A glimpse at a day in the life of a blind person

Photo 1: Saturday’s White Cane Walk in Alachua marked the 12^th year that both sighted and vision impaired individuals joined together for a two-block walk alongside U.S. Highway 441 to create public awareness of the White Cane Law. Photo 2: A blindfolded Peyton Cain required several attempts to successfully use a key to unlock a door.  Facing Cain is 78-year-old Jack Varnon, who founded the first White Cane Walk in Alachua.

Bandit, living up to his name, led Varnon onto County Road 232.  As he was walking along the busy road, a car traveling at 55 miles per hour hit him.

He remembers the chrome strip on the car slicing his thigh as the fender folded up. The nurse at North Florida Regional Medical Center had to use an iodine sponge to wipe away the flakes of paint imbedded in the open wound.

Varnon had no broken bones. He said he had some knee problems and a laceration on the upper part of his thumb.

“I’m sure God protected me,” Varnon said.

Bandit walked away unharmed.

This event turned out to be life changing, and sparked an annual White Cane Walk. The 12^th Annual White Cane Walk sponsored by the Alachua County Council for the Blind took place Saturday in Alachua.

The walk started at the site of the former Alachua City Hall and ended near the Alachua Lions Club at the local Boy Scout Troop 88 hut. Some of the people walking were blind from birth. Others were not blind, but volunteered to hold signs or guide others. Some sighted people were blindfolded to experience what it is like to be blind.

The event was meant to raise awareness of the Florida White Cane Law, which mandates that all drivers must yield if there is a pedestrian crossing the street with a cane or guide dog.

When Varnon’s case went to court, he said the presiding judge had to research the Florida White Cane Law. Varnon said he was surprised the judge was uneducated about the law.

It was several years later that Varnon teamed up with Alachua resident Adam Boukari, who was 15 at the time, to organize the City of Alachua’s first White Cane Walk to raise awareness of the law.

Boukari was a Boy Scout in Troop 88 at the time, and took on the project to earn his Eagle Scout badge. At that time, and over the years, local Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts have actively participated in the walks.

Now, Boukari is 26, and though he missed earning his Eagle Scout badge by three merit badges, he still organizes the annual event. As assistant to Alachua’s city manager, he recognizes the importance of the Florida White Cane Law.

He said the goals of the annual walk are to raise awareness and share the information with people in the community.

Two people who participated in the walk Saturday were Michael Ferguson, 42, and Haylee Barclay, 16. Ferguson, a Gainesville resident, is blind. Haylee, a member of the Alachua Police Explorers program led him along Highway 441.

Ferguson couldn’t see the cars whizzing by on his right, but he could feel the autumn air bouncing back from the cars. He used a white cane to investigate the ground in front of him, as Haylee described the surface of the pavement and the upward curve of the hill.

Haylee had participated in the White Cane Walk in the past, but she had never led someone before Saturday. Together, she and Ferguson walked along side the road. Several members of the group held yellow signs that read, “We STOP for White Canes and Guide Dogs, Do You?”

“You sure you haven’t done this before?” Ferguson asked her.

Haylee said she was nervous to lead someone on the walk, but she learned some valuable lessons. She doesn’t have her driver’s license yet, but she said when she does, she will remember what she learned on the walk.

“I’m going to be extra cautious now,” she said. “I learned to be careful on the roads and watch out for everyone.”

Once the walk ended, hotdogs and soft drinks were served to those who participated. Several stations were set up for people to experience how someone who was blind might perform tasks such as unlocking a door or counting change. This year, there was a station that featured alarm clocks and watches altered to meet the needs for blind people.

Whether through walking blindfolded alongside a busy highway or through trying to accomplish everyday tasks, the annual event reminds and educates motorists about the importance of the Florida White Cane Law.

The Alachua County Council for the Blind has member meetings on the second Monday of the month at Kazbor’s Grille at 4860 NW 39^th Avenue, Gaineville, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

City of Alachua buying back electricity

Monday night, the city commission passed at the first public hearing, an ordinance that provides the terms and the process for individuals or businesses if they wish to produce and sell energy back to the City.  The ordinance, which includes written policy, application fees and insurance requirements, provides for interconnection and net metering of customer-owner regeneration systems to the City’s electric system.

If customers produce more power than needed for their residence or business, the surplus energy feeds back into the electric grid to provide electricity for other users.  The customer providing the surplus energy receives credits valued at retail rates for use in future months. Should any energy credits remain at the end of the fiscal year, the customer receives cash back from the City at wholesale avoided cost rate, which is the average cost the city pays for energy.

The ordinance also sets a cap of 2.5 percent of customers that can connect to the City's electric system with their own power. Barry Moline, Executive Director of Florida Municipal Electric Association, explained the cap is necessary to prevent too many energy producers from over producing electricity, and gaining credits rather than paying for electricity.  The customers generating power, but not paying, are essentially using the city’s distribution system infrastructure, such as lines and poles, at no charge.

But because the cap is on the percent of customers, and not a set number, as the number of customers increase, the more systems can be accepted into the program.

A cap is also set on the size of solar panels to prevent producers from planning to sell high volumes of excess energy, becoming “like a generator” for the City, Moline said.

State law has required for several years that all municipally owned electric service providers have an interconnection agreement and a net metering program for customer owned renewable generation, which allows them to sell renewable electricity back to the utility.  In many cases, municipalities only implement the agreement when there is a demand for it.

