Lake City City Manager Don Rosenthall Mugs the Public With 12th Hour Reveal: Desire for $7.5 mil Wastewater Treatment Plant Purchase
August 11, 2025 3:45 pm | 3 min read
Photo: Jess Zoerb via Unsplash. Columbia
County Observer graphic
LAKE CITY, FL – Last Thursday’s Lake City City Council meeting had a big 12th-hour surprise from City Manager Don Rosenthal. The City Manager wants the City to purchase the County’s new $30 mil wastewater treatment plant at the North Florida Mega Industrial Park for the bargain price of $7.5 mil.
City's Top Management Could Have Informed the Public at the Beginning of the Meeting, But It Would Have Ruined the Surprise
"This isn't how you make decisions. This needed to be vetted before it came before the City Council."
Todd Sampson, former City Councilman
Mayor Noah Walker presides over City Council meetings. While most municipalities, counties, state committees, and organizations ask at the beginning of their meetings for additions or deletions, Mayor Walker leaves out this important step.
Before Mayor Walker gaveled the August 7 meeting to order, City Manager Rosenthal put a two-page (it could have fit on one) multi-color handout in front of Council members. There were none available for the public.
The
handout followed a long tradition in Columbia
County of not dating documents. Mr. Rosenthal’s
handout, besides being dateless, did not state
who it was from or who it was for, and there was
no subject line.
City Manager Rosenthal is not bashful. He could have told the Mayor he wanted to add his item to the agenda. The Mayor, as well as the City Clerk and City Attorney, apparently had the City Manager's missive in front of them. No one said a word.
The City has an established form for agenda items. Mr. Rosenthal could have used that – he didn’t.
The City has a utility committee [now dormant] that served as the utility planning agency. The City Utility Committee vetted major utility issues in front of the public before they went to the City Council.
It is unknown if City Manager Rosenthal is aware of the City Utility Committee and its function, or if he even cares.
City Manager Rosenthal: Waiting till the bitter end
At the conclusion of the evening’s business, the City Manager sprang into action.
Mayor Walker asked for comments and began with Mr. Rosenthal.
Mr. Rosenthal did a lot more than comment. He said:
"Yes, Mayor. I'd like to call the Mayor and Council's attention to a handout that I put in front of everyone called the Columbia County Mega Industrial Park Wastewater Treatment Plant. The City has an opportunity to acquire that plant in cooperation with Columbia County. We're looking at a total of about seven million dollars for that plant and working out our financial plan. The details are on this handout that's in front of all of you. So, we would like your permission to negotiate and work with the County, with David Kraus, to make that happen.”
It is unknown if the City “has an opportunity to acquire that plant in cooperation with Columbia County.”
According to County Manager David Kraus, he said he “briefly discussed the possibility of the City acquiring the wastewater treatment plant with the City Manager earlier in the week before the City meeting."
County Manager Kraus said he will be adding a discussion of the possible sale of the North Florida Mega Industrial Park wastewater treatment plant to the County's Thursday morning board meeting agenda.
Currently, neither the County nor the City knows what the operational costs of the WWTP are, something County Chairman Tim Murphy has pointed out on more than one occasion.
The City Manager has an MBA and is an experienced administrator.
Manager Rosenthal has done neither a feasibility study of the WWTP purchase nor a cost-benefit analysis nor any financial study.
The entire conversation at the City Council lasted 1minute and 28 seconds.
The Mayor and Councilman Carter both thought the purchase was a good idea.
Councilwomen Young and Harris, along with Councilman Jernigan, were silent, other than Ms. Harris asking if the City Manager had spoken with Mr. Kraus.
However, the entire Council, by consensus (a backdoor way to approve something that has not been formally brought before the Council), agreed to allow City Manager Rosenthal to negotiate with the County for at least a $7.5 million purchase.
Epilogue
Transparency has taken a step backward under Mayor Walker and City Manager Rosenthal.
It is unclear if the present leadership of Lake City had a grasp of the term "due diligence".
