The Summary Guide to Monday’s Wakulla BOCC Meeting 10/05/2026

Item numbers match the county’s printed Final Agenda , and page numbers in parentheses are pages of the 492-page packet. This guide groups the routine items and skips proclamations, small grants, and board appointments. There are no public hearings and no Planning and Zoning items.

THE SHORT VERSION

· Items 20 and 21: the firefighter union contracts tabled September 21 are back. The 2% raise and one-step pay advance are paid only if Constitutional Amendment 3 fails on November 3 (p. 449).

· Item 19: staff recommend continuing to negotiate to buy land around the Lake Ellen boat ramp. One appraisal values it at $253,000 (p. 402). The county has collected about $111.30 in launch fees there since mid-2025. They can also choose to close it. (p. 341).

· Item 14: a letter supporting a proposal to cut funded Head Start and Early Head Start slots by 83, from 311 to 228 (p. 266).

· Item 7: the personnel policy rewrite ends short-term disability insurance (over $36,000 a year) and a $175 annual physical bonus (pp. 29, 67).

· Items 17 and 18: the county proposes one 0.114-acre lot for stormwater ($7,500) and puts seven others up for sale, with no additional context (pp. 324, 330). Who owns the stormwater lot and, how did the county determine this was the one to purchase? Why sell the 7 lots now? Is there a reason?

ROUTINE CONSENT ITEMS

· Item 1: minutes of the September 21 meeting (pp. 6 to 12).

· Item 2: bills and vouchers for September 17 to 30. The itemized statement is not in the public packet (p. 13).

· Item 3: disposal of an old printer and desktop computer, no cost (p. 14).

· Item 4: road closing for the Veterans Day Parade, Saturday, November 7, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, U.S. 319 (Crawfordville Highway) from Taff Drive to Arran Road. No cost (p. 18).

· Item 5: extends the 2026 tax rolls so tax notices can go out by November 1 even if Value Adjustment Board hearings run late (F.S. 197.323; pp. 22, 24). No cost.

CONSENT AGENDA

★ Item 7: Amended AR 1.01 Personnel Policy and Procedures

This is the rulebook for county employees under the Board. The packet includes the full manual with changes marked (pp. 30 to 139). The changes that matter (pp. 28 to 29, 67):

· Short-term disability insurance ends “effective October 1, 2026.” The county puts the savings at “over $36,000 annually” (p. 29).

· The Annual Physical Examination benefit ends the same day. The marked manual shows the struck language: up to a $175 bonus for documenting a physical (p. 67). Savings: $4,000 to $6,000 a year (p. 29).

· Fire Rescue employees on leave are paid hour for hour, including built-in overtime, at no budget impact (p. 29).

· Clarifying language on the Annual Leave Buy Back Program, Senior Manager sick-leave payouts (25% of accrued sick leave up to 480 hours, a maximum of 120 hours paid, pp. 74, 75), and donated leave (p. 29).

CONFIRMED (PP. 29, 67)

The two cuts save more than $40,000 a year by the county’s numbers, effective a date that has already passed. The $6,000 annual physical incentive also appeared in the budget change table we logged September 21. The short-term disability savings did not.

QUESTION FOR THE RECORD

Was the short-term disability elimination in the FY2026/27 budget adopted September 21, and were employees told before October 1?

Item 12: Federal Slip-On Tanker Units Grant, $28,680

Fire Rescue was awarded the full $28,680 it requested for two slip-on tanker units, water tanks that turn a vehicle into a wildfire engine. One mounts on an existing Ford F450 brush truck, the other on an existing Kawasaki Mule (p. 240). Reimbursement grant, no county match. It was not in the adopted FY2026/27 budget, so a budget amendment adds it under new code 180-USDOI-01, inside the Fire Fund (pp. 240, 259). The county has until October 8 to object to the award terms (p. 240).

NEW: Item 13: 2027 Board Meeting Calendar

Meetings stay on the first and third Mondays, with one each in July and December, and move to Tuesday when a Monday is a holiday (pp. 260, 262). No cost.

★ Item 14: Letter of Support for North Florida Child Development, Inc. (Head Start)

North Florida Child Development, Inc., the Head Start and Early Head Start grantee for Wakulla and four neighboring counties, is asking the federal Office of Head Start for a “Change in Scope” (p. 264). The Board is asked to sign a letter supporting it. The proposal cuts funded slots (pp. 265, 266):

· Head Start: 163 down to 108, a cut of 55 (about 34%).

· Early Head Start: 148 down to 120, a cut of 28 (about 19%).

