Local

High Springs may soon take over the management of Poe Springs Park in a year-long agreement with Alachua County.

GAINESVILLE – Alachua County Commissioners unanimously approved an agreement Tuesday for the City of High Springs to oversee the daily operation of Alachua County’s Poe Springs Park, which is located along the Santa Fe River. Terms of the agreement include an initial one-year period, which can be renewed.

According to the agreement, the City of High Springs would take charge of the daily staffing and maintenance of the park while the county would review fees, plans, and events at the park. The county would further take charge of larger upkeep such as mowing and building repairs.

“There will be staff for the park as well as volunteers from boy scouts, the lions club and volunteers from the city,” High Springs City Manager Jeri Langman said.

Under the City of High Springs’ management, the park would be open Wednesday through Sunday, with Wednesday and Thursday being free admission days. On weekends, High Springs will charge $5 to $8 per vehicle, and $2 for individuals.  High Springs has proposed to offer annual passes to local families and individuals.

Alachua County currently does not require an admission fee for entrance to the park.

“This will allows us to have something that can draw people to the city since we are one of the lesser known cities in the county,” Langman said. “It will put us on the map and promote Poe Springs to more people.”

The agreement states that after the city has covered its costs through entrance fees, additional revenue will be split between Alachua County and the City of High Springs. The agreement now awaits a final vote of approval from the Alachua County Commission.

Kylee Barnes, 3, sits on a tractor 20 times her age at the 20th Annual Farm Toy and Tractor Show in Newberry on Saturday.

The owner of the 1948 International Harvester tractor was Dan Haas of Ocala. He wore a red baseball cap and a grey shirt that exclaimed, “Yes, I was born in a barn!”

Haas was just one of the tractor owners to participate in the 20^th Annual Farm Toy and Tractor Show on Saturday.

“This brings back fun memories,” Haas said. “Life was harder manually, but life was simpler.”

Hosted by the Newberry Lions Club and the North Florida Antique Tractor Club, the show brought over 500 people to Oak View Middle School to either show off their tractors or watch the tractor parade, according to Lions Club member Don Davis.

Money earned from the event will go to fund local and state sight conservation projects. Money will also fund Lions Club international projects.

Inside the cafeteria, toy tractors, toy seed planters and farm memorabilia were available to purchase.

Jay Grams and his grandsons, Evan Sterry, 15, and Jacob Sterry, 12, had a pink toy tractor for sale. Evan Sterry said the tractor had been sold within the first hour of the event.

Grams said the pink farm toys were especially popular with their female customers. “If they sell well, I might start painting equipment pink,” Grams said.

Grams and his family are from the Ocala area, but other vendors, like Less and Bev Horst, travelled from outside the state for events like these.

Originally from Indiana, the couple has been to 25 different states for farm toy shows. Less Horst said he never takes credit cards for his business, but instead takes a check and a handshake.

Outside, kids were able to take a hayride and spectators could enjoy a burger and watch tractors try to roll a barrel.

At 1 p.m., the tractor parade began. Lines of red, green and yellow tractors grumbled as if they had been awakened from a deep sleep. The owners paraded the decades-old tractors around a cemented path for spectators.

High Springs resident Jarrett Davis, 6, rode a 1948 Ford tractor with his great-uncle, Tommy Copeland. Jarrett said that when driving a tractor, one has to be careful “so we won’t smush stuff.”

Copeland lives in Archer but has been a part of the show since it began in 1992. His tractor has been in the family since his grandfather purchased it for over $2,000 in 1948. That makes the tractor at least two years older than Copeland.

Someone once offered Copeland $10,000 for the tractor, but he refused to sell it.

The Newberry Farm Toy and Tractor Show began when Gene Swilley, who worked at a John Deere Dealership at the time, suggested the idea to Davis. They made several trips to other farm toy shows around the state, Davis said.

They only had five tractors in the first parade, Davis remembered. He also remembered the “light drizzle” on the first day.

Local resident and Lions Club member Bill Stone also remembers the past shows. “I don’t care how cold it got or how hard it rained - there’d always be tractors,” he said.

All five commissioners were in agreement that the annexation of the property into the City of Alachua would be mutually beneficial for both the City and Phoenix Park. Virginia Johns, one of the owners of Phoenix Park, requested a final meeting between city staff and owners of the commercial property to fine-tune several items in the agreement.

