Ashley Hunter
Greene Publishing, Inc.
The second meeting in August for the Madison County Commissioners was held on Wednesday, Aug. 24 at the Madison County Extension Office, due to a conflict of events, as the upcoming election needed use of the commissioners' regular meeting room for early voting.
The meeting began with an adoption of the agenda, approval of minutes for the last regular meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 10 and the approval of minutes from the special meeting held on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
Following, was a public hearing regarding a special exception application regarding two parcels of property on Elizabeth Sims Loops and another near Cherry Lake. Both special exceptions were requested by Verizon Cell Service in order to place two new 250 foot, self-supporting cell towers in Madison County. Representatives from Verizon were present in order to answer any questions the commissioners may of had.
As it was a public hearing, the commissioners opened the floor to individuals who wanted to speak in support of or against the cell towers.
Sheriff Ben Stewart came forward to speak in favor of the cell tower sites, as they will help local law enforcement with their connection to one another, as there are various areas where mobile data experiences dead zones.
“The more towers that [Madison County] has, the more I can make my people safer,” said Sheriff Stewart. “I support these towers.”
Commissioner Ronnie Moore asked if the cell towers would place already-existing towers out of service, but he was assured by Verizon staff that the locations for the towers had been chosen so as to not interfere with other pre-existing services. A representative from Verizon assured the commission that locations had been looked into very thoroughly and should not pose a problem. They also advised that the Verizon coverage in Cherry Lake is currently very bad, and the tower should significantly help with the coverage issue.
“I know from being in the Cherry Lake area quite often, the reception up there is often very poor,” agreed Commissioner Rick Davis. “This will be a great thing for our community.”
After a motion and a second, the commissioners concurrently approved the cell towers 5-0. The Planning and Zoning Board had already signed off on the special exception request. The towers will each provide a coverage radius of five and a half to six miles.
Moving on through the agenda, Madison County Emergency Management Director Alan Whigham requested the commissioners approve allowing Emergency Management to enter into discussions with Disaster Strategies and Ideas Group, LLC (DSI) before entering a contract. DSI is a national leading firm that is headquartered in Tallahassee and provides consulting services to emergency management.
After a motion and a second, the commissioners approved Whigham's request 5-0.
The commissioners also approved the State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP) annual reports for the county 5-0.
The commissioners were also advised that there will be changes taking place to the affordable housing committee for Madison within the fall, but there was no change as of the meeting date.
Next up on the agenda, the commissioners looked over a request that had been made to purchase real estate from Madison County.
A citizen had sent in a letter to purchase a one-acre parcel of land near the Withlacoochee boat ramp. This was also not the first time the individual had requested to purchase the parcel, but his previous request had been denied due to the commissioners not agreeing with the offered price. After turning down the first offer, county staff had reentered into negotiations with the individual, and both parties had come to a price they found reasonable, leading to the request to purchase the land being placed back on the commissioner's agenda. Commissioners were assured by County Coordinator Brian Kauffman that all adjoining property owners had been advised that the property was being considered for sale, that way, should they desire, they could place an offer themselves. According to Kauffman, there were no other offers that had been received by county staff. After reviewing the information provided by Kauffman, the commissioners approved the sale 5-0.
The commission moved on to a new item of business regarding land-sale notice requirements for the county.
“Right now, our current ordinance requires us to post notices on the courthouse door,” said Davis. “I think having that [ordinance] had its usefulness and purpose years ago. [But] now, not all county government is done through the courthouse. I don't think everyone in the public has the opportunity to know of our notices that are posted on the courthouse door.”
Davis added that he had spoken with the county attorney prior to the meeting about posting notices instead in the local newspaper, and that he had been told it would be acceptable.
“I think its a good idea,” said Commissioner Alfred Martin. “[Putting it in the paper] makes sure nothing falls through the cracks.”
County Attorney Clay Schnitker advised that the county also make use of their own website for listing the notices.
A motion was made to amend the ordinance to allow the county to print the notices in their local newspaper as well as the county's website, rather than posting them on the courthouse door.
The commissioners voted 5-0 to change the ordinance. County staff will prepare the changed ordinance and present it to the commissioners at another meeting for their final approval.
The commissioners discussed current road department updates, including the repairs that will be underway at NE Harvey Greene Dr., and the upcoming repairs to Martin Luther King Rd.
A citizen requested that the commissioners look into repairing the sidewalks along Martin Luther King Rd., as the children who live down that stretch of roadway have begun walking in the road, since the sidewalks are so run-down and overgrown with grass.
With nothing left on their agenda, the commissioners set a first public budget hearing for Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 5:30 p.m. and adjoined their meeting until then.