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GAINESVILLE – Artists can share their works for the Alachua County Library District’s eighth Summer Art Show starting July 1 through July 29.

The summer show will feature pieces from adult artists on the Library District’s website in August. Participants can submit up to two works each by email with a completed entry form for each piece. Entry forms and rules are available at www.aclib.us/summerartshow or by emailing ccarpenter@aclib.us.

Submissions should be in the form of a jpeg, png, or pdf file and may include paintings, photography, drawings, mixed media, digital art, and 3D artwork. //www.flickr.com/photos/13863811@N06/albums/72157715282920633/with/50195652803/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.flickr.com/photos/13863811@N06/albums/72157715282920633/with/50195652803/&source=gmail&;ust=1625186183902000&usg=AFQjCNHXjt8QY5hPVN1L0sr0lG9RTLLapQ">The 2020 art show moved online for the first time and featured paintings, photos, sculptures, and even a cross-stitch entry.

“The art show has thrived online and we’re eager to see what inspired pieces our talented local artists submit this year,” said Adult Services Librarian Cheris Carpenter.

To schedule an interview, please contact Rachel Cook at rcook@aclib.us or 352-334-3909.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The local Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe sponsored a golf tournament in High Springs this week, but it wasn't a professional golf tournament, it was a miniature golf tournament for charity featuring teams consisting of local families and city employees to raise money for the Kiwanis programs for children.

The Kiwanis of Santa Fe is a local chapter of the Kiwanis International, which is a global community of clubs dedicated to improving the lives of children one community at a time. Founded in 1915, the organization's motto is "Serving the Children of the World."

Today the organization has more than 550,000 members in 80 countries, host nearly 150,000 service projects each year and raises nearly $100 million every year for communities, families and projects. Since each community has different needs, the Kiwanis empowers members to pursue creative ways to serve the needs of children, such as fighting hunger, improving literacy and offering guidance.

David Miller, general manager of the Pink Flamingo Diner, is also a lifelong Kiwanis member. “Several months ago, the club approached me about hosting a golf tournament on the Diner's miniature golf course,” Miller said. “We had heard about professional tournaments on miniature courses and decided that this would be a good opportunity to both benefit the Kiwanis cause and use the course for charity and plan for future tournaments.”

Local businesses were enthusiastic about sponsoring the competition and providing prizes for the winners. Campus USA, Waste Pro, High Springs City Parks and Recreation, Porta Serve, Attorney Thomas Weller and Edward Jones company supplied monetary funds or prizes. The Pink Flamingo lowered their usual charge to play from $8 to $6 for adults and $4 for children. Of that fee, $2 of each entry was donated to the Kiwanis to support their projects. The Kiwanis also increased participation with a potluck prize.

The first round was a family round with parents and children up to age 12 on four-person teams. The top three teams won prize baskets ranging from $45 to $120. Family team winners were first place Maggie Hewlett, second place the Santos family playing under the family plumbing business name of Plumb Ultimate, and third place went to the MacNeil family.

In addition to the prize baskets, any child that made Par 3 (three shots per hole) and any adult that made Bogey (two shots per hole) received a free ice cream cone courtesy of the Pink Flamingo.

Family play was followed by eight adult teams of four players each. Winners for the adult round were High Springs Park and Recreation Department in first place, followed by the Nate team in second place and Susan Ladd's team taking third place. While the event was meant to be a fun time for all involved, it also raised $1,400 for the Kiwanis projects.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Area employers are having a tough time meeting labor needs and are looking for ways to reach prospective employees. A job fair in High Springs this past weekend was just one step these companies took to attract much needed workers.

The COVID pandemic had a devastating effect on the economy and employment. Prior to February 2020 the unemployment rate had hovered around 4 percent for the previous four years. But when the pandemic hit, the country shut down. People stayed home, quarantined to avoid infection. Many businesses, especially service industries like restaurants and retail stores, were forced to reduce staff due to lack of business, which then affected numerous other industries. By May 2020 the unemployment rate rose to 14.8 percent and over 33 million Americans lost their jobs.

The federal and state governments responded by increasing unemployment benefits and issued stimulus checks to help people financially survive. Unemployment benefits were extended for a longer timeframe and additional funds were added on top of the standard benefits. An additional 24 weeks of unemployment benefits, with up to a maximum of 79 weeks, was added for people who have exhausted their state benefits.

A weekly supplemental payment of $600 was added on top of any state-provided unemployment benefits, which expired July 31, 2020. A lower supplemental payment of $300, began after December 26, 2020 with an end date on or before September 6, 2021.