Phoenix Commercial Park consists of 146 acres located along U.S. Highway 441 and includes the former Moltech Power Systems battery plant. City commissioners have expressed concern that potential environmental hazards may still exist on the property.

Johns said she could not guarantee that the parcel of land was contaminant- free, but a 2006 environmental study did give Phoenix Park positive reviews.

The property has a brownfield designation, which comes with concerns, but Johns said the designation provides state and county incentives. The designation was given because the property sits adjacent to land that is a confirmed contaminated site.

During the Monday meeting, the city’s consulting attorney, David Theriaque, provided the commission with three options on how to proceed with the annexation. Theriaque has been working with Phoenix Park representatives since a Jan. 24, 2011 meeting to determine possible options available to the city.

Options include the city annexing the property without limitations, or annexing the property and attempting to set up a system where city employees would not perform utility work on site, or abandoning the annexation.

A stated concern is that a city employee performing utility work on the site might come in contact with contaminants, and the city would be held responsible for workers compensation if something happened.

Johns suggested the city look at the property as if it were any other piece of land. If a city employee came to check the meter on a piece of property, he or she would not progress any farther than that meter. It should be the same for Phoenix Park.  At the end of the meeting, Theriaque agreed.

Utilities on the site would remain private, except for sewer.

“I want to be in the city,” Johns said. “But I don’t want to cause any problems.”

Johns does not want Phoenix Park to be required to perform an environmental study every time it breaks ground for construction as extensive costs associated with such prerequisites would cause development to stagnate.

Prior to the next city commission meeting, city staff will assemble documents and studies associated with the property and meet with the owners to review the proposed annexation agreement.

An anticipated transfer of $81,325 from the wastewater fund to the City’s general fund is expected to be taken out of the budget.  The decision comes after the current commission decided not to proceed with increasing wastewater rates.  Without the increased rates, the city would likely be unable to transfer the $81,325 to the general fund and make principle and interest payments on the wastewater system without depleting contingency funds.

If commissioners approve the budget adjustments as discussed, they would eliminate a police lieutenant position from the High Springs Police Department (HSPD) budget.  That cut would bring a savings of $71,558.  Mayor Dean Davis suggested at one point that perhaps officers should be promoted to lieutenant since it’s a salaried position and does not allow for overtime.  Although the position would be removed from the 2011/12 fiscal year budget, commissioners noted that the position may be added back in for the 2012/13 budget.

While HSPD appears to be losing one position, the amendments would call for increasing one part-time officer to full-time.  That brings an expected cost of $30,000.

Interim City Manager Jeri Langman proposed cutting a $1,200 annual mobile phone expense and placing it into a more flexible account that could be used for expenses such as lunches.  But when pressed by Commissioner Sue Weller as to what kind of expenses might be funded with the transfer, Langman said she couldn’t think of anything in particular.  That prompted the commission to plan on using the funds toward a scanner for use by the City Clerk to digitize records.

The City expects to realize a savings of $63,000 for dispatch services as a result of eliminating its own dispatch center and contracting with the Combined Communications Center run by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO).  Not all commissioners are keen on the idea, however.  Commissioner Linda Gestrin said she has received numerous complaints from residents about the delay in response times.

About $5,500 would be cut from travel expenses across several departments.  The City anticipates a $4,000 savings in legal fees.  It has already realized some $8,600 in savings since it hasn’t hired a permanent city manager and another $13,500 since the recreation director position has been vacant.

At a cost of $5,500, the City plans on hiring crossing guards to assist High Springs Community School students crossing County Road 236.  Another $2,000 has been slated for an email backup and archive system.

The recent resignation of Commissioner Eric May means the City will be required to hold an election before the end of April, costing an estimated $2,500.

After hammering out details in a nearly two-hour-long workshop last week, the commission found $44,636 in excess that it plans to move to a contingency fund.  Vice-Mayor Bob Barnas has proposed pledging $20,000 of that contingency toward taking over management of Poe Springs Park, a project he’s pushed for several months.

The proposed budget amendments are on the agenda for the Feb. 9 commission meeting to be held at 6:30 p.m.

Elaine May remembers her mother singing that song when she was growing up. Her mother loved Irish music.

“She’d always tell people, ‘I’m a sucker for an Irish tenor,’” May said.

