|
|
Columbia County News
Beginning in 2013 County & County
Commission News will be here. Earlier
years will be found in either County News or County
Commission indexes
2018-2017
Index of Stories •
2016-2015 •
2014 •
2013 •
2012-2009
|
|
County News 2018
(scroll down)
|
Posted
December 29, 2018 11:25 pm | This is
Part III of 3 parts
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – As the December 20 County 5
Christmas Eve Holiday meeting drifted into its
third hour, and with 99% of the public gone,
Chairman Ronald Williams called Sheriff Hunter
to the microphone to discuss proposed jail
options and the jail's bed count or Average
Daily Population.
|
Posted
December 27, 2018 11:59 pm | This is
Part II of 3 parts
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last Thursday's
December 20 meeting of the Columbia County 5
culminated in a discussion and aborted vote
on what to do about moving forward with the
proposed new jail, the Hunter-Hilton. As
mentioned in Part I:
With DePratter Gone, The 5 March Ahead With
the Hunter-Hilton: $25mil budget goes into
dreamland, and with only two members
of the general public present, agreed to design
a $31mil monument to Sheriff Hunter: a jail.
|
Posted
December 22, 2018 11:00 pm
Earlier in the week it came to light that during
the rain weather event on December 14, 2018, two
Parks and Recreation workers got stranded in
rising waters by the Cone Street boat ramp in
North Columbia County.
|
Posted
December 22, 2018 06:30 pm | This is
Part I of 2 parts
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – On Thursday night, December 20,
2018, the Columbia County 5, with Rusty
DePratter gone, enhanced its reputation as
Florida's premiere good ole' boy rural North
Florida county, when three hours into its
pre Xmas Eve Holiday meeting, with two
members present from the general public, it
delved into a long promised discussion of
the cost of the Hunter-Hilton, Columbia
County's proposed $32mil state of the art
county jail.
|
Posted
December 6, 2018 03:00 pm |
Part VIII
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Last Thursday's "Kickoff"
meeting for the County funded Flat Field
Sports Complex Feasibility Study had all the
ingredients of what makes Columbia County
tick: high priced consultants (the only
respondents for this study), a meeting timed
so inconveniently that three County
commissioners and the public couldn't
attend, and a team of County insiders.
|
Posted
December 5, 2018 10:50 am, updated
2:47 pm |
Part VII
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Even though the TDC
was sitting on millions in reserves and
DEO's technical assistance grants are
reimbursement grants, which means one spends
the money first and is then reimbursed, the
County dragged its feet and did not give the
go-ahead.
|
Posted
December 3, 2018 03:55 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – On October 25, 2018, we
reported that an inmate at the Columbia County
Jail
hung
himself
in the
intake
area of
the
jail.
This
area of
the jail
is under
video
surveillance.
Today, Larry Auger, the Columbia County
Sheriff's Office Public Record Access Officer,
released the incident report; a statement from
Assistant State Attorney John Durrett; and an
investigative summary which concluded there was
no wrong doing by jail personnel.
|
Posted
December 3, 2018 10:15 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Thursday's 12 pm November 29, 2018 special
meeting of the TDC was very special. While it is
not clear when the County fathers decided to
label it a special meeting, it was eminently
clear that the timing of the kickoff meeting for
the $42,000 single bid flat field study was
timed so that no member of the Columbia County
working public, i.e., coaches, parents, team
members, or anybody else could attend the
meeting, ask questions and provide input. Nobody
did, including three County commissioners.
|
Posted
November 17, 2018 04:15 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Supervisor of Elections Liz
Horne and her elections crew ran the primary
and recent general election trouble free. It
appears that everyone that wanted to vote,
voted. There were no mystically appearing
ballots and when it came to the hand
recount, while at times tedious and
exhausting, shortly after it concluded today
County Attorney and Canvassing Board
Attorney Joel Foreman said in a text
message, "It went well."
|
Posted
November 15, 2018 06:50 am (1
comment)
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – This story began at the end of
the September 20, 2018 Seems as though
residents of Columbia county might be
getting a bit short-changed by 'our'
commissioners. combined budget hearing -
County 5 regular meeting. For years, your
reporter has been asking for County 5 to add
to the agenda a separate update section or
having individual reports and updates on
what has been going on in the County between
meetings.
|
Posted: Nov. 1, 2018 11:30 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Columbia County and
Weyerhaeuser score again from the $85mil
Florida Legislature approved Governor Scott
pet project economic development slush fund.
After receiving $3.1mil at the beginning of
the year for a rail spur through the forest
and into the Weyerhaeuser owned site, the
Governor announced on Tuesday that Columbia
County was awarded $10.2mil for a waste
water treatment plant at the former Plum
Creek Inland Port, which turned into the
Plum Creek Intermodal site and has been
incarnated into the Weyerhaeuser North
Florida Mega Industrial Park.
|
Posted
October 25, 2018 04:55 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Last night, sometime before 8
pm, a
Columbia
County
Jail
inmate
hung
himself
in the
intake
area of
the
County
jail.
This
area of
the jail
is under
video
surveillance.
|
Posted
October 22, 2018 12:30 pm | updated
October 24, 2018 02:25 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – On October 12, 2018, the
Columbia County Health Department, through
its monthly Columbia Wellness Initiative
Program, had as its guests Melanie McAfee
and Judy Dampier of UF/IFAS (University of
Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture),
who focused on sugar in sodas and other
drinks and the benefits of making healthy
choices.
|
Posted
October 18, 2018 | 10:40 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The
latest Florida Gateway
College / Lake City-Columbia County Chamber
of Commerce / Lake City Reporter Candidate
Forum fandango picked up where the last one
left off: in disarray, furious emails,
sub-rosa communications, texting, and a
Chamber letter which kicked over Mrs.
O'Leary's lantern.
|
Posted
October 8, 2018 10:30 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – For at least a month, as the sun
sank below the horizon earlier and earlier,
Recreation Czar Clint Pitman's department
dragged its feet in providing lights so that
Fort White Girls Softball would not have to play
in dangerous lighting conditions.
|
Posted
September 26, 2018 03:15 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – During last week's September 20
final budget hearing, a look at the budget
showed that the County 5 was ignoring the
recent vote against the Sheriff's new jail
and was keeping all jail funding in place.
As the meeting drew to a close, County 5
Chairman Tim Murphy announced, "The jail
project has not been killed and added, "The
Sheriff has never come to this board or out
there in the public and says, 'I'm runnin'
out of beds,' or nothin' along that line."
The Chairman's remarks regarding the Sheriff
were mostly not true.
|
Posted
September 21, 2018 01:40 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – On Wednesday
afternoon, Lake City's new city manager, Joe
Helfenberger, along with Public Works
Director Thomas Henry, and Community
Redevelopment Advisory Committee (CRAC)
member Gloria Spivey appeared before the
Tourist Development Council (TDC) looking
for money to fill a claimed $300,874
shortfall in the Waterfront Entertainment
District, half of which it wanted from the
TDC.
|
Posted
September 14, 2018 04:00 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Florida Power & Light’s solar
farm is under construction along I-75 and I-10
in Columbia County. Also called a solar plant,
the Columbia County site will generates
zero-emissions and enough electricity to power
approximately 15,000 homes and the emissions and
carbon removal are equivalent to removing
approximately 12,000 cars from the road.
|
Posted
September 7, 2018 08:20 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Yesterday evening,
fifteen minutes before the County 5 budget
hearing was gaveled to order, your reporter
asked commissioner elect Rocky Ford what he
thought was going to happen regarding the
tax increase and the county jail. Mr. Ford's
prediction: "They won't raise taxes and the
jail will be put on hold." That is what
happened.
|
Posted
September 6, 2018 12:40 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Tonight, the Columbia
County 5 convenes its first budget hearing.
After a year of trying to hash out a budget,
Chairman Murphy's leadership has come up
short in a budget cycle that has been
nothing short of a big mess.
|
Posted
September 4, 2018 01:15 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Tonight begins
budget season in Columbia County. This is
the time of year when the Florida statutes
mandate that all municipal corporations:
counties, cities, school districts, and
special districts present their budgets for
fiscal year (FY) 2018-2019, a year which
begins on October 1, 2018 and ends on
September 30, 2019. It is known as FY2019.
|
Posted
August 31, 2018 07:30 am
|
Posted
August 29, 2018 05:45 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – The primaries are over. Not too
soon for some, while others may have wished
for a couple of more days to turn the tide.