· Combined: 311 down to 228, a cut of 83 (about 27%, our arithmetic).

CONFIRMED (PP. 264 TO 266)

These are agency-wide totals, not Wakulla-only figures. NFCD runs centers in Crawfordville and Sopchoppy. No county cost.

QUESTION FOR THE RECORD

How many of the 83 slots are in Wakulla County? The packet does not say.

Item 22: Replacement Contract for Dr. MLK Jr. Memorial Road Path Inspection, $133,821.74

On September 21 the Board approved a $133,821.74 contract with Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, LLP for construction inspection of the 1.115-mile Dr. MLK Jr. Memorial Road path, picked through a competitive request for qualifications (p. 267). The firm then returned comments “that had not been considered by the County’s legal counsel” (p. 268). The county now asks the Board to rescind the September 21 contract and approve a revised one at the same price. The changes (p. 268): the county can be named an additional insured on the firm’s professional liability policy, the waiver of subrogation is limited to general liability, auto, and workers’ compensation, and “and defend” is removed from two indemnification clauses. The term runs October 6, 2026 to May 31, 2027. Paid entirely by the state’s Local Agency Program grant.

WHAT TO WATCH

The path’s state agreement is being extended to May 31, 2027 (p. 237), and the county says construction starts in early November (p. 238). The construction contract should appear on a later agenda.

GENERAL BUSINESS

Item 17: Purchase of 0.114 Acres on Cayuse Drive in Wakulla Gardens, $7,500

The county would buy Lot 4, Block 40, Wakulla Gardens Unit 3 from Southern Management Services, LLC for $7,500, paid from the One Cent Sales Tax Road Fund (pp. 324, 325).

WHY, PER THE PACKET (P. 324)

The lot is “being considered for a site appropriate for a stormwater retention area.” Staff say the area is the lowest point of a closed basin that has flooded before, and that stormwater improvements there “will aid in averting future flooding impacts to adjacent properties and County infrastructure.” The agreement is labeled “Wakulla Gardens Stormwater” (p. 326).

The packet names no specific project, design, or grant for the lot, and no appraisal is attached. The County Administrator and the seller already signed an option agreement locking the price. It does not bind the county until the Board approves (p. 324). How did the county determine this was the lot to purchase?

★ Item 18: Declare Seven Properties Surplus and Sell Them

Staff list seven county-owned properties as serving no current or future public purpose: six lots or lot pairs in Panacea Park (Lake Essay Drive, Lake Avenue, Spruce Avenue) and one lot on Rathbone Road in Wakulla Heights (pp. 330, 331). The packet says “it is unknown how or why some of these lands were acquired” (p. 330). They would be sold through a broker or auction under County Code 2.303(f)(2), and any offer returns to the Board with ten days’ newspaper notice (p. 331). Advertising costs about $1,500.

WHY ARE THEY SELLING? WHAT THE PACKET SAYS (P. 331)

A recent review of the real property inventory found no existing or future public benefit. Selling “could reduce the County’s long-term maintenance and liability obligations” and return the lots to the tax roll. The lots are too small for affordable housing and most sit in the special flood hazard area. Proceeds go to the Revenue Stabilization Fund, which was set at $800,000 for FY2026/27, up from $40,000 (Sept. 21 packet, p. 14).

WHAT THE PACKET DOES NOT SAY (PP. 330 TO 339)

It does not mention Amendment 3, budget pressure, or any trigger for doing this now. It does not say whether the review looked at future growth, stormwater, parks, or road needs. It gives no values, reserve prices, or buyers. The attachments are location maps only.

QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD

Why now, and is it connected to the revenue outlook if Amendment 3 passes?

Did the review check whether any of the seven could serve stormwater or other future county needs? Item 17 on the same agenda buys a 0.114-acre lot for stormwater.

What is each lot worth, and what minimum will the county accept?

★ Item 19: Board Direction on the Lake Ellen Drive Water Access Area

Lake Ellen is a roughly 150-acre lake. A primitive county boat ramp sits at the north end of Lake Ellen Drive (p. 340), a street the 1961 plat dedicates “to the perpetual use of the public” (p. 414). A 2018 ordinance (Section 23.011) allows swimming there and limits launches to motors of 25 horsepower or less, with no jet skis (pp. 340, 341). In 2018 a private couple built a field fence about 70 feet out from shore on land they own under the dedication and lake, boxing in the ramp. (p. 341).

The ramp was erected by the county, and the land under the access route is private. The county’s agenda request acknowledges this, saying the county holds a right of way but is “not the underlying fee owner” and that the fee appears to belong to the couple (p. 341).