Monday night, Jeffrey Tate, President and CEO of NanoSonic Products, said, “I guess I am the demand.”  Tate’s company has recently had solar panels installed on the roof of his company, located across the street from the Progress Corporate Park in Alachua.  Tate said the 34 kilowatt photovoltaic system had just received final inspection.

“Our system will give our company an unfair competitive advantage globally for the next 30 years, and that means I’ll be able to continue to employ people here in the city of Alachua and be in business,” Tate added.

The ordinance will come before the commission again for approval at the required second public hearing.

During a city commission meeting Monday evening, some commissioners expressed frustration with lack of information made available to them. Commissioner Lois Forte said Canterbury is still a big issue, and she wasn’t as informed as she wanted to be once acquisitions talks began.

“We, as a body here, should be informed about everything that’s going on,” Forte said.

Mayor Bill Conrad said he is still trying to figure out what the community wants for Canterbury, even after hearing plenty of opinions from the town hall meeting held in September.

“I’m still getting lots of inputs, lots of email,” Conrad said. “I don’t know if I’m ready to sit down and say, ‘this is where we are at.’”

He added the City is still in “an information-gathering mode.”

Commissioner Alena Lawson said the commission should move forward together, and that discussion should be included in a regular city commission meeting, even if purchase details are not specific. She said that people stop her on the streets asking about what the City is going to do next.

“I clearly heard what the citizens said at the town hall meeting,” she said. “We clearly heard the agricultural tone.”

Commissioner Jordan Marlowe also agreed to the acquisition discussion, so that once the project starts making its way through county boards, the commission will “speak in one voice.”

Discussion about the equestrian center will be included on the commission agenda scheduled for Monday, Oct. 24.

Another issue addressed Monday was a resolution increaing rental fees for Newberry’s Municipal Building.

Commissioners drafted a new fee schedule with the assistance of Sondra Randon, assistant to Newberry City Attorney S. Scott Walker.

The proposed rate change includes a $200 rental fee for social events and for use by private organizations, while rental for weddings will increase from $300 to $350, a reasonable price and still cheap when compare to other venues said city commissioners. City-sponsored events and usage by non-profit organizations will be allowed to continue rent free.

Some city activities that will not require a rental fee include community action meetings, use by the Watermelon Festival committee and Bingo nights.

Non-profit organizations must be a valid 501c3, as determined by the Internal Revenue Code, to have the charge waived.

Walker cautioned there could be physical damage and overuse of the facilities, at which time he said the City could amend the resolution to include a usage limit.

The resolution adjusting the fee schedule is set for final review by the commission at the Oct. 24 meeting.

Mayor Larry Travis explained that the City needs to work on removing barriers for businesses, like the recently repealed ordinance that prevented restaurants from serving alcohol near churches and schools.

“We still don’t have enough of that,” he said. “We need to get people walking around downtown.”

Christian Popoli, city planner, agreed. He called for the City to generate activity, perhaps asking the High Springs Chamber of Commerce to help with the venture.

The commission evaluated a list of financial goals set last year. Similar issues were brought up at the High Springs City Commission candidate forum sponsored by the Gainesville Tea Party on Oct. 3.

The commission discussed Thursday the possibility of bringing back events like Downtown Days or Fantastic Fridays, events that encouraged visitors to shop downtown and enjoy entertainment by local performers. Travis suggested bringing those back and asking the chamber of commerce to create a community calendar with all of the events going on in Alachua, Newberry and High Springs.

He said a partnership amongst the three towns is crucial and close to happening. This will make sure the towns are not planning conflicting events, keeping them from experiencing smaller crowds. He said this would also allow High Springs to attract more vendors for annual events like Pioneer Days, which have been overshadowed by other cities’ happenings in the past few years.

“Vendors are going to go where they have the chance of making the most money,” he said.

Travis also said the city is in talks with Poe Springs to build upon the spring’s financial opportunities.

“I want to make it a recreational thing,” he said.

The commission discussed creating a branded image for the community to help spur economic development. The City’s slogan, “Enjoy our good nature,” has been underused, Commissioner Sue Weller said.

“How do we enhance that?” she said. “What does it mean? It could mean to enjoy the nature of the area, the springs and stuff. But it could also mean to enjoy the kindness of our people.”

Popoli explained that a brochure was once started to help clarify this image, but it was never fleshed out. He said something like that could be placed in chambers of commerce across Florida and sent to tourism bureaus.

He also emphasized that the City must reach out to businesses by letting them know the steps High Springs is taking to make moving to the city easier. He cited the City’s tax abatement policy, which offers businesses a break on their taxes when they open. There are not many places that have a policy like this, he said.

“This is unique to High Springs,” he said. “It’s a really great tool.”

Travis agreed that reaching out to businesses and creating an image is a problem the City has faced before.

“We’ve never come up with a dedicated funding source,” he said. “You’ve got to spend money to make money.”

He also said that the City has not made enough use of its web site. He said the web site was supposed to be a way for High Springs to reach the world, but “I don’t think we’ve done that.”

Travis suggested that the City make use of University of Florida marketing students to help.

“I know I’ve talked to Dr. Machen about that,” he said. “It gives them practical experience that they don’t get anywhere else.”

Weller said the key to the city’s success is being more proactive in its measures.

“It takes pushing, and asking why, and finding out what’s going on,” she said.

The commission also discussed the possibility of inventorying available buildings and making a “gripes list” of problems business owners have had with City zoning policies.

Popoli said the bottom line is that the commission needs to get the word out about what makes the town unique.

“What we have here is that we’re High Springs,” he said. “It’s pretty here; it’s nice here. We need to make sure it’s out there.”