By REID TUCKER
DeFuniak Springs – Sara Bowers resigned from her post as DeFuniak Springs’ city manager, with “just politics” being her only off-the-cuff comment on the decision.
Bowers didn’t elaborate much in the letter of resignation she read to the City Council on the night of the board’s regularly scheduled March 28 meeting either. She wrote that it had been “an honor and a privilege to be part of a creative and enthusiastic city team,” but that she would be stepping down from the role of city manager “given current events.” Though nobody could make an official comment as to the nature of those current events, it’s safe to say the announcement came as a surprise to most everyone in the Council chamber, and that goes for the crowd of visitors and Mayor Bob Campbell alike.
Campbell said he was unaware of Bowers’ plans to resign until he received her official letter the Friday prior to this Monday’s meeting. Though the mayor referenced possible tensions between Bowers and unnamed members of the City Council, he said he didn’t know things had gotten to the point that she intended to resign.
“I knew I knew there were some issues but I didn’t know it was at this level,” Campbell said. “No one has been on trial here. I don’t know what some of the Councilmen’s issue were. I assume I’ll be finding out more from [Bowers] or the city attorney.
“I don’t want to run into this again. I want to find out what was the problem.”
The Council members returned a 4-1 vote to accept Bowers’ resignation, with Councilwoman Janie Griffith casting the lone nay vote.
Bowers, who worked as a city employee for more than 20 years, served as the city manager since 2012 after a decade-plus run as finance director. Per the separation agreement Bowers signed with the city, she will receive three months’ severance pay. The agreement also contained language to the effect that Bowers’ resignation was not an admission of any “liability or wrongdoing” and that “no adverse inferences are to be drawn” from her decision to resign.
The board voted unanimously to assign Assistant City Manager and Public Works Director Tillman Mears to take on the role of acting city manager until such time as a replacement can be found for Bowers. Agenda items about advertising for the now-vacant city manager position and the temporary promotion of a public works supervisor to fulfill the duties of department director were added to a special meeting already scheduled to take place Tuesday, March 29. The original purpose of the special meeting was limited to the six-month evaluation of the finance director and the city manager’s annual evaluation.
Despite the news of Bowers’ resignation being the biggest thing to come out of the meeting, it certainly wasn’t the only item on the agenda to result in a lengthy discussion.
The Council and crowd returned once more to the matter of drawing down Lake DeFuniak, the water level of which is markedly higher than any point in city history – and the cause for the sustained rise in water level without significant drainage is, as yet, unknown. Mears explained that his department is looking into installing a bore from the lake along Pine Street’s right-of-way to the other side of Crescent Avenue. City staff is in the process of acquiring quotes on the bore, but $16,000 is the ballpark figure Mears gave.
Mears reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency could potentially reimburse the city for 87.5 percent of the costs associated with the draw-down. However, the official report from the Northwest Florida Water Management District indicates that the lake would rise to its current level within two weeks’ time if ground water levels remain constant, even if the draw-down operation, which involves pumping the water out by means of specialized equipment, is successful. Some members of the audience opined that the city would be throwing good money after bad if it went along with the plan, particularly if the process had to be repeated in the near future, and that city funds would be better spent on economic development elsewhere in town.
The board eventually voted unanimously to have an engineering and environmental impact study done on the causes of the blockage in the lake as well as the proposed short and long-term solutions to the problem. A provision in the motion called for a do-not-exceed amount of $5,000 for the studies.
Finally (though it was chronologically first among the major topics at the meeting), Tesla Motor’s Beau Whiteman submitted plans for alterations at the electric car company’s charging stations in the historic district. Tesla will add approximately 22 square feet to the existing Supercharger station on South 10th Street for the purpose of installing a structure housing three new transformers correcting voltage issues at the site. The charging station will continue to be open for Tesla customers’ use during the renovation process.
Since the Supercharger station went on-line in January of 2015, roughly 1,000 Tesla owners have juiced up their vehicles’ batteries in DeFuniak Springs. Furthermore, the company has opened 200 other charging stations around the world since then, bringing the global total to 609 stations. The Council returned a 5-0 vote to allow the Supercharge station’s renovation, which will be conducted solely at Tesla’s expense.