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​By 2050, the UN Environment says there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish...

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​County and city government, schools, UF and Santa Fe list priorities as legislative session looms.
 By Cleveland Tinker
 
As the legislative session approaches, local leaders hope to land more than $265 million in new state funding to reduce pollution in Newnans Lake, develop affordable housing, renovate buildings at Santa Fe College and build new ones at the University of Florida.

The Alachua County legislative delegation will join colleagues from Florida's 66 other counties during the March 7-May 5 session.





The delegation hopes to bring funding back home for major projects for the 2017-18 state fiscal year that begins July 1 of this year and ends June 30, 2018.

Gov. Rick Scott unveiled an $83.5 billion budget plan in late January.

State Sen. Keith Perry of Gainesville, a Republican who represents Alachua and Putnam counties and part of Marion County, said scrapping for funding during legislative sessions gets intense.

"Because of the growth in Medicare, there will be less money to go around this year," said Perry, elected to the newly-drawn District 8 Senate seat in November after serving three terms as a state representative.

The Alachua County legislative delegation, and other delegations that represent rural areas, will go toe-to-toe with peers from bigger cities.

"As usual, I think we are going to do OK. It just makes it tougher for us," Perry said.

The other Alachua County delegation members include Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Gainesville, whose District 21 seat includes Dixie and Gilchrist counties and part of Alachua County; Rep. Elizabeth Porter, R-Lake City, whose District 10 seat includes Alachua, Baker, Columbia, Hamilton and Suwannee counties, and Rep. Clovis Watson Jr., D-Alachua, whose District 20 seat includes parts of Alachua and Marion counties.

Here are some of the things on the wish lists for Alachua County, Gainesville, Santa Fe College, Alachua County Public Schools and the University of Florida.

Alachua County

Newnans Lake: $470,000 for the second phase of a project to better filter water flowing into Newnans Lake. This project, the Newnans Lake Improvement Initiative, includes construction of a barrier, or weir, across Little Hatchet Creek that would let water flow but trap pollutants before they reach the lake. The initiative, first funded this fiscal year with $456,000, aims to reduce nutrient pollution to Newnans Lake and the other downstream bodies of water, including Orange Lake, the Ocklawaha and St. Johns rivers, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park and the Floridan aquifer.

Rail trail: $2 million to build a rail trail between High Springs and Newberry. The funds will be used to buy a railroad corridor from the Santa Fe River into High Springs, and south toward Newberry.

Fairgrounds: $7 million for a new Alachua County Fairgrounds, matched by $18 million from the county. The proposed fairgrounds, off Waldo Road between Northeast 63rd and 69th Avenues, would allow the current fairgrounds at 3100 NE 39th Ave. to be used for economic development and revitalization in east Gainesville. There are hopes that the current fairgrounds, near the airport, is ideal for commercial development.

Bed tax: A local option to raise the tax paid on hotel rooms. The state sets a limit of a 5 percent surtax added to the bill of every hotel room or other accommodation rented for less than six months. Counties that collect more than $30 million in such tourism development taxes are designated "high-tourism impact" counties, which allows them to raise their bed tax rate to 6 percent. Alachua County officials want counties that are home to a "pre-eminent state research university" to get the "high-tourism impact" designation. That would give Alachua, home to the University of Florida, and Leon County, home to Florida State University, the option to bump bed taxes to 6 percent.

Gainesville

Cornerstone project: $1.9 million for a proposed 13.6-acre development that includes redevelopment of the Gainesville Technology Entrepreneurship Center.

Affordable housing: $2.1 million for the Heartwood community, a planned development that would feature 34 residential units, walking trails, a pond, common spaces and an entrance and exit on Southeast Eighth Avenue. Formerly the site of Kennedy Homes apartments, it was demolished in 2003 due to disrepair. Located at 1717 SE Eighth Ave., the city now owns the 15-acre site, and the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency 
hopes to find developers to build the new community.

Youth: $200,000 to develop a science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) program at the Reichert House Youth Academy, an after-school program that serves boys from elementary to high school. Also, the city wants $200,000 to provide help with vocational training, job opportunities and placement for members of Bold Overt Leaders of Distinction, or BOLD, a re-entry program for men 18 to 24. Both are part of the city's Criminal Justice, Youth and Violence Prevention Initiative.

Transportation: $15 million to improve Southwest 62nd Boulevard, including $5 million for right-of-way acquisition and $10 million for construction. The city wants $140,000 to reduce the number of bicycle- and pedestrian-related crashes in the city by increasing enforcement and education. In 2014, there were 122 bicycle- and pedestrian-related crashes in Gainesville.

