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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The mural controversy in High Springs continues to dominate discussion around the community and at commission meetings. The issue surrounds the proposed Walldogs mural project under the auspices of the Heart of High Springs and an event permit that was granted earlier. At the March 24 meeting Commissioner Katherine Weitz suggested enacting an ordinance regarding the matter.

“I’m hoping that the folks involved with the Heart of High Springs could maybe set their ego aside to listen to what the people in the town are saying because the people are overwhelmingly against a Walldogs festival,” Weitz said. “They’re not necessarily against a mural or two. A lot of people are not against the idea of a mural. But I don’t think they want to have their town taken over by other folks.”

Commissioner Ross Ambrose responded, “We need to be very careful when you start creating legislation or rules that are specifically designed to impede the efforts of citizens within the community. So coming up with a policy and developing that so that the city staff can focus on what’s important and what’s within their realm is important. [I agree] because this has gotten to be a distraction for city government and it’s a private group using private funds in the community…I want to be careful that as a government we’re not designing something to impede a legal entity operated by citizens privately raising money to do work on private property. And I think that’s a very dangerous place for the City to go and be careful of.”

“I’m looking at it from a different perspective,” Commissioner Linda Jones said. “I don’t think a small group of people should be able to come into this city, fill out a permit and do whatever they want in this city. And we, as a Commission, have nothing to do with it. It states that in the application, ‘Commissioner approval not needed’ if they are not asking for money, for in-kind services and alcohol is not being served.’…“I hear that everybody’s got rights and we do, too…Why are you coming in and saying to us, ‘This is what you need and this is what we’re going to do,’ …So we’re trying to make sure that when they come up for the big one in 2023 that they can’t just sail through. We’ve got to have some barrier up there…some say as to what goes up in this city.”

City Attorney Andrea Parker listed aspects of an ordinance that the City could consider. She stressed that the ordinance be legal, defensible and definitely content neutral. “A clear process needs to be identified with time limits and the ordinance cannot make it overly difficult for someone to adhere to it,” she said. She added that regulating art on private property cannot violate people’s first amendment rights.

Resident Alice Brown called into the meeting and said she supported creating a mural ordinance. As part of her comments she suggested an arts council be formed to review public art, an idea that seemed interesting to Commissioners.

The Commission directed the City Attorney to create a mural ordinance for their review.

In response to what City Manager Stathatos described as a number of myths circulating around town regarding the Heart of High Springs and Walldogs issue, the City created an informational area on the City of High Springs website called Truth vs Myth. The idea that seems to have received the most attention is that a ballot item can prevent Wall Dogs from coming to High Springs. According to the City website, special event permits are granted taking into consideration the life, health, safety, and general welfare of High Springs’ citizens and visitors. Special event permits cannot be permitted or denied based on the content of the event. The right to gather and hold events is a protected First Amendment right.

Although the City Attorney explained that people could obtain 10 percent of the voters’ signatures and could place it on the ballot for a vote, it would not be defensible and she would recommend that the City not proceed along those lines.

In other City business, Jones took the mayor to task for not signing a letter that the Commission voted unanimously to send to Tallahassee in support of House Bill CS/HR 493, Single Member Districts. Williams said he didn’t have all the facts on the issue and declined to sign the letter because he didn’t support what the letter said. Ultimately, Commissioners voted 3-2, with Williams and Vice-Mayor Gloria James casting the dissenting votes, to send the letter under Commissioner Jones’ signature.

The Commission authorized Assistant City Manager Bruce Gillingham to negotiate an agreement with Suez for an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project. He will report on the total cost and how the City proposes to pay for the project for Commission approval.

A request by the High Springs Chamber of Commerce to waive fees for their use of the Civic Center was approved for one quarter. Meanwhile, the City will review the policy for non-profit organizations to see if they might want to modify the fee structure.

Commissioners unanimously approved the purchase of a new elevator for City Hall at a not-to-exceed amount of $120,000 using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. They also unanimously voted to approve the purchase of cardiac monitors for the High Springs Fire Department, also using ARPA funds.

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NEWBERRY ‒ The Newberry City Commission has unanimously approved the preliminary plat of the Barrington subdivision with revised conditions. The parcel of land is located at the corner of Southwest 15^th and Southwest 170^th Street, which is a portion of Alachua County tax parcel #04371-001-000.

