August 1, 2025  7:45 am | 6 min read

County Attorney Joel Foreman opines as County Manager David Kraus looks on.    Columbia County Observer photo

By Stew Lilker

COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The North Florida Water Utilities Authority (NFWUA) met Wednesday morning. The Authority, operating without a business plan for over a year and with an executive director who has no experience running any kind of utility, trudged forward into its self-created Never-Never Land.

The action began before the meeting got underway as NFWUA Executive Director Shannon Roberts handed out an interlocal agreement that was not complete when posted to the Authority’s website on July 24 as part of the meeting’s agenda packet (the meeting material).

Columbia County Commissioner Rocky Ford has been at the helm of the NFWUA since the beginning. The Authority's track record speaks for itself.

Missing were the exhibits from the interlocal agreement (ILA - an agreement between Columbia and Suwannee Counties and the Authority), which identified the water and wastewater assets that were to be maintained and operated by the Authority and the budget.

Also missing was the NFWUA budget to run those utilities.

Why is this important? The Authority’s funding is coming from the pockets of all Columbia and Suwannee County taxpayers. It was on tap to be approved that morning by the Authority Board members, which included county commissioners from their respective counties.

Executive Director Roberts' lack of relevant governmental utility or other experience also resulted in the material posted on the NFWUA's website not being ADA compliant (handicapped accessible).

When the lack of ADA compliance was pointed out to the Authority members, each a county commissioner – they just shrugged.

Joel Foreman short-circuited the NFWUA enabling document

Looking back to before there was an Authority, Columbia County’s expert in legislative matters, Staz Guntek, in 2022, put together various scenarios of forming a utility authority and presented the names of multiple authorities, including the Okeechobee Utility Authority enabling documents as a suggestion.

Mr. Guntek was thrown overboard by Columbia County County Attorney Joel Foreman, who had a better idea, form the Authority after one of the most problematic special districts in North Florida, the Suwannee Valley Transit Authority. Mr. Foreman worked to shoehorn the Utility Authority into the SVTA’s enabling papers, which were eventually approved.

NFWUA Chairman Rocky Ford and Suwannee County’s Franklin White both questioned the vital missing material.

Executive Director Roberts explained that when the agenda was created, they didn't have the missing material (exhibits A, B, C), and the final assembly of the material was done "yesterday,” at which time Mr. Roberts said he printed off some copies for the public and brought them to the meeting. He did.

Columbia County printed more copies of the interlocal agreement and exhibits so that the Authority Board members had complete copies.

NFWUA Attorney Grady Williams called the interlocal a “kickoff strategy.”

The interlocal agreement can be viewed or downloaded here. The 12th hour additions begin on page nine.

The ILA: running millions of dollars of county assets -- no big deal, "like getting your learners permit... it's an experiment." County Attorney Joel Foreman

Columbia County Attorney Joel Foreman opines as County Manager David Kraus looks on.

Columbia County Attorney Joel Foreman compared turning over the running of tens of millions of dollars' worth of utility assets to "getting your learner's permit." He said, "It's sort of like handing the keys over to the car, right? You got your learner's permit, you’re 15. We're going to see how you do between 15 and 16. So this Interlocal is kind of like that learner's permit, right? You gotta do your thing. We're gonna be looking over your shoulder. We'll be checking in from time to time... Let's see what you can do…We know this is an experiment... If things go sideways, the counties are protected, because we can undo this.”

Suwannee County County Attorney Adam Morrison, who co-authored the ILA (interlocal agreement) added to Mr. Foreman’s learner’s permit scenario, “There will be growing pains; there will be screwups.”

Chairman Rocky Ford said, “I like what Mr. Morrison had to say about growing pains… I think we're making some good headway."

Commissioner Tim Murphy: He wanted a finished agreement before moving forward.

Columbia County's Tim Murphy took exception to the rush to push through the ILA, noting the 12th hour additional materials. “I don’t think we’re under a deadline here,” he said.

County Attorney Foreman protected his position, “The Interlocal allows for us to constantly come back to the table - say, hey, got an issue.” Mr. Foreman explained, “I also want to reassure you that if you don't address a disagreement at the very same meeting” we could do it at another time.

Mr. Foreman continued his explanation, “You know, we start to take that baby step, and first thing you do is step in a bear trap and it's not a catastrophe, the way we drafted it. Nothing is a catastrophe.”

