AVON PARK — Even though the Avon Park City Council voted 4-1 to continue its police chief search, a budget crunch anticipated after Amendment 1 passed last month has prompted city officials to consider merging the police and fire chief positions. ...more

February 13, 2008

The situation surrounding the city of Port Richey's drinking water distribution systems seems to be going from bad to worse. But don't take our word for it. Just ask Richard Reade, the recently arrived city manager. "Everyday we're uncovering more and more leaks," Reade told The Tampa Tribune this week. As things stand now, just what is causing the growing problem is a "mystery," Reade said. ...more

February 12, 2008

Pasco's biggest city now has a permanent boss at the helm. Tuesday night, the city council voted unanimously to appoint Tom O'Neill, the former public works director and interim city manager, to the job full-time. ...more

February 7, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County's most populous city now has a permanent manager at the helm. ...more

February 6, 2008

Tuesday night, the city council voted unanimously to appoint Tom O'Neill, the former public works director and interim city manager, to the job permanently. ...more

February 6, 2008

AVON PARK — The police chief search committee has thinned out its field of applicants, leaving 14 candidates out of the 61 who sent their resumes to then-city manager C.B. Shirey to seek Avon Park's top police job. Highlands Today confirmed that the field includes at least four applicants from Highlands County and at least two from the Fort Meade area. City officials provided a list of the 14 candidates with titles for the last positions they held, but more details on the candidates were not released. Interim City Manager Sarah Adelt said the committee originally trimmed the field to 15 candidates, but one of them removed himself from consideration after he was hired elsewhere. Eight of the 14 candidates last held high-ranking positions in local police departments, with three of them being current or former police chiefs. Adelt said that all 14 entries on the "short list" have law enforcement experience. Adelt said she's hoping the committee will narrow it to "no more than five candidates, hopefully three" within the next two weeks. ...more

February 5, 2008

Developers of the stalled Main Street Landing project have been discussing with city officials plans to resume construction, possibly by late summer. ...more

January 30, 2008

AVON PARK — The Avon Park City Council hired an attorney that will begin acting as the city's code enforcement magistrate by March. Avon Park Fire Department Chief Terry Feickert said that the code enforcement office already has 10 cases lined up for C. Parke Sutherland, a Bartow-based attorney who became the special magistrate. The new magistrate could dole out daily fines to people with dilapidated homes and other major offenders, an action the city previously couldn't do by taking offending property owners to court. "It just gives us a little more teeth," Feickert said. ...more

January 30, 2008

The city has discovered dozens of leaks in its troubled water system. ...more

January 16, 2008

AVON PARK — The Avon Park City Council decided to form a seven-member committee to recommend a new police chief from the 61 applications the city received. In creating the committee, the council decided to fill the police chief's position before they found a new city manager, using the committee's recommendations to help interim City Manager Sarah Adelt pick out Frank Mercurio's successor. The city has not begun advertising for the city manager's position. ...more

January 16, 2008