Florida's seasonally adjusted unemployment hit its highest rate on record in February, at the same time that Jefferson and Madison counties' jobless rates dropped slightly.

The latest statistics, released by the Florida Agency on Workforce Innovation (AWI) on Friday, March 26, show Florida's unemployment rate was 12.2 percent in February, up 0.2-percentage point from January's revised rate of 12.0 percent, and up 3.0 percentage points from the February 2009 rate of 9.2 percent.

"February's unemployment rate is the highest in the recorded series and higher than rates recorded in the 1973-1975 recession," the AWI notes.

Florida's unemployment rate remained higher than the national average, which was 9.7 percent in February.

The 12.2 percent unemployment rate translates into 1,126,000 jobless Floridians out of labor force of 9,251,000.

In Jefferson County, meanwhile, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was 9.5 percent, 0.6-percentage point down from January's rate of 10.1 percent. The county' unemployment rate was 7.1 percent in February 2009.

For Madison County, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was 13.3 percent, down 0.3-percentage point from January's rate of 13.6 percent. Madison County's unemployment rate a year ago was 9.6 percent.

Seasonally unadjusted, as opposed to the seasonally adjusted figures for the state, means that the numbers have not been purged of seasonal and other factors that can lower the results. The statistics also do not reflect individuals who have given up or ceased looking for work for whatever reason.

The 9.5 percent jobless rate for Jefferson County translates into 658 jobless persons out of a labor force of 6,959, compared with 703 jobless persons out of a workforce of 6,982 in January. The comparable figures were 492 jobless persons out of a workforce of 6,897 in February 2009.

In neighboring Madison County, the 13.3 percent jobless rate translates into 945 jobless persons out of a workforce of 7,120, compared with 969 jobless persons out of a workforce of 7,129 in January. The comparable figures a year ago were 674 jobless persons out of a workforce of 7,052.

"Florida's total nonagricultural employment in February 2010 was 7,173,200, representing a gain of 26,300 jobs (+0.4 percent) over the month and a job loss of 211,500 jobs, or -2.19 percent, compared to February 2009," the AWI reports. "This is the first time since November 2007 that the over-the-month change was positive. Florida's rate of job decline was steeper than the national rate of decline for February, which was -2.5 percent over the year."

AWI Director Cynthia Lorenzo saw cause for optimism in the small gain.

"February's unemployment rate underscores the critical importance of our ongoing efforts to support Florida's families and businesses during these challenging times," Lorenzo said. "While the unemployment rate is a lagging indicator of economic recovery, last month's positive job growth of 26,300 jobs and a 300 percent reduction in the number of layoff notices since the peak last May are both encouraging signs of an improving economy."

The industry accounting for the greatest job losses continued to be construction, losing 73,600 jobs, a 17.1 percent drop. Other industries losing jobs included: trade, transportation and utilities (-35,100 jobs); leisure and hospitality (-33,000 jobs); manufacturing (-32,000 jobs); financial activities (-24,500 job); and information (-13,000 jobs).

Private education and health services remained Florida's only growth sectors over the year, with healthcare and social assistance gaining 19,900 jobs (primarily in ambulatory healthcare services), and private education gaining 4,000 jobs, for a total combined gain of 23,900 jobs.

Liberty County continued to have the state's lowest unemployment rate at 7.5 percent, followed by Monroe County at 8.0 percent; Leon County at 8.6 percent; and Alachua County at 8.8 percent.

Flagler County continued to have the state's highest unemployment rate at 17.0 percent; followed by Hernando County at 15.6 percent; Marion County at 15.4 percent; Hardee and St. Lucie counties at 14.9 percent; and Citrus County at 14.5 percent.

The AWI notes that many of the counties with the lowest unemployment rates have relatively high proportions of government employment, and those with the highest unemployment rates are experiencing the continuing weakness in construction, manufacturing and financial activities.

Jefferson County continued to rank 59 statewide in terms of its unemployment rate, and Madison County ranked 19, with Flagler County at No. 1 with the highest jobless rate and Liberty at No. 67 with the lowest.

The AWI reports that all the state's metro areas lost jobs, with the exception of the Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach Metropolitan Statistics Area (MSA). Jefferson County is part of the Tallahassee MSA, one of 23 such areas in the state. The Tallassee MSA ranked No. 21, with the third lowest rate of job decline in February at 9.1 percent.

Leave it to Commissioner Hines Boyd to throw a monkey wrench in the works and bring things to a screeching halt just when everybody thought it was all systems go and things were proceeding along smoothly.

Boyd applied the brakes most recently to the proposed courthouse roof repair and renovation project, which work the construction manager had estimated could cost as much as $502,000.

"I have given this project a lot of thought," Boyd said at the commission meeting on Thursday, March 18, adding that although no building expert himself, he knew enough "to know the difference between a crowbar and a hammer."

Bottom line, the idea of spending $502,000 on a building that the county had completely renovated to the tune of $2 million some 12 years earlier didn't seem right to him.

"I think we need to take a deep breath and step back," Boyd said.

He said he appreciated the work that Riley Palmer Construction Company and construction manager Sutton Webb in particular had done, but he simply thought that $502,000 was too much for what warranted doing.

"I appreciate the work that Webb and Palmer have done," Boyd said. "Bu I think at this point it would be more prudent for the county to hire local people that are capable of getting up on the roof and fixing the things that absolutely need fixing."

The county might even be able to get prisoners to do some of the work, saving even more money, he said. What's more, he had talked to Building Inspector Wallace Bullock and the latter had expressed a willingness to oversee the project personally. Slow as things were in the building industry, Bullock had the time, and the expertise, Boyd said. And Bullock not only asserted that local people were qualified to do the job, he also knew who were the best qualified, Boyd said, proceeding to put his thoughts into a motion.

"My motion is to proceed with essential repairs using staff, local people and possibly prisoners," Boyd said. "And I say we allocate $150,000 for the repairs. I think we can do what needs to be done with that. I don't think we need to spend $502,000. "

Clerk of Court Kirk Reams questioned if Boyd might not be miscalculating something. He offered that the thought initially was to do the project in phases and do it with funds from the special surcharge on traffic citations that are issued in the county, which revenues were increasing since the commission had doubled the amount, and which monies couldn't be used for anything other than courthouse renovations.

Reams noted that much of the money for the earlier renovations had gone for the installation of the elevator and other internal repairs. He didn't want the county to spend money now and find itself in the same situation 10 or 12 years hence because the work hadn't been done properly or had been done completely enough.

Boyd reiterated that the work he proposed doing was sufficient and that Bullock knew who were the good workers. But more importantly, the county had to set up a maintenance schedule for the courthouse and adhere to it. If a maintenance schedule had been implemented initially and adhered to, the current problems wouldn't be problems, he said.

