PAGE 8 - May 30, 2012
THE NEWSCASTER-Nature Coast News
From Dawn's Front Porch
Squawk Box
Continued from page 1
2 of this year as a non-partisan candidate, 384 Democrats have switched to the Republican
By Newscaster Contributor Dawn Clary
ticket.
Budget Time – The time is nigh to begin crunching numbers for the next fiscal year. The
As of May 25, that’s more than a three hundred percent increase from the two
first workshop is planned for June 16th. This will be the first year for YT Councilman Larry
previous months (January 1 – March 1). It can be assumed that not all have changed for
Feldhusen as the Financial Liaison. Norm Shannahan had been the budgeteer for many
the above reason, but why is that date important to this subject? Well, before that date, any
years and had become quite the expert. So far, there are no big projects, or legal bills this
registered Levy County voter would have been able to vote in the Republican Primary -
year (knock on wood), so the budget should be fairly straight forward. Probably the biggest
Republicans, Democrats and Independents - but now, only registered Republicans can. Mr.
issues will be dealing with the reduction of income from the lower property values and the
McCallum no longer has the Democrat voter advantage. What to do, what to do? Switch
fire department merger, should that go through. This year, Yankeetown’s Fire Dept budget
parties! That changes the balance and puts the other two Republican candidates at an unfair
was $47,065, with approximately $33,000 of that coming from Levy County. Should the
disadvantage. That’s just politics as usual in a predominently Democrat county!
merger go through there will be a revamping of the funds. As it is now, the county places
If “everybody’s running for a paycheck,” here’s their motivation, according to the
an assessment on the county residents living outside of municipalities and then essentially
state s “Finalized Salaries of Elected County Constitutional Officers and School Districts
hires the municipalities to cover the unincorporated areas.
Officials for Fiscal Year 2011-12” for LEVY COUNTY: $100,132 is the annual salary for
Other budget areas in the YT General fund include “Roads and Streets” which had
the following elected positions - Clerk of Circuit Court, Property Appraiser, Tax Collec-
a budget this year of $39,800 and included the repaving of 64th street among other things.
tor and School Superintendent; $83,043 for Supervisor of Elections; Sheriff is a whop-
“Culture &Recreation” had a budget this year of $83,320 however $5000 of that was do-
ping $108,728; County Commissioners make $34,015 and School Board Members make
nated and over $30000 was grant funds to design proposed improvements to Fisherman’s
$26,502. The Governor is paid slightly more than a Levy County Sheriff at $130,273. The
Park. This budget category maintains all the town’s parks. The biggie in the General fund
highest-salaried Florida government official is Supreme Court Justice at $157,976, with
is “General Government” and that was $153,227 this year. It includes employee salaries,
other judges falling slightly below: District Court of Appeal Judges at $150,077, Circuit
insurances,(health, flood, vehicle etc) building repair and on and on.
Court Judges at $142, 178, County Court Judges at $134,280. State Attorneys and Public
The water budget is separate. If you are interested in how your hard earned tax
Defenders do quite well at $150,077.
dollars are spent, you may wanna mark your calendar and show up.
If Columbo were investigating this case the conversation might go something like
Inglis Interest May Be Renewed in Fire Merger – It Appears that Inglis is re-
this (cigar in hand): “Oh, sir, sir, just one more thing. If Levy County is a predominately
visiting the fire merger issue. Levy County Public Safety Director, David Knowles will be
Democrat county why is there no Democrat candidate for Sheriff? Ah, let’s see now, is
attending the Inglis Town Meeting on Tuesday, June 5th. Chief Knowles is reported to be
there time to qualify?” Well, Mr. Columbo you are in luck. Pursuant to Section 99.061,
discussing what is involved in merging the Fire Dept with the county.
