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ARCHER‒ Archer residents can soon expect improved internet access in their area. On Tuesday, July 18, Cox Communications announced the expansion of its footprint in Alachua County as part of the company’s commitment to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to reach underserved and rural communities across the country.

This expansion will allow Cox to provide reliable symmetrical gigabit internet speeds across a fiber-powered network to nearly 500 residents and businesses in Archer.

During the celebration announcement held at the Archer Community Center, Cox also presented a $10,000 gift to The Education Foundation of Alachua County to benefit Archer Elementary School’s reading and STEM programs.

“Connectivity is at the heart of everything we do, and bringing strong broadband connections to more homes and businesses in Archer will have a positive ripple effect throughout the community,” said Mark Greatrex, president of Cox Communications.

In addition to private investments, Cox is also seeking public-private partnerships to help accelerate broadband deployment to unserved and underserved communities. Earlier this month, through Florida’s Broadband Infrastructure Program, Cox was awarded funds to further extend service in areas of northwest and central Florida to households without access to reliable broadband.

The company says that in the last 10 years, it has invested more than $11 billion in network upgrades and will continue making multibillion-dollar annual infrastructure investments over the next several years.

Residents interested in learning more about the service should visit Cox.com/getfiber.

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ALACHUA COUNTY ‒ School starts Aug. 10, and Alachua County Public Schools is urging parents to register new students now. Schools are open this week and next week to help parents register their children.

The advice is aimed at the families of students who will be entering an Alachua County public school for the first time, such as kindergarteners, students who’ve just moved into the district or those entering an ACPS school from a private, charter or home school option. Students who have moved or will be moving to a new school zone within the district also need to register at their new school.

“Families can get through the registration process much more quickly if they do it sooner rather than later,” said the district’s director of communications Jackie Johnson. “The lines at school offices tend to get longer the closer we get to the first day of school.”

Other disadvantages of late registration for students include delays in starting class and fewer course options, particularly in middle and high schools. District and school staff are hoping to reduce the last-minute registrations that make preparations for the upcoming school year more difficult. Without accurate information on the number of students who will be attending a school, what grades they’re in and what courses and services they’ll need, scheduling is much more complicated.

If a child will be entering an Alachua County Public School for the first time, parents should go to www.sbac.edu/enrollment and complete the online registration form. They will then need to take required documents to their zoned school, including the child’s birth certificate, two proofs of primary residence, proof of a recent physical and proof of immunizations.

The Alachua County Health Department is offering free school immunizations and $35 school physicals seven days a week. Interested families should call 352-334-7910 to make an appointment.

Those who’ve moved to a different school zone within the county will just need to take two proofs of the new residence to the school.

Parents who aren’t sure which school their child is zoned for or who need more information can visit the enrollment webpage, contact the district’s zoning office at 352-955-7700 or email zoning@gm.sbac.edu

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ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - Alachua County Public Works reminds drivers about school bus safety. The penalty for failure to stop for a school bus is $200, and if a second offense is committed within five years, the person’s license will be suspended for up to one year. The penalty for passing a school bus on the side that children enter and exit when the school bus displays a stop signal is $400, and if a second offense is committed within five years, the person’s license can be suspended for up to two years.

• Motorists are required to stop when approaching a school bus that is stopped with its red lights flashing and stop arms extended (See the different situations in the diagram).
• All drivers moving in either direction on a two-way street must stop for a school bus displaying a stop signal and must remain stopped until the road is clear of children, and the school bus stop arm is withdrawn (see diagram, TWO-LANE).
• On a highway divided by a paved median, all drivers moving in either direction must stop for a school bus displaying a stop signal and remain stopped until the road is clear of children and the school bus stop arm is withdrawn. (see diagram, MULTI-LANE).
• The only time traffic approaching an oncoming school bus does not need to stop is if there is a raised barrier such as a concrete divider or at least five feet of unpaved space separating the lanes of traffic (see diagram, DIVIDED HIGHWAY).
• On a highway divided by a raised barrier or an unpaved median at least five feet wide, drivers moving in the opposite direction do not have to stop for the bus (painted lines or pavement markings are not considered barriers). However, these motorists should slow down and watch for students loading or unloading from the bus (see diagram, DIVIDED HIGHWAY).

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ An application for an “Educators’ Mural” to be placed in front of the historic old school house and concerns about a zoning change to allow for a multi-family planned development were issues of concern at the July 27 High Springs City Commission meeting.

Mural Application

Murals remain a subject of debate in High Springs. Although the Historic Preservation Board voted 4-0 against recommending placement of the “Educators’ Mural” in front of the old school building, the item appeared on the July 27 City Commission meeting agenda. The Educators’ Mural contains artwork highlighting Thomas “Pop” Diedeman and Essie Mae Williams Gassett, both educators at the former school.