While this money helped many survive it also had an unexpected result. In Florida where standard unemployment benefits range from $32 to $275 per week, the addition of the $300 for an extended time created a situation where low-income workers were financially better off collecting unemployment than returning to work. And many workers had found other ways to supplement income by working from home in new entrepreneurial jobs.

As the nation began to recover economically due to a massive effort to vaccinate the population, businesses again opened up and unemployment has dropped to 5.8 percent with 9.3 million Americans still out of work. As employers began hiring again, they ran into an unexpected problem. There are plenty of companies hiring, but few people were applying. The jobs are there—the workers are not.

Andrew Miller runs Poetic Cuts, a small barber shop in High Springs. As the economy improved, he looked to expand his business and hire employees, but received no applications. Throughout the area he saw multiple signs offering jobs but few takers.

Miller believed it would take a concerted effort and a single location to make people aware of available jobs in the area. He approached local businesses including Radiant Life World, which owns several restaurants, including the Great Outdoors and Pink Flamingo. They discussed the situation with the Chamber of Commerce and High Springs Parks and Recreation Manager Damon Massina. Out of these discussions came the idea to host a job fair at the High Springs Civic Center on June 22.

Over 25 companies had expressed interest in attending, but bad weather served to lower the number of participants. “It's a rainy day, so we lost a few companies that didn’t show and turnout has not been as good as we hoped, but overall, I think this has been beneficial and has helped those that are interested in finding work,” said Deborah Simone, HR manager for Radiant Life. “I think most businesses have been surprised at how hard it is to find new employees. Our restaurants have been understaffed and had trouble finding qualified employees. We are hoping by holding the job fair, we can help people find jobs,” Simone said.

Many of the attending companies expressed similar feelings. Sgt. Park with the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) said he was somewhat baffled by the current situation. “When I joined the DOC, jobs there were so few that I had to wait six months until another employee retired,” Park said. “We had a reduction in the work force due to the Covid pandemic and are now understaffed. We are not only offering jobs, but sign on bonuses as well.”

Several other companies at the event echoed surprise at how hard it has been to find employees. Representatives from Whitfield Windows and Doors, North Central Florida Air Conditioning, Domino’s Pizza, Smith and Sons and Pinnacle Site Solutions all shared similar experiences.

Each company has a variety of positions, some needing qualified workers with specific skills but there are also positions that need no prior training. Stacy Brown with Smith and Sons said, “We have a variety of positions, but just can’t find anyone that wants to work.”

Dan O'Neal with Natures Source, which supplies firewood to Lowes, Home Depot, Publix and various restaurants, believes the problem is directly related to the stimulus and unemployment benefits. “Unlike some other companies here, we hire unskilled workers that do not need previous training, but we still have plenty of positions available,” he said. “I am amazed at the lack of people actually looking for work that are still unemployed.”

Several of the companies reported not being understaffed, but have seen a large increase in business with the improving economy and need to expand their work force.

Although the weather affected turnout this time, companies are still looking to hire and this may not be the last job fair opportunity.

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GAINESVILLE ‒ Beginning June 21, any child age 0-18 can receive a free breakfast and lunch at one of 93 locations in Alachua County through the Free Summer Meals program.

The ACPS Food and Nutrition Services Department is offering multiple pick-up options to meet families’ needs, including in-person service, bus stop locations and curbside grab-and-go meals. The department’s food truck will also visit three neighborhoods in southwest Gainesville, including Hidden Oaks, Majestic Oaks and the SWAG Family Resource Center this summer.

Starting June 24 and continuing through the summer, the district’s free grab-and-go meals curbside distribution will be available at 19 locations on Thursdays from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meals for all seven days of the week will be provided.

The Summer Meals Program, funded by the federal government, is open to any child regardless of family income. Children do not have to be enrolled at a particular school or program to receive meals. They also do not have to be eligible for free or reduced-price meals during the regular school year to take advantage of the program.

If children are not present at pick up, families will be asked to provide the child’s name and date of birth or a form of ID such as a report card or birth certificate. All information will be kept confidential.

“Families can take their children to the site that’s most convenient for them,” said Maria Eunice, Director of the district’s FNS department. “They just drive or walk up during the serving times and enjoy a nutritious meal.”

For more details on free meal sites, serving dates and times, families can visit the Food & Nutrition Services website at www.yourchoicefresh.com or call 352-955-7539.

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NEWBERRY ‒ One Monday, June 14, the City of Newberry conducted a Board of Adjustment meeting, followed by a regular City Commission meeting and finally a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board meeting.

The Commission gave unanimous approval of a new contract for law enforcement services between Newberry and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Department.

