By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Levy County Planning Commissioner Michael Earnest, COO and president of All-In-Removal, an Ocala firm that potentially stands to benefit if the county commission legalizes composting of horse manure in the county, would have to recuse himself from voting or taking part in discussions if an ordinance is brought forward, County Attorney Nicolle Shalley said Tuesday.
At this point in time, county staff hasn’t submitted an ordinance that would amend the Levy County Land Development Code to allow commercial composting in unincorporated areas. Shalley said Earnest can participate in general discussions with the planning commission until an ordinance is on the table for discussion.
“Mr. Earnest talked to me early on to say I’m in the industry, I’m knowledgeable about this topic, is it okay for me to engage in general discussions at this very early stage and the answer was yes,” Shalley told county commissioners at Tuesday’s board meeting. “There’s nothing pending. You’re taking information in from everyone as is the planning board at this point.”
Shalley said, if and when county commissioners direct staff to bring forward an ordinance, Earnest has told her he will “not participate in any regard because he does believe, if it’s not a technical ethics issue, certainly the appearance of one.”
Earnest drew considerable attention after being nominated for the planning commission position by County Commission Chairman Matt Brooks last August about the time the commission was beginning to seriously discuss the composting issue. Earnest and Brooks are longtime friends from Williston.
All-In-Removal currently transports clean pine shavings to equestrian facilities in Marion County and hauls used horse bedding and manure to areas that will accept the waste. Earnest’s employer, billionaire Reid Nagle, has bought a couple of pieces of land in Levy County and neighbors of the properties are suspicious of his intentions. They don’t want manure dumps next to their homes and they want more information on what the county is planning to do regarding horse manure composting.
Petitions are circulating to raise public awareness of the manure composting issue and stop the manure composting sites from being established. As of Tuesday, 615 residents had signed one petition opposing a manure dump being located at the intersection of U.S. 27A and County Road 316 on land owned by Nature Coast Soils, LLC near Williston, one of many firms Nagle operates along with All-In Removal and Black Prong Equestrian Village. To sign the online petition go to: https://www.change.org/…/manure-dump-health-hazard-for…
Resident Raises Conflict Issue
The subject of Earnest’s conflict of interest wasn’t raised by the county commission or Shalley at Tuesday’s board meeting, it was brought by resident Carol Knight who called upon Earnest to recuse himself from all planning commission discussions regarding Nagle’s future zoning requests. Some residents believe Michael is already influencing opinions on the planning commission regarding horse manure composting and should be stopped from further discussions.
“Earnest shares a business address with Nagle and is essentially his employee. He will likely benefit financially if the zoning request goes through. That is a clear conflict of interest and cannot be tolerated. The timing of his appointment last August just as Nagle was preparing to attempt a zoning exception in Morriston – might even suggest collusion,” Knight said. “This conflict of interest makes you appear to have already made up your minds and approval of a special exception is a foregone conclusion. If that impression is incorrect, please correct it with the recusal of Michael Earnest.”
Knight also called on county commissioners to be more open about communicating with the public concerning manure composting. She said Nagle’s plans to operate a manure composting site near Williston schools and Levy County homes has been an “upsetting issue for your constituents.” Nagle hasn’t formally applied for a permit to dump horse manure on the property near Williston. He can’t do anything until the county commission decides on whether commercial composting will be allowed, where it would be allowed, and what type of permit would be needed. Composting isn’t a legal land use in the Levy County Land Development Code as it stands now. Shalley has repeatedly said that if a land use category isn’t listed in the LDC, it’s prohibited.
The county commission is planning a public workshop on Tuesday, May 9 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. to discuss land use and zoning issues associated with composting. The public appears to be exclusively interested in manure composting. Commissioner John Meeks suggested residents should wait until the workshop to express their opinions to commissioners about composting, or to ask commissioners where they stood on the issue.
Commissioners Aren’t Dodging Issues?
Meeks said if commissioners appeared to be avoiding discussion of land use issues it’s just a matter of being “good stewards of their job duties.”
“This board is supposed to be an impartial judicial board when it comes to land use decisions, so we cannot have predetermined thoughts, ideas, or opinions because that throws the process off,” he said. “Essentially, we are a five-member board of judges at that point and we have to base our decision solely on information presented during the public hearing, so whenever we don’t respond to what our opinion is of this, we’re simply being honest stewards of our job duties and not coming into a vote or a decision with preconceived ideas for that. I apologize if the public doesn’t understand the process. That’s what makes this job challenging at times. We not only serve as the board that handles the budget and day-to-day operations and the inner workings of the county, we are also a legislative and judicial board and we have to make legislative and judicial decisions and those have to be impartial at all times. So, by giving our opinions, if I don’t like it or I don’t think it’s a good idea, that could be used against us and against the county if a petition is denied,” Meeks said.
What Did You Say?
A Spotlight reporter asked, “Did you say you can’t communicate with the public about manure composting?”
“I’m saying I’m not going to communicate with the public about my opinions or whether or not I think it’s good or bad because again, those are preconceived notions that I don’t feel comfortable having in place before we have the actual hearing,” Meeks responded.
The reporter said, “I’ve never heard that before.”
Brooks interrupted the reporter.
“Alright, alright, if you want to enter something into the public comment you can, but this is not a press conference. If you want to ask a single commissioner a question afterwards, you can do that, it’s your right,” Brooks said.
“I was going to ask a second question,” the reporter said.
“You can do that afterwards,” Brooks responded.
Shalley clarified the situation later when she said at this point, the county commission and the planning commission are in general discussions and taking input from anyone that wants information. No public hearing is scheduled and no ordinance is on the table requiring a quasi-judicial public hearing.
The next step in the process is for county staff to present a proposed amendment land development code to the county commission for discussion at the May 9 workshop. If the commission wants to go forward with a composting ordinance, the situation changes and county commissioners may choose to be more careful about what they say publicly.
County Coordinator Wilbur Dean said he hasn’t seen a final copy of the proposed land development code amendment for composting. He has agreed to email Spotlight a copy as soon as he gets it.
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Board of County Commission Regular Meeting April 25, 2023; Posted April 25, 2023
