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County wraps up deal with its new attorney
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET © St. Petersburg Times, published March 14, 2001 INVERNESS -- The County Commission approved a contract 4-1 Tuesday that makes Robert Battista the new county attorney. Commissioner Vicki Phillips cast the lone vote against the contract, saying she thinks Battista is well qualified but she is disappointed he will not move from Brooksville. "We talk about community involvement, and I feel strongly that the county attorney should reside here in Citrus County," Phillips said. "For that reason and that reason only, I'm going to oppose the contract." Battista will earn $90,000 for the first year, with a 1.5 percent raise every three months. He replaces Larry Haag, who retired last month after two decades on the job. Battista starts with the county today, and will spend some off-hours over the next few months wrapping up his work as the city attorney of Brooksville. Now that he is county attorney, Battista will no longer serve as the hearing officer for appeals of Citrus County zoning and development decisions, which he has handled since 1996. Citrus County will search for a new attorney to hear those cases, County Administrator Richard Wesch said. In the meantime, Black Diamond's pending challenge against the Brown Schools of Florida will go to a state administrative law judge for hearing, commissioners decided Tuesday. Battista was the second-ranked finalist for the county attorney job. Commissioners decided last month to negotiate with him after failing to reach an acceptable contract with attorney David La Croix, who wanted three or four weeks of vacation time each year. Battista agreed to receive the same amount of vacation time as all starting county employees: two weeks per year. In other commission news: TURNS ON U.S. 19: The board supported the proposal to create an "access management plan" showing where cars can turn onto existing and future developments along U.S. 19. Orlando consultant Dyer, Riddle, Mills & Precourt will create the plan if the county approves $52,116 in funding over the next two years. Wesch said the county staff hopes to use the U.S. 19 plan as the foundation for similar plans along other busy roadways. BILLBOARD TASK FORCE: Commissioners approved the creation of a Billboard Task Force, under the Community Development Division, to make recommendations on how the county should regulate the giant signs along commercially developing roadways. The seven-member board will include a citizen and representatives from the county's Planning and Development Review Board, two billboard companies, the business community, the Citrus County Council and a billboard control advocacy group. MUCK CLEARING: The board passed a resolution asking the Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as Swiftmud, to provide $40,000 to help clean the muck from the Tsala Apopka lake chain. The resolution asks for $25,000 from the Withlacoochee Basin Board and $15,000 from a water quality monitoring project for the lake chain that has been postponed due to the drought. Expressing concern that Swiftmud never responded to the county's request to dredge the Orange State Canal, Commissioner Josh Wooten said he hopes the agency responds to this funding request. "Given that there are actual dollars involved, we will drive to (Swiftmud's regional office in) Brooksville, if need be, to shake the proverbial tree," Wesch said.
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