Alachua Police Chief Stepping Down, Lions Club Recognized, April Election Set

ALACHUA ‒ The City of Alachua will be searching for a new top cop as Police Chief Chad Scott announced he would be leaving his post with the City. The news came at the Jan. 24 Alachua City Commission meeting. Scott has accepted a position with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ASO), where he previously worked, serving 16 years until 2007 when he joined the Alachua Police Department (APD) as a reserve police officer. After Scott’s announcement, the audience gave him a standing ovation in honor his service to the city.

In other City business, the Commission announced the schedule for the upcoming April municipal election. Two seats will be decided including Mayor and Commission Seat 2. Mayor Gib Coerper has stated his intent to run again for the Mayor's seat and Commissioner Robert Wilford has announced he will not seek reelection. The election will be held April 12, the second Tuesday in April. In the event no candidate receives a majority of more than 50 percent of the votes cast, a runoff election will be held Tuesday, May 3, 2022.

The election qualifying period is from noon, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022 to noon, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022. The polling places will be located at the Multipurpose Center at Legacy Park, the Clubhouse at Turkey Creek, and the Cleather H. Hathcock, Sr., Community Center.

The Alachua Lions Club was honored with a special presentation by the City Commission. The not-for-profit service organization has been serving the Alachua community for more than 80 years. The club is celebrating its upcoming anniversary, and to commemorate its achievements a proclamation was read by Mayor Coerper proclaiming Jan. 24, 2022 as Alachua Lions Club Day in the city of Alachua. Alachua Lions Club Vice President Jeremy Thomas accepted a copy of the proclamation.

In other business, the Commission considered an offsite tree mitigation request as part of a site plan for the Alachua Dreyer's building. The site plan application proposes the construction of a 16,000-square-foot building with associated site improvements on a heavily forested 3.95-acre property located on U.S. Highway 441and 133^rd Terrace. The mitigation request proposes to provide eight replacement trees onsite while the offsite mitigation is for 240 trees. Cost of the off-site mitigation is $38,400, which must be paid to the City prior to the issuance of a building permit for new construction associated with the site plan.

During property development, when trees are removed from a property, new trees must be installed to replace healthy regulated trees on a one-for-one basis. A regular tree is defined as 10 inches or more in diameter or two feet in circumference. Heritage and champion trees, which are defined with a diameter of at least 30 inches or seven feet, ten inches in circumference, must be replaced on an inch-for-inch basis. When required tree replacement cannot be accommodated through onsite mitigation, offsite mitigation trees may be planted in City-owned properties and parks, City rights-of-way, preservation or conservation areas owned by the City, and within medians and rights-of-way of state and county roads where an inter local agreement authorizes such planting.

In other business, the City’s Director of Finance and Administrative Services, Robert Bonetti, informed the Commission that the City had been awarded a $2,024 grant through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). The FY 2020 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) award will be used to purchase new gun holsters for APD.

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