Webb offered that the $500,000 was only an estimate, and a worst-case scenario at that. Nor did all the items on the estimate need to be done at one time, he said. But Boyd countered that what concerned him about the proposal was the exceedingly high prices. He cited as an example the estimate on the glazing and repainting of the 78 windows in the courthouse for $98,000.

"That's more than a $1,000 per window," Boyd said. "Candidly, it's more than a worst-case scenario. It's out there in left field. It doesn't even come close to reality. That's why I think we need to step back and take a breath."

Commissioner Felix "Skeet" Joyner agreed with Boyd, to a degree. But he said he wanted to check with Bullock personally before committing to a decision on the matter. The commission tabled the issue until Thursday, April 1.

But not before Chuck Sarkisian had his say.

"Here we go again," Sarkisian railed. "We're playing backseat driver to the project. Commissioner Boyd, I take issue with you micromanaging the contractor. When you hire somebody, you get out of their way and let him do his job. You (commissioners) have no business taking on the A-Building, if you can' even take care of what you already have with the courthouse."

Sarkisian was getting a little warm under the collar and his voice rising when Commission Danny Monroe put a stop to the critisism.

Sutton, in his earlier presentation to the commission on March 4 made clear that the $502,000 was based on a general inspection of the damage, absent any specifics. It could be that the bids proved higher or lower, he said. It could also be that the scope of the required work proved greater, once the actual work got underway and new problems were discovered. Too, the projected costs were based on using best practices and materials, in keeping with maintaining the courthouse's historic character and integrity. Should that not be an objective, the cost could be significantly reduced, he said.

For example, if the commission opted to go with asphalt or regular shingles on the roof, instead of the recommended architectural shingles, it could bring the cost down some $41,000, Webb said.

"It's not a requirement (for the architectural shingles), but in the future if you want funding you have to follow the guidelines for historical preservation," he said. "We don' want to lessen the sanctity of the courthouse to save some money."

Even then, Boyd gagged a little on the cost.

"This is a big number to swallow," Boyd observed. "If you came up to me on the street with this number, I'd say I'd wanted to repair the courthouse, not to build it up again."

Three from Paducah, KY, were killed Thursday afternoon in a fiery RV crash after the vehicle suffered a blowout on the Interstate.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, at 1 p.m., Thursday, April 1, William R. Gore, 78, of Paducah, KY, was driving a 2006 Holiday Rambler Diesel Pusher RV, westbound on I-10 at the 224 mile marker. In the vehicle as passengers were Dona M. Gore, 82, and her sister, Ruth Wyatt, 78, both also of Paducah.

FHP Sgt. David Folsom reported that the vehicle experienced a blowout of the right front tire and went off the north shoulder and traveled down the embankment before slamming into several pine trees. Witnesses reported the RV burst into flames almost immediately.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office deputies immediately barricaded the westbound lanes of the Interstate, as well as the two westbound entrance ramps to all oncoming traffic, allowing only responding emergency vehicles through. Where deputies were holding traffic at the 225 entrance ramps, what sounded like explosions could clearly be heard.

Jefferson County Fire Rescue received the call of the crash at approximately 1:03 p.m. and dispatched Engine-1, Squad-1, Rescue-32, Rescue 36, Pumper-1, Pumper-2 and Tanker-2 to the scene.

Upon arrival, Fire Rescue personnel found the fully involved motorhome, which was pulling a tow vehicle, a GMC Arcadia, which had detached and was adjacent to the RV. The tow vehicle was not on fire.

The grass was on fire in and around the RV. Fire Rescue reported that several pine trees had broken off and were lying on top of the RV.

The grass area was initially extinguished, while a direct attack was being done on the RV. Responding to the scene and fighting the fire were Jefferson County Fire Rescue, Monticello Volunteer Fire Department, Lloyd Volunteer Fire Department, and Ashville Area Volunteer Fire Depart-ment, using approximately 5,000 gallons of water to control and extinguish the fire. The Florida Division of Forestry was also on scene to assist with the grass fire.

Fire Rescue reported that the three occupants were found inside by firefighters and removed after the fire was controlled.

Sheriff David Hobbs reported that about o0ne to one and a half hours following the crash, traffic was allowed to slowly travel the inside lane of the Interstate and one of the entrance ramps at US-19 was opened and traffic allowed to slowly merge into traffic on I-10, to prevent any kind of traffic bottleneck.

Firefighters remained on scene until 10:05 p.m.

According to WPSD-TV, of Paducah, KY, the three victims were on their way home from Florida, where the group had just spent a week visiting friends in Naples

Also assisting at the scene were Jefferson County Sheriff's Office deputies, Jefferson County Fire Rescue, Jefferson County EMS and Transfield.

Kitty Brooks

It took commissioners only minutes to decide the issue and name Brooks the new library director on Thursday morning, April 1.

In making the selection, commissioners followed the recommendation of County Coordinator Roy Schleicher; but it appeared that even absent Schleicher's recommendation, commissioners would have chosen Brooks anyways.

Indeed, the moment that the agenda item was announced, Commissioner Hines Boyd looked expectantly at Commissioner Felix "Skeet" Joyner, who started grinning after a while.

"All right, I'll make the motion," Boyd said finally, when Joyner appeared reluctant to accept the cue.

It was then that Schleicher interjected his recommendation, saying as much as that it was for the sake of establishing precedent and asserting his commission-given authority. Noting that it was County Attorney Buck Bird's interpretation of the policy that the county coordinator had the authority to hire and fire department heads contingent on the commission's approval, Schleicher offered that he could also defer that decision to the commissioners, as he was doing. But having gone through the interview process with them, it would be his recommendation that Brooks be the choice, he said.

"I think we've got on staff a very qualified employee who has been three years with us," Schleicher said. "I think she is our best choice for the library director. That would be my recommendation."

Immediately upon which statement Boyd moved to name Brooks the director and Joyner seconded the motion, will all commissioners voting unreservedly for the choice.

It was also the board's decision, to which Brooks reportedly had consented to during the interview, that she will serve as both the children's librarian and the director, at least until such a time as the funding situation is clarified and the commission can possibly hire another children's librarian.

That's because the local library depends in great part on state funding, and lawmakers during the current session have proposed cutting state funding to libraries to zero. The lawmakers have reportedly restored some of the funding since that early proposal, but the situation remains fluid and local officials won't know how the funding will ultimately turn out until the session concludes.

It's all to say that Brooks is taking over as director at a difficult time. But officials appear confident that she is an extremely capable person who is coming to the position with extensive and well-rounded background in the field, including a master's in library science.

Can it really finally be spring? Yes, it is; and that means it's once again time for the annual Southern Music Rising Festival. Or to be exact: make that the 4th annual Southern Music Rising Festival, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 16h and 17th.

