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Lake City News
2017
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Posted
December 5, 2017 11:35 am | (1
comment)
LAKE CITY, FL – Last night in City Hall,
City Councilman Jake Hill's continued
efforts to oust City Manager Wendell Johnson
found no support from the rest of the City
Council. City workers with gripes, who
wanted to remain employed, stayed away, as
others lined up behind Assistant City
Manager Grayson Cason in a well scripted
show of support for the nine year City
Manager who has had a sometimes turbulent
career in Lake City and who has recently
taken hits in the press and with the public.
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Posted
October 4, 2017 11:55 pm
LAKE CITY,
FL – Monday night, October 2, was a tough
night at City Hall. After being criticized
by citizens; asked to resign by Councilman
Hill; and being skewered by Lake City's
mainstream media the day before: being
called a "liar by omission" by the paper's
editor Robert Bridges, City Manager Wendell
Johnson vented. Nothing got out of control
and Mayor Steve Witt, as he does with
everyone, did not intercede, allowing Mr.
Johnson to speak his piece.
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Posted
October 3, 2017 12:30 pm
LAKE CITY, FL – Last night in City Hall,
Mayor Steve Witt presided over a sometimes
contentious meeting while quietly, Chamber
of Commerce Director Dennille Decker, after
addressing the Council on the Stormwater Fee
Ordinance, sat with her two daughters
waiting for the vote.
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Posted
September 29, 2017 07:50 am
LAKE CITY, FL –
On September 5, 2017, after years of secret
negotiations by City Manager Wendell Johnson
with Integrity Development Partners (IDP) of
Georgia, the City Council in a show of no
confidence for the fruits of those
negotiations, voted to table the Blanche
agreement(s) with IDP. The deal to table
appeared to have been made before the
meeting and there were rumors and talk of
other alternative Blanche plans.
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Posted
September 6, 2017 06:20 pm
LAKE CITY, FL – Last night in City Hall, the
Blanche Project, a deal, which moments after
it was hatched over two years ago was made
confidential by the developer, Integrity
Development Partners (IDP), and was kept
confidential by City Manager Johnson for
over a year after the confidentiality had
apparently lapsed, went back to the drawing
board for modifications. Mayor Witt gave the
packed house of residents and business
people their turn at the microphone to state
their case for or against the project,
before the deal was tabled in a deal that
was cut before the meeting.
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Posted
September 1, 2017 06:45 pm | Part II
LAKE CITY, FL – On Sunday, August 27,
2017, Lake City's mainstream media and daily
newspaper of record, the Lake City Reporter
(LCR) published, what it called, a "Special
Report." It followed up on its Special
Report with an opinion piece and an article
"Blanche docs to be released." Both the
opinion and the article were off the mark.
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Posted
August 31, 2017 05:13 pm | Part I
LAKE CITY, FL – On Sunday, August 27,
2017, Lake City's mainstream media and daily
newspaper of record, the Lake City Reporter
(LCR) published, what it called, a "Special
Report." The lead off piece was an editorial
titled "The Blanche: A failed experiment."
While the paper's newly found sentiment is
one shared by mostly everybody - everywhere,
except four of the five people on the City
Council, the Blanche Project has not failed
yet. Only time will tell, should the City
Council approve the final agreements. The
LCR's special report has given a new
headline to an old article to make it seem
like it was against the project before it
really was.
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Posted
August 29, 2017 01:45 pm
LAKE
CITY, FL – On August 7, 2017, City Manager
Johnson gave no hint to the City Council or
the public that the cost to move City Hall
across the street, to a space 2 1/2 times
its present space in City Hall, was going to
cost an additional $1.7 mil. The next
evening, August 8, at the Community
Redevelopment Advisory Committee (CRAC)
meeting, Mr. Johnson arrived late. CRAC
Chairperson, Councilwoman Melinda Moses
asked Mr. Johnson for an update. It was
then, with no members of the public in
attendance, that the City Manager revealed
the increased lease cost.
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Posted
August 23, 2017 06:35 pm
LAKE CITY, FL –
Recently, Lake City has become a Mecca of
non-living wage jobs, chicken wings, fast
food emporiums, auto dealerships, shopping
malls and Internet Cafes. The Lake
City/Columbia County Chamber of Commerce has
been leading the fight against Internet
cafes – one opened very close to the
Chamber's Hdq. -- and caught a friendly ear
with City officials. On August 8, 2017,
newly arrived City Building Department
chief, Rod Hoefert, gave the Community
Redevelopment Advisory Board an update on
the City's fight against Internet Cafes.