We will mostly be letting the results speak
for themselves. The County-wide sales tax,
which blew up like an atom bomb, deserves
special attention and a brief analysis.
|
Posted
August 27, 2018 09:43 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – For months the
Columbia County 5, along with Sheriff Mark
Hunter and his staff, has been trying to
convince the County's taxpayers that the
jail is "overcrowded" and "just plain wore
out." Contrary to Commissioners Murphy and
Williams and Sheriff Hunter, the jail
population has been declining and the
proposed new jail is already millions over
budget before it is off the drawing board.
|
Posted
August 25, 2018 11:30 am
LAKE CITY, FL – The Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT) is continuing the
expansion of its Road Ranger program
bringing additional assistance to motorists
traveling on Florida’s roadways.
|
Posted
August 24, 2018 11:50 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Beginning in January
of this year, the County 5 began planning
for the September 6th budget hearing, the
time when the tentative 2019 budget is
brought before the people for a public
hearing. On Thursday morning August 23, the
final budget workshop went on for over three
hours. The 5 began with two budgets. By the
time the end of the meeting rolled around,
Commissioner Nash asked County Manager Ben
Scott to prepare another budget, a third
one, in time for the budget hearing, while
at the same time it was decided that no more
budget meetings were necessary before
September 6.
|
Posted
August 15, 2018 05:00 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY,
FL – A partnership between Florida Gateway
College (FGC) and Nutrien at their
co-sponsored Summer Girl Power Camp was
tremendous success according to everybody.
It was all smiles last night as some of the
girls who attended the camp gave an
autographed photo to Nutrien's Mike
Williams.
|
Posted
August 7, 2018 06:59 pm |
Pt I |
Pt II | Pt III
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – Confusion
about who is sponsoring the Candidate Forums
going out over the Florida Gateway College
Airwaves continues to be an ongoing issue this
year. Many bush league and uniformed questions
were asked last night by co-moderator Robert
Bridges as his sidekick, the President of the
Lake City/Columbia County Chamber of Commerce
sat by looking like he was afraid to say
anything and never revealed that he was the
Chamber President or the Director of
Communications for the College. Mr. Bridges'
bean ball and curve balls were offensive and Mr.
McKee's only pitch added to the confusion and
looked like a balk.
|
Posted
August 5, 2018 09:015 pm |
Pt II |
Pt I
COLUMBIA
COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – Florida Gateway College President
Larry Barrett, an outsider with new and
refreshing ideas, appears to have been
forced to drink the Kool Aid and been sucked
into the Columbia County's infamous good
ole' boy whirlpool.
|
Posted
August 5, 2018 09:15 pm |
Pt I |
Pt II
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – The upcoming
August 6-7, Candidate Forums being broadcast
from the publically supported Florida
Gateway College and hyped as a partnership
and co-sponsored event between the Chamber
of Commerce, Florida Gateway College, and
the County's mainstream media, the Lake City
Reporter, has not only banned the Columbia
County Observer from asking on the air
questions, it has also banned the
Independent candidates and the Democratic
candidate from participation in the Forum.
|
Posted
August 2, 2018 06:15 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL –
The State of Florida Commission on Ethics, in
its public session meeting on July 27,
unanimously elected Guy W. Norris as Chair for
the 2018-2019 term.
|
Posted
August 1, 2018 06:05 am
ST. PETERSBURG,
FL – Yesterday, Duke Energy Florida announced
the location of its newest universal solar power
plant, which will provide cleaner, smarter
energy solutions to benefit its Florida
customers. The Columbia Solar Power Plant will
be built on 580 acres in Fort White, off of Fry
Road.
|
Posted July 21, 2018
11:58 pm | (1
comment)
Begun in 2014,
Florida Performance Based Funding is so
complicated as to be barley comprehensible and
is more complicated than landing on the moon.
None the less, under President Barrett's
leadership the school is Silver rated out of a
scoring system that goes from Purple, to Bronze,
to Silver, and finally to Gold. This year FGC
was rated Silver and was awarded $673,000, of
which $336,000 was from the state.
|
Posted July
12, 2018 03:12 pm | (1
comment)
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Wednesday's
Economic Development Advisory Board (EDAB)
meeting came on the heels of Monday's City
Utility Committee meeting, a committee that
hadn't met for over a year. None of the EDAB
members, other than Chairman Murphy, attend
the Utility meeting. Wednesday morning, EDAB
member Charlie Keith shared his ideas
regarding City/County utility relations and
assessments.
|
Posted July
10, 2018 11:10 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – As support for a
new County jail falters and County voters
seem less inclined to vote to raise their
own taxes to pay for it, the County God
Fathers are now scheduling Town Hall
Meetings whenever they can. Part III of this
series concentrates on what transpired when
Sheriff Hunter came to the microphone at
Winfield to make his case for his new jail,
the Hunter Hilton.
|
Posted June
26, 2018 03:00 am | (1
comment)
After another
performance by veteran Commissioner Ronald
Williams (Part
I), in which he got almost everything
wrong, County Manager Ben Scott attempted to
explain how taking Transportation Trust Fund
reserves, which have been used to pay for
roads and then using those reserves for the
new proposed jail,
was not actually using that money to pay for
the jail. Ozell Graham, a long time
supporter and representative of Commissioner
Williams, bought into the plan so
enthusiastically that your reporter asked
him if he was making an early room
reservation. He said he was not.
|
Posted June
22, 2018 07:30 am | updated: June 23,
2018
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Last night during a marathon budget workshop,
the Columbia County 5 agreed to give all County
employees a 50 cent an hour pay raise for FY
2019. This amounts to $1040 for each County
employee.
|
Posted June
21, 2018 09:00 am | Part I
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
On Tuesday evening, June 19, 2018, three
members of the County 5, along with Sheriff
Hunter, the County Manager, and the Director
of Public Works met at the Winfield
Community Center for a "dog and pony" show
to promote the Hunter Hilton, a $30 million
plus new County jail, along with a county
wide infrastructure sales tax, which will
make Columbia County one of the highest
taxed counties in the state and only 3/4
percent behind New York City.
|
Posted June
15, 2018 06:50 am | (1
comment)
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The conversation at
Wednesday morning's Economic Development
Advisory Board (EDAB) meeting unexpectedly
turned to
Columbia County's imploded Aviation Academy
when new board member Charles Keith asked a
question about a County economic development
expenditure of $8,060 for a
hydraulic test bench.
|
Posted June
4, 2018 10:05 am
The Columbia County School District
serves about 10,000 students. While the
district waits for FGC to figure out what to
do with a grant that doesn't provide nearly
enough funding to
establish a licensed A&P program, the School
Board, the Administrators, the folks at the
College, the folks at the City, the County
5, the Governor and everybody else that
feeds from the public trough will get paid,
while the area's rural poor will
continue to take it on the chin.
|
Posted May
24, 2018 05:55 am | (1
comment)
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, "Just call me
Merrillee," businesswoman and water advocate,
has successfully qualified for Elizabeth
Porter's District 10 term-limited seat in all
Counties: Alachua, Baker, Columbia, Hamilton,
and Suwannee Counties. Ms. Malwitz-Jipson is
running with No Party Affiliation (NPA) and her
petitions were collected by enthusiastic and
dedicated volunteers from all parties.
|
Mark Hunter's New Jail Cost Estimate:
$35,000,000 & counting
Posted May
15, 2018 07:15 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – For over three decades
Dale Williams was the County Manager of
Columbia County. Over the course of time he
became known as "Mr. Columbia County." No
one knew or knows more about Columbia County
and the county jail than Dale Williams. As
the County 5 barrels ahead to spend $35 mil
on a new jail complex as a monument to
Columbia County's Golden Boy, Sheriff Mark
Hunter, it is curious that The 5 have not
asked the former County Manager to give his
opinion on the need for a 100% replacement
versus a less costly and manageable
renovation.
|
Part III: Does anybody get it?
May 4, 2018 08:41 pm |
Part I |
Part II |
Part III
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Moving right along
from "Part II: No one looked happy," the
demeanor of the attendees had not changed.