Planning and Economic Development Director Bryan Thomas said the subdivision will be comprised of 25 lots, ranging in size from a minimum of two acres to over four acres and will be served by wells for potable water and septic systems for sewer service. The internal roads, common areas, gate and inside the subdivision will be privately owned and maintained by a homeowner’s association.

The City’s Comprehensive Plan limits residential development in Agricultural zoning districts to one unit per five-acres. “However,” said Thomas, “it also contains a provision to allow for the development of small-scale rural subdivisions of no more than 25 units on lots greater than one-acre and less than five-acres.”

On March 7, the Planning and Zoning Board voted 4-0 to recommend approval of the preliminary plat application contingent on a Developers Agreement requiring a minimum lot size of two acres, deed restrictions, advanced septic systems and buffers between the development and adjacent properties.

The preliminary plat has been revised to incorporate the larger two-acre minimum lot size, the removal of the 30-foot-wide perimeter trail and replacement with a 40-foot natural vegetative buffer and covenants and restrictions have been drafted to address the issues discussed by the Planning and Zoning Board. The issue of advanced septic system requirements will be further addressed in the applicant’s presentation.

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HAWTHORNE ‒ The Alachua County Sheriff's Office (ACSO) arrested a 15-year-old on Tuesday, March 29, on a weapon offense.

ACSO reports that Juvenile Relations Bureau deputies were contacted by two victims who reported they had gone to a residence where the Hawthorne teen was located to hang out during spring break.

While the two victims were outside, the Sheriff's Office said they reported that the suspect came outside holding, what they described, as a black/grey rifle, similar to an AR-15.

The individual pointed the weapon at the victims, and made “shooting” type noises, ACSO said.

According to ACSO, both of the victims fled from the residence and reported the incident to law enforcement.

ACSO confirmed that deputies located and confiscated a Diamond Back AR-15 style rifle, multiple magazines and over 100 rounds of ammunition. The suspect was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a minor.

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ALACHUA ‒ The Alachua City Commission met to a packed house on March 28. Part of the crowd was in attendance to honor Commissioner Robert Wilford who resigned his seat after 12 years. Wilford was elected to the City Commission in April 2010 and served as City Commissioner and Vice Mayor. Interim City Manager Mike DaRoza presented Wilford with a plaque citing the City's gratitude for Wilford's dedication to the city and citizens. Wilford made a short speech to thank them and tell them Alachua will always be in his heart. As Wilford and his wife left the meeting, they were given a standing ovation.

The Commission recognized local business Mi Apá Latin Café in Alachua for their support of the Alachua Dream Team as they raised funds for Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society. The Dream Team consists of local officials serving food to customers for a charitable cause. Each year, Mi Apa has invited the Dream Team to come in and serve tables during lunch and dinner. The restaurant donates 25 percent of the entire day’s proceeds. This year, the servers were DaRoza, Mayor Gib Coerper, Commissioners Jennifer Blalock and Dayna Miller, and Mitch Glaeser from San Felasco Tech City.The Alachua Dream Team raised $1,356 this year.

In other City business, the Commission approved an amendment to the City's Comprehensive Plan to bring it into compliance with state law by adding a Property Rights Element. A key component is the right of a property owner to physically possess and control their interests in the property, including easements, leases and mineral rights. Additional components are the right of a property owner to use, maintain, develop, and improve their property for personal use or for the use of any person and the right of the property owner to privacy and to exclude others from the property to protect the owner's possessions and property.

In other business, the Commission approved the final plat of two lots at the Oak Ridge Crossings subdivision. The action proposes replating a five-acre property into two lots to modify an existing lot line to address encroachment. Interior lots are permitted to be 2.0 acres in size. The property, which has an existing single-family residence, is located at 13018 N.W. 148^th Terrace.

The Commission approved a request by San Felasco Research Ventures, LLC, to amend the City’s Future Land Use Map (FLUM) on a 160.2-acre property from Commercial (25.4 acres), Community Commercial (16.3 acres), High Density Residential (16.1 acres), and Moderate Density Residential (102.5 acres) to Corporate Park (CP) Designation This would allow for a range of research and development, technology and life sciences/biotechnology industries, office, and supporting retail. Residential uses are also permitted within the CP District By allowing a range of permitted uses, the CP District is intended to accommodate the development of “flex space” arrangements.

