Linking Citrus County Government with Citizens
Contact Us
Give us a call for more
information or if you have
questions
Tobey Phillips,
Public Information
Officer
[email protected]
(352) 527-5484
Visit us on the web at
www.citrusbocc.com
www.facebook.com/
CitrusCountyBOCC
twitter@CitrusConnects
Mission Statement
Citrus County Government
will be a value-driven
organization dedicated to
responsive citizen service by
providing quality programs,
services and facilities to
build a strong community
and promote the best quality
of life for our citizens.
September 2015
Animal Services and Community
Food Bank Create Partnership
Citrus County Animal Services and Community Food Bank of Citrus County have
joined together to help
the many people in Citrus County who suffer
from food insecurity and
who could use some
help to feed their pets.
Citrus County Animal
Services for several
years had an animal food program for
citizens in need of pet food who could not
afford to purchase it. Donations were given to citizens in need to provide for their
animals rather than surrendering them to
the shelter. With Animal Services located
in Inverness, it was difficult for those in
need who lived in central and western
Citrus County to have easy access to this
available pet food.
What is the new role for
the Food Bank?
The Community Food Bank and eight of
their approved food
pantries will now
serve as official drop off locations for Citrus County residents who wish to donate
pet food to help clients. Pet food donations are limited to packaged dry food
and/or canned food for dogs and cats
only. Open packages and containers cannot be accepted. The strategy to establish
multiple donation drop-off locations
throughout the county is intended to
make it easier and more convenient for
residents to make these donations at a
location near where they live and work.
While Citrus County Animal Services will
continue to be a drop off location, they
will no longer distribute pet food to residents from their location. All pet food donations dropped off at the animal shelter
will be given to the Community Food
Bank for allocation to one of their approved food pantries to distribute to their
clients.
If you wish to make a cash or monetary
donation to the Pet Food Donation Program, please contact the Community
Food Bank at 628-3663.
Trivia
Question
How many acres does the
Crystal River Airport cover?
Answer given in September Edition
Answer from July Edition:
What year was Citrus County established?
1887
Dusty Road Rangers will be featured at the last concert of the Summer
Concert Series at the Old Courthouse Heritage Museum on September
19. Tickets are $20 per person. Doors open at 6 pm, with light appetizers and beverages available. For tickets, call 341-6428.
Upcoming Events for
Save Our Waters Week
The 20th Annual Citrus 20/20 Save Our Waters Week will be celebrate September 18-26, and offers citizens several featured activities
to learn more about this precious resource. The theme this year is
RSVP-Restore, Sustain, Value, Preserve and we encourage the community to participate. Some activities include:
www.facebook.com/
CitrusCountyBOCC
August 11 post inviting citizens to register
for the upcoming 5 session
workshop series “Women and
Money: Unique Issues”
179 people reached
CITRUS 20/20, INC. FUNDRAISER Friday, Sept. 18, 6 p.m. Doors
open 6 p.m., dinner 7 p.m. Celebrating 20 years of “Saving our Waters”. Call (352) 201-0149 for information & tickets. Cost: $35 per
person.
26th ANNUAL LAKES, RIVERS AND COASTAL CLEANUP Saturday, Sept. 19, sunrise to 11:30 a.m. Followed by a volunteer appreciation cookout. Registration deadline: Sept. 10. For more
info. call (352) 527-7684.
SUNSET AT THE PIER Saturday, Sept. 26, 6-9pm. Enjoy the setting
sun of Save Our Waters Week while listening to live music. Food and
drink available for purchase. Raffle for volunteers wearing Cleanup T
-shirts. For information, call (352) 795-4216.
To participate, contact Debra Burden at (352) 527-7684
or email
[email protected]. For a
signup form
and complete list of
Save Our Waters Week activities,
visit www.citrusbocc.com/waterres.
Aquatics Division staff assisted in posting No Wake
Idle Speed signs on the Withlacoochee River last
week. Recent rain contributed to the high levels of
water.
Our Road Maintenance Department is called
to action on everything from patching potholes, correcting drainage problems, road
signage, maintaining bridges, and much
more! We appreciate their hard work!
Service Requests for July= 320
CALENDAR REQUESTS
Week of September 7
Week of September 14
Week of September 21
Week of September 28
9/8- BOCC meeting @
1:00 pm
9/14-Job Readiness Workshop @
6:00-7:30 pm
Extension Services Building
9/17-Planning & Development
Commission @ 9 am
Lecanto Government Building
9/17-Stakeholders Advisory Board
@ 4:30 pm
Lecanto Government Building
9/18– Movies in the Park
“Cinderella”@ 6:30 pm
Lecanto Community Park
9/22-BOCC meeting @
1:00 pm
Citrus County Courthouse
9/24– Conversation Speakers
Series Author Jack Davis @
7:00 pm
Historic Courthouse
9/26– Animal Foster Training
Class @ 10 am-noon
Citrus County Auditorium
9/30– Financial Workshop
for Women @ 6:00-8:00pm
Extension Services Building
To view full
calendar of events,
please visit
www.citrusbocc.com
9/11 Day of Service
Shoes and Socks Drive
The annual “Two Good Soles” Socks & Shoes Drive runs through
September 11. Donation boxes are located throughout the community for citizens to drop off a new pair of shoes or socks to
benefit Citrus County Youth. This
drive is being held as part of the
9/11 Day of Service. Last year over
2,500 items were donated! For
more information or to volunteer to
pick up donations, please call
249-1275.
