Story and photos by ELIZABETH SINCLAIR
In the May 9 discussion by the DeFuniak City Council of the water level in Lake DeFuniak and a possible drawdown by pumping water out of the lake, Councilman Kermit Wright asked if a survey of residence had been done as there would be disruption of traffic and a lot of noise from the pump required. The pumping could take as much as 65 days. The Council decided to give the city 30 days to contact residents and check with the First Presbyterian Church, 1063 Circle Drive, regarding any flooding issues it may have due to the high level of the lake. The pumping process is only an option under consideration.
Interim City Manager Tilman Mears submitted a packet of city updates to Council members including:
Overtime pay for 65 employees, from all city departments between October 2015 – May 2016 totaled $77,108.53.
Forty-one cases of code violations in the city were documented from Dec. 31, 2015 to April 11, 2016. They were almost equally divided between complaints and proactive inspections by code enforcement and range from noise to discarded property to unsafe structures to overgrown vegetation.
The city approved nine new business licenses in April and two more are pending. A temporary application for TNT Fireworks was approved by the Council, giving TNT Fireworks to set up a tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot June 26-July 5. The sale of fireworks will benefit the First Baptist Church of DeFuniak Springs.
Bench replacement at the city amphitheater is complete.
Bids for replacement of roof and repairs for the community center opened May 6.
The Council approved the purchase of an asphalt paver for $152,157. Money had been budgeted. Also approved was the purchase of a Jet-Refueling truck for the airport. The total bid is $126,630 and includes in-service training.
A motion was made and approved to develop a resolution to be sent to Florida Department of Transportation on behalf of the Council showing its disapproval of any plans to widen U.S. 331 through the city airport.