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ALACHUA – The City of Alachua will be awarded a grant from the Children’s Trust of Alachua County. On Dec. 9, 2019, the City Commission unanimously authorized City Manager Adam Boukari to develop and submit a grant application to the Children's Trust of Alachua County. The application included funding for educational programs in after-school activities, tutoring services, summer enrichment and education services, and summer high school credit courses in music and science/technology. The Children's Trust considered 56 applications and funded applications at a 70 percent, 50 percent and 30 percent levels based upon ranking of the applications. The City of Alachua's application received the highest funding level award of 70 percent for a total award of $135,002. The Alachua program will be conducted at Legacy Park Multipurpose Center.

In June 2018, the City of Alachua solicited formal proposals from qualified vendors to provide engineering inspection services to assist in the expansion of the city’s electric system. The winning bid went to Jacobs, an electrical engineering firm. Jacobs will provide construction engineering inspection (CEI) services for the expansion of City electrical infrastructure with the construction of the Legacy Substation.

The inspection services are to verify that construction is performed in compliance with plans and specifications. This includes the monitoring of daily project progress and applicable reporting to the City. Jacobs will also be responsible for an engineer’s certification of compliance certifying the work performed by the construction contractor, so payments may be processed throughout the construction of the project. This bid was approved in January 2020 and the inspection services will cost $180,000, which has already been allocated in the FY 2020 City budget out of the Electric Fund.

In 2018 the City also entered into a contract with Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) on a solar power project, which includes three 74.5 MW utility-scale solar facilities located in Osceola and Orange counties. Alachua is one of several cities involved with the project with participation at a 9 MW entitlement. However, the project has experienced delays due to site conditions, which prevents the solar from going online in mid-2020 as expected.

FMPA has proposed an amendment to its purchase agreement with Poinsett Solar, LLC to extend the time frame for providing solar power. The amendment provides for additional time for development of the solar facility in consideration of reduced pricing, and provides for a 20-year term with no extensions. This project allows the City to invest in clean, renewable energy, decreasing environmental impacts, while at the same time providing a savings to the City's electric utility customers. It also allows the City to add solar energy as a new component in its electrical services which provides additional security to rate payers in the event natural gas or other traditional energy markets spike. The Commission approved the amendment to lengthen the time frame for gaining solar power from the project. Overall, the cost to the City on the total contract will be $2 million which will come from the city's Electric Fund budget.

The Commission also approved an application for funding assistance to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) - Office of Criminal Justice Grants. The JAG Program provides agencies the flexibility to prioritize and support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime based on their own local needs and conditions. This includes law enforcement programs; prosecutions and court programs; prevention and education programs; community corrections programs; drug treatment and enforcement programs; technology improvement programs; crime victim and witness programs; and mental health programs. The Alachua Police Department (ADP) submitted a request for the purchase of equipment of gun safes and tablets/laptops in the amount of $20,157. The funding request was approved, and the distribution of funds was agreed upon and approved unanimously.

In other business, the Commission had also considered an ordinance request at the previous meeting to amend the Official Zoning Atlas from Planned Unit Development (PUD) Alachua County designation to Industrial General (IG) City of Alachua designation on a 34.63 acre property at McGinley Industrial Park is located north of County Road 25A (Northwest 120th Lane) and the CSX railroad and to the south of Northwest 128th Lane. Several property owners within McGinley Industrial Park had jointly submitted an application to rezone the properties to place a zoning designation on the property that is consistent with the underlying Future Land Use Map (FLUM) designation. The Commission approved the ordinance on the first reading and approved the second and final reading at this meeting on Feb. 24.

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Email rcarson@

alachuatoday.com

Cont:      Alachua law enforcement receives funding

After school and summer credit programs offered

By RAY CARSON

Today Reporter

ALACHUA – The City of Alachua will be awarded a grant from the Children’s Trust of Alachua County. On Dec. 9, 2019, the City Commission unanimously authorized City Manager Adam Boukari to develop and submit a grant application to the Children's Trust of Alachua County. The application included funding for educational programs in after-school activities, tutoring services, summer enrichment and education services, and summer high school credit courses in music and science/technology. The Children's Trust considered 56 applications and funded applications at a 70 percent, 50 percent and 30 percent levels based upon ranking of the applications. The City of Alachua's application received the highest funding level award of 70 percent for a total award of $135,002. The Alachua program will be conducted at Legacy Park Multipurpose Center.

In June 2018, the City of Alachua solicited formal proposals from qualified vendors to provide engineering inspection services to assist in the expansion of the city’s electric system. The winning bid went to Jacobs, an electrical engineering firm. Jacobs will provide construction engineering inspection (CEI) services for the expansion of City electrical infrastructure with the construction of the Legacy Substation.

The inspection services are to verify that construction is performed in compliance with plans and specifications. This includes the monitoring of daily project progress and applicable reporting to the City. Jacobs will also be responsible for an engineer’s certification of compliance certifying the work performed by the construction contractor, so payments may be processed throughout the construction of the project. This bid was approved in January 2020 and the inspection services will cost $180,000, which has already been allocated in the FY 2020 City budget out of the Electric Fund.

In 2018 the City also entered into a contract with Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) on a solar power project, which includes three 74.5 MW utility-scale solar facilities located in Osceola and Orange counties. Alachua is one of several cities involved with the project with participation at a 9 MW entitlement. However, the project has experienced delays due to site conditions, which prevents the solar from going online in mid-2020 as expected.

FMPA has proposed an amendment to its purchase agreement with Poinsett Solar, LLC to extend the time frame for providing solar power. The amendment provides for additional time for development of the solar facility in consideration of reduced pricing, and provides for a 20-year term with no extensions. This project allows the City to invest in clean, renewable energy, decreasing environmental impacts, while at the same time providing a savings to the City's electric utility customers. It also allows the City to add solar energy as a new component in its electrical services which provides additional security to rate payers in the event natural gas or other traditional energy markets spike. The Commission approved the amendment to lengthen the time frame for gaining solar power from the project. Overall, the cost to the City on the total contract will be $2 million which will come from the city's Electric Fund budget.

The Commission also approved an application for funding assistance to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) - Office of Criminal Justice Grants. The JAG Program provides agencies the flexibility to prioritize and support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime based on their own local needs and conditions. This includes law enforcement programs; prosecutions and court programs; prevention and education programs; community corrections programs; drug treatment and enforcement programs; technology improvement programs; crime victim and witness programs; and mental health programs. The Alachua Police Department (ADP) submitted a request for the purchase of equipment of gun safes and tablets/laptops in the amount of $20,157. The funding request was approved, and the distribution of funds was agreed upon and approved unanimously.

In other business, the Commission had also considered an ordinance request at the previous meeting to amend the Official Zoning Atlas from Planned Unit Development (PUD) Alachua County designation to Industrial General (IG) City of Alachua designation on a 34.63 acre property at McGinley Industrial Park is located north of County Road 25A (Northwest 120th Lane) and the CSX railroad and to the south of Northwest 128th Lane. Several property owners within McGinley Industrial Park had jointly submitted an application to rezone the properties to place a zoning designation on the property that is consistent with the underlying Future Land Use Map (FLUM) designation. The Commission approved the ordinance on the first reading and approved the second and final reading at this meeting on Feb. 24.

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Email rcarson@

alachuatoday.com