Did you know...
Traffic deaths were up 14% and injuries up by 33% in the
first six months of 2015. Major cause: distraction of cell
Women and Money
Workshop Series
Extension Services is offering a Women and Money: Unique Issues Workshop series starting in September. This
5 workshop series starts on Wednesday, September 30 and will be held
each Wednesday evening from 6:008:00 pm. The course will cover topics
such as changes women may encounter throughout their lives, the impact of
these changes on their economic status, and how to plan appropriately for
future financial well-being. Registration
is $25 . Classes will be held at the Extension Services Building in Lecanto.
Please contact Sarah Ellis at Extension
Services at 527-5700 to register.
phones and text messages.
Look What’s Coming...
Frequent questions County staff receives in regards to new
construction or business is "What is coming?" "What is being built there?" Is it true...?" Citrus Link
will provide monthly updates on the
newly received permit requests and/or
issued permits for large commercial projects received by the Planning & Development Department.
WENDY’S- permit application for a Wendy’s restaurant near
the corner of CR 491 and CR 486 in Lecanto.
NATURE’S RESORT RV PARK- permit application for 91
new RV lots in the RV Park at 10359 W. Halls River Road in
Homosassa. The owners had previously applied for a permit
in 2014, and are reapplying to utilize current impact fee suspension.
Florida Friendly
Landscaping Classes
Citrus County Utilities Florida-Friendly
Landscaping™ Program is offering two
free gardening workshops in September. Right Plant, Right Place is the topic for the September 8 workshop from
2:00-3:30 pm and Vegetable Gardening will be discussed at the workshop
on September 22 from 2:-00-3:30 pm.
Both classes will held at the Citrus
County Extension building in Lecanto.
Please call Steven Davis at 527-5708
to confirm your participation.
BADCOCK FURNITURE- permit application for an interior remodel at 3690 E. Gulf to Lake Highway in Inverness. The remodel will include raising acoustic ceilings, replacing lighting, and adding a wall in the counter/
display area.
CYPRESS CROSSING- permit application for another duplex office building (Building C) at Cypress Crossing
located at 7034 W. Gulf to Lake Hwy in Crystal River.
CITRUS HILLS– major modification application for the Citrus Hills II Development of Regional Impact (DRI). The
amendment includes a time extension, revision of certain front and rear setback standards, and relocation of
some of the use areas within the DRI. The application is tentatively scheduled to be reviewed by the Planning
and Development Commissioner on October 1 before being forward to the BOCC for consideration.
“What a Day” with Agenda Coordinator
By: Tobey Phillips
The Board of County Commissioners meeting, held the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month, is the method
that is used to conduct business for the County. An agenda is created for every meeting, with agenda items
originating from any county department and must include an agenda memorandum and supporting documentation to support the request. This task might seem easy, but if you ask Agenda Coordinator Denise Gallagher, she will explain there is more to this process than meets the eye.
Denise is responsible for gathering all the agenda items together and confirming each item
has moved through the internal approval process correctly. Until recently, this was all done by
paper, which including routing agenda items through interoffice mail for approval or corrections. Denise prints the entire agenda to be placed in binders that are given to each commissioner, the county administrator, and the county attorney to be used during the meetings.
In August, the County officially moved to an electronic agenda process in coordination
with the Clerk’s office, who takes the minutes for each commission meeting. Denise
was instrumental in providing training and support for all County staff to implement this
program over an 8 month period. Although still fine tuning the electronic process, she
sees the advantage of going paperless and encourages staff to continue learning all
the various functions of the program.
Denise has been with the County for 10 years, starting out with the Tax Collector’s Office for 6 years. She
has been in the role of Agenda Coordinator since her move over the to the BOCC.
“Every agenda is different; it’s like putting together a puzzle with a different picture each time,” explains Denise. The new county administrator works closely with Denise to create procedures to make the agenda a
smooth process, and they communicate daily on the status of the agenda. Regular commission meeting
agendas can have between 50 to 100 items.
Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines…Denise’s entire job is centered around deadlines! In order to move through
the internal approval process, deadlines are created to allow department directors, the Management and
Budget Office, Risk Management, County Attorney’s Office and the County Administrator the opportunity to
review each item. Even the Commissioners have a deadline! Although necessary, she states this is the negative part of her job.
