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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The High Springs Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Façade Improvement Grant Matching Program is now open to residential homeowners in the district.

After seeing overwhelming success with the CRA’s Business Façade Grant Program, the City of High has announced the addition of a residential grant program. The program is designed to help homeowners revitalize their houses. In an era of rising construction costs, the façade grant is available to offer neighbors a helping hand.

The grant program provides 50/50 reimbursement for eligible improvements up to $5,000 to encourage and advance revitalization efforts. The CRA Board will review applications and award grants.

For full requirements and application, residents should go to https://www.highsprings.gov/.../facade-grant-application.

Applications will be accepted until all grants are awarded on a first come, first served basis.

For more information, contact CRA Director Amy Bohannon at 386-454-6225 or CRA@highsprings.gov.

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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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NEWBERRY – The Newberry City Commission at he Aug. 26, 2024, meeting put one agenda item on hold. Among other matters, the final adoption of the City’s Fire Assessment Rates for the coming year was scheduled for a vote. However, a large increase in the Industrial category from $0.06 per square foot to $0.23 per square foot had Commissioners and some business owners in sticker shock.

During the current year, the City of Newberry contracted Anser Advisory to calculate the apportionment of fire service costs to ensure those costs are fairly spread across all users of the City’s fire service. This is a standard best practice every 5-7 years.

The study returned with a higher call volume and response time generated by commercial and industrial users, meaning that more of the fire assessment is being proposed against those user types. Preliminarily adopted rates for FY25 were initially set at $0.23 per square foot.

However, it is well known in the community and revealed in the report that one business is responsible for the higher call volume/response time noted by Anser Advisory.

A number of business owners expressed their displeasure to the Commission in having their rates increased by $0.17 per square foot because of one business owner. The Commission agreed and discussed a few options for change to the category that might be fairer to all business owners.

Potentially reducing rates led to concern and discussion about a reduced assessment amount to the City’s FY 2024-25 Fire Services budget. Newberry Assistant City Manager and CFO Dallas Lee said that a reduction in rates would cause a budget shortfall, but the City could make it up if that’s what the Commission opted to do.

The Commission failed to take action on the rate structure at the Aug. 26 meeting but did task City Staff to look at options and to present their findings at the Sept. 9, 2024, Commission meeting for consideration and final approval.

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ALACHUA ‒ This past Saturday marked the start of the Fall 2024 season for the Santa Fe Alachua Raiders Youth Football & Cheer Program.

The program, which is a staple of the Alachua and High Springs community, organized a vibrant kickoff event featuring games across multiple age groups: 6U, 8U, 10U, and 12U.

The Raiders faced off against Perry Elite from Taylor County, with both the 6U and 12U teams securing their first wins of the season. Meanwhile, the 8U and 10U teams came up short but are hopeful for redemption in their upcoming games against Henry Brown in Jacksonville. The Raiders' next home games are set for Sept. 28, 2024, against the Bradford Cowboys.

Paulie McClain, the current President of the Alachua Raiders, along with coaches and volunteers, orchestrated a successful and engaging event that brought the community together. As the league travels north to Jacksonville this coming weekend, the community wishes them the best of luck.

In addition to the excitement on the field, the Welch Family Reunion brought a spirit of celebration and togetherness to the Hal Brady Recreation Gymnasium over the weekend. The Welch family, a longstanding pillar of the Alachua community, gathered to strengthen family bonds, create lasting memories, and uphold cherished traditions.

On the cultural front, the City of Alachua Recreation & Culture Department is teaming up with Dance About to offer a six-week dance program for children. Registration is currently open for classes that begin on Sept. 30, 2024, and run through Nov. 18, 2024. Classes for grades K-4 will be held on Mondays from 4 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., and for grades 5-8 from 4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. All sessions will take place at the Legacy Multipurpose Center.

Additionally, the Recreation & Culture Department is launching a new music and arts program at Legacy Park. MapForYouth, a group dedicated to fostering youth appreciation for the arts, will host an open house on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Legacy Park’s Multipurpose Building, located at 5400 Peggy Road, Alachua. This event will provide an opportunity for parents and caregivers to explore the program’s offerings, which include introductions to keyboard/piano, digital drums, guitar, arts and crafts, dance, and a variety of fun and engaging games. The open house is free and welcomes anyone interested in learning more about these enriching programs.

For more information about these programs, please contact the City of Alachua Recreation & Culture Department at recreation@cityofalachua.org.

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HIGH SPRINGS – A 36-year-old High Springs man’s guilty plea secured him a prison sentence of 12 years, stemming from an assault on two High Springs Police officers in March 2022. John Kyle Culp entered into a plea deal with the State on Aug. 27, 2024.

During the original incident, the High Springs Police Department responded to a suspicious person call, where Culp was offering nearby residents drugs and appeared to be impaired.

As two High Springs Police Officers approached Culp, he sat motionless in his vehicle and refused to identify himself or cooperate with the officers’ direction.