Gordon Green of Florida DOT said, "The
transportation network we have in Columbia
County is unparalleled in North Central
Florida."
|
Part II: No one looked happy
Posted
May 4, 2018 08:40 pm
Part I |
Part II |
Part III
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Tim Murphy's Monday night Economic
Development Summit was billed as a meeting to
exchange ideas and "speak freely when you're
there." Nobody looked happy to be there and even
though Chairman Murphy said that he was looking
forward to input from the public and there was
hope that the College would remove the public's
gag order, it was not lifted, leaving many in
attendance with a bad taste that the meeting was
nothing more than Columbia County 5 business as
usual.
|
Posted
May 01, 2018 10:50 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last night, after
Tim Murphy's County Wide Economic
Development Summit, your reporter asked
Commissioner Rusty DePratter if he was
running for a third term.
|
Posted
April 30, 2018 1:36 pm |
Part I |
Part II |
Part III
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – On tap tonight,
County Chairman Tim Murphy's so called
Economic Development Summit is scheduled to
begin a 6 pm at Florida Gateway College's
Media Center. This is a Columbia County 5
organized special meeting, which required 7
days advance notice in the Newspaper. Nobody
tells the County 5 what to do: there was no
advertisement.
|
Posted
April 6, 2018 03:15 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last night, 4th
grader Jenna Richards, about 4'8", stood
tall at the microphone before the County 5.
She had already spoken to the principal, the
teachers, the school board and the sheriff.
She was looking for a solution for the
bullying problem she claimed was going on at
her elementary school, Columbia County's
Westside Elementary.
|
Posted
April 3, 2018 08:30 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson,
businesswoman, water advocate, artist,
organizer, wife and mother, filed paperwork
on March 29, 2018, to serve as Florida State
Representative in District 10, which
includes Alachua, Baker, Columbia, Hamilton
and Suwannee Counties.
|
Posted
April 2, 2018 04:15 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Florida Gateway College has
been recognized by the Annual
PracticalNursing.org State LPN Program
Rankings as the No. 15 ranked LPN program in
Florida. Practical Nursing is the leading
LPN/LVN advancement and ranking agency and
has been publishing the PracticalNursing.org
Rankings List for the past 4 years.
|
Posted
March 23, 2018 01:50 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – World class
off-road racing is coming to Columbia
County's RC Raceway at the Southside Sports
Complex in Lake City this Saturday and
Sunday, April 23 and 24. This weekend's
regional event is a precursor to the Fuel
1/8 Off-Road Nationals which will be held on
the Lake City track June 14-17.
|
Posted
March 16, 2018 10:10 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last night at the County 5 polling places
were front and center. District 1
Commissioner Ronald Williams has been
representing the largest and most northern
district in Columbia County for almost 4
decades. Various forces combined to reduce
polling places in District 1. Supervisor of
Elections Liz Horne came to The 5 to explain
what happened and answer questions. Com.
Williams was not happy. Supervisor Horne
stood her ground. But there was more to the
story.
|
Posted
March 9, 2018 06:06 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Wednesday morning's Economic Development
Advisory Board (EDAB) meeting saw long time
committee member, Florida Power & Light's
Jeff Simmons, breach a topic that has been
forever taboo in Columbia County, a "living
wage". Mr. Simmons seemed to have had a
change of heart from his position in 2012,
when he turned away "higher-skill, higher
wage jobs" from the County's economic
development mission statement.
|
Posted
March 4 , 2018 10:59 pm |
Part II
Part I
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Part I of this story found Commissioners
Sylvester "Bucky" Nash and Ronald Williams
ready to put the cleaver to the County's
Combined Communications Center, undoing the
work began in 2007, because Columbia County
Sheriff Mark Hunter, who recently
characterized himself as "The Tip of the
Spear," has difficulties getting along if he
doesn't get his way. In the end,
Commissioner Rusty DePratter put the heat on
the Sheriff. Sheriff Hunter walked the
breakup back.
|
Posted
March 3, 2018 10:59 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Thursday
afternoon's 911 Combined Communications
Center workshop/special meeting saw the
County's Combined Communications Center on
the chopping block. After an hour of back
and forth, mostly with Sheriff Hunter
complaining, a seemingly exasperated
Commissioner DePratter leaned in to his
microphone and addressed the Sheriff: "Are
you willin' to fix what we have, or are you
gonna' break it up? It's a yes or no
question. Then I'll know where I wanna' go."
|
Posted February 23, 2018 09:30 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Make time on a Saturday
morning to "Take a Hike with the Doc", that is
Colette Jacono, PhD: botanist, plant ecologist,
and defender of the environment. The hike is
along the Santa Fe River area which contains the
largest numbers of tree and shrub species per
unit area in the continental U.S. The canopy is
so dense sunlight touches the ground only in the
winter. The 1.5-mile hike along the river is March 24 beginning at 9 am.
|
Posted
February 12, 2018 09:35 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
At last Wednesday's February 7 Economic
Development Advisory Board meeting, the
conversation continued regarding
Weyerhaeuser's former Plum Creek North
Florida Mega Industrial Park, once known as
the Inland Port. On February 6 the Governor
announced that Columbia County was awarded
$3,165,600 from the Florida Job Growth Grant
Fund.
|
Posted
February 4, 2018 11:59 pm
Shortly after
convening the January 25 Space Needs
Workshop/Special Meeting, Chairman Tim Murphy
told the County 5, "We've got here
administrative office space discussion... I've
been here for the last six - eight years. We've
got to make a decision on which way we're gonna'
go."
|
Posted
February 2, 2018 07:05 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Last night at the County 5, Columbia County
Sheriff Mark Hunter was given another free
pass by Columbia County's County Board of
County Commissioners, or as they have become
affectionately known, the County 5, or just
The 5.
|
Posted
January 28, 2018 10:00 am
Columbia County, FL –
Thursday's special meeting of the County 5
kicked off with Chairman Tim Murphy telling
the County 5, "It looks like we're gonna'
have a long lastin' meeting here. Hopefully
we get somethin' accomplished." The first
item on the agenda was the discussion and
vote to approve a Department of Economic
Opportunity Grant to build a rail spur
through the forest to the old Inland Port
and not one inch farther.
|
Posted
January 23, 2018 06:50 am | (1
comment)
Columbia
County, FL – The conversation continued at the
Thursday workshop, convened specifically for
Sheriff Hunter in his quest to cleave the 911
Combined County Dispatch Center and seal off and
hire his own dispatchers. At the beginning of
the workshop Chairman Murphy asked for
enlightenment. Sheriff Hunter gave it to him and
the County 5.
|
Posted
January 21, 2018 07:05 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Thursday's Combined 911 Communications Center
workshop began with Chairman Murphy
introducing the afternoon's topic of
discussion and inviting both Sheriff Hunter
and 911 Combined Communications Dir. Tom
Brazil to come to the front of the room.
|
Posted
January 21, 2018 07:00 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
On Thursday afternoon for 2 hours, the first
of what may be many workshops concerning the
Columbia County 911 Combined Communications
Center and a power grab by Columbia County
Sheriff Mark Hunter to take over the center,
occurred. As the meeting got under way, the
Sheriff walked back his well know desire to
take over everything and said he was just
interested in the Sheriff's dispatch.
|
Posted
January 18, 2018 09:05 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Columbia County Sheriff Mark Hunter runs the
Sheriff's Office, Courthouse Security, the
County Jail. He is the number one law
enforcement official in the County. In a deal
thrashed out years ago in the back rooms of the
County, he and the County 5 agreed on a contract
where he annually gets 39% of the County budget.
It is the only deal like it in Florida, and
thought by many to be illegal. Not content,
Sheriff Hunter is making a move on the 911 Call
Center, County Mapping, and Emergency
Management. He wants to be in charge of them,
too.
|
Breaking News
Posted
January 18, 2018 01:30 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Every year after Organization
Night, the County Charter requires the County
Chair to appoint members of the County 5 to
Board created committees and other committees.
Just released are Chairman Tim Murphy’s
appointments.
|
Posted
January 6, 2018 07:45 pm | (2
comments)
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Thursday night's
January 4 meeting of the infamous Columbia
County 5 had as its primary topic the
approval of the Jail Architect Agreement
between Dewberry Architects, Inc. and the
County 5. Commissioner DePratter's questions
stopped the approval in its tracks.
|
County News 2017
(scroll down)
|
Posted
December 30, 2017 10:15 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – The County 5 met for its final
2017 meeting on Thursday, December 21. When
County Manager Ben Scott wanted to schedule
a workshop during the second meeting of the
New Year in February to review the County's
available space and architect's findings,
Commissioner Nash, the man that many believe
is running the County, blew him off, instead
calling for a special meeting on an off
meeting night, keeping the public hopping
and making extra trips to Lake City a must
for those who want to witness first hand
what The County 5 is up to.
|
Posted December 22, 2017 11:15 am
JACKSONVILLE, FL – Acting U.S. Attorney W.
