‘Homeless Dave’ allegedly permits
unlawful RV camping
One code enforcement case
requires more research

Special Magistrate Norm D. Fugate looks at paperwork involved with one of the cases upon which he ruled on March 18.

Story and Photos By Jeff M. Hardison © March 19, 2026 at 10:30 a.m.
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     BRONSON – A two and one-half hour set of 10 Levy County Code Enforcement hearings on Wednesday (March 18) revealed “homeless Dave” allegedly said a recreation vehicle could park on property where he was “squatting” in an abandoned and dilapidated residential structure.

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     In another case, a man who said his plant nursery business is “on life support,” indicating that it is not flourishing, explained why he believes he is exempted from needing a building permit or filing an affidavit to build a pole barn. That case was not resolved that day. Both the man and the Code Enforcement Department each have 30 days to add to their arguments, and then there will be 10 days for each of the two sides in this dispute to respond to the added evidence from the other side.
     Levy County Code Enforcement Special Magistrate Norm D. Fugate on March 18 determined if code enforcement violations existed. He also ruled on fines to be applied at a daily level for noncompliance with the building and zoning laws. As for the unpermitted pole barn, Fugate is destined to decide that matter, too.
     Special Magistrate Fugate moved certain cases to the point where the owners’ property had liens assessed against the land and structures, which then puts those matters at a point where the Levy County Board of County Commissioners may vote to clean the land, accept the property for county purposes or sell it via auction.


Levy County Code Enforcement Department Manager and Code Enforcement Officer Dave Banton (left) and Levy Code Enforcement Officer Bradley Frazier are seen at a table with case files on it before the hearings on March 18.


Trinity Sanders, owner of Trinity Sanders Construction of Williston, speaks to Special Magistrate Norm Fugate regarding an unpermitted structure that is also believed to be violating setback rules.

 

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     The first case of the morning showed Trinity Sanders, owner of Trinity Sanders Construction of Williston, as the respondent. 
     Sanders’ property at 15130 N.E. 11th St., in the Williston Highlands Golf & Country Club Estates Subdivision. Sanders admitted the structure exists. He said he rents the property and the people renting the house and land erected the small building without a permit, on the adjoining property line.
      He said that when he learned of the code violation, he told them to remove the structure.
     Special Magistrate Fugate found the structure had been placed without getting a building permit. Within 30 days, Sanders must remove the structure or obtain an after-the-fact building permit, which will not be provided for a structure that lacks proper distance from adjoining property lines.
     If Sanders fails to comply with the order, then a fine of $100 will be imposed for each day until he cures the issues, Fugate ruled.
     The next listed case was Ann Backman and Dejuan Maxwell, who live in two states other than Florida.
     They are the owners of property at 11871 N.W. 80th Court, Chiefland - in the at Manatee Springs Terrace Subdivision. Neither of them was present for the hearing.
     Code Enforcement Officer Dave Banton provided Fugate with evidence to show they are violating three codes by allowing a person to live in an RV there, and to have a structure that is uninhabitable as well as debris on the property. The owners have 30 days to cure all three issues. This is where homeless squatter “Dave” allegedly told people they could live in their RV on that property.
     The cost for failure is $100 for each of the three violations that Fugate determined exist. Therefore, these absentee property owners may be paying Levy County $300 a day.
     Fugate said he wants a follow-up compliance hearing in 20 days – on April 15, and this is a case where it may have a lien placed on the property, he said.


Tamar Jones tells Special Magistrate Norm Fugate that this is the first house that he (Jones) and his wife Merlonda Jones have owned. He was unfamiliar with the process of converting a garage into a room, and a contractor allegedly has not kept the promises that contractor allegedly made to the couple about completing the work.

