Local

In a special meeting, not open to the public, before the regular city commission meeting Sept. 26, commissioners, legal staff and other city officials strategized about a host of legal issues facing the city.  During the regular public meeting that followed, commissioners took action on four lawsuits in particular, prompting a debate on the part of at least two commissioners who said they were concerned with legal representation on the cases.

City Attorney Marian Rush asked that her firm, Rush and Glassman, be appointed by the commission as co-counsel with attorney David Theriaque in a federal lawsuit.  Brought by The Lions Den, that case challenges the legality of a city ordinance and seeks to overturn it, allowing the company to open an adult novelty store near Interstate 75 and U.S. Highway 441 in Alachua.

Theriaque was responsible for writing the city’s Ordinance 11-06, an ordinance that restricts the types of businesses allowed to operate within an area labeled the “Gateway Activity Center,” a 2,000-foot zone surrounding the intersection of I-75 and U.S. 441.

The city’s insurance carrier has reportedly agreed to pay $180 of Theriaque’s $200 per hour fee to defend the city.  But Monday, Rush said her firm should be appointed as co-counsel in the case because “this case is going to be inextricably intertwined with the case in 2003,” a similar lawsuit by another adult novelty store.

Vice-Mayor Ben Boukari, Jr. opposed appointing co-counsel and cited concerns of increased legal fees saying, “I don’t know that we need more than one person or a group to litigate for us.”

Rush, whose firm defended the city against the 2003 case brought by Adult World, argued that her knowledge of the prior case would be a benefit.  She also noted that three law firms are representing the Lions Den.  Addressing Boukari’s concerns, Rush said, “It’s actually going to save money.”

Boukari, however, suggested that the $10,000 monthly fee already paid to Rush and Glassman should be sufficient to cover Marian Rush’s involvement.

“Should [Theriaque] need help or information, I would imagine under our current contract with our city attorney, she would provide what needed to be provided,” Boukari said.  “My concerns are financial.  I don’t want to see us push the limits in terms of legal costs.  [Theriaque] can defend that ordinance, I would think, on his own, that’s why he’s being hired.”

City Manager Traci Cain said assistance with The Lions Den lawsuit wouldn’t be covered under the $10,000 monthly fee.  “If [Rush] helps in anyway with this case, it’s not going to come under her retainer,” said Cain.

Responding to Commissioner Gary Hardacre, Cain said “We can always monitor and make sure that Mr. Theriaque’s office is performing more of the duties and that he is doing the leg work since his fees would be paid by insurance, rather than Ms. Rush.”

Apparently referring to earlier statements made by Rush, Cain said, “This is going to be a case that is probably going to be very lengthy.  It’s going to go on for several years probably and be very costly.”

Those costs are what, Boukari said, the City needed to control.   “Costs are going to hit our general fund directly and not just our insurance,” he said.  “This strictly comes down to money.  I’m concerned that should this go on for years, like we’re expecting it to, [Rush is] saying it will save money, I’m not so sure.”

After the heated discussion, commissioners voted 4-1 to appoint David Theriaque as the lead attorney with Rush and Glassman as co-counsel.  Boukari cast the dissenting vote.

In two separate cases against the City brought by the same company, JGC Land Development, LLC, commissioners were asked to give Cain and Rush the authority to negotiate with Theriaque and attorney Skip Kohlmyer to defend against the cases.

The company is seeking injunctive relief to keep the City from spending nearly $1 million set aside for infrastructure in the Heritage Oaks neighborhood near Santa Fe High School. In a separate case, JGC Land Development is seeking $3.2 million plus interest and legal costs because it claims the City “interfered” and “disrupted” its project.

Commissioner Robert Wilford opposed utilizing Theriaque in either of the cases pointing to the City’s case load already being carried by Theriaque.

“I don’t think it should be Mr. Theriaque.  I think it should be Mr. Kohlmyer or someone else because we’ve got a lot of things tied up with Mr. Theriaque.