It’s been over a year since May’s mother stopped singing. Ninety-six-year-old Lila Leach died on Sept. 6, 2010, after she was brutally beaten in her Newberry home at 322 NW 259^th Terrace earlier that year, on July 16.

Her house was found in disarray, leading some to believe it was a burglary.

She was hospitalized at Shands at the University of Florida after the attack, suffering from fractures, broken bones and brain damage. Leach died when she was taken off life support.

The case remains unsolved, but Leach’s family is still hoping for answers.

Living in Florida was a fulfillment for Leach, her daughter said. Originally from Delaware, Leach moved to Florida with her family in 1975. Her mother wasn’t a fan of the cold weather and “falling around on the ice,” according to May.

Leach lived in Gainesville and in Newberry throughout those years.  In 2009, she moved back to Newberry to be closer to her daughter.

“No matter where we went or what we did, she always came back to wanting to live in Florida,” May said.

Leach was not one to stay in one place, though. She loved to travel. May said she remembers going on family trips to St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, New York, Niagara Falls and Arizona.

Even in her final years, Leach would watch the Travel Channel. “I just got back from Siberia,” Leach would tell her family and friends when they called, May said.

She loved to meet people on her travels and to experience different cultures. This attitude was not restrained to being on the road, May said.

Leach was always interested in and surrounded by people. May estimates that wherever she went, there would be at least 20 to 25 people there to routinely tell their problems.

May remembers how a neighbor would tell Leach her problems in Portuguese, stopping every once in a while to say, “I know you don’t know much of my language.” Nevertheless, Leach listened and told her daughter the language was beautiful.

Even at the time of her death, she was never alone for more than three hours, May said.

Though the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office said it still gets occasional leads, it has made no arrests.

Leach is survived by her two daughters and a son. Leach’s Pomeranian dog, named Rya, lives with May.

May said she hopes that the criminal is caught, because as long as he or she is free, there’s a possibility it could happen again. She said she counted at least 11 other elderly people in the area where her mother was attacked.

Anyone with information related to Leach’s death is urged to call the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office at 352-955-1818.

During the workshop, which begins at 5:30 p.m., commissioners are to discuss how to proceed with the city manager hiring process.  During the regular meeting at 6:30, commissioners may consider appointing someone to fill the seat vacated last week by Commissioner Eric May.  Also up for a vote are proposed budget amendments.

Although it is uncertain what commissioners will do with the city manager position, two commissioners have previously voted to appoint Interim City Manager Jeri Langman to take over the post permanently.

Of the five candidates picked by commissioners to be on the final list, W.D. Higginbotham, Jr. is apparently the only candidate in the running for the city manager job.  Higginbotham was a city manager for Gainesville during the 1980s.  Most of the other would-be candidates bowed out after commissioners said they wanted someone who would be willing to assume the role without a severance package and without travel expenses.

During a January meeting, Vice-Mayor Bob Barnas and Commissioner Linda Gestrin attempted to name Langman to the permanent job.  Commissioner Sue Weller and May opposed the measure and it ultimately failed when Mayor Dean Davis said he was in opposition because he didn’t like the city’s form of government.

At a budget workshop on Feb. 2, the commission considered cutting the available salary for a new city manager.  But after Weller voiced opposition, Barnas said the budget reduction could wait until the Feb. 9 workshop, when commissioners decide how to proceed with the city manager position.  During the commission meeting immediately following the workshop, commissioners could appoint Langman to be the permanent city manager.

The commission could also appoint an interim commissioner to fill the vacancy in Seat 5 left by May’s resignation last week.  According to High Springs’ city charter, the commission may appoint an interim commissioner to fill the seat until the special election.  The City is required by the charter to hold a special election to fill Seat 5 no later than April 29.

Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Pam Carpenter has asked the city to schedule the election for April 10, the same day two other municipalities are conducting elections.  The commission is scheduled to consider the election and a possible interim appointment at the Thursday meeting.

The commission is also expected to adopt an amended 2011/12 fiscal year budget following a workshop conducted last week.  The proposed budget changes call for the elimination of a police lieutenant position, travel expenses and a wastewater fund transfer.  See related story, High Springs budget could affect plans on page A*.

The Feb. 9 workshop will begin at 5:30 with discussion about the city manager hiring process, followed by the commission meeting at 6:30 at High Springs City Hall.