40-foot building to store its equipment and materials in for the remainder of the year. The commission directed County Attorney Adam Morrison to work with the fair board on a contract to move forward with the agreement. Wainwright, in his presentation, said the willingness to work together has benefited both sides over the years. While the county hasn’t charged the fair to utilize the facilities, the non-profit board has given back through helping fund upgrades. That has included constructing buildings like the Exhibition 2 building, the concession stand, picnic pavilion, poultry barn, as well as renovating an existing building into the fair office and constructing the brick sign along 11th Street SW in front of the fairgrounds and Coliseum. “A lot of that we just felt obligated to do,” Wainwright said. The board also 20 years ago bought the strip of land behind the rodeo arena at the fairgrounds. “We really didn’t have an idea of what we wanted to do,” Wainwright said of that property. “We just knew we wanted to tie it up and make sure that it went toward anything to enhance those facilities. “We want you to have it.” The parcel that will be given to the county sits east of a 29-acre field the county purchased eight years ago and uses for parking for the fair but also is currently constructing a state grant-funded multipurpose facility on. Wainwright said by providing the land to the county, it can be added to their master plan for the site, including potential water mitigation as construction and renovation projects continue. Wainwright said that post-frame building with a concrete floor would benefit the fair board, which currently stores its equipment either in the poultry barn or beneath the bleachers inside the Coliseum. The facility, he said, would hopefully have roll-up doors on each end as well as a walk-in door. “It would go, again, to enhance the county’s facilities,” he said. Commissioner Travis Land said he wanted to see the county agree to a not-to-exceed price on the construction of the new building. He said that way any donations or donated services could also go to benefit the project. “I want to get you what you want and give you some wiggle room for what you want to do,” Land said, adding county staff would work with the fair board to determine the correct spot for the building. The Suwannee County Fair began in 1915 and is the oldest and longest-running agricultural fair in Florida. “We’d like to keep going,” Wainwright said. “It’s getting more and more challenging every year, but so far we’re hanging in there.” Group wants storage building in return for 8.5 acres.

County eyes building to add to Branford station By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com If Suwannee County takes over fire services in the Town of Branford, it will require more than the town’s current fire station. The Suwannee County Commission provided consensus Tuesday night for the county to also look into acquiring Branford’s current public works building as part of negotiations around consolidating the town’s volunteer service into the county’s paid fire service. According to County Attorney Adam Morrison, if both the town and county agree to the fire consolidation, the county would need to upgrade the current station to include living quarters for full-time firefighters. The town’s public works building, which sits adjacent to the fire station, could be retrofitted for that purpose. “The existing structure that’s there at Branford, where the fire trucks are located, is insufficient to house firefighters, it’s not enough to be a working fire station,” Morrison said. BOCC Chairman Franklin White, whose district includes Branford, said since the county already owns the property to the north of the current fire station in town and that public works building, he thought it made sense to try to acquire that facility as well as part of a southern county campus. The Branford Town Council agreed at its Jan. 13 meeting to move forward with the negotiations with the county. That came after a Jan. 5 workshop on the subject as well. If the county does take over fire services for the town, Suwannee County Fire Chief Dan Miller said there would be two full-time firefighters/paramedics located in that station around the clock except when running calls. Commissioner Don Hale added the living quarters would include beds and a kitchen. Miller likened the renovations needed to the ongoing work in northern Suwannee County at an old church on U.S. Highway 129. White said Tuesday that while the town has committed to paying the county $80,000 for fire protection services, it wouldn’t be paying that at first. Rather, the town’s current station and equipment would count toward those payments until that appraised value runs out. However, if the town agreed to part with its public works building as part of the deal, White and Morrison said that would be a straight purchase by the county. That way the sale price could go toward constructing a new public works facility for the town. “Because they’re going to have to go build a new building, that will have to be a cash purchase, not a swap,” Morrison said. “That’s how that part would have to look for practical purposes on their end.” The commissioners agreed that would be a wise move. “I think it makes sense for the country to try to have all our assets in one line right there,” Commissioner Travis Land said. “I think it makes more sense for us to have them in a line rather than four blocks down the road have another building. “I think it’s fair for both sides.” Town public works facility would be living quarters.

January 13, 2026 City Council Meeting

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

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

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

12/9/25  

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.