When the officers attempted to remove Culp from the vehicle with the door ajar, Culp put his vehicle in reverse, accelerated and struck and dragged the officers for a short duration.

Culp subsequently crashed his vehicle a few blocks from the incident and fled on foot, escaping capture. A thorough search of Culp’s vehicle was conducted to ensure public safety, which yielded various controlled substances including fentanyl, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, Alprazolam (Xanax), and assorted pills. 

On March 24, 2022, a New Orleans-based U.S. Marshals Task Force located and arrested Culp in Louisiana, and he was extradited back to Alachua County to face criminal charges of: 

Count I: Aggravated Battery on Law Enforcement Officer

Count VI: Aggravated Battery on Law Enforcement Officer

Count VII: Possession of Controlled Substance without a Prescription

Count IV: Possession of Controlled Substance without a Prescription

Count V: Possession of Controlled Substance without a Prescription

Count VI: Possession of Controlled Substance without a Prescription

Count VII: Possession of Controlled Substance without a Prescription

Count VIII: Possession of Firearm, Ammunition, or Electric Weapon by Convicted Felon

Count IX: Aggravated Fleeing or Attempting to Elude (Injury or damage)

Count X: Resisting an Officer with Violence

Count XI: Fail Stop/Report Crash Involving Injury

High Springs Police Chief Antoine Sheppard said, “I am grateful that the officers survived this attack. The actions of Mr. Culp were severe and could have resulted in the death or serious bodily injury to our public servants, underscoring the gravity of the incident. Mr. Culp will have a long time to reflect on his criminal offenses, and I fervently hope that he seeks and obtains the necessary help and reform upon his return to society.”

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Weekday serenity at Poe Springs Park offers a peaceful retreat into “Original Florida,” where the only sounds are those of nature. But come summertime, and especially on holidays like Labor Day weekend, the park comes alive with laughter and the joyful chatter of visitors savoring the refreshing, crystal-clear spring waters.

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ After a series of closures due to weather events, renovations, the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently Hurricane Debby, Poe Springs Park is once again open to the public. The park’s reopening on Aug. 31, 2024, perfectly coincided with the Labor Day weekend, providing a scenic outdoor escape for holiday revelers at Alachua County’s largest natural spring.

This past weekend, visitors flocked to the park to enjoy various activities such as tubing, kayaking, hiking, and barbecuing, making the most of the park’s reopening after its recent closure due to flooding from Hurricane Debby. While the park is now operating on its regular seven-days-a-week schedule, Alachua County officials have issued a cautionary advisory for visitors: do not drink the water without boiling it first to kill bacteria and other harmful organisms.

Poe Springs, which pumps an impressive 45 million gallons of crystal-clear water daily, has been a beloved recreation spot for nearly 70 years. The park offers a variety of amenities, including swimming in the spring area, extensive hiking trails, kayak and canoe launches, sports fields, and a lodge building for event rentals, such as parties, family gatherings, and small weddings. The grounds are also equipped with playgrounds, volleyball courts, and picnic shelters complete with barbecue grills.

The park’s history has been marked by a series of openings and closures to accommodate necessary repairs and improvements. Originally privately owned, the initial 75-acre parcel of Poe Springs was acquired by Alachua County in 1985 using a federal grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Additional acreage was later provided by the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) and further grant funds throughout the 1980s. The park officially opened to the public in 1991 and has since become a popular weekend destination.

Poe Springs has faced several closures over the years due to a variety of factors. It was shut down in December 2011 for extensive construction, which included installing a new retaining wall and steps in the swimming area, as well as updating landscaping and building roofs and air-conditioning units. The park reopened on July 4, 2013, operating four days a week under an arrangement with the City of High Springs, but closed again in 2017 following damage from Hurricane Irma. After repairs, it reopened in May 2018 with a limited schedule of Friday to Sunday.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced another closure in March 2020 under State quarantine mandates, but the park reopened three months later. The springs area, however, closed again in September 2020 for additional renovations, though the boat ramp remained accessible.

Planned to reopen in January 2021, delays pushed the reopening to Memorial Day weekend of that year. The park faced yet another setback in July 2021 when Tropical Storm Elsa caused severe flooding, prompting another temporary closure.

Now, with the park once again open to the public, visitors can enjoy all the natural beauty and recreational amenities Poe Springs Park has to offer. The park features pavilions and picnic shelters, multipurpose fields, a boardwalk through the cypress swamp, and access to the springs via a series of loop trails. For boaters, the park provides a boat launch and a dock with access to the river.

Poe Springs Park is located at 28800 N.W. 182^nd Avenue, High Springs. The entrance fee is $6 per vehicle or $1 per person for walk-in or bicycle entry. However, entry is free from October to April, and fees are waived for individuals with disabilities.

As Poe Springs Park welcomes visitors back, it continues to be a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts and families looking to enjoy the great outdoors.

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