What's Going On In Suwannee
City of Live Oak
North Florida Water Utility Authority
Board of County Commission
8/11/26 City Council Meeting
- In the budget meeting prior to the regular meeting it was suggested and appeared to be a consensus to not fund Flock Cameras. See meeting scheduled for 8/17/26 at the library for the Sheriffs version of why we need them.
- During public comments three people talk about the homeless problem in the city and wanted t
8/11/26 City Council Meeting
- In the budget meeting prior to the regular meeting it was suggested and appeared to be a consensus to not fund Flock Cameras. See meeting scheduled for 8/17/26 at the library for the Sheriffs version of why we need them.
- During public comments three people talk about the homeless problem in the city and wanted the council to take some type of proactive measures.
- Annex renovation was removed from the agenda.
- Mr. Campbell talked about fire pits and the vague language in the existing codes. It was decided to have the City Attorney draft and ordinance for the next meeting to be discussed at the next meeting.
- Tentative budget hearings was moved to Thursday 9/10/26 at 5:30 PM
- Don Chandler was approved to take seat 5 on the zoning board through 2027.
- Alicia Redish was approve to remain on the zoning board thru 8/2029
- Jimmy Cherry was approved to continue serving for seat 1 on the zoning board.
- A very lengthy discussion took place mostly by Ms. Robinson regarding the city manger requesting an assistant. The final vote was 3-2 with Owens and Robinson voting no.
- The remainder of the agenda was just too much to sit through however you can view the meeting on our City of Live Oak page.
7/14/26 City Council Meeting
- Adam Collins, Matt Campbell, Frank Davis and John Gill sworn in.
- Elected Venessa Robinson as President and Alford as Pro-tem
- Public comments were: A citizen questioned that the burn ordinance does not include recreational burning such as fire pits, Adison Snyder presented the negative facts about Flock Cameras and they should be taken down, Kat Sharp explained Grants and how they should be applied for along with offering her services to the city, Alford Smith spoke about potholes that need to be repaired along with Linda Williams and her concerns regarding burning in the city
- The city manager announced that the fire chief was retiring as of this Friday, he may have done a good job but certainly did not give much notice.
- The maximum millage rate was set at 9.5
- The council approved the grant for a small fire retardant vehicle which is a 75/25 split which cost approximately $50K
- A work schedule change for the fire department of 48 on 96 off was approved
- The new public works director, Samson Edwards was introduce and approved 5-0 by the council
- A lengthly discussion regarding an audit of the finance department procedures took place and ultimately it was decided by a 4-1 vote to rebid the RFP with Robinson a nay.
- The city attorney gave a lengthly discussion regardint the ordinance banning data centers within the city, A vote was to table the ordinance until further information was available by 5-0
- The Expansion of the CRA was discussed and voted 5-0 to go ahead with expansion.
Board of County Commission
North Florida Water Utility Authority
Board of County Commission
7/21/26 BOCC Meeting
- Prior to beginning the meeting Commissioner Land gave a statement regarding a 26 acre plot that is in Lauraville owned by SVEC which they plan to use 2 to 3 acres as a laydown storage area and have leased the remaining to a company that will install a small solar farm and will have a cold storage building which Land st
7/21/26 BOCC Meeting
- Prior to beginning the meeting Commissioner Land gave a statement regarding a 26 acre plot that is in Lauraville owned by SVEC which they plan to use 2 to 3 acres as a laydown storage area and have leased the remaining to a company that will install a small solar farm and will have a cold storage building which Land stated is not a data center.
- During public comments Bo Hancock presented a documents regarding data centers and asked the board to consider a workshop on how to deal with them in the future. Kin Weaver gave an update of the cattleman's livestock show which took place last weekend.
- The consent agenda was approved without discussion with the exception of hiring a bond attorney for the catalyst site in the amount of $25K which was approved after discussion.
- The following dates were set for tentative budget on 9/3/26 at 5:05 PM, The final budget was scheduled for 9/21/26 at 5:05PM both to be held at the judicial annex.
- The proposed millage rate was set at 8.8
- Director of NFWUA stated that their tentative budget was approved at the 7/2/26 meeting.
- Wayne Hannaka stated the funds supplied by Suwannee County would be $520K and rates would be substantially increased if approved by : Columbia County, Suwannee County and the City of Fort White.
- Attorney Morrison asked that he be allowed to engage with the NFWUA, and Columbia County attorneys to begin discussion on asset transfer to NFWUA which was approved.
- For more detail click on the articles page.
7/7/26 BOCC Meeting Update
- Prior to public comment County Attorney Adam Morrison gave a presentation detailing the state statutes that would govern data centers and fully explained the details of why we can not create any changes to the LDR's to put a moratorium on the centers, check out the video for complete details, on Suwannee County page video starts at 2:00 minutes.
- CLICK ON LINK TO VIDEO BELOW
- Brad Hough with Powell & Jones gave a presentation on the county audit. The report stated all is well with concerns regarding the Sherriff's Department having 5 repeat deficiencies one of which involves credit card expenditure. The Supervisor of elections and Tax Accessor office had minor deficiencies also.
- The consent agenda was passed without any discussion.
- Robert Ford gave a detailed presentation regarding the naming of the COVID building for two soldiers that gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country from Suwannee County. When a vote was presented Commissioner Fleming also added that the building at the Douglas Center be named for Commissioner Perkins which was unanimously approved.
- Fire Chief Miller gave a short presentation regarding the fire assessments and announced that station 6 is now open.
- Wayne Hannaka asked if the city paid anything for EMS service and the answer was very little, he suggested that the City should pay their fair share sine the use county EMS 100%.
- Fire protection assessment was set at a max of $155,00
- Solid waist assessment was set at a max of $275.00.
- These are maximum numbers and can come down at budget workshop.
- See Articles page for more detail.
- CLICK ARTICLES FOR MORE DETAIL AND READ BREAKING NEWS.
North Florida Water Utility Authority
North Florida Water Utility Authority
North Florida Water Utility Authority
07/20/26 Regular Meeting
- Tentative budget and rates for customers were approved 4-1 with Mr. Murphy voting no on each.
- Each county will chip in $520,648 with an additional Emergency fund in the amount of Columbia County $100K, Suwannee County $50K, *the budget and rates are tenative and need to be approved by each county along with Ft. Whit
07/20/26 Regular Meeting
- Tentative budget and rates for customers were approved 4-1 with Mr. Murphy voting no on each.
- Each county will chip in $520,648 with an additional Emergency fund in the amount of Columbia County $100K, Suwannee County $50K, *the budget and rates are tenative and need to be approved by each county along with Ft. White approval of rates which might trigger another debate from citizens that are paying attention.
- An evaluation form was distributed for the Executive Director to be completed by each board member and returned to the attorney for tabulation.
- See meeting agenda 7-20-26 on NFWUA Page for details.
07/09/26 Update
- Columbia County appointed two citizens to replace county commissioners on the board.
For more detail click on MAIN PAGE BREAKING NEWS
05/18/26 Regular Meeting
- Three citizens spoke about the utility and asked does it really make sense anymore with Columbia County not really committed due to the fact that they just sold their mega site plant to the city of Lake City.