News Cast for May 12th
The Highlands County Board of County Commissioners
Discussed payback of fire assessments to churches and non-profits and the future of the fire department.
They have agreed to pay a lump sum of $3.56 million to build a new fire station and training center in Lake Placid. The estimated full price is over $10 million. They have requested a $7 million grant from the state of Florida.
Commissioners decried the high increases they imposed on commercial businesses of 167 percent.
“These kind of increases are not sustainable. I think you folks and the departments under you need to sharpen their pencils,” resident Robert Fritz said.
Commissioner Chris Campbell said large churches don’t want to pay or pay very little.
“If we can’t get the money to pay it and the people don’t want to pay it, do we have support to go back to a volunteer fire system with paid EMS and unwind this whole thing we started because the cost is out of hand.”
Commissioner Scott Kirouac said he doesn’t want to scare off new residents and business.
“I’m concerned when people look at our fire assessment rates and consider our county, they may want to look at other counties.”
Two small children, ages 5 and 7 from Clewiston, were tragically killed in a collision in Glades County Saturday evening, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The crash occurred on the Fisheating Creek bridge on state route 78 at 5:33 pm.
The FHP news release stated a 31-year-old Clewiston man was driving a sedan north bound on 78 and while travelling on the bridge, the vehicle hydroplaned. It entered into the south bound lane into a path of a sport utility vehicle.
The SUV driver, a 24-year-old woman from Clewiston, steered the vehicle to the left in an evasive maneuver and the front of the vehicle collided with the right rear of the sedan.
The sedan went on to strike the concrete bridge rail.
The children were in the back of the sedan and both were pronounced dead at the scene. The FHP said neither child had a seat belt or child restraint.
The driver of the sedan was in critical condition at an area hospital. A front seat passenger, a 34 year old Clewiston woman suffered minor injury. Both the driver and front seat passenger were buckled up.
The driver of the SUV, also wore a seat belt, and suffered minor injury.
The crash remained under investigation.
The Florida Sportsman’s Association requested South Florida Water Management District staff to review cattle leases and the revenue generated by them and report back to the districts recreation forum at a future meeting.
Member Paul Hickman told the group that he had questions on why the district pays to put in new barbed wire fences on private ranches.
District staff said they do maintain some fences, and replace fences when they purchase property outright for various district purposes.
They also replace some fence to create fire breaks at the request of the Florida Forest Service.
Hickman said there is better ways to spend tax money. He added they could split the difference with the land owner because it benefits the land owner more than the taxpayer.
“Is this a practice with the district on all their property, they just replace fences for all these billionaire cattle people?”
Justin Nolte said they have cattle leases on some lands and in those cases they have a responsibility to make sure the cattle remain on that property and off the neighbors property.
He said they have some cost share programs.
“We have a concerted effort with the Florida Forest Service who helped us create a fire break there and they helped pay for the clearing.”
An Okeechobee man was sentenced to three years of probation for a Basswood shooting on January 5, 2023.
David Feltenberger pled no contest to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and the state attorney dropped charges of discharge of a firearm in public and discharge of a firearm from a vehicle.
Feltenberger was not adjudicated guilty of any crime in the sentence.
According to the arrest report from Okeechobee County Sheriff Deputies the victim of the shooting stated he had dealings with Feltenberger in the past. He said the shooting began near Basinger. He fled and headed toward Okeechobee.
Later an eye witness said she saw a shooting involving two vehicles near the intersection of NW 34th Avenue and NW 32nd Street.
There were no injuries in the shooting.