HIGH SPRINGS – After eliminating the position of High Springs city planner, and laying off the employee who served in that capacity, city officials now say they need a planner to handle day-to-day issues regarding land development codes. On Thursday, June 14, the commission instructed City Manager Jeri Langman to research options for planning services.“People are starting to come back out and say we want to rezone, we want to bring a development out of the ground,” said Langman during Thursday’s meeting. “These are types of things where we actually do need someone who has those city planner qualifications.”
Recently hired city engineer John Morrison requested the item be placed on the commission meeting agenda because of the amount of time he spent researching code laws. Officials say there has been an influx of businesses interesting in developing in High Springs, and Morrison estimated he would spend three to four hours on each code-related issue presented to the City.
“What’s happening here is that I’m a civil engineer; I’m not a planner,” Morrison said. “My time is best spent with the engineering issues the City is facing right now, not with the land planning issues.”
Morrison and Langman presented the commission with the possibility of contracting with Laura Dedenbach, formerly a senior planner with Alachua County and the City of Alachua’s Planning and Community Development Director. Dedenback would work for High Springs for a proposed $15,000 a year.
“It’s my understanding when we hired the civil engineer that they were going to be doing the city planning and the city engineering, which is where we were going to save the money,” Commissioner Scott Jamison said. “That’s what I thought the deal was.”
Vice-Mayor Bob Barnas said he thought when the City hired an engineer the candidate would have planning experience. Barnas suggested Langman meet with the City of Hawthorne because they are currently using Alachua County for planning services.
According to Langman, High Springs used to operate under the same arrangement.
“Most people were unhappy with that because it was inconvenient,” Mayor Dean Davis said.
Commissioner Sue Weller voiced concern about the budget, and Commissioner Linda Gestrin said the City needs to look for ways to downsize.
“We need something that fits our city,” Gestrin said.
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E-mail: awilliamson@alachuatoday.com
“People are starting to come back out and say we want to rezone, we want to bring a development out of the ground,” said Langman during Thursday’s meeting. “These are types of things where we actually do need someone who has those city planner qualifications.”
Recently hired city engineer John Morrison requested the item be placed on the commission meeting agenda because of the amount of time he spent researching code laws. Officials say there has been an influx of businesses interesting in developing in High Springs, and Morrison estimated he would spend three to four hours on each code-related issue presented to the City.
“What’s happening here is that I’m a civil engineer; I’m not a planner,” Morrison said. “My time is best spent with the engineering issues the City is facing right now, not with the land planning issues.”
Morrison and Langman presented the commission with the possibility of contracting with Laura Dedenbach, formerly a senior planner with Alachua County and the City of Alachua’s Planning and Community Development Director. Dedenback would work for High Springs for a proposed $15,000 a year.
“It’s my understanding when we hired the civil engineer that they were going to be doing the city planning and the city engineering, which is where we were going to save the money,” Commissioner Scott Jamison said. “That’s what I thought the deal was.”
Vice-Mayor Bob Barnas said he thought when the City hired an engineer the candidate would have planning experience. Barnas suggested Langman meet with the City of Hawthorne because they are currently using Alachua County for planning services.
According to Langman, High Springs used to operate under the same arrangement.
“Most people were unhappy with that because it was inconvenient,” Mayor Dean Davis said.
Commissioner Sue Weller voiced concern about the budget, and Commissioner Linda Gestrin said the City needs to look for ways to downsize.
“We need something that fits our city,” Gestrin said.
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