The property is located south of the intersection of Northwest U.S. Highway 441 and Southern Precast Drive and east of Cellon Creek Boulevard. It is across U.S. Highway from San Felasco Tech City and backs up to the San Felasco Hammock State Park.

Waco Properties, Inc., requested the rezoning of property from Agricultural (“A”) to Planned Development – Residential (“PD-R”) on a 118.2-acre property located east of CR 235, north of Northwest 110^th Avenue, and south of the Pilot Forest Subdivision. The proposed PD-R zoning district would permit a maximum of 472 residential units.

Development would consist primarily of single-family houses, but approximately 22.5 percent of the units could be developed as single family attached units, with up to eight units in a single building. Two ingress/egresses are proposed to connect to CR 235, a County maintained road under the jurisdiction of Alachua County Public Works, which is responsible for permitting the connections to the property. Commercial uses may be allowed in the PD-R District to serve the needs of the residents in the development.

DM Alachua Investments, LLC requested to change the FLUM Designation from Commercial (48.4 acres) and Agriculture (72.7 acres) to Commercial (14.4 acres), High Density Residential (17.8 acres), Moderate Density Residential (53.2 acres), and Conservation (35.7 acres) on the 121.1-acre property. The property is located southeast of the intersection of U.S. Highway 441 and Northwest 43^rd Street. The current Future Land Use maps (FLUM) lists the property as Agricultural with some Commercial designation near the intersection. Currently the property has three principal structures that include two vacant commercial buildings and one residential building. There are also several accessory structures related to the previous agricultural uses.

The Moderate Density Residential FLUM Designation permits a density of 0 – 4 dwelling units per acre with a maximum of 212 dwelling units for the property, while the High-Density Residential designation permits a density of 8-15 dwelling units per acre adding a potential additional 267 dwelling units for a total of 479 residential dwellings. The Commercial designations allow for a maximum of 627,264 square feet of non-residential development mainly close to the main roads. The 35.7 acres for conservation are to compensate for the swamp land that is fed by several creeks.

Several individuals from the surrounding area voiced their concerns about the development, referencing flooding, traffic, privacy and increased noise and light pollution that may affect property values.

While the Commission approved the ordinance on first reading, there will be a second reading before final approval. Mayor Coerper suggested that the developer and individuals communicate directly to address concerns before the next hearing on the ordinance.

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NEWBERRY ‒ The Newberry City Commission has honored two individuals who served the City of Newberry. On March 28, the Commission approved Resolution 2022-10 renaming of the City’s Municipal Building in honor of the first, and currently only, female mayor, Metholee Norfleet. A ceremony was held on March 8, 2022 at the City’s Municipal Building to honor Norfleet and unveil a new sign reading “Mentholee Norfleet Municipal Building.”

Norfleet served as a city commissioner from 1966 until she became mayor in 1973 and served until 1984. “Mentholee selflessly sought to continuously better our community through improvement of infrastructure and pursuit of equality,” said Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe. “Without her efforts, our City would not be where it is at today.”

The Commission also approved Resolution 2022-17, naming Ray Crone Field at Jimmy Durden Park. Crone has served the youth of Alachua County for over three decades in many different roles. In 1998 Crone served as the physical education teacher at Archer Community School. He concluded his teaching career at Irby Elementary School in Alachua. During those years, he developed lasting relationships with families in the communities in which he taught as well as in Newberry. Many of the children he taught played youth sports in Newberry.

Crone has officiated for three decades and in over 10,000 sporting events, and served Newberry in many different roles including as Babe Ruth District III Umpire in Chief since 2001. He retired from that role only to spend more time on the fields.

Most recently, Crone came out of “retirement” from his role as a booking agent to assist Newberry with umpire scheduling and umpire development. Crone was described as demonstrating the highest level of sportsmanship and serving as an excellent role model to the players he umpired, seeing to it those young ballplayers observe the rules of fair play and that the players and coaches have respect for the game and each other.

Ray Crone Field will be named in recognition of Crone’s years of service and commitment to youth sports in Newberry.

