The Newscaster/Nature Coast News
PAGE 11 - October 3, 2012
From Dawn's Front Porch
Letter to the Editor:
Re: Push Back Against Mandatory Garbage Collection
By Newscaster Contributor Dawn Clary
The Inglis commission appears on the verge of enforcing mandatory garbage col-
New Fees for Yankeetown Parks - At the YT Council meeting last Monday a resolution
lection.
was passed to charge fees for the use of three of the town parks. The hope is that the fees
I have just driven virtually every street in town east of US19. Most streets were
will help defray some of the expense of maintaining our parks. The Yacht Basin Boat Park
relatively clean with a only few bad areas. I found four types of problems. Street littering,
will have a fee for non-residents only of $5 to launch a boat. A yearly fee of $40 will also
derelict homes, junk cars & boats, and junky or trashy homes sites. I did not find one case
be available for the boat launch. A drop box will be provided for daily use and a vehicle
that looked like illegal dumping. None of these problems will be solved by mandatory gar-
sticker will be provided for the yearly purchase. The drop box or stickers have not yet been
bage collection. People who litter are trash and they will keep on tossing cups and bottles
put in place. The Winding River Park will also have a fee of $30 for events such as a wed-
out their car windows. We have litter laws to deal with littering.
ding. This charge is also for non-residents only. The Withlacoochee Gulf Preserve will
Existing health laws can be applied against accumulated garbage. We have a coun-
have fees that apply to both residents and non-residents. A daily fee of $30 will apply for
ty Health Department for that purpose. Derelict homes and junk cars can be dealt with us-
events on park grounds. A daily fee of $100 was approved to rent the Educational Center
ing current zoning laws and codes. George in zoning, was doing a great job getting rid of
2nd floor conference room for events and a daily charge of $30 to rent the Education Center
derelict trailers until your commission pulled his funding. The town just needs to fund code
1st floor screened in area. School educational events are exempt from the charges.
enforcement. I suppose they are trying to protect their million dollar nest egg of your tax
Final Budget Approved – The final Yankeetown budget hearing was held and a budget was
dollars. Junky homeowners are a bit harder to deal with, but code enforcement would go a
approved. A millage rate of slightly under 3 will go into effect. The water budget is such
long was toward solving the problem. Some can be condemned and torn down with a lien
that there will be no rate increase.
placed on the property to recover the cost.
Sadness in the Swamp – Dick Kellman, Inglis Town Commissioner, passed away last
It is interesting that most of the litter and derelicts just happen to be at or near
week. He was one of those people who contributed a lot to his community while never
known drug houses. If we funded code enforcement and we had a police department that
making a fuss. Everyone knows that he was on the Inglis Town Commission, but many
was not impotent at shutting down the drug houses, we may also be able to clean up the
may not remember how hard he worked for the bike path. Years ago he was one of the
town. A screwdriver is the wrong tool to remove a hex head bolt.
charter members of the Bike Path Committee. He came up with the idea to sell bricks where
Mandatory garbage is the wrong tool to fix trashy and derelict home problems.
people bought a brick and could have them inscribed with anything they wanted but most
Tell your commission not to ram another inefficiently run government mandate down your
bought a brick in memory of someone. Hence we have the little memory patch in front of
throat, especially one that will not work! I prefer my garbage collection to remain a private
the school. We made what we thought were mega bucks on that project. He also came up
business transaction between the collector and myself. Even though I currently employ
with the auction that we had years and years ago. People donated items and we auctioned
Waste Pro, they can not force me to continue buying their service and place a lien on my
them off. He and former YT Council Member Glen Spetz would pick up the items and some
house, should I decide to fire them. I can suspend service if I will be out of town for a month
were quite large. I remember Mr. Spetz saying, that item was so heavy and nobody is going
or so. Do you want more government breathing down your neck? You better push back!
to buy it anyway. When someone did buy it he was so thrilled. Mr. Kellman was always a
Andy Eiland, Inglis
level head and someone you could talk to about anything without repercussions. He will be
missed. Good Night and Good Luck
Letter to the Editor:
Re: Automation instead of manual
R&M
How many times have you deposited your pay check on the way home so you
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS
could cover your bills? We all do it, not because we are accountants but we must get the
Rebuilt - Repaired - Resealed
money into our checking account. This is called “Cash Flow” or cover our “Butt” money.
Complete Auto Repairs
Currently, my water payment checks take 3 plus days to be deposited by Inglis Town Hall
A/C - Brakes - Front End - Exhaust - TuneUps
and 2 days in the mail system. That’s five days that our Money does not make Interest. We
have the capability now with enhancements to our existing system to have direct deposit,
Computer Diagnostics
auto bill pay, scan in payments, auto posting and receipts, but most of all money in our ac-
Oil Changes While You Wait
count the Same Day.
4X4’s - RV’s - Trucks - Autos
Prior to and during the budget process our Finance Commissioner, Tom Brennan,
Free Estimates
Foreign & Domestic
did not take the time to look into our existing software called Jayhawk. Instead he passed the
352-447-0704
Visa - Mastercard - Discover
buck to the Town Hall staff who in my opinion does not embrace “Change” at all. The re-
Accepted
marks at the budget meeting were we are Too small to benefit from the software and the bar
Fax Line 447-6040
code reader costs too much. The kicker is they don’t mind handwriting over 800+ receipts a
month. So let’s keep things the same and not put the money in the bank for 5 days. That’s a
Half a Million a year, not small change!
NATURE COAST WATER, INC.
If we had looked into Our Jayhawk billing module as a regular business process
we would discover that this up-grade would pay for itself in less than 4 months. Plus the
advantage to process all types of payments with a single scan.
Money can’t sit in the mail or on a desk it must be deposited daily. With our current
CALL 352-447-6002 • Locally Owned & Operated
Town Hall schedule we work 100 fewer days than our Inglis Post Office. Since the manual
system has been chosen by Commissioner Brennan and Town Hall over automation the only
12 MONTHS
thing left to remedy this process is to work six days a week. Please remember This is Our
FREE WATER ANALYSIS
SAME AS
Money and it should be processed daily. Speak out and Demand, “Money IN and Deposited
CASH
the Same Day”.
Whole House Iron, Sulfur,
William A. Monteverde, Inglis, Fl.
Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water
Hardness, & Odor Removal
Lions Club Scholarship Information
Systems Great for Residential,
Services Available
RV & Commercial Use
Each year the Lions of District 35-O give a $1000.00 scholarship to one or more outstanding
high school seniors in the district. To request an application, please send your name, address
SALT DELIVERY AVAILABLE
and phone number to Lions Scholarship, c/o Inglis Yankeetown Lions Club, P.O. Box 314,
Inglis, Fl 34449. Deadline: Nov. 21, 2012.
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