Denise has to work with employees across the County to receive and verify information, and sometimes has
to be the bad guy in pushing others to meet the various deadlines. But she approaches situations with a professional manner and works hard to give employees the resources to complete their agenda items and the
commissioners a complete agenda that allows them to make informed decisions for the County. The next
time you are watching the Board meeting and wonder what the big blue binders are, give Denise a shout out
for the time and attention to detail she has given to create the agenda.
BOCC agendas are available the Wednesday prior to the
scheduled meeting. Please visit
http://citruscountyfl.iqm2.com/Citizens/default.aspx
to view agenda.
Along the Dotted Line
The Board of County Commissioners approved the award of Residential Resurfacing
Project 2015-1 in the amount of $7,412,000 to C.W. Roberts Contracting Inc. at the
July 28 meeting. Paving is schedule to begin on September 14.
The Board also approved the sites to be included in the next residential resurfacing
effort at the July 28 meeting. The project will be posted in August with bids due back
to the County 30 days after.
2015 FDOT Cooperative “Arterial/Collector” Resurfacing Projects (under design)
Roosevelt Boulevard – CR 491 to Forest Ridge Blvd
$516,321
North Elkcam – Elm Blossom to Pine Ridge Blvd
$375,000
North Turkey Oak Drive – CR 495 to North Holiday Drive
$425,000
Ft. Island Trail – W. Dixie Shores Drive to 5,870 feet
from the west terminus.
$800,000
For more information on road resurfacing projects,
please call the Engineering Division at 527-5446.
Park Highlight
Bluebird Springs Park
8950 W. Bluebird Springs Lane
Homosassa, 34448 (5.5 acres)
Amenities:
Barbeque Grilll
Pavilion
Playground
Volleyball
Parking
Picnic Tables
Restrooms
News & Notes
P.L.A.Y Programs Start in September
Citrus County Parks & Recreation Division P.L.A.Y. programs for soccer and tball
start the week of September 14. Each program is designed for children between the
ages of 3-5 and allows both boys and girls to participate. Each program runs for 6
weeks, one night a week and each class lasts for one hour. The cost is $45 per child
and the fee includes a t-shirt and age appropriate sports equipment (scholarships
available for those who qualify). Soccer will take place on Mondays at Central Ridge
District Park in Beverly Hills and Tuesdays at Homosassa Area Recreational
Park. Classes will be offered at 5pm or 6 pm. Tee Ball will take place on Wednesdays at Central Ridge District Park in Beverly Hills and Thursdays at Bicentennial
Park in Crystal River. Classes will be at 5pm or 6pm. Call 527-7540 for registration
and questions.
Dog Park
Visitors & Convention Bureau Seeks Volunteers
Citrus County Visitors & Convention Bureau is currently accepting applications for
volunteers who enjoy meeting and greeting new people and have a willingness to
work with others at the new welcome center located in Crystal River. Volunteers
would be welcoming visitors from around the world and working to help make Citrus
County a top-notch vacation destination. Volunteer opportunities include greeters,
light clerical work, answering phones, directing guests to local establishments, historical sites, museums and more. For more information, contact Deb Bloss at 341-6429
or email [email protected]
Who do I call?
Job Opportunities
527-5370
Public Records
Request
Citrus County recently hosted a 4-day course “Managing Floodplain Development
Through the NFIP” in cooperation with the Florida Floodplain Managers Association and the Florida Division of Emergency Management. With 30 participants
from across the state, the class provided training for officials responsible for administering their local floodplain management ordinances.
Planner of the Day
Animal Adoptions Up in July
Road Maintenance
Problem
95 Dogs
105 Cats
10 Other
527-5235
527-5239
527-5477
Flood Management
527-5264
18 Dogs were transferred
to a rescue organization
Utility Customer
Service
Citrus County Animal Services is open Tuesday
through Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm and is located at
4030 S. Airport Road in Inverness. Please call 746-8400
for more information on how to adopt a new pet!
Building Permit
Status
527-7650
527-5310
Kudos Corner
“Mark Rodriguez came out and was very kind and understanding… the amazing thing was that within an hour John Froelich came out
and replaced the meter. I just want to thank both men for being so considerate and prompt to resolve a disturbing issue. “
Patricia Maynard
“Thank your excellent utility crew workers, Bill Benavides and Josh Everett. I was impressed with their professional manners and being
able to show what the Citrus County Utilities is providing for our growing community. I am enthusiastic about the working crew you
have.”
Catherine Hunter
“Veronica (Davis) is helpful in every single situation. Great customer service skills!”
Joe Cummings
“The team of William, Curtis, and Roger (Utilities crew) who came to check my sewer line were friendly, courteous, and exceptionally professional.”
Joseph Tutella