Newberry Reviews Wastewater Plant Funding And Charter School Developments

NEWBERRY – The Newberry City Commission and received an update from City Manager Mike New about the city’s wastewater treatment plant and discussed a fire services agreement with Alachua County, among other matters on Aug. 26, 2024. The meeting also provided a platform for Commissioner Rick Coleman to ask questions about Save Our Schools Newberry, fulfilling a previous commitment he said he had made.

City Manager Mike New provided a status of grant requests for the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and current capacity. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) denied the City’s application for a construction state revolving fund (SRF) loan. New said, “We were not approved by FDEP for the loan because our current rates and fees are insufficient to repay the loan amount, which is presumed to be $70ish million.” New said the denial wasn’t a surprise. “Our last cost estimate was in the $70 million range. That project started in the $22 - $24 million range just four short years ago,” he said.

“We applied for a $49 million grant through FDEP. In December, we should find out whether we will receive the grant. If we are successful, then we will again seek an SRF loan, but this time we will request a $21 million loan. We are capable of paying debt service on $21 million, so we expect approval for a $21 million loan request,” New said. “If we get approved then we are going to bid in March.”

Regarding system capacity, New said, “Just from a wastewater capacity on paper, we are out. But in terms of everyday flow, we’re at 50 percent capacity. We have met with FDEP and we have a strategy in place that probably gives us four years worth of 150 – 200 gallons per day for homes per year.”

In other business, the Commission conducted a Legislative Hearing on second reading of an ordinance providing consent for the entire corporate limits of the city to be included in a Non-Ad Valorem assessment for Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU) created by Alachua County for Solid Waste Management Costs. The Commission voted 4-1 to approve the assessment with Commissioner Tim Marden dissenting.

Alachua County requested authorization to continue the levy of a MSBU to provide Solid Waste Services to the City. The MSBU rate for residential customers in FY 2024-25 is $25.27, the same rate as in the prior year. Rates are annual and are paid to Alachua County when property taxes are due.

In still other business, the Commission unanimously approved an updated Fire Service Agreement (FSA) between Alachua County Fire Rescue (ACFR) and the Newberry Fire Department (NFD) that was scheduled to expire at midnight on Sept. 30, 2024. Thes Agreement between the City and County will be effective Oct. 1, 2024 until terminated by agreement of the parties or as otherwise provided in the Agreement.

Newberry Fire Chief Mike Vogel presented the updated contract between ACFR and NFD, which he said includes several key changes including reducing the contract duration from five to two years. The Exchange Program has been removed, with NFD now providing Advanced Life Support (ALS) services. The minimum staffing requirement has been set at three personnel (NFD's minimum staffing is four). ACFR will provide all disposable ALS medical supplies and NFD must submit a daily roster to ACFR.

Vogel said currently, the City of Newberry attends more requests for services in the County than Alachua County attends Newberry fires. The cost to both parties to attend incidents in the other’s area is $866.

The matter of Newberry’s Charter School was raised as Commissioner Rick Coleman offered questions regarding Save Our Schools Newberry that he had promised to read. Mayor Jordan Marlowe said that all of these questions have been asked and answered previously. Marlowe also said that the same people keep asking the same questions.

Responding to a question about the legitimacy of the charter school after the close vote, Marlowe said, “The Department of Education has already ruled on this. They’ve already said that the vote passed and the vote hit the standard. So that’s a decided question. Anyone who continues to say that the vote didn’t pass is incorrect and is purposely misleading people, because we have very clear communication from the Department of Education that it did pass.”

Responding to a question about why the City plans to loan money to the charter school board to pay for lawyers and other consultants helping to prepare the charter school application, Marlowe said, “You guys [referring to the Commissioners] have not voted to loan anybody money. You guys have voted to pay the bills for the new school board in order to get the application moved forward.”

The next Newberry City Commission meeting is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.

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