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Posted
August 08, 2017 09:15 am
LAKE CITY,
FL – Last night in City Hall, Councilman
Jake Hill followed up his July 17, 2017
question to City Manager Wendell Johnson,
"Wendell, could you tell me what it's goin'
to cost the City to move out of this
building to across the street? Out of this
buildin' into the Blanche Hotel?" Since
being reelected to the Council in November
2016, Hill has complained he is being "kept
in the dark" about the details of the
Blanche. He is not the only one.
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Posted August 5, 2017
07:00 pm |
Part II
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Part I
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL –
On March 21, 2017, City Attorney Fred Koberlein hired
the Law Firm of Alan, Norton & Blue (ANB) of
Tallahassee
to investigate charges by FSU's Diane Scholz that she
was insulted, bullied, and manhandled by Lake City City
Manager Wendell Johnson. In her March 16 complaint, Ms.
Scholz did not threaten legal action, but asked that Mr.
Johnson be reprimanded. Mr. Johnson denied all charges.
On June 9, ANB cleared Mr. Johnson of any wrongdoing.
ANB's investigation cost the City $11,893.
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Posted July 30, 2017
01:50 pm | Part I |
Part II
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – On March 16, 2017,
FSU's Florida Institute of Government's Diane Scholz, a
recognized expert in rural economic development grants
and grant writing, wrote to the Lake City City Clerk
complaining of "unprofessional and inappropriate
behavior" by City Manager Wendell Johnson." During the
July 17 City Council meeting, it was revealed that the
City had received the complaint and hired a private law firm to do an investigation.
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Posted May 23, 2017
08:45 am
LAKE
CITY, FL – The Lake City Reporter's Sunday, May 21
announcement that City Council members will
be attending a special 'Chamber Only'
meeting in the City's Council Chambers about
the proposed implementation of stormwater
fees had City Manager Johnson scrambling to
walk back the announcement by the LCR.
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Posted May 11, 2017
08:20 am
LAKE CITY, FL – Yesterday's Lake City
mainstream print media article, "Blanche
Hotel project 'will close'," had County
Manager Ben Scott blasting off a polite
email to City Manager Wendell Johnson
letting him know the County is not
interested in leasing City Hall. For years, City Manager Johnson and his private
partners, Integrity Development Partners (IDP), have
been telling everyone the construction/renovation of
Lake City's Blanche Hotel is just around the corner.
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Pt II: The CRA votes
Posted April 19, 2017
07:45 am
LAKE
CITY, FL – On Monday night, April 17, back before the
Community Redevelopment Authority (the City Council) was
the "Façade Grant Incentive" for Double Eagle, LLC,
which was tabled on April 3 because of questionable
public notice.
Lake City CRA Tables $45,000 Facade Grant
Request. Mayor Witt gave a brief
explanation before the item was put back on the table.
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Pt I: Background –
City Manager Johnson has been in charge of
the updated plan
Posted April 18, 2017
11:45 pm
LAKE
CITY, FL – Last night, Lake City's Community
Redevelopment Agency (CRA) revisited the
April 10 tabled $45,000 request of the
recently incorporated Double Eagle
Investors, LLC. According to City Manager
Wendell Johnson's report to the CRA, the
request was for a "Façade Grant Incentive,"
which he morphed into a "Construction
Incentive Grant." According to information
received earlier today through a public
record request, the City Manager's Office
has no application, program or policy, and
no resolution or ordinance pertaining to
Construction Incentive Grants.
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Posted
April 5, 2017 06:24 pm | updated April 7, 2017
05:44 am
LAKE CITY, FL –
On Monday, April 3, 2017, the Lake City Community Redevelopment
Agency (CRA) tabled a request from a newly formed
business, Double Eagle Investors, LLC, for a $45,000
façade grant application. Problematic were the
following: the meeting was not
adequately noticed; the grant application was not
included with the back-up material for the City Council;
the minutes of the Community Redevelopment Advisory
Committee (CRAC) which may have recommended the approval of
the $45,000 grant were not available; the grant
application was not available; the announcement of the
CRA April 3 meeting was not posted to the Lake City
event calendar until a day after the meeting, on April
4.
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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.
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Lake City News
2016
(scroll down)
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Posted
December 20, 2016 08:45 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL –
Last night, after hearing from the public
and all City Council members except
Councilman Eugene Jefferson, the City
Council tabled the consideration of its
medicinal marijuana dispensary moratorium.
Councilwoman Melinda Moses told the Council,
"I need more information." The Mayor and the
rest of the Council members agreed.
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Posted
December 18, 2016 02:10 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – On December
1, 2016, ignoring the will of the people,
who three weeks earlier voted to
approve Constitutional Amendment 2, the
Columbia County 5
passed a never-ending moratorium on the
sale of medical marijuana in the
unincorporated areas of the County. On
Monday night at 6 pm, the City Council is
scheduled to vote to approve its own medical
marijuana moratorium for the next nine
months.