Body cameras: $629,000 for body cameras for Gainesville Police officers.

University of Florida

The University of Florida's wish list totals about $190 million, with $75 million earmarked for projects officials hope will help UF increase its national ranking to top-10 status.

Of that $75 million, $50 million will go toward hiring and retaining faculty, $15 million to reduce the student-to-faculty ratio, and $10 million to increase graduate student support.

UF's student-to-faculty ratio is 21:1, while its peer institutions average 17:1, according to UF. The goal is to reduce the ratio to 19:1 by hiring 325 faculty members.

UF listed priorities that include $30 million for utilities, infrastructure and maintenance; $8.7 million for a nuclear science building; $10.4 million for Norman Hall renovations; $25 million for the data sciences building, and $12 million for music building renovations.

Santa Fe College

Blount Center: Up to $20 million for the Blount Center expansion project at its downtown campus to support business growth, information technology and entrepreneurial activities in collaboration with UF. The project previously received $2.6 million through the state Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) fund, as well as $6 million in private and local support. The total cost for the project is estimated at $29 million.

Vocational training: Santa Fe will also request $26 million in PECO money to build an Institute of Technology and Manufacturing, including planning and design for remodeling, renovations and expansion of vocational classrooms, laboratories and support spaces at the main campus.

Payroll: Santa Fe is asking for additional operating funding to recruit and retain faculty and staff.

Alachua County Public Schools

The School Board of Alachua County has a seven-point wish list for the local legislative delegation.

• Provide sufficient funding to place Florida in the upper quartile nationally. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Florida ranks 48th in the nation in per-student funding and 50th in per-student funding compared to wealth.

• Develop a better way to project growth in student populations to reduce mid- and late-year funding reductions.

• Hold the current property tax rate for schools constant to allow revenues to rise with property values. Currently, the rate is adjusted to result in a targeted amount for K-12 schools.

• Restore the authority of elected school boards to levy, by a simple majority vote, up to 2.0 mills for capital purposes, and maintain the authority of school districts to determine the use of local capital outlay millage revenues.

• End corporate tax credit scholarships and support for voucher programs. The Alachua County School Board also opposes diverting local taxes to charter schools without locally elected school boards' consent.

• Revise Florida's accountability system that measures and promotes student achievement so that it won't penalize schools, students or teachers until a firm baseline is established, preferably no earlier than the 2018-19 school year.

• Secure pilot funding for comprehensive, community-based services to high-risk youths and their families to reduce school disciplinary issues, juvenile arrests, while increasing academic achievement and graduation rates.

​The 2017 Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals will be held from March 16-19 at Gainesville Auto-Plus Raceway at 11211 N. County Road 225.

By Cleveland Tinker
 
A campground and RV area, formerly operated by the Gainesville Jaycees, will be run by Alachua County workers this year during Gatornationals.

The county-owned campground property, at County Road 225 and Northeast 77th Avenue, will be available to campers on a first-come, first-served basis. The Jaycees, which dissolved as a nonprofit organization last year before the 2016 Gatornationals, leased the property from the county for many years before the group dissolved.

The 2017 Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals will be held from March 16-19 at Gainesville Auto-Plus Raceway at 11211 N. County Road 225.

The Jaycees ran the camping area as its annual signature fundraising event. Last year, the county and a former member of the Jaycees worked together to run the campground used by longtime Gatornationals fans who use the site when they come to town.

The Jaycees donated thousands of dollars to local and state charities with the proceeds it raised at the camping area during its tenure operating the campground. Last year, a former Jaycees member, on behalf of the Belleview Dixie Football and Cheerleading program, rented the campground from the county, said Gina Peebles, assistant county manager for community and administrative services.

"They kept all of their proceeds, paying the county a nominal rental fee," Peebles said. "I am unaware of how much they netted, after expenses."

Peebles said the campground is popular because some fans have been using it for 40 years or more and being 2.7 miles away, that makes it "incredibly close" by race-fan standards.

"People who use the campgrounds have built relationships with other fans throughout the years, and they look forward to reconnecting with each other every year at Gatornationals," Peebles said.

Campers will be able to set up at the site on Monday, March 13 and be required to leave by Monday, March 20, a day after the races end.

The campground rates will be in line with what campers normally have paid to use the site, Peebles said.

"It will be business as usual," she said, adding that she'll make a detailed report to the Alachua County commissioners sometime after the event with recommendations for how the site should be used in the future.

To