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.
05.11.07 -- REPORT: Council introduces water maintenance fee
Friday, May 11, 2007
By CHER PHILLIPS
The McIntosh Town Council voted 3-2 to introduce a water maintenance fee of $96 a year for every household in McIntosh to pay for pending repairs. The proposed fee would mean every business and household would pay $8 month for a year beginning in July for water fees.
Word first started to filter into the public arena in an offhand comment made by Council President Frank Ciotti in the April meeting that the town of McIntosh can not account for all of its water.
This month, the council spoke openly about the issue.
Town Clerk Debbie Miller reported to the council members that the town was losing 15,600 gallons of water on a daily basis for the month of April.
Miller said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection requires that the town record the number of gallons pumped and compare them to the number of gallons billed.
She said the town's maintenance staff thought the problem was due to the meter on the first of the town's two pumps not accurately recording the number of gallons pumped, based on the conclusion pump number one pumped 900 gallons in a two-hour period, while pump number two pumped 30,000 gallons.
The cost to replace the meter could be anywhere from $800 - $1,200.
The council voted to spend $3,500 to automate the pump system in an emergency meeting in April. When that work was done, the town was advised that pump number one, a 25-horse pump that's at least 15 years old will not last much longer.
"Pump number one is not going to last forever," Miller said. "It could last a month, it could last nine months, it could last a year. We don't know."
Miller suggested the council start allocating money for repair and guessed that a new pump would be as much as $10,000.
Councilman Lee Deaderick thought they might need anywhere from $10,000 t0 $25,000 and introduced fee to build an enterprise account for repairing the water plant.
He suggested the fees be increased based on each individual customer in the town, as opposed to a charge per gallons. Last year, Deaderick voted against a water rate increase. He said this method was a way of kick-starting a water fund. He said he was against the water rate increase proposed a year ago because it was for no reason and preferred a fee that lasted a fixed amount of time. After the first year, the town could then adjust the water rate to meet the expenses for upkeep on the water plant.
Initially Deaderick introduced a fee of $20 per customer for a year. After discussion the motion passed with a rate hike of $8 per commercial user or household for a period of one year.
Ciotti said he liked the idea of building a reserve, but thought that $20 was steep. He voted against the fee because he said he was not sure how it would work.
One of the unknowns discussed was how to charge households like those living in mobile home parks and residents with more than one water meter who may not be directly billed by the town for their water. Bill Glass, owner of a mobile home park on the north end of town, said at the meeting that he had a previous agreement with the town, as did others.
Councilwoman Eunice Smith was the other dissenting vote. Smith has a record of voting against water rate increases, over her 29 years on the council or as town clerk.
Next month, the council will have to vote again on the issue, after hearing how the fee would impact those with special agreements with the town.
***
Mayor Marsha Strange announced that there will be a Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker posted on U.S. 441 on the south end of McIntosh on May 30 at 10 a.m.
"The marker is a tribute to the armed forces that have defended the United States of America," Strange said. "It should be a lovely marker."
McIntosh's Garden Club applied for the marker.
She also announced that Bobby Hatchett passed away.
***
The council tabled an ordinance introduced by town attorney Scott Walker that would prohibit sexual predators and offenders from living within 2,500-foot radius of areas where children congregate.
The ordinance would limit sexual predators living in McIntosh to living in two small corners in town, where there is no housing. One is near the Leytem's land and the other area in the furthest corner of Robert's Acres.
The state has a law already limited offenders from living 1,000 feet from areas where children congregate and is proposing a similar 2,500-foot radius.
Since the state already has a law, the council voted to table the ordinance until another time when they are proposing a number of ordinances.
****
Listen to the May 10, 2007 Town Council Meeting:
(Internet Explorer users may need to click the start arrow twice)
Part 1:
Part 2:
(Editor's Note: I am working with a new microphone and the sound quality might be funky while I work out the kinks. I digitally amplified the sound on part one.)
Labels: town council, water system
posted by Cher @ 10:35 PM,
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04.12.07 -- REPORT: Town shuts reporter out of town-DEP joint meeting to discuss water
Thursday, April 12, 2007
By CHER PHILLIPS
At 10 a.m. this morning, I was shut out of the McIntosh-Department of Environmental Protection water meeting by the town and the state department.
When I drove up this morning to the town office, town clerk Debbie Miller turned the open sign over to closed.
