Commission Conducts Six Candidate Interviews

August 19, 2023

Hi Everyone,
Citizen turn out at our commission meetings has been amazing, thank you all for supporting our city. Your participation is essential to its health and well-being and it’s having an impact.

Volusia County Transform386

On Thursday August 24, 2023, Volusia County is holding a public hearing for citizens to learn more about, and provide input on, the draft of their Transform386 action plan. According to the flyer, “this plan incorporates input from the Community Engagement Series meetings and the Unmet Needs Survey along with proposed projects to aid the community’s recovery from hurricane Ian and implement future disaster mitigation initiatives.” Click here to view the flyer. The meeting will be held from 5:30 till 7:30 p.m. at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center Council Chambers, 123 W. Indiana Ave. DeLand FL 32720. For those who cannot attend, you can watch the hearing live by clicking here to visit the Transform386 website. A link will be provided prior to the event.

It’s my hope that by participating in this process and demonstrating a need, The City of Oak Hill may qualify for assistance in the restoration of our flood control ditches and removal of hurricane debris. Currently, many of our city’s flood control ditches are not functional, or are operating at a reduced capacity. With all the rain we’ve had recently this should concern all citizens.

City Administrator Recruitment

On Monday August 21, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at city hall the commission will be conducting interviews with the six remaining candidates using Zoom. To view the resumes of the remaining candidates click here. The best I can tell from the information supplied, below is a list of candidates to be interviewed at Monday’s meeting. Clicking on the links attached to the names will conduct a very basic google search of the candidate.

Patrick Marsh, ICMA-CM 1050 Kensington Street, Port Charlotte Florida 33952
Jerome Adams, 901 Roseland Road, Sebatian Florida 32958
John C. Barkley, MPA, ICMA-CM, 181 Sparkling Brook Road, Ranson, West Virginia 25438
Katie Gatewood, Freeport, Florida 32439
Ryan Reckley, 1311 SW 9^th Ave. Deerfield Beach Florida, 33441
Daniel Finz, 38021 Snickersville Tpke. Purcellville, VA 20132
Amye King, AICP, 507 Coral Trace Blvd, Edgewater Florida, 32132

Nancy Cumming’s Park – Follow-Up

Here’s some good news. At the August 14, City Commission Meeting, Mayor Gibson announced that the commission would be open to the idea of fencing the northern boundary of the park and fencing off the drainage ditch / retention pond. The Mayor also indicated that the restroom reconstruction project would be finishing up soon and upon completion, the bathrooms would be open to public during park hours.

Oak Hill Developer Fee Schedule

At the last city meeting our commission voted 4 to 1 to pay the planning company Kimley-Horn $22709.00 to conduct a final development plan review for the Oak Hill Town Center project near Bill’s Hill Road. The details of this are contained in work authorization number 14 and can be reviewed by clicking here. Our city is currently in the process of updating its schedule of fees charged to developers and others seeking permits. Currently, there’s a workshop scheduled for 5:30 p.m. August 28^th at city hall. Be sure and mark this one on your calendar. Community input on this issue is critical and will help the commission gain a sense of the public’s expectations regarding this matter. Remember, the actions taken by the commission should reflect the values of the community.

Typically, a municipality would pass the costs associated with a development project on to the developer applying. Anything short of this is essentially the hardworking, taxpaying, citizens of our city subsidizing the developer. Reviewing a development plan / application shouldn’t cost the taxpayer a dime. Besides our citizens and the Indian River / Mosquito Lagoon, the undeveloped areas of Oak Hill are our most valuable assets. Our city should proudly charge as much as it can for these fees and use the revenue to improve the lives of those who live here. Higher fees won’t deter the developers. Please take the time to compare our city planner’s proposed fee schedule to those of some surrounding cities. To review the fee schedule currently posted by the City of Port Orange click here, here, and here. To review the fee schedule currently posted on the New Smyrna Beach website click here. To review the fee schedule currently posted on the city of Edgewater’s website click here.

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The next Oak Hill City Commissioner’s meeting is, August 21, 2023 at city hall. The time is 6:00 PM. As far as I know, the agenda and agenda pack for the meeting has not been published by the city.

Please come and let your voice be heard. Your presence and participation are how we hold our commission to account.

As always, it’s my pleasure to serve you, I appreciate your support. Please let me know what I can do to help. I’m here to represent you…