Finally, someone mentioned the utility customers. Columbia County County Manager David Kraus said, “The biggest thing we want is a smooth transition for our customers. You don't want a utility billing interruption, and then suddenly you have problems collecting payments because they didn't get bills. So, you know, transition for our customers is equally important.”

At this time, it is not clear how many Suwannee County utility customers there are or if they are all being billed.

Executive Director Shannon Roberts knows, but isn’t talking. He is still doing work for Suwannee County, is using their offices, and is being paid for that work in part by Columbia County taxpayers.

Suwannee County's Attorney Adam Morrison: "There will be screwups... and growing pains."

Back to growing pains came Suwannee County’s Adam Morrison, “the one thing I like about this problem (billing) is the idea of growing pains; this is the training bill before you get the car. Because if for some reason this goes south, you don't want to spend all the money transitioning everything into this new [billing] system.”

Attorney Foreman backed up his co-ILA-author: “Everything you do, as long as this Interlocal is in place, needs to be reversible, right? Because, again, the consequence of everything falling apart is that everything goes back to where it started, right? If you do anything irrevocable, like you spend money on servers. They're not going to take them back. Somebody's getting up with servers that they didn't even want. You want to avoid creating too many of those kinds of situations during this Interlocal… You're going from the learner's permit to a full driver's license.”

County Attorney Foreman left out the part that if the Authority had hired an experienced utility director and had a business plan and model, and a rate study, they wouldn’t have to spend half their time looking over their shoulders.

Commissioner Murphy stuck to his guns, telling the Authority that the executive director should put together an agreement that “everybody understands and then bring it back to the board.”

Now comes Kevin Kirby

Assistant County Manager Kevin Kirby. "We don't track repairs." Where is the County internal auditor – Jay Swisher, Clerk of the Court.

Kevin Kirby is the long-time county public works director, and according to the County organizational chart, the co-county manager, although his payroll title is assistant county manager.

Mr. Kirby weighed in, announcing for the first time anywhere, "Since we have been in utilities, we have never documented repairs, and they happen quite frequently."

County Attorney Foreman shared that he thought “there could be some estimates.”

Mr. Forman’s ILA partner, Attorney Morrison added, “The real point of this agreement is to get a macro understanding at the 30,000-foot level as to what everybody's expectations are.”

Executive Director Roberts was taking heat because he didn’t have a monetary figure for repairs in his presented budget.

Mr. Kirby helped him out by explaining the Columbia County way of doing business: "Long story short, in your defense, I can speak to Columbia County. For clarification, it's not budgeted. That activity is not budgeted. We simply rob it out of the road department.”

Suwannee County County Administrator Greg Scott. His experience running a county came from being the Director of Recreation.

Mr. Scott said he wasn't sure if Suwannee County had a utility budget, and he explained that when something broke, they just called somebody. The person was not under any kind of emergency repair agreement; they just called.

Mr. Murphy weighed in again, “I don't see the rush. And I feel like your attorneys can hit on this and get with the proper parties involved and work these things out. I'm not going to support the MOU [sic-ILA] today.”

Commissioner Ford tried to convince Mr. Murphy.

Mr. Murphy said they were supposed to be “here for the taxpayers” and that no one on the Authority Board "would run our operations [businesses] that way."

Mr. Murphy concluded, “I just don't see the necessity for the speed of this  to be signed today.”

Suwannee County Commissioner Franklin White knew there was something wrong. In the end – he rolled over.

Suwannee County’s Franklin White said, “I think it's just a review today, is it not?”

Chairman Ford, who everyone acknowledges is driving the NFWUA ship, said, "Right now, Columbia County and Suwannee County are still gonna own all the assets. So, if there’s a major catastrophe at one of those assets, they [respective counties] still own it.”

Mr. Foreman spoke about how there would never be a perfect interlocal agreement.

Mr. Ford said, “All attorneys agree right now, this is a very good start.”

Mr. Morrison added, “Until you get started, you don't know what the problems are. Everything is theoretical.”

Mr. Ford again said he wants to get going.

Mr. Morrison said, “Joel [County Attorney Forman] and I talked about this. I don't think it sounds crude. We're just making it up.”

There was more talk.

