High Springs Commission Honors Two Top Achievers

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The High Springs City Commission recognized two individuals at the May 27 City Commission meeting. Mayor Gloria James congratulated Commissioner Ross Ambrose, who was honored with a 2021 Home Rule Hero Award by the Florida League of Cities. James said Ambrose worked tirelessly to promote local voices making local choices to protect the Home Rule powers of Florida's municipalities.

James also recognized High Springs Police Chief Antoine Sheppard who recently received a Masters of Criminal Justice Degree from St. Leo University. The City held a reception in his honor on Monday to celebrate the achievement, which Sheppard said took a lot of late nights of studying to complete.

High Springs is about half way through their strategic planning effort according to Tom Kohler of GAI Consultants, the firm working with the City on a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Plan update. Kohler anticipates presenting the plan to the Commission by the end of July or the beginning of August and then to the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners in September.

In other business, a City ordinance is under consideration that has some residents concerned. Although the ordinance was continued to the July 22 meeting, a resident of Bailey Estates subdivision said she had “77 petitions” from residents asking that the City deny the measure. The ordinance seeks to amend the City’s zoning map by changing the zoning district from Residential-1A (R-1A) to Residential-3 (R-3) on 89.69 +/- acres east of Bailey Estates. The applicant is J.H. Londono, agent for SAFECA, Ltd.

The Bailey Estate resident claimed there were problems with the development but she was not specific about the types of problems experienced in the subdivision. City Manager Ashley Stathatos responded later to a question by Commissioner Linda Jones referencing Homeowner’s Association funds and residents of the subdivision. Stathatos said she would attempt to get the parties together with the developer to see if they could work out an amicable solution.

A preliminary plat was unanimously approved for Crockett Springs following a comment by Stathatos that the plat met all City requirements and was approved by the Planning and Zoning Committee.

A fee waiver request was made by Nancy Levin for a lot split at 18743 N.W. 243^rd Street. Levin said her $500 fee waiver request was based on the property owner’s financial hardship. Currently, there is no language in City codes for a fee waiver in this situation and Commissioners expressed concern that waiving it for one person would mean others would expect the same.

Commissioner Scott Jamison suggested an alternative solution to the issue. Since the lot split was required so that the property owner could sell part of the property, he suggested that the owner defer fee payment until such time as the property she is splitting is sold. This action was approved by the Commission.

Recreation Director Damon Messina announced that a job fair has been scheduled for June 22 at the High Springs Civic Center. The hours are 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Messina also reported that the recreation department is teaming up with Good News Arts for an art focused summer recreation program. “This is a summer arts camp for youth (K to 12),” he said. Children will work directly with artists as they create different types of art projects each week.

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