Local

WALDO ‒ Dennis James Alton, 49, and Billie Jo Marie Dowling, 45, were arrested Saturday, Feb. 25, after Dowling padlocked Alton in a room of their home in an attempt to prevent his arrest on a warrant. Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies went to the couple’s home in Waldo on Saturday morning to serve a warrant on Alton for violation of probation in a 2015 case of aggravated stalking against Dowling. The warrant was originally issued in 2016 after Alton moved without notifying his probation officer.

Deputies set up a perimeter around the residence and made verbal announcements for Alton to come outside. Dowling reportedly came to the back door and told deputies she would come back out when she was dressed. Deputies reported hearing furniture being moved around inside the home after she closed the door.

Dowling reportedly came out to talk to deputies in front of the house and told them that she hadn’t seen Alton for a month and didn’t know whether he was in the house. She went inside and reportedly called out for him a few times, then went inside a room, where deputies could hear her talking to someone. When she came out of the room, she was holding a padlock, and a deputy reportedly saw her locking the door of the room with the padlock. She then went out to the front porch and sat down, reportedly continuing to deny that Alton was inside the house.

When deputies asked Dowling where she put the key to the padlock, she reportedly said she didn’t know where it was and also would not tell deputies why she locked the room.

Alton was reportedly found hiding under the bed in the padlocked room. Dowling reportedly acted surprised when he was escorted out of the home.

Both defendants have been charged with resisting or obstructing officers without violence.

Post Miranda, Dowling reportedly confessed that she knew he was in the bedroom the whole time and that she intentionally tried to hide him from deputies.

Post Miranda, Alton reportedly admitted hiding under the bed when he realized deputies were at the house.

Alton has one felony conviction and was sentenced to probation, which he is now charged with violating. His warrant specifies that he be held without bond, however, court records indicate a bond set at $10,000.

Arraignment is scheduled for violation of probation on March 14.

Dowling has been released from the Alachua County Jail.

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HIGH SPRINGS – One person was escorted out of the Feb. 23 High Springs Commission meeting as tempers flared. The root of the controversy was the agenda item “Discuss, consider and act on City support for High Springs Chamber of Commerce operations and events.” A number of people attended the meeting, speaking out about the matter. One resident, Janet Evans, said she felt like the Chamber is being targeted. The meeting turned into a near free-for-all when Evans later attempted to speak a second time on the topic.

In an effort to maintain control of the meeting, Mayor Gloria James explained that Evans had already spoken and others were waiting their turn to speak. At that point Evans began shouting at another meeting attendee, Bruce Borders, who had stood up and was heading to the podium.

High Springs Police Chief Antoine Sheppard and another officer escorted Evans out of the room. After about five minutes, Evans slipped back into the room silently and listened for a few minutes and left the meeting shortly thereafter.

Rumors had been circulating throughout the community that the City wanted to take over Chamber events, a notion that City Manager Ashley Stathatos refuted, saying that the City would like to be an equal partner with the Chamber to help make the events larger and help support the business community. “We would like to be included in planning and visioning with the Chamber as equal partners,” said Stathatos.

Stathatos presented a list of the functions City staff had already performed for the Chamber’s Christmas Parade. She pointed out that there is no budget for assisting the Chamber with their events so she has had to cut out other budgeted items in an effort to keep departments within their budgets when they work overtime to support a Chamber event.

Chamber President Sharon Decker addressed the Commission to say she welcomes a partnership with the City. “I have never said I didn’t want to work with the City,” Decker said.

A cross section of residents and business owners, as well as a former city commission, weighed in on the matter. Former High Springs City Commissioner Linda Jones, an apparent self-appointed liaison between the City and Chamber, said that Decker was not receiving any communication from the City. Stathatos countered by saying Decker has her cell phone number and has called her over the weekend and at night. She said the only time she had not responded was when her children were visiting from out of state.

Business owner Jessica Caldes, who works in partnership with the City on the Summer Arts Camp, said her program has done well in partnership with the City.

Business owner Jeffery Connolly said the day of the Christmas parade was his biggest day ever. Chamber member Andrew Miller talked about the growth in the number of floats and Pioneer Days vendors.

Backers of Decker included Lanier Smith, who read a letter, which had been provided to the Commission, in support of Decker. Sharon Decker’s husband, Don Decker, asked for the City to give the Chamber support. But not everyone at the meeting voiced support one way or another, with Alice Brown saying she was more confused after listening to the discussion.

Commissioner Katherine Weitz suggested that the City consider adding a charge for review of Special Event Permits, which is what the Chamber and others would have to submit prior to obtaining permission for their event.

Following discussion, Stathatos said she would submit Special Event Permits to the Commission so that they could tell how much the City would be contributing and they could determine whether to exceed the City budget. There was no further conversation about the matter, and the Commission moved on to another agenda topic.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board met on Feb. 9 to consider one item, a Commercial Façade Improvement Grant application for Prohibition Pizza. The grant request was initially submitted on Oct. 20, 2022 by the owners, David and Kelly Potter.

The grant amount was for $5,000 to help pay a portion of a new roof on a building located next door to the Priest Theater at 18559 N.W. 237^th Street.