Mr. Ford said, “I'll entertain a motion. We had plenty of discussion.” 

Suwannee County’s Franklin White, the Authority member who said he thought the ILA was for review, made the motion to approve the ILA as written. Suwannee County’s Leo Mobley seconded it.

Mr. Murphy was the only one opposed.

With no rate study, no business plan, no one running the Authority with any experience, and an incomplete budget, the NFWUA marched forward.

A word to the wise to the taxpayers and law-abiding citizens.

Keep your eye on the Columbia County landfill and the deals Suwannee County and Columbia are making.

There may be more here than meets the eye.

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By JAMIE WACHTER on Wednesday, July 30, 2025Subhead

Authority ready to test drive utility operations

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• NFWUA Attorney Joel Foreman said Columbia County could mitigate risk with the fledgling utility authority should it fail. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

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The North Florida Water Utilities Authority is ready to take the first steps in learning how to drive the utility operations in Columbia and Suwannee counties.

During its meeting Wednesday morning at Duval Place, the NFWUA board approved an interlocal agreement with both counties by a 3-1 vote to take over the operations and maintenance of the counties’ utility assets beginning Oct. 1. Columbia County Commissioner Tim Murphy cast the dissenting vote. At-large member Steven Dicks was not in attendance.

“Why not rectify them now before we go into an interlocal agreement,” Murphy said during discussion about why he wasn’t in favor of voting for the agreement, which NFWUA Attorney Grady Williams said was set up for five years but could be shortened if the assets are all turned over to the Authority earlier.

“I don’t think we’re under a deadline here,” Murphy said. “If we go and put in clarity up front, fund it up front, you don’t have all these headaches.”

However, both Columbia County Attorney Joel Foreman and Suwannee County Attorney Adam Morrison expressed their belief that the initial agreement in front of the NFWUA board, and still must be approved by both county commissions, was a necessary first step that could lead to additional interlocal agreements that address specific issues.

“I want to caution the board about letting perfect be the enemy of good,” Morrison advised. “There is always something you can add to this agreement to make it better, every single time. Until you get started, you don’t know what those problems are. You have to start walking before you can run so let’s all agree to walk and then work out the agreements to add pieces to the car so we can move faster.

“Right now, and I don’t mean to be crude but we’re just making it up. Until you get get moving, you don’t know.”

Columbia County Manager David Kraus added that the counties needed direction sooner than later in order to properly devise budgets for how utilities would be operated starting in October with the new fiscal year. Kraus said if the NFWUA was operating them, it became a simple step of allocating the proper funding to the Authority for operations. However, if it wasn’t ready to start the fiscal year, the county would need to budget for those operations like it had done previously.

Murphy, though, still wanted to address specific questions that had already been considered in the first agreement, notably how much money each county would be allocating for the maintenance and repairs on the utility systems. The board and Executive Director Shannon Roberts had discussed at its July 2 meeting that each county could set aside funding for emergency repairs that the counties would keep in escrow.

Murphy, expressing his belief that the utility budget was already light, wanted to know what that figure would be. He noted that Columbia County had previously not separated out maintenance and repair costs on its utilities from its public works and road department figures.

Assistant County Manager Kevin Kirby confirmed that, noting he would advise setting aside $250,000 to $300,000 for those potential emergency repairs.

Murphy was also curious who would be be making those repairs since it wasn’t clearly stated in the agreement if a contractor would be hired or if county crews would be handling those tasks. Roberts said he wanted to have multiple contractors on call through a bid process in order to be able to respond when emergencies occur.

Foreman added that the counties still could provide assistance but noted that the agreement clearly said those operations were the responsibility of the NFWUA.

“If you have a flat tire while you’re out there, you get out and you fix it yourself,” he said, reverting back to an analogy on learning how to drive with a learner’s permit that was repeated multiple times during the meeting. “If you need to call mom and dad to come help, you can, but it’s up to us whether we respond.”

One other potential problem that had already been discovered about the plan to have the NFWUA begin operating the utilities by Oct. 1 was also potentially solved Wednesday.

Todd Manning, Columbia County’s IT director, had raised concerns about allowing access to the county’s server for billing and collections to a non-county employee. However, during Wednesday’s discussion, Manning said that problem was possibly cleared up Tuesday when he discovered the county’s billing software vendor also offered a full cloud-based system that could be set up for the NFWUA.

