Lewrissa Mainwaring listens to a speaker address the board at Monday’s commission meeting.
By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Chiefland City Commissioners Monday selected savings and loan branch manager Lewrissa “Rissa” Mainwaring to replace former commissioner Don Lawrence.
She will complete his unexpired term of office.
Lawrence resigned after buying a home out of town, which disqualified him from holding city office. Mainwaring, who has lived in the Chiefland area all her life, moved into town in July. She was the first to apply for the job.
She was selected over former city commissioner Alice M. Monyei who served from 2003 to 2007. Monyei said she wanted to continue with her work as a city leader.
Mayor Chris Jones cast the only vote in opposition to the motion to appoint Mainwaring as Lawrence’s replacement, saying he objected to the process of commissioners having to choose a replacement board member.
Mayor Chris Jones said he didn’t like the process the city used for selecting a new commissioner
Jones felt the voters should choose new commissioners rather than elected officials like him.
“It’s not this commission’s choice to be making in my opinion,” Jones said.
Commissioners tossed out ideas on how to change the city ordinance that requires city commissioners to choose the replacement when a vacancy occurs on the board.
Among the ideas tossed out was to leave vacant seat empty for the balance of the term or hold a special election to let voters select a replacement. City Manager Mary Ellzey will bring back proposals at the next board meeting.
Mainwaring, branch manager of Suncoast Federal Credit Union in Chiefland, is president of the Greater Chiefland Area Chamber of Commerce and secretary of the Suwannee Valley Rotary Club. She said she gives approximately 100 hours of community service each year. She was Levy County Volunteer of the Year in 2017.
“Chiefland is my home. Chiefland is my heart,” she said.
Mainwaring served as the head teller for Perkins State Bank from 2002-2012.
Commissioner Norman Weaver said Mainwaring’s community involvement and banking management experience impressive “and puts her close to the pulse of the city and its people.”
She will be sworn in on Nov. 12.
Tribute to Ernest Haile
Monyei began the meeting by asking the board to support a local effort to have a memorial wall built in memory of the late Ernest A. Haile, former principal of Chiefland Junior High School and vice principal of Chiefland High School.
Alice Monyei tells Chiefland commissioners about plans to build a memorial wall for the late Ernest A. Haile.
Commissioners agreed to provide Monyei and the memorial committee of which she is a member with a stage and chairs for the dedication of the five foot tall monument at the Mayday Celebration in 2020. Jones said he would provide the public address system.
The memorial wall will be constructed near the entrance of Eddie Buie Recreational Park in South Chiefland. The park stands are the very site of the former Chiefland Junior High School, a black school during the days of segregation.
Haile served as principal of Chiefland Junior High School from 1957-64. The school burned in 1964. Haile was then hired as vice principal of Chiefland High School.
“The Ernest A. Haile Memorial Wall will be a reminder of the legacy of a great man who lived in this community for more than 50 years,” Monyei said.
Following his death in 2004, Monyei said she knew something had to be done to remember Haile. She came up with the idea of building a memorial wall at the very spot where Haile served as principal for Chiefland Junior High School.
“This memorial wall is something I feel is needed because of this giant that lived in this community. We dare not let such a figure be forgotten. Our children and younger children need to remember this man for what he did in schools, and not just in schools. He did many, many things,” she said.
Buying Fire Engine
Chiefland Fire Rescue is in desperate need of a new fire engine, according to Fire Chief James Harris. He said the current 1991 pumper isn’t in good shape and is costing the city a lot of money in maintenance.
“We got to reduce our maintenance. It’s eating us alive,” Harris said.
Harris said his overall budget isn’t much larger than when he first took the reins of the department 10 years ago which has hampered his ability to purchase new fire truck.
Commissioners voted unanimously to apply for a United States Department of Agriculture grant to purchase a $448,000 fire engine. The new pump will also need more than $70,000 of new equipment.
The board isn’t sure how much grant money USDA would provide. The maximum amount would be 75 percent of the cost. The city would provide the balance of the money. But USDA’s contribution could be much lower. The money that cities request for fire equipment is passed down from USDA to the state, which in turn distributes the money.
Fire Assessment?
Commissioners voted cautiously to advertise a resolution they will consider in December that says they are looking at the possibility of implementing a fire assessment in the city.
The unanimous vote by the board to proceed with advertising the resolution by no means sets the city on a firm course toward adopting a fire assessment supported fire department operations.
Commissioners can back out of the deal at any time. A study would be needed to determine how much of an assessment would be applied to residences and businesses.
The study wouldn’t be free. Depending on the cost of the study, the whole idea could go down the tubes early. But the board is keeping an open mind for now.
Water Rates Raised
Commissioners approved a new base water rate for residential and commercial customers. Commissioner Rollin Hudson was the sole commissioner to vote against the rate hike.
The base rate for residential customers will rise from $8.50 to $12.50 and the base rate for commercial customers from $13 to $18.
Kim Zrowska, manager of Manatee Springs Apartments, said raising water rates for the 72-apartment complex adds more economic stress to the company that owns the apartments.
She said the base rate for the apartment complex will rise by $288.
“That $288 could be a canopy over the playground so the kids don’t get burned,” she said.
Commissioners Tim West. Rolling Hudson, Norman Weaver and Mayor Chris Jones show off their Halloween treats they received as a gift from a city employee who likes to give sweet treats
City of Chiefland Regular Meeting October 28, 2019; Posted October 28, 2019