In a vote of 4-1, commissioners approved the negotiations, with Wilford dissenting.

Commissioners unanimously agreed not to file a counterclaim in lawsuit filed against the City by Jones Edmunds & Associates, Inc., a design and engineering firm working on the city’s wastewater treatment plant expansion.  The company is seeking a half-million dollars in redesign costs it says were necessary because of the City’s failure to provide information from its Land Development Regulations (LDRs).

In its complaint, Jones Edmunds said a city representative approved the necessary changes mid-project, but the city has only paid the fees of $1.25 million outlined in the original agreement rather than the increased fee of $1.8 million.

The commission had interviewed Judith Jankosky on Sept. 15, the last candidate for the position. The search, which started out with 47 candidates, was narrowed to a list of six hopefuls.

Out of that six, four dropped out due to the salary offered. The commission decided at the Aug. 25 meeting to publically interview the last two candidates, Jankosky and Terry Leary, after they both had individual meetings with each commissioner.

However, Leary took a job at another city.

Commissioner Sue Weller expressed concern should the city hire Jankosky without interviewing other candidates. She said she was impressed with Jankosky’s background and knowledge, but did not feel comfortable focusing on one candidate at this point.

“We don’t know at this point if there’s a candidate out there that would be available, that would meet our qualifications, that might be a better fit,” she said.

Mayor Larry Travis agreed with Weller. He said he was unsure that Jankosky had the necessary ability to come before the public and put together a plan of action.

“This position is very, very important,” he said. “So I feel it’s advantageous for us to go forward in looking for other individuals to fill this seat.”

The position will be advertised again, seeking another round of new candidates. Once the city has a list of applicants, Paul Sharon, a “Range Rider,” will review the individuals.

The Range Riders is a group under the auspices of the Florida City and County Management Association. They offer free guidance to cities in the search for city managers, using former city managers as counselors.

The new advertisement will include the salary for the position, set at $50,000 to $72,000. This additional information is at the request of Commissioner Eric May.

He suggested this in light of the city losing two-thirds of its candidates after announcing the salary. After an unsuccessful five-month search, he does not want to see the city follow the same procedures.

“We don’t do this everyday, as Mr. Sharon pointed out,” May said. “I don’t want to see us use the exact same process and get the exact same results.”

Vice Mayor Byran Williams reiterated that the salary must be mentioned at the beginning of the process. Commissioner Dean Davis did not attend the meeting.

City Clerk Jenny Parham will stay on as interim city manager while the city continues its search to replace former city manager Jim Drumm, who resigned last October.

Funding for commission travel expenses was reinstated in the budget when City Commissioner Alena Lawson suggested that each commissioner and city manager have $1,000 available for projected city-related travel, adding up to $6,000 to the final budget. The move sets up a travel fund reserve, leaving it up to the individual commissioner to decide if they need to use the money for city-related travel expenses.

Commissioners also formally approved a 2 percent salary increase for all city employees. Commissioners clarified that raise does not increase the salary of commissioners.

The property tax millage rate was kept at 3.8500, the same as last year.  The millage rate determines the taxes a property owner must pay based on the assessed taxable value of their real estate or tangible property.

Meals on Wheels, a non-profit program for senior citizens, which was at risk for of being cut from city funding during the first hearing, survived with its $22,000 budget intact.  Funding for a city fireworks display was slashed after commissioners determined that a senior citizen program was a priority.

Ashby said the most challenging part of getting the budget approved was making sure the City had enough revenue to continue providing city services. Money transfers were made from investment funds to shore up the final budget.

“With those transfers, we were able to meet our level of service requirements,” Ashby said.

The Canterbury project is still in the works, Ashby said, referring to the City’s request for funding from the Alachua County Commission. Ashby added that before further planning continues with the equestrian center, Newberry has to submit its proposal to several committees as directed last week by the Alachua County Commission.