“No buying of servers, no expensive network equipment,” he said, adding he wouldn’t find out what the cost of that cloud-based system would look like until next week. “As of yesterday, this is a non issue.”

If that system is not ready to be operated by Oct. 1, NFWUA Chairman and Columbia County Commissioner Rocky Ford suggested the county and Authority enter into an additional interlocal agreement that would authorize payment to the county for an employee handling the billing for the Authority.

“That would be ideal,” Manning said about that option as opposed to granting access to an Authority employee to just handle the billing and collections.

That hiccup was something Foreman told the board to be ready to happen again and again.

“The way we drafted it, nothing is a catastrophe,” he said. “It’s going to be a weird year guys. It might be a weird five years.”

Morrison said the fledgling utility authority would experience growing pains as it enters into the operations and maintenance of the assets, adding other issues will likely arise that couldn’t be foreseen.

Foreman added that the cloud system would also be an easy fix should the Authority fail its driving test during its learning phase. Manning said the county could fold back its data and operations into its own server at any point.

That was key in case the “experiment” that Foreman called the Authority didn’t work and the two counties decided to abandon its operation.

“If things goes sideways, the counties are protected because we can undo this,” he said. “Once you start creating those irrevocable circumstances, you’re really going over the edge, you’re going from a learners permit to a full driver’s license.”

Ford, too, noted that there would likely be other issues that come up at some point during the course of the next year or two.

“My daddy used to say all the time, ‘Show me a man that doesn’t ever make a mistake and I’ll show you somebody who doesn’t ever do anything,’” Ford said. “There’s going to be growing pains, there’s going to be stuff we run into. I don’t think anybody ever anticipated this was going to be a clean sweep of the umbilical cords from the counties.

“I think we’re making some good headway now.”

 NFWUA ASKS FOR CONTINGENCY FUNDS Shannon Roberts is looking for help from both Columbia and Suwannee commissioners. The North Florida Water Utilities Authority’s executive director has already made his case for contingency funds from both commissions during an NFWUA meeting earlier this month and a larger discussion surrounding its budget. During that meeting, Roberts proposed setting $200,000 aside in case of catastrophic failure at one of the fledgling authority’s plants, which are all still owned by the individual counties. He addressed the issue directly to the Columbia County board on Thursday. “As I contemplated what we would have to do for the next year, there’s always the case that something, some unplanned expense, would come up,” Roberts said Thursday. Roberts also suggested both Columbia and Suwannee hold their shares toward that contingency fund within their own budgets as opposed to giving that money directly to the authority.  

Swisher wants NFWUA to handle own finances

By JAMIE WACHTER jwachter@lakecityreporter.com

Now that the North Florida Water Utilities Authority has its executive director, it can begin handling its own finances, according to Columbia County Clerk of Court Jay Swisher. In a letter sent to NFWUA Executive Director Shannon Roberts, Swisher said the Authority should aim to assume responsibility of all of its financial service responsibilities by Oct. 1. “As the NFWUA moves toward greater independence — demonstrated by the recent hiring of an executive director and the Authority’s ongoing goal to expand and independently manage utility services for both Columbia and Suwannee counties, I strongly encourage the Board to include funding in the FY2025-26 budget for the assumption of all financial service responsibilities for the Authority,” Swisher wrote. “This is a crucial step in furthering the NFWUA’s autonomy and supporting its continued growth.” The NFWUA board will consider that request at its 9:30 a.m. meeting Wednesday at the Suwannee County Judicial Annex, 218 Parshley Street SW in Live Oak. Swisher said it would be ideal for that to take place by Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year for both counties and the NFWUA. However, Swisher said his office would be willing to continue overseeing the finances for the NFWUA until Jan. 1, 2026, in order to help make a transition seamless. If the clerk’s office is still needed after September, though, Swisher said it would require a $5,000 monthly reimbursement for the work. Currently, the clerk’s office is not being paid to handle work for the NFWUA. Swisher requested $75,000 to fund a position with the clerk’s office finance department dedicated to work on behalf of the Authority when the NFWUA began. That request was not funded by the Authority. However, over the past year-plus, Swisher’s letter said his office has performed a number of “essential tasks” for the NFWUA, including: n securing a Federal Employer Identification number; n establishing the Authority’s bank account; n assisting in budget preparation; n providing guidance on joining the Florida Retirement System; n modifying software to enable payroll processing; n depositing funds on behalf of the NFWUA; n submitting invoices to both Suwannee and Columbia counties; n processing and paying all invoices; n presenting bills and vouchers for the NFWUA board’s approval; and n preparing and submitting monthly financial statements. “We all share a commitment to the success of the NFWUA,” Swisher added in the letter. “I am confident that engaging in independent financial services will position the Authority for continued growth and long-term success. “My office remains available to assist with any matters necessary to facilitate a seamless transition of financial services.” Also during Wednesday’s Authority meeting, Roberts will discuss with the board objectives through the next fiscal year which include the budget for the next year and finance and accounting, plant operation and management for both counties, developing a service policy, handling the utility billing for both counties, grant management, concluding the NFWUA’s business plan, finishing a rate study and transferring assets from the two counties to the Authority. Roberts also plans to go over the duties of his position and the authority that the board will be granting to him as director. 

