The Shields Painting Difference: Perfection with Every Brush Stroke
Many painting companies in Florida rely on flashy marketing and big promises to try and attract new clients. But when it comes time to work, they fall short of their promises. This is often due to a lack of experience, qualified painters, and a drive to overachieve. At Shields Painting, we do things a little differently than other painting companies in Citrus County. We believe that a professional paint job should be as close to perfect as possible. Our goal is to leave you 100% satisfied, whether we're touching up an old residential paint job or performing a complex commercial project. It might sound simple, but we achieve that goal through honesty, hard work, beautiful results, and reasonable pricing.
As a family-owned and operated painting company in Crystal River, FL, we strive to provide personalized, professional, and friendly service. Shields Painting has been in business since 1968 for a good reason. Whenever possible, we go the extra mile to make sure our customers are happy. Unlike some of our competition, we want to know all about your house or business painting project: your vision, your preferences, your challenges, and your goals. When we understand your needs, we can present you with a fantastic final product - one that you're proud to show off to friends and neighbors.
At Shields Painting, we combine our extensive experience with time-tested, meticulous painting processes, resulting in the highest quality painting results around. As a painting contractor in Citrus County, we can take on a variety of residential, commercial, and industrial projects in Florida.
A few of our most popular painting services include:
- Interior Painting
- Exterior Painting
- Residential Painting
- Commercial Painting
- Cabinet Painting
- Ceiling Painting
- Fence Painting
- Sign Painting
- MUCH More!
Our commercial, industrial, and residential painting contractors take the proper steps to protect your property and belongings while we work. Our team will clean up after ourselves, so your property is left clean and free of debris when we're done. After all, we think there's only one way to do a job, and that's the right way.
Painting Services
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Eco-friendly & clean work area.
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PDCA Certified Member.
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Your Go-To House Painting Company in Crystal River, FL
Your home is a haven of relaxation and solitude. It is uniquely you - a place where you can express who you are through style and design. Whether you need interior touch-ups for your crown molding or a new exterior coat of paint, hiring a reliable painting contractor is the best way to get quality results.
At Shields Painting, we know how important it is to have a home that highlights your tastes and personality. That's why we offer an extensive array of residential painting services in Citrus County. As tempting as it might be to try a DIY paint job, without the proper skills and experience, there is a good chance that the results will turn out less than satisfactory.
High-quality painting requires skill, experience, and patience. If you're a homeowner who needs residential painting services but doesn't have the time, patience, or skills to handle the job, look no further than Shields Painting. We offer accuracy, precision, and longevity with each paint job we perform. Our customers choose Shields Painting for their home because they receive:
- Free Quotes with Detailed Project Breakdowns
- Affordable Pricing
- Expert Painting Contractors
- High-Quality Paint Products
- Combo of Traditional and Modern Techniques
- Well-Maintained Tools
- Unmatched Craftsmanship
- Friendly, Personalized Service
- Good Old-Fashioned Hard Work!
The majority of our house painting services come in two forms: interior and exterior.
Interior Residential Painting
As an interior painting contractor with decades of experience, our expert technicians have developed an interior painting process that maximizes quality and emphasizes customer satisfaction. We understand that interior painting goes beyond aesthetics. It protects your ceilings and walls and helps you sustain a healthier place to live for your family. When only the finest craftsmanship will do inside your home, Shields Painting is here for you.
Our seasoned team of painting experts and craftsmen is dedicated to respecting your space and providing you with the look and feel you're craving inside your home. Whether you bought a new house and want to make it your own or need minor touch-ups but have no time, Shields Painting is ready to tackle the job, no matter how small or large.
Unlike some painting companies, our interior house painters take the time to get the details right, every time. For instance, color is only one aspect of your interior paint job. The paint sheen or finish is just as important. Certain finishes are better for living rooms and bedrooms than in kitchens and bathrooms. We'll help you find the right finish and paint colors for your home, so you don't have to worry about touch-ups or repainting.
Some of our most popular interior house painting services include:
- Ceiling Painting
- Popcorn Ceiling Removal
- Living Room Painting
- Bathroom Painting
- Basement Painting
- Color Consultations
- More
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Cabinet Painting
Citrus County cabinet painting deserves its own section on this page because it requires more time, skill, and quality paint than most sections of your home. If your home's cabinets are built into its woodwork, replacing them can be obnoxiously expensive. Compared to the cost of installing new cabinets, painting your kitchen cabinets is much more affordable.
