Searching for the end game at IV 4

Hey, it’s Tuesday. Let’s look at the County Commission agenda.

The commission meets at 1 p.m. in the Courthouse. 

— Chairman Holly Davis wants to issue a stop-work order for active permits in Inverness Villages 4. Let’s get right into that.

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The agenda doesn’t have any backup information, so I’m not 100% sure what it means. If it’s what I THINK, well, that’s worthy of discussion.

If Davis’ idea is to stop ALL construction activity in IV 4 for the purpose of getting non-developer Anton Van Usen’s attention, that’s fine. But I have two questions:

• How is this going to get the roads paved, or graded, or somehow repaired to the point that they won’t flood or turn to muck when the summer rain starts?
• Why are Van Usen customers being punished because of someone else’s doing?

Point two first.

It doesn’t happen at every meeting, but here and there someone will come to the microphone and tell commissioners his bank loan is in jeopardy because the county has a moratorium on new home permits in Inverness Villages 4.

One man told commissioners he was not even building in IV 4, but the county still held up the permit because the builder is Van Der Valk. 

I mean…I get it. The county wants to stop the bleeding in IV 4. The only way to do that is to prevent construction from taking place. Totally understand.

But, what’s the end game? I guess that’s my question. If I have a bank loan for a $200,000 house in Inverness Villages 4, and I can’t get the house built because the county has an issue with the contractor, how is that my fault?

Or let’s say I’m having a house built in IV 4 that started before the moratorium. It’s half done. What does a stop-work order mean for me?

Playing hardball with the non-developer is wonderful, and Davis deserves all the credit for getting this nightmare to the point it is today.

I just have to wonder where we’re headed. If commissioners support Davis’ plan, there should be some discussion on the big picture.

As for the first point, IV 4 roads are still a mess. Drainage is still nonexistent. Everyone agrees the idea of a massive assessment for homeowners to pave roads is ridiculous. And the county’s not going to pay for it.

Yet here we are. 

Chamber CEO Josh Wooten had an interesting idea worth considering. He wondered if there was a stop-gap measure that could get the streets in decent shape before summer until a permanent fix is figured out. Wooten suggested a low-cost MSBU for IV 4 property owners could get the job done.

I don’t know if that’ll work or not, but since it comes from a former county commissioner, I’d think the county would give it a good look.

While Davis has led this charge the other commissioners haven’t said much. Commissioner Rebecca Bays sounds like she wants a detailed gameplan, but it’d be nice for five commissioners to talk about it. Maybe Tuesday.
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The IV 4 train keeps rolling.

— Crystal River wants up to $350,000 in tourist tax money for new bathrooms in Hunter Springs Park. You may recall the city, and particularly Councilman Ken Frink, had a tantrum when the Tourist Development Council said no. A month later, it said yes when Davis predicted it didn't matter how they voted because the County Commission would overrule them anyway.

This isn’t a TDC issue. It’s a policy decision for commissioners.

The conversation is how we go about spending tourist tax dollars. Traditionally, it’s for marketing and other projects designed to draw visitors to the county for overnight stays.

It’s quite a stretch to say a bathroom does that. I guess we can say visitors are likely to return to Crystal River for overnight stays because it has clean, spacious restrooms at Hunter Springs Park. Reading back that sentence, you probably reach the same conclusion as me: Uh, no.

That’s why the issue isn’t about bathrooms. It’s whether the county should start spending tourist tax money on the effects of tourism.

(Thanks to a Mike Bates Chronicle story posted Monday, I see it's removed from the agenda for now.)

— First, the good news: I don’t have covid. What feels almost as lousy? Let’s not go there.

That’s why today’s blog is a little, oh I don’t know, um…weak? And I’ll be watching the County Commission meeting from home on my laptop, and we all know how much I enjoy that.

This is “sick day” territory, but it seems Just Wright Citrus LLC misplaced its sick-day policy. No paid vacations and no sick days. No wonder I can’t get anyone to work here.

Have a healthy Tuesday, friends.

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