Newberry Gives Final Approval For 124-Acre Limestone Quarry

NEWBERRY ‒ The Newberry City Commission gave final approval at their Nov. 28 meeting for 124 acres to be used as a limestone quarry.  The Commission approved a large-scale amendment changing the Future Land Use Map from (County) Rural/Agriculture to (City) Mining, amended the Official Zoning Atlas by changing the zoning from County Agriculture (Ag) to City Agricultural (A) on the same acreage, and approved a Special Use Permit for proposed mining activities.  

The property is an abandoned mining site, which was annexed into Newberry on June 8, 2020, and is located on the east side of Northwest County Road 235, between Northwest 22^nd Avenue and Northwest 46^th Avenue.  The site will be the future limestone quarry for Limestone Products, LLC once the southern site has been exhausted of resources.  

City of Newberry Principal Planner Jean-Paul Perez pointed out that there were several protected gopher tortoise sites on the property and included a stipulation in the ordinance that the developer would relocate the gopher tortoise nests to an appropriate location prior to conducting any work on the site.  If there are any noise and vibration complaints associated with the mining operation, those complaints should be directed to the City of Newberry.

Water Main Expansion

The Commission approved moving ahead with expansion of the water system in the southwest area of Newberry.  The water main expansion will increase the capacity of the system to serve new development and provide increased fire flow in that area.

Out of the six proposals received, the City selected Truist as the low-cost and lowest interest rate issuer.  The interest rate is at 4.23 percent for 10 years with no pre-payment penalty.  The City will issue $915,000 in debt, which includes approximately four percent in closing costs.  The total interest during the life of the loan is $219,697 with annual debt service payments in the amount of approximately $116,000.  The payments are expected to be funded using development fees collected from new connections to the water system.

City’s Comprehensive Plan

City staff provided an ordinance on second reading to identify Comprehensive Plan updates outlining significant changes to local conditions that have occurred since the last edition of Comprehensive Plan amendments, as well as to significantly update the functionality of the plan. 

Every seven years the City of Newberry is required to file an Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.  The EAR determines whether or not the City’s Comprehensive Plan needs to be amended in order to bring it up to date with recent changes to state land use law and/or changes to local conditions.

“This represents the first phase of several more amendments to the Comprehensive Plan that will be coming in future months,” said Newberry Planning and Economic Development Director Bryan Thomas.  

Road Improvement

During the last fiscal year, the City Commission identified the design and reconstruction of Southwest 15^th Avenue from State Road 45 west to Southwest 260^th Street as a priority.  The 0.63-mile-long segment of Southwest 15^th Avenue runs east and west between Newberry Elementary School and Newberry High School.  At that time, Commissioners listed several items on their wish list.  Those items included sidewalks on both sides of the roadway, wider lanes, pedestrian crosswalks, improved street lighting and turning lanes. 

Clay Sweger of eda consultants, inc. presented schematic design concepts for Southwest 15^th Avenue for Commission consideration.  Commissioners expressed concern that the trees may block line of sight for people pulling out of driveways into traffic. 

Although they liked the roundabout that had been designed by eda, they thought it might be best to supply the rendering to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for consideration the next time they make updates to the roadway.  An additional consideration was for a drainage area on a small part of the school board property. 

City Hall Project

City Hall project sponsor Travis Parker presented options for construction management of the City Hall project.  The Commission’s concerns about funding sources, the upcoming Impact Fee workshop and not knowing about other possible funding sources led Commissioners to hold off on making the decision as to how to proceed with the project. 

Following an extended discussion, the Commission directed staff to prepare documents, but to hold off on implementing until after the impact fee workshop.

Power Plant Roof

The Commission authorized the city manager to enter into a contract with Rogers Roofing Corp. dba Professional Roof Systems for roof removal and re-roofing of the deteriorating Newberry Historic Power Plant roof.  The cost is $34,000 and the Commission also authorized the city manager to approve change orders not to exceed 25 percent of the contract amount.  Funds are included in the City’s Capital Improvement budget for this project.

In other business, the Commission scheduled the Impact Fee Workshop for Dec. 7 and the last regular City Commission meeting of 2022 for Dec. 12.

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