The roof was estimated to cost $15,500 and had already been installed. During the meeting it was pointed out that normally CRA grants are not approved after the work has been completed. High Springs City Manager Ashley Stathatos said that the application was submitted prior to the work being done, and through no fault of the property owners, the request could not be heard until this meeting. Staff recommended approval of the grant.

Board members agreed as they unanimously approved the grant application request and wished the owners well in their endeavors to get the business open.

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ALACHUA ‒ A car repossession led to violence and an Alachua resident has been charged with attempted homicide.

Winzoir Von Durr, 73, was arrested on Wednesday, Feb. 15, after allegedly shooting at a man who was repossessing his daughter’s car.

At about 9:45 a.m., an Alachua County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a call reporting that shots had been fired in the 14700 block of Northwest 270^th Avenue. The victim’s employer said that an unknown man had shot at her employee while he was attempting to repossess a car.

The victim told the deputy that he had spoken to Durr at the door of his residence and Durr had asked what it would take to avoid the repossession and that Durr then went back inside to get “paperwork.” While the victim was backing up to leave, he heard a “pop.” He said he saw Durr near the front door of the residence, pointing a gun at him and then heard five more shots. The victim said he then sped away, in fear for his life.

Durr reportedly admitted knowing that his daughter was behind in payments on her car and he admitted taking his gun from his office when he realized the recovery agent was leaving with his daughter’s car. Durr reportedly admitted firing a “warning shot,” then said he shot three more rounds at the tires to prevent the victim from leaving.

The deputy reported finding a black Smith & Wesson Model 59 9 mm pistol in Durr’s office and four 9 mm shell casings near fresh tire tracks in the front yard, consistent with a vehicle leaving the area at a high rate of speed.

Durr has no criminal record. Bail has been set at $15,000.

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NEWBERRY ‒ The Newberry City Commission has given final zoning approval for a development of 636 homes and 140,000 square feet of commercial properties. The 220 +/- acre property was rezoned from Agricultural (A) to Planned Development (PD). The Commission, at the Feb. 27 commission meeting, approved the zoning change for the property located south of West Newberry Road/State Road 26 and west of Southwest 202nd Street. Development of the property is planned for four phases which is to occur over a 20-year period.

CPAs & Zoning

The Commission also gave unanimous approval to rezone four properties from Alachua County Agricultural to City of Newberry Agriculture (A). These properties were annexed into Newberry on July 11, 2022.

Properties rezoned included 22.75 +/- acres owned by Joshua P. and Tracie A. Blackford located on the west side of the intersection of Northwest County Road 235 and Northwest 46^th Avenue; 4.35 +/- acres owned by Clifton A. and Shari D. Brown located on the west side of Northwest 32^nd Avenue; 20.68 +/- acres owned by Richard Marion Fowler II located on the southwest corner of West Newberry Road/State Road 26 and Southwest 266^th Street; and 40 +/- acres owned by Martin and Martin (20 acres) and Todd and Lori Martin (20 acres) located on the east side of Northwest 298^th Street.

CR 337 Water Main Extension

A $1,249,227 base bid for the County Road 337 water main extension was awarded to Andrews Paving, Inc. Director of Utilities and Public Works Jamie Jones said the project has already been approved as part of the current budget. Construction on this project is set to begin in late April or early May.

Consent Agenda

Construction plans were approved by resolution for a 45 +/- acre property owned by Jilanne Belcher. The property is located at the northwest corner of Southwest 15^th Avenue and Southwest 170^th Street. The construction plans provide for infrastructure and site work improvements. The proposed infrastructure will remain privately owned and maintained. This petition is related to the special exception for a Small-Scale Rural Subdivision approved by the Board of Adjustment on Oct. 24, 2022 and the preliminary plat entitled Lakota approved by the City Commission on Oct. 24, 2022. A final plat will be forthcoming.

In other business, the Commissioners unanimously authorized submittal of a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) program for the Agri-Tech Innovation Park. This is a competitive grant. If the City’s grant application is approved the grant would help pay for a qualified consultant to produce the incubator business plan and help pay for economic development consulting services. The total project cost is $75,000 and the grant amount being applied for is $55,000.

The Commission also approved construction plans and a replat for Cedar Estates Addition, which Planning and Economic Development Director Bryan Thomas said is an infill project. The construction area encompasses 2.5 acres and the replat allows for seven detached single-family residences and one lot designated for stormwater retention. The City will provide utility services for this project.

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ALACHUA COUNTY ‒ Just after 3 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 20, fire departments from High Springs, LaCrosse and Alachua County Fire Rescue responded to a residential structure fire in the 15000 block of Northwest 193^rd Street between Alachua and High Springs in unincorporated Alachua County.

While en route to the fire, firefighters reported heavy black smoke visible from U.S. Highway 441. The first arriving fire engine found a single-family wood frame structure fully involved with fire. All occupants were out of the structure. The fire was contained to the building of origin which was a total loss. Several vehicles were also destroyed. There were no injuries.

Wind gusts up to 15 mph caused small spot fires to ignite on the ground and trees nearby. These small fires were quickly brought under control.

American Red Cross was contacted to assist the family. The Alachua County Fire Marshall was requested to help determine the cause.

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