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Fellsmere City Manager Mark Mathes resigning Sept. 6 for job at Water Control District

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Fellsmere City Manager Mark Mathes resigning Sept. 6 for job at Water Control District

FELLSMERE — City Manager Mark Mathes will leave the city Sept. 6 to become manager of the Fellsmere Water Control District. He told the City Council of his resignation Aug. 15. His new job starts Sept. 9.

Mathes, 57, explained that the Water Control District board approached him a number of months ago, asking him to take over operations management at the district. He has been city manager since August 2019.

“I have worked with the district for many years now,” said Mathes. “It should be an easy transition. I anticipate a few months of learning, but nothing too serious or out of the ordinary.

“I was looking for a different retirement plan, and that was ultimately what led to the decision.”

It’s unclear how Fellsmere will fill the city manager job. Mayor Joel Tyson did not return calls seeking comment.

Mathes’ city salary was $125,000 annually. He will earn $100,000 with the Water Control District. The has district paid an outside company $75,000 a year for management services, and will have Mathes looking for grants to soften the financial impact to the district, according to district President Greg Nelson.

Mathes will oversee the district and report to the board. The district’s only other employee is a maintenance technician.

“I’ll be taking care of long-range and short-range planning, capital programming and any other administrative duties,” said Mathes. “I’m kind of a one-man-show, along with our technician.”

The district is responsible for moving storm water out of its borders through a gravity canal system. Water flows from ditches to canals, eventually ending in the Indian River Lagoon.

Property owners pay a $37-per-acre annual assessment for services, which is to include ditch maintenance.

Down the road

Mathes had been looking for a new job for months, he said. However, he did not expect to stay in Fellsmere.

“I was looking for a place that had a different retirement program,” explained Mathes. “Turns out, I did not have to go too far down the road to find one.”

Mathes’ hiring is a response to complaints that the management company was often difficult to reach, according to Nelson.

“We’ve heard feedback from landowners within the district that their calls were not being returned,” said Nelson. “It was obvious that there was a need for a human contact to be in the district office so people could speak with someone.”

Mathes is happy to stay in Fellsmere, but sad not to finish every project.

“It’s nice knowing I’ll still be in Fellsmere,” said Mathes. “But we have so much happening and so much to look forward to, it is hard to see what I have worked for not fulfilled.”

Mathes already knows what his first action with the district will be.

“First, I want to set my eyes on every single foot of ditch and canal in the district,” said Mathes. “I have heard that some ditches have never been cleaned, and I want to investigate. From there we’ll form a plan and budget.”

Mathes will not take part in crafting the district’s new budget, which will be up for a vote at its Sept. 12 meeting.

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District scrutiny

During Mathes’ time as city manager, the district has been scrutinized by residents for its perceived lack of ditch maintenance. Their concerns turned to anger following last November’s monsoon, which dumped 14 inches of rain in 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service.

Residents said in previous district meetings that the lack of ditch and canal cleaning over the 30 previous years exacerbated the floods, and district officials agreed that maintenance was long overdue.

“I’ve heard some of the citizen concerns and will work to address them to the best of my abilities,” said Mathes. “I hope to hit the ground running and do what I can for residents.”

Nick Slater is TCPalm’s Indian River County Watchdog reporter. You can reach him at Nick.Slater@tcpalm.com and 224-830-2875.

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