Newberry City Commission Preps For Election, Advances Ag-Tech

NEWBERRY ‒ The Newberry City Commission welcomed mayoral and commission candidates during its latest meeting, providing an opportunity for them to introduce themselves and discuss their campaigns.

Mayoral candidate Tim Marden and Commission Group IV candidates Donald Lewis Long and Steve Panaghi addressed the commission and audience members. Their remarks focused on their visions for the city and key priorities for their campaigns.

The remaining candidates, mayoral candidate Joy Glanzer and Commission Group V candidates Rosa Marie Campbell and Antonio (Tony) Mazon, are scheduled to speak at the next City Commission meeting.

In preparation for the upcoming April 8 municipal election, commissioners unanimously appointed the Board of Canvassers. The board will oversee election procedures, with Mark Clark serving as chairperson, alongside Commissioner Monty Farnsworth and City Clerk Judy Rice.

Commissioners also heard from Ag-Tech and F-300 consultant Kamal Lathem, who highlighted efforts to position Florida as the “Silicon Valley of Agriculture.”

Lathem detailed the goals of the program, which include upskilling the workforce, attracting AgTech enterprises, and funding research and entrepreneurship to accelerate solutions to market. He also introduced the F-300 AgFood Tech Startup Accelerator, a three-month program designed to support agriculture and food technology startups.

The “F” in F-300 represents Florida, while “300” signifies the 300 specialty crops grown in the state. Lathem noted that two companies have already expressed interest in the program.

Over the past year, the program has held an F-300 stakeholder meeting, added new consortium members, completed an incubator feasibility study, and held a European AgTech company meeting and demonstration with dairy farms. Other key milestones included submitting an application for the Florida Job Growth Grant, securing media coverage in FDI Alliance International Magazine, and welcoming 15 new consortium members.

Lathem also highlighted that Duke Energy awarded Newberry a $20,000 grant, and the city was honored with the 2024 StartGNV Community Builder Award.

In other City business, Acting City Manager Dallas Lee announced that “The Great American Cleanup” will take place in Newberry on March 21-22 and that Government Finance Professionals Week is set for March 17-21. Lee also met with the new Alachua County sheriff and plans to present a tentative law enforcement agreement to the commission in May.

In other business, the commission unanimously approved a contract to sell property to the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners for a Rural Collection Center and Recreation Director Rod Clark presented a proposal to expand the Easton Newberry Sports Complex, showing slides of the planned expansion.

City Attorney Scott Walker introduced Tom Robinson as the newest hire in the city’s legal office, while Commissioner Mark Clark announced that the Veterans Memorial is nearing completion.

Commissioner Tony Mazon announced that the Spring Festival will take place on April 5, and Movie Night will be held at the Martin Luther King Center, 255 N.W. 6^th Avenue.

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