Local

NEWBERRY ‒ The Newberry City Commission unanimously approved Resolution 2020-40 during the Sept. 14 Commission meeting to adjust the City’s Compensation Plan for the 2020-21 fiscal year. This item was presented to Commissioners by Director of Finance and Administration Dallas Lee.

As part of his presentation Lee reminded Commissioners that the City adjusted the pay classification and compensation schedules last year to correspond with the market at that time.

“The Commission adopted a resolution establishing the pay ranges for each job classification. To keep our pay scales in range with the market, staff proposes to increase the pay ranges by one percent,” said Lee.

He pointed out that the proposed adjustment is less than the 3.22 percent rate established by the state as the percentage increase in Florida’s household income for the current year. He also commented that the one percent adjustment does not relate to anyone at the City receiving a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) per Commission direction. But, he said, “It may affect the starting pay of a future employee, or the top out pay of an employee when merit raises are assessed.” Existing employees will be evaluated for merit increases this year based upon performance.

“During this year, staff identified several areas in our pay grid that were below market and are proposed for changes,” Lee said. “Several positions were identified as under market when compared to our peer cities. Staff identified the most significant under market [positions] and adjusted them to market rates.”

Commissioners approved the resolution without comment.

All changes will become effective Nov. 1, 2020.

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NEWBERRY ‒ The City of Newberry will no longer be performing cemetery internment services. A legislative hearing relating to updates to the cost of cemetery lots was conducted on Sept. 14 and received approval on second and final reading. Ordinance 2020-15 updates the City’s policy to remove the cost of lots and cemetery operational services and move those costs to the Fees and Fine resolution approved as part of the annual budget process.

In addition, the cost of internment, the actual excavation of the gravesite for installation of the vault and the covering of the vault after the funeral, which has been charged by the City, will now be deleted from the costs as internment is performed by the presiding funeral home.

Director of Utilities and Public Works Jamie Jones said the regulations for the daily operation of the cemetery are in the form of an ordinance and can only be modified by amending the ordinance. By moving this item to the Fees and Fine resolution, changes can be made in the future by updating that document as part of the annual budget process.

“Currently, the actual internment is performed by the City Public Works Department. The Cemetery Ordinance identifies a cost for this service at a minimum of $400 to be collected by the City of Newberry, which is in addition to any and all charges by the presiding funeral home,” said Jones.

After researching seven municipally-owned cemeteries in the general area, Jones found that in every case the actual opening and closing of the gravesite was performed by the funeral home providing the funeral service. In addition, Jones found that the cost of internment is part of the funeral services package for most funeral homes, regardless if the funeral home opens or closes the grave site.

The City has developed a Policy and Procedure Manual for the operation of the City Cemetery. As part of this action, the Commission adopted the manual and authorizes the City Manager to maintain and amend the policies and procedures as necessary to meet the needs of the City and its citizens, as well as to ensure compliance with federal and state laws.

This item was unanimously approved on second reading.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The High Springs City Commission has approved amending the agreement with Alachua County for fire suppression and fire response EMS/rescue services. This is the first amendment to an agreement that began Oct. 1, 2019.

Payment for service will be based quarterly and based on the previous quarter responses. The City Fire Chief and Alachua County Fire Rescue (ACFR) Chief will meet between Jan. 1 and March 1 to establish the compensation rate and CPI for the following calendar year, allowing both to budget for the following fiscal year.

Payment to the City will be made in four payments made on a quarterly basis in accordance with the provisions of Florida Statutes.

The City shall reciprocate payment per response, at the same rate that the County pays, to the County when County fire apparatus (excluding rescue and command) are dispatched as the "Primary responder" within the municipal boundaries of the City. "Primary responder" is defined as the only unit dispatched to an incident or when dispatched as the closest unit due to the unavailability of appropriate apparatus from the City Fire Department.

The County agrees not to invoice the City for response in the City if the City is simultaneously responding to a call in the County. Payment to the County will be made on a quarterly basis in accordance with the provisions of Florida Statutes.

High Springs Fire Chief Bruce Gillingham said working on a quarterly basis with the County allows both to have real time numbers to work with.

