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ALACHUA - Robert Wilford, Alachua city commissioner, was watching television at his home in Turkey Creek when his wife told him to come outside and listen.

“It sounded like a jet engine,” he said.

They heard the newly operational Gainesville Renewable Energy Center (GREC) generating electricity. Since late August, when the GREC biomass plant started running, some residents of Turkey Creek in Alachua have been vocal about the noise and dust pollution coming from the energy center.

On the Sept. 23 city commission meeting in Alachua, about three dozen residents came to the commissioners with their grievances.

“It’s definitely something that’s affecting a lot of people,” said Adam Boukari, assistant city manager. “It’s a really serious issue.”

In 2010, residents of Turkey Creek were assured they wouldn’t even know the biomass plant was there, Wilford said. State-of-the-art technology was supposed to minimize noise and pollution, but that didn’t happen, he said.

“When they cranked it up in August and the noise came up, it was a total shock to everybody,” he said.

One neighbor reported the plant was running at 3:30 a.m. on Monday morning.

Alachua County is focusing its efforts on putting people in touch with the right agency, said Chris Bird, director of the Environmental Protection Department. Since the biomass plant is in Gainesville, the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) is in charge of enforcing the city’s noise ordinances. The Alachua County Environmental Protection Department is responsible for looking into the issue of dust pollution coming from the wood piles at the plant.

The complaints at the Sept. 23 city commission meeting were evenly split between the issues of noise and dust pollution, Boukari said.

The commission voted to send letters out to several officials, including county commissioners, city commissioners, the county manager, state legislators and U.S. senators.

The city is encouraging Alachua residents to reach out and voice their concerns, he said, and will listen for feedback.

“We’re keeping our ears close to the ground,” Boukari said.

The county’s environmental protection agency will conduct tests to measure the amount of wood dust in the air, Bird said. It has already established wood piles at the plant as the source of the pollution, but the extent is still unclear.

Some employees of the nearby compound for the Alachua County public works department have complained about health problems.

“We’ve had reports of irritated eyes, nose and throats, congestion and breathing issues,” he said.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) doesn’t allow fugitive dust particles. If the plant is found in violation of DEP guidelines, it could be ordered to fix the problem or face a fine if it doesn’t comply. It could also face losing some of its permits.

“Hopefully, what people are complaining about is going to get fixed,” Bird said.

The last few months have been rainy, but he wondered what would happen under dryer conditions, where the dust would be more susceptible to getting blown into the air.

“What happens when we get into a drought?” he asked. “GREC needs to figure out how to manage this dust so it doesn’t become a problem during a drought.”

Commissioner Wilford was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis two years ago, and worries about the effect the pollution might have on his health.

“If it’s not cleared up, certainly I will be concerned,” he said.

He wrote an email to several local officials expressing his dissatisfaction with the biomass plant.

“I realize that you are being bombarded with a plethora of complaints regarding GREC's operations. Being brutally candid, based on the manner in which GREC is failing to address the many valid concerns being expressed by residents of the Turkey Creek, Brooke Pointe and Staghorn subdivisions, residents of the Town of Hague, residents of the manufactured home subdivision located across from the Turkey Creek subdivision, and also some residents of non-incorporated Alachua County who live close to the center, you and the management of GREC have ignominiously earned the wrath of the many individuals and families who are being continually and adversely impacted by your center's questionable operations and the obvious lack of regard for our individual rights,” he wrote.

County commissioners have received several similar emails from other residents.

“If this noise continues, I will be forced to go to a fine rated motel and I will send you'll the invoice,” wrote Paul Yatsko, from Alachua. “You need to close this operation down until all the noise and dirt problems are solved.”

County Commissioner Susan Baird said that like Wilford, she was told the plant wouldn’t be a problem.

“As a county commissioner, I think it’s our responsibility to examine these noise levels right away,” she said. “When 30 people show up at a city meeting, there’s a problem.”

Rick Wolf, assistant director of the county’s Department of Growth Management, wrote to Baird saying the maximum noise level for a commercial property is 60 decibels during the day and 66 during the night. Any facility in violation will be considered a noise disturbance, he said.

Because the source of the noise is in Gainesville and most of the complaints are coming from the city of Alachua, the county probably doesn’t have the jurisdiction to do anything, Wolf said. A meeting is planned for Oct. 8, where the county will hopefully decide on a policy, he said.

GREC has hired consultants to perform their own tests.

Alachua City Commissioner Ben Boukari spoke with GREC representatives on Sept. 30, according to an email he wrote to the county commission.

