One Million to dig a 250 foot ditch…

August 21, 2026

Well fall is here but it’s still pretty hot out. I hope we all get some well-earned relief from the heat and humidity sooner than later. I’m seeing pretty big flocks of ducks migrating to Mosquito Lagoon and have just recently spotted several migratory bald eagles there too. Yesterday I saw a pair of painted buntings on a feeder here in town. These are all signs that we might see an early winter this year.

Citizen turnout 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.

The Election is coming up soon

First, I’d like to thank all of you for your support over the last four years. I hope I have earned your trust. I’m running for re-election and appreciate your support. Thank you for the hospitality and kindness you have extended to me when I visit; it’s a reflection of the quality of our community. Your feedback is valuable to help me understand my past performance and provides me with direction for the future. Click here to review my campaign flyer.

What’s happening in our city

Adoption of the final millage rate: The first of two readings and vote will be taken at the September 14, 2026 City Commission meeting. According to resolution 2026-05, its adoption will increase your taxes by 6.57%. If you have something to say about this, I suggest that you come to the meeting and speak up.

Adoption of the final 2026/2027 budget: The first of two readings and vote will be taken at the September 14, 2026 City Commission meeting.. Click here to view resolution 2026-06.

Halifax Ave. sewer line installation. Please review this excerpt from of the minutes of the August 10, 2026 Oak Hill City Commission meeting. Click here to view those minutes in their entirety. Chris Fagerstrom of Mead and Hunt gave a presentation to the commission about this project. During the presentation, Commissioner Werning asked Mr. Fagerstrom if there would be funding available to partially subsidize the connection fee that will be incurred by residents along East Halifax Avenue.

Mr. Fagerstrom confirmed that $75,000 would be available for connections. He went on to say that as currently designed, the project will only be connecting residents on the “peninsula,” which I believe includes: The Oak Hill Fish Camp, Mosquito Lagoon RV park, and the Oak Hill Association. According to the minutes, Mr. Fagerstrom said that properties along East Halifax Avenue, west of the peninsula cannot be connected to the forced sewer main until gravity collection systems and additional pump stations are installed. He noted that at the current funding levels, those additional requirements are not accounted for and would have to be funded as an additional project by future grants.

The best I can tell, that means that 31 homes, the Baptist Church and a business or two along East Halifax Avenue will not be hooking up to the sewer main until additional funding, either by grant or miracle is secured. Mr. Fagerstrom did not indicate the exact number of lift stations that would have to be installed along East Halifax for residents to connect. Click here for a google break down or cost estimate of a single municipal low pressure lift station.

Canal Avenue Storm Water canal extension. In January of 2025, shortly after the 2024 election, I was contacted by City Manager Janet Shira. She told me that State Representative Chase Tramont had asked that any municipality within his district, in need of state funding,
submit a plan for a “shovel ready” storm water project. This was a wonderful opportunity for our city.

She asked if I had any ideas and conveyed a sense of urgency because the legislative session was only a few weeks away. She went on to say that she and Mayor Taylor would be traveling to Tallahassee along with our lobbyist with the hope of securing the funds.

Administrator Shira requested that the estimated cost for the project be around $145,000. What came to mind was the severe flooding that happens in the area around the Oak Hill Country Store during a hurricane or other significant rain event. I called my friend Charlie Dean and we both went to the site and met with the property owner. Lots of ideas were tossed around, most of which amounted to extending an existing ditch on the east side of the driveway at 131 Canal avenue, west 254 feet.

Administrator Shira liked the project and asked if I would meet with city engineer Jennifer Shannon from Mead and Hunt to discuss the project. We discussed the merits of a pumping station verses a less complicated and easier to maintain, ditch extension. She drew up an estimate and rough plan and Mayor Taylor and Administrator Shira took the package to State and was awarded approximately $186,000 for the project; $40,000 more than what we had asked for. Click here to view a google synopsis of the award. The city held a ceremonial photo shoot with State senator Wright and Mayor Taylor shaking hands in front of a large cardboard cutout of a $186,000 check. Nothing happened with the project for a several months and, unrelated, Administrator Shira resigned from her position with the city in April of 2025.

In May of 2025, John Barkley started working for Oak Hill as the city administrator. News got out about the storm water project funding and everyone was hopeful that it would become reality. Click here to view the story on WESH 2 News. Click here to watch the story that aired on local news station WKMG-TV. It wasn’t long after these news stories began airing that Mr. Barkley and I were invited to meet with public works director for Volusia County, Benjamin Bartlett and Louis Trivett. During that meeting I asked Mr. Bartlett if the county could help the City of Oak Hill complete the project.

