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County to foes: Work it out

The commission votes for the two sides battling over the courthouse to meet and settle their differences.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published August 10, 2005

INVERNESS - County commissioners said Tuesday that they don't want to take sides in a turf war over the Historic Courthouse.

The commission voted 4-1 for representatives from the Citrus County Historical Society and the Clerk of the Circuit Court to meet Aug. 30 to settle their differences. Commission Chairwoman Vicki Phillips, County Attorney Robert Battista and County Administrator Richard Wesch will also attend the meeting, where renegotiating the society's lease agreement for the courthouse will also be discussed.

The majority of commissioners said that would allow for a compromise that might make everyone happy.

But after the commission issued its ruling, members of the Historical Society's board said they were hurt and disappointed.

In a presentation that included four speakers, the Historical Society asked commissioners to remove the Clerk of the Circuit Court's office from the Historic Courthouse. The presence of a deputy clerk in the building, they said, violates the terms of the Historical Society's lease of the property. The lease states that there can be no county offices in the building except for the Office of Historical Resources and the Judiciary.

Historical Society officials also asked commissioners to rescind a letter signed by Phillips and approved on the consent agenda at a July 12 commission meeting that supported the clerk's continued presence in the old courthouse.

"The Citrus County Historical Society did not work thousands and thousands of hours to restore the courthouse in order for it to become a storage area for any one constitutional officer," said Marcia Beasley, a 21-year member of the society's board.

Dan Quick, a past president of the Historical Society who flew to Florida from his home in Kentucky to speak at the commission meeting, said he was "deeply offended by the current turn of events."

In a brief response to commissioners, Clerk of the Circuit Court Betty Strifler said Florida law deems the clerk to be responsible for the management of the Historical Resources Office and thus permits - and mandates - her office's presence in the building. She wants the society to move its office out of the archive area where her deputy clerk works.

"I don't think this is anything that can't be overcome," said Phillips, who motioned for the two sides to meet Aug. 30.

Commissioner Jim Fowler voted against that motion, saying the commission's talk of renegotiating the lease could be seen as a "veiled threat" against the Historical Society.

Phillips apologized for the July 12 letter's placement on the commission's consent agenda.

Historical Society president John Piersall said after the meeting that the society did not accept Phillips' apology.

Piersall said the society would be calling a board meeting in the near future to discuss its options.

He declined to comment on whether the society would still consider pulling all of its operations, including the museum, out of the old courthouse.

In other news:

Commissioners asked county staff members to look into starting an independent audit of the county's insurance providers, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Phillips cited recent media reports that the Chicago insurance company sent a $1.3-million check to the city of Gainesville in June to cover overcharges made over the past 14 years.

Alachua County received a check from Gallagher for more than $117,000 and Lakeland received a check for more than $1-million.

The company has said the overcharges were discovered in an internal audit.

Phillips said the fact that Gallagher, which has been the county's insurance provider since 1991, overcharged nearby governments gives her "grave concern."

Battista said the staff would report back to the commission at the next meeting in two weeks.

The Florida Attorney General's Office has said it is investigating Gallagher as part of a statewide investigation of the insurance industry.

Sheriff Jeff Dawsy asked commissioners to donate 15 acres to a project that would include Safety Town, a county child advocacy center, and Enterprise Village. The project would be a partnership of the Sheriff's Office, the advocacy center and the School Board, he said.

Safety Town, Dawsy said, would be a town with child-sized buildings where pupils in grades K-3 could be taught water safety, traffic rules and other topics. The county child advocacy center would build a cottage as part of the project known as Jessie's Place. The center would provide services and counseling for children when there is an allegation of physical abuse, neglect or sexual abuse. Enterprise Village, Dawsy said, would give kids from grade 5 through middle school hands-on business experience.

The commission voted unanimously for the staff to work with the Sheriff's Office to develop the concept in an effort to make it a reality. But commissioners said before the county donated any land to the project, Dawsy would need to come before the commission and answer more specific questions.

Commissioners voted 5-0 for the county to improve the intersection of Croft Avenue and County Road 486 by creating a four-lane divided highway.

Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309.

[Last modified August 10, 2005, 00:36:13]