High Springs Residents Question Memorial Park Expansion

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ High Springs residents are speaking up about a local park. At the Aug. 10 High Springs City Commission meeting, a planned expansion of Memorial Park near Edgemoor subdivision was the subject of numerous citizen questions and comments.

Originally, the park was to be extended to include another baseball diamond. The land, which was purchased through Wild Spaces Public Places funds, had a $200,000 grant associated with development of the park facilities.

However, the City returned the grant funds when it was determined that the property would have to be repurposed due to its proximity of the City’s third well field.

According to Assistant City Manager Bruce Gillingham, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regulations limit development of the park in proximity to the water well. As there was no time to re-engineer the project in accordance with the grant funding deadline, the City returned the grant funds. Gillingham believes the City will be exploring the matter further in the coming months.

In other business, the Commission approved a fire services rate on second reading for Fiscal Year 2023-24 in compliance with Fire Assessment Guidelines. The initial preliminary Resolution directing the preparation of the assessment roll was read and adopted at the July 13 meeting with the assessment rate of $223 for residential properties. Resolution 2023-L establishes the final rate of assessment the proposed rate. Gillingham said this is the highest rate the City could set this year, adding that there was no new equipment or personnel planned for the coming year.

Gillingham announced that Sept. 15 is the date set for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters to be shipped to High Springs. He anticipates that actual installation of the meters will begin the first week of October. The AMI system will remotely collect customer water usage data in real time.

High Springs Town Hall meetings are scheduled to begin Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. at Mt. Carmel United Methodist Church, 1240 N.W. 1^st Avenue, High Springs. The second Town Hall meeting will take place Sept. 5 at 6 p.m., but the venue hasn’t yet been set. The third Town Hall meeting is scheduled for Sept. 19 at City Hall. Advanced Metering Infrastructure will also be discussed at the Aug. 31 Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) soiree for business owners.

The next High Springs City Commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 24, at 6:30 p.m.

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