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Posted
December 6, 2016 06:30 am | (2
comments)
LAKE CITY, FL – Last night, Mayor Steve Witt began the City
Council logo
discussion: "I think this is something the
City needs to get out there and get some
feedback. This is for discussion tonight. It
is not necessarily to do anything
permanent." Councilwoman Moses didn't agree:
"I love this. It's simple. It's our fountain
that everybody can relate to. I really don't
know why we're waiting. If anybody likes it
as well, why we wouldn't go ahead?"
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Posted
December 5, 2016 10:35 am
LAKE CITY,
FL – After all the discussion of the Lake
City logo during the last half of 2015, the
future of the old Lake City logo, which
shows the Confederate Battle Flag went into
hibernation. Mysteriously, without any
public discussion and nowhere in the City
minutes a new City Logo mysteriously
appeared. In its agenda for tonight's City
Council meeting, Mayor Steve Witt is asking
the City Council to consider "adopting
Interim City Logo as the new City Logo."
There are no pictures of the new or old logo
in the City's agenda material.
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Posted
November 22, 2016 03:33 am
LAKE CITY, FL –
After a 4 year absence beginning in 2012,
former city councilman Jake Hill was
reelected in August to the City Council.
Last night in the council chambers, City
Clerk Audrey Sikes gave Mr. Hill the Oath of
Office with his wife Deborah and daughter Ba-Brea
by his side.
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Posted
October 17, 2016 06:15 am
LAKE CITY, FL – City Manager Wendell Johnson
has dropped the ball once again, listing the
incorrect time on the City's web meeting calendar
for tonight's City Council meeting.
Tonight's meeting, according the meeting
agenda and the announcement last Thursday at
the Utility Committee, is set to begin at 6
pm. The City web calendar has the meeting
beginning an hour later, when at which time,
it would be over.
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Posted
October 14, 2016 07:55 pm
LAKE CITY, FL – On Tuesday night, October11,
the Community Redevelopment Advisory
Committee (CRAC) met to discuss playgrounds
and playground equipment in Wilson Park. As
the 30 minute meeting was wrapping up, City
Manager Johnson gave a three minute update
on the $15,000,000+ Blanche project.
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Posted
October 13, 2016 02:02 pm
LKE CITY, FL – City Manager Wendell Johnson
prides himself on being an expert on many
facets of municipal government. That appears
to be one of the reasons the City Council
hired him in June 2009. Seven years after
being hired, City Manager Johnson has been
consistently unsuccessful in keeping the
public advised of its meetings or giving
them timely access to meeting material.
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Posted October 12, 2016
08:05 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – Thursday night the 6th annual
Columbia vs. Suwannee High girls volleyball game known
as the “Dig Pink" is set to begin serving up the balls
at 5:30 pm in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
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Posted September 30, 2016 11:50 am |
updated October 2
COLUMBIA
COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – According to the
Columbia County School District's Brandi
Keen, a broken water main has caused the
City to issue a utility wide Boil Notice. An
email sent from Ms. Keen reads in part: "The
City of Lake City confirmed a Utility Wide
Boil Water notice because of a broken water
mainline on Brookside and US Highway
90. Students should NOT use the public water
for drinking or hand-washing!"
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Posted September 22,
2016 10:00 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL During and following the recent
primary elections County Commission
candidate B. Coker, City Council incumbent
candidate Zack Paulk, and City Mayor
candidate Audré Washington had questions
about the election process in Columbia
County and what went on during the meetings
of the County Canvassing Board. They claimed
they were denied appropriate access to the
records and meetings of the Canvassing Board
and took their case to court.
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Posted
September 20, 2016 08:10 am
LAKE
CITY, FL
– Last
night in City Hall an era came to an end.
After six decades as City Attorney, a
contract for a new City Attorney for Lake
City was approved by the Council. Fred
Koberlein, Jr., one of the three finalists
for the position, had his contract approved
without comment, almost.
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Posted
September 19, 2016 09:10 am
LAKE
CITY, FL
– On
August 31, 2016, Lake City had a special
meeting to interview three finalists for the
position of City of Lake City, City
Attorney. The position was being
vacated after more than five decades of service
by the legendary and longest sitting City
Attorney in America, Herbert Darby. Florida
law requires the interviews to be recorded.
The recordings of the applicants are
completely inaudible.
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Posted
September 14, 2016 08:40 am
LAKE CITY,
FL – Last night in City Hall, Rhett Holmes,
president of IDP Housing, the
real-estate/construction group responsible
for the financing, design, and future
construction of what has become known as
just the "Blanche," Lake City's downtown
turn-of-the century Blanche Hotel
renovation, told the Community Redevelopment
Advisory Board (CRAC), "I know of no reason
why this deal will not proceed." Mr. Holmes
blamed "IRS guidance issues" for the delays
in completing the agreement between the City
and IDP, which will allow the construction
to begin.
