Tom Bennett receives a Community Hero Award from Chiefland Police Capt. Ray Tremblay for raising the money to purchase bulletproof vests for the department’s two K-9 Units

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Chiefland City Commissioners Monday voted to advertise for a person to work as a Building Official and Inspector on a part-time basis for an annual salary in the $38,000 range.

            The salary may seem high, but it isn’t. High dollar Building Officials and inspectors with the type of experience Chiefland needs wouldn’t be cheap to hire in the current statewide building boom.

            The city is hoping to find a retired person with the background qualifications to work 20 to 25 hours per week.

            The city is looking for someone who is certified to do residential and commercial inspections and has a background in planning and zoning. Ideally they would have certification in flood plain administration as well.

            If the city is fortunate enough to find someone, the person wouldn’t be a city employee. They would be a contractor for the city, much like M.T. Causley, the company that currently handles the city’s building permits and inspections.

            The contract with M.T. Causley is expiring on July 31. The company contract requires the city to give the company 30 days of notice before severing ties.

            City Attorney Norm Fugate, who also serves as Cedar Key’s attorney, said M.T. Causley has notified Cedar Key that it is pulling out of its contract with the island city.

            Chiefland once employed a full-time Building Official. The city’s total expense for the Building Official and his secretary was close to $100,000 annually.

            Most small towns and cities in Levy County switched to M.T. Causley to relieve themselves of the expense of having a full-time Building Officials on staff, but the company is shedding old contracts and has taken on a new name – SAFEbuilt.

            In Other Business:

• Chiefland Fire Capt. Ray Tremblay presented a Community Hero Award to his longtime friend, Tom Bennett, for raising the money to purchase bulletproof vests for the two K-9 units working with the city police department. Tremblay said the police department wouldn’t have been able to purchase the vests without Bennett’s assistance. K-9 dogs work with an assigned police officer and often put their lives on the line when working in dangerous situations. They need the vests as much as their handlers.

• City Manager Mary Ellzey announced details of the upcoming Aug. 6 city election. Group 1 Commissioner/Mayor Chris Jones, Group 2 Commissioner Rollin Hudson and Group 3 Commissioner Norman Weaver are on the ballot. The qualifying fee is $448. Qualifying takes place from Monday, June 10 through Thursday, June 13 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. All three will run as commission candidates. The mayor is selected by the full board.
•  Zack Chalifour of James Moore & Co. gave the city high grades on its audit for the 2017-18 year with one exception. He said the city’s cash reserve of $1.08 million is less than what is recommended but still in acceptable range for a small town.
• Commissioners voted to apply for a Florida League of Cities, Inc. Florida Municipal Insurance Trust Matching Safety Grant to pay a portion of the cost of automated locks on restrooms at Charles Strickland Recreational Park and Eddie Buie Recreational Park.
• The board voted to purchase four new patrol cars at a cost of $187,460. The city applied for a $140,595 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture but received $79,700 instead. The grant money along with $60,000 from the Law Enforcement Trust Fund and matching funds of $46,875 from the city budget will pay for the cars.
• Commissioners voted to accept a $2,000 grant from Wal-Mart to help pay for an automatic chest compression device that will substitute for firefighters, paramedics and EMT’s doing manual CPR. The device can’t be used on small children.
• The board gave Fire Chief James Harris permission to get quotes on what it would cost to purchase a new fire engine and prepare a grant application to USDA. Harris estimates the cost of the fire engine would be in the $300,000 to $500,000 range. The fire department doesn’t have a fire engine less than 20 years old.

——

City of Chiefland Regular Meeting May 13, 2019; Posted May 13, 2019