By REID TUCKER
The DeFuniak Springs City Council and prospective grant writer candidate Robert McKnight didn’t come to terms at the most recent meeting, but that does not mean they won’t after the first of the year.
McKnight, a DeFuniak resident and former University of Kentucky grant-writing specialist with a doctorate in public health from Johns Hopkins University, presented his newly formed Lakeyard Consulting Group, LLC’s proposed compensation plan to the Council at its Nov. 10 meeting. No action was taken by the board, primarily because the board members could not get behind the requested salary. When the numbers were run, his payment would come to $3,840 for a minimum of 32 hours of work per month at $120 per hour, and Councilman Kermit Wright said that is more than the city can afford at the moment.
“You’re out of sight, as far as I’m concerned,” Wright said. “If you had worked with us for a year so I could look back over what you’ve done, maybe. But at $120 per hour, you’re way out of my price range.”
It was decided two weeks ago that McKnight and Preble Rish, Inc., the city’s engineering firm, would be considered as co-grant writers, with the latter pursuing infrastructure grants and the former taking care of grants for development and other projects. McKnight’s proposal included such things as no fixed fee schedule, flat-rate travel fees and reduced hourly rates for extra time on the clock, consultation or cooperative work with Preble Rish. The variable nature of his proposed compensation plan is due to the variety of grants available – McKnight said at least $3 million is available now in areas like economic development and historic preservation, and the city could add this money to its coffers over the next few years.
“There is a lot of work involved in writing high quality, competitive, fundable grants,” McKnight said. “As any professional, I would prefer to be compensated for the work I do.
“If you commit a crime and go to a defense attorney, I doubt the attorney is going to say ‘If I get a not-guilty verdict on this my fee will be different than if it’s a guilty verdict.’ I’m a professional who knows his trade quite well and is quite successful in doing that.”
Even though the Council decided not to go for hiring McKnight, he still offered his services in the area of strategic planning free of charge through the end of this year. All parties amicably agreed to revisit the proposal next year.
The other big item on the meeting agenda was a presentation from Tesla Motors representative Beau Whiteman regarding his company’s finalized plans to install rapid-recharge stations for use by its electric cars (and others in the segment). Tesla went through six different design phases, but settled on a five-space arrangement, reserving two spaces for use by its own cars, to be located at the intersection of 10th Street and Baldwin Ave. This particular location was selected due to lower traffic than other downtown areas, which is in line with Tesla’s policy of looking out for its customer’s safety once outside their vehicle, even if they have to walk a ways to get to nearby restaurants or amenities.
Per its agreement with the city, the auto company will shoulder all the estimated $350,000 necessitated by the construction while also paying the city a monthly lease of $600 plus electricity. Though Councilman Mac Carpenter said the deal represented a “no down sides” investment in downtown likely to bring new visitors to the city, Wright and local resident Bruce Butts disagreed with the lease proposal from Tesla. Their belief was that the location of the charging stations was not only not the most optimal in terms of proximity to businesses that may one day occupy that section of Baldwin Avenue, but also that it could represent a danger to public safety with drivers having to back into traffic.
The motion to accept the lease agreement passed 4-1, with Wright casting the nay vote.
