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Highlands Today

New Laws, More Money Local Governments Ask Help From Legislature

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By Gary Pinnell | Highlands Today

Published: December 6, 2007

The town of Lake Placid wants $2.7 million for a new water plant.

The sheriff has run out of room to store growhouse evidence, and wants to just take pictures instead.
Highlands County wants to remain a rural county, which will help with grants.

And the legislative delegation was writing down the wish list on Wednesday, promising to help when the session starts next year.

Sheriff Susan Benton has a problem: deputies have busted 58 growhouses this year, and the evidence is mounting. Air conditioners, grow lights, weapons and records are being stored in 10 cargo shipping containers, she told Sen. J.D. Alexander, Rep. Denise Grimsley and Rep. Baxter Troutman.

That evidence may be needed when the defendants go to trial, Benton said. She was seeking a new law which allows the sheriff and prosecutors to merely photograph the evidence.

Benton also wants a law which makes it a crime to knowingly rent a house for drug use, or to possess drugs around a child under age 3.

Others

- Gary Freeman, Lake Placid's utilities director, is hoping to build a new water treatment plant in the next two years. More capacity and more storage are needed, he said.

"We need it," Freeman said. "We're a small town, and we're growing."

- Highlands County Commission Chairman Edgar Stokes asked for a grant to solve the $2.2 million Thunderbird Hills wastewater treatment plant. The county may be stuck with the plant if the owner abandons it.

The county is also seeking money to fund the renovation of the historic courthouse. Troutman, looking at the plans, reminded Stokes that the state is solving a multi-billion dollar budget crisis, and that each window in the courthouse is priced at $2,777.

- County economic development director Louise England and Florida's Heartland Rural Economic Development Initiative director Lynn Topel asked the Legislature to change the law which designates Highlands and other small counties as rural. Currently, the cutoff is 100,000 people. They want to raise the bar to 150,000.

Highlands County has about 97,000 people, and could fall out of the rural class soon. The rural designation affects the ability to obtain grants, to operate an enterprise zone, and Highlands is the anchor county for FHREDI, Topel said.

- Sebring Airport Authority Director Mike Willingham asked for higher purchasing limits. Currently, governments must seek bids on any item or service that costs more than $10,000. Willingham wanted to raise the limit to $20,000.

Alexander wasn't so sure. Several governments in his Senate district are in trouble over purchasing.
"I hope you've thought it through," Alexander said. "I'd hate to give you too much rope."

Avon Park City Manager C.B. Shirey wants the legislature to forbid the Highlands County Health Department to issue migrant labor camp permits that violate municipal zoning ordinances. Last year, the health department granted eight permits in Avon Park, one in Sebring and 55 in Lake Placid.

"We would sign-off on whether it meets local zoning regulations," Shirey said.

To avoid conflicts, the city also wants more than one Community Redevelopment Agency, Shirey said. The city council sits as the CRA.

With a five-member board, potentially each of the three CRA factions could form a minority.
Finally, the city is seeking help on stormwater retention. Shirey wants to treat rainwater before it reaches the lakes with grease and pollutants from the streets.

Assistant City Manager Scott Neothlich said the city of Sebring will not make requests this year.

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