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Posted
September 1, 2016 08:55 am
LAKE
CITY, FL
– Last
night the City Council followed in the
footsteps of Columbia County and went for
the hometown team. Rather than go outside the
City/County limits to fill the important, soon
to be vacant city slot, that of retiring
City Attorney and legal legend, Herbert
Darby, the Council decided on a hometown
attorney. After an hour and a half of
interviews, the Koberlein law firm was
ranked number one.
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Posted July
18, 2016 05:32 pm
LAKE
CITY, FL – City Manager
Wendell Johnson is responsible for the
day-to-day operation of Lake City. The City
Manager's Office is responsible for
preparing City Council agendas and
forwarding them to the City Clerk for
distribution. The City Manager is also
responsible for seeing that the City's
calendar is kept up-to-date and has the
overall responsibility of scheduling
meetings so they are not in conflict with
those of other jurisdictions in
Columbia
County.
Lately,
City
Manager
Johnson
and the
City
Council
have
been
dropping
the
ball.
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Posted July 13, 2016 03:40 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – Monday at
Governor Scott's Lake Shore Hospital board meeting, none
of the Governor's Board members had a single question
about the recent deforestation at the back of the
Authority owned hospital on Lake Desoto, except Bd.
Member Janet Creel. On Tuesday, the Lake City Community
Redevelopment Advisory Board met. The comments at that
meeting were attention grabbers, especially that of City
Councilwoman Melinda Moses who said she was satisfied
with the new look.
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Posted June
14, 2016 07:05 am
LAKE CITY, FL –
Last
night the Lake City, City Council approved
an open-ended Development Agreement with
Hutton Gleason Place LC, LLC, a business
registered with the state a little more than
3 weeks ago. The project will develop the
old K-Mart shopping center on U.S. 90.
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Posted May
17, 2016 10:50 am
LAKE CITY, FL –
During
last
night's
City
Council
meeting,
City
Manager
Wendell
Johnson
brought
some
clarity
to two
projects
that
involve
the Lake
Shore
Hospital
Authority
and are
occurring
within
the City
limits:
the
clear
cutting
of the
trees on
the
south
side of
the Lake
Shore
Hospital
and the
relationship
of the
proposed
"Jack
Berry
Highway"
to those
trees.
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Posted March 17, 2016 11:45 am | (1
comment)
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
On Monday night, Jackson P. "Jack" Berry and the LSHA
voted to clear cut one of the most beautiful areas of
trees around Lake DeSoto, saving just a handful of palm
trees. The Hospital Authority leases the land to
Community Health Systems (CHS). It is not clear if CHS
is going to give Berry clear-cutting permission. The
park is in the African American Community. Governor Scott's Lake
Shore Hospital Authority Board is all white. Former City
Councilman, Jake Hill, told the Observer, "It would have
been nice if someone asked us about cutting down the
trees in our community."
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Posted
January 20, 2016 12:15 pm
LAKE CITY, FL – Last night in City Hall,
Wendell Johnson's Wilson Park/Darby Pavilion/Lake
DeSoto
plan came to fruition as the Community
Redevelopment Authority (CRA) gave its stamp
of approval on a $1,635,307 cost estimate by
one of the City's contract engineers, Tetra
Tech. There remain two pieces of property in
the Project area that have not been
purchased, both of which impact the proposed
renovation plan.
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Lake City News
2015
(scroll down)
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Posted
December 11, 2015 04:45 pm |
Part I |
Part II
LAKE
CITY, FL – On Tuesday night, December 8, the
Community Redevelopment Advisory Committee
met for the fourth time since March 3, 2015,
to discuss the Lake DeSoto Waterfront and
Wilson Park Recreation Area Redevelopment
Project. Along with the top-secret Blanche
Project, City Manager Johnson and the City
Council are hinging the future of downtown
Lake City on these two projects. The
Landscape Architect and the Project Engineer
did not attend. However, it was made clear
that they previously met with Councilwoman
Moses, Mr. Johnson, and others behind closed
doors before coming up with their latest
plan.
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Posted
December 11, 2015 06:15 am |
Part I |
Part II
LAKE CITY, FL – On Tuesday night, December 8, the Community
Redevelopment Advisory Committee (CRAC) met for the
fourth time since March 3, when the City
Council passed Ordinance No. 2015-2054. The
ordinance gave the City authority to issue a
redevelopment note not to exceed $1.2
million to develop/redevelop the Lake De
Soto waterfront and Wilson Park. Most of
design work was done behind closed doors by
City Manager Johnson and his staff in
conjunction with what appears to be two
hand-picked consultants. According to City
Manager Johnson, the public will be able to
weigh in after the final plan is complete
and ready for presentation early next year.