At Shields Painting, we specialize in transforming old cabinets into new, gorgeous features that are just as usable as they are beautiful. Each step of our cabinet painting process is meticulous and thorough. And we'll take care of the entire job, from cleaning, prep, and sanding to priming, painting, and reassembly. This unique service lets you enjoy a brand-new look in your kitchen without having to go into debt by replacing your cabinets.
Whether your cabinets are new, but you want to change their color or you'd like to transition wood cabinets to a painted finish, Shields Painting has the expertise and experience to give you a new look you'll love.
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Exterior Residential Painting
Your home - it's a place that not only keeps your belongings safe. It protects your family and loved ones, too. It's one of your largest investments, and like anything else of value, it should be protected. However, Florida weather can take a toll on your home's structure and paint, lowering your home's value and even putting your family at risk.
While it's true that a beautiful exterior affects your house's value, it shouldn't take thousands of remodeling dollars to make a positive change to your home. There's a fine line between reasonable pricing and top-quality painting, and that sweet spot is what Shields Painting aims for. If you want to transform how your friends and neighbors see your home, never underestimate the power of a professional paint job.
Our exterior residential painting services are designed to boost curb appeal, give your home a fresh look, and help it stand up to Florida's unique weather. But we provide more than that. When you hire Shields Painting for your outdoor painting project, you will enjoy peace of mind in knowing that your home is in truly capable hands. Our goal is to exceed your expectations and help bring out the best in your property, whether you need to re-stain your deck or remove old, peeling paint from your siding.
If you're on the hunt for the very best exterior painting contractor in Crystal River, FL, look no further than Shields Painting.
Some of our most popular exterior house painting services include:
- Vinyl Siding Painting
- Deck Painting and Staining
- Stucco Exterior Painting
- Wood Exterior Painting
- Porch Painting and Staining
- Soffit Painting
- Fascia Painting
- Window Painting
- Front Door Painting
- Thorough Painting Prep
- More
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The Premier Commercial Painting Company in Crystal River, FL
When it comes to first impressions, your businesses' appearance plays an important role. Your commercial property's paint job factors into its overall aesthetics. A great-looking, well-maintained paint job can mean the difference between a customer walking in your storefront and passing by. Conversely, an old, worn-out commercial paint job can send the wrong message to prospective customers. If you can't take the time to keep up your property's appearance, why would a customer spend their hard-earned money on your products?
The same goes for your businesses' interior paint. Would you want to do business with a company that has peeling paint or unsightly crown molding? At Shield's Painting, our goal is to create a beautiful environment that your customers and employees will love inside and out. When you work with our business painters, you can rest easy knowing we treat your business like it were our own. We always clean up after ourselves and know that operations cannot come to a halt just because we're painting. As such, we'll work with your busy schedule to ensure the job gets done right the first time without disrupting your day-to-day commitments.
With decades of commercial painting experience, we know the demands of a commercial painting project necessitate a disciplined and focused approach from the start. Our team of business painters is committed to delivering quality, on-time results on every project, every time - no excuses
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We offer professional business painting services to a variety of building types, including:
![Residential Painting Crystal River, FL Residential Painting Crystal River, FL](/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/painting-company-crystal-river-fl-6.jpg)
01
Industrial Painting
A high level of care and finesse are required to effectively paint an industrial property. At Shields Painting, we know that industrial paint jobs involve much more than aesthetics. That's why our industrial services are customized to your specifications, using industrial-grade materials that stand up to heavy-duty operations.
02
Retail Store Painting
Our commercial painters apply effective, yet appealing interior and exterior paint that stand up to the daily rigors of busy retail environments.
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03
Small Business Painting
Do you own a restaurant franchise? Have a small "mom and pop" location that needs a fresh coat of paint? Shields Painting has the resources and reliability to efficiently get the job done the first time. That way, you can focus on serving your customers, not having your business repainted.
04
Healthcare Location Painting
From walk-in clinics to long-term care facilities, Shields Painting is sensitive to your patients' needs. We know you must protect your patient's privacy while maintaining productivity. Our approach to healthcare location painting centers around your schedule to avoid disruptions in care.
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Apartment Complex Painting
Erase signs of wear and make your apartment complex or multi-family building a more desirable place to live with a stunning, professional paint job.
Florida's Most Trusted Painting Contractor
Shields Painting has been in the business since 1968. In a world where so much has changed, we are proud to uphold the ideals that make us successful: hard, honest work, getting the job done right, and excellent customer service. Providing you with trustworthy, quality work will always take priority over rushing through a project to serve the next customer. That is just not the way we choose to do business.
