Faced with a deteriorating water distribution system and the need to fund improvements, the Dunnellon City Council at its workshop meeting Wednesday questioned how Community Redevelopment Area funds should be spent and the role of the CRA Steering Committee.
“They are arguing about benches and trash receptacles,” Mayor Fred Ward said about the Steering Committee. “To me, that’s not infrastructure.”
The city has a CRA Board, comprising the five city council members and a citizen-based CRA Steering Committee, which makes recommendations to the Board.
Ward questioned how the Steering Committee would know better how to spend CRA dollars than the board.
“We are looking at the whole thing from 10,000 feet and they may be looking at it from sea level,” Ward said.
CRA funds are property taxes that must be spent in a designated blighted area for its redevelopment.
The discussion surfaced when it was brought to the council’s attention that a number of seats on the Steering Committee needed to be filled.
Harold Horne, the city’s community development director, said that before making new appointments, he would like to present a report about the number of city boards and what they do. He said his staff is stretched with preparing agendas and minutes for all boards.
Councilwoman Louise Kenny said the size of the staff must be considered.
She said that state statute requires a CRA Board but does not require a CRA Steering Committee. She said, by statute, the Board may appoint two additional people to the board.
Councilman Fred Stark said that, in the past, the Board had not met for three years, so the Steering Committee had no idea how much money it had to spend on projects. He said the committee would make requests and “nothing ever came of it.”
Horne said he asked the Steering Committee to list the projects it believes the city should tackle. He said those items could be addressed as the city prepares its budget. He said, in the future, when needs are identified by organizations like Main Street, they can make a grant application to the CRA Board and the request would be considered in context of the city’s overall redevelopment plan.
The City Council is concerned about how to pay for improving the water system. A workshop is scheduled for 2 p.m. April 23 at City Hall to discuss the problem.
Ward said that CRA funds may be needed as “seed” money to match grants to fix the water system.
City Manager Bill Bailey said the city must identify the problem, recruit volunteers with expertise, do planning and scheduling and determine grant capabilities and do funding and budgeting.
The city first has to inventory the system to determine its condition.
Ward said he would like to have a geographic information system to plot the system once it is identified. He questioned whether it would be possible to piggyback on another agency’s computerized GIS or whether the city would have to get its own.
Not everyone agreed with the need for the GIS.
“We have a system that has to be fixed,” Stark said. “We are going to be looking at grant money. If the computer can fix that, that’s fine.”
City Utility Supervisor Richard Grabbe said that, over the years, many of the water lines have been located.
“There’s pipes in the ground we don’t know where they are at,” he told the Council. “Financially, we can’t rip up a street to locate a water line.”
Grabbe said the records are on paper and some are accurate and some are not. He said that one day, the Department of Environmental Protection or other government entities may require information in GIS format.
After the meeting, Grabbe said there are leaks, there are two small areas where improvements are needed for fire protection, and the system is not looped.
Even though there are breaks, those are not out of the ordinary, he said.
“It’s not as bleak as everybody is thinking,” Grabbe said. “It’s a viable system and has been for quite a few years.”
What he sees as the problem is that there has been no replacement schedule as pipes wear out.
“Part of that concern is identifying what we have and where it’s at and plan for future upgrades and replacement of what we have,” he said.
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