She asked what I was there for and I told her I wanted to observe the meeting between the town and the DEP.
I first learned of the meeting late last Friday from a concerned resident who called my home to ask if I knew there was a closed meeting planned between the town and the EPA. I then called the town council president, Frank Ciotti. The meeting is actually with the Florida DEP -- rather than the EPA - a federal environmental agency.
In a phone interview, Ciotti said that he didn't think they would have a problem with someone observing. At that time, he said several council members were planning to attend, which would have made the meeting subject to Florida's open meetings laws.
On Monday, Ciotti sent an e-mail to me saying only one council member would be attending an didn't want any guests. He did not reply to my follow-up e-mail asking if I could attend the meeting or not. Town Clerk Debbie Miller forwarded an e-mail from Dan Shideler, Environmental Specialist for the DEP.
"This is not a town meeting where I am involved in a Q&A with the town members. This is me coming out there to let the people in charge of the municipality know what their responsiblities [sic] are to DEP and the public," Shideler wrote.
Shideler said this morning that he was there to let town officials know what they needed to do with there was an "issue."
I asked if there were any "issues" in McIntosh. He said no.
The town has suffered from a water system failure and problems in the last two weeks resulting in periods of zero water pressure.
When I asked Miller, Shideler and Council Vice President Howard Walkup each if I could attend this meeting and observe, not asking questions, I was told no and turned away.
I specifically asked Walkup, "As a Council member, will you allow me to observe this meeting for the town?"
Walkup said, "No, this is not a public meeting."
Labels: Debbie Miller, EPA, Howard Walkup, McIntosh, water system
posted by Cher @ 11:06 AM,
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04.06.07 -- REPORT: Water repairs to improve pressure failures, officials to meet with EPA
Friday, April 06, 2007
By CHER PHILLIPS
McIntosh Town officials will meet with the EPA next week to discuss the proper procedures to take when the town experiences water shortages and failures.
In a phone interview this evening, Council President Frank Ciotti said he thought the water system failures from the past week were under control.
"I think we're in good shape," Ciotti said. He said they replaced burnt-out parts on the switch. He also said town employees Paul and Melvin had been taking turns standing by the pump to make sure sure it stays operational.
Ciotti said a switch has been replaced on the pump.
"What happened was the starter switch on pump two kept failing," Ciotti said.
He said the town officials would go up to the pump and the switch would be cool and work while they were there. But then it would constantly go on and off and town officials wouldn't know why until they saw the water pressure going down.
In an emergency meeting on Monday, the council voted to spend $3,500 to fix the wiring and other expenses.
Ciotti said that he did not think the town needed to be under a precautionary water boil notice.
"We've asked that question," Ciotti said. "They [EPA] said they don't think so at this point."
Ciotti said that there's been no evidence of contamination, or a situation with the system that would cause it.
One of the challenges with issuing a precautionary water boil notice is that there is currently no way to contact all of the residents.
"If we have a problem, what should we do?" Ciotti said. "Have Paul ride around on a golf cart? Is Debbie supposed to dial 300 phones?"
He said the council held off on voting to buy an automatic dialer at the emergency meeting. The cost of the dialer would be another $3,500 - $4,000 on top of the current repair costs.
"We're looking for the best solution," Ciotti said.
He said that once a dialer is installed, if the water goes off or the water pressure gets down to 25 pounds, the dialer will go off and call everyone, telling them there's a potential water boil situation. Ciotti said while the advantage is that people will be notified, they might also have to deal with water boil notices at 2 a.m. if the water goes out at that time.
He said the dialer would be the council's attempt to do the best thing for most of the residents.
Ciotti said he's gotten calls from concerned residents about bubbles in the water. He said that's a result of the low water pressure and reiterated that they've been in contact with the EPA.
"They've told us to take no action," Ciotti said. "They're coming out on Tuesday about what to do and how to notify people."
Other residents called the blog and expressed concern that the EPA meeting with town officials is closed.
Ciotti said the EPA did not want to meet with the public, but with town officials. However, if more than one council member is present, then that meeting will fall under Florida's Open Meetings Laws.
This reporter plans to attend the meeting on behalf of town residents and has asked Ciotti to notify her regarding the time and place of the meeting.
Labels: Frank Ciotti, town council, water system
posted by Cher @ 9:52 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.
