Archer City Commission discusses expenses, may sell or keep land previously slated for donation

BY DAVID LIGHTMAN

ARCHER, Fla. – At their August 11 monthly meeting, the Archer City Commission adopted a revised rental application for City-owned facilities, decided not to pay $3,600 to survey land that was donated by the County, and discussed the Interim City Manager’s evaluation report. 

The meeting began with a 4-0 vote to excuse Vice Mayor Iris Bailey from the meeting because she was “under the weather,” according to Mayor Fletcher Hope. 

Karen Fiore spoke during public comment on adopting the consent agenda. She asked about spending $160 for flowers at Lowe’s and another $400 for stump grinding. She said, “We have no money.” Fiore asked about supplemental insurance expenses that she thought should have been paid by employees due to recent changes but appear to have been paid by the City. Commissioner Joan White said she had paid the $160 for the flowers.

Laurie Costello asked about other expenses, such as an “after-hours” modem repair for $629. Interim City Manager Deanna Alltop explained, “We had no internet at all. And Justin and I, we were both in the middle of trying to do something critical. So, Emerald Data could come out the same day. So, we had them come, and they were here past 5. So, we had to pay the after-hours.”

Roberta Lopez questioned paying $2,229 to have one tree removed plus an additional $400 for stump grinding. She said that, in her experience, the cost should have been much lower.

Gene Arnold criticized the lack of information provided alongside the expenses in the City’s recent reports. Referring to Emerald Data, Arnold said, “They are just fleecing us on a monthly basis.” 

Revised rental application

The first item of new business was adopting a revised rental application for usage of facilities owned by the City of Archer. City Attorney Danielle Adams introduced the item and said Roberta Lopez had made a valuable suggestion, indicating the form of payment on the rental application for tracking purposes, such as payment by check, credit card, or money order. 

White made a motion to adopt the revised rental application, and Commissioner Kathy Penny seconded the motion. 

Hope said all pages need to be numbered on the application, and he suggested adding the word “cleaned” to indicate that tables and chairs must be cleaned by those using the facility. He also suggested specifying that kitchen facilities are only for reheating and not for cooking, due to the lack of proper ventilation, and he addressed concerns about parking on the grass at the Community Center by making another change to the text. 

White amended her motion to approve the application with the changes, and Penny agreed, as the seconder.

During public comment on the motion, Fiore pointed out several typos in the document and suggested proofreading documents better in the future. Another audience member suggested putting information about deposit and cancellation policies on every page.

White and Penny revised their motion and second a second time to reflect the changes proposed by the constituents. It passed 4-0.

Boundary survey

Adams introduced the second item, a boundary survey to be completed by McMillen Surveying. She said it is for the Mary Hope and the Archer Historical Society properties, to fix their encroachment issues and questions about their properties’ boundaries, and it will cost $3,600. Adams said they did not automatically proceed with the survey given the cost and the City’s financial status. Alachua Chronicle contacted City staff to obtain additional information, and we were told that the City owns a large piece of land adjacent to these properties, and that is part of the boundary confusion.

Hope said he would recuse himself because his spouse owns one of the two properties that have been “trying to get the boundary straightened out for the last seven and one-half years.”

There was discussion about who should be responsible for paying for the survey, as both property owners have an interest in completing it. A general consensus was reached that the City cannot afford to pay for the survey and that anyone looking to purchase all or part of the land that the City owns should pay the cost. A motion and second were made to that effect. 

During public comment on the motion, Costello said the buyer always pays for the survey. 

Hope explained, “This property was given to the City of Archer as a donation [from the County], contingent on the County surveying the abutting property owners of note.”

Adams said a survey was started but never completed, and the survey work that was done years ago has expired. She agreed with Costello that any potential buyers of the land should pay for the survey. The motion to have potential buyers pay for the survey passed 3-0, with Mayor Hope recused.

Decision about land next to Bethlehem Presbyterian Church

The next item was deciding what to do with a parcel of land next to Bethlehem Presbyterian Church that the City voted to donate to the church in 2019. Adams said they needed to decide whether to donate it or declare the land as surplus and put it up for sale. Alltop said the City could use the money, and that was the reason for possibly changing the decision.

Hope explained, “City Attorney Clay Martin said it has to be donated, has to be for public use, it has to be assigned [as] a park if it was going to be donated. And that’s when the board of trustees [of the church] came back in letter writing and said, ‘Please appraise it and tell us what that appraisal would be, and then we’ll tell you whether we accept that or not.’”

Adams responded, “So it sounds like one way or another, we need to change it to be not a donation but rather for sale.”

White said they might need the land for a wastewater lift station, and she had concerns about the need for a survey and who would pay for that. Adams suggested tabling the item for the time being.

Adams said she would reach out to Clay Martin and try to obtain more information about why the land was never donated, and she would also reach out to Kimley-Horn to determine whether they need to use that piece of land for a wastewater lift station. Hope said he remembered Kimley-Horn saying something to that effect.

A motion to table the item was made and seconded. It passed 4-0.

Interim City Manager evaluation

The last item was the Interim City Manager’s evaluation results. White said giving Alltop a raise is not an option because the City decided not to hire anyone new or give raises to existing employees. Vice Mayor Bailey said Alltop is performing “Above Average” according to the evaluations, and the next evaluation will take place in December if she maintains the same position.

Final comments

During final comments, Alltop brought up resurfacing the Community Center floors, which would cost approximately $1,500 and had already been approved with no date for completion. White said if they wait too long and the floor becomes damaged, the cost to repair the floor will increase by as much as several thousand dollars. 

Hope said he would like to wait until they have more financial data available, possibly 30 or 60 days. Alltop said she would bring the question up again.