     Third of the 10 cases was Tamar and Merlonda Jones, regarding their property at 971 N.E. 150th Court, Williston -- in the Williston Highlands Golf & Country Club Estates Subdivision.
     The Jones couple hired a contractor to convert a garage into an enclosed room. Tamar Jones obtained the building permit, but it expired before the project was completed, which was back in 2024.
     Fugate found the permit expired and was not renewed.
     The cost to renew the two required building permits equals a combined cost of $1,289.76. Fugate ruled the issue must be cured in 60 days or Jones will pay $50 as a daily fine after that until it is cured.
     Fugate intends to request the contractor to appear at a compliance hearing in 60 days if this remains a violation.


Jason Sierens presents his verbal arguments that he is in a bona fide agricultural business and therefore did not need a building permit for a pole barn that has a concrete floor and electric power service.


 Jason Sierens gives Special Magistrate Norm Fugate his written defense to the charge of having an unpermitted pole barn, because it was built with no building permit.

     Jason Sierens is accused of having an unpermitted structure. At first, a pole barn was on a one-acre parcel. Then Sierens combined parcels to make a three-acre piece. He showed how the pole barn is used as part of his plant nursery business.
     This property is described at 13550 N.E. 10th St., Williston, in the Williston Highlands neighborhood.
     Sierens was relatively curt with Fugate. He also alleged that County Commissioner Johnny Hiers, County Commissioner Desiree Mills, Property Appraiser Jason Whistler and others would all vouch for him as being involved in a trade related to agriculture.
     Fugate asked if the man had brought any of those witnesses to the hearing that day. Sierens said he had not, but he offered to call Hiers.
     After a long discussion, Fugate said he will consider the evidence Sierens submitted. He gave that respondent and the county Code Enforcement Department 30 days to submit any other evidence, and then 10 days to each side after then to counter whatever was submitted, and then he would consider all of the facts, evidence, and applicable law to make a finding.


Dave Banton, department manager and code enforcement officer, speaks with Special Magistrate Norm Fugate during the March 18 hearing.


Cecilia Sliney, daughter of Ann Sliney (who is the property owner cited for alleged code violations), says she will have yard debris removed within the 30-day period allowed, and she will have an engineer provide what is required for the hayloft and stairs built as additions to a pole barn within 60 days, or her mother will pay $50 a day for one or $100 for  both of those two code violations in the Chiefland area.


Code Enforcement Officer Dave Banton stands at the lectern with Michael Faroni. Faroni must pay $240 in administration costs for two hearings, even though he cured issues. Fugate waived daily fines of $100-a-day that were previously imposed.


Trice Joy Roberts fixed one problem by hiding debris in a yard by putting up a privacy fence. Two camper trailers, though, remain on her property. This issue has gone on since June of 2024. She told about how her father died and her car broke down. She was among the people appearing to fail to comply with previous commands to cure a code enforcement issue or pay a daily fine.


Randal Jacobs learned he has a lien of at least $4,600 so far, and he is being fined $50 a day for the tiny home he built without a permit. He is allewged to also has an RV on the property with no permit. He said he plans to sell the property. Special Magistrate Norm Fugate explained the property sales may be a bit more difficult than usual with the lien and the ongoing code violation(s). 

     In another case, Michael Reynolds owns property at 20 Squire Court, Dunedin - in Rainbow Lake Estates. He was absent from the hearing. Fugate found he has two code violations. Reynolds is to be fined $100 a day, plus administration costs, because of Reynolds’ failure to comply since an order issued in January, with those fines being from Feb. 26 daily. This is being entered as a lien against the property.
     Fugate said he is recommending to the Levy County Board of County Commissioners that they clean up the property owned by Reynolds currently, and add that expense to the lien.