If you're into good music (bluegrass, folk, rock, Americana and such), freestyle dancing, professional storytelling, children's playacting and instrument playing, local artists' showings, vintage instrument displays, friendly people, a family atmosphere and just plain wholesome fun for a mere pittance, you can't beat this event.

With six stages set around the downtown area and hundreds of musicians scheduled to perform the day round, festival-goers are sure to hear whatever kind of music they most like. What's more, they can rest assure that it will be good music, in keeping with the standards set in previous years.

The festivities kick off Friday evening, April 16, with a return concert by the award-winning group Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, scheduled to perform 7:30 p.m. in the Opera House.

Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, also the featured act at last year's festival, is a seven-time IBMA Fiddler of the Year Award winner who has been called the premier bluegrass fiddler of his generation. The IBMA, by the way, is the International Bluegrass Music Association, a trade association formed in 1985 to promote bluegrass music. It's IBMA awards are the genre's equivalent of the Grammy, with winners picked by the organization's 2,500 members.

Opening for Michael Cleveland and Flamekeepers on Friday evening will be the Cobb Brothers, of the Ozarks of Arkansas, along with former Perry resident, Daryl Mixon. The group promises to showcase it musical and clogging talents.

On Saturday, the fes-tivities get underway at 11 a.m. and continue until at least 8:30 p.m, when Gurf Morlix is scheduled to give the closing concert on the Opera House stage. Morlix is described as the 2009 Americana Music Awards Instrumentalist of the Year winner.

In between the opening acts on Saturday morning and Morlix's evening concert are scheduled a slew of musicians and groups too numerous to name. But here's a small sampling: The Grant Peeples, the New 76ers, the Mayhaws, the Tallahassee Fiddlers, Two Foot Level, the Gatorbone Trio, the Three Rivers Band, Mark Leadon, Slim Fatz and Rick Knowles.

Last but not least, let's not forget the Foundation for the Preservation of Historic American Music, the nonprofit volunteer-operated organization that originated and is making possible the continuation of the festival.

Formed a little more than three years ago for the expressed purpose of promoting and preserving traditional American music, the foundation has since sponsored numerous musical events around town and in the Opera House, with the annual Southern Music Rising Festival its signature event.

Ultimately, the foundation envisions establishing a permanent building that will serve as both a museum for the housing and display of memorabilia and other artifacts of Southern music and Southern heritage and a performance center for musicians of national renown.

Tickets for the Friday evening's concert are $15 and all-day passes for Saturday's festivities are $10. For ticket and other information about the festival, call 850-510-4220 or visit www.southernmusicrising.com.

The courthouse roof repair and renovation project remains parked in limbo, pending completion of the research that Commissioner Felix "Skeet" Joyner is ostensibly carrying out.

Joyner asked the board on April 1 to table the issue a couple of more weeks while he did a little more talking with Building Inspector Wallace Bullock and others.

At which point Commission Chairman Danny Monroe commented that he too had talked with Bullock, and "Wallace doesn't really want to do it."

Bullock, according to Commissioner Hines Boyd's earlier representation on March 18, had expressed a willingness to oversee the project. Which willingness explained in part Boyd's suggestion that the county forego the services of Riley Palmer Construction Company (RPCC) and construction manager Sutton Webb and do the work in-house with county staff and local labor.

Boyd reiterated his argument on April 1, apparently thinking that the situation was getting out of hand. The gist of Boyd's argument is that the courthouse, which underwent about $2 million worth of renovations in 1998, is not in need of another renovation but rather is in need of a few repairs and long-overdue maintenance work.

"Palmer looked at the leaky roof and gave us a scope of work but it was a broader scope than it needed to be," Boyd said. "It's more routine repair and maintenance that needs to be done. Probably it's about two months worth of work that needs doing. We've had a leaky roof for months and it's beginning to damage the inside of the courthouse. I think we need to do the work now and not put it off."

As for Bullock, Boyd said he had gotten a different story from the latter. But if need be, he (Boyd) was willing to oversee the work himself, if that's what it would take to get it done. Boyd, in fact, moved at one point to allocate $35,000 for the immediate repair of the cupola. His proposal, however, failed to win the board, which voted 3-2 to table the discussion until April 15. Commissioner Gene Hall alone voted with Boyd against the postponement.

Bullock next approached the podium "to clear the story on Bullock".

"Bullock will do what he's directed to do," Bullock said, speaking of himself in the third person. "But he can't give you the scope of the work to do. A licensed contractor must do that. Mr. Bullock can inspect the work, but you need a path of responsibility. Mr. Bullock is accountable for enough. He can't be accountable for any more. Anyone who is involved has to have the proper insurance, licensing and such. But I will do as I am directed."

He added that he was in no way "trying to fiddle faddle with the commission."

The planned repair of the courthouse roof dates from at least April 2009, when Riley Palmer did a preliminary assessment of the damage and calculated the cost at roughly between $150,000 and $250,000. In December 2009, the board formally hired RPCC to be the construction manager for the project.

On March 4, Webb, vice president of RPCC, presented the board with an estimate of $502,000 for the project, based on the use of the best materials, workmanship and know-how in keeping with the historic character of the structure.

On March 18, Boyd effectively put a stop to the project, calling for the board to take a deep breath and pull back a little, before rushing into unwarranted expenses.

"I appreciate the work that Webb and Palmer have done," Boyd said. "But I think at this point itwould be more prudent for the county to hire local people that are capable of getting up on the roof and fixing the things that absolutely need fixing."

It was then that Boyd suggested Bullock overseeing the work and that Joyner first asked for time to research the matter.

Upon inspection, the telephone cable, stolen in Aucilla Shores last year, had obviously been cut. According to Embarq, the thief made away with 500 feet of telephone cable.

The dense winds took part of the roof off the Travel Center, destroyed much of the canopy awning over the gas pumps, broke a large window in front of the store, threw debris into the truck wash damaging the aluminum siding, ripped portions of the siding off the building and spewed the debris all over the property and roadway.

Emergency Management Director Carol Ellerbee said that though she hadn't heard any reports as of Friday afternoon, due to the Weather Service not yet surveying the damage, she didn't know if it were an actual tornado touchdown causing the damage or not. "It looked like it could have very well been a tornado to me," she added.

Ellerbee stated that there was trees reported down in the area and 2.45 inches of rainfall in about an hour or hour and a half, causing some minor flooding and water over area roads, but no power outages were reported.

Monday afternoon, Ellerbee reported receiving a fax from the Weather Service, which stated that it was not a tornado that touched down damaging the truck stop. "They said it was strong sideline winds," she added.