As professionals dedicated to perfection, we strive to provide a unique painting experience for every customer - one that focuses on their needs and desires instead of our own. Whether you need residential painting for your home or commercial painting for your business, we encourage you to reach out today to speak with our customer service team. Whether you have big ideas about a new paint project or need our expertise and guidance, we look forward to hearing from you soon.
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Latest News in Crystal River, FL
Is Crystal River a nursery for baby bull sharks? We went fishing to find out.
Max Chesneshttps://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2024/03/06/crystal-river-bull-sharks-florida-fishing/
The river is world renowned for its manatees. But what about sharks?ByPublished March 6|Updated March 8CITRUS COUNTY — Just 12 minutes had passed since the bait hit the water.The tide flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, and each passing minute dropped the pontoon closer to Crystal River’s rocky bottom. Five chunks of ladyfish floated on hooks: Three on a handline, two on rod-and-reel.A handline was hit first.“Shark!” yelled Alyssa Andres, a postdoctoral fellow at Florida State Uni...
The river is world renowned for its manatees. But what about sharks?
By
Published March 6|Updated March 8
CITRUS COUNTY — Just 12 minutes had passed since the bait hit the water.
The tide flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, and each passing minute dropped the pontoon closer to Crystal River’s rocky bottom. Five chunks of ladyfish floated on hooks: Three on a handline, two on rod-and-reel.
A handline was hit first.
“Shark!” yelled Alyssa Andres, a postdoctoral fellow at Florida State University’s Coastal and Marine Laboratory.
“That’s a shark!”
What happened next is best described as a blur.
In just six minutes, a team of four researchers brought the young female bull shark aboard, tagged her dorsal fin, weighed her (nearly 10 pounds), measured her (2 feet, 10½ inches), aged her (born within the past year) and took blood and muscle samples.
In a flash, the shark was kicking away from the boat and scientists cheered with whoops, high-fives and smiles.
This would be the first of five baby bull sharks caught and tagged on a recent scientific fishing trip in Crystal River, a spring-fed waterway that sprawls for 7 miles through Citrus County.
The river is known worldwide for the hundreds of manatees that gather each winter near the outflows of the river’s springs as they seek the warmth of water that is 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Could cold-sensitive bull sharks be doing the same? Are mother sharks relying on the temperate springs to birth and shield their young?
The answer to that research question could better inform how humans protect sharks and habitats like Crystal River in a future where climate change may alter shark behavior. It also could offer a key to springs restoration and shark conservation in estuaries like Tampa Bay, where bull sharks are known to feed and give birth.
Andres and her team of researchers on the newly minted Crystal River Bull Shark Project started fishing for sharks in August and began tracking their movements two months later.
Since the team began, they have caught 27 baby bulls and are monitoring 10 of them with special acoustic tags that map where in the river a shark has traveled.
“The biggest threat to bull shark survival is loss of nursery habitat, because this is when they’re most vulnerable,” Andres said, pointing to the river around her.
“As their coastal habitat degrades because they rely on rivers and estuaries — which obviously are also heavily influenced by humans — they are losing their ability to shelter their babies.”
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At full maturity, bull sharks can grow to 11 feet and are estimated to live more than two decades. Bull sharks are one of the few shark species known to inhabit freshwater ecosystems, and there’s even documentation of them venturing hundreds of miles up rivers, according to Florida’s wildlife commission. Their preference of shallow coastal waters and their ability to thrive in freshwater make their encounters with humans more likely.
In estuaries like Tampa Bay, mother bull sharks will typically leave the nursery right after giving birth, and it’s likely that’s also happening in Crystal River, according to Andres.
In many ways, the bull shark project is personal. Harrison Clark, the project’s lead field technician, is from Crystal River. The team is using his family’s boat for the research fishing trips. And he’s been dating Andres for the past four years.
The idea for the research was born during Thanksgiving dinner in 2021, when Andres was at the Clark family’s house. From inside the waterfront home, Clark saw that anglers a few hundred feet away had hooked into a shark. Soon Andres — who studied sharks for her doctorate in marine science — was outside yelling questions to the anglers about the animal’s size and weight.
Clark remembers telling Andres that night: “I’m from here, and you’ve studied bull sharks. Let’s do a project.”
Soon the team had scored a $10,000 grant and was laying the foundation for what would become the Crystal River Bull Shark Project.
