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Condo disputes and tight races
© St. Petersburg Times INVERNESS -- A hard-fought development battle, a tough election season and a surprise utility deal marked a busy year in government. Halls River Retreat was a media mainstay. During 2002 the County Commission approved the controversial condominium project, environmental activists objected to it and a judge derailed it. At year's end, a state agency was trying to resolve the matter in a way that might satisfy all parties. The Citrus Times considers this development battle the top story of 2002. It will be discussed in greater detail in a story Wednesday. During election season, County Commissioner Jim Fowler came within 27 votes of losing the Republican primary. That narrow victory over political newcomer Joyce Valentino turned into a comfortable victory two months later, when Fowler defeated controversial businessman Scott Adams in the general election. But the victories didn't come cheap: Fowler raised more than $94,000, much more than what's usually gathered during County Commission campaigns. He also made an issue of Adams' past, including his arrest record, a move that Adams criticized. County Commissioner Gary Bartell coasted to a another term. After the election, he sponsored a "weenie roast" that raised money and gifts for disadvantaged children. The event took its name from an insult Fowler directed at Bartell. Also on the election front, U.S. Rep. Karen Thurman, D-Dunnellon, lost the congressional seat she first won in 1992. Ginny Brown-Waite, a Republican from Brooksville, took advantage of a favorable redistricting effort by the GOP-controlled state Legislature to win the contest. Nancy Argenziano, R-Crystal River, also used an advantageous shifting of district lines to move from the state House of Representatives to the state Senate. She defeated Richard Mitchell, D-Jasper. Former Sheriff Charles Dean, R-Inverness, took Argenziano's House seat. The County Commission, and residents in many Citrus communities, were thrown a curveball in September when Florida Water announced it would sell its utility system to a newly formed Panhandle group. Citrus thought the Florida Governmental Utility Authority, of which it is a member, was in line to buy Florida Water and its local systems, which serve Sugarmill Woods, Citrus Springs, Pine Ridge and several smaller Citrus communities. But the rug was pulled out from under the FGUA's feet when two Panhandle towns, Gulf Breeze and Milton, stepped in with a successful $507-million offer. The county and many other affected municipalities are fighting the sale. Meantime, Florida Water is suing Citrus in federal court for allegedly abusing its regulatory powers. In other county headlines from 2002: The county seat question was put to rest, at least temporarily, when County Commissioner Roger Batchelor had a sudden change of heart and withdrew his support for a November referendum on whether commission meetings and offices should move to Lecanto. The commission agreed to move its meetings and offices to the expanded courthouse once the renovations are done. In fire services, a consultant reported that response times from the county's volunteer fire departments are too slow: Firefighters take as long as 16 minutes to respond to 90 percent of the calls countywide. A seven-minute response time in the "urban areas" -- mainly the Central Ridge and the corridors along U.S. 19 and U.S. 41 -- and a 12-minute response time everywhere else would be more acceptable. To cut response times, the consultant suggested the county place firefighters on standby at some fire stations. He offered five options, ranging from a minimal-cost plan to assign volunteer firefighters to cover shifts at some stations, to a $10-million option that would place a paid firefighter and a career lieutenant at every station in the county. Commissioners have not yet selected a staffing option. The county sparred with the Gerrits family about its operation of an incinerator on County Road 495 just north of Crystal River. The Gerritses have argued that the incinerator is part of their family's longstanding agricultural operations and therefore exempt from county permits under the state's Right to Farm Act. The 2,200-degree incinerator burns branches from trees harvested on the Gerritses' 500-plus acres, as well as truckloads of limbs and organic debris from other lots cleared for construction. The ash is mixed with soil, then spread over Gerrits' hay fields and trees as an organic compost. The county contends the incinerator should be on a piece of industrially zoned property. In late October, a judge denied the county's request that the incinerator be shut down while the court considers whether the Gerritses have been operating it in violation of county law. Prompted by the controversy surrounding a dairy farm in the works on County Road 491, the Planning and Development Review Board called for county government to impose special standards for intensive farming operations. The suggested measures would not affect the 420-cow farm being developed by M&B Products of Tampa. But the proposal would require plans for future intensive farms to be discussed during a public hearing and to address environmental concerns up front.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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