Candidates Bob Barnas, Linda Clark Gestrin, Mayor Larry Travis and Vice Mayor Byran William were invited to attend. Barnas and Gestrin have confirmed their participation.

These are the four candidates running for the two expired commission seats. Travis and Williams currently hold the seats.

The event will begin at 7 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend.

This is the first time the Gainesville Tea Party has hosted a forum for High Springs Commission candidates.

The High Springs New Century Woman’s Club will hold its forum on Oct. 25.

The city election will be on Nov. 8.

The city’s general fund is budgeted at $767,281; the water fund at $220,800; wastewater at $1,217,335; and the sanitation fund at $220,000.

The new budget represents an overall increase of about 18 percent when compared to the 2010/11budget of $1,987,983. Although the budget was initially believed to be balanced last year, there was a deficit of nearly $400,000 that placed the city in a state of financial emergency.

Commissioners also unanimously adopted the final 2011/12 millage rate, or the rate at which property taxes are levied on property, at 5.3194 mills.  City Manager Ellen Vause estimates that the adopted millage rate, which is the same as last year, will result in $244,386 in ad valorem tax revenues to the city.

A surcharge was added to the water and sewer bills beginning in May to help reduce the budget deficit. During the meeting, City Attorney Audrie Harris described the deficit as a “work in progress.”

“Our water and sewer rates should stabilize our historical deficits that we have had every year so that we could be able to start a rebuilding process,” she said. “It will be a long journey for us because there are a lot of things we have to straighten out before we start rebuilding.”

In a letter to the State of Florida Auditor General that detailed the current economic standings of Hawthorne, the City said 2012 is expected to be the break-even year for the budget.

However, there is still a $1.12 million deficit between the enterprise and general funds. Commissioner William Carlton said he believes more action will need to be taken to reduce the deficit.

“We are shortchanging ourselves by not trying to get enough taxes in to start reducing this deficit we have,” he said during the meeting.

Hawthorne will continue to be considered in a state of financial emergency until the deficit is corrected.

City commission members met on Aug. 2 to announce the millage rate proposals. On Sept. 8, they adopted the preliminary millage rate of 5.3194 mills.

In anticipation of its annual audit, Vause said the city has completed five of eight balance sheets to close the 2010/11 fiscal year.

“We are really doing a whole year’s worth of bookkeeping in two months,” she said.

City Commissioner William Carlton said he hopes the new budget can aid the current deficit.

“We still got a $1.12 million deficit between our accounts here. Somehow, we have to get money from somewhere to pay for this.”

At Monday night’s regularly scheduled commission meeting, commissioners also approved keeping the property tax rate the same as the last two years.

The final millage rate, which will be used to calculate city property taxes in the 2011 tax year, will be 5.5000 mills. At 5.5000 mills, taxes for a property worth $100,000 would be $550.

The ad valorem taxable value has decreased for properties in the city, meaning the commission would have to adopt a roll-back rate of 6.0242 mills to generate the same revenue as last year. Instead, in maintaining the 5.5000 mills rate, there will be a $368,582 decrease in property tax revenue coming into City coffers.

The commission expressed a desire to maintain the 5.5000 mills rate to provide tax relief for residents. Resident Donna Hope, who was attending the meeting, thanked the commission, saying, “We all need this break.”

The city expects the public service tax revenue, which increased by almost 26 percent, to offset the hit from the millage rate, bringing in about $300,000 in additional income.

Although the FY 2011/12 budget is $3.2 million less than the FY 2010/11 budget, city officials expect similar operating costs in the coming year.  The primary reason for the budget decrease is the completion of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, a $20 million facility.  With the construction finalized it will no longer be an additional expense to the budget.

The City will be funding two new programs this year to help alleviate the disrepair of city-owned roads.  A road resurfacing program budgeted at $152,000 will be used to repair crumbling roads that need asphalt.

An additional $45,000 was budgeted for a “chip-seal” program to surface some unpaved roads with a gravel-type asphalt mix, reducing the maintenance of those roads.