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GAINESVILLE – The Arc of Alachua County will host 25 bicyclists next week, on Wednesday, May 26, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. for the annual Gear Up Florida/Ability Experience Friendship Visit. The bicyclists, who are traveling throughout the State of Florida raising awareness about developmental disabilities, will be led onto The Arc’s main campus across from Santa Fe College by Santa Fe College police escort, and greeted by Arc employees and its developmentally disabled clients. Once on campus, Florida State Representative Chuck Clemons, Arc Board President Cathy Costello and Arc President/CEO Mark A. Swain will formally welcome the bikers, who are representing colleges and universities throughout the United States.
Each year, these civic-minded bicyclists spend the month of May biking the State of Florida raising awareness of developmental disabilities. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 trip and all of the Friendship Visits, including the Gainesville event. But these athletic and caring young people are once again putting on their helmets and riding their two-wheelers under the hot Florida sun. The bikers will celebrate their stop in Gainesville by signing ball caps for our Arc clients, enjoying lunch with our clients and employees, listening to music and dancing, and taking a group photo by the large Arc sign on NW 83rd St.  
Officials with The Arc and The Ability Experience are partnering together to make the Gear Up Florida, Gainesville Friendship Visit as safe as possible given any lingering COVID-19 concerns. The number of attendees will be limited to fewer than 100. Guests will be asked to wear masks unless eating, drinking or speaking. All attendees will be asked to practice social distancing. Extra hand sanitizer will be available during the entire event. All Arc employees and clients in attendance, as well as the bicyclists, will all be individuals who have been vaccinated with one of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Attendees will enjoy box lunches from Dos Mamas Catering and Michael Davis, aka ‘Mr. October DJ,’ will lead the bikers, clients, staff, and visitors in some dancing and singing. As we do each-and-every year at what one Arc client has called, “…the funnest event all year,” the festivities will end with a large group photo taken in front of The Arc’s sign on NW 83rd St. at 12:55 p.m. As is the case each year, the itinerary this year will take the team of bicyclists to the gorgeous Gainesville Health & Fitness Center at 1:15 p.m. for an afternoon of swimming and relaxation. The bikers will then head over to Trinity United Methodist Church where they will enjoy dinner (also prepared by Dos Mamas Catering) and eventually ‘bed down’ for the evening.
“This event gets everybody involved, bikers, staff members, the clients, the donors, and the community. Our clients look forward to seeing the bicyclists being escorted onto our campus by motorcycle police with sirens blaring and lights flashing.’ It will be a lot of fun, and is an event we really look forward to this year given the cancellation of last year’s event due to COVID-19,” stated Mark A. Swain, Arc of Alachua County’s President/CEO.

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NEWBERRY ‒ The City of Newberry is one step closer to establishing a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). In 2019 after years of attempts by the City to establish a CRA, the City and the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners entered into an interlocal agreement establishing criteria for formation.

The first was developing a “Finding of Necessity” to determine if this area would benefit from the creation of a CRA. A report has now been prepared to fulfill this requirement in accordance with Florida Statutes and was presented to the Newberry City Commission. The report is based on field observation and data and analysis, in order to make a determination that “slum” or “blight” exists within the study area. In addition to data and analysis, a photo documentation of the study area is also included as part of the report.

Commissioners unanimously adopted the Finding of Necessity as part of a Legislative Hearing of Resolution 2021-13 during the May 10 regular City Commission meeting. In addition, Commissioners voted to name the Commission as the Community Redevelopment Agency.

In other business, the City received an unmodified or “clean” opinion on its Annual Financial Report. Barbara Boyd and Kevin Smith of Purvis, Gray & Company, the City Commission’s independent audit firm, presented the results of the 2019-2020 fiscal year audit process.

The opinion reflects the best level an organization can receive on its financial statements. This is the fifth consecutive year of receiving this distinction. “There were no written comments or findings of non-compliance,” said Boyd.

Looking forward, the Commission approved a number of workshops during the summer to receive community input on the Fiscal Year 2022 City Budget. The workshop times are all at 6 p.m. The dates are June 16, July 21, Aug. 4 and Sept. 1. All workshops will take place at City Hall.

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ALACHUA COUNTY, FL – The Florida Department of Health in Alachua County issued a rabies alert for Northeast Gainesville in the Ironwood Golf Club area. This is in response to a stray cat that tested positive on Friday, May 14, 2021.

• NE 15 Street, Gainesville
• NE 39 Avenue, Gainesville
• NE Waldo Road
• NE 73 Avenue

• Keep rabies vaccinations up to date for all pets.
• Keep pets under direct supervision, so they do not come in contact with wild animals. If a wild animal bites a pet, seek veterinary assistance for the animal immediately and contact Alachua County Animal Services, 352-264-6880.
• Call the local animal control agency to remove any stray animals from your neighborhood.
• Do not handle, feed, or unintentionally attract wild animals with open garbage cans or litter.
• Never adopt wild animals or bring them into the home.
• Teach children never to handle unfamiliar animals, wild or domestic, even if they appear friendly.
• Prevent bats from entering living quarters or occupied spaces in homes, churches, schools, and other similar areas, where they might come in contact with people and pets.
• Persons who have been bitten or scratched by wild or domestic animals should seek medical attention and report the injury to the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County at 352-334-7930.

ALACHUA ‒ On Tuesday, May 25, the public will be able to access Alachua County Supervisor of Elections services at Alachua City Hall.

