Citizen participation, involvement greatly improved in Baldwin

Citizen participation, involvement greatly improved in Baldwin 

By LYNSIE BREAUX 

A new day has dawned in the leadership of the town of Baldwin.

Mayor Stan Totman held his second town council meeting Tuesday as the newly elected mayor of the town. And after nearly a quarter century of leadership by former mayor Marvin Godbold, several changes were immediately apparent.

Citizen participation and involvement have apparently greatly improved under the new administration.

"I voted for you and I greatly appreciate you sitting down and explaining what you're spending and what you're doing," Eather Savage, a resident of Baldwin attending the meeting said.

Totman considers citizen involvement very important in his new administration.

"When I first started on the council I started several citizen groups," Totman said. "It's just my style and it's worked well for me."

As part of his plan to involve the citizens and keep everyone informed as to what's happening in the town, Totman spent nearly an hour at the end of the meeting going over a laundry list of items he's presently handling for the town.

One of the areas in which Totman updated the town is the status of "quiet zones" for the railroads.

Due to expansion at the Port of Jacksonville and the movement of rail traffic to accommodate passenger rail traffic in central Florida, Baldwin is poised to experience a dramatic growth in the amount of rail traffic it sees.

According to Totman, CSX has already stated they intend to add new lines on both the east-west and north south lines.

Because of this he is pushing to get several projects fast tracked to improve the life of Baldwin residents.

The mayor wants to get quiet zones to decrease the number of train horns, improve signalization at grade rail crossings and get a bypass of the city including railroad overpasses fast-tracked.

"Currently the bypass isn't on the five-year plan," Totman said. "I'm keeping all options on the table to see if we can get that project on the table by time the trains get here."

CSX is planning on doubling train capacity by 2009 or 2010 according to Totman.

In regular council business the town approved paying all but one of the bills submitted for the month and decided to use a 42-inch plasma television purchased by the former mayor for the volunteer fire department in town council hall.

The council also passed an ordinance splitting the duties of mayor and town foreman. Under the Godbold administration the two jobs had been combined.