“It’s been really taking off,” Clark said. “Which is so great.”
A community effort
The shark research team wasn’t able to launch the boat in December — but they had help.
A key part of the Crystal River Bull Shark Project is its encouragement of citizen science. Andres and her team are asking local anglers to report their bull shark catches, including when and where the animal was caught.
On Dec. 14, an angler provided photos of two bull sharks he caught in Kings Bay, an enclosed estuary that supplies 99% of the fresh water within the river system. He caught and released the pair 10 minutes apart while he was fishing for ladyfish. That data was crucial for the team that couldn’t be on the water, and the angler report filled a knowledge gap that now confirms bull sharks are still swimming in Crystal River at the end of the year.
Having community members involved in the project builds a fuller picture of bull shark habits when researchers can’t always be on the water, and it introduces anglers to the world of marine science, Clark said.
“We didn’t want to come in, do the science under the radar and leave,” Clark said. Crystal River, after all, is a community his family intimately knows: His mother has owned an audiology business for three decades and is spreading the word about her son’s ongoing shark project at her regular Rotary Club meetings. It’s built community trust.
“It’s a lot more work, but the benefit is that it helps us and gets the community involved,” Clark said.
The biggest shark yet
Stephanie Perez, an intern with the bull shark project, was chatting on the boat’s port side about what drew her into the world of shark science, when suddenly …
“We’re running, we’re running!” Andres yelled, the whiz of a fishing rod forcing everyone on the boat out of their seat.
The crew had ventured upriver toward Bagley Cove, close to King’s Bay. It was just past 11 a.m. when they hooked into the third baby bull shark of the day.
And this one was a doozy.
“111 centimeters,” yelled Isabella Pino, the second intern on the boat.
“That’s the biggest one yet!” replied Perez.
Not every bull shark the team catches gets an acoustic device, because the process to insert it requires a small incision in its belly. The sharks have to be full of energy when they reach the boat, to make sure they can swim off with strength. There was no doubt about this one, though. At a healthy 19 pounds, he checked all the boxes.
Andres cut a small, inch-long incision on the bottom of the shark and slid a cylindrical acoustic monitor through the cut. This device, Andres explained, will give scientists a granular view of the shark’s movements as soon as it returns to the water. A series of “checkpoints” are scattered around the river that will catch and record the pings coming from the shark’s monitor.
“You’re OK, buddy,” she told the shark. With the grace of a surgeon or a seamstress, Andres stitched the animal with sutures. She had been perfecting this procedure with a practice surgical kit she bought in November. This was the 10th shark surgery since.
“That looks beautiful,” she said, turning the shark back over. “I am so happy with that.”
The team watched as the shark kicked back into the murky depths of Crystal River. Each member breathed heavily as the whirlwind of another catch-and-release had come to an end.
The project has a handful of collaborators, including the nonprofit group Minorities in Shark Science, which is providing funding for the two internships (a rarity in marine science education).
The $10,000 for the project’s 15 acoustic tags, an acoustic recording device and a machine to spin shark blood for sampling came from the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida, which raised the money by selling the “Protect Florida Springs” license plate.
The foundation chose to fund the research because it could reveal yet another reason why Florida’s springs systems are so crucial for life in aquatic habitats, said Michelle Ashton, a spokesperson for the group.
The research could also underscore how humans are changing natural spring flows, and how that may be detrimental to shark populations — let alone scores of other marine species relying on springs.
“These are good people doing good work,” Ashton said.
“I’m really inspired by the team doing this on their own time, out of their own quest for knowledge, their passion for sharks and for a better understanding of these ecosystems.”
Funding is still needed for the Crystal River Bull Shark Project. If you’d like to contribute to the cause, the team suggests emailing crystalriverbullsharks@gmail.com
Up next:First baby right whale of season dies from ship collision
Crystal River city officials hoping to secure $10 million in funding to restore city hall
Calvin Lewishttps://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2024/01/12/crystal-river-city-officials-hoping-to-secure--10-million-in-funding-to-bring-back-city-hall
CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. — The City of Crystal River is hoping to secure funding to help bring back its city hall. City officials were already eyeing a new city hall before Hurricane Idalia caused enough damage to close the building.What You Need To Know The asking price to bring back the office space is $10 million, with plans to raise the building and make it less susceptible to flooding.On the outside, the city hall looks pretty ordinary. It’s not until you get a little closer do you realize ...
CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. — The City of Crystal River is hoping to secure funding to help bring back its city hall. City officials were already eyeing a new city hall before Hurricane Idalia caused enough damage to close the building.
What You Need To Know
The asking price to bring back the office space is $10 million, with plans to raise the building and make it less susceptible to flooding.
On the outside, the city hall looks pretty ordinary. It’s not until you get a little closer do you realize something’s different.
“It’s not ‘if,’ it’s just ‘when’ it’s going to get flooded out again,” city manager Douglas Baber said.
For four months, Crystal River City Hall has sat empty, forcing its staff to find workspace elsewhere.
“We’ve got a list of appropriation requests that we’ve put together,” Baber said. “One of them, in which, is a $10 million appropriation request for the City of Crystal River to rebuild a city hall.”
Baber, who entered the building for the first time since Idalia, says it’s haunting.
“You look at this place and you look around at the walls and you can see from one end of the building to the other,” he said. “It’s kind of creepy the way that it’s just a hollow of a shell.”
The building has been remediated from top to bottom. The walls have been gutted. The floors have been stripped. The building is almost unrecognizable.
“This is the Crystal River chambers,” Baber said. “This room took on about 18 inches of flood water as well as sewage and chemicals from the auto body shop across the street.”
Baber says the plan is to lift the building, preventing any future threats of flooding. A fix that they have been looking to make for some time.
“This is how it got fixed last time,” Baber said, while touring the building. “These are Hermine repairs and I’m not knocking anybody for any of the damage and repairs but it would just be more of this if we decide to go back in here. It’s just not a healthy building and I don’t think it was healthy before the storm.”
As for a timeline, Baber says it will probably take about three years to complete. But he’s hopeful of having the building brought back to its former glory and more.
“They were used to their routines in this building since the ‘60s,” he says. “Some of them have worked here for over 25 years and overnight that just changed. They are a resilient crew, as well, and we’re going to get thru this together.”
Baber says he will be traveling up to Tallahassee here towards the end of January. In an effort to receive that funding to bring back his city hall.
Crystal River serving as a refuge for the Florida Manatee
FOX 13 News Staffhttps://www.fox13news.com/news/crystal-river-serving-as-a-refuge-for-the-florida-manatee
The home of the headwaters of Crystal River is also the only Federal refuge specifically created to protect the Florida Manatee.Kings Bay is fed by more than 70 freshwater springs, making it the second-largest springs group in the state.The water is a constant 72 degrees year-round.In the summer, that makes Kings Bay cooler than the Gulf waters and in the winter, it's warmer.That constant temperature and beautiful natural environment...
The home of the headwaters of Crystal River is also the only Federal refuge specifically created to protect the Florida Manatee.
Kings Bay is fed by more than 70 freshwater springs, making it the second-largest springs group in the state.
The water is a constant 72 degrees year-round.
In the summer, that makes Kings Bay cooler than the Gulf waters and in the winter, it's warmer.
That constant temperature and beautiful natural environment make a favorable habitat for some of the state's largest water mammals, the manatee.
At Nature's Discovery in Crystal River, they will take you out on King's Bay to experience the water and have a special experience.
"We take people swimming with the manatees," stated Puahina Shiver. She is a manatee tour guide for Nature's Discovery.
"You start in our shop. we provide wetsuits, masks, snorkels and pool noodles. We take our boat out along King's Bay where we look for manatees to swim with(and) when we find a good situation, we get everyone comfortable and swim with a manatee."
The daily expeditions into Kings Bay have taught guides like Shiver what to look for in finding the manatees as they float in the beautiful waters offshore.
"We practice passive observation," she said. "We like to keep a certain distance."
And that is important as it is against the law to touch or otherwise harass marine wildlife like manatees.
"It's the only place in the country that you can legally do it," admitted Shiver when asked about swimming with the manatees.
Visitors can see manatees year-round in Kings Bay, but the chances are better in winter when the air and water are cold.
"During the winter time, we have closer to 500 to 1000 manatees that you're going to swim with," explained Shiver. "During the winter times, you're going to have more manatees coming into the bay than the summer months."
But the unique features of the bay make for viewing all year long.
"Our guests usually come from all over the world. They don't know what to expect," said Shiver. "Overall, it's an experience that they have forever."
To learn more about Nature's Discovery and how to book your own tour, click here.
To learn more about Kings Bay, click here.
