Town of Fort White Town Council Meeting February 17, 2025 Town Hall 6:00 PM

-j-i (- r TOWN OF FORT WHITE, FLORIDA TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DATE: February 17, 2025 TIME: 6:00 PM ALL AGENDA BACKUP MATERIAL IS AVAILABLE ON THE TOWN WEBSITE UNDER THE GOVERNMENT TAB/TOWN COUNCIL AT www.fortwhitefl.com. INVOCATION CALLTO ORDER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL MEMBERS: OTHERS: Mayor, George Jacob Thomas (Filling in for) Town Clerk, Brook Mishoe (Absent) - Council Member, Kathryn Terry Town Attorney, Lindsey Lander Council Member, Bill Koon Council Member, Monica Merricks (Absent for first approximately 5 minutes) - ITEM 1-ADDITIONS, DELETIONS, CHANGES. AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Motion made to delete item 7 from agenda by Councilwoman Terry, seconded by Councilman Koon and passed with Mayor Thomas voting against. Deleted Item 7. Motion to add new agenda items made by Councilman Koon, seconded by Councilwoman Terry and paS5ed unanimously. Added 10- Receipt of drilling of test well Added 11 Community Center Yard Sale - Added 12- Pledge of Allegiance for Elementary Students Added 13 Soccer Club request to use Community Center - ITEM 2-APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion to table approval of January 22, 2025 Town Council meeting minutes so that they can be corrected made by Councilman Koon, seconded by Councilwoman Merricks, passed unanimously. ITEM 3- PUBLIC COMMENTS 1. Stew Lilker commented on January’s meeting minutes being incorrect. 2. Dana Pascarela commented on James Richardson running for the vacant council seat. Voiced - support for the Collective. 3. Ora Enman spoke on her nonprofit Straight from the Heart and regular Community Center - use. ITEM 4- NEW BUSINESS 1. Straight from the Heart reimbursement request. - Motion to reimburse Straight from the Heart for Community Center Rental made by Councilwoman Merricks, seconded by Councilwoman Terry and passed unanimously. 2. Town Clerk & Assistant Town Clerk positions funding. Motion to approve funding for - temp agency employees made by Councilman Koon and 5econded by Councilwoman Merricks, passed unanimously. 3. Bookkeeping Services funding. Motion to approve bookkeeping services made by - Councilman Koon, seconded by Councilwoman Merricks and passed unanimously. 4. Authorize a council member for approval authority in the absence of an Difice town clerk. Lindsey Lander recommended finding a Town Clerk first as opposed to - authorizing a councilmember. 5. Town attorney resignation. - Update Looking for new town attorney. - 6. Main Street Program Update. Town is officially in Main Street Program. - 7. Request Councilman Koon submit opinion with Florida Commission on Ethics with regard to his potential conflict of interest as a Columbia County employee. Item deleted.  8. Continuation of Appeal by Brad Dicks on Site Plan #SP 23-01. Motion to deny Site Plan - appeal made by Councilwoman Merricks, seconded by Councilwoman Terry and passed unanimously. 9. Continuation of Appeal by Brad Dickson Special Use Permit #SUP 23-01. Motion to - deny Special use Permit appeal made by Councilwoman Terry, seconded by Councilwoman Merricks and passed unanimously. 10. Receipt of drilling of the test well. Discussion was had to whether or not Mayor had - the authority to authorize increased grant expenditures for drilling/repair of water well. 11. Community Yard sale. motion for Town of Fort White to host yard sale on April 5th - made by Councilwoman Terry, seconded by Councilman Koon and passed unanimously. 12. Elementary pledge of allegiance. Motion to allow Fort White Elementary School - students to say the pledge of allegiance at Town Council meetings made by Councilwoman Terry and seconded by Councilwoman Merricks, passed unanimously. Councilman Koon made motion to hold the March Town Council meeting at the Community Center and include Sewage project as agenda item, it was seconded by councilwoman Merricks and it passed unanimously. 13. The soccer club wants special use of community center and wants partnership with the town of Ft. White. Motion to allow the Soccer Club to use the Community Center - without paying rental fee on April 12th made by Councilwoman Merricks, seconded by Councilman Koon and passed unanimously. ITEM 5-CITIZEN COMMENTS: Rocky Ford mentioned Lakeshore Hospital Authority could possibly open a clinic to provide healthcare in Fort White and asked for Town Council to assist in that effort. ITEM 6- COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS/ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW DISTRICT 2 CO U NCII.MEMB ER: Dennis Rivera was announced as having the highest score and was sworn in by the Mayor as the Councilman for District 2. ITEM 7-ADJOURNMENT:  4 .4 Motion to adjourn made by Councilman Koon, seconded by Councilwoman Terry and passed unanimously. Minutes of the Town Council meeting may be obtained from the Town Clerk’s office. The minutes are recorded, but not transcribed verbatim. Persons requiring a verbatim transcript may make arrangements with the Town Clerk to duplicate the recordings or arrange to have a court reporter present at the meeting. The cost of duplication and/or court reporter will be borne by the requesting party. An accordance with Sect. 226.0105 Florida Statutes. notice is given that if a person wishes to appeal a decision made by the Town Council with respect to any matter considered at this meeting, they will need a record of the proceedings, and for such purpose may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceeding is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is based. Persons with disabilities needing special accommodations to participate in this meeting should contact the Mayor through the Town Clerk’s office no later than 4:00 PM on the Friday prior to the meeting.