Stephen Muldrow announced yesterday that
Haven Hospice, a hospice company
headquartered in Gainesville, Florida, has
agreed to pay $5,085,024 to resolve
allegations that Haven violated the False
Claims Act by knowingly billing the
government for medically unnecessary and
undocumented hospice services.
|
Posted
December 15, 2017 11:59 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – The Columbia County 5's meeting on
December 7, 2017, will live in infamy as the
meeting where at least one commissioner,
District 2's Rusty DePratter said, "I'm
guilty. I did let myself get talked into
this, but I can change my mind... I should
have stepped in."
|
Posted
November 9, 2017 05:45 am
ORLANDO, FL –
A Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) opens
Thursday, Nov. 9 for four days in Lake City
to help Florida storm survivors.
|
Posted
November 4, 2017 05:15 am | Part I
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Thursday night at the County 5,
in light of the recent MIA's of
Commissioners Nash, his nephew Commissioner
Murphy, and Commissioner Phillips, your
reporter, also a resident, asked The 5 to
have County Attorney Joel Foreman revisit
the 2005 public censure of then County
Commissioner George Skinner for missing a
Value Adjustment Board meeting.
|
Posted
November 4, 2017 05:15 am | Part II |
(1
comment)
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – In Part I,
"Meeting Attendance Double Standard,
No Problem for the County 5," we left
off with, "There is nothing in any County
charter, rule, policy, procedure or
tradition, for the County Commission to
publicly censure a fellow commissioner...
Twelve years later, the County still is
absent any rules regarding Commissioner
attendance at County Board meetings."
|
Posted
October 21, 2017 11:59 pm | (1
comment)
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Since early in 2017, the County 5 has been
scheming to move County Headquarters from
downtown Lake City across the new Bascom
Norris Bypass to an unpopulated industrial
area north of and outside of the Lake City,
City limits. The County Charter says, "The
Board of County Commissioners shall meet at
the county seat." The County seat is Lake
City. This doesn't appear to bother the
infamous Columbia County 5, who on Thursday
night approved borrowing $10,000,000 in
anticipation of the move.
|
Posted
October 19, 2017 03:15 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
This weekend at O'Leno State Park, the
annual Alligator Warrior Festival swings
into action. There will be many activities,
food, and opportunities for learning about
Native American Culture in Florida. For
those inclined to violence and war, there
will be a battle reenactment on Saturday and
Sunday.
|
Posted
October 13, 2017 07:20 am
ORLANDO, FL – The Federal Emergency
Management Agency is reaching out to remind
you of important dates and deadlines as you
proceed with your recovery from Hurricane
Irma. Do not miss out on assistance that may
be available to you because of a missed
deadline. Some deadlines may be extended,
but do not wait.
|
Posted
October 11, 2017 09:30 pm | Part III |
Part I
|
Part II
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – During a declared
state of emergency, with waters on the Santa
Fe River rising putting residents and first
responders at risk, District IV Commissioner
Everett Phillips went on vacation. The other
four County commissioners, who forgot they
also represented the residents of Columbia
County, shrugged and did nothing. On
September 28, after Emergency Management
Director Shayne Morgan told The 5 that roads
around Mikesville remained "impassable" and
inaccessible for assistance, 3 of the 5
voted not to extend the emergency, ending
the County's ability to legally help those
whose homes remained inaccessible with
private roads that remained underwater.
|
Posted
October 7, 2017 07:00 pm | Part II |
Part I
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Three weeks after Irma, areas
in Southern Columbia County continued to
have inaccessible homes due to the flooding
on the Santa Fe River, the same river that
was a heartbeat away from closing down I-75
in Columbia County.
|
Posted
October 6, 2017 05:30 am | Part I
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – As a result of
Hurricane Irma, communities all over Florida
are struggling with record storm debris. On
Thursday night, October 5, the County 5
voted to extend County debris pickups
through next Friday. In addition to voting
to spend thousands on a needless Sunday
advertisement in the County's mainstream
media, County Manger Ben Scott said notice
of the extended pickups would be on the
County website and the County Emergency
Management website. He didn't say when. As
of 5:30 am Saturday morning, a day and a
half after The 5 met, the County websites
have not a word about the special extended
pickups.
|
 Bridge on U.S. 27 Over Santa Fe into High Springs is Now
Open
Posted
September 17, 2017 02:21 pm | (1 comment)
The last
remaining bridge closing between Columbia
and Alachua County, the Santa Fe River
bridge at U.S. 27 connecting Columbia County
with High Springs remained closed at 2 pm,
but it was expected to open today.
|
Posted
September 15, 2017 07:35 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The Santa Fe River
began receding yesterday afternoon giving
hope to residents at the south end of
Columbia County that they may be able to
leave the County sooner, rather than later.
The water, rushing down the river at
breakneck speed, was lapping at the bottom
of the roadbed on the Santa Fe River bridge
on U.S. 27 yesterday afternoon.
|
Posted August 19, 2017 04:01 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Thursday night, August
17, the local mainstream media's up-playing
of Internet cafes in Lake City/Columbia
County came to fruition with the issue front
and center at the County 5. The Chamber of
Commerce, the State Attorney and the
Sheriff, Internet cafe owners and patrons
were represented and spoke their piece.
Absent from the microphone were any
opponents from the general public, who may
have had better things to worry about than
Internet cafes in rural poor North Central
Florida. The final word on law enforcement
went to the big gun in the room, 3d Circuit
State Attorney, Jeff Siegmeister.
|
Posted
August 4, 2017 07:30 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Last night at The 5, the
adoption of new Rules & Procedures, along
with an included Ethics Policy was
unanimously approved with barely a word of
discussion. The board rules were a modified
version of the St. John's County rules. It
is not clear from where the 12 page ethics
policy came. The new policy is 48 pages. If
it were spaced to make it more readable it
would be approximately 60 pages, which would
make it one of longest policies of its kind
in Florida.
|
Posted
August 3, 2017 08:15 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – On the docket of the County 5
tonight are the new County 5/Joel Foreman
rules of procedure. The rules, other than a
single spaced ethics rule, are adopted
almost word for word from St. Johns County.
Columbia County's elected County Attorney,
Joel Foreman, asked for no public hearings
on the new rules, nor did he ever seek
public comments on these rules.
|
Posted July
26, 2017 01:15 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – During the June 15, 2017
meeting of the County 5, a resolution was
buried in the evening's consent agenda
canceling the long scheduled July 6 meeting
of The 5. The week before, two County
Commissioners had petitioned the County
Manager to cancel the meeting because it
interfered with their personal plans. On
June 15, none of the players would come
clean and admit who they were. They still
haven't.
|
Posted July
24, 2017 06:40 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Scott Thomason of Fort White
announced this weekend that he is throwing
his hat into the ring for County
Commissioner, District 2.
|
Posted July 13, 2017
12:40 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY/Lake City, FL – Monday's July
10 Lake Shore Hospital Authority meeting got
off to a shaky start when Representative
Elizabeth Porter's Chief of Staff, Koby
Adams, also the Chair of the LSHA, banned
retired pharmacist Sandra Buck-Camp from
addressing the Board. Things got
progressively worse as Authority Manager
Berry attempted to add to the agenda a
discussion item about the vacating of the
County Economic Development Department and
his new plan for those offices.
|
Posted July
6, 2017 06:30 am | final 04:10 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The resolution
canceling tonight's July 6 regularly
scheduled County 5 meeting appeared on the
June 15 consent agenda. There was no memo
from anyone with any explanation for
canceling the meeting, which was scheduled
seven months ago. Your reporter, also a
resident, asked for the resolution to be
pulled for discussion. The request was
ignored by Chairman Ronald Williams. Those
at the meeting were witness to more Abbott &
Costello moments as the The 5, the County
Manager, and the County Attorney did a
|
Posted June
30, 2017 06:25 pm |
Part I
|
Part II |
Part
III |
Part IV |
Part V
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – For 7 minutes during Monday's
June 26 budget workshop, the County 5
discussed what may end up costing the County
millions, mentioning, then ignoring the
directives in the recently approved $29,000
Sports Strategic Plan. The conversation was
at its usual level of incomprehensibility as
The 5 doubled down on the secret land deal
hatched weeks earlier at the Tourist
Development Council.
|
Posted June
29, 2017 05:06 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – The Florida Department of
Education released the school and district
grades for the 2016 - 2017 school year. The
CCS District Grade went from a C in 2015 -
2016 to a B in 2016 - 2017.