His response was to say that it all depends on where the funding came from. I asked Mr. Barkley if he could look into the funding source and see if it was compatible with the county’s requirements, then checked in with him a short time later. It turns out that the source was one the county could use. Great news!

Shortly after receiving the good news, Mr. Barkley, Tom Lathrom, Travis Allen, Louis Trivett, and I met at the Oak Hill Country Store to discuss the project.

During that meeting, Mr. Trivett revealed that if he could find a culvert buried along the 250 foot stretch between 131 Canal and the Oak Hill Country Store, that the county would be performing maintenance of an existing stormwater canal and not creating a new canal. That would be preferred because then the county would be responsible for the cost, not the city. Also, great news! Wouldn’t it be nice if we could save the $186,000 to help with other projects? I asked Mr. Trivett how we could verify the presence of an existing pipe. He said that he had a long steel rod in his truck that is used precisely for that purpose.

We all walked back to the parking lot of the Country Store for what I thought was to retrieve the steel rod but everyone got in their vehicles and left. The presence of an existing pipe was never verified. Once or twice a month thereafter, I would ask Mr. Barkley for an update on our progress with the county. Did they find a pipe there? What is the scope of the services they can provide? What does the city need to do in order to move forward with the project? I could never get a clear and concise answer from him. A couple more months went by and hurricane season 2025 had passed without a major storm. Shortly before the new year, Mr. Barkley announced that he and Mayor Taylor were going back to Tallahassee to ask for another $800,000 to complete the project.

Keep in mind that this project is essentially nothing more than a 250-foot stormwater ditch. When I pointed that out to Mr. Barkley, I added that $186.000 would be more than enough to complete the project and that it would be reckless for our city to ask for more money before we know what the county can do with the project. We needed answers to those basic unanswered questions, especially whether or not there was an existing pipe already there. He scoffed and said that the $186,000 was going to be given to Mead and Hunt and would be used for planning and permitting the project. The $800,000 was also going to them to cover the actual construction costs of the project. Again, that’s $986,000 to dig a 250+ foot ditch.

Today we are in the heart of hurricane season, Mr. Barkley is gone and Administrator Shira is back. According to the published agenda, at Monday’s meeting the commission is slated to vote on the “ratification” of the Mead and Hunt proposal for “Canal Avenue project’s, design, permitting, and bidding assistance.” I guess they’re only asking for design, permitting, and bidding, because the state denied the additional $800,000 our city requested. Click here to examine the July 21, 2025, proposal our city is to “ratify” at Monday’s meeting. They’re asking for $174,177, which is down $12,711 from the $186,888 they asked for in their January 29, 2025 proposal. Click here to view that proposal. Click here to view an undated “Engineer’s preliminary estimate of probable construction cost” which I assume accompanied the January 29 proposal. In that estimate they’re asking $974,180 and that doesn’t include planning.

As far as I know, the Oak Hill City Commission never voted to seek proposals for the planning and execution of this project, but we have two from the same company. One was signed as “accepted” by City Administrator Barkley on November 6, 2025 but never voted on by the commission. The other is unsigned and sent in January 2025 while Administrator Shira was still working at the city. As far as I know the city never pursued a partnership with the county to complete this project and never asked them to verify whether an existing pipe was buried somewhere in that 250 foot stretch between the Oak Hill Country Store and the driveway at 131 Canal Avenue.

Just to put this all in perspective, the property owner of the Oak Hill Country Store, Doug (Bull) Lathrom proposed to dig the ditch himself, and install a culvert in the part of the ditch that passes in front of his property at 121 Canal Avenue for $15,000. I told Administrator Barkley this several times but was ignored. I wouldn’t hold Mr. Lathrom to that price and even if it was inflated by 400% to ($64,000) you’d still have $48,000 of wiggle room and a completed project with $123,000 left over. The trajectory that we’re currently on will no doubt leave us with a well-designed storm water ditch, but no protection for our citizens from flooding.

A final thought. The common theme, of the two projects I outline in this newsletter, is that lots of money will be spent, with little or no benefit to the citizens of Oak Hill.

To Contact Your City Commissioners and Mayor

Taylor – [email protected], Commissioner Linda Hyatt, [email protected], Commissioner Carrie Werning, [email protected], Vice Mayor Joe Catigano, [email protected], Commissioner Mark Drollinger, [email protected].

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The next Oak Hill City Commissioner’s meeting is, September 14, 2026 at city hall. The time is 6:00 PM. click here for the agenda and here for the agenda pack.

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…

Thanks again,e to serve you, I appreciate your support. Please let me know what I can do to help. I’m here to represent you…

Thanks again,