Newberry’s smokin’ fall festival

Fun, food, a farmers market and pony rides were on tap Saturday at Newberry’s Fourth Annual Fall Market Festival in downtown Newberry.  The event featured more than 50 vendors from all over the state.  The highlight of the day was the Newberry Main Street Festival barbecue cook-off.  After hours of preparation, the Hodges family won the “People’s Choice” award, Newberry Commissioner Bill Conrad won “Best Overall,” and Bacon’s BBQ and Catering won the award for “Best Sauce.”

The City of High Springs has released police reports detailing the events and accusations that prompted firefighters Kyle Lewis and Michael Steele to resign last week.

The reports tell of vulgar, harassing behavior that allegedly took place behind closed doors at the fire department.

While Lewis, 26, and Steele, 28, said it’s a game fashioned after a scene in a movie they all play, according to others it’s gone too far.

On Oct. 1, the High Springs Police Department (HSPD) responded to a call from Fire Chief Verne Riggall.  A ‘suspicious incident’ report based on the complaint of a third firefighter was filed.  The firefighter, who said he had fallen asleep on the fire station couch, woke up and logged on to his personal laptop to find a new photo on the desktop.

It was a picture of a man’s genitalia being exposed next to his head as he lay asleep on the couch.

At this time, Alachua County Today is withholding the name of the firefighter who filed the complaint leading to the investigation.

Like the two he accused, he has not returned to work since crying foul, Riggall said.

According to city policy and the Florida Firefighters Bill of Rights, he is on administrative leave with pay pending the results of the ongoing administrative investigation by the High Springs Police Department.

When he reported the incident, he named Steele and Lewis as the culprits, and Riggall subsequently placed them both on immediate suspension pending the investigation.

According to HSPD, Steele admitted to being the exhibitionist in the photo, and Lewis said he was the one who took it, but they insisted Steele never actually touched the other man’s head or neck.

After the initial complaint, another firefighter came forward saying he’d been the victim of a similar incident involving Steele and Lewis.

Both of them told police they did not remember what the second accuser was talking about.

On Oct. 4 after lodging the complaint, the firefighter said the alleged incident happened several months ago, and he signed a form indicating “intent not to prosecute.”

Lewis and Steele resigned Oct. 19.

Lewis was a full-time firefighter, and he had worked for the City of High Springs for about three years, Riggall said.

Steele started as a volunteer at the department, and became a part-time employee about three years ago. He is still a full-time employee with Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR).

According to the City of Gainesville human resources office, he was hired there in February 2007.

Despite growing media coverage about the situation, when GFR Deputy Chief Tim Hayes was contacted for comment on the issue, he said he hadn’t heard anything about it.

He said had he known about it sooner, he would already be investigating whether Steele should face any consequences as a City of Gainesville employee.

But Hayes did say it was surprising to hear this about Steele, who he said is nothing like that when he’s on duty at GFR.

“He’s a pretty quiet guy.”

Though the police reports are public record, the full details from the administrative investigation won’t be released until the matter is closed.

Riggall said he anticipates a 30-day window until the investigation should be concluded, but that could change.

A contract with Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) dating back to 1988 will likely be extended yet again after Alachua commissioners voted 5-0 Monday night to continue buying its wholesale power from the nearby electric provider.

If approved by the City of Gainesville commission, the most recent changes would mark the third amendment to the long-standing agreement which has apparently returned favorable utility rates for the City of Alachua over the last two years.

The updated agreement extends the contract for 10 years with a five-year opener, which gives either party the option of going back out to market to seek bids.

Public Services Director Mike New said the amendments include fixed costs that will increase 2.5 percent annually after the first year of the new agreement.  But those fixed costs only account for about 20 percent of the total cost of wholesale power.

The largest determining factor in the cost of power is the fuel cost, half of which will be calculated on GRU’s retail fuel charge and the remaining half on the average price of natural gas for the last three days of each month as published by NYMEX then multiplied by GRU’s heat rate for natural gas combustion.  In prior arrangements, the natural gas price component was based on the price of natural gas only on the last day of the month, leading to a higher rate of volatility. 

Both New and consultant William Herrington of WHH Enterprises said the City of Alachua has substantial exposure to the natural gas sector which could lead to volatility and considerable and uncontrollable increases if those rates go up. 

That’s a scenario Herrington seems to think is a foregone conclusion since natural gas has been on an 18-month decline.  He suggested the City consider locking in at least some of its projected natural gas usage over the next few years to avoid a massive increase should supplies tighten.

The City of Alachua has some of the lowest power costs when compared to other cities in Florida.  Over the last year or so, Alachua’s power cost has averaged out to $73.38 per megawatt hour.  Other utilities had costs between $82.37 and $104.78 per megawatt hour. 

Herrington said Alachua’s new agreement won’t bring the lowest rates in the state, but they should remain among the lowest and are competitive, especially considering Alachua’s small size compared to other utilities.  He estimates that Alachua will have an average rate of $71.04 or less per megawatt hour in the next fiscal year under the amendments.

The contract is awaiting approval from the Gainesville City Commission, which is expected to review the matter at a Nov. 18 meeting.  If approved, the agreement would go into effect Jan. 1, 2011.

Voters in the City of High Springs will have their plates full with decisions to make on Tuesday.

Between the city commission candidates, the city charter amendments and the numerous state and county candidates and issues, the ballot High Springs citizens will see on Nov. 2 has more than 30 items to vote on, four of which are strictly local.

Only city residents can vote on these items, which include the two commission seats up for election and two proposed amendments to the city charter.

Mayor Bill Coughlin, who is running for reelection, currently occupies one of the opening seats, and Commissioner John Hill, who was appointed to replace Diane Shupe when she resigned mid-term, occupies the other.

Hill is not running in this election.

Coughlin’s four opponents in the race for city office are Bob Barnas, Linda Clark Gestrin, Sue Weller and Byran Williams.

The candidates with the highest and second highest number of votes will take seat on the commission Nov. 18.

Recently, they shared their views with each other and a public audience during an hour-long question-and-answer forum at the High Springs New Century Womens Club.

The two charter amendments that will be on the ballot next week were both submitted, with unanimous approval from the current commission, as issues that should be left to the voters to decide.

The first is titled “Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption,” and if passed, it would grant the city commission authority to offer tax exemptions to new or expanding businesses for as long as they operate in High Springs.

If the amendment is voted into law, it will expire after 10 years, at which point the city commission could put it out to voters again to reinstate it.

“Proposed Amendment to the City of High Springs Charter-Number 1” is the not-so-informative title of the second amendment item, which consists of revising the process for filling vacancies on the city commission.

The proposal originated with a suggestion from Vice Mayor Eric May, who said voters should have the final say on how elected positions are filled.

If approved, it would require that if a commissioner were to step down or die, and there were more than six months remaining before the next regular election, a mandatory special election must be held to fill the vacant seat for the remainder of its term.

If there were fewer than six months remaining, the remaining commissioners could choose to appoint someone to fill the position until the next regular election, or the commission may choose to appoint someone to the position until the special election.

Currently, the city charter calls for the remaining commissioners to appoint a replacement until the next regular election and does not require a special election.

This was the process by which John Hill was appointed, which resulted from the commission’s initial failure to agree on a replacement for Shupe.

The rules set forth by this amendment would alleviate the commission’s responsibility to decide and potentially avoid similar problems in the future.