High Springs I-75 Utility Expansion Inches Forward, County And City Agreement In The Works

BY JENNIFER CABRERA/Alachua Chronicle

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Alachua County Commission on June 13 instructed staff to draft an interlocal agreement with the City of High Springs that would permit an extension of the City’s sewer and water utilities to the area around the I-75 interchange at mile marker 404.

A representative from the City of High Springs said that the project was initiated by the owners of a hotel that has been trying to get a permit to build at the interchange since 2019 but has been unable to meet wastewater requirements. The Welcome Center in the same area has been under a Consent Decree since 2018 because of issues with its package plant, and access to a sewer system will also allow that business to do some remodeling. Connecting that area to the City’s water system will also enable fire hydrants to serve the businesses in that area and provide water for fires on the interstate.

“Available for connection”

The staff recommendation had eight parts, but commissioners were mainly interested in #5 and #6, specifically the “available for connection” wording. Commissioner Ken Cornell said he thought the intention should be that property owners who don’t meet the condition in #4 (“Existing or proposed development around the interchange of I-75 and CR 236 on property with a ‘Tourist/Entertainment’ land use designation”) would not have to connect to the system, but they could “if they paid for it.”

The original ordinance passed by the High Springs City Commission on March 9 required “all persons or corporations living or doing business within the district” to connect to the City’s water and sewer system, a provision that generated a great deal of concern among residents. The ordinance paved the way for the City to apply for a grant for the water/sewer system, but the City won’t find out whether they won the grant until later this year.

The current proposed ordinance (amended from the ordinance passed on March 9) does not require residential property owners to connect to the City’s water/wastewater system, but they have the option to connect; multi-family and commercial uses would be required to connect to the system.

County Manager Michele Lieberman explained that if a sewer line is “available,” state statutes require property owners to connect to it within 365 days. She continued, “If we make it unavailable, then you don’t have to connect, but if somebody connects, it’s hard to argue that it’s an ‘unavailable’ line.”

Motion to draft interlocal agreement

Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler made a motion to move forward with the staff recommendation to prepare an interlocal agreement with the City of High Springs and Commissioner Chuck Chestnut seconded the motion; both the High Springs City Commission and Alachua County Commission will take this issue up again when the interlocal agreement is ready for approval.

During discussion on the motion, Cornell said he wanted to have further discussions about the map and how the proposal will affect properties along CR 236. He proposed having a joint meeting with the High Springs City Commission to talk about the reasons for proceeding with the project.

“Is the intention to address the Consent Order, which I think everyone can get their hands around, and limit any other impacts? Or is the idea to actually create an area where we could have future annexations or future growth?…

“Maybe it’s just a matter of kind of slowing this down so we can have some discussions with the public, both in the city and outside the city,” said Cornell.

Although an exact map wasn’t available at the meeting, Cornell amended the motion to use a different map that includes the Tourism and Entertainment District and a 50-foot right-of-way along CR 236.

Cornell said that if they moved forward with the amended map, they could build some consensus around applying for the grant for the purpose of providing water and sewer service to the businesses at the interchange, which is better for the environment than package plants.

“So if this can continue that dialogue and get us to a place where we have a draft interlocal that we can look at in a joint meeting… I think that would be a good thing.”

The motion passed unanimously.

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