The Heart of High Springs group proposes the mural be placed in front of the old school building, not on the building, along with associated landscaping, which the group said they would maintain.

The Historic Preservation Board’s reasoning for denial on July 17 was the mural’s placement on City-owned property. The Board suggested finding an alternate location. An additional issue raised with the proposed placement was blocking a window view and also being located where the popular Pioneer Days shootout has been located for the past several years.

City Manager Ashley Stathatos said that the proposed mural is in compliance with the City’s historic preservation regulations and mural ordinance.

Although drawings and photos were provided by the Heart of High Springs, it was unclear to some Commissioners exactly how high the mural would be and whether it would block the building’s windows.

Suggestions were floated to either place the mural at Lee’s Preschool, the side of the High Springs Police Station facing the old school building or at the High Springs Community School.

The Commission tabled the item and requested that the Heart of High Springs provide drawings to scale to see whether the mural would block some of the old school building’s windows.

Springs Garden Village Agreement

The proposed multi-family housing development, Springs Garden Village, faced some pushback from the Commission at the Thursday meeting. The Commission ultimately approved the Developer’s Agreement with the City but tabled a rezoning request by developer Trinacria Estates, LLC.

The proposed project is a master planned multi-family/duplex development with a maximum of 38 units with a minimum size of 1,000 square feet. The proposed project location is on 3.71 +/- acres with Northwest 176^th Street to the north, Southside Court to the east and South Main Street to the west.

The agreement offers the City higher standards than current regulations require. “The stipulations in the Development Agreement that the developer has agreed to are above and beyond what is required by City Code,” Stathatos said.

The agreement specifies the use of City water and sewer, five-foot sidewalks, enhanced subdivision entrances, increased landscaping and native vegetation requirements. A 30-foot buffer along the west side and 10-foot buffer along the north, east and south sides and architectural design guidelines are also included in the agreement.

Based on an earlier hearing by the Planning and Zoning Board, eda Consultant’s Planning Director Clay Sweger, representing the developer, said the developer agreed to put up a six-foot fence along two sides of the property and a berm to help mitigate noise from industrial businesses across the street. Commissioner Ross Ambrose wanted more density in the setbacks to help keep noise levels to a minimum for the residents.

A concern voiced in the previous meeting was the claim that sinkholes were present on the property. The City’s engineers, Mittauer & Associates, and the developer’s engineering firm, GSE Engineering and Consulting, had both walked the property and provided letters stating that no sinkholes were found on the property, but that further geological studies needed to be done during the engineering phase of the development.

The Commission approved the developer’s agreement in a 3-1 vote with Commissioner Katherine Weitz casting the dissenting vote. A stipulation of the approval was that staff will work with the developers to mitigate traffic on Southside Court and determine if the driveway could be moved more to the west. The landscape plan will be considered along with the site plan when the plant buffering could be addressed.

Springs Garden Village Rezoning

Regarding the same 3.71 +/- acre property, the developer requested to change the current zoning classification from C-2 (Commercial) to PD (Planned Development).

The project, located along High Springs Main Street just north of the Dollar General, is a 38-unit multi-family development, with units in duplex style buildings.

At the July 17 Plan Board meeting, the Board recommended approval with conditions that there be sound barriers and ground density reports from the applicant.

At that meeting, the matter of possible sinkholes was raised, which prompted the City to engage City engineers Mittauer & Associates to visit the site, resulting in the letter of no sinkholes found, which was discussed in the developer’s agreement.

Weitz and Commissioner Byran Williams both expressed concern about the zoning change. As Commissioner Tristan Grunder was not present at this meeting, a motion was made by Ambrose and seconded by Williams to table this item until all five commissioners would be present to vote on the issue.

Mayor’s Youth Council

In other business, the Commission approved an ordinance on first reading to amend the Mayor’s Youth Council Ordinance to change the number of Board Members from seven to five members and two alternates. The ordinance permits the alternates to vote. Another change has to do with the board members’ terms, which will now begin and expire in November of each year instead of in April.

The Board is made up of students from High Springs who are in eighth through twelfth grades. Students can be in private, public or homeschooled to qualify.

SROs

The Commission also approved an agreement between the City of High Springs Police Department and the Alachua County School Board, requiring the School Board to pay up to $60,071 as its share of funding for a School Resource Officer (SRO) for First Christian Academy for the 2023-24 school year.

Millage Rate

The Commission set the tentative millage rate for Fiscal Year 2023-24 at 6.99 mills for the purpose of notifying citizens through the “Truth in Millage” TRIM requirement that will be sent out by Alachua County.