The addition of this service is part of an ongoing effort by the Alachua City Commission to provide enhanced access to County services in-person in the city of Alachua, which stems from a high-priority initiative in the City’s FY 2021 Strategic Plan.

Services provided at this event will be assistance with new voter registration, voter registration updates, vote-by-mail requests, elections information dissemination and election worker recruitment.

The Supervisor of Elections services made available during this one-day, spring event are also available to individuals residing outside of the city of Alachua who may find this location more convenient.

“We are excited to work with the City of Alachua to bring our services to City Hall,” Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton said. The event will take place on Tuesday, May 25, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at City Hall, located at 15100 N.W. 142^nd Terrace, Alachua.

A one-day fall event in Alachua with the Supervisor of Elections will be held on a date to be announced in the future. “We are proud to partner with Supervisor Barton to provide additional in-person access for voters,” Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper said. “This not only makes doing County business more convenient for our residents, but also for the rest of the northwest portion of Alachua County.”

The City also successfully collaborated with the Alachua County Property Appraiser to provide an array of services by opening its Northwest Office in the City of Alachua Municipal Complex in February 2021. For more information about Supervisor of Elections services, contact the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office by calling 352-374-5252, or by visiting www.votealachua.com.

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ALACHUA ‒ After 12 years of service, Alachua City Commissioner Gary Hardacre has stepped down. On Monday, May 10, commissioners honored Hardacre for his service as he vacated his seat on the board. In the transition ceremony, Hardacre's nameplate was removed as he stepped off the dais.

Jennifer Blalock will be filling Hardacre’s seat by winning the runoff election held May 4 and defeating Malcolm Dixon with 58 percent of the vote. City Manager Adam Boukari administered the official Oath of Office to Blalock and she then took her seat on the dais.

According to the City Charter, the City Commission also elects a new Vice Mayor from among its members each year at the first City Commission meeting after the City election. The Commission unanimously chose Commissioner Shirley Green-Brown for the position. Brown successfully defended her seat on the commission in the general election, which was held April 13.

In other business, Duke Energy handed over $1,039,857 to the City for the purchase of assets related to the recently opened Legacy Park substation. The energy company agreed to purchase the non-real property substation assets for equipment to transfer power from its transmission line to the substation and convert that power for distribution through the City substation to City distribution lines. The check was presented to Mayor Gib Coerper at the May 10 meeting.

The pandemic quarantine created significant disruption in the education system and schools had to revise the ways they taught students and come up with new ways to budget their resources. In recognition of the hard work, resilience, and creativity the teachers of Alachua County demonstrated this year, Alachua County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Carlee Simon asked the City of Alachua to join in proclaiming the month of May as Alachua County Public Schools Teacher and Staff Month. Coerper read the proclamation and presented it to Jackie Johnson, Public Information Director for Alachua County Public Schools.

The Commission considered and approved a request to amend the Official Zoning Atlas from Central Business District (CBD) to Commercial Intensive (CI) on a 1.09-acre property located south of U.S. Highway 441, east of Northwest 147^th Drive, north of the Hitchcock’s Shopping Plaza. The parcel is currently a cleared vacant lot, surrounded by commercial uses including Hitchcock’s Plaza and Rolling Oaks Plaza. The property has been zoned with a commercial zoning designation since at least the 1980s.

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GAINESVILLE – Alachua County Public Schools’ Maria Eunice has become the area’s latest celebrity. It’s her photo on the Wheaties box, but Alachua County Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) director Eunice says her recent national recognition is a tribute to her entire department.

Eunice has been named a ‘Trayblazer’ by General Mills, the U.S.-based company that produces thousands of food products, including the cereal brand Wheaties in its iconic box. The company is currently recognizing school nutrition staff across the nation “who have gone above and beyond to ensure kids are fed in their communities” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Besides being one of four Trayblazers featured on the company’s website, Eunice has received a commemorative Wheaties box replica featuring her name and photo.

“I’m honored to be recognized, but I have to give credit to our amazing team,” said Eunice. “They are committed serving students every day, despite all the challenges of the pandemic.”

Eunice, who has led the FNS Department for 16 years, says that team has made it possible for the district to take advantage of every meal program offered to schools by the federal government. There is a significant amount of additional paperwork, planning and monitoring required for each program, besides all the work required to actually implement them. But Eunice and her staff have made it happen.

Currently the district provides breakfasts, lunches, snacks and suppers in both brick-and-mortar settings and curbside. Since the beginning of the pandemic, FNS has provided more than 6 million free meals to children ages 0 to 18 throughout Alachua County, and those meals will continue through the end of July.

This is not the first national recognition for Eunice recently. Just a few months ago, she was named winner of the prestigious Golden School Foodservice Director of the Year Award, the highest honor awarded by the School Nutrition Association.

Since that award was announced, Eunice has received many calls from colleagues throughout the nation.

“We’ve had a lot of people wanting to know how it is we have been so successful during the pandemic, and how we’ve been able to serve so many children and keep our program thriving,” she said.

During the pandemic, the department has used many innovative strategies to support children, including the delivery of meals by school bus during the shutdown period and the use of QR codes on food bags to provide families with recipes and other important information.

More information about Eunice and the Trayblazer recognition program is available at https://bit.ly/3dvQ1zn. More information about the district’s meal programs is available at www.yourchoicefresh.com.

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