SEBRING –– The Highlands County commissioners have decided to appoint a citizens review committee to give them advice on whether to raise, lower, suspend or even replace impact fees as a way to finance infrastructure. But how that committee will be chosen and what special interest groups it will represent remain far from settled. The big divide on how to constitute this committee became apparent at Tuesday's commissioners meeting, when commissioners Barbara Stewart and Guy Maxcy put forth opposing views. ...more

January 23, 2008

SEBRING — The Highlands County commissioners appear likely to appoint a citizens advisory committee that will advise them on whether to raise or lower impact fees. Commissioner Don Bates brought the idea up for discussion for the first time at the commissioners' Tuesday meeting. No action was taken, but the five county commissioners agreed to discuss it again at their next meeting, Jan. 22. ...more

January 16, 2008

SEBRING — Two Highlands County commissioners, Don Bates and Guy Maxcy, launched negotiations through a designated county spokesman to obtain one acre of prime, white-sand-beach lakefront on troubled Lake Denton. Maxcy and Bates asked Ken Melvin, one of the seven people on the commissioner-appointed Lake Denton Citizens Advisory Committee, to informally negotiate the county's obtaining that one-acre of Lake Denton lakefront with the president and CEO of a fifth-generation Highlands County citrus/ranch family. ...more

January 10, 2008

SEBRING — The public is welcome to attend Thursday's inaugural meeting of the Highlands County commissioners' latest citizens advisory board, which will help select the county's next administrator. Sixteen people have been appointed to what county officials are calling the "Search Committee," created to help commissioners pick long-time county Administrator Carl Cool's replacement. Cool will retire on July 1 after nearly 17 years as the county's top administrator. At the Search Committee's first meeting, set for 6 p.m. Jan. 10 in Conference Room 2 at the Highlands County Agri-Civic Center, the 16 members will select their chairman and set the ground rules for how they will work with the county's consultant. ...more

January 6, 2008

SEBRING — Ken Melvin and Ray Napper, two of the seven members of the Lake Denton Citizens Advisory Committee, were not happy with the committee's recommendations to re-open this closed public lake with severe restrictions. Melvin, though, reluctantly endorsed the Highlands County commissioners' decision Tuesday to reopen the popular lake –– closed since early September –– despite the number of controversial restrictions on public access. He described the lake reopening plan as too little, too late and nowhere near a good solution to a big problem. Unlike the other speakers who harshly criticized the plan, though, Melvin didn't oppose the commissioners adopting the committee's unpopular and controversial plan. ...more

January 3, 2008

SEBRING — Don Bates, the Highlands County commissioner who chaired the special Lake Denton Citizens Advisory Committee, admits there still are unanswered questions about the county's closing of public access to the county's most popular lake. ...more

January 2, 2008

SEBRING — Some Highlands County citizens are calling the tentative plan to re-open popular Lake Denton illegal. Others are calling it ridiculous. One who is doing both is Ken Melvin, one of the seven members of the special Lake Denton Citizens Advisory Committee. On Jan. 2, the Highlands County commissioners are scheduled to at least discuss, and possibly vote on, the committee's controversial, four-point recommendation to re-open this closed public lake. "I think it's illegal," Melvin said about the committee's recommendation to severely restrict public access and charge weekend "user's fees" of $25 per day to scuba divers, boaters, fishermen, swimmers and sunbathers. "I'm going to say that to the commissioners on Wednesday," Melvin said. He was sick for several months and missed the last two advisory committee meetings. ...more

December 29, 2007

SEBRING –– On March 1, public access should be restored, on a limited basis, to popular Lake Denton. The special seven-member Lake Denton Citizens Advisory Committee voted unanimously Wednesday night to send that recommendation to the Highlands County commissioners. Commissioners appointed the committee in mid-September after voting 3-2 to close public access to this lake –– widely considered one of the best scuba diving lakes in the state –– for up to a year. Problems cited by commissioners in closing the county boat ramp, the only public access to this exceptionally clear, 65-acre lake, included: Potentially dangerous overcrowding by scuba divers, swimmers and boaters; illegal parking that sometimes clogged or blocked road access to lakefront homes; and occasional crude, lewd, rude and rowdy behavior by some lake users. ...more

December 7, 2007

SEBRING — Highlands County commissioners need to find one more person, with the right credentials, to appoint a state-mandated citizens advisory committee on affordable workforce housing. At stake is the county's ability to keep receiving about $900,000 per year in state funding for housing assistance programs. Ten of the 11 seats on the committee have been tentatively filled, but commissioners are waiting to appoint the committee until the 11th position is filled. That person must be a county resident "who is actively engaged as a for-profit provider of affordable housing," according to state law. "Generally, that would be a contractor or a developer," said Jim Polatty, the county's development director. ...more

December 1, 2007

SEBRING –– An executive search firm based in Palm Beach County will assist Highlands County commissioners in picking a new county administrator. After interviewing three firms on Tuesday, the commissioners hired Colin Baenziger & Associates for the job. Naming a citizens advisory committee will be the next step in the process of replacing county Administrator Carl Cool, who announced in early summer that he will retire on June 30, 2008. Cool, 57, has been the county's chief executive officer for more than 16 years, since June 1991. Edgar Stokes, chairman of the county commissioners, said he expects that a citizens advisory committee will be appointed by mid-January. Stokes also said between 10 to 15 people will probably be appointed to the committee. Colin Baenziger said a citizens advisory committee should be involved in picking the county's top administrator. Over the next several weeks, he will talk with commissioners about the precise roles of the committee. ...more

November 28, 2007