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Posted
December 8, 2015 06:45 am
LAKE CITY, FL –
Last night in City Hall, City Manager
Wendell Johnson backed down, again. In
October, Mr. Johnson brought to the Utility
Committee a proposal to privatize the
operation of the City's wastewater treatment
plant (sewer plant). Unhappy City workers
came out in force. Mr. Johnson backed down
and tabled sending out a Request for
Proposals to privatize the City worker's
jobs until last night, when the committee
tabled the City Manager's proposal, again.
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LCPD's Marshall Sova: Exceptional Service
Posted Nov. 18,
2015 08:45 pm
LAKE
CITY, FL – Recently, Sergeant Marshall Sova was
recognized for exceptional service. On the
morning of October 10th, 2015, the Lake City
Police Department responded to a residence on SW
Jaguar Drive for a report of a shooting. The
shooting turned out to be a double homicide.
There was a third gunshot victim.
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Posted
Nov. 2, 2015 08:10 am
LAKE CITY, FL – Carried over from October's
Community Redevelopment Advisory Committee
(CRAC) meeting, City consultants Burl "Bo"
Reardon of Tetra Tech and Timothy Green of
Green Consulting Group arrived at the CRAC
with poster boards showing the areas around
Lake DeSoto under discussion. The City set
up the meeting so that the renderings were
visible only to the committee members. Once
again, City Manager Johnson was at times,
barely audible.
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Posted
October 20, 2015 07:30 pm
LAKE CITY,
FL – After 40 minutes of discussion about
privatizing the operation of the City's
wastewater treatment plants, City Manager
Johnson backed down and moved to table his
request until December to publish a Request
for Proposals (RFP) to privatize the
operation of Lake City's wastewater
treatment plants. However, the City Utility
appears to be trouble. Moments before the
motion was tabled, Utility Director Steve
Roberts told the committee, "We need to look
at this because we have no capital. We have
dipped into our reserves the last two years
and we simply do not have the money."
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Posted
October 19, 2015 08:05 am
LAKE CITY, FL – In a maneuver designed to gut the
City's waste water (sewer) utility workers
from the City payroll, City Manager Johnson,
along with the City Council, gutted and
packed the Utility Advisory Committee. Now
the Committee is looking into privatizing the City
utility worker's jobs. The Utility Committee
discussion begins at 5:30 pm tonight.
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Posted Sept. 29, 2015
10:55 am | (2 comments)
LAKE CITY, FL – On September 21, 2015, one
week ago yesterday, the City Council, after
months of backroom discussions with City
Manager Wendell Johnson, approved entering
into an agreement with Integrity Development
Partners (IDP) and the newly incorporated
Blanche Hotel Redevelopment, both LLC's,
located at the same address in Valdosta, GA.
The city of Lake City is now on the hook for
millions, in a deal in which the contracts
and amendments are still up in the air.
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Posted
Sept. 21, 2015 07:55 am
LAKE
CITY, FL – City Manager Wendell Johnson is
not bashful about doing end runs around
Florida's Sunshine and Public Record laws.
He has been working since July with the City
Council to secure his legacy with the $20
Mil Blanche Renovation Project.
Details have been kept under wraps. If the
City and the developer did not correspond
before July 15, as is the City Manager's
claim, how did they modify and receive the
agreement which was headed to the City's
Attorney's office on July 15?
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Posted
Sept. 20, 2015 10:55 | Updated 04:45
pm
LAKE CITY,
FL – Taking a page from Gov. Scott's Lake
Shore Hospital Authority's Jackson P. "Jack"
Berry, City Manager Wendell Johnson failed
to post the City agenda on the City's
website for Monday's scheduled meeting. It
was only after the Observer pressed the City
that the City Manager finally saw to it that
the agenda was posted – at approximately
10:45 this morning (after the Observer's
initial news post at 10:35am). The agenda
was supposed to have been posted Friday and
then last night.
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Posted August
18, 2015 07:50 am | Final: August 19, 2015
06:20 am (3
comments)
LAKE
CITY, FL – 14 years after City Councilman
Eugene Jefferson moved to accept the present
Lake City logo, a logo which added the
Confederate Battle Flag and the American
flag to the top half of the City logo, he
seconded Councilman Zack Paulk's not
unexpected motion to retire "the seal and
develop another seal." Before the vote,
James Shillinglaw of the Museum of Southern
History, excused himself from the meeting,
sharing with the City Council what many
people in the audience came to articulate,
"Southern lives matter – Southern lives
matter." Assistant Chief Butler politely
escorted him from the Council Chambers.