People begin pushing back against
project to import recycled wastewater
By Jeff M. Hardison © March 16, 2026 at 9 p.m.
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     TRENTON – Tammy Hale told the Gilchrist County Commission meeting on Monday evening (Narch 16) that a program at the Gilchrist County Rotary Club that very afternoon caused her to want to attend the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) meeting scheduled for Thursday (March 19) starting at 6 p.m. in Live Oak.
     There are two of those meetings at the same time in the same area. The SRWMD meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on March 19, and will take place at the SRWMD Headquarters, 9225 Suwannee County Road 49, Live Oak. Additionally, there will be a community open house at the UF-IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center, 8202 Suwannee County Road 417, Live Oak, FL 32060 from 6 to 8 p.m. on the same night.
     The Water First North Florida Project, supported by SRWMD and JEA, aims to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville to the Suwannee River Basin, potentially returning in excess of 40 million gallons daily to the Floridan aquifer by 2039.
      This initiative seeks to restore springs and ensure long-term water supplies as part of mandatory Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) reuse regulations.
     JEA is the largest municipal electric utility in Florida and a major water/sewer provider, serving more than one million residents in Jacksonville and surrounding Northeast Florida.
     As a community-owned, not-for-profit utility created in 1895, the JEA serves in excess of 478,000 electric customers, operating power plants, water wells, and sewer systems.
     The project that has people in Dixie County, Gilchrist County, Levy County and elsewhere becoming concerned is a plan to mitigate water shortages, reduce surface water discharge and increase aquifer recharge, according to engineers and hydrologists.
     The plan involves transporting reclaimed wastewater from the Jacksonville area for use in the Suwannee River and North Central Florida area.
     Although this is wastewater, that water will undergo advanced treatment, including chemical treatment and filtration through wetlands – with those wetlands being in the Suwannee River basin.
     The project is in the research stage now. It could be implemented within 13 years -- by 2039.
     The project is a collaborative effort involving the SRWMD, the JEA, the FDEP and other “stakeholders” to maintain water levels in the Florida aquifer system. 
     The St. Johns River Water Management District, which is the district where Jacksonville is included, is one of the entities engaged in the broader discussion about managing water resources in the state.
     Both the Dixie County board of County Commissioners and the Gilchrist County Commission plan to send representatives to the SRWMD meeting on Thursday (March 19).
     “Like many North Florida residents,” Hale told the Gilchrist County Commission on March 16, “I am deeply concerned about the Water First North Florida project, injecting wastewater into our Florida Aquifer.”
     The actual name of the main aquifer is Floridan Aquifer.
     She noted that the aquifer is a source for drinking water, agricultural irrigation and more.
     Rural communities should not be tasked with relieving urban centers of wastewater disposal.
     She wants proved science, full transparency and legal accountability by the people involved with this project. 
     Gilchrist County Commissioner Tommy Langford asked if the county and municipal governments within the SRWMD will have a vote on whether this project moves forward, or if the water management district will be the end-all absolute decider of facts and actions.
     There is bound to be a series of public hearings as the project continues. Generally, state government trumps county and municipal government.
Open House Meeting Details
     Thursday, March 19, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the UF-IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center – Suwannee Valley, 8202 Suwannee County Road 417, Live Oak.
     This is a Community Open House (staffed tables with information, rather than a traditional lecture-style presentation). 
Requirements to Attend
     Sign-in/Registration -- No pre-registration is explicitly required in the announcement, but attendees should be prepared to sign in at the venue.
Public Comments
     Written public comments will be received at the event.
     The meeting is open to the public and aimed at residents, stakeholders, and anyone with concerns or questions about the project.
Recommendations
     Arrive on Time. The meeting is open-house style, meaning individuals can walk around and speak to staff, making it recommended to allow enough time to visit all stations.
     Due to the open-house format, it is recommended to take pictures or videos of the materials and to take notes of questions and answers. 
     The meeting aims to provide an in-depth look at the project, including alternatives like desalination, and to gather feedback on the project's specifics.