|
Posted June 25, 2017
01:30 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Monday's June 12, 2017,
Lake Shore Hospital Authority meeting flew under the
radar, however, after obtaining an audio tape of the
meeting and interviews, it was not a pretty sight as the
Governor's Lake Shore Hospital Authority Board, with
barely any conversation, slammed Columbia County (read
taxpayers) with a 76% rent increase for the offices used
by the County Economic Development Department.
|
Posted June 23, 2017 06:45 am | Letter to the
Editor
In reading the articles about the Sheriff's
"dream" Detention Center and the proposed
tax increases that the citizens of Columbia
County are facing at the hands of our
elected leaders, I feel compelled to, as
Paul Harvey use to say, give you "the rest
of the story." Not only are Columbia County
tax payers looking at a 10% property
"millage" TAX increase on our homes..
|
Posted June
19, 2017 08:50 am |
Part I
|
Part II |
Part
III |
Part IV
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Part III of Columbia County
Sports Development ended with TDC hotel
owner Nick Patel wanting to put an
unidentified and un-priced 40-60 acre parcel
under contract for a flat-field
multi-purpose sports venue, while agitated
TDC member Mike Collins was asking for the
location of the mystery parcel. In Part IV,
the Observer reports on the TDC's
machinations leading up to its authorization
of the secret land deal.
|
Posted June
17, 2017 07:30 pm | Part III
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – According to the recent $29,000
Sports Marketing Strategic Plan developed by
the Huddle Up Group, the County Tourist
Development Council (TDC), is sitting on
approximately $1.6 mil in cash. Huddle Up's
Plan, accepted by both the TDC and the
County 5, recommended the County consider
adding new multi-sport flat fields to its
sports tourism arsenal, after it improved
its existing facilities and did a study. It
is not clear if anyone in the County
government read the $29K Plan.
|
Posted June
15, 2017 11:15 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Tonight, Florida Power & Light
is asking the County 5 to amend the Future
Land Use Map of a 253.25 acre parcel from
Highway Interchange to Agriculture. The
reason: FP&L intends to construct and
operate a photovoltaic (PV) solar energy
center or a solar farm on property which it
owns. It is expected that once construction
begins, 200 jobs will be created during the
construction.
|
Posted June
15, 2017 03:58 am | Part II
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – As reported in Part I, on March
26, 2017, Huddle Up Group submitted its
final report to Columbia County: a $29,000
FL Department of Economic Opportunity funded
Sports Tourism/Marketing Strategic Plan
("Plan"). Huddle Up Group is one of the
nation's premier sports marketers. Huddle Up
reported, "There is an opportunity to
continue to expand the sports tourism work
of the Columbia County Sports Commission
(“CCSC”)." The Sports Commission is
mentioned extensively throughout the Plan.
Columbia County does not have a Sports
Commission.
|
Posted June
14, 2017 08:30 am | Part I
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Last week's meeting of Columbia
County's Tourist Development Council (TDC)
had County Manager Ben Scott making a
special appearance at a special meeting to
hawk and get approval for a land deal on a
secret piece of property of between 40 and
60 acres. The County Manager wants what
appears to be Columbia Bank to hold the
property until the County "can come up with
a plan." It was also announced that the
County is looking to get its new Sports
Marketing Director by hiring "someone away
from another sports organization."
|
Posted
June 11, 2017 08:15 pm | Op-Ed
I
read with interest the Sunday opinion in
Columbia County’s print paper, “Williams’
smokescreen isn’t fooling anyone.” I am a
true believer in the First Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution, which guarantees “freedom
of speech, or of the press.” I don’t believe
public officials should sue the press while
they are in office and doing the public’s
business. Indeed, I encourage the newspaper
to keep on writing. One day, it may actually
get it right.
|
Posted June
8, 2017 12:08 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Yesterday's Economic Development
Advisory Board's monthly meeting had
Columbia County's 36 year veteran county
commissioner Ronald Williams accusing the
Economic Development Advisory Board of
leaks, while Board member Stephen Douglas
was not happy about Economic Development
Director Glenn Hunter's last minute
briefings.
|
Posted
June 2, 2017 11:55 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
According to long time veteran Columbia
County Commissioner Ronald Williams,
Thursday night's audit presentation was
outside auditor Richard Powell's 36th annual
audit for Columbia County. After years of
abuse and disrespect by Columbia County's
legendary County 5, the public pretty much
stays away from most meetings of the County
5. Thursday night's meeting, which included
the audit presentation, played mainly to
empty seat cushions as both the County and
Mr. Powell didn't splice together even a
rudimentary PowerPoint presentation so that
the public could have followed along.
|
Posted
May 28, 2017 10:45 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last Thursday's
afternoon session of the County 5's budget
workshop played to an empty house with,
according to the Clerk, no members of the
public present. The 5 didn't miss its
chance: it authorized County Manager Ben
Scott to ask for a 10% millage rate
increase. The reason: to finance Sheriff
Hunter's new dream Detention Center.
|
Posted
May 19, 2017 02:45 pm
COLUMBIA,
HAMILTON, SUWANNEE COUNTIES – Wednesday, May
10, 2017, the Florida Commission for the
Disadvantaged (CTD) Local Coordinating Board
and the North Central Florida Regional
Planning Council convened their annual
public hearing. The Suwannee Valley TA
administrator was unable to explain his
agency's funding sources with any
specificity.
|
Posted
May 10, 2017 05:25 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – Columbia County and
Lake City will be hosting the 2017 National
Speleological Society Cave Diving International
Conference June 2nd and 3d at the Florida National Guard
Armory on Lake Jeffery Road. The Conference, “Cave
Diving – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” will focus on
the history of cave diving, current happenings, cave
conservation, and the future of cave diving with noted
national and international speakers from the sport.
|
Posted May
8, 2017 01:00 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – This past Thursday evening, May
4, 2017, County Manager Ben Scott told the
County 5, "I believe every one of you has an
idea of what you would like to see for the
future of Columbia County... We're in the
middle of the process." One year ago County
Manager Scott told The 5 that the charge to
obtain a strategic plan would be "somewhere
between 15 and $20,000."
|
Posted
May 5, 2017 07:20 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Last night, the highlight of 4½
hours of County 5 meetings was the
appearance at the County Commission meeting
of two of Columbia County's STEM Girls. At
the microphone, Taylor Dampier explained the
importance of the STEM program for girls, as
she gestured to fellow Robotic team member
Sarah Griffin (seated).
|
Posted
May 4, 2017 12:40 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – After the
Lifeguard fiasco and lawsuit, one
might have thought Columbia County would
have been on its toes when it put out a
request for proposals for a group to prepare
a county-wide strategic plan. The seven
respondents were professionals. Columbia
County was Columbia County: the home of the
infamous County 5. The County added
something new at this meeting: it secretly
recorded Monday's meeting of the Ranking &
Rating Committee. Other than numbers on
pieces of paper, the committee shared barely
any thoughts. That appeared to be the plan.
|
Posted
May 1, 2017 02:00 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – At 3:30 this afternoon, the
County Purchasing Director Ray Hill is
meeting with the County Manager's handpicked
committee to review 7 proposals for
"Strategic Plan Consultant Services."
Missing from the committee is Economic
Development Director Glenn Hunter, who
didn't know the County had asked for more
consultants for yet another Columbia County
Strategic Plan. County Commissioner Rusty
DePratter didn't know, and Katrina Vercher,
the Clerk who takes the County de minimis
minutes also didn't know anything about the
new strategic plan.
|
Posted
April 26, 2017 08:08 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Yesterday morning officially
marked the kickoff of Columbia County budget
season. County Manager Ben Scott's
PowerPoint presentation set a record with
177 slides. He got through 120 of them.