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Posted August
15, 2015 04:35 pm
Updated August 16, 2015 09:30 pm
LAKE CITY, FL – For weeks, folks in and
around Lake City have been waiting for the City Council
to step up to the plate and address the City seal, which
includes the Confederate Battle Flag . For a month after the tragic
murders in South Carolina, there were rumors circulating
of an inside, backroom deal to just remove the flag. The Council did nothing. Finally, on July 20, City
residents, Glynell Presley and Bruce Borders, began the
conversation.
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Posted August 5, 2015, 04:00 am | news/analysis
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – Lake City's
"hometown" newspaper has been around a long
time. It claims since 1874. The paper's
reporting of Monday night's unscheduled remarks
concerning the Stars & Bars on the Lake City
logo can only lead the inquiring mind to wonder:
What was it thinking?
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Posted August
4, 2015 07:40 am
LAKE CITY, FL –
Last night in City Hall, folks from all sides of
the Lake City Stars & Bars City logo issue
addressed the City Council. While not on the
agenda, Mayor Witt asked for comments from
anyone who wished to contribute to the
conversation.
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Posted July 31,
2015 07:30 am
LAKE CITY, FL –
Sometime after June's tragic shooting and
killing of nine African-American church members
in Charleston, South Carolina, the dormant issue
of the Confederate Battle Flag on the Lake City
logo became a topic of backroom discussions, the
place where the real business of Lake City is
accomplished. On July 20, Glynnell Presley threw
a monkey wrench into the backroom planning of
City Manager Wendell Johnson and others when he
appeared before the Council and brought up the
topic of the infamous Lake City logo
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Posted July 21,
2015 11:59 pm | Part II |
Part I
LAKE CITY, FL –
At the conclusion of last night's City Council meeting
an ill wind blew into Florida's legendary Lake City, not
unlike the one in March of 2001, when the City Council
decided to mug the public at the12th hour and agreed to
change the City Logo without any advance notice. It is
not clear if anyone in the City ever thought to save the
audio of that meeting, which was voluntarily destroyed
in March of 2006. Today, with the help of the "hometown"
newspaper, the Lake City Reporter, history was rewritten
to make stone silent City Manager Wendell Johnson and a
stone silent City Council look like they did something
that they hadn't.
|
Posted July 21,
2015 02:00 pm | Part I |
Part II | (2
comments)
LAKE CITY, FL –
Last night in City Hall, Bruce Borders (left)
and Glynnell Presley presented their views on
the Lake City Logo and its inclusion of the
Confederate Battle flag. Lifetime Lake City
resident Glynnell Presley, moved by the recent
events in South Carolina, appeared before the
City Council and asked that the logo depicting
the Confederate Battle Flag be removed from City
property. Lifetime resident Bruce Borders said
the logo should stay as it is. Mr. Borders, also
referring to the events in SC told the Council,
"This guy was a sick guy – a sicko. That
Confederate flag did not cause him to kill nine
people."
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Posted July 07, 2015 05:25 am
LAKE CITY, FL –
Last night, the City Council was required by Florida's
Truth in Millage Law (TRIM) to set the maximum City tax
rate for the Fiscal Year 2016 budget year. That's next
year's budget year which begins on October 1, 2015, and
ends September 31, 2016. In order to keep City revenue
the same (rolled back rate), the City approved a
preliminary rate of $4.0444 per $1,000 of assessed
value, up from last years $3.9751, representing an
increase of 6.93 cents per $1,000. In plain English, a
house valued by the Property Appraiser for $100,000
would pay an additional $6.93 on next year's City tax
bill.
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Posted June 29, 2015 08:20 am | Opinion from the
publisher (1
comment)
LAKE CITY/COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – To some, the Stars
and Bars represents: secession from the United States of
America, war, destruction, killing, maiming, father
against son, brother against brother, family against
family, hate, the right to own human beings as property
(slavery), Jim Crow.
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Posted June 20, 2015 06:55 am
LAKE CITY, FL –
This past Monday night, June 15, 2015, the City Council
approved the fourth Community Development Block Grant
application for a $750,000 one-half acre downtown
parking lot, half of which is already there. The only
Councilmember who seemed to have any idea of what was
going on was veteran councilman George Ward.
The grant, if awarded by the Department of
Economic Opportunity (DEO), will be funded by the
American People and includes $73,000 for the parking lot
plans and $60,000 for grant administration.
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Posted June 18, 2015 04:25 am
LAKE CITY, FL – On Wednesday, June 17, 2015, the Lake
City Police Department was notified that a bomb
threat had been received by Ameris Bank.
According to the complaint, a disgruntled
customer had contacted Ameris Bank’s customer
service line and threatened to blow up the Lake
City and Live Oak branches. According to the
LCP, "During an interview, Ruzzo stated, "'I was
upset and told them I would blow the place up.'"