Elder Options apologizes for delays
Helpline is part of affected services

The Elder Options Management Team includes Chief Executive Officer Katina Mustipher, Director of Marketing and Communications Lisa Kanarek, Director of Financial Operations Christopher Johnson, Human Resources Kathy Dorminey, Director of Program Operations Janet Kreischer, Director of Access and Eligibility Cindy Roberts, Director of Community Care Coordination Amy Thomas and Director of Operations Debbie Sahay, according to its current website.
Photo Taken From Elder Options Website

By Jeff M. Hardison © March 7, 2026 at 7 a.m.
     GAINESVILLE – The Elder Options Helpline, which is advertised on HardisonInk.com, is part of the system that the Mid-Florida Area Agency on Aging Inc. (doing business as Elder Options), notes is experiencing issues resulting in people having to endure significant delays in responses.
     The message people see if they seek to contact Elder Options by using its website shows, as of March 7, “We are currently implementing a new database system, which may result in delays, when contacting our Elder Helpline by phone or email. We appreciate your patience during this transition.”
     An attempt to contact Elder Options Director of Marketing and Communications Lisa Kanarek has been unsuccessful for more than two weeks through the Elder Options Helpline as well as through email.
     Elder Options’ mission is to ensure that communities have a trusted and unbiased place to turn for information, resources and assistance.
     The Mid-Florida Area Agency on Aging Inc. (dba Elder Options) was established in 1977 as a private, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.
     Elder Options is the state-designated area agency on aging, Aging & Disability Resource Center, and Helpline (1-800-262-2243). 
     The agency is charged with administering state and federal grant-funded programs and providing direct services to benefit elders, people with disabilities, and their informal caregivers in a 16-county Planning and Service Area in North Central Florida, which includes: Alachua, Bradford, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Marion, Putnam, Sumter, Suwannee and Union counties.
     For more information to see the potential services and programs available via Elder Options, click https://agingresources.org/.

VDCI starts mosquito control in Dixie County

VDCI Southeast Regional Director Caroline Efstathion Card, Ph.D., tells Dixie County Commissioners what to expect in this county’s first year of mosquito control by this private contractor that has a national presence.

Story, Photos and Video By Jeff M. Hardison © March 6, 2026 at 12 p.m.
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     CROSS CITY – Dixie County joined a list of clients of a company that controls mosquitoes and on Thursday morning, that company’s regional director for the Southeast United States.
     Caroline Efstathion Card, Ph.D., is the southeast regional director for VDCI. She is responsible for overseeing mosquito abatement programs in the Southeast United States. She received her doctorate in entomology from the University of Florida.
     Vector Disease Control International (VDCI) is a leader in Integrated Mosquito Management (IMM) services. Its efforts support the public health goals in cities, counties and states by establishing mosquito abatement programs across the United States. In addition to building and enhancing mosquito management programs, VDCI has more than 20 years of experience conducting emergency response mosquito management services after major flood events or increased mosquito-borne disease activity.
     Dixie County joins Baker, Clay, Lake, Putnam and Sumter counties and the cities of Clewiston, Live Oak and South Bay, and others, in Florida as clients of this private mosquito-control contractor. VDCI serves people in 25 states with 17 aircraft that provide adulticide and larvicide services, Card said.
     VDCI also has 350 spray trucks and 350 full-time employees as well 150 to 200 other seasonal employees, she said.
     Dr. Card showed the Dixie County Board of County Commission members – Chairman Mark Hatch, Vice Chairman Jamie Storey and commissioners David Osteen, Jody Stephenson and Daniel Wood III how VDCI will control mosquitos to help Dixie County’s residents and visitors in regard to that annoying flying insect.


Commissioner Jody Stephenson speaks with Caroline Efstathion Card, Ph.D., about the lay of the land in Dixie County.