Ellisville utility project tops list of local upgrades.

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Kraus

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More than $4 million in state funding appears headed to Columbia County projects.

The $115.1 billion state budget was approved Monday evening by the Florida Legislature after an extended session was required to pass a budget on time before the new fiscal year begins on
July 1.

The budget now heads to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who holds line item veto power. The governor may scrutinize each allocation individually or approve the entire budget with the stroke of a pen.

The biggest item funded for Columbia County is a $1.9 appropriation for the Ellisville water system, which was requested by the North Florida Water Utilities Authority. This group consists of Columbia and Suwannee county officials.

That project will modify an existing lift station at the interchange as well as install 12- and 6-inch mains.

Columbia County Manager David Kraus said this improvement is necessary immediately to handle the growth that will come from the planned construction of the massive Busy Bee at the Interstate 75 and U.S. Highway 41 interchange in Ellisville.

“It is critical to the Busy Bee and, ultimately, to all the sewer projects in Ellisville,” Kraus said. “There will be a force main that serves the north side of the interstate and a force main that serves the south side of the interstate.

“It’s critical for future growth. It’s critical for the growth we know is coming today. We’re really excited the authority could get that funding and we will work very closely with them to make sure it goes well.”        

                    North Florida Water Utilities Authority (NFWUA)

My Take-The short version

May 11, 2025

NFWUA is a self-appointed group that wants to control water and utilities using our money. 

“No customers, no assets, no business plan, no strategic plan, a political insider book keeper, a clerk that can’t keep the Authority minutes up-to-date, and no employees.” (Reprint from Columbia County Observer) 

Early in 2024 North Florida Professional Services (NFPS) started to lobby Suwannee, Hamilton, and Columbia county commissioners to create NFWUA and the answer I got from my commissioner, was it will save money(not in my opinion),you will see why. At the time there was an effort to get more counties and cities involved but none bought in, and Hamilton never started. To get it all started Dale Williams an employee of NFPS was put in place as interim director. Almost immediately Mr. Williams signed a task order to NFPS for a director search in the amount of $64K. The result was zero since no one applied. 

Then two county commissioners Rocky Ford and Tim Murphy from Columbia County and Franklin White and Leo Mobley from Suwannee County and an independent citizen Steven Dicks were self-appointed to the board. Each county put in $250K to date in the kitty.

Here is where the money gets spent pretty quickly, as best I can tell, since meeting minutes are not on their website by the Columbia County clerk, and no video or audio.

· Hired Grady Williams as attorney for a retainer of $6,000 per month, plus litigation fees. For reference Suwannee County pays their attorney a retainer of $2,500 a month plus litigation which usually ends up about $7,000 a month. 

·  Next Ratellis Financial is hired to do a rate study to the tune of $130K. I am not sure how you do a rate study when Suwannee has 1 to 2 commercial customers (ref: Suwannee County Utility Infrastructure project update 1/7/25) and Columbia has about 15 to 16. 

· Hired Bobby Payne Consultants, LLC to do a business plan at $5,000 per month with no end date; you would think this would be the first thing to do. If you don’t know the goals and direction of a business how do you go forward?

· Hired Multi Creative, Inc. to create and maintain a website $4.7K

· Hired an auditor $15K, not quite sure who again no meeting minutes posted.