Because of exhaustion, appointments, and a
general mind numbing, after a lunch break
and three and a half hours of exploring ways
to raise taxes, fees, and anything else they
could find, The 5 adjourned the meeting
until 3 pm on May 3.
|
Posted
April 23, 2017 02:30am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – This past Thursday
night, April 20, 2017, the County 5
demonstrated once again why no other county,
other than Columbia County, has adopted
percent based budgeting for the County
Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff is
guaranteed 39% of the county's unrestricted
revenue. Thursday night the County
5 transferred a $457,025 bonanza to the
Sheriff and an unbudgeted additional
$279,100 for vehicles, on top of the
$255,000 already allocated toward vehicles in the
2017 Sheriff's budget. It has been over
two years since
the Sheriff's Deputies, the folks that
protect the County on the road, in the court
house, or in the jail have gotten a raise.
|
Posted
April 11, 2017 09:15 pm
|
Posted
April 7, 2017 10:52 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – For generations, economic
development and workforce development in
Columbia County have languished. Overcoming Columbia County's
quintessential good ole' boy network and the County's
challenged school district have inhibited economic
growth until recently, when retail developers found a
pool of retail development incentives and low cost
workers to fulfill their retail and fast
food expansion needs. Wednesday morning, April 5, 2017, during the County's
monthly Economic Development Advisory Board (EDAB)
meeting, County Commissioner Ronald Williams, one of the
primary faces of Columbia County economic development
for over three decades, explained how the County was
going to solve the workforce needs of its major high
tech employer, HAECO.
|
March 30,
2017 | Final: March
31, 2017 07:45 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Yesterday's Chamber luncheon
featured HAECO VP Kip Blakely, who told the Chamber
about HAECO, a major world wide corporation, and the
problems its aircraft division, HAECO - formerly TIMCO,
was having in Lake City/Columbia County with workforce
development. It can't find qualified workers. This has
been a systemic problem in Columbia County for decades,
a county which has actively not pursued high quality,
high paying jobs. Before Mr. Blakely spoke, Economic
Development Director Glenn Hunter introduced him to the
audience.
|
Posted
March 29, 2017 07:59 am
COLUMBIA,
HAMILTON, SUWANNEE COUNTIES, FL – Monday's
March 26, 2017 Suwannee Valley Transit
Authority meeting once again had Columbia
County Commissioners Nash and Phillips
relegating Columbia County residents to the
back of the bus by intentionally scheduling
Suwannee Valley Transit Authority meetings
to conflict with Columbia County's
county-wide taxing district, the Lake Shore
Hospital Authority.
|
"The gen public didn't have a clue what
was going on."
Posted
March 24, 2017 01:15 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Perennially homeless,
unable to be heard from 10 feet away,
lounging at County Commission meetings like
they were in beach chairs, often rude and
obnoxious to its citizens, supporting
minimalist minutes and many times hiring
folks based on their pedigree, rather than
their degree, the Columbia County 5 droned
on for over two hours as it looked to change
its rules of procedure by modifying the St.
Johns County rules. Resident Charlie
Towbridge said of last Thursday's County 5/
County Attorney workshop, "The general
public didn't have a clue what was going
on."
|
Posted March
13, 2017 01:25 pm | (1
comment)
COLUMBIA, HAMILTON, SUWANNEE COUNTIES, FL –
Another failure to follow the Florida
statutes regarding meeting notice
requirements has caused Suwannee Valley
Transit Authority (SVTA) Chief, Suwannee
County Commissioner Larry Sessions, to
cancel another SVTA Board meeting in as many
weeks. Tonight's meeting is canceled.
|
Posted
March 10, 2017 03:20 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – The Observer has been
following Columbia County government for a
decade. Florida statutes, opinions of the
Courts and the Florida Attorney General
require the County 5 to
approve all County expenditures before sending them to
the Clerk of the Courts for final approval. This is
called checks and balances, one of the building blocks
of America. Columbia County's good ole' boys don't, but it does have an unwritten "back-door"
policy.
|
Posted
March 7, 2017 11:59 pm | updated March
8 08:10 am | (1
comment)
COLUMBIA, HAMILTON, SUWANNEE COUNTIES, FL – The Suwannee
Valley Transit Authority (SVTA) is an independent
special district which serves the transportation
disadvantaged in Columbia, Hamilton, and Suwannee
Counties. It makes virtually no money; is fully
supported by tax dollars; and is run by Suwannee County
Commissioner Larry Sessions. In the past, Com. Sessions
has shown that he is not pleased with Florida's meeting
notice requirements.
|
Posted
March 3, 2017 07:15 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The Suwannee Valley
Transit Authority has been problematic for
years. A tri-county special district
(Columbia, Hamilton, Suwannee), the SVTA is
administered by Suwannee County Commissioner
Larry Sessions. The SVTA is overseen by the
FDOT's Commission for the Transportation
Disadvantaged and its Director, Steve
Holmes. After last night's meeting of The 5,
County Attorney Joel Foreman wrote, "I will
be ... personally contacting Commissioner
Nash and Commissioner Phillips to advise
them against participating in any SVTA
meeting not set and noticed in compliance
with Chapter 189."
|
Posted
March 2, 2017 02:45 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Commissioners Sylvester
"Bucky" Nash and Everett Philips are again
ignoring the best interests of Columbia
County residents. Both Commissioners
represent Columbia County on the Suwannee
Valley Transit Authority (SVTA). In November
2016, both Mr. Nash and Mr. Phillips voted
to change the meeting days of the SVTA to
Mondays, a day which conflicts with Lake
Shore Hospital Authority Meetings and from
time to time, City Council meetings, such as
the Council meeting scheduled for this
Monday night. The reason given by
Commissioner Nash: "I don't go to those
meetings."
|
Posted March 1, 2017
08:00 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – On Tuesday, February
21, the Lake City, City Council met. On its docket was
an item regarding the Jack Berry Hwy, technically known
by the state as Lake Shore Boulevard, or the East Access
Road. Beginning in 2012, the project was driven quickly
into the shadows by City Manager Wendell Johnson, who
claimed that if your reporter attended the meetings they
wouldn't go smoothly. County Commissioner Ronald
Williams also worked to keep these meetings in the dark,
never reporting back to the County Commission.
|
Posted
February 26, 2017 09:30 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Friday morning, February 24, the County's TDC
Director held the second of what was billed as "Public
Meeting – Workshop". The subject matter was "Sports
Tourism Workshop with Huddle Up Group." Contrary to the
published opinions of the Florida Attorney General,
there was no agenda. Contrary to the intent and spirit
of the County Charter, there was no supporting
information. It turned out Columbia County had applied
for and obtained a grant from the Florida Department of
Economic Opportunity (DEO) to hire a consultant to
develop a Sports Tourism Strategic Plan.
|
Posted
February 19, 2017 05:45 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Thursday night's meeting of the Columbia County 5
played to a packed house at the school board
administration building. On the evening's docket was a
change to the County's Land Development Regulations
which would have added a definition of a Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) and redefined the
definitions of intensive agriculture and intensive
agricultural development.
|
Posted Feb. 16, 2017
10:55 am | Pt II |
Pt I
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The confusion at the Governor's
Lake Shore Hospital Authority Monday Board meeting could
have been avoided if Authority Manager Jack Berry had
contacted the DOT to get clarification of the
consequences of the County Commission's
revised Memorandum of Understanding that was before the
Authority Board.
|
Berry Working on a Revival Plan
Posted Feb. 16, 2017
07:35 am |
Pt I |
Pt II
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Monday night, February 13,
Governor Scott's Lake Shore Hospital Board
met for its monthly meeting. Confusion
reigned as Authority Chair Koby Adams, also
Rep. Elizabeth Porter's Chief
of Staff, put the 'Jack Berry Highway' on the
floor.
Former "Repo Man" and Political operative Jack Berry,
the Lake Shore Hospital Authority Manager, gave his
version of the history of the project to the Board. Up
for consideration: the revised Memorandum of
Understanding between the County, Lake City, and the
Authority for the design, building, and funding of the road.
|
Posted February 13,
2017, 04:02 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Lake City, Columbia County, and
the state of Florida are continuing to spend millions
of local and state dollars to renovate
deteriorating leased buildings, which for
decades, Lake City has been responsible for
inspecting and HAECO-TIMCO has been
responsible for maintaining.
|
Posted February 9, 2017,
03:59 pm
|
A Record Filled With Columbia County Alternative
Facts & Memories
Posted Feb. 6, 2017
| 10:00 pm | Pt II
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL
– On February 2, 2017, the Jack Berry Hwy
Tax Watch Turkey crash landed as it became
clear that the County 5 violated its Charter
and had an illegal meeting which kicked off
the project. By the end of the Jack Berry
Hwy discussion, The 5 was in confusion and
had rejected all routes
proposed by the FL DOT study, but they still
wanted the money for an undefined road
design. A modification of the 1977 state and
federal approved plan could have eliminated
any environmental impacts and used mostly
existing roads. The next step may be the FL
DOT's.
|
Visit by Hosp Auth Chief to Home Owner -
Covered Up by County
Posted Feb. 5, 2017
| 02:10 pm | Pt I
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – During the conversation about the road and the route
designed by the DOT, Commissioner Williams asked County
Manager Ben Scott about the Pruett letter, failing to
mention the Pruetts by name, or any history of the
letter, which by now should have been common knowledge
to all the commissioners as well as the County's top
brass.
|
Posted Feb. 2, 2017
| final version 03:28 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY – The Lake Shore
Hospital Authority "Jack Berry
Highway" has been steeped in
secrecy for years. The third
version of the Florida
Department of Transportation's
(DOT) "Lake Shore Hospital
Emergency Access Study" is still
identified as a "Draft."
