Local

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Yard sales are an opportunity for people to buy goods at an affordable price and for other people to clear out space in their homes and garages. For the Deeper Purpose Community Church, a yard sale is also a way to help people in the community. This past Saturday on May 28, the church held its Annual Spring Charity MEGA Yard Sale from 9 a.m. to noon.

The sale brought out people to peruse through mountains of donated items that seemingly included just about anything one could need, including jewelry, girls and boys clothing and toys, baby items, furniture, office, household, and kitchen items. Many of the items were donated from Just Between Friends of Gainesville (JBF), but many items were donated by church members and local residents who filled truckloads of items.

“We partnered with JBF and received donations of items that consigners didn’t sell during the JBF Mega Sale. In the fall we had a free yard sale event, where we gave away countless items to families in the community, but this go round, we are selling the items donated to us at low prices to help fund the free programs we offer, as well as to help raise money for our building fund for our community complex,” said Church Pastor Adam Joy.

Monies from fundraisers and donations support a variety of church programs including the Deeper Purpose Kids Academy, which is a Christian Nursery and Preschool. Other programs support children including before and after care for school aged children and additional programs for families during the summer, Thanksgiving, spring and winter breaks.

The church has purchased 13 acres of land that will eventually house their church, school, youth, community and outreach centers in phases. Additional funding for the buildings was part of the Building Purpose Campaign 1,000. The campaign goal was for 100 people, families, businesses, churches, silent/ anonymous donors, individuals, or organizations to donate $1,000 within 100 days for the church’s Capital Fundraising Campaign. In just 16 days, they raised $31,000 in financial contributions for the building project and another $14,000 in pledges.

“We are a spirit-filled and purpose-driven, multicultural non-denominational Christian church,” said Joy. “We welcome anyone regardless of background, ethnicity or situation, to be a helping hand to those in need. Our mission is to serve the community, help those that need it and spread the word of God.”

Over the course of the year, the church holds food drives for the needy as well as special events such as the Easter Egg Hunt and Back the Blue event. A portion of the money raised by the yard sale this year will also go toward a Senior Citizen Outreach Drive on Wednesday, June 1. They hope to reach senior citizens who have come across difficult times and who are on a fixed income. “Most of them get very little income and by the time they pay what bills they do have, the truth is, they don’t have much left to spend on gas or food,” Joy said.

To help out, members of the church and High Springs community raised roughly $1,000 worth of groceries, ranging from canned goods to hygiene products. For the third year in a row, those goods will be taken to those who need them the most.

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HIGH SPRINGS – The High Springs Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) recommend approval of expanding the city’s CRA district to City Commissioners.

At the May 26 board meeting, CRA Coordinator David Sutton presented two maps for comparison showing the original proposed expansion area and also an expansion area that included two more parcels of land. Staff had requested that the Board consider the two properties in the CRA district expansion. The properties are located to the west of the peanut mill property, which was included in the original expansion map and are identified as 00726-000-000 and 00726-001- 000.

The CRA works to assist in economic revitalization in the core of downtown High Springs and to secure funding for infrastructure improvements. The parcels are undeveloped industrial properties and adjoin the mill property. “The addition of these two properties will provide the CRA with the opportunity to assist in the development of these parcels,” said CRA member Ross Ambrose.

Sutton has spoken with CRA’s consultants regarding the required “Finding of Necessity” and was told there would be no additional cost if the City were to add the two parcels.

CRA Board members approved the addition of the two parcels to the proposed district expansion.

During the following City Commission meeting, Commissioners unanimously approved expansion of the CRA district along with property located on either side of West U.S. Highway 27 from Northwest 239^th Street (currently the west boundary) west to Northwest 246^th Street.

This proposed extension from Northwest 239^th Street to Northwest 246^th Street would have a northern boundary of Northwest 187^th Avenue and a southern boundary of the CSX property (future Rails to Trails).

GAI has been engaged to complete the “Finding of Necessity” at a cost of $15,000. Once completed, the matter will go back for adoption by the CRA Board and then by the Commission. Following that, the proposed expansion will be submitted to the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners for approval.

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HIGH SPRINGS – The City of High Springs is making changes to traffic and parking in downtown High Springs in an effort to improve safety in the area.

Recently, the High Springs City Commission approved an ordinance that restricts the use of vehicles of more than three axels from traveling on Northwest 186^th Avenue (formerly known as U.S. Highway 27 Alternate).

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is providing signs to the City to notify truck drivers of the change. Once the signs have been installed, trucks will travel to the intersection of U.S. Highway 441 to access Main Street.