Capital City Travel Center Owner Arun Kundra said that he was very thankful that the storm only caused the damage to the property and no one was hurt. "There was a lot of debris and a lot of people in the community came to help us," he added.

"We didn't even have to shut down and were able continue to stay open due to their help," said Kundra. "They had all of the debris cleared off the property and roadway within a couple hours. Steve Redman even put up plywood over the broken window.

"This is a phenomenal community and I wish to thank them all for their help when we needed it," he added.

Though Kundra did not have any estimates as of press time, he estimated that the damage repairs could run around $50,000.

In a 2½-hour meeting on Thursday evening, April 8, the Jefferson County Planning Commission approved a draft of the 77-page Comprehensive Plan that it has now been revising for more than a year. At the same time, the planners approved various proposed changes to the Future Land Use Map (FLUM).

The planners' action allows for the next step in the process, which is for the Planning Commission to hold public hearings on the proposed changes, so that the document can then go to the Jefferson County Commission for review and approval and ultimately to the Florida Department of Community Affairs (FDCA).

It may well be a moot point to report here the completion of this critical document, considering the emphatic assertions of at least one planner during Thursday night's meeting that nobody reads the newspaper. But in fairness to the planner, his argument — as well as that of several of the others — was more to the point that the Planning Department should individually notify by mail each of the landowner who stood to be affected by the proposed changes, rather than relying on the latter to learn the fact through the media or by chance.

It's to say that these planners recognize the importance of the document, in terms of its potential impact on lands uses and quality-of- life issue relative to the people living in the affected areas. Yet, it's almost a given that the majority of people will largely ig-nore the proposed changes, until a day in the future when they discover either that they are prevented from doing something that they want to do on their lands, or adjacent property owners are allowed to do some activity that the former find objectionable.

That said, it behooves property owners to get a copy of the 77-page draft document — complete with additions, deletions and strikeouts — and review it. As it is, affected property owners should receive a letter in the coming weeks advising them of any proposed changes to their lands. Likewise, letters should also be forthcoming to owners of properties adjacent to those that are slated for a change. For all others interested in reviewing the proposed changes, copies of the document can be viewed at the Planning Department office on Water Street and at the Jefferson County Public Library, also on Water Street.

It's important to note that although the Planning Commission voted to approve both the draft document and the proposed changes to the land-use map on Thursday night, disagreements still exist among some of the members over the map changes, with at least two of the seven map changes barely squeezing by on 5-4 votes. It's also important to note that the Jefferson County Commission, which yet has to review the document, may well make its own changes to it. As may the DCA, when its turn comes up. Which is to say that the document has yet a ways to go before becoming a done deal; even so, it's well on its way to attaining that status.

It's impossible here to detail all the proposed changes, given the magnitude of the work. But one of the more significant and overarching principles informing the changes has to do with the transfer of densities (housing units per acre) from one land-use category to another, along with the assignment of increased densities to categories such as the Mixed-Use Suburban Residential (MUSR), Mixed-Use Business Residential (MUBR) and Mixed-Use Interchange Business (MUIB). Also noteworthy is the creation of a mining overlay district on certain properties in the Ag-20 land-use category. Ag-20 stands for one housing unit per 20 acres.

Planning Official Bill Tellefsen's argument for the transfer and increase of densities from one area to another rests on his strong belief that the county must plan its future growth by targeting that growth in the desirable areas where the amenities already exist, rather than allowing development to occur willy-nilly and result in urban sprawl. What Tellefsen and likeminded planners essentially did then was to take the assigned densities from conservation and other areas that can't ever be developed and assign these potential densities to areas where maximum growth is desired and where the water and sewer infrastructure is in place, such as the US 19 corridor.

Others of the planners, however, argue that the county already has enough areas designated for development; that the massive proposed changes will only destroy the rural character of the county; and that it would be better to have developers come before officials and request particular land-us changes on an individual basis, rather than giving them broad changes on a grand scale. There was also much discussion about when and how landowners of the affected properties should be notified, and whether it was fair that property owners who had requested to get their land-use categories changed were being given the consideration, while the great majority of landowners didn't even know that the opportunity was available.

Tellefsen's argument was essentially that in instances where a landowner asked for a specific land-use change, the latter should get it as a reward for being proactive; and in the other cases, he himself had initiated the land-use change in order to bring particular parcels into conformance with the surrounding land-use designations.

By far the most controversial of the proposed changes proved to be the ones to the US 19 corridor. Indeed, the original proposal called for almost the entire corridor — from near the Georgia line on the north to the interstate on the south — to be changed from its present agricultural designation to commercial, which would allow for maximum concentrations of buildings alongside the road and the adjoining properties.

Part A of the US 19 map changes called for 561.2 acres on the east side of the roadway, from just north of Monticello to the Jefferson County Kennel Club, to be changed from Ag-5 (one house per five acres) to Mixed-Use Business Residential (MUBR), which allows up to10 units per acre, including offices, retail shops, lodging facilities, restaurants, shopping centers and the like.

Part B of the proposal called for a corresponding 570.5 acres on US 19 South to be changed from Ag-5 to MUBR, with the designated area starting just south of the railroad tracks on the west side of US 19, extending southward and taking in the middle/high school property and surrounding lands on the east side of US 19, and ultimately connecting with the business interchange at I-10.

This proposal generated the most discussion and contention; and in the end, the planners largely abandoned the original plan, voting instead to leave in agricultural the 561.2 acres on US 19 North, with the exception of a 91-acre parcel on the northernmost part that the owner specifically had asked be changed to MUBR.

On US 19 South, the planners voted to leave the area west of US 19 — from south of the railroad tracks to near I-10 — as agricultural; but to change the large area east of US 19 to MUBR, including the middle/high school property and surrounding properties all the way south to the I-10 interchange on the northeast corner.

The planners pretty much accepted the other six proposed map changes as presented. These changes affect various properties in the Ashville area, the Lake and West Lake roads area, the Lloyd area, and the Wacissa and Waukeenah areas.

In case anyone has missed the news, however, here it is again: the 4th annual Southern Music Rising Festival starts 7:30 p.m. this Friday with a concert in the Opera House and runs most of the day and into the evening on Saturday.

The featured act on Friday night is Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, an award-winning bluegrass group that performs nationally and that has numerous recording to its credit.

On Saturday, the lineup is too long and diverse to do it justice here, but be assured that it will showcase hundreds of musicians on several stages around the downtown area and offer a variety of musical genres and styles guaranteed to satisfy everyone's tastes. Not to mention that there will also be an art show, storytelling, children's performances and other activities taking place during the day.

And here' the latest scoop: Gulf Morlix, recently recognized as the 2009 Americana Music Awards Instrumentalist of the Year, is scheduled to perform the closing concert at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the Opera House Ballroom. (Did you even know that the Opera House had a ballroom?)

