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ALACHUA COUNTY ‒ Crews from Alachua County Fire Rescue, Gainesville Fire Rescue and High Springs Fire Rescue were dispatched on Friday, Sept. 16 at just after 8 a.m. to a semi truck fire at the northbound I-75 392-mile marker. Crews arrived to find a semi parked on the shoulder with heavy fire coming from the cab and front of the trailer. Authorities were able to extinguish the fire with two hose lines.

The driver of the truck escaped unharmed and said that the fire started in the brakes of the rear wheels of the cab. Both fuel tanks ruptured during the fire, which caused extensive damage to the truck and the front of the trailer.

All lanes of I-75 northbound were shut down while the fire was being extinguished, but were reopened as soon as the rescue vehicles and truck were removed.

The trailer was loaded with drinks (lemonade and Coca-Cola products).

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Zachary Hodge, 18, was honored during the Sept. 8 City of High Springs Commission meeting for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Hodge has been a member of High Springs Troop #69 for some five years. Scout Master Kathy Bloodsworth describes Hodge as “a real leader in the community and a good student.”

Hodge, who is a senior at Santa Fe High School, is considering going into the Navy after graduation. After that he is considering becoming a game warden or going into welding, but has ample time to consider his options.

Hodge’s Eagle Scout project, a rigorous requirement to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, began with cleaning up the outdoor classroom at Mebane Middle School. Due to COVID, the classroom had not been used in some time and was overgrown. The project evolved to include cleaning up the cemetery at Mebane Middle School as well.

Hodge and his team of helpers were able to increase the area of the outdoor classroom with some tractor work and also repaired the benches. “Younger Scouts water sealed the benches as they were repaired,” said Bloodsworth. The group of five Boy Scouts and eight adults cut up limbs, cut grass, fixed fences around the cemetery and chain sawed and removed a large branch that had fallen into the cemetery.

According to Bloodsworth, the Eagle Scout project involves obtaining funding for the project, if needed, obtaining and overseeing personnel to do the work and generally managing the project start to finish.

In all, the project took approximately 5.5 hours of on-site work to accomplish.

Eagle Scout is the highest rank a young person can reach in Scouting. In fact, only around five percent of all scouts who join ever reach the Eagle rank. Becoming an Eagle Scout is an exceptionally difficult challenge, even for scouts who can complete merit badges and rank requirements quickly.

“A lot of leadership skills and earning 21 merit badges are what is required in order to qualify to do an Eagle Scout project,” said Bloodsworth. “It is not easily accomplished,” she said.

When asked about the benefits of achieving the rank of Eagle Scout Bloodsworth said, “Eagle Scouts that join any branch of the military start at a higher rank than those who do not have the Eagle Scout designation. Higher rank means higher pay. If an Eagle Scout desires to pursue a career in the military, they'll begin as an E-3 instead of an E-1. In addition,” she said, “most college admissions officers recognize the Eagle Scout as an exceptional achievement. It can give the Scout an advantage over other applicants.”

Hodge and the other members of his troop were present to lead the pledge of allegiance at the opening of the City Commission meeting and Hodge received a round of applause for his accomplishment.

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ALACHUA ‒ After 10 years in the making, the City of Alachua’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is finally breaking ground o a major project that will significantly change the city’s downtown. The project aims to add 42 new parking spaces over a underground stormwater retention basin as well as underground utilities serving nearby businesses.

The project comes after numerous property owners in the project’s vicinity donated land, and the CRA purchased a shuttered daycare facility. The project is the largest by the CRA since the reconstruction of Northwest 142^nd Terrance and Northwest 150^th Terrace near City Hall and the tennis courts

Funding for the project came from a $150,000 grant by the United States Department of Agriculture – Rural Development as well as funds from the City of Alachua’s general fund and the CRA tax increment financing funds. An official groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 26 at 9:30 a.m. in downtown Alachua.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ In an effort to bolster economic development in High Springs, the City of High Springs is putting more funds into the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). High Springs Finance Director Diane Wilson reviewed the proposed Fiscal Year 2022-23 CRA budget with the CRA Board during the Sept. 19 meeting.

The FY 2021-22 budget was set at $326,692 and $400,740 is earmarked the proposed FY 2022-23 budget—a nearly 23 percent increase.

City Manager Ashley Stathatos reviewed several of the proposed projects in the coming year’s budget. The Grant Program, previously known as the Façade Grant, will increase to $100,000 from the prior year amount of $50,000. The increased funding will allow not only grants for facades, but also structural improvements as well.

The Marketing and Promotions line item was increased from $5,000 to $25,000 based on decisions made during the Strategic Planning project to promote the downtown area. The CRA will be receiving money from the General Fund to work on economic development projects for the City as a whole.

Funds allocated for administration will remain the same as last year, but will be a lower percentage of the increased budget.

Board member and City Commissioner Linda Jones moved and Board Member and City Commissioner Ross Ambrose seconded a motion to approve the FY 2022-23 CRA budget. The motion passed unanimously.