The earlier contract was signed in October 2017 under Sheriff Sadie Darnell and began in 2018 at $777,000. The agreement was for a three-year period with a two-year extension allowed. In subsequent years a 3.75 percent increase was added to the previous year’s cost each fiscal year. However, during the 2020-2021 fiscal year the contract increased by 20.46 percent with no increase in services.

Newberry City Manager Mike New said the cost would have been $1,007,513 this year with an increase in health insurance and retirement costs.

In October 2020, Newberry sent a contract termination letter to the Sheriff’s Department. Based on the terms of the previous agreement and the termination letter, services provided to Newberry were scheduled to end July 1, 2021.

The new agreement with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Department under Sheriff Clovis Watson, Jr., is for a five-year period and begins with a cost to the City of $867,731. “That is a savings of [nearly] $140,000,” said New. From July 1, 2021 through Sept. 30, 2021, the City will pay monthly payments of $113,856. The next fiscal year’s total cost would be $900,276. With an increase of 3.75 percent per fiscal year, by the end of the contract period in 2024-2025, the total payment would be $1,005,396.

In addition to continuing to provide three school resource officers, one for each Newberry school, a full-time deputy within the City, crossing guards, increased patrols within the city limits, extra deputies for the usual events and dispatch services, Watson proposes to establish a sheriff’s substation in Newberry. In this agreement, the City agrees to make office space available for use as a substation via a lease agreement.

According to Watson, he proposes to have sheriff’s substations in each Alachua County municipality that doesn’t have their own police department.

Two citizens asked Watson if the schools could retain the same school resource officers, saying that their children have grown to trust the ones that have been stationed in their schools previously. Watson said he was moving people around in his department so his staff would have the opportunity to experience other aspects of police work.

In other business, Commissioners considered checking out additional options for legal services as the City has used the same law firm for 50 years. An option brought up was having an in-house attorney on staff. Ultimately, Commissioners expressed their belief that they had good representation currently and no action was taken.

Planning and Economic Development Director Bryan Thomas reviewed the proposed Newberry Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Redevelopment Plan for the CRA Board and explained that the Plan is funded through Tax Increment Financing (TIF).

The proposed CRA district is about one square mile in downtown Newberry that has been determined to be blighted. Total estimated costs to address everything in the plan, which includes parking, economic development, affordable housing, streetscaping, historic preservation and parks/public spaces, etc. would be between $9.7 and $14.15 million.

The CRA plan is for 20 years. Thomas said projected TIF contributions are estimated to be $1,639,305 over that period of time. “However, the City can request another 20 years near the end of the initial 20-year-period in order to complete the projects unfunded at that time,” he said.

Following unanimous approval of the CRA plan Thomas said the plan would be forwarded to the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) for consideration at the joint meeting between the City and County scheduled for June 28.

Two Quasi-Judicial public hearings and a final plat approval for Phase 1A of Avalon Woods were held on second reading and all were approved. The first was Ordinance 2021-24 for voluntary annexation which involves three parcels contiguous to the City boundaries. The total acreage annexed is 238.6 +/- and the location is 3200 N.W. 202^nd Street.

The second Quasi-Judicial hearing was an application to amend the Lexington Station Mixed Use Development, Ordinance 2021-14, on 196 +/- acres directly north, west and south of the Easton Newberry Sports Complex. The request also includes changing the development’s name to Avalon Woods.

In addition to the name change, a modification to the maximum permitted residential and nonresidential uses was approved. As part of their approval and recommendation to the City Commission, the Planning and Zoning Board advised that storage or mini warehouses not be allowed along highway frontage. The plan indicates that those issues are addressed.

The final item approved also involved Avalon Woods, which received Phase 1A final plat approval. Principal Planner Wendy Kinser-Maxwell said the plat had been reviewed by the city’s surveyor and the city attorney and the developer has provided a surety agreement for the Phase 1A infrastructure.

New addressed the joint City/County Commission meeting scheduled for June 28. He listed the items the County wants to address and then the items the City wishes to discuss. The County has listed a strategic workshop and infrastructure surtax, which New said he believes is the combination of a road tax and Wild Spaces Public Places funds to be provided to each city. He also listed a residential rental unit permit and inspection program the County hopes the City will partner with them on. A Trunk Radio System and an update on the Ag. Center and Extension Office are also listed by the County.

Tentative City items include the CRA plan, a rural road resurfacing program and support for a regional wastewater treatment plant.

“Several workshops will be taking place this summer,” New said. June 26 is the date for the Community Visioning Session. “Anyone planning to attend should RSVP as soon as possible,” he said.

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