And who exactly is Gulf Morlix, you may ask?

Suffice is to say that Morlix is in the company of such illustrious singer/songwriters and performing artists as Lucinda Williams, Robert Earl Keen, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Patty Griffin, Mary Gauthier, Jim Lauderdal and Said Cleaves, to name a few. A singer, songwriter and producer, Morlix also plays almost every kind of instrument.

He is possibly best known for his 11-year creative partnership with three-time Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams, herself best known for her song "Passionate Kisses" and her subsequent recording "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road." During his 11-year association with Williams, Morlix was her guitarist, bandleader and backup vocalist, as well as producer of two of Williams' classic and critically-acclaimed album.

Morlix later went on to produce albums for multiple other artists, including Hubbard, Cleaves, Ken and Gauthier.

Morlix plays rock, country, blues, folk and R&R. His performance promises to be the icing on the cake of an event already chockfull of goodies.

One last word on the festival, it's all the doings of the nonprofit and all-volunteer Foundation for the Preservation of Historic American Music, a group dedicated to the preservation and promotion of traditional American music.

As Fire Rescue Chief Mark Matthews told commissioners on Thursday, April 1, the department has 10 paramedics and nine positions, with the result that one of the paramedics has to serve as a firefighter/EMT (Emergency Medical Technician).

"It's not fair to have people paid EMT salaries when they are working as paramedics," Matthews said. "I'm asking to pay this person a paramedic's salary for the hours that he works as a paramedic. This would mean that while he is working out of class, he would receive an hourly rate equal to what he would receive if he was in a regular paramedic slot."

Matthews assured the board that his request would add no additional cost to the budget, as a paramedic would have to be on duty anyway. What the arrangement would do, however, would be to give him a choice of paramedics for the particular shift, he said.

The commission approved the request without much discussion, other then to note the great progress that the department had made from the time 12 years ago when it had not employed a single paramedic. The commission credited the improvement in large part to its decision to have the county pay for the schooling of EMTs who wanted to become paramedics, provided that the latter signed a contract committing to two years of service to the county once they acquired their paramedic certification.

Paramedics under contract who leave the county's service before the two years are completed must pay back their school on a prorated basis.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office deputies taped off the area between the Lloyd Post Office and CR-59 last week as they collected evidence in the shooting of a local man.

JCSO Investigator Gerald Knecht reported that at approximately 9:55 a.m.,Thursday, deputies were dispatched to the area of the Lloyd dumpsite, where a shooting had taken place. Before deputies could arrive on scene, a second 911 call came in to dispatch reporting the same incident.

Upon arrival, deputies noted that the shooting had taken place in the vicinity of the Post Office. They immediately taped off the area between the Lloyd Post Office and Sr-59 and began their investigation and collection of any evidence in the case. Florida Highway Patrol assisted in the roadblock of the area.

Knecht reported that the victim, Willie Harris, 48, of Lloyd, was conscience when loaded into the county ambulance for transport and treatment of his injuries at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.

He added that Harris had been shot once, but would not release any further information due to jeopardizing the ongoing investigation.

The suspects are described are two white males in a gold-colored pickup truck, direction of travel, unknown.

Knecht reported that as of Friday, Harris was still in the hospital, but doing well.

"We did collect evidence in the case at the scene," said Knecht. "The investigation is ongoing, so I cannot comment any further."

Anyone with any information in the case is urged to call JCSO at 997-2523.

Jefferson County commissioners had another go at trying to fashion a code enforcement program during a two-hour workshop on Thursday afternoon, April 15.

Commissioners covered some previously covered ground on the issue; came to consensus on some of the key features of the program that they want to see implemented; and instructed County Attorney Buck Bird to come up with a draft ordinance, possibly modeled on the Suwannee County ordinance.

Commissioners are in agreement that the enforcement process should be complaint driven and citizen generated, as opposed to a more aggressive county-generated enforcement. But there is the recognition — voiced by Commissioner Hines Boyd — that the board is stepping onto a slippery slope, in term of the potential for the enforcement to take on a life of its own.

Commissioners generally agree that the county should hire a certified code enforcement officer to enforce the rules, although Florida Statute 162 — which sets the foundations for code enforcement at the local level — doesn't specifically require the hiring of a code enforcement officer. The dilemma for commissioners is whom to hire and how to pay the individual, given the current fiscal constraints and the commissioners' desire that the individual "understand and sympathize with the local culture".

Commissioners are now also in agreement that the secondary mechanism for the enforcement should be a code enforcement board, as opposed to a special master, as was briefly discussed earlier. Commissioners, in fact, have since learned that FS-162 requires that counties with populations of 5,000 or more appoint a seven-member code enforcement board.

Commissioners likewise agree that the code enforcement board should be made up of volunteer citizens, and that this board should be separate and apart from the Planning Commission, which essentially makes up the land-use and development code regulations. Currently, the Planning Commission serves the dual roles of planning and code enforcement.

Commissioners are finally more or less in agreement how the process will work. Which is that a citizen's complaint would initiate the process; the code enforcement officer would investigate, and if a violation indeed existed, would issue a written warning and give adequate time for correction of the violation; and failing that, the matter would go to the code enforcement board, which would issue its own timelines for compliance and ultimately could impose fines and other sanctions to achieve the desired end. The nature of the violation would determine the length of time given for its correction.

Commissioner Felix "Skeet" Joyner, for one, kept pressing the point that he wanted the ordinance somehow to distinguish between residential and commercial properties. Joyner said he wanted the ordinance to have some mechanism that would prevent the ousting of residents from what might be considered substandard houses, but that to those individuals represented their homes. At the same time, he wanted the ordinance to allow the county the ability to put pressure on owners of rental properties, with the aim of making the latter upgrade their rental units and make them livable.

"As we go though this process, I want to be able to put pressure on owners to bring rental mobile houses into compliance for aesthetic reasons and for the safety of their tenants," Joyner said. "We need to address commercial properties one way and residential houses another."

He was thinking specifically of the Lloyd mobile home park, Joyner said. By the same token, he didn't want to put people out of their homes, he said.

Joyner mentioned encountering dwelling places during his campaigning that would be considered unlivable by modern standards. Yet these structures represented homes to the individuals who lived in them and it would be wrong to put these people out on the street, given that they didn't have the resources to repair their houses or get better ones, he said.

"I know places within 10 minutes of here where people are living in unlivable conditions," Joyner said. "There's people who can't do any better. You can't put people out of their homes."

But Attorney Drew Parker, who was substituting for Planning Attorney Scott Shirley, advised the board that the distinction that Joyner was seeking was legally unworkable. Parker's point was that substandard houses were an issue of public welfare, health and safety, and the county couldn't ignore such situations, regardless whether the structures were rental or residential properties.