As no Commissioner or citizen comments were forthcoming, Commissioners easily approved the amendment to the agreement.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ In the theme of “bad news-good news,” Sharon Tugman, owner of Wisteria Cottage, recently closed her doors—that is the bad news.

On the good news side of the equation, Tugman donated all of the fine furnishings and remaining merchandise to the GFWC High Springs New Century Woman’s Club to help them earn enough money to make renovations to the clubhouse, which is located at 23674 West U.S. Highway 27.

On Aug. 22, the items went up for sale at the clubhouse and generated enough money to help them install a vinyl plank floor in part of the building to replace a worn and weary carpet. Some of the club members also chipped in to make that project possible.

Another project the club members took on is the installation of a concrete walkway at the front of the building.

“We are all so sorry to see Wisteria Cottage close as we know visitors and residents enjoyed the store for many years,” said one club member, “but the funds were put to good use.”

As it turns out not everything was sold during that sale. It is likely that the rest of the items will be listed for sale at the City-Wide Yard Sale, if it happens this year. If that doesn’t happen, the items will be up for sale whenever the club members can set up another sale.

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HIGH SPRINGS – High Springs City Commissioners easily approved an interlocal agreement between High Springs and Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) for enhanced police services within the CRA district. The agreement is specifically for CRA-sponsored events and begins Oct. 1, 2020 and ends Sept. 30, 2021. Renewal of the agreement is for successive one-year terms upon written consent of both parties.

The agreement stipulates that the CRA will pay the City monthly for services at a rate of $37 per hour. In exchange the City agrees to assign police officers to cover the CRA area for specified times, excluding Pioneer Days and the tree lighting event, both of which are Chamber of Commerce events.

In the agreement it is anticipated that 208 hours of additional services within the CRA District will be required, which includes 130 hours of additional holiday patrol for a total anticipated payment of $7,713. At least 27 of those hours are reserved for Folk in the Springs, which is currently scheduled for September 2021.

The agreement stipulates how payments will be made to the City and the City will provide semi-annual and annual law enforcement activity reports in the District.

This item had been previously discussed in the CRA meeting, and approval of the agreement was unanimous.

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NEWBERRY ‒ There is a new restaurant in an old location in Newberry. In the historic downtown area, at 25405 W. Newberry Road, there stands a two-story brick building built in 1906. Originally the downstairs portion was a general store and upstairs was The Commercial Hotel.

At the time Newberry was a phosphate mining town and railroad junction that was established in the 1880s. As the town grew with over 16 mining operations in the area, more commercial brick buildings were built, including the hotel. Over the years it has had many incarnations and was home of the well-known Backyard BBQ restaurant for a number of years. Two years ago, the restaurant closed and the building sat vacant.

New owner Jamie Griffin has been in the restaurant business for 35 years, and he currently owns the Lighthouse in Fanning Springs and Bett's Big T in Chiefland.

Griffin spent two years renovating the building back to its original appearance. Now, from the brickwork to flooring, the restaurant reflects the way the building looked more than a century ago. Griffin is honoring the building’s rich history by naming the new eatery The 1906 Farmhouse Restaurant.

After the restoration, the restaurant opened its doors to the public on Sept. 17, 2020. The 1906 Farmhouse Restaurant will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The breakfast menu offers traditional breakfast platters, pancakes and waffles and omelets. The lunch menu features sandwiches, salads and burgers while the dinner menu offers chicken, steak and fried seafood platters along with sandwiches, salads and burgers.

Griffin says they will have blue plate specials that will rotate daily. On Fridays and Saturdays from 5 to 10 p.m., they will feature an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet that features crab legs for $26 per person. The restaurant also has a smaller kids menu as well as beer and wine for the adults.

Griffin lives in Fanning Springs where he has The Lighthouse restaurant, but now spends most of his time with the new restaurant.

“I am lucky with good managers at my other locations, which allows me to get this new restaurant off the ground. I felt that it would fit Newberry's character with its traditional country style fare. It’s a little country, a little steak, a little seafood,” said Griffin. “People in Newberry don’t have to go all the way out to Gainesville for food, but at the same time, people in Gainesville can take a trip out if they want to get away to the country.”

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