F.S., all county-wide candidates must file their qualifying papers no earlier than noon of the
Paying Your Respects to Bill –A Celebration of the Life of Arthur (Bill) Pate will
71st day prior to the election, but not later than noon of the 67th day prior to the date of the
be held at the AMVETS William Crow Post at Hwy 40 E in Inglis this Sunday (June 3rd).
election (which would be from noon on Monday, June 4, through noon of Friday, July 8,
The event will start at 2:00 pm. It is requested that you bring a covered dish to share. There
2012).
will be music by Rusty and Debi and Just Us Band. There are those of us who remember
The primary election is August 14th and the Levy supervisor of elections reports
shaking our old bones dancing to the tunes of Bill’s band “Just Us 4”. Bill, also known as
11,544 registered Democrats, 9,086 registered Republicans and 4,172 others.
Tarmac Focused on Next
“Frog” was a talented musician. Some people say that memorial services are important for
the living, a chance to pay ones respects and reflect. It is good to keep dancing. Good Night
and Good Luck
Public Hearing
Public Invited to Attend Meeting on the
Draft Tarmac King Road Limestone Mine Environmental
As the public gets ready for the next public hearing on Tarmac’s King Road Mine
at Inglis, there is some confusion on the street as to the status of the Mine. Former plant
Impact Statement, Levy County, Florida
manager Jeff Harris told The Newscaster that is was decided to close in Inglis office in
Plaza 40 back in November. “It was a hard decision, but we rarely had visitors there, and
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will hold a public meeting to receive
it just made sense to move everything to the office at the mine site. Unfortunately, this
comments on the Draft Tarmac King Road Limestone Mine Environmental
required the layoff of our part time employee at the Inglis office,” said Harris.
Impact Statement (DEIS).
According to Harris another difficult business decision was to put the Marion
8400 dragline up for sale. “After a lot of analysis, we decided that the machine was not a
The DEIS evaluates the potential impacts of rock mining in wetlands in southwest
value to the operation at this time. After the mine is finally permitted, a smaller dragline
Levy County, Florida. The proposed mining area includes approximately 4,800
would be needed to start the development of the site anyway. A smaller machine will be
acres, of which up to 3,900 acres could potentially be impacted, and is located five
used to enlarge the test pit and dig the second plant pond. After that it would dig the first
miles north of the town of Inglis. The public is invited to participate in an open
three pits (a total of about 5 years of work) before the larger machine would be needed to
dig the larger pits. Given the very slow pace of permitting to date, we decided to liquidate
exchange of information and submission of comments on the Draft EIS.
the asset now and pursue another further down the road.” Harris said, “I am pleased to say
The meeting will be held on Thursday May 31, 2012 at the Inglis Community
that we worked with NAC to retain all of the security personnel. They will stay on with the
Center, 137 Highway 40 West, Inglis, FL 34449
new company at the site with similar pay and benefits until the machine is moved sometime
in the future. Also, remember that we are continuing with our plan – just with a smaller
6:30 pm Registration, sign up to present oral comments, opportunity to
dragline in the beginning of the project.”
review exhibits/information. (Pre-registration available at
Harris was the plant manager and applied for and got the position as production
www.kingroadeis.com up through May 30, 2012 at 4pm)
manager of the company’s cement operation in Medley. Harris said, “I will pull double
7:00 pm Meeting begins with a presentation on the DEIS
duty for a while and will continue to work on the project as we move forward with the
Corps of Engineers permit. A successor will be named once all permits are in hand and
7:30 pm Public may provide oral comments on the DEIS
mining operations are set to begin.”
Meeting ends (time To Be Determined)
TBD
The focus this week is on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
which has been released by the Army Corps of Engineers. The public comment period is
Oral comments will be recorded.
open, and a hearing will be held at the community center in Inglis on May 31st at 6:30pm.
After the public comment period closes after 60 days, the Corps will review all of the com-
Written comments on the DEIS may also be submitted to:
ments received and address each one of them in the final Record of Decision (ROD). It’s
not known how long that part of the process.
Mr. Edward P. Sarfert, USACE, Regulatory Division, 41 North
For Hurricane preparedness, safety information,
Jefferson St., Suite 301, Pensacola, FL 32502-5794
Tel.: 850-439-9533
hotline phone numbers, survival kit info,
Email: edward.p.sarfert@usace.army.mil
Website: www.kingroadeis.com
emergency shelters, safe room, & more
www.thenewscaster.com/hurricane.html
The DEIS comment period ends on July 11, 2012.