Parker offered a possible out, however.

"Code enforcement officers have discretionary authority," Parker said. "They can choose not to find a violation. They have that discretion."

Which prompted Joyner to reiterate his point of how critical it was to find the right person for the job.

"The whole key to this thing is finding the right person with the right personality," Joyner said.

Ashville-area resident Scott Sudor, however, took issue with the complaint-driven model and the commissioners' apparent reluctance to pursue a more aggressive code enforcement program. Sudor argued that the code enforcement officer was duty- bound, as was any other sworn official, to investigate and deal with any code infraction that he or she might come upon.

"If the code enforcement officer is driving around and sees an infraction, he can generate a complaint," Sudor said. "He has an obligation and a right to investigate the situation."

Commission Chairman Danny Monroe adamantly asserted the commission's position.

"We're not going to have people hunt down these things," Monroe said. "We've agreed that we're not going to do that."

He begged to differ, Sudor said. But as a sworn officer, the code enforcement officer had a duty to abide by the law and investigate all infractions, he said.

"Each of you guys see violations everyday," Sudor said. "Have you done anything about them? Why? Complaint driven is great, but the officer's job is to do it 100 percent or he's not doing his job."

Bird agreed with Sudor that if a code enforcement officer saw a violation, he or she was duty bound to investigate, the same as any deputy who witnessed an infraction. But Bird offered that the county would more than likely hire a part-time employee, and the latter would be too busy pursuing the citizen-generated complaints to have time to generate his or her own.

Boyd capped the discussion by succinctly identifying the task before the board.

"It all comes back to our culture," Boyd said. "This is a slippery slope that we're getting on. Our culture says that you don't tell people what to do on their land or what house they can live in. If we do the code enforcement, we're encroaching on a territory that our culture tells us we shouldn't be encroaching on. So the code enforcement officer is going to have to understand the culture. And it's going to be up to us to hire the right person, who will enforce the ordinance the way that the people in the county think it should be enforced."

The commission is expected to hold another workshop on the issue in the coming weeks.

Festival organizers present a Morgan Monroe acoustic/electric guitar valued at $1,000 to Tom Johnson, winner of the raffle. Stringfest donated the instrument. Pictured from left to right are Bill Hopkins, Barry Kelly, Johnson, and Sherri and Gordon Dean.

Barry Kelly, Jack Carswell, Katrina Walton and Dan Schall all said on Wednesday — to one degree or another — that the festival was successful and that the general impression was that attendance was somewhat up.

"We felt that the crowd seemed to be bigger," Kelly said.

An exact count was unavailable, however, as the group was trying to catch its collective breath following the weeks of preparation for the event, he said. In fact, Kelly said, the group had decided to put off for a week the post assessment meeting that it usually held on the Monday immediately following the festival.

Kelly said the idea was to allow group members time to rest and think about the event, preparatory to analyzing it and determining what, if any, adjustments needed to be made for next year.

Walton and Schall mentioned that street vendors and downtown businesses — particularly the eateries — appeared to do well with the influx of visitors. The two cited as specific examples the Brickhouse Restaurant, Tupelo's Bakery and Poppa's Doghouse near the courthouse circle.

"Our original intent was to help spur the business community and we certainly did that," Schall said.

If Opera House attendance was any indication of the vitality and viability of the event, it was indeed successful. Certainly, the Opera House enjoyed a capacity crowd for Friday night's concert, which featured bluegrass-recording artists Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, with the opening act being the Cobb Brothers and Daryl Mixon, from the Ozarks.

A sizeable crowd also filled the Opera House Garden on Saturday, while significant numbers milled or congregated in the upstairs and downstairs of the venerable institution and at the various other stages and venues around the downtown area, including the patios of the historic Wirick Simmons and Palmer houses.

"We think the crowd was at least what it was last year, if not better," Schall said. "We didn't have 5,000 people in town, but we had a couple of thousand at least, which is about what we did last year."

"Financially, we did okay," Schall added, noting that the simple fact that the organization was able to sponsor a premier event of the caliber of the Southern Music Rising Festival was a success in itself.Both Schall and Walton acknowledged the recession's possible impact on the festivities, saying that they took it as good sign that as many people had attended as had, considering the circumstances.

"Given the economy and the state of the world, we feel pretty good about the turnout," Schall said.

Another of the encouraging signs, Schall said, was an increased number of volunteers, compared with previous years. Encouraging also, he said, were the numerous people and organizations that had stepped forward and offered to help next year, both financially and in sweat-equity.

"We're looking forward to next year," Schall said.

If the tone of some of the organizers was a little muted and subdued, it remained for Carswell to breathe life and excitement into the telling. Carswell was a little under the weather when the Journal first contacted him Wednesday morning, but by afternoon he had rallied and regained his natural ebullience.

Carswell conceded that some others of the organizers might disagreed with his assessment, but he said he believed that this year's crowd had been much larger than the previous year's. More to the point, he believed that the festival had scored significantly in the three areas that the organizers had originally targeted as the benchmarks of success, he said.

Those three benchmarks, Carswell said, were to stimulate the community culturally, socially and economically.

No doubt could exist of the social and cultural aspects of the festival, Carswell said. He pointed out that this year's event had had more cultural substance and variety, including artist showings, children's performance, storytelling, cowboy poetry and the performance of an embryonic local children' bluegrass band. Socially, the festival brought out and intermixed different ages and segments of the community, he said.

But where Carswell said the event scored its biggest impact was in the economic stimulus that it provided to the local business community.

"The restaurants had a terrific day," Carswell said. "The bed and breakfast inns were full. We had a significant impact on the motels on the interstate. Even the Hilltop Store on US 90 had one of its best days. It was our best job to date to provide the community with an economic stimulus."

Added Carswell: "We have created an event that is very special and that will lead us into the future. I think we made progress that will take us into the future. I think next year will be an even bigger and better festival."

Formed in late 2007 for the expressed purpose of preserving and promoting traditional American music, the nonprofit Foundation for the Preservation of Historic American Music has since gone on to sponsor three bluegrass festivals, as well as a jazz night and several other concerts at the Opera House. The Southern Music Rising Festival is the group's signature event.

Ultimately, the foundation envisions establishing a museum and performance hall, where musicians can perform regularly and memorabilia and other artifacts of Southern history and culture can be displayed. It is the group's other hope that the festival serves to make Monticello a destination point.

The negotiations between county and school officials over the lease of the historic A-Building may have reached a critical juncture, with the potential that the talks may break down and the entire enterprise come to nothing.

