At its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday evening at City Hall, the Cedar Key City Commission sailed through its page-long agenda in less than an hour, approving all but one of the questions before it by unanimous vote. Before a motion could be made to adjourn, however, and citing city budget hearings to begin the following night, Commissioner Heath Davis asked his fellow commissioners to "take advantage of the early hour" and remain in session for an informal discussion among the commissioners of their goals for the city`s next budget year. Noting tough decisions to come in the budget process, he said he felt upcoming budget workshops would proceed more easily if the commissioners had a sense of one another`s goals for the city.
(Note: See schedule of budget meetings at the end of this story.) Commissioner Davis began the pre-budget discussion by reflecting on the decision, made by the commission in his mayoral term a few years ago, that all city department heads report to the mayor rather than to the commission as a whole or to delegated commissioners. (Cedar Key`s mayor is chosen annually by vote of the commission itself, which elects one of its members to the office following annual city elections to fill the five-member commission.) Commissioner Davis noted advantages and disadvantages of the current mayor-as-manager system, summing up by saying, "We need a city manager or a city administrator - but we probably can`t afford it." Commissioner Sue Colson, the city`s immediate past mayor, agreed that the city needs an individual other than the mayor to serve as executive. Taking a different tack, Commissioner Scott Dennison repeated recommendations he said he already made to then-Mayor Colson and present Mayor O`Neal, that the commission require regular department head reports to the commission as a whole. Commissioner Dennison commented that it hadn`t been his understanding that the commission`s decision, that the mayor serve as day-to-day administrator, meant that department heads wouldn`t continue to report to the commission as a whole. In the budget process, Commissioner Dennison went on, the city`s department heads tell management (the city commission) their goals. Without the opportunity to review department performance, the commission can`t know that goals are being met. In answer to Commissioner Dennison`s further question of what change from present practice may be allowed under the city`s charter, City Attorney David Coffey clarified that the city charter provides for the administration of each city department to be undertaken, at the city commission`s discretion, by the city commission as a whole, by individual city commissioner(s), by the mayor, by a city manager, or by a city administrator. Mayor Pat O`Neal concluded the discussion (Commissioner Gene Hodges was not in attendance) by suggesting that the commission has tended to be reactive in its budgeting and decision-making. "We don`t plan ahead," he observed. Early in the scheduled meeting, Mayor O`Neal presented the City of Cedar Key`s certificate of appreciation to Jim Green, in recognition of his contributions to the city. The commission heard a presentation by Toni Collins, representing the Levy County Historical Society, announcing Levy County Railroad Days scheduled for March 18, 19, and 20, 2011, and soliciting sponsorship for permanent historic roadside markers. The 155.5-mile Florida Railroad line, from Fernandina on Florida`s Atlantic Coast to Cedar Key on the Gulf, was completed March 16, 1861. The Levy County Historical Society has obtained Florida Department of Transportation permission to post permanent markers along State Road 24 designating the locations of the eleven station stops along the 42 miles of former rail line Levy County. Historic marker sponsorships are available for each of the 11 white-on-brown, 12" by 36" markers at $1,000 each; proceeds will help underwrite expenses of celebration activities planned for the cities of Bronson, Otter Creek, and Cedar Key. The commission unanimously approved Ordinance 469 (final reading), establishing a permit program to allow dogs in outdoor seating areas of Cedar Key restaurants, and Ordinance 471 (first reading), modifying the city`s personnel policies to provide for 14-day as well as 7-day work periods. The commission unanimously supported CRA Director Greg Lang`s recommendation that Clark Communities, Inc. (CCI) be chosen to administer the city`s Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant. The evening`s only negative vote was cast by Commissioner Davis in opposition to an amendment negotiated with the Cedar Key Water and Sewer District regarding the city`s options in the event reclaimed water is not available to the city for irrigation use as contemplated in the interlocal agreement between the city and the CKWSD. The amendment passed, 3-1. Schedule of City, CRA and Cedar Key Water & Sewer District Meetings Wed., 8/18, 7 p.m. Budget workshop
Tues., 8/24, 7 p.m. " "
Thurs., 8/26, 7 p.m. " "
Tues., 8/31, 7 p.m. " "
Tues., 9/7, 6 p.m. Regular CRA meeting
Wed., 9/8, 7 p.m. Budget workshop
Thurs., 9/9, 7p.m. " "
Mon., 9/13, 7 p.m. " "
Tues., 9/14, 7 p.m. Millage/budget hearing
Tues., 9/21, 6 p.m. Regular City Commission meeting
Mon., 9/27, 7 p.m. Adopt final millage/budget
CDSWD budget meetings:
Mon., 9/13, 5 p.m.
Tues., 9/21, 5 p.m. | 