· At a meeting on 4/17/25 Shannon Roberts (Suwannee’s primary Grant Administrator) was selected as Director, salary to be negotiated, which was set at the May 7thmeeting of $125K plus benefits for a total of $199,083. Not quite sure what he will do other than collect a check, and help spend our money. There was a split vote of 3 to 2 to approve the compensation package.

· Workman’s comp insurance $$1.4K

· Average miscellaneous expenses approx. $400.00 month =$4,800 yearly

· With information available of the $500K from both counties $517,083K is committed of taxpayer money, and surely they will want much more from each this year just to survive. Rocky Ford stated at the 4/17/25 selection meeting we will need to get more money from each county at budget time.

If the goal is truly to save money then perhaps rather than hire outside consultants the authority could be using the resources currently available in each county such as: attorney, website already in use, accountants, auditors, etc. The key for me is without first doing a business plan, how do you make reasonable decisions. When asked about the business plan, the answer was it will be delayed until the rate study is complete sometime in August. To pay an administrator $200K to manage very little is not good business, and certainly not good use of taxpayer money.

When I ask questions about the Authority the general answer is this takes the politics out of it. I must be looking at something totally different County Commissioners. I have asked where the return on investment is, and the Chairman replied there is none but you have to be prepared to bring businesses into the area. My reply at what cost to the public. Both counties have previously been working on infrastructure at their business parks and have been successful receiving grants to accomplish that goal. Do we really need another layer of government to spend our money?

Here is the real kicker per the interlocal agreement section Xa.”It is the intention at this time of entering this agreement that upon further authorization and approval by each affected County, and approval of the Board itself, that the Board shall own and operate all combined water, wastewater, and reclaimed water system assets of the Counties in accordance with such rules and policies as it may adopt with the assistance of the Administrator. In the event such conveyance of ownership occurs, this Agreement may be revisited for purpose of consulting future Boards.”

This is a very short version of what has taken place in the last year, make your own decision what is really going on here with an Authority which the people have no control over spending our money with no return on investment in sight. If you agree with me contact your respective county commissioner from Columbia and Suwanee County and tell them to stop the Authority now and not fund any more of our money.

WayneF. Hannaka www.concernedcitizensofnorthfl.com                      

May 9, 2025  8:15 pm | 7 min read

By Stew Lilker

In a rush: read the 1 minute version here.

SUWANNEE COUNTY, FL – $150,000 a year plus a $51,000 yearly pension payment (plus) was too much for an executive director for two Authority board members.

The struggling North Florida Water Utilities Authority met on May 7, 2025, in Live Oak for its regularly scheduled meeting. Among other things, the Authority was trying to figure out how much to pay its chosen executive director, who has no prior experience running or operating a utility.

As reported in mid April, the Authority had finally chosen a candidate for executive director: Shannon Roberts, a Suwannee County Administrator. Even though a monkey wrench was thrown into the works, the choice was never in doubt.

Earlier, on April 2, the Authority met to interview its two and only candidates: North Florida Water Utilities Authority: NFWUA Finally Has Candidates for Executive Director, But Are They Qualified?

During that meeting, Suwannee County employee, candidate Roberts's responses to written questions were made available: "Do you possess a degree in public administration, engineering, environmental science, or a closely related field? Please list degree type (e.g., B.S., M.S.) and area (e.g., Environmental Science). Please list the degree type. Do you possess any related licenses issued by the State of Florida or another State?"

Mr. Roberts answered that he had a BA in Psychology from the University of North Florida. Mr. Roberts said he had no related licenses but could obtain them "given the proper time and financial support."

During the April 2 meeting, NFWUA Chairman Rocky Ford established a negotiating committee. NFWUA vice-chair Franklin White (Suwannee County) nominated Columbia County Commissioner Tim Murphy to “negotiate for the board.” Chairman Ford asked if Mr. Murphy “had a problem with that.” He didn’t.

Commissioner White didn’t think it was proper for Suwannee County to be negotiating with its own employee.

The negotiating session was scheduled for April 30. On Saturday, April 26, Mr. Murphy, without any authority to cancel anything, canceled the negotiating session.

The meeting cancelation notice didn’t make it to the NFWUA website until recently.