The High Springs Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board voted to approve an Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station in front of Extreme Exposure at 18481 Main Street. The project was initiated by Extreme Exposure and High Springs is providing access to the right of way, designating one designated spot for EV parking only and paying for a concrete pad. The cost is estimated at about $1,000. All other costs will be paid by Extreme Exposure and the City will benefit from any revenue received.

Although only one official charging station parking area will be designated, the equipment being installed will accommodate two cars charging side-by-side. The only difference will be that the second parking spot will not be designated exclusively for electric car charging. The Board did not want to restrict two parking areas in the downtown area until they saw frequency and usage of the second charging station.

The CRA Board also approved pedestrian crosswalk changes on Main Street at the intersection of Northwest 185^th Road. New button-activated pedestrian crossing signs will be installed to alert drivers that a person is in the crosswalk area to help provide increased safety to those attempting to cross the street. This project has been approved by FDOT and the signs are being created. High Springs will install the signs at a projected cost of some $4,000. Mayor Byran Williams suggested a sign be placed in advance of the intersection to alert drivers that they may need to stop.

Another safety concern has been the need to limit long vehicles, especially those with kayaks and boats extending out into the roadway in the downtown area. An education campaign is beginning that will alert drivers with trucks and large vehicles that downtown parking is being restricted to compact vehicles. Larger vehicles will be required to drive to the parking areas near Railroad Avenue to park. High Springs Police officers will be visiting with business owners in the area to alert them to the change and will begin by issuing warning citations to violators. It is expected that new signage should be installed by mid to late July.

City staff members are testing out lighting behind City Hall that they believe will help make the downtown area safer at night. Feedback from the public will be appreciated.

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• Alachua County Commission – Districts 1, 2, and 4 (District 1 will be on the ballot this year due to the resignation of Commissioner Mary Alford. The person elected to this position will fill the unexpired portion of the term).

• Alachua County School Board – Districts 1, 2, 3, and 5 (District 2 will be on the ballot this year due to a declared vacancy by the Governor last year. The person elected to this position will fill the unexpired portion of the term).

• Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor – Group 1, 3, and 5 (Senate Bill 1078 requires all soil and water conservation seats to be on the ballot this year. This bill has not yet been signed into law by the Governor. An update will be provided if there are any changes).

• Gainesville Mayor At Large Commission Seat

• District 2, 3, and 4 Commission Seats

ALACHUA ‒ A drunk Alachua man was arrested in an apartment complex Sunday night. Michael Jewel Coulon, 46, was arrested at approximately 7 p.m. Sunday following reports of a fight in progress at an Alachua apartment complex parking lot. When Alachua Police Department (APD) officers arrived on the scene, they found Coulon in a visibly irate state. The 6-foot-1-inch man began walking toward officers in an aggressive manner saying, “Y’all f***ing want some,” and pounding on his chest.

When Coulon proceeded to punch the front of a marked APD patrol car, he was ordered to the ground numerous times by officers.

Coulon didn’t comply but continued to pace around threatening to fight law enforcement. During this time officers were able to determine Coulon was heavily intoxicated. According to the APD report, “The defendant was subdued and post-arrest stated he had been drinking heavily.”

After subduing Coulon, officers were able to investigate the initial cause for the call and spoke with two females who said that Coulon had approached them as they walked through the parking lot of the apartment complex. During that time, he began yelling expletives at both women, balling his fists and making statements about fighting.

The women said that due to the defendant’s size, estimated at 280 pounds, as well as his aggressive statements and behavior, they were in fear for their safety.

Coulon was charged with simple assault/threat to do violence, two counts of disorderly intoxication in a public place and resisting arrest. He was taken to the hospital and will be held on bond of $40,000 when he is released from the hospital. Coulon currently lives in Alachua, but according to APD he has an out-of-county criminal history from 2000 to 2022.

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L-R: Grant Dougherty, Thomas Goss, Brianne Kilpatrick, Taylor Roberts and Erika Wells were awarded scholarships from the Alachua Business League

Article updated June 3, 2022

ALACHUA ‒ The Alachua Business League (ABL) has presented five students from Santa Fe High School $1,000 scholarships to Santa Fe College.  The ABL has been awarding scholarships through the Education Foundation of Alachua County since 2006. 

The recipients this year were Grant Dougherty, Thomas Goss, Brianne Kilpatrick, Taylor Roberts and Erika Wells, who were selected from 32 qualified applicants.

The Alachua Business League's mission is to promote business-to-business support by being involved in the community and providing networking events for local businesses.  The ABL also organizes the Alachua Main Street festival in the fall, which is scheduled for Nov. 13, 2022.

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