By JAMIE WACHTER on Friday, January 2, 2026Subhead

Furry contract calls for $135K salary.

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• Jason Furry, Suwannee County’s interim administrator, is set to become the county’s permanent administrator. The County Commission will vote on his proposed five-year contract Tuesday. (FILE)

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LIVE OAK — Suwannee County could have a permanent administrator as soon as Tuesday.

The Suwannee County Commission at its 5:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday at the Suwannee County Judicial Annex, 218 Parshley St. SW, will be discussing and possibly approving a contract with Jason Furry, the interim county administrator, to give him that job full time.

Furry has served as the county’s interim administrator since Greg Scott retired at the end of September. Furry previously had been the assistant county administrator since May.

According to the draft agreement up for a vote Tuesday, Furry would be paid $135,000 annually on the five-year contract should the board approve it. The agreement also has an automatic five-year renewal as part of the deal. However, any commissioner also could reject the automatic renewal and instead place renewing the deal on a board meeting agenda.

The commission voted unanimously in December to have Chairman Franklin White enter into negotiations with Furry for the permanent job after he was pegged as the top candidate for the position by the Florida Association of County Managers’ search committee, which helped the county in the search process.

“I’m proud of my service to the county and I’m looking forward to continuing to serve in a different manner,” Furry said in that December meeting. “I look forward to working with the board and the public as well. Thank you for the opportunity.”

Furry has worked for the county 32-plus years, starting in parks and recreation and becoming its director in 2022 when Scott moved to county administration.

That longevity of service to the county was part of why the County Commission has confidence that Furry is the right person to lead them into the future.

“What it doesn’t say in that report and what we don’t know is a man’s character,” Commissioner Travis Land said in that December meeting. “I know Mr. Furry’s character. His resume stacks above all the rest of them based on what those folks told us. I’m 100% confident he’s the right guy for the job.”

According to the contract negotiated by White, Furry also would get a salary increase should all county employees receive an across-the-board raise.

However, the board can also determine that he deserves a raise based on his performance.

Furry’s starting salary is lower than what Scott was making as the county’s administrator although he also was serving as public works director. The board decided in December to separate the two positions. It voted unanimously to make Brenda Flanagan the interim public works director until a search could be conducted. She had already been handling day-to-day operations in that department.

Per the agreement, Furry also would have use of a county vehicle as well as a cell phone and a computer and the county will pay for any professional associations and organizations that is “necessary and desirable for his professional participation, growth and advancement” as administrator.

Should the county decide to terminate Furry at some point, it must give Furry 60 days written notice and pay him a lump sum severance equal to 20 weeks of his salary. He could elect to leave earlier than that termination date, the contract states, but would forfeit the severance pay.

If the board elected to try to reduce Furry’s pay at any rate above an across-the-board reduction for all employees, he can resign with a written two-week notice and also could be paid severance.

If Furry resigns voluntarily, the contract calls for a 60-day written notice.

12/3/25 BOCC Special Meeting:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GRANTS MISMANAGED

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

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

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

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

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

FUTURE PLANS

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

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

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

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

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

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

LEADERSHIP SEARCH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SHERIFF’S RESPONSE

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

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

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

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

POTENTIAL FRAUD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11/26/25  

Arrest of Former Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office Finance Director

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Statement from Sheriff Sam St John

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

11/18/25 BOCC Meeting

Suwannee board honors Gwinn’s legacy

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, November 19, 2025

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New fairgrounds building will be named for farmer.

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

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Gwinn

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EXPANDING COMMUNITY PARAMEDICINE PROGRAM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NEW CHAIR, VICE CHAIR APPROVED

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

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

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

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

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

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

Citizen Concerns by Wayne Hannaka

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

11/4/25 BOCC Meeting

Six apply for Suwannee county admin role

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, November 5, 2025

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Furry, Harden, Williams have Suwannee ties.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I-10/129 improvements to begin in December

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, November 5, 2025

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10/21/25 BOCC Meeting

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

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

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

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

10/7/25 BOCC Meeting 

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

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

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

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

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, October 1, 2025Subhead

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EYING GRANT FUNDS

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

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

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

MEETING CHANGES

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

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

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

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

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

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

By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, September 3, 2025Subhead

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 SHERIFF ON THE HOT SEAT AT BOCC MEETING  

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