VDCI Operations Manager Lita Honsby speaks with the Dixie County Commission. Honsby is the manager for mosquito control in Dixie County. She is licensed through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

     There are more than 45 species of mosquitoes in Dixie County, Card said.
     “Some of them spread disease,” Dr. Card continued. “Some of them just a nuisance and some of them just bite frogs and we don’t need to worry about them.”
     The IMM plan for Dixie County, she said, will use multiple methods to control the mosquito population in this county. VDCI takes a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach, she explained.
     Surveillance, education and larvicide application are parts of this plan, she said. By targeting larva in the water, she said, this helps keep the mosquito population in Dixie County low.
     During this first year of VDCI serving as the mosquito-control service, she said, the team will be learning locations of people, parks and places where stormwater gathers, floodwater areas, and to find the mosquito habitats of Dixie County.
     Larvicide applications as well as adulticide missions – as need will be happening. Card said the team will be responding to complaints.
     The same telephone number used before VDCI started will be used and the company will have access to those voicemails left by people, she said.
     The person who is licensed by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for this service in Dixie County is VDCI Operations Manager Lita Honsby. Dr. Card told HardisonInk.com before the start the meeting that Honsby is “our best” operations manager.
     Chairman Hatch asked Dr. Card about the “written right of entrance” that VDCI will need for larvicide applications on private property in Dixie County.
     Card and Honsby told Hatch that VDCI sticks to county roads.
     “You’re going to get a lot of calls then,” Vice Chairman Storey said.


Dixie County Commissioner Jody Stephenson clarifies the method that VDCI will use to gain access and to enter private property for larvicide applications. Click on PHOTO to see and hear the video.
Video By Jeff M. Hardison – All Rights Reserved

     Commissioner Stephenson told Card the company will need a method to speak to property owners to gain access to property. 
     Card said she understood what Stephenson said. For VDCI to go onto private property, though, “creates a huge liability” for the company. She added that spraying adulticide chemicals on property that is not within 300 feet of a public road is something that will take working with the county.
     Stephenson said he was not speaking about spray, but instead about treating water for larva when the water is on private property.
     Card said the VDCI method is to knock on the door of a residence and obtain permission that way.
     She further exclaimed that the spray trucks are very heavy, where trucks get stuck on dirt roads or fall over into ditches due to a ditch wall collapse.
     In regard to the beekeepers in Dixie County, Card said the company has a list of those locations for “no spray.” That will be an exclusion zone where there is no adulticide sprayed.
     Card anticipates spraying to start in April. Currently, in addition to mapping the county for mosquito habitat, VDCI has been trapping mosquitoes. 
     Card answered Commissioner Wood’s questions about the use of aircraft fir adulticide applications. This is an extremely expensive procedure that usually happens after a hurricane, she said, and the federal government reimburses the county if there is a state of emergency declared.
     She answered all questions put to her. Dr. Card let everyone know that this company works first to prevent the mosquito population from being a problem, and then it attacks the bugs to knock back that pest’s numbers.

Levy County Commission hears
annual investment report
Sign slated to designate historic site

Richard Pengelly of PFM Asset Management (left) speaks from the lectern to the County Commission as Senior Levy County Finance Director Robert Boschen stands behind him after having introduced the speaker.

Story and Photos By Jeff M. Hardison © March 4, 2026 at 8 p.m.
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     BRONSON – The regular twice-monthly meeting of the Levy County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday morning (March 3) included a report on investments; a sign to designate a reportedly historic site for stagecoaches in Levy County; and a county commissioner complaining about a purchasing process that saves the county $20,000 or so per vehicle.
     Also, one man is paying to have a county-maintained road covered with chip and seal paving.
     And there was more.
Investments
     Richard Pengelly, a certified financial advisor and managing director of PFM Asset Management, provided a year-end financial report as is required.
     The current Levy County investments are short-term, very high quality and safe investments, Pengelly said.
     They are affected by short-term interest rates determined by the Federal Reserve. The Fed was on a path to lower interest rates, he said. By The Fed delaying the lowering of interest rates due to uncertainty of the market caused by tariffs worked to benefit Levy County, he said.
     Tariffs drove prices up on products.
     “Maybe not so good for us as consumers,” he said, “but the county’s investments did well.”
     (The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates three consecutive times as of late 2025/early 2026, cutting by 25 basis points each time to a range of 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent by December 2025 to support a softening labor market. At the January 2026 meeting, the Fed held rates steady at this 3.5 percent–3.75 percent range, pausing the streak of cuts.)
     The earnings for the current fiscal year were lower than the prior year, Pengelly said, which is a result of The Fed lowering short-term interest rates.
     The belief that The Fed will lower short-term interest rates again is good overall for the nation’s economy, Pengelly said, but the county’s short-term investments will show a lower yield if that happens.
     Pengelly said PFM will be diversifying Levy County’s investments with a bit more long-term investment now.
     No action was required by the County Commission. This was just an annual update on progress with the county’s investments. 

