Frink told the Chronicle Editorial Board Oct. 6 the 14-member group’s goal is to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats the bay has, giving the city a strategy to improve navigability, behavior and other uses on the water.

“We just want to sit around a table and … figure out what’s working for King’s Bay,” he said. “I really need a good, solid playbook, and I don’t think it’s right to do it in a vacuum.”

City manager to pitch ‘entertainment district’ bill, establishing ‘open container zones’

Council members are going to hold a vote Monday on whether Frink should move forward on their behalf to file a local bill with Florida lawmakers to create an “Entertainment District” in downtown Crystal River, establishing permanent open-container zones there.

Frink will host a discussion prior to council’s vote, recommending the new district cover the city Riverwalk and Citrus Avenue on both sides of U.S. 19.

While council can waive open-container restrictions for specific events in the city, the State Division of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) is in charge of overseeing alcohol sales through business licenses. 

Council could create the district with an ordinance, but businesses in the area would still have to petition the DBPR to modify their licenses — a burdensome process city staff wants businesses to avoid.

By passing a bill through the state legislature, according to city staff, businesses in the district wouldn’t have to individually amend their licenses.

Mayor to host discussion on hospital’s decision to close its labor, delivery unit 

Crystal River Mayor Joe Meek will ask his fellow council members Monday to mull over the decision by Bayfront Health Seven Rivers to close its labor and delivery departments.

Citing declining birth rates, the hospital north of the city announced in October it will no longer provide inpatient labor and delivery services as of Feb. 11, 2022.

In an Oct. 20 letter addressed to Linda Stockton, the hospital’s CEO, Meek and Citrus County Commissioner Jeff Kinnard asked Seven Rivers to reconsider.

Meek and Kinnard reminded Stockton to take advantage of a county ordinance commissioners recently passed to allow the hospital to draw in more federal money for its Medicaid patients, many of whom, they said, are from its labor unit.

“While this may be a business decision that is better for your bottom line, this is not the best decision for Crystal River, Citrus County and our citizens,” they wrote. “The ability for our citizens to be able to have their children born in their hometown and community is both special and important.”