Responding to the Jefferson County School Board's latest proposal of a $4,000 monthly lease for the building, the Jefferson County Commission on Thursday evening, April 15, countered with what appeared may be its final offer. That counteroffer is a $2,000 monthly lease, with $48,000 for the first two years payable upfront, and the county to gain ownership of the building after the expiration of what essentially amounts to a 20-year lease purchase agreement.

The board's unanimous decision on the counteroffer followed a lively debate that involved several members of the public and that largely made Commissioner Hines Boyd the odd-man out.

In fact, Boyd's initial compromise solution to move the negotiations to what he believed would be a mutually satisfactory conclusion failed to get his colleagues' support, dying 4-1. Boyd's solution called for the county offering the school district a $2,000 monthly lease on the building, plus a one-time $50,000 payment to help the district with its budget woes.

"I think we need to reach a compromise position to move this along," Boyd said, adding that the county had already initiated a request for the federal funding to renovate the building, an effort that would prove pointless if the negotiations failed.

"This building is an important asset to this community," Boyd said. "We need to stop playing games with each other and move this forward."

Boyd's proposal, however, encountered resistance from the onset. Clerk of Court Kirk Reams questioned the $50,000 payment, seeing it as the establishment of a bad precedent. And Commissioner Felix "Skeet" Joyner strenuously objected to paying any more than $2,000 monthly for the lease.

"I see where Commissioner Boyd is coming from," Joyner said. "But for the last couple of weeks I've been blasted for even offering the $2,000. I think we were generous to offer $2,000; I just can't support another $50,000."

Countered Boyd: "So what's the option, to let the building collapse after spending millions to restore it?"

Commissioner Gene Hall agreed with Joyner.

"I don't think it's fiscally responsible to give the school district $50,000," Hall said. "Right now, that building is crumbling. It's more of a liability than an asset to them. Right now, we're providing the resource officer and letting their teams use the recreation park. We're showing our good will."

Commission Chairman Danny Monroe echoed the general sentiment.

"I agree they have something that's a liability," Monroe said. "I have a problem with paying $2,000. We're taking money from the people's one pocket and pushing it into the other pocket. We're being generous with the $2,000."

Added Joyner: "We're going to restore the building as it is and open it to everyone, including the School Board. I feel we're being very generous offering the $2,000 monthly."

He could, however, support Reams' proposal to pay $48,000 upfront for the first two years' lease, Joyner said.

Dick Bailar, a citizen who is active in various community initiatives and who frequently participates in commission discussions, ridiculed the idea of the county paying a lease into perpetuity for a building that he said had no marketable value and that the county would have to spend millions to repair and restore.

"It doesn't make sense," Bailar said.

He suggested that the commission tell the School Board in no uncertain terms what was what and simply leave it at that.

"I say you tell them 'you have a building that is worthless'," Bailar said. "If they walk away from it, fine, let the people ask 'what kind of stewards are you?' But negotiate from strength, people. I think you need to make an offer and if they don't accept it, walk away from it."

Charles Parrish, another community active citizen, questioned why the county was even contemplating spending taxpayers' money to buy the building?

Boyd tried to explain — to no avail — the commission's rationale for wanting the building, saying that it would serve as a second courtroom and a meeting place for government and community groups, as well as providing offices for the extension service and 4-H Club. But more important, it would preserve a community jewel, he said.

"This building is one of the most significant in our community," Boyd said. "Like the courthouse, it brands and images our county and we now have an unusual opportunity to bring it back into public use. If we let this opportunity pass, it may never come back again. I don' want to look back one day and say we had an opportunity to bring it back up and we didn't because two boards were hardheaded."

Parrish remained unconvinced.

"I think it's a waste of taxpayers' money," he said.

David Hall, a Lloyd citizen who also often comments on board discussions, suggested that the commission wait until it put in force its code enforcement ordinance. Then it could simply condemn the building and take if over for free, he said.

Jerry Sutphin, a former county commissioner, wanted the board to renegotiate the original lease agreement on the various school district-owned buildings that comprise the county government complex on Water Street.

Failing that, he suggested that the county use imminent domain to gain ownership of the building.

Phil Calandra, another citizen who more and more is becoming involved in community activities and issues, offered the idea of the county acquiring the building through a lease purchase.

In the end, the board's counteroffer carried elements of the various suggestions made during the discussion.

After initiating a traffic stop on I-10 last week to check on a vehicle's dark-tinted windows, Deputy Kevin Tharpe and his K-9 partner, Frodo, located 210 grams of Oxycodone, seven pounds of marijuana and a loaded stainless Kimber Pro Carry HD II 38 super, along with and extra magazine in the console. Each magazine was fully loaded with nine 38+P hollow point rounds and one round was in the chamber.

JCSO reported that on Thursday, April 20, Deputy Kevin Tharpe and his K-9 partner, Frodo, were patrolling I-10 and observed a 2000 burgundy 200 Pontiac four-door with dark window tint.

Tharpe initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle near the 220.8 mile marker in the county. He identified the driver, Nicholas Andrew Wensel, 28, of Santa Rosa by his driver's license Tharpe measured the tint to be about 15 percent (the legal limit is 28 percent) with his tint meter. The deputy asked Wensel if he had any firearms in the vehicle and Wensel stated that he had a pistol in the center console.

Tharpe located a loaded stainless Kimber Pro Carry HD II 38 super, along with and extra magazine in the console. Each magazine was fully loaded with nine 38+P hollow point rounds and one round was in the chamber.

Tharpe issued Wensel a written warning for the tint violation, after which, he conducted a canine sniff on the vehicle. During this time, Investigator Jerry Blackmon and Investigator Logan Wilcox, arrived on the scene.

Frodo alerted on the rear passenger side quarter panel and Blackmon asked Wensel if he had any drugs in the car. He stated that he had a couple pounds of marijuana in an orange five-gallon bucket located in the trunk.

A search of the trunk revealed seven pounds of marijuana in the orange five-gallon bucket. Wensel was placed under arrest, read his Miranda Rights and transported to the County Jail. His vehicle was also taken to the County Jail.

While at the jail, a detailed search was conducted on Wensel's vehicle and a plastic bag containing three different types of 30 Mg Oxycodone pills, which weighed in at 210 grams, was located behind the glove compartment area. The pills were identified by the Poison Control Center.

A total bond of $175,000 was set and Wensel remained at the County Jail Friday, April 23.

Riley Palmer Construction Company (RPCC) will remain the construction manager for the courthouse roof and other exterior repairs, notwithstanding the objection of Commissioner Hines Boyd, who continues to argue that the work can be accomplished for 1/3 of the project's estimated cost.

On Thursday evening, April 15, the Jefferson County Commission voted 4-1 to authorize RPCC to proceed with the development of the scope of work for the project and the solicitation of bids for presentation to the board.