The Facilities Plan Proposal and CRA Expansion Study Plan are anticipated to be discussed at the next CRA meeting, which is proposed for 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 13.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ In a 3-2 vote, the High Springs City Commission opted to keep the City’s current attorney. At the Sept. 19 commission meeting, they continued the discussion begun at the previous meeting on hiring an additional attorney. In reviewing the 2016 contract, City Attorney Scott Walker noted that a three percent cost of living increase per year was part of the contract. He said that amount has not been charged to the City since it was approved in 2016. The way the contract is structured the City has paid $5,300 monthly and has not included the cost-of-living increase.

Commissioner Linda Jones questioned Walker, asking him if he was expecting the City to make up for that cost of living increase since 2016. Walker responded “no,” but said he thought it should be included from this point forward.

In response to a question about whether special attorney services would need to go through his firm, Walker said it would and explained that this has happened in the past when a bond issue or other specialized issue has arisen.

Commissioner Katherine Weitz pushed to issue a request for proposal (RFP) for a second attorney at the next Commissio meeting. Weitz said the City “was not getting the needed attorney, representation or backup” they should have.

Commissioner Linda Jones agreed with Weitz and brought up issues relating to murals and the mural ordinance. Mayor Byran Williams intervened by reminding Commissioners that the subject was not on the murals but instead it was on hiring a second attorney. Commissioner Ross Ambrose said he was not interested in having two attorneys guiding the City.

Weitz made a motion to include sending out an RFP for a replacement attorney on the next city commission meeting agenda. Jones seconded the motion. However, the motion died in a 2-3 vote with Commissioner Ross Ambrose, Vice Mayor Gloria James and Mayor Byran Williams voting against.

In other City business, following a brief presentation by High Springs Finance Director Diane Wilson, Commissioners unanimously adopted Resolution 2022-M establishing the final millage rate for FY 2022-23 at 5.99 mills. This rate is an 8.2 percent increase from the current rolled-back rate of 5.5251 mills. In a separate action, Commissioners also unanimously adopted the FY 2022-23 budget of $17,630,150.

In other matters, the Commission considered issuing $2.35 million in water and sewer revenue bonds to provide funding for capital improvement to the water and sewer system, which also included advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). Assistant City Manager Bruce Gillingham said the City is not currently able to account for 38 percent of the water being used. The use of “AMI will bring in at least 10 percent more on water and sewer,” he said.

Finance Director Wilson explained the City would be borrowing $2,350,000 at a 3.2 interest rate with $2,310,000 for direct project costs and $40,000 for the cost of issuance for Bond Counsel, Financial Advisor and Bank Counsel. Wilson said payments have already been included in the FY 2022-23 budget. The term would be for 15 years, but could be paid off earlier with a penalty. The closing date on the bond has been set for Sept. 29.

Commissioner Weitz disagreed with issuing bonds, contending that the City should use ARPA funds to offset the amount the City would have to borrow.

The measure, Resolution 2022-P, authorizing the issuance of the water and sewer revenue bonds was approved in a 4-1 vote with Weitz casting the dissenting vote.

The Commission approved unanimously to amend the Land Development Code to add impact fees for new construction for roads, parks and general services for police, fire and other City facilities at the maximum allowable amount. The new fees are in response to a 2021 study by Duncan and Associates to establish the need and determine the appropriate amount to assess impact fees to pay for the costs associated with new development.

According to the results of the study, the maximum impact fees that the City may assess on new development are for single-family detached dwelling units at $4,989, multi-family dwelling units at $3,130, retail/commercial units per 1,000 square feet at $4,502, office per 1,000 square feet at $3,242, industrial per 1,000 square feet at $1,448, warehouse per 1,000 square feet at $549 and public/institutional per 1,000 square feet at $1,498.

Funds from impact fees may only be used on costs associated with new development. They may not be used for maintenance, rehabilitation, repair or replacement of existing facilities, or the acquisition of vehicles or equipment with a useful life of less than five years, provided that the minimum useful life does not apply to public safety vehicles.

The Commission will consider Ordinance 2022-17 again on Nov. 29 due to state mandated notification requirements. City staff will be emailing the impact fee study in electronic format to residents, but should anyone desire a hard copy, Stathatos said City staff will provide one.

Gillingham provided an update on projects being funded with ARPA funds. These projects include roofs for City Hall and the fire station, law enforcement body cameras, elevator replacement, and lift station pumps. The second half of the funds are expected to arrive on Sept. 22. At the next City Commission meeting, Gillingham will provide an list with assigned priorities.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The Kiwanis Club of Sant Fe is lending a helping hand to the High Springs Police Department (HSPD). A special presentation was made to the High Springs Police Department (HSPD) at the Sept. 19 City Commission meeting.

Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe President Sue Weller addressed the Commission to explain that the purpose of their organization is to help children, especially very young children. She said they realize that whenever a situation arises where law enforcement has to be called in and children are involved, it is confusing, stressful and somewhat scary to the child.

To help officers calm children suffering a traumatic event, the club is donating 50 teddy bears for HSPD officers to keep in their cars to give out whenever children are involved in an upsetting situation.

HSPD Chief Antoine Sheppard said he was so appreciative of their thoughtfulness and thanked the Kiwanis Club for their partnership over the years.

Commissioners and audience members applauded the gesture.

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