History

County Commission Vice Chairman Charlie Kennedy holds up a sign that will designate a place that researchers believe was a resting place for horses and stagecoach passengers between Chiefland and Cedar Key.

     Levy County Commissioner Charlie Kennedy said he learned about a place where horse-drawn stagecoaches would rest between Chiefland and Cedar Key.
     This form of transportation in the late 1800s, he said, included the particular place that was named “Stage Stand.” To find the place where the sign will be placed in the days to come, take State Road 345 south from Chiefland toward Cedar Key.
     State Road 345 becomes Levy County Road (CR 345) at or near to Levy County Road 332 (CR 332) southwest of Chiefland. South of CR 332, the road becomes CR 345 -- heading toward State Road 24 (SR 24).
     As noted CR 345 eventually intersects with SR 24. 
     Four to six miles before the point where CR 345 intersects with SR 24, the sign will be placed on the east side of that north-south road.

Government Purchases

(from left) Commissioners Johnny Hiers and Desiree Mills, Chairman Tim Hodge, Vice Chairman Charlie Kennedy and Commissioner Rock Meeks are seen in action Tuesday. Hiers complained the loudest about the county not buying vehicles from Chiefland car dealers rather than using the much less costly method established years ago.

     Levy County Solid Waste Director Travis Newsome requested the County Commission approve his seeking to purchase a 2026 Ford F 150 4X4 Crew Cab from Duval Ford by using the Florida Sheriffs Association’s Light Vehicle Contract at a price of $48,066.
     Although the County Commission unanimously approved the purchase, there was a lot of complaining before it reached that point.
     The first complainer was freshman County Commissioner Johnny Hiers. He said he wants the county to look at local car and truck dealerships, like Plattner’s Chiefland Ford, Big Bend Chevrolet-Buick and Chiefland Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT.
     Hiers said that the County Commission is on its third set of attorneys and he wants to provide requests for proposals for vehicle sales to everyone – and to somehow give a preference to local dealerships.
     Among the comments from commissioners was that these car and truck sales enterprises pay local taxes and donate to community events.
     Of course, if the donation results in a banner placed on a fence at a school, then that really is an advertisement, even if it funds some part of some school activity.
     Levy County Manager Mary-Ellen Harper was too sick to be at the meeting, but one of her staff members said they have been working on this request to buy from local dealers.
     The proverbial bottom line, though, is that if Plattner’s Chiefland Ford can bid, then Parks Ford of Gainesville as well as Duval Ford should all be given the same option.
     Previous attempts to “buy local” rather than buy at the lowest price has shown the county would pay an extra $20,000 or so per vehicle.
     Hiers and every other Levy County Commissioner is a Republican.
     Republicans were once known to be the fiscally conservative party. 
    Here are some considerations about buying a vehicle at a higher price:
     ● Buying a vehicle at a higher price may be seen as a sign of fiscal irresponsibility if it leads to increased government debt or tax burdens. 
     ● Higher prices can lead to increased consumer debt, which may not be fiscally conservative. 
     ● The current market conditions, including inflation and interest rates, can influence the perception of whether it is fiscally conservative to buy a vehicle at a higher price. 
     ● Different political beliefs may lead to different perspectives on whether it is fiscally conservative to buy a vehicle at a higher price. 
     Ultimately, the decision to buy a vehicle at a higher price should be based on careful consideration of the fiscal implications and the broader economic context. 
     Another factor commissioners glossed over is the amount of staff time and effort, advertising costs for bids, and other costs from the bid process – rather than just buying at the best rate determined by previous research by an organization like the Florida Sheriffs Association.
     Still another consideration is the cost of an attorney conducting research to allow a government entity to give preferential treatment to a vendor based only on its location – within Levy County.