This amount is higher than the Commission expects will be required once the budget is set, and the Commission can set a final millage rate at a lower amount to match the budget.

The City will conduct its first budget workshop on the General Fund Departments on Thursday, Aug. 3. The public hearing to consider the proposed “not to exceed” millage rate and tentative budget is Thursday, Sept. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall Commission Chambers.

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WALDO – A proposed road project in Waldo has created a stir among residents. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) held a community meeting on Thursday, July 20, at Waldo City Square to discuss State Road 24 northbound through the City of Waldo, starting at Northeast 141^st Drive. At that point the road would transition to a single lane by putting a turn lane into Northeast 141^st Drive. This would essentially end the right lane and make it one lane in the center of the two original lanes.

The project cost is $23.4 million, which covers the entire road project from Gainesville to Waldo, starting at the south entrance of the Gainesville Airport and ending in Waldo where State Road 24 and Highway 301 merge. FDOT’s anticipated completion date is in 2024.

Due to a request from the City of Waldo to slow down traffic and add a bike path from Gainesville through Waldo, FDOT engineers proposed to reduce SR 24 travel lanes, starting west of Northeast 141^st Drive to U.S. 301, from two eastbound lanes to one lane, adding pedestrian crossings and a parking/bicycle lane. Residents asking to slow down traffic also believe the change will encourage economic development in the downtown area.

While FDOT’s proposed changes may help accomplish that goal, there are significant issues with each of the proposed changes discussed. Traffic at certain times of the day is particularly heavy on the two existing lanes. Some residents expressed concern that narrowing the roadway to one lane would bottleneck traffic. Also of concern was parking in the area. If the parking lane is used as a bicycle lane, parking would be reduced in the downtown area.

Adding a turn lane in the area of Northeast 141^st Drive, which connects U.S. 301 to Waldo Road, could be helpful in disbursing traffic. But local residents in that area are against the additional traffic that would run through their neighborhood to connect on the small side street to State Road 301.

“Citizens expressed valid concerns,” said City Manager Kim Worley. While some residents want traffic slowed, others fear congested traffic and lack of parking may adversely impact downtown business owners and residents. “It’s difficult to know what is best because there are pros and cons to every option,” she said.

Residents suggested a traffic light, but FDOT is not likely to approve that option said Worley. Some citizens were concerned about the $23.4 million price tag for the project, but Worley said that FDOT is going to spend that amount on resurfacing and striping the roadway whether the road remains as is or whether the proposed changes are made.

FDOT accepted comments on the project until the end of July. FDOT Engineer David Tyler was not available to comment on other suggestions that may have been made online.

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HAWTHORNE ‒ Kaytee Kaitlyn Hesters, 31, of Hawthorne, was arrested on Sunday, July 23, and charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after allegedly threatening her ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend with a gun and accelerating her car toward the same woman.

At about 12:20 p.m., an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to a call about an armed disturbance at the Holden Park Boat Ramp. The victim, who is the current girlfriend of Hesters’ ex-boyfriend, said that she, her boyfriend and her four-year-old son were fishing at the boat ramp when Hesters arrived, parked in the entrance way, got out of her 2017 Dodge Journey and began arguing with the victim.

The victim told the deputy that Hesters said, “I got something for y’all,” then took a small pink and white bag from the back of her car, pulled a black semi-automatic handgun from the bag and held it up so the victim could clearly see she was holding a weapon. The victim said she interpreted Hesters’ actions as a credible threat of bodily harm.

The victim began recording the incident on her cell phone. Hesters allegedly got back in her car and accelerated directly at the victim who was attempting to walk away and avoid the defendant’s vehicle. The defendant’s vehicle then came to a quick stop about eight inches from the victim. Hesters then reportedly put her car into reverse and left the area. The victim reportedly provided the video, which showed parts of the incident, to the deputy.

A deputy pulled Hesters’ car over a short time later on Southeast Hawthorne Road and detained her. The deputy reported that a pink and white bag was in plain view in the car and that a gun was found inside the bag. Several children were in the defendant’s vehicle at the time of the traffic stop.

Post Miranda, Hesters reportedly said she was at the boat ramp first and that the victim arrived and started the argument. She said the victim brandished a firearm and that she accelerated quickly to leave but did not drive directly toward the victim. When she was asked about the events shown in the video, she reportedly said the victim walked in front of her as she was trying to turn to leave the parking lot. When she was asked about the gun, she reportedly said she didn’t know how the victim knew about the pink and white bag because she never removed it from the back seat of her car.

Hesters has a juvenile criminal history but no adult convictions.

Judge Thomas M. Jaworski released Hesters on her own recognizance.

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