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Posted June 6, 2015 08:55 am
LAKE CITY, FL – At 4 o'clock on Wednesday
afternoon the staff of the Columbia County
Department of Health, located in downtown Lake
City, smelled smoke. At 4:01 a code red was
called and the fire alarm was pulled. By 4:03
everyone was evacuated from the building and the
Lake City Fire Department arrived to put the
fire out. Mark Lander, DOH Director said, "It
was amazing. The fire department was here in two
minutes."
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Posted May 22, 2015, 10:25 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
City Manager Wendell Johnson's Blanche Hotel
Redevelopment Project took a hit last night when the
County 5 voted 3-2 not to remove $1,000,000 from its
reserves and loan/grant Integrity Development Partners
(IDP) a million dollars interest-free. A convoluted
financial arrangement would have had Lake City make a
good faith guarantee of the IDP loan.
The project is not dead. On May 9, City Manager
Johnson told the County 5, "The
City don't want a loan from the County. I'm
sayin' that to ya because we don't need the loan
from the County. We got the money to loan
ourself..."
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Posted May 21, 2015, 12:35 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
The Blanche Hotel Renovation Project is back on
the County 5 docket tonight. The issue The 5 may
decide is a simple one: will the County 5 be in
favor of giving/lending Integrity Development
Partners (IDP) $1,000,000 from the County's
reserves? The County 5's May 7 meeting ended in
confusion. One of the major issues brought up by
County Attorney Joel Foreman was the need to get
a written opinion from the County Auditor and
financial advisor, Richard Powell, regarding the
legality of an interest free loan to Lake City.
Mr. Foreman never got that opinion.
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Posted
May 19, 2015 10:00 am
LAKE CITY/COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last night in
City Hall, the Lake Shore Hospital Authority
land-buying spree, orchestrated by Jackson P.
“Jack” Berry in the mid-2000’s, paid off for
Lake City, when the City Council approved an
Interlocal Agreement, previously approved by the
Authority, giving a city block of Hospital
Authority land to Lake City. The property,
including legal fees, demolition, and other
expenses appears to have cost the Authority
tax-payers over $700,000. Now worth $34,000, it
will be turned into a parking lot.
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Posted May 14, 2015,10:35 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
The byword for Lake City, City Manager Wendell Johnson's
Blanche Redevelopment Project has been "confusion." City
Manager Johnson's secrecy throughout the project and
Columbia County's Hapsburg-like rule has done nothing to
clear the air. At midday yesterday, County Commissioner,
Sylvester "Bucky" Nash, told the Observer, "I wouldn't
be opposed to everybody getting in a room and airing it
out. Let's roll."
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Posted May 13, 2015 05:55 am
LAKE
CITY, FL – Early last night, the Community Redevelopment
Advisory Committee (CRAC) met to discuss the City's
downtown Community Redevelopment Area. The City's recent
loan of $1.3 million will provide the funds to redevelop
the Lake DeSoto area, known officially as the Wilson
Park Recreation Area upgrade. City Manager Johnson
explained it was time that Public Works Director Thomas
Henry's concept plan move from the drawing board to
reality...
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Posted May 11, 2015, 11:30 am | news/analysis
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – Everybody is
entitled to their opinion, but it is good when
it is based on reality. The Lake City Reporter
besides "misreporting" Thursday's Board-Blanche
vote, which was a heartbeat away from having The
5 deep-six the Blanche/IDP/Johnson Downtown
Project, got the reason wrong why City Manager
Johnson attended the County 5's Thursday board
meeting and ignored how he came to address The
5.
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Posted May 9, 2015, 05:59 am | Part II: City Manager
Johnson Addresses The 5
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – After the first 30
minutes of Thursday evening's Blanche discussion, the
proposed Letter of Intent between IDP, Lake City, and
Columbia County to renovate Lake City's downtown Blanche
Hotel was balancing on a precipice. Commissioners
Williams and Nash were in favor of at least giving the
City a million dollar loan. Commissioners DePratter and
Frisina were opposed. Commissioner Everett Phillips was
on the fence.
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May 8, 2015 12:01 pm | Part I
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – It was a rough ride for
Lake City's Blanche Hotel last night as the
County 5 met to discuss the Blanche
Redevelopment Proposal of Valdosta's Integrity
Development Partners (IDP). Seven and a half
months of secrecy, backroom dealing, lobbying,
and discussions culminated last night in
confusion, charges, and counter-charges. When
the dust settled, folks were headed back to the
drawing board for what appears to be the
Blanche's last stand.