Crystal River mom continuing to pick up pieces after tornado
Calvin Lewishttps://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2023/10/19/crystal-river-mom-continuing-to-pick-up-pieces-after-tornado
CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — A single mother of three in Crystal River says she is still picking up the pieces after a tornado damaged her home last week.What You Need To Know Faith Rodgers says this was her first time experiencing storm damage, and that getting her life back on track has taken longer than anticipated.“I came out at 2:30 in the morning and I saw this outside on the ground,” she said.Outside her Crystal River home, Rodgers takes a look around.“This one just...
CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — A single mother of three in Crystal River says she is still picking up the pieces after a tornado damaged her home last week.
What You Need To Know
Faith Rodgers says this was her first time experiencing storm damage, and that getting her life back on track has taken longer than anticipated.
“I came out at 2:30 in the morning and I saw this outside on the ground,” she said.
Outside her Crystal River home, Rodgers takes a look around.
“This one just broke off the oak tree," she said, pointing at a tree branch. "I have another oak tree that has actually been lifted from the ground with the roots, just lying in the yard.”
Multiple trees and branches have been left scattered throughout her yard, while some items had to be put back.
“It took four, four men to maneuver the well-house and to put it back over the well-tank," Rodgers said. "Because I just bought that, that’s all brand new. I didn’t want any water damage or anything getting into it so they hurried over here and turned it back over.”
The well-house was not the only thing swept up on Rodgers’ property.
“There’s the trampoline,” she said, pointing at a picture of the trampoline on her phone.
Her children’s trampoline was left wrapped around a tree.
“Oh my gosh ... it was just wrapped around the tree and the poles were bent with it," she said. "That was some serious damage.”
But picking up after the storm has been a financial struggle. Rodgers said she had to postpone her 4-year-old’s birthday party and worries about the holiday’s coming up.
“I’m pushing back on bills but I’m too prideful," she said. "I’ve been a single mom for a long time so it’s hard for me to ask for help.”
And despite all she’s been through — there’s something to be thankful for.
“The cars, the vehicles are still drivable," Rodgers said. "Like I said, there are people out there who have it way worse than I do.”
Crystal River Manager Douglas Baber abruptly resigns
Mike Wrighthttps://floridapolitics.com/archives/654439-crystal-river-manager-douglas-baber-abruptly-resigns/
Crystal River is in need of a City Manager just six months after hiring one.Douglas Baber resigned, saying in a letter he hasn’t been able to sell his house in Panama City since leaving the Panhandle for Citrus County in July.“Unfortunately, the burden of carrying two households and the current market conditions have made it impossible for me to sell my home,” he wrote. “This has resulted in a significant amount of stress, and I believe moving back to Panama City is in the best interest ...
Crystal River is in need of a City Manager just six months after hiring one.
Douglas Baber resigned, saying in a letter he hasn’t been able to sell his house in Panama City since leaving the Panhandle for Citrus County in July.
“Unfortunately, the burden of carrying two households and the current market conditions have made it impossible for me to sell my home,” he wrote. “This has resulted in a significant amount of stress, and I believe moving back to Panama City is in the best interest of my family.”
The City Council, in a special meeting Monday morning, unanimously accepted Baber’s resignation and immediately signed him onto a six-month, $35,000 consulting contract.
The city hired Baber, former City Manager in Mexico Beach, in late June on a $120,000 salary. City officials also agreed to pay Baber up to $20,000 in moving expenses. Mayor Joe Meek said Baber had used about $6,000 of that amount.
Council members were somewhat mum on the resignation, which came as a surprise. City Attorney Robert Batsel recommended silence citing the “nondisparagement” clause in the separation agreement.
Baber’s brief tenure brought immediate concerns in Crystal River which, prior to the last 10 years, was infamously known for its revolving door of City Managers.
Meek, noting numerous projects Crystal River has ongoing, called Baber’s resignation a “hiccup.”
“I know it came as a surprise and shock to a lot of folks,” he said. “The City of Crystal River will work hard to ensure we don’t miss a beat.”
Assistant City Manager Michael Manning, who Baber brought with him from Mexico Beach, also resigned, Meek said.
Baber’s brief tenure was filled with activity. Hurricane Idalia flooded homes and businesses, forcing the closing of City Hall and temporary relocation of city services to the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center. Six weeks later, a tornado ripped through the city.
“We have successfully navigated through two challenging natural disasters, provided outstanding municipal services, projects with innovative strategies, and have maintained one of the strongest and most resilient communities I have ever worked with,” Baber’s resignation letter states.
The Council named Public Works Director Troy Slattery as Interim City Manager.
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