Levy County Director of Public Works hears the County Commission approve his request for the purchase of a $29,155 Mathis-Fesco two-disc fire-line plow. The county has been borrowing the fire-line plow from the state for years, and that plow is not working. Also, by owning the plow, the county does not have to hope one is available when the state is not using it.

Paving Deal
     By a unanimous vote, the County Commission approved Jerry Weintraub, who owns property at 8850 157th Place in Inglis to “pave” by the chip and seal process 4,000 linear feet of Southeast 157th Place.
     The resurfacing starts at U.S. Highway 19 and goes toward Weintraub’s house, according to a map showing the area of the project.
     Weintraub is paying the county $86,000 to cover the labor, material, equipment and related administrative expenses to complete the job.
     As part of the contract, Weintraub acknowledges that the resurfacing constitutes a public improvement and the project area remains as a public roadway. Also, this is voluntary and non-refundable.
     “Upon completion of the project,” the agreement notes, “the roadway shall remain a public roadway maintained by the county in accordance with the county’s standard practices, subject to available funding and county priorities.”
     No person from the public asked if this creates a precedent for any person or group of people to buy paving services from the county to develop roads in front of their homes where a lime rock road may exist now.
And More
     During the time when commissioners commented near the end of the meeting, Hiers mentioned that the Williston Middle High School Girls Basketball Team won the 2026 Florida High School Athletic Association State Rural Championship in the final game at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville recently.
     Hiers mentioned the names of some of the many donors who helped pay for the girls’ trip to Jacksonville, which included motel rooms and food.
     He said that while the WMHS team took the state title in its FHSAA division in girls’ basketball, he feels this win is shared by everyone in Levy County. High schools in Bronson and Chiefland also compete in FHSAA state championships in basketball and other sports.
     Other schools in Levy County, Dixie County and Gilchrist County have earned FHSAA state championships in baseball and football as well.
     Commissioners also spoke about conducting workshops so they can openly discuss with each other, and with the public being able to watch, as they review potential sign ordinance revisions as well as to better define the future of code enforcement in Levy County.
     Among the many other actions approved unanimously by the County Commission were:
     ● Extending a burn ban;
     ● Declaring office space for State Sen. Stan McClain (R-Gainesville, Dist. 9) and State Rep. Chad “Cracker” Johnson (R-Chiefland, Dist. 22) in what used to be the offices for Levy County Department of Veterans Services;
     ● Requiring background checks of county employees in programs funded by the state government’s opioid settlement with pharmacies;
     ● Contracting Asphalt Paving Solutions to resurface NE 190th Avenue for $196,643.78; and 
     ● Contracting Asphalt Paving Solutions to resurface NE 160th Avenue for $160,726.37.

197^th Performance

Gilchrist County Sheriff Bobby Schultz sings the HardisonInk.com jingle at the Historic Trenton Train Depot on March 4, 2026. Jeff M. Hardison asks people to sing the jingle, and some of them agree to sing it. (Thanks people!) CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO SEE AND HEAR THE VIDEO ON YouTube.com. The very first person to sing the jingle was Danesh “Danny” Patel of Danny’s Food Mart in Chiefland in March of 2013. HardisonInk.com started as a daily news website on Feb. 1, 2011.
Photo and Video by Jeff M. Hardison © March 4, 2026 at 9 p.m.
All Rights Reserved - Do Not Copy And Paste Anywhere Else