“What I have learned is that GREC doesn’t deny there is a noise issue,” he wrote. “They are waiting for information to come back to them that will allow them to identify what specifically is causing the noise.”

GREC experts expect to have the information in two weeks, he wrote.

Local law enforcement has already performed some preliminary tests which showed the noise level, while loud, was below the legal limit, said Ben Tobias, spokesman for the GPD. However, the tests were only taken over a period of one night, and are not necessarily indicative of the average volume level of the plant. For a more accurate understanding, tests will have to be conducted over a longer period of time.

“The issue is obviously not resolved,” Tobias said. “We’re not just going to stop with one set of measurements.”

While the state DEP, Alachua County Environmental Protection Department and other local agencies look into some of the complaints, the City of Alachua is weighing its options and waiting to see test results, said Adam Boukari, assistant city manager.

The issues coming from the biomass plant undermine the reason people moved to neighborhoods like Turkey Creek, Commissioner Wilford said.

“We can’t enjoy the peace and tranquility that we used to have,” he said.

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High Springs – The High Springs Police Department (HSPD) was given permission to open a trust fund at a city commission meeting on Thursday, Sept. 26.

The commission decided to grant the police department permission to open a trust fund for money that comes from confiscated and seized property, said Ed Booth, city manager of High Springs.

The issue was brought forward after the police department seized a vehicle and some money, said the new finance director, Hubert Jacques.

According to Florida statute, money acquired through seizure must be placed into a trust fund as approved by the state, or in this case, the city commission.

Before the meeting, the High Springs Police Department did not have a trust fund, but Jacques has been looking to improve the police department.

He started with the confiscation and seized property trust fund.

“We’re getting in line with what the state requires, and that’s because we have a new finance director,” Booth said.

The trust fund will place the money from confiscated or seized property, which could come from money or property that was seized and later sold, into an account, Jacques said.

Once the money is placed in the trust fund, it will be spent on what the state deems necessary for the police department, he said

Jacques is looking into areas to help improve the department and the trust fund is one that the HSPD needed, Booth said.

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GAINESVILLE – In a half-empty office, with only a few boxes remaining, half packed, Superintendent Dan Boyd, sits in a chair at an empty table and talks about his last few days in office.

Boyd, 72, left his position as superintendent of Alachua County on Monday evening after serving as a Florida educator for, what Boyd would say, 49 and a quarter years. Of those 49 and a quarter, Boyd spent nine of them as the superintendent.

His last week in office has not been like a normal week. Between school events and packing his office up, it’s been much more hectic than usual, he said. Some of the stress comes from the number of celebrations he’s been to, most notably Gainesville High School’s commemorative event for him Wednesday, Sept. 25.

“I enjoyed it,” Boyd said. “It was nice. I got to see a lot of former teachers and people in the community that have meant a lot to me. It was a nice way to say goodbye.”

Of all the schools in Alachua County, Gainesville High School is the one that stands out the most for him. Like the first-born son to a mother and father, Gainesville High School sealed its place in Boyd’s heart as he spent 24 years there as the principal, he said.

Even if his last week at work was slow and calm, Boyd still wouldn’t regret his decision to retire three years early. He’s ready to read, hunt and spend time with his family.

“I’ll get a book and get up in a tree and sit there all day and read and watch to see what comes down the trail, and if it’s something good, then so be it,” Boyd said.

Boyd won’t just be focusing on his recreational activities like hunting and reading, but he’s excited to spend time with his daughters and grandchildren as well. His oldest granddaughter is going into ninth grade at Gainesville High School next year, and Boyd is interested in seeing her experience the high school where he worked for the majority of his career.

While Boyd is confident with his decision to retire, he won’t forget his proudest moments in his career. He will always be known for becoming a principal at Gainesville High School in 1971, he said, as tension between races grew shortly after desegregation.

During a time of serious racial conflict, Boyd looked to student government and sports to bring together the students and instill a sense of school pride. After three years of integrated sports, clubs and band, tensions began to ease, Boyd said.

Later in Boyd’s career when he became superintendent, he looked to unite the Alachua County Middle schools the same way he brought the students of Gainesville High School together, through sports. With a lot of work and campaigning for sports at middle schools, Boyd was granted approval to install three small sports into each of the middle schools. They were girls and boys basketball, volleyball and soccer.

“I have never missed a final or championship game the entire time I’ve been here,” Boyd said.

But his biggest and most memorable achievement is when Gainesville High School received a sports complex after a 20-year struggle to have one built, he said. The sports complex was built while he was still a principal for the school, but when he left it was named after him.

“They even named it in my honor when I left in 1995,” Boyd said. “It was called the W.D. Boyd Education Athletic Complex. I guess it was named for me because I stuck with it for 20 years.”

