By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Williston City Council members have hired a new human resource director with a solid background in HR, and in an unrelated matter, staff is negotiating with an events coordinator to handle its fireworks show next Fourth of July.

            The city ran into problems with its fireworks show in July this year when its regular contractor cancelled and said he couldn’t find any fireworks for a show. The city was unable to find a fireworks contractor to replace him.

            Williston settled for a laser show followed by a brief burst of fireworks, but it wasn’t what most people wanted. People wanted to see a Fourth of July fireworks show.

            Council President Debra Jones said the city has found a company called Premier Events that can provide a fireworks show of the same quality as the previous contractor for the city.

            The council wants Premier Events to do a 12-15 minute fireworks show at Horseman’s Park. Jones said the typical fireworks show has been 10 to 12 minutes in the past. The council wants 12-15 minutes.

            Premier Events will provide a secure area to launch the fireworks, handle event permitting, and will work with the appropriate city agencies including police, parks, and recreation, and EMS.

            The contract calls for the coordinator, Bill Foster, to provide up to $1 million of insurance. He will clean up the “bulk mess” associated with a fireworks display after the show ends.

            The company will provide a band for entertainment from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.., lighting for live entertainment and sound for the entertainment. It will market the event across all of its social media platforms.

            Jones said the coordinator is offering to do the work for $10,000.

            The city knows that Foster has put on fireworks in Archer. It plans to retrieve additional background information on other fireworks shows the company may have performed as part of its due diligence in negotiating a contract.

            HR Director Hired

            In other business, the city has hired Deanna Nelson as its human resources director, replacing Melisa Thompson who took a job with Beauchamp and Edwards CPA in Chiefland.

            Nelson worked at the University of Florida from December of 2018 to May of 2021 managing a UF campus-wide faculty online promotion and tenure administration program, according to her résumé.

            Prior to that, she was an employee relations specialist II with the UF Human Resources Department. She worked as an advisor and consultant to faculty, administrators, directors, and staff on complex employee-related matters from April 2016 to November 2018.

            Before being employed at UF, she was the Human Resources Business Manager for Brookdale. She managed 50-plus staff and was responsible for all business partner functions on a day-to-day basis from June of 2011 to February of 2016.

            She earned a Master’s Degree in employment law from Nova Southeastern  University. She graduated Cum Laude. She holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Santa Fe. College in Gainesville.

            She holds a certificate in human relations, a black belt certificate, and an accounting certificate for business operations.

            Pesso’s On the Hill

            Mayor Jerry Robinson asked for a progress report on where the city stands with the Pesso’s on the hill property.

            City Planner Laura Jones said Michael Pesso is being fined $100 per day and his total fines were $5,000 as of a couple of weeks ago.

            Robinson asked if the code enforcement case would come to the City Council next. Jones said the code enforcement case would go to the Board of Adjustment and that board will have to address it.

            City residents have complained for years that that too many vacant buildings languish in code enforcement in the city as fines build to very high levels in some cases.

            Ethics Training

            The state requires city elected officials and appointed board to take a refresher course in ethics once a year. Folds & Walker, the city’s new law firm, is offering an ethics training course in November.

Most city officials took an ethics training course in March this year. Councilman Elihu Ross said he didn’t want to take another course in 2021.

Individual council members can choose to wait until March of 2022 or they can tap into the Folds & Walker course in November and start taking advantage of the law firm’s course once a year.

            Jones said she has heard the Folks and Walker ethics course is entertaining and fun. She is signed up to take their course.

            Williston Peanut

            Jones said the noise situation with Williston Peanut hasn’t changed since complaints came before the city council a few weeks ago.

            She said the peanut season should wrap up in about a week.

            Williston Peanut says it is exempt from the city’s noise ordinance under the state’s Right to Farm Act.

            Neighbors of the peanut dryers that operate near the railroad tracks have complained about disturbing noise from the peanut drying operations.

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City of Williston Regular Meeting October 7, 2021; Posted October 6, 2021