The study's introduction claims
that the "FL Legislature
earmarked $2.1 million in fiscal
year 2016-17 for the
engineering, right-of-way, and
construction of access
improvements to Lake Shore
Hospital." A spokesperson for
DOT said this is not true and
the "only funds that have been
provided to DOT are $410,000 for
design."
The draft report does not state
how the rest of the project will
be funded, if it will ever be
funded, or if the Water
Management District was
contacted regarding wetland
mitigation and permitting.
|
Posted January 23, 2017
06:25 am |
Part II |
Part I
COLUMBIA
COUNTY – As reported earlier, the Public Safety
Coordinating Council (PSCC) (Sheriff, Public
Defender, County Court, State Attorney, Jail
Warden, and County Commissioner met on
January 17, 2017. No one knew from any of
the public announcements what was going to
go on at the meeting. The County's
non-descript agenda violates both the spirit
and intent of Florida's Sunshine law, common
sense, and the Florida Statutes.
|
Posted January 22, 2017
10:30 am |
Part I |
Part II
COLUMBIA
COUNTY – Foot dragging, back room deals, and a failure
to provide relevant and useful documentation
have been the hallmarks of Columbia County's
infamous Columbia County 5 for decades. On
Tuesday, January 17, the Public Safety
Coordinating Council, the group that deals
with the jail, met. The council members met
without any information or knowledge of the
purpose of the meeting.
|
Posted January 17, 2017
07:30 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY – The inexperience of the County's top
management, lack of oversight by the County
5, and former County Chairman Bucky Nash's
disregard of the needs of Columbia County
residents over the needs and convenience of
the County 5 and commissioners of other
counties, has the Public Safety Coordinating
Council, (Sheriff, Public Defender, County
Court, State Attorney, Jail Warden) meeting
at the library at the same time as the City
Council.
|
Posted
January 16, 2017 08:30 am
|
Posted January 6, 2017
09:33 am | (2
comments)
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The 'Jack Berry
Highway,' which has gone through a few name
changes and is now officially called the
Lake Shore Boulevard Access Road has gone
from a $958,817 in 2013 to a $2mil plus
project in 2017. The Observer has been
unable to find any traffic studies; need
assessments; or anything else which
demonstrates a need for more access to the
Shands at Lakeshore Hospital emergency room.
|
Posted
January 3, 2017 07:45 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – On November 28, 2016,
after a couple of false starts, the
Economic Development Advisory Board
Strategic Plan Subcommittee met to
update the $40,000 2014 County Economic
Development Strategic Plan. It was a private
affair. The committee did not include
Columbia County stakeholders and Lake City's
representative, City Manager Wendell Johnson
was MIA.
|
Posted January 2, 2017 10:15 pm |
update January 3, 11:39 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – On Wednesday, January
4, 2017, the Columbia County Legislative
Delegation will be on the road, reaching
Columbia County at 1pm. Columbia County's
homeless County 5 has never seen fit to
build a municipal center with its own
meeting room and will have to welcome the
delegation at Florida Gateway College in the
Administration Building #1.
|
Columbia County: The Top
Stories of 2016.
Posted
January 1, 2017
For many in
Columbia County/Lake City there were many
stories that folks wished didn't happen.
 The
Number 1, 2016 Columbia County story was
the continuing saga of Columbia County
Economic Underdevelopment:
Columbia Cnty Econ Dev Incentives:
Home-Grown, Mom-and-Pops, Small Business
Need Not Apply. County economic
development has been micro managed from the
top down by a county management team with
zero economic development credentials. Like
the fable of the Emperor and His New
Clothes, "everybody knows." The County gives
away millions in incentives to millionaires
and billionaires, while ignoring the small
businesses
 The
Number 2, 2016 story:
Terminated: Cnty Manager Throws Book at 2
County Road Workers For Mowing Mom's Lawn concerns the highest
level of Columbia County mismanagement and
the County 5, which holds county management
accountable for nothing. Two $10hr public
works employees were fired for mowing one of
the worker's mom's lawn with a county
lawnmower on their lunch hour. After much
embarrassment to Columbia County, the two
were rehired.
 The
Number 3, 2016
story:
Lake DeSoto Deforestation Complete,
"Chainsaw" Jack & Gov Scott's Hosp Auth
Board Silent. In 3rd place is the
series of articles covering the
deforestation by the Lake Shore Hospital
Authority, with the stamp of approval of
Lake City, of the only shaded parking area
left around Lake DeSoto. Photo:
Looking out before the deforestation and looking in
after the chain saws left. Councilwoman Moses was
"satisfied" with the new look. There are no plans to
renovate.
|
|
County News
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grand Distortions
About Bed Counts & the Future Keep the $31mil
Hunter-Hilton Marching On
With Only a Slim Idea of
Financing, the $31mil Hunter-Hilton
Marches On
Two Parks
& Rec
Employees Rescued From Cnty Pickup Truck in
Rising Flood Waters
With DePratter Gone, The 5
March Ahead With the Hunter-Hilton: $25mil
budget goes into dreamland
County Sports Tourism Expansion - Funded
With Public Funds - A Game for Good Ole' Boy
Insiders
County 5 Dragged Its Feet for Over a Yr,
Waiting for a DEO Handout Which Never Came:
Part VII
Columbia County Jail Hanging - The Reports
Are In Death Called a Suicide - No Wrong
Doing
TDC Flat-Field Expansion Meeting Held at
Midday - Purpose: Keep Public Input, Out
Supervisor
of Elections & Her Crew Paved the Way For an
Exhausting, But Trouble Free Recount
Murphy's
Promise of Transparency in Reporting the
Costs of the New Hunter-Hilton (Jail) in the
Clouds
Weyerhaeuser-Cnty Score Again: $10.2 Mil
More Funneled Into Old Inland Port, Total
Now $13.3mil
Columbia
County Outpacing FL in
Obesity, Health Dept/IFAS Promoting Healthy
Changes 
FGC's McKee Involved in Broadcast Fiasco –
Again - Forum Canceled - Chamber Runs for
Cover
County Management Put Katie's Girls At Risk,
Recreation Czar Dragged Feet Lighting Fields
Chairman Murphy's False Claim Regarding
Sheriff's Jail Capacity Remarks – Jail
Project Not "Killed"
Unprepared, the City Appeared before the TDC
$300,874 Short for the Lake DeSoto
Waterfront
FPL
Columbia Cnty Solar Farm Under Construction
For the Cnty 5 & Sheriff Hunter, It's Time
to Regroup: No New Taxes – New Jail on Hold
Budget Time Tonight for the County 5: After
1 Year, Chairman Murphy's Leadership Leads
to Confusion
It's Budget Season in Columbia Cnty: Tonight
- Lake City, then - the County 5, LSHA,
CCSD, SVTA
New Aquifer Alert System Unveiled as Levels
Reach Record Breaking Highs: Flooding Danger
County
Election Results Made Easy
County Jail: Average Daily Population
Exaggerated, Misinformation, Over Budget on
the Drawing Board
FDOT: Road Ranger Service Expands on I-10
County 5 in Budget Limbo: 3 county budgets
to be presented at 1st budget hearing on
September 6
Nutrien's Commitment to Girl Power &
Diversity Equals Rural Camp Sponsorship at
FGC
The FGC Candidate Forum Chronicles Continue:
Part III
Integrity Challenged: Was
FGC College President Larry Barrett Forced to Drink the Kool Aid?
