CEDAR KEY CITY
COMMISSION MEETS
March 4, 2016
Meeting Specifics
The City of Cedar Key City Commission met on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, immediately after the Cedar Key Community Redevelopment Agency adjourned at approximately 6:40 pm at City Hall. Present were: Mayor Heath Davis, Vice-Mayor Dale Register, and Commissioners Sue Colson, Royce Nelson, and Diana Topping.
Staff in attendance included: Fire Chief Robert Robinson, Public Works Director Bill Crandley, City Clerk Nicole Gill, and Receptionist Crystal Sharp. Police Chief Virgil Sandlin was absent.
Among those in the audience were: Janice Fugate, Chris Topping, Doug Maple, Mac Cox, Carol and Dave Williams, Jeri and Bob Treat, and Mandy and Frank Offerle.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Commissioner Sue Colson reminded those present that the “Cutting Edge” presentation would take place at the Cedar Key Community Center at 10 am tomorrow. The program will include: a Heritage Tree update, a Community Garden update, and a mangrove trimming presentation by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection personnel.
Commissioner Royce Nelson reported that to he and Public Works Director Bill Crandley were working together to repair and find replacement parts for the city’s “bobcat.”
ORDINANCE 501
City of Cedar Key Ordinance 501 was unanimously approved on its second and final reading. The ordinance amends Chapter Four of the Laws of Cedar Key, subtitled “Land Development Regulations,” to be consistent with Chapter Three, subtitled “Comprehensive Plan,” as it relates to historic preservation.
ELECTIONS AND CANVASSING BOARD
Mayor Heath Davis read the “Notice of Election for the City of Cedar Key and the Cedar Key Water and Sewer District.”
Davis and commission members considered canvassing board possibilities. After brief deliberation, they unanimously agreed upon the following board: Levy County Commissioner John Meeks, Levy County School Board Member Chris Cowart, and Cedar Key Water and Sewer District General Manager John McPherson with Levy County Judge Browning as the alternate.
TEMPORARY EASEMENT
The Florida Department of Transportation requested a 72-month, temporary, 60-foot easement on Gulf Boulevard just north of Whiddon for “the purposes of constructing a diversion to remove the existing bridge and construct a replacement bridge in the same location as the existing….”
Commission members directed Attorney Norm Fugate to look further into the matter of returning the property, when finished, as near to its original condition as possible. Five palms, at an estimated cost of $300 each, and another tree were a stated concern.
HERITAGE TREE REPLACEMENT
Commissioner Colson updated the members on the status of Cedar Key’s more than 150 Heritage Trees. She reminded all that the work began in 2008 with well over 50 biologists, foresters, arborists, and volunteers collecting each tree’s critical data. In 2015, five years later, each tree was carefully viewed; only one tree, a cedar, was lost.
Now, laurel wilt has decimated the bays. She advised the members that a plan is necessary to replace these trees and to properly prune the largest of the heritage oaks so that they will continue to thrive.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:20 pm.
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