Light-up McIntosh December 15
Light-up McIntosh will begin at the Civic Center at 6:30 p.m. The event will host Santa Clause and an area choir from six local churches will sing.
12.14.07 -- REPORT: Town funds tied up in SBA investments, council to reinvest remaining funds
Friday, December 14, 2007
By Cher Phillips
The McIntosh Town Council decided Thursday night to take the re-invest monies in several location after officials were finally able to full out of the State Board of Administration Local Government investment fund that had been frozen for a week.
In the monthly meeting, Town Clerk Debbie Miller said the town was able to pull out $460,403.03 from the SBA accounts that had been frozen by Governor Crist after shaky investments caused a run on the bank by local governments.
Miller said that the SBA still holds $77,352.69 of McIntosh's funds in what she said the investment group called "impaired investments."
Whether or not McIntosh would lose this money, or part of this money, is unsure.
Under advice from the town's auditor, Council members decided they invest the remaining funds in bank certificates of deposit in two banks separate from the bank the town uses for its checking account. Council member Eva Jo Callahan also asked Miller to see if the town could turn its checking account into a money market account, since the running balance can run from 40,000 to 60,000.
Mayor Cary McCollum said the town's funds had been in CDs before they invested it in the SBA in the late 1980's.
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The Council passed an ordinance that spells out some of ambiguous policies about the town's water system.
However, the new ordinance will allow the town to charge the mobile home parks and fish camps more money than they have in the past. Sportsman's Cove owner Casey Girardin spoke out against the ordinance since she said the former owners had an agreement with the town to pay for 31 permanent residences. The town is now charging her $90 more dollars. Girardin says some of her residences are not occupied.
The new ordinance creates a method for residents living in homes to stop and start their water when they leave for the summer or long periods of time. However, the new ordinance does not not allow mobile home residents, and the owners of the parks, that privilege.
See ordinance here.
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The town passed a resolution designed to spell out its public record request policies. The new resolution allows the town to charge for the town clerk's time for records requested, making it more difficult, time consuming and expensive for residents to access information in their town office.
See ordinance here.
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The town will pay $125 to rent a piano for Saturday's Light-up McIntosh area-choir event, since the piano in the Civic Center has been neglected beyond repair and no longer functions.
Kathlyne Walkup wrote the council members an e-mail informing them that the piano needs to be replaced, which could cost from $1,900 to $10,000. A new local choir has a need for the town's civic center to have a functioning, professional piano, she said.
Council members indicated they hoped other civic organizations would help with the replacement and asked McCullom to talk with Walkup about what the area choir would need in the future.
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Listen to the December meeting here:
posted by Cher @ 1:05 PM,
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Editor
Editor and Publisher:
I'm Cher From McIntosh, FL I'm a graduate student at the University of Florida working on a master's degree in Mass Communication. While I was finishing my undergrad degree in journalism last year, I reported on McIntosh, Fla. for an in-depth reporting class. I figured that the reporting and the public record files should go somewhere people can access them. Reporters don't report to keep the information they find to themselves. Some of that reporting is included here in a forum that allows response. McIntosh suffers because with no news coverage, the local government and the rumor mill have too much potential to run rampant over residents. I moved to McIntosh in the fall of 1999. My profile
About This Blog
The primary purpose of this blog is to accurately reflect what happens in town public meetings and dispel rumors. I record the meetings and make them available for download. One of the goals of this blog is to offer residents a place to voice opinions. The comments, views and opinions expressed there are not necessarily those of the editor.