Mr. Murphy left the NFWUA board and the Suwannee County Commissioners in the position to negotiate directly every detail of the contract with Mr. Roberts at its May 7 meeting.

How much is an executive director without
utility operational experience worth?

Tim Murphy's cancelation of the negotiating session would have enabled many of the sticking points to have been either worked out or well-researched before the general meeting. They weren't.

The question before the NFWUA board: How much is an executive director without utility operational experience worth?

Shannon Roberts takes notes in the audience. He had his own ideas of his value.

Suwannee County's Shannon Roberts had his own ideas. Mr. Roberts filed documents with the Authority representing his research on how much he should be paid. He found salaries ranging from almost $300,000 to a low of 52,000. Mr. Roberts wrote that the average public utility executive compensation was $266,772 a year.

NFWUA has no customers, no assessets, no business plan, no strategic plan, a political insider book keeper, a clerk that can't keep the Authority minutes up-to-date, and no employees.

As a grant writer/manager in Suwannee County, Mr. Roberts's base salary is $97,953. His benefits would add about another 30%, making his employment package (cost to the taxpayers) worth approximately $127,000.

Mr. Roberts's initial salary request was $150,000, plus benefits, plus FRS status as senior management, which would add a $51,780 retirement payment from the taxpayers, many of whom don't earn $51,780 a year.

According to the US Census, the per capita income in
Suwannee County is $26,484; in Columbia County it is $28,030.

Mr. Roberts is requesting continuation in the Florida Retirement System (FRS). It is unclear if, at present, Mr. Roberts is included in the Senior Management Class of the FRS, although it is not likely.

The benefit for FRS senior management class is approximately 34%, while the FRS regular class rate is approximately 13%.

Were Mr. Roberts hired at $125,000, his requested senior management FRS payment would cost the taxpayers $42,500.

Columbia County's former Utility Director (classified as part-time) was budgeted for $45,728. His FRS retirement was in the regular class, and he actually supervised people, whereas the NFWUA has no employees.

After conversation about milestones and other things NFWUA board member Steven Dicks, made a motion to hire Mr. Roberts at $140,000. Ultimately, the motion died for lack of a second.

Moses Clepper. He said the proposed salary blew his mind.

Moses Clepper came to the microphone after Chairman Ford commented that there were not any constituents in the audience. Mr. Clepper introduced himself as a constituent of Suwanee County.

Mr. Clepper questioned both Mr. Roberts and Mr. Dicks salary thresholds and said they were too much. "The salary you're proposing blows my mind. It just absolutely blows my mind," he said.

Mr. Clepper was also a dissenting voice regarding Suwannee County's high praise of Mr. Roberts.

It is important to note that after two years of meetings of the Authority, in its various incarnations, it has no strategic plan, no business plan, no comprehensive list of utility assets, no up-to-date minutes, and barely a budget. While Suwannee County has provided a list of its utilities (it claims to have 16 customers (which are serviced by an outside contractor)), Columbia County has yet to provide a list of its assets or its customer base. Recently, Columbia County has outsourced its utility work, or at least most of it.

Chairman Ford reminded the board, "Mr. Dick's  made a motion for 140," adding, "I thought about 130."

Commissioner Tim Murphy was recognized.

A thoughtful Commissioner Tim Murphy during the meeting. Although he screwed up the negotiations, he appears to be working hard to up his game, be recognized before speaking out, and doing his homework.

"I gotta agree with the gentleman… I reached out to five different plant operators with 15 years of experience or more. And, you know, these are the people that deal with the Shannons of the world… But, you know, I've got my constituents… 125 would be my max at this point. That's all I can support. And I really struggle with that."

Suwannee County’s Leo Mobley said, “I make a motion on the 125." Suwannee County’s Franklin seconded the motion.”

Commissioner White was recognized, “125 [$125,000], let's not be kidding ourselves here. There's more to it than this. There's retirement, there's insurance, there's a pickup truck, there's a lot, there's more perks than the 125… Around the corner, you're going to have to hire some more people to run this. Shannon, he's very capable, and I have no doubt in his ability, but at some point, he's going to get overrun, pretty quick. I think it's a lot to handle. It's a lot to put together. And so, I feel like the 125 is fair to start with, with a six-month evaluation and a twelve-month evaluation to raise his pay up to 135 at that point.”

Commissioner White continued, explaining that a schedule of goals should be included in the motion.