Staff want direction on two options (pp. 342, 343): (1) keep negotiating to buy the property, which staff recommend, or (2) repeal Section 23.011, pull the signs, and stop maintaining the ramp, at about $250 in advertising.

THE NUMBERS AND WHAT SITS BEHIND THEM (PP. 341, 347, 351, 398, 402)

About $111.30 in launch fees since mid-2025, not counting annual passes, and no parking complaints, “which may signify limited public use” (p. 341).

One appraisal values the property at $253,000. The agenda says “as of August 19, 2026” (p. 341). The appraisal’s date of value is June 30, 2026, and August 19 is the report date (pp. 347, 351).

The appraisal adds 30% to 40% to the comparable sales for improvements and lists the subject’s as “MH/Boat R./Dock” (p. 398), while its title says “vacant land” (p. 346).

The county’s memo says the lake bottom appears to have been deeded to private owners (OR Book 1027, pp. 77 to 79, p. 418). The Property Appraiser’s parcel map, obtained by Wakulla Reports and not in the packet, shows parcel lines running out into the lake. FDEP could not determine state ownership in 2007 and 2017 (pp. 415, 428), and a November 2017 FDEP email says “We know that Lake Ellen is non-sovereign,” with no reasoning ever provided to the county (p. 415).

The County Attorney’s memo says public access cannot be settled “with any degree of certainty absent judicial review” (p. 342).

QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD

What price has the county offered or discussed? The packet says “no concrete deal points” (p. 342).

If the Board buys, what would the county do with the land, given about $111.30 in fees collected?

How do you reconcile private land ownership with public access? Who is liable for public injury, if it occurs?

★ Items 20 and 21: Collective Bargaining Agreements with Firefighters Local 2339

These are the county’s contracts with the firefighters union: Item 20 covers firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics, and Item 21 covers Captains (pp. 432, 462). Both were Items 15 and 16 on September 21 and were tabled (Sept. 21 minutes, pp. 7, 10, 11). This time the full agreements are attached (pp. 435 to 461, 465 to 492).

Each runs October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027, was tentatively agreed September 16, and was ratified by the union September 28 (pp. 433, 463). Four of 29 articles changed: hours and overtime, leave, medical examinations, and salaries (p. 433). The terms extend to all Fire Rescue employees, whose combined FY2026/27 operating budget is $9,037,293, with the changes stated as included in the budget adopted September 21 (p. 433).

THE ARTICLE 14 CONDITION (PP. 449, 479)

In December 2026, retroactive to October, bargaining unit members get a 2% across-the-board raise, and employees hired before April 1, 2026 with a “Meets Expectation” evaluation move up one pay grade (p. 449).

Both are “contingent upon the failure of Constitutional Amendment #3.” If it passes, the county “shall not fund” them (p. 449). The Captains’ agreement says the same (p. 479).

Amendment 3 is on the November 3 ballot. The Wakulla County sample ballot describes it as raising the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and cutting the annual cap on non-homestead assessment increases from 10% to 5%.

Answered from last cycle: these items were tabled September 21 and return October 5 with full text.

QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD

What do the raise and the pay-grade step cost for the year, and where does that money sit in the adopted budget if Amendment 3 passes?

Item 20 attaches no salary plan. Item 21 attaches the Captains’ plan (15 grades, $65,501.33 to $86,427.61 a year, about 2% per grade, p. 492). Is the main unit’s plan public, and do the listed rates already include the 2%?

Section 14.3(1) says the county “shall not fund the ATB increases,” but 14.3 covers the pay-grade advance, not the across-the-board raise (p. 449). Does the condition clearly cover both?

THE BOTTOM LINE

Most of this agenda is routine. Five items carry something worth hearing out loud at the podium.

1. Items 20 and 21. Fire Rescue raises that exist only if Amendment 3 fails, in contracts that also cover non-union employees.

2. Item 19. A recommendation to keep negotiating for land appraised at $253,000, with an appraisal that does not match the agenda’s description of the property, for a ramp that has collected $111.30.

3. Item 14. A letter supporting a cut of 83 Head Start and Early Head Start slots, with no Wakulla-specific number.

4. Item 7. More than $40,000 a year in employee benefits eliminated through a policy rewrite on the consent agenda.

5. Items 17 and 18. One small lot bought for stormwater, seven others sold, and no stated reason for the timing of the sale.

The meeting is Monday, October 5, 2026 at 6:00 PM. Citizens get three minutes under “Citizens to be Heard,” and speaker cards go to Ms. Welch or Mr. Beauchamp before discussion begins on the item you want to address (p. 1).

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