Bronson Town Clerk Shirley Miller listens to Councilman Berlon Weeks discuss her job description.
By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Internet cafés are temporarily barred from locating in Bronson.
The Bronson Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday to place a moratorium on internet cafés moving into the city until more is known about the legality of the businesses.
The moratorium halts any effort by the owners of internet cafés to seek building and zoning approval or obtain a business license to conduct operations in the town.
Mayor Robert Partin reads a resolution imposing a moratorium on internet cafés to council members.
Councilman Berlon Weeks suggested adopting a moratorium rather than going forward with a proposed ordinance that placed heavy regulations on the cafés before they could open in Bronson.
“They do more hurt than good,” said Weeks.
Weeks thought it would be best to stop the cafés in their tracks rather than risk going forward with an ordinance without having the full facts about the legality of the businesses.
Town Attorney Steven Warm said it is not clear at the state level whether internet cafés are illegal.
Most towns adopt an ordinance constraining them with regulations but Warm said the moratorium would literally allow the town “to take it under advisement until someone at the state level clarifies it.”
“So far we’re not getting clear signals and that’s why all the confusion,” Warm said.
Clerk Shirley Miller said some towns allow two or three of the cafés or none at all.
“The definitive ruling must come down from the Supreme Court,” Warm said.
Later in the meeting, resident Mary Tracy said she agreed with Weeks on adopting the moratorium on internet cafés. She thanked him for not allowing internet cafés to” sully this town.”
Protecting Town Park
Council members instructed Warm to draft an ordinance allowing signs to be placed at the entrances to James H. Cobb Park halting motorized vehicles from midnight to 5 a.m. and imposing a fine on violators.
The council discussed a $500 fine.
The signs will give the Levy County Sheriff’s Office authority to enforce vehicles found in the park after hours. Warm will flesh out the ordinance and how the fines would be imposed.
Adding Security Cameras
The council also voted unanimously to purchase five security cameras for the park at a cost of $1,750. The monthly service charge will be $180.
City staff will mount the wireless security cameras at various locations in the park. The cameras will have infrared capacity and can view broad areas of the park.
Public Works Director Erik Wise will be tied into the camera system and can view anyone coming into the park and causing problems.
Council members have spent a considerable amount of state grant money in recent years adding recreational features to the park. They want to put an end to the vandalism.
The cameras will be ordered.
Councilwoman Beatrice Roberts said a group of young people were seen the previous night playing on the small riding horses anchored in child playgrounds at the park.
The council is locking the park bathrooms overnight due to vandalism.
Giving Clerk More Clout
Council members agreed to a suggestion from Warm to have Miller write down all her observations about the obstacles she faces in Town Hall when trying to manage employees and enforce rules, policies and regulations.
Weeks said the clerk’s job description gives her much of the same authority as a city manager but because of longstanding problems with how Town Hall functions she isn’t able to carry out her job duties.
From what he has witnessed, Weeks said “there’s a lot of chiefs and no set head that makes a decision.”
Weeks has advocated hiring a city manager when the town can afford the new position, but until that happens he thinks the clerk, at the very least, should have authority to carry out her duties as spelled out in her job description.
Using Inmate Labor
Councilman Jim Beck found support for his idea to use inmate labor from Lowell Correctional Institution for landscaping, lawn mowing and other jobs around the town.
The council asked Miller to investigate what would be needed to make the proposal work. The town already has an employee, Parks and Recreation Director Curtis Stacy who worked as a correctional officer in Alachua County and left as a sergeant.
Stacy said he might have to get recertified but he has handled inmate crews and already knows how to do the job. The town may have to purchase a van to transport inmates around town and to and from the prison.
Beck said he didn’t have a specific project in mind. He said the inmates would be used where they were needed for cleanup, lawn mowing, road work or landscaping.
“A lot of good can come of it,” he said.
Town Hall Opening Late
Councilwoman Beatrice Roberts said she wants employees to open Town Hall on time weekdays. She said two or three residents have walked up to the front door during business hours and found it locked in the morning.
Mayor Robert Partin said he arrives at 8 a.m. every day.
“But the door’s not open,” Roberts responded.
Jessica Barrientos, the clerk who handles utility payments, said she tries to arrive at 8:15 a.m.
“It’s three customers that said they’re not open,” Roberts responded.
Wise said there are times when he goes out of Town Hall to work on a lift station and the front door may have been left locked when he is gone.
Spotlight questioned why Wise’s absence would have anything to do with the front door being locked during business hours.
Miller said there have been times when the door was accidentally left locked in the morning when she was visiting with a council member in her new officer area. She can no longer see the front door from her new office.
“There may have been a few misses. We’ll have to do better,” Miller said.
Roberts thinks there should be no misses.
One resident asked if the town planned on allowing online utility payments. Roberts said the town is working on adding that feature but there would be an administrative fee charged for an online payment.
Outdated Sign Information
Tracy told the council that town staff needs to ensure that information on the sign in front of the Dogan S. Cobb Municipal Building on U.S. 27A should be current. The council meets in the Cobb building.
She said she had seen outdated information on the sign that wasn’t corrected until the day of the meeting. She said it was “ridiculous” for the council meeting to be announced on the same day as the meeting.
In the past, before the arrival of Miller as clerk, Tracy said she saw misspelled words on the sign. She said it was embarrassing to see misspelled words.
Cobb Building Damaged
The council agreed with Partin that the town should discontinue loaning out the Dogan Cobb building to anyone except government groups for the time being. He said the town needs to study how the building can be managed in a better way.
Miller said she believes the recent flooding problem in the building resulted when a community group used the meeting room and a toilet overflowed. She said the fire department was hit with a 3,000 gallon water bill but that can be written off. It wasn’t the department’s fault.
The town doesn’t charge a rental fee or a deposit for groups using the building, but the policy hasn’t produced good results. The carpet and council chairs are damaged. Kitchen cabinets are in need of repair.
Roberts brought the issue to the attention of the board. She said if people aren’t going to be respectful of the facility the town needs to take a hard look at how the building is managed. In the meantime, she said the town needs to repair the building.
One woman in the audience said the council shouldn’t shut the entire community out of the building. She said the building is the only facility the community can use for public functions. The council agreed with her assessment.
But for now, the building will be off limits to everyone but government groups until the facility is repaired and a new policy is in place.
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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting May 20, 2019; Posted May 20, 2019