“Ray Crone has influenced and mentored generations of our youth, and it is truly a pleasure to have the chance to recognize all that he has done for our community,” said Marlowe.

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 NEWBERRY‒ On March 26, 2022, the Fight Ovarian Cancer 5k Walk made its Newberry debut.  But the walk’s genesis goes back for years.  Samantha Bacchus was a successful pediatrician in Pennsylvania when her world was turned upside down. For a number of months, she had been having odd physical symptoms she couldn't explain. The symptoms would come and go. They included itchy skin, nausea, intermittent menstrual cycles, back and pelvic pain and extreme fatigue. Being a physician, bacchus did self-diagnosis but could not figure out what was wrong as the symptoms continued more frequently. In june 2014 she wound up in the emergency room. After extensive tests she was told she had stage 4 ovarian cancer. “i was stunned. Of all the things i had thought of, i never thought of cancer. There is no screening test for ovarian cancer and it is usually diagnosed late in stage 3 or 4, so the survival rate is only one out of three. My whole world suddenly changed,” Bacchus said.

 Ovarian cancer often goes undetected until it has spread within the pelvis and belly. At this late stage, ovarian cancer is more difficult to treat and is often fatal. Later stages are associated with symptoms, but they can be non-specific. At this late stage, surgery and chemotherapy are generally the only options. Even with treatment the cancer often comes back and the average life span of those who can be treated is around five years.

Bacchus had surgery and five rounds of chemotherapy but developed vertigo as a side effect of the treatment. In November 2014 she felt well enough to return to work and was diagnosed as being in remission. However, by February 2016 she again had symptoms including frequent vomiting and extreme fatigue. The cancer had returned and Bacchus endured more surgery and six more rounds of chemotherapy before she was diagnosed as being in remission again. So far, the cancer has not returned.

Her close brush with mortality gave Bacchus a new direction in life. She closed her practice and focused on what to do that was both enjoyable and beneficial to others. She moved to Florida to be with husband, Willam Hensler, a successful contractor whose work often brought him to Florida. They were initially planning to stay a few years, but found they loved living in North Central Florida and eventually bought a large piece of property near Newberry called Prancing Horse Farm.  Bacchus hoped to turn it into a bed and breakfast and build an event center for charity organizations to hold events.

She also became an active advocate for funding and research on ovarian cancer.  Bacchus connected to the Sandy Rollman foundation, a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization created as a tribute to the life of Sandy Rollman who passed away from advanced ovarian cancer in May 2000. Rollman’s sister, Adriana Way, and her nurse, Robin Cohen, vowed to keep Sandy’s memory alive while trying to prevent other women from having to endure the same pain as she did. In 2016 the Foundation created the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance and received funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Department of Defense. As a fundraising and awareness event they also hosted the “Sandy Sprint” which is a 5K walk.  While it started in Philadelphia 18 years ago, the event has spread to other cities.

Bacchus knew her property in Florida would be ideal to hold the Sandy Sprint. Working with the Foundation she received support from the City of Newberry and police traffic control from the Alachua County Sherriff’s Office. On March 26, it was more than just a walk, as Bacchus had food and drinks donated to the event including a Duncan Donuts sponsorship. She had a raffle with donated gift baskets, a DJ providing musical entertainment and a Lamborghini on display at the starting point of the walk.

Bacchus also garnered support of her professional equestrian neighbors at Sunrise Farms Sport Horses. Owner and trainer Shelley Van den Neste has had a successful show career with numerous national and regional championship wins, including as a USDF Gold Medalist. She offered to put on an exhibit, along with daughter Hanna Lisec at the end of the 5K walk.

One special guest at the event was a small women dressed in the teal colors that represent the fight against Ovarian cancer.  Donna Dollinger’s condition may be described as frail, but her spirit to live is not. On April Fool’s Day in 2011, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer but has refused to let it beat her. Over the years she has endured several surgeries and 13 different chemotherapy treatments. Dollinger is not in remission and the cancer is still in her body. “I will keep fighting against this disease,” Dollinger said.  “I don’t get out much and often fatigued, but felt I needed to come and support this.”

Many others felt it was important as well. “Over 110 people participated in the walk and we raised over $20,000 for the foundation,” Bacchus said. “I plan to hold it every year at the farm to help fight this deadly disease.”

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