Part II
Integrity Challenged: FGC's McKee Kept
College Pres Unaware of Uninvited Forum
Candidates
Florida
Com on Ethics Elects Guy Norris Chair
Duke Energy Florida Announces New Solar
Power Plant in Columbia County
Florida Gateway College Awarded $673,000 in
Performance Based Funding
EDAB's Charlie Keith: Wants
Lake City to Commit
to Increasing Its Public Works Department
Hunter Hilton Part III: Sheriff Hunter
"Trust Me" Chairman Murphy Still Fighting
the Civil War
Voodoo Economics: Financing the Hunter
Hilton, Just Not Easy to Explain (Part II)
County 5 Took Its Road Show to Dist. I to
Promote the New Hunter Hilton (Jail) &
Extort New Taxes
Murphy Looking for Aviation Acad Ans:
Calls for Carswell, Barrett, HAECO to Appear
at Committee
Aviation Academy Crash Lands: N
Central FL's Rural Poor Take It On the Chin,
Again
Merrillee
Malwitz-Jipson Qualifies for FL District 10
Seat: She Will Be On the Ballot
Econ Dev Summit: DOT Millions, Quality Jobs,
Gainesville, Wkforce Development, Supt of
Schools
Murphy's Econ Dev Summit: No Real Substance,
Everybody Came Out Alive, Cnty 5 Politics As
Usual
Com DePratter Not Running Again:
Murphy's Econ Dev Summit: Panel Gets Q's -
Public Q's Vetted, Illegal Notice, Econ Dev
Chief Shunned
4th Grader Appears Before the Cnty 5:
"There's a Bullying Situation Going On At My
School"
Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson Throws Hat in Ring
For Florida House of Representatives,
District 10
FGC
in Top 17% of LPN Programs in FL: No.
15 in Ranked Programs
World Class Off-Road Racing in Lake City
This Weekend at Southside Raceway: Free
Admission
Polling Places Were on Tap at County 5 Last
Night Budgets, Voting Machines, Churches for
Voting
Columbia County Economic Development: FPL's
Simmons Breaches the Taboo, "Living Wage"
Jobs
911 Combined Comm Breakup on Hold -
DePratter Puts on the Heat, Sheriff Hunter
Backs Down Pt II
Sheriff Hunter, Com Nash & Williams
Ignore Facts, Want to Breakup Combined
County Dispatch - Pt I
Take a Hike with the Doc: Get Lucky, Find a Flowering
Herb
County
5 Borrows $8 Mil for Admin Building: Plans,
Location, Space Needs – Unknown
Cnty 5 Gives Sheriff Hunter's Spending of
Public Dollars Aftersight Instead of
Oversight
State to Pay $3mil for Rail Spur to Former
Inland Port, Now the Intermodal Mega Site
Combined Communications: It Was Clear,
Sheriff Hunter Was Interested in Power (Part
IV)
Sheriff Hunter: He Wants
To Bust Up the
Combined 911 Call Center (Part III)
Columbia County 911 Combined Communications The
Law, Background, Facts (Part II)
Columbia County Sheriff Mark Hunter: He
Wants to be In Charge – Of Everything (Part I)
As Sheriff Hunter's $25 Mil Jail Moves out
of the Shadows, There Are Many Unanswered
Questions
Nash Rules In Final County 5 Meeting of the
Year Public To Be Inconvenienced Again
US Settles False Claims Allegations Against Haven
Hospice
County 5
Scrambling to Fund $50+ Million of New
Capital Projects – Public Left Out, Again
Pt I: Meeting Attendance Double
Standard–No Problem for the Col Cnty 5
PT II:
When Cnty Coms Are MIA From Bd Mtngs, "It's
None of Your Business," Commissioner Tim Murphy
County 5 Abandoning Downtown Lake City: No
Hearings, No Strategic Plan - Borrowing $10
Mil 
Alligator Warrior Festival
Kicks Off Tomorrow and Runs Through Sunday
FEMA Deadlines
For
Disaster Recovery Assistance
Irma Pt III: Some Reports of Flooding Never
Saw Daylight – What Did The 5 & Top Brass
Know?
Irma Pt II: Public Outrage, Non-Responsive Public
Officials, Passing the Buck, County Not Talking
Debris at Record Volume, Resident's Not Advised of
Extended Pickups, Thousands Squandered on Ad
Santa Fe River Receding Slowly – Bridges Still Closed –
South End Residents Can't Leave County
Internet Cafes Col Cnty: State Attorney Will
Have the Final Word, For Now
Cnty 5 Has New Rules for Itself and for
the Public: Will It Make a Difference?
Cnty 5 Rules on the Docket Tonight:
Will The 5 Adopt FL's Most Restrictive
Public Comment Rules?
Coms Nash &
Murphy: On June 15th, They Didn't Come
Clean, They Still Haven't
Scott Thomason of Fort
White Throws His Hat into the Ring for
County Commissioner, District 2
LSHA's Tossing of Cnty
Econ Dev to Cost Cnty Taxpayers Hundreds
of Thousands in Lost Revenue
The County 5: Special
Treatment for Themselves is Nothing New in
the Bucky Nash - Ben Scott Era
Sports Dev Part V: Budget Wkshop,
Cnty 5 Doubles Down on Secret Land Deal
A Dismal Outlook for Col Cnty Taxpayers
Sports Dev Pt
IV: Ignoring the FL DEO Financed $29,000
Plan, TDC Votes for Secret Land Deal
Sports Dev Part III: Cnty's Purchasing
Scheme, Putting the Cart Before the Horse,
What Plan?
FP&L Bringing Solar Power to Columbia County
Along With 200 Jobs During Build Out
County Sports Dev Part II:
Inventing a Sports Commission – Ignoring the
Plan
Col Cnty Sports Dev on the Move
Part I: "Hire away somebody else's
employee"
Cnty Econ Dev Chief: Lake City Rptr
Should Keep Writing - One Day It May Get It
Right
Econ Dev Advisory Bd Accused of Leaks
County's Audit Presentation a Bust, Nash Has
Q's - Elects to Ask Them Out of the Public
Eye
Confusion Regarding
Sheriff's Dream Detention Center: The 5 Approves
a 10% Tax
Hike, For Now
Suwannee
Valley TA: Com/Admin Sessions, Not
Sure Where the Money Comes From
International Cave Diving Conference Coming to
Columbia County/Lake City
Columbia County's Strategic Plan: County
Manager Misjudges Cost by 747% (Part
III)
Hours of Cnty 5 Meetings
Highlighted by STEM Girls
Cnty's Strategic Plan Ranking
Proposal Committee Met (Part II): "We can
re-rank"
Another Strategic Plan for the Cnty 5: Who
Needs the Econ Dev Dir, or Anybody
Else? (Part I)
Cnty
Budget Season Officially Underway, Raising
Taxes & Fees, The 5's "MO" This
Year
Sheriff/Cnty Percent Based Budget Deal
Leaves Deputies on the Short End of the
Stick – Again
FL State Sen Rob Bradley Holding Office Hours in
Suw & Col Counties, Wednesday
HAECO Ready in Col Cnty: "Moldin'
Kids In a Certain Way to Provide a Workforce"
N Cent FL's Systemic Wkforce Dev Problems
Has HAECO Reeling, Columbia Cnty in Confusion
SVTA: Col
Cnty Comm'rs Nash &
Phillips Put Cnty Residents Last
– Again
Cnty 5 Working On New Rules: Restricting
All Pub Comments to 2 Min on the
Horizon220x178_P5133931.jpg)
Columbia Cnty 5 Doesn't Need Rules.
It Just
Spends Your Money Through Its Back-Door
Suwannee Valley TA Chief Fails at End Run Around Law.
Improperly Noticed Mtng Canceled at 12th Hr
Suwannee Valley Transit, More Meeting Issues
Nash Steps Up, "If It's Not Legal – We'll Cancel
It"
Col Cnty Comm'rs Nash & Phillips: 2 Who
Turn Their Backs on Col Cnty Residents
Jack Berry Hwy Moves to Lake City, City Has No
Plan or Funding Plan, Bogus Info Sent to FDOT
Cnty 5 Spends $3 Mil Plus on Sports & Recreation
Improvements, Then Decides to Have a Plan
Chicken Shit Not Our
Problem, Land Rights Are – Two yrs in the Works,
Water Regs Voted Down
FDOT Explains the Ins & Outs of the Design,
Const, Funding of the 'Jack Berry Hwy' &
DOT Study
Confusion Reigns as Gov's Lake Shore Hosp Auth
Bd Puts Kibosh on 'Jack Berry Hwy'
Lack
of Questions & Info Precursors
to a Cnty 5 Econ Dev $465,000 Give-a-Way
Jack Berry Hwy Crash Lands. Confusion, All
Routes Rejected. The Next Step May Be the FL
DOT's
Transparency Takes a Back Seat in Jack Berry
Orchestrated County-City-Hosp Auth Road Project
The Jack Berry Highway: Will the Columbia
Cnty 5 Allow This Tax Watch Turkey to Take
Flight
Cnty
Jail: Foot Dragging, Back Room Deals, No Timely
& Relevant Info
Cnty
Man Schedules Important Cnty Jail
Meeting Same Time as City Council
Cnty
5 Temporarily Nixes 'Jack Berry Hwy,' Nash
Caves to Nephew, Legislative Turkey
Lives