After months of work by volunteers from area civic organizations, churches and businesses, the Alachua Police Department has re-opened the Merrillwood Annex as a home to after school programs.

APD has utilized the building in the Merrillwood Subdivision for approximately nine years. During this time, the building has served as an after school gathering place for the children of the Merrillwood community and the surrounding area.

Many sponsors donated time, hard work, and materials to make the renovations possible. The Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe, as well as Lowes of Alachua, Alachua County Housing Authority, Walmart Distribution Center, Early Learning Coalition of Alachua County, Alachua Self Storage and Bethesda Outreach Ministries of Alachua contributed.  The remodel includes new tile, kitchen cabinets and sinks, bathroom fixtures, shelving, storage space, new furniture, games/activities and a fresh coat of paint.

“We at the Alachua Police Department and the City of Alachua are excited about the fresh look of the annex and look forward to the many programs that will be offered here for the children in our community,” said APD spokesman Jesse Sandusky.

The use of the structure is being donated to the Police Department by the Alachua County Housing Authority and will primarily serve as a home to the after school program. The Alachua Police Explorers, who also helped with the renovations, will utilize the Annex for meetings and training.

The Alachua Police Department Merrillwood Annex is located at 15305 Merrillwood Drive. For information regarding the Annex and programs that will be offered, contact the Alachua Police Department Crime Prevention Unit at 386-462-1396.

#     #     #

Email editor@Alachuatoday.com

In his retirement, Don Loftus spends much of his time tending to his vineyard, in which he grow the Ison, Supreme and Delicious varieties of muscadine grapes.

ALACHUA – It’s that time of year again when the dark purple and golden grapes of Florida are ripe for the picking, just in time to bring a refreshing quencher to the dog days of summer.  For a few short weeks each year, Florida’s native muscadine grapes adorn vines in the wild and in area farms and vineyards.

At the Loftus Family Farm in Alachua, the grape picking season officially opened Saturday, Aug. 11.  Other area u-pick grape operations are also underway as the fruits ripen.

Weather, as unpredictable as it is, has a significant impact on the health of grape vines and on how long it takes their fruit to ripen.

Unlike last year’s scorching temperatures, which accelerated the ripening process, this year’s crop is right on schedule says Don Loftus, a local farmer and viticulturist.

“The Supreme grape seems to be coming on strong right now,” he said.

Perhaps mastering the technique of cultivating the grapes is knowing when they’re just right for picking.

“The biggest problem is picking the Supremes too early,” Loftus explained.  As much as those plump purple grapes call out to be picked, they’re probably not ready yet.  “You want to wait until they’re really dark,” he said.

Unlike other fruits, muscadine grapes do not ripen significantly once picked.

And as the weather goes, winters can be most damaging to the grape vines, but not this year.  Loftus said his plants survived the mild winter and are on track for a sizable yield this year.

“Our production is up and we expect to have a good solid production of somewhere around 7,000 pounds this year, but it’s hard to estimate” said Loftus.

With recent heavy rains, Loftus said he’s noticed that the grapes get even plumper than usual and to prevent breaking, there’s a technique for picking them – a technique he said he’s happy to demonstrate when customers visit his vineyard.

Loftus got into the business of growing muscadine grapes about seven years ago when he started planning for his retirement.  Since retiring from the University of Florida two summers ago, he has dedicated his time to the Loftus Family Farm, which includes the muscadine grape vineyard he has developed and grown from scratch.  Well into the throws of retirement, Loftus now realizes he left one full-time job for another, operating a vineyard and farm.

In 2004, Loftus first started converting the field that once grew persimmons, which were also negatively affected by North Florida’s winter weather patterns, into 1.5 acres of grapes.

The u-pick farm is one of a handful in the area and is open to the public.  The Loftus Family Farm specializes in the Ison and Supreme varieties of muscadine grapes, but is branching out into others as well.

Last year, Loftus began adding a new variety, the Delicious, a self-pollinating muscadine developed by the University of Florida.  He’s using the new variety to replace the Supremes lost to natural causes and winter damage in prior years.  It will take a few years before the Delicious will be on a scale ready for picking, but this year, they’re already producing fruit.  Loftus compares the fruit to the Supremes, joking, “As their names suggests, they really are quite delicious and they have the same crunch and taste to them.”

The ‘Delicious’ variety is also disease resistant and is among the top yielding muscadines.

Loftus said he plans to eventually expand the vineyard by another half-acre, probably including golden muscadine varieties.  Loftus has his hands full meticulously attending to the 14 rows of grape vines, each several hundred feet long and none of which are sprayed with potentially dangerous chemicals and pesticides.