The decision ended a nearly month-long debate that started March 18 when Boyd objected to RPCC initial proposal, arguing that the latter's $502,000 cost estimate for the project was way over the top, given the $2 million that the county had spent on the building's restoration only 12 years earlier.

Boyd's argument — one he continued to make on April 15 — was that the work that the courthouse needs is really maintenance related and should be capable of being done for between $106,500 and $152,000.

"My problem is that this is a maintenance issue and going with a construction manager is not the best way to go about it," Boyd said, reiterating one of his main points.

The way he saw it, the county could go one of two ways, Boyd said, presenting colleagues with a sheet that provided itemized cost comparisons for each of approaches.

The first, he said, was to hire a construction manager to write the work specifications, solicit bids, and monitor the contractors and subcontractors' job performance. Because the construction manager got eight percent of the total cost of the project, it behooved the latter to inflate the project's cost as much as possible, Boyd argued.

The second, which he advocated, called for the county to identify qualified contractors in the field, hire these as temporary employees, and oversee the project with county staff, making adjustments as the circumstances and budget dictated.

Bottom line, the second approach would assure that the county was in control of the project and would result in a tremendous saving, Boyd argued. And if need be, he himself was willing to oversee the project, he said.

The other commissioners disagreed, with Commissioner Felix "Skeet" Joyner leading the way. RPCC's figures were only estimates; and at that, worst-case scenario estimates, Joyner said, echoing a point made by RPCC Vice President and construction manager Sutton Webb.

Webb, in his presentations to the board on March 4 and 18, underscored that the $502,000 was based on a general inspection of the damage, absent any specifics. It could be that the actual bids proved higher or lower, he said. It could also be that the scope of the work proved greater, once the actual work got underway and new or specific problems were iedntified. Too, the cost estimates were based on using the best practices and materials, in keeping with maintaining the courthouse's historic character and integrity, Webb said. Should that not be an objective, the cost could be significantly reduced, he said.

Joyner reiterated those arguments on April 15.

"We won't know what it's going to cost until he (Webb) goes out for bids," Joyner said. "You can't put numbers into this discussion at this point."

As for Boyd's suggestion that county staff oversee the work, Joyner stopped just short of calling the suggestion ludicrous.

"I don't know of one person (on the county's staff) who has the expertise to do the job," Joyner said. "To send contractors up there to repair the roof when no one here has the expertise, I can't comprehend that. Not when we have a professional with the necessary expertise right there."

Boyd offered as a possible choice for doing the work the contractor who repaired the steeple roof on the United Methodist Church. Compared with the church' steeple roof, the courthouse roof would be "like a cakewalk," he said.

"Somebody needs to be looking out for the taxpayers," Boyd said.

He suggested as possible overseer of the project, Assistant County Coordinator John McHugh, who is an engineer. The rest of the board, however, remained skeptical.

"If we pay one cent more than $150,000 for this project, we're paying too much," Boyd said. "Can the construction manager guarantee that he will do the project for $150,000?"

Commissioner Stephen Fulford answered that the commission could always change its mind, if the cost proved too high.

"If we don't like the scope of work that Riley Palmer presents, we can always change it," Fulford said.

Boyd tried a last ditch effort. He asked that the board approve $35,000 for the cupola and tower repair alone and that it appoint McHugh as project manager and he himself (Boyd) would go up on the roof every day to inspect and make sure the work was going all right.

"I wouldn't make the motion if I wasn't certain that it could be done," Boyd said.

Boyd's request went nowhere, and Joyner next moved to authorize RPCC to proceed with the work.

Jefferson County Property Appraiser Angela Gray, with Gov. Charlie Crist, was one of several property appraisers from around the state who attended the official signing of HB-179 into law by the Governor.

The good news is that there is still time to claim the exemption, provided an applicant actually qualifies for the exemption and can show extenuating circumstances for missing the March 1 deadline.

Gray relates that House Bill 179, which the Florida Legislature passed in 2009, allows her office to accept and approve applicants who filed after the March 1 deadline, provided the latter meet the applicable criteria.

In the past, a person who missed the deadline had to file an application and petition with the Value Adjustment Board and pay a $15 fee. But under the new rule, property appraisers are authorized to approve the late application without additional cost to the homeowner.

"We were elated that this bill passed in 2009," Gray says. "Anything that we can do to improve the process and help homeowners is definitely a change in the right direction."

Gray notes that for those who qualify for the Please See Homestead Page 6Aexemption and who can show the extenuating circumstances for filing late, the absolute deadline for applying is the 25th day following the mailing of the Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices in the fall.

To apply for the homestead exemption, contact the Property Appraiser's office at (850) 997-3356, or visit the office at 480 West Walnut Street, or log on to www.jeffersonpa.net. The full text for the change in the filing date is contained within Florida Statute 196.011(8).

For better or for worse, city residents can expect to see changes in their water and sewer rates in the coming months. The Monticello City Council, in fact, is expected to take up an ordinance to that effect at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 4.

The ordinance, the drafting of which the council ordered on April 6, follows two workshops that city official held on March 18 and 23 with Tom Love, a Monticello resident and computer expert who has been studying the rate structure for a couple of years and voluntarily prepared various statistical scenarios of possible rate increases.

As proposed, the changes would employ a variable model, which would result in customers paying for actual water use, as opposed to a fixed rate, which is pretty much what the city now has. The stated aim of the proposed change is to make the rate structure fairer and conservation minded by making it user-predicated.

The other motivation for the rate change is to make the water and sewer operations self-sufficient, which neither are entirely now, although they are supposed to be. The city, in fact, is presently facing a potential $80,000-plus shortfall in the two accounts.

In order for the two operations to come out in the black and be self-sufficient, city officials have set annual targets of $350,000 for the water account and $900,000 for the sewer account.

As proposed, the base rate for water would be $5 monthly, with an additional $1.20 for every 100 cubic feet of water used. Currently, the water rate for residential customers is $12.50 within the city and $18.75 outside the city, with minimal incremental increases for water usage above a set level.

"At 800 cubic feet, the proposed rate begins to do its thing," Love told the council during one of the workshops. "So that the guy using 4,000 cubic feet in his residence will pay nearly $500 monthly."

For sewer, the proposed base rate would be $18 monthly, with an additional $3 for every 100 cubic feet of water used. The current sewer rate for residential customers is $26.50 inside the city and $35.25 outside the city. The sewer rate for commercial accounts varies according to the nature of the business.

A recognized negative of the variable model is that users of large volumes of water will experience major increases in their water bills if they don't change their habits, as they will in their sewer bills, as the latter will now be tied to water usage.

Customers with significant water leaks will likewise experience major increases in their water and sewer bills, unless they expend the necessary money to get the plumbing problems repaired.