HNS REPORTS---FEBRUARY 1, 2010



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FRANKIE BURNETT, JR. IS NEW BROOKSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER

In Brooksville, the old is new again...City Council members voted Monday to put former councilman Frankie Burnett, Jr., in the seat vacated by the resignation of David Pugh.  Burnett was one of three finalists for the post, and in the final balloting bested Planning Board member Shannon Dempsey and Hernando High assistant principal Brent Gaustad.  Burnett was sworn in by County Judge Don Scaglione and, asked if he had any comments, said simply, "Let's get to work."



CITY COUNCIL TO DECIDE NEW MEMBER, ELECTION TIMING

The Brooksville City Council will get a new member Monday night.  The council agenda calls for an appointment of a person to replace resigned Councilman David Pugh.  But the appointment isn't scheduled on the agenda until after the council decides how long the appointed member will serve.
The four council members will hold a second reading of an ordinance that would change the city code to allow the appointee to sit for seven months until the seat can be filled in the November general election.  The change was pushed by two council members at a meeting last month, in an effort to save the estimated $25-30,000 cost of a special election.  Current city code would require that election no later than early April.  But the fate of that change could be up to Councilman Joe Johnston.  Johnston and Vice-Mayor Richard Lewis expressed concerns last month about changing the rules of the game after Pugh's resignation.  Johnston voted for the change on the first reading but said he would look at amendments to the code change at the second reading.
Five city residents have expressed interest in the appointment, including former council member Frankie Burnett, Jr.; current Planning Board member Shannon Dempsey; Hernando High assistant principal Brent Gaustad; south Brooksville community activist Herman Scriven; and Jason Sharp, who lost a bid for a council seat two years ago.

JANUARY PERMITS DOWN FROM DECEMBER, OFF FROM YEAR AGO

County Development Department records show 14 single-family building permits were issued in January.  That's down from the landmark December total, when 19 permits were issued in the first full month of the county's twelve-month experiment with residential impact fees cut in half.  Despite the fee break, the January single-family permit total is down 33% from the 21 permits issued in January of last year, when the full impact fee was being charged.  The 19 December permits sparked hopes that the lower impact fees would spur the construction industry, after only 13 permits were issued for the preceding three months combined.  But the January figure still means that 33 single-family dwellings were permitted in the first two months of the fee break, two and a half times the number for the three months prior to the impact fee reduction.

HERNANDO SHERIFF EMBRACES "PLAIN TALK" COMMUNICATIONS

Some Florida law enforcement agencies have been slow to adopt what federal officials call plain talk communications.  But a spokesperson for Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent says the Sheriff's Office here has embraced plain talk as a necessity.
The Department of Homeland Security has noted several incidents where inter-agency communications issues hampered responses to disasters, such as 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina.  Officials said differing lingo such as agency-specific codes and signals led to communications breakdowns.  They have been urging local agencies to use plain talk in place of the long-popular police radio chatter.
In Hernando, Sgt. Donna Black says plain talk on Hernando emergency radio frequencies is a necessity since the Sheriff's Office dispatches for multiple agencies, including the two fire rescue departments in the county and Spring Hill.  She says the vast majority of law enforcement aid requests are also dispatched in plain talk.  Black noted that the Incident Command System protocols adopted by local first responders several years ago also calls for plain talk communications.  And she said the system works so well that there were no glitches in communications at all when Citrus deputies covered portions of Hernando while most Hernando deputies attended the funeral of Capt. Scott Bierwiler last year.


GROUNDWATER GUARDIANS TAKE PECK SINK TOUR

The Groundwater Guardians committee got a close-up look last week at the property that officials want to use for the Peck Sink Stormwater Preserve.  The Guardians group is a volunteer board that meets once a month to assist the county Utilities Department in water conservation efforts.  Several in the group had not been to the Peck Sink property before, and those that had wanted to see what the county plans to do on the property.  John Burnett of the county's Public Works department led the group and explained the topography and hydrology of the area.
(Hernando Co. photos by Alys Brockway)
Original plans called for a park-like setting that would aid in educating the public about the sink's direct connection to the aquifer and why preservation was important.  Some of the Guardians group cited the state's enhancement of the Millhopper sink in Gainesville as an example of what they hoped could be achieved for Peck Sink.  But county commissioners concerned with budget issues decided to limit initial work at the Preserve to stormwater retention ponds to help clean up water from storm events before it flows into the sink.
Plans for public access to the area haven't been set yet, though planners are hopeful that a grassed parking area and small sink overlook will be a part of the eventual development.  The county and the water management district are splitting the cost of Preserve improvements.  The land was purchased three years ago with funds from a voted ad valorem tax levy for buying and preserving environmentally sensitive lands.

FMCA MEMBERS ARRIVING FOR MOTOR COACH RALLY


This is the week for recreational vehicles to add to the traffic on area streets and highways.  The Family Motor Coach Association will kickoff its annual rally at the Hernando County Airport this Thursday.  The event brings hundreds of RV'ers to the area each winter, and local merchants and restaurants traditionally see extra cash in the till from the visitors.  Rally organizers are inviting the public to visit the grounds at the south end of the airport for a look at the latest in motor coaches.  The entrance to the rally area is on Broad Street just south of the SWFWMD headquarters building.



Posted by Hernando News Source at January 31, 2010
Categories: uncategorized
 

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  • February 1, 2010 opaquelypellucid wrote:
    You have ads! Good for you. I'm sure you've noticed that you have single handedly forced the dead tree media to update their web sites throughout the day rather than waiting until the late pm or not at all.

    You have become my #1 source of local news due to your unbiased reporting. You are reporting the facts and letting the folks decide what to do with them.

    I wouldn't mind seeing and occasional editorial from you designated as such with a banner or box stating that it's an opinion column and you are writing it to make the folks think and with an invitation for contrary views.

    Great pics, by the way. What camera do you use?

    Keep up the great work!
    Reply to this
    1. February 1, 2010 Hernando News Source wrote:
      It's a little SONY Cybershot...sometimes the pics are good, sometimes not.  Last week I ran out of memory at Peck Sink and had to use Alys' pics.  Tonight at the City Council, my battery died.  Luckily I had just enough juice left after shutting it down for a while to get the swearing in picture.
      Thanks for your comment, and please feel free to chime in often!

      Editorials?  I've considered it for the weekend edition and may still write something about the dredge, despite (or perhaps because of) my previous involvement.  You and other readers would likely be surprised at the relatively small role played by the attorney's office in the whole process before it all began to fall apart.  The role was not by choice, though.  There's a lot to be said about the whole process, and maybe soon we'll comment as well as reporting on it.

      Reply to this
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