Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Chiefland City Commissioners are nearing the end of their budget process and have set aside money for two projects that don’t seem big on the face of things but have a great deal of significance.
Commissioners have set aside $300,000 in the budget for engineering and redesigning the N.W. 11th Drive to convert it from a lumpy, pot-hole-strewn dirt road to an important paved connector side street.
When completed, the street will connect with the Chiefland Walmart shopping center and surrounding restaurants, drug stores, and medical centers on one end to paved streets that connect to U.S. 129 at the other end.
Paved Detour
The route will amount to a paved detour around U.S. 19.
Traffic on U.S. 19 hasn’t reached nightmare densities yet but there are days when traffic is slowing due to the sheer number of vehicles on the highway. N.W. 11th Drive will offer an alternative paved route when the work is finished.
The asphalt paving won’t be added anytime soon. The city is expected to hire Mittauer & Associates to engineer the project. After the engineering is finished, the city will apply for a state grant of $1.5 million to re-construct the street and pave it.
The street has water lines running under portions of it. Some city light poles along the street are located on private property. There are no ditches for drainage nor is there a drainage retention pond to collect stormwater. It isn’t much of an exaggeration to say the street has potholes large enough to drown the engine of a small car passing through the holes during high water.
Vital Road
For those unfamiliar with the road, the unpaved portion of the street runs behind NAPA, ABC Pizza, Pizza Hut, Chiefland Days Inn, and Kentucky Fried Chicken and dead-ends at a paved side street behind Save-A-Lot. On the north end, the paved portion of the street runs behind B-B-Bills, a small shopping center, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Taco Bell, Burger King, and other retail outlets leading to Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, an Urgent Care Center, Chiefland Medical Center, and Walgreens.
The road is an important connector road. The plan now is to make it a paved connector between retail outlets on the north end and the south end of the street.
City Seal
The second project is less spectacular but will have a great deal of significance. The city plans to add a City Seal to the empty wall behind the City Commission dais, the long desk where commissioners are seated during their board meetings.
Many years ago, in the dinosaur age (just kidding), a City Seal was mounted behind the dais when the current John Fisher Building served as City Hall, police department, and site of City Commission meetings. The City Seal was apparently lost when the city purchased for former Levy County State Bank for its new City Hall.
Heart of the Suwannee Valley
The old city seal said Chiefland..Heart of the Suwannee Valley and included images of a setting sun over the Suwannee River with row crop farms and timber lands part of the scene. A city seal is intended to be a symbol of pride in what the city is about. The new city seal will be mounted on the wall behind the board members.
When the city purchased the former Levy County State Bank building in the 90s, the oval-shaped seal was lost in the process. The former City Hall is now occupied by Tri-County Community Center and the University of Florida Child Advocacy Center.
Old Library, New Role
Commissioners made a decision at Monday’s board meeting to allow the child advocacy center to convert the octagon-shaped gazebo building next door to the community center into a medical room for families dealing with child abuse.
The building, which once served as a city library before the current Luther Callaway Library was constructed, has no air conditioning or heating. The child advocacy center plans to consult with a contractor on how to add air conditioning and heating without making permanent changes to the historic building. The advocacy office also plans to add a covered walkway from the community center to the medical examination office.
The octagon-shaped building always radiated a positive feeling when it was the city library, perhaps due to its unusual shape. It has remained vacant for a number of years.
New Tax Rate
In other business, commissioners have settled on a property tax rate of 8.7234 mills, an increase from the current 7.9075 mills.
$4 pay Raise in Budget
The proposed 2022-23 city budget includes an increase in the salaries for all city employees of $4 per hour when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, except for firefighters, who have a different arrangement. Firefighters received a raise of $1.86 per hour earlier this year. They will receive an additional $2.14 per hour when the new fiscal year begins, making their total raise this year $4 per hour, the same as other employees.
City police will receive the same $4 per hour raise. The city commission met behind closed doors in a shade meeting after their regular meeting Monday to discuss the police union contract, although wages weren’t going to be an issue. Police Chief Scott Anderson is always asked to leave the room for union negotiations because he is not a union member nor is he a commissioner and can’t participate in the discussions. The Press was also asked to leave because the commission conversations about union contract negotiations are considered confidential under the state’s Sunshine Law, the state’s open meeting law. Police are represented by the Florida Police Benevolent Association.
Fire Tax, General Liability Higher
Commissioners have tentatively set the city fire tax at $159 per home for the coming fiscal year, although commissioners could reduce the rate at the first meeting in September, but the proposed city budget is balanced with the higher rate.
Commissioners approved an insurance premium of $202,861 for the general liability, auto, cyber protection, and workers’ compensation policies, an increase of nearly $17,000 from the current year. Commissioner Norman Weaver asked why the increase in the premium was so high.
“Because we had a lot of claims,” said City Manager Laura Cain.
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City of Chiefland Regular Meeting August 22, 2022; Posted August 23, 2022