But in that mostly empty office that still held those half packed boxes, on his final day there, Boyd offered a piece of advice to all future superintendents: Trust the people you work with and to remember everyone is different, nobody is the same.

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ALACHUA – The Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator (SMBI) in Alachua was ranked as one of the best university incubators in the world this month, during the 16th Annual BioFlorida Conference.

During the conference, key personnel from SMBI received awards displaying their aptitude as business leaders and entrepreneurs of biotechnology.

Patti Breedlove, director of the SMBI, was a recipient of the BioFlorida Leadership Award.

Under Breedlove’s leadership, SMBI was ranked by Sweden-based research group University Business Incubator (UBI) as the world’s best incubator.

The ranking came after an extensive analysis of 150 incubators in 22 countries.

“The award is really gratifying, a whole group of us here work hard every day and it is nice to see our work recognized,” Breedlove said, “We have been really fortunate, and had such a good unique opportunity to do things that are hard in other places; it’s been a lot of fun.”

Breedlove has been working for SMBI since 1998, starting in a junior position and working her way up to director.

James Talton, CEO of Nanotherapeutics, a graduate company of SMBI, was awarded the Weaver H. Gaines Entrepreneurship Award.

Talton received the award for making extraordinary contributions to the growth of the life sciences. He could not be reached for comment.

The 16th annual BioFlorida conference was held in Tampa, Fla. from Sept. 15 to 17.

BioFlorida is known as the voice of Florida’s life sciences industry.

It hands out four awards each year.

Guests of the conference included business executives, scientist and stakeholders.

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NEWBERRY –Nations Park will hold its Columbus Day Classic tournament Oct. 11 to13, and its Halloween Bash tournament Nov. 2 through 3.

While this may be considered business as usual, the Newberry City Commission has been having preliminary discussions about renegotiating the entire process of running Nations Park, said City Manager Keith Ashby.

The Newberry Department of Parks and Recreation, Gainesville Sports Commission, United States Specialty Sports, Elite Pro Ball Academy and girls softball programs have been involved in the discussion.

“Depending on how they renegotiate the process, we believe the Gainesville Sports Commission may end up being the mangers of the field in operation.

If all goes well with the new contracts, the first tournament put together under the new arrangement will be in December, Ashby said.

The sports commission has started to discuss bringing in events to the park and forming new partnerships, said executive director Joleen Cacciatori.

In addition to the two upcoming tournaments, Perfect Game will hold its North Florida qualifier super 25 series on Nov. 23 to 24.

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Becky Sue is driving down Archer Road and checks her phone for the text message she just received. At the same time, the Honda in front of her breaks for the stoplight they are approaching. Without noticing this, Becky crashes into the back of the Honda before she can even look up from her phone’s screen.

Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent – at 55 mph – of driving the length of an entire football field while blind, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

Starting on Oct. 1, texting while driving is illegal in the state of Florida.

The new texting and driving law prohibits texting, emailing, or instant messaging on any handheld device while the vehicle is in motion.

The fine for a first offense is $30 while the fine for a second offense is $60, according to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office website.

Some law enforcement officials, however, feel this is only a small improvement for cracking down on dangerous driving habits.

“This will not have the large impact that everyone is hoping for, being that it is a secondary offense,” said Officer Ben Tobias, spokesman for the Gainesville Police Department. “Some will be disappointed with it, but I feel it is a step in the right direction.”

A secondary offense means that an officer must see you commit another infraction, such as speeding or not wearing a seatbelt, in order to penalize you for texting.

This could change in the future, just as the seatbelt law did, which also began as a secondary offense, said Lt. Todd Kelly, with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.

Drivers will be allowed to text while at red lights or stopped in traffic, in accordance with the “in-motion” aspect of the law. It will also be acceptable for drivers to continue use of hands-free texting methods, or to report criminal activity while driving, according to the sheriff’s office.

The main goal for this law is not to punish people heavily for texting and driving, but instead to change the culture and behavior of drivers today, Kelly said.

“People have become so accustomed to just grabbing their phone and sending a text home ‘real quick’, without realizing the dangers that can pose for themselves and their fellow drivers,” he said.

Along with the Gainesville Police Department, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office will continue to make efforts to educate drivers and try to prevent more incidents from occurring, Kelly said.

There is not currently a statistic that is kept through the Sheriff’s office regarding the number of infractions involving texting, but this could be something else that will change, as the law now requires these records to be kept.

Florida is only the latest out of 40 other states in the country to ban texting while driving. Kelly said he feels the action was long overdue.

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