Indigenous to the southeast region of North America, muscadine grapes ripen in late summer.   Right about now seems to be a good time to pick grapes at the Loftus Family Farm where avid pickers will be welcomed to their hands-on picking experience. Meanwhile, Loftus says thousands of pounds of the juicy dark purple and black grapes await eager pickers.

The vineyard has already become a popular spot among many people who are aware of the u-pick farm.  Loftus credits some of that success to the well-manicured rows of grapes and relaxing atmosphere at his family’s farm.  Loftus said many pickers like to eat the grapes as they are, some use them for producing wine and others for making jelly and sauces and freezing for later consumption. Florida’s $20 million-a-year grape industry is typically the second- or third-largest market for table grapes and wine in the country.

The Loftus Family Farm keeps it simple again this year, charging an even $1 per pound of grapes.

The address for the vineyard is 15585 NW 29 Street, Gainesville.  East of Alachua on NW 156^th Avenue, the farm is at the midway point between State Road 121 and County Road 231.

Generally open from mid-August to early October, pickers are welcome on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 until 6 p.m.  Appointments are also available Monday through Friday for anyone wishing to arrange a picking party.

Additional photos, health benefits, directions to the vineyard and uses for muscadine grapes and other information are available at LoftusFamilyFarm.com

#     #     #

E-mail editor@alachuatoday.com

Editor's note:  This story will be updated as new information is available from meetings on Sept. 6 and 7.  Please check back for the latest information.

[Sept. 6 3:59 p.m.]

Recently hired City Engineer John B. Morrison, Jr. turned in a letter of resignation, effective noon on Wednesday, Sept. 5, following a budget meeting on Tuesday in which his salary was completely eliminated from the proposed 2012/13 fiscal year budget.

Approximately $45,000 in salary and benefits were slashed by commissioners as part of their attempt to eliminate approximately $500,000 from their initial budget.

Morrison was hired by the City on April 23, 2012 to oversee the city’s engineering needs following the commission’s elimination of the city planner position.

As part of their action, commissioners set aside $10,000 for engineering contractual services, thereby eliminating a total of $35,000 from their bottom line.

Commissioners were back at again with a meeting at 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 6 and 7 to discuss further budget cuts.

Modesett said the funds will provide necessary wastewater and water infrastructure as well as storm water management and transportation improvements to serve Newberry Town Center, a proposed multi-use commercial development.  The town center will be located on the east side of SW SR 45, between SW 15^th Avenue and SW 30^th Avenue.

The new facility is planned to be 36,000 sq. ft. of retail space and will include four new business entities that will combine to create at least 35 new jobs, 51 percent of which will be made available to low- to moderate-income persons as stipulated in the grant.

According to the supporting agenda documents, Norfleet Construction Group, LLC (NCG) will be one business to take up residence in the town center.  NCG will construct residential and commercial buildings and offer property management services for the same in the city and throughout the north central Florida area.  NCG will utilize 1,200 sq. ft. in the commercial/mixed-use development and has committed to create a minimum of 10 full-time equivalent new jobs.

Norfleet Grain Company, LLC (NGC), a second company also committed to the creation of 10 full-time equivalent new jobs, intends to occupy approximately 1,000 sq. ft. of office space.  NGC will market and distribute SUKUP Manufacturing’s brand of commodity handling equipment throughout the north central Florida region and will produce and sell quality grain products.

Thurmond-Norfleet Realty, LLC (TNR) intends to occupy 1,000 sq. ft. of space.  TNR Partners Lou Thurmond and Edward “Tripp” Norfleet have extensive real estate and building experience in the area and have committed to create a minimum of six full-time equivalent new jobs to satisfy the CDBG application.

Green & Reese, LLC (G&R) intends to occupy 1,000 sq. ft. of office space and will market and sell their own agricultural products, both locally and nationwide, and offer agricultural services to farms throughout north central Florida.  Partners Don Green and Joey Langford committed to create 10 new jobs to help the city qualify for the grant.

All four companies must create the jobs within the first two years of operation to be in compliance with grant terms.

In the past, the City has been limited to $700,000 in grant funding for this program.  In an effort to stimulate job growth, the State of Florida has been allowing waivers to be requested for projects that create a greater number of jobs than the minimum required for a full grant request.  Based upon the projected job numbers, the City is submitting a grant ceiling waiver request to obtain a grant amount of up to $1,250,000.

All paperwork for this grant will be submitted on or before Oct. 1, 2012.

#     #     #

Email Cwalker@Alachuatoday.com