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May 7, 2015 12:45 pm | News-Analysis
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Tonight, after
multitudinous meetings with the Assistant County
Manager, Ben Scott, and County Economic
Development Director, Glenn Hunter, Columbia
County's infamous County 5 will decide whether
or not to front Lake City at least a million
dollars on the derelict Blanche Hotel. Secrecy
and secret finances were a hallmark of City
Manager Wendell Johnson's time at the now mostly
defunct dismal failure, the $30 mil North
Florida Broadband Authority, of which he was one
of the financial kingpins. Johnson now is the
driving force in Lake City's Blanche project,
one that has ballooned from $13.5 mil to $17 mil
in seven months.
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Posted April 25, 2015 12:01 am
LAKE CITY, FL – Local financial practice,
Gulf Coast Financial Services, Inc. (Gulf
Coast), was recently awarded Small Business of
the Year by the Lake City-Columbia County
Chamber of Commerce.
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Posted April 21, 2015, 10:25 pm
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Updated April 22, 2015
10:55 am*
LAKE
CITY, FL – At Monday night's City Council meeting, the
Blanche Hotel was again front and center. City Manager
Wendell Johnson told the City Council, "This is not a
$17 million taxpayer project. This is a $17 million
construction project, which will be funded at about
50-50 from available government funds. They're
(Integrity Development Partners "IDP" – the developer)
gonna' come to the table with $1.7 million of their own
equity."
In September 2014, developer equity was "approximately
$200,000." The seven month increase is 850%. No one is
explaining the numbers behind the increase.
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Posted April 20, 2015, 05:10 pm | News/Analysis
LAKE CITY, FL – City Manager Wendell Johnson was
a kingpin in the $30,000,000
North Florida Broadband Authority debacle, which he
abandoned at the 12th hour. Now he is the prime
negotiator in the Blanche Hotel downtown renovation.
Seven months ago, in September 2014, the IDP – Wendell
Johnson Blanche renovation was slated to cost
$13,675,000. The price tag is now $17,000,000.
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April 13, 2015 11:50 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY/LAKE CITY, FL – Beginning in
2009, the Lake Shore Hospital Authority's
Jackson P. "Jack" Berry and Lake City's, City
Manager Wendell Johnson have turned a blind eye
to the plight of the handicapped on the Lake
Shore Hospital Authority campus in downtown Lake
City. The Authority Headquarters has missed the
accessibility mark for years. In 2009, City
Manager Johnson told the Observer ADA
accessibility/compliance was not the City's
responsibility and that if your reporter had a
problem, "You should find someone in a wheel
chair and have them sue," he said.
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Posted March 11, 2015 07:55 am
LAKE
CITY, FL – Last night in City Hall, the Community
Redevelopment Advisory Committee met to accept the 2014
CRA financial report and listen to City Manager Wendell
Johnson discuss the three major issues confronting the
CRA: the land give-away from the Lake Shore Hospital
Authority; the $1.2 mil CRA loan; and the Blanche Hotel.
Most of the substantive discussion was about the
$14,000,000 Blanche Hotel Project.
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Posted
February 24, 2015 11:28 am
LAKE
CITY, FL – The long-awaited arrival of the Blanche Hotel
train of advisors and consultants finally pulled
into Lake City, City Hall last night. They
played to a full house of residents, business
owners, downtown property owners, and City and
County officials. There were oohs – ahs and lots
of hyperbole. It was a two-man show of City
Manager Johnson and IDP's President Rhett
Holmes. There were lots of pretty drawings. City
Manager Johnson left the financing shrouded in
mystery, telling the audience, "No details
tonight will be conveyed."
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Blanche Saga Continues Monday Night: $14,000,000
financing remains unexplained
Feb. 21, 2015
11:28 am |
1 comment
LAKE
CITY, FL – City Manager Wendell Johnson and others have
claimed that the future of downtown Lake City rests with
the renovation of the Blanche Hotel, a City landmark
that had fallen on hard times years ago. It was ignored
by the City and City management, including City Manager
Johnson until the Observer exposed that it had turned
into a death trap.
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Posted February 19, 2015 06:30 am
LAKE
CITY, FL – Tuesday night saw the City Council
unanimously approve the first step in securing a
$1,200,000 loan to improve downtown Lake City. Florida
statutes require the City Council approve the loan
twice. Mayor Witt was the only Council member who
commented on the loan. City Manager Wendell Johnson, who
many believe is making the downtown renovation his
legacy, asked the Council if they understood what the
loan was going to do for the City over the next 15
years.
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Posted February 3, 2015 06:50 am | (1
comment)
LAKE
CITY, FL – The Lake City, City Council breezed through
Monday evening's meeting agenda in a speedy 16 minutes.
Resident Ralph Kitchens came to the Council for an
update on the $15,000,000 Blanche Hotel renovation, of
which there has been nothing new since
the last Blanche meeting of the handpicked
"Grassroots Blanche Stakeholder Committee" on December
16, 2014.
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