Commissioner Mobley amended his motion to include goals.

Commissioner Murphy asked the clerk to read back the motion. From the audience, the clerk's remarks were mostly incomprehensible.

Commissioner Rocky Ford (Columbia) had a little trouble speaking into the microphone, however, he ran a smooth meeting, except for allowing people to blurt out from the audience without being recognized. Here he is listening to Mr. Clepper.

Chairman Ford gave a rundown of goals. He said, “If y'all agree with them, this is kind of what I've come up with.” Mr. Ford mentioned the administration of water utility grants, all utility billing and collections for both counties, and implement the rate study. Mr. Ford added, "the final and last goal will be a transition of assets from the counties to the utilities."

Those in the know are waiting for the transfer of utilities and assets to the Authority. For the past year and then some, Columbia County has not been able to come up with, or at least acknowledge, its assets, their values, and the County's liabilities. The longer the County waits – the bigger the question mark.

There was more talk by Commissioner White about extending goals to 18 months.

While this meeting was to include finalizing the Shannon Roberts contract, it became just a negotiating session. Authority attorney Grady Williams told Mr. White that the board could get back to refining the contract once more of the details were worked out.

NFWUA attorney Grady Williams.

After another thirty minutes, Commissioner Murphy interrupted NFUWA Attorney Grady Williams, asking Shannon Roberts, “I just have to. I mean. You can solve this real quick. Is the salary acceptable at this point, Shannon?”

Mr. Roberts answered, "I don't think so."

Mr. Murphy withdrew his second.

Franklin White asked Mr. Roberts, “Would the 125 ($125,000) with the cap of the 150 ($150,000) with evaluations in between on a two-year basis, be acceptable to you?”

JD Curls, without being recognized, interrupted the meeting from the audience. Chairman Ford did not ask him to come to the microphone.

JD Curls. Mr. Curls seems to represent Gallagher insurance, although his association with Tyson Johnson's firm and who Mr. Curls represents was never explained. When Mr. Curls addressed the board the first time, he knew well enough to come to the podium. By the end of the meeting, Mr. Curls forgot his manners, blurting out from the audience.

Earlier in the meeting, Mr. Curls made unsubstantiated claims about attorney approvals for Shannon Roberts's being able to be insured by Suwannee County after he resigned and was hired by the Authority.

Mr. Curls said, "You guys have been all over the place today, so I'm not even sure where we're at based on where we started. It makes me reluctant because I'm not sure what things have changed underneath. Would it be possible to just have something reduced into writing so I can see it?"

Mr. Curls was previously invited to the negotiation session, which Commissioner Murphy canceled. These things could have been worked out there.

Commissioner White, the man who didn’t want to negotiate with Suwannee County’s employee came up with a new deal for Mr. Roberts.

Commissioner White said, “If we start you at 125 with a cap at 150 over twenty-four months, with evaluations every six months, plus all the benefits, is that something that you would entertain?"

Mr. White did not wait for an answer.

He continued, "I would make a motion, Mr. Chairman, for a $125,000 base salary with a $150,000 cap over two years, with the milestones outlined, but that you've given before and negotiated out in the contract, what those increases would be as those milestones are reached over those 24 months, that's what my motion is."

Shannon Roberts said, "I would entertain that."

Somebody seconded the motion. It was not clear who. There was some more conversation with the attorney.

Chairman Ford said, "I'm kind of wondering where we are all at right now.”

There was more talk about milestones. Grady Williams read from the utility charter.

Chairman Ford called for the vote.

After an hour and 30 minutes, the talking came to an end.

Commissioner Leo Mobley (Suwannee) has been a man of few words on the Authority. He has spent a lifetime in the beef business and knows how difficult making ends meet can be.

Chairman Ford, who just said, "I'm kind of wondering where we are all at right now," voted for the motion.

Vice Chair Franklin White, who had previously said he didn't want to negotiate with a Suwannee County employee, voted for the motion he negotiated.

Steven Dicks, the Columbia County resident on the board – there are no Suwannee County residents, voted along with Mr. White and Ford.

Commissioner Murphy (Columbia) and Commissioner Mobley (Suwannee) voted against.

After two years, this is all the NFWUA could come up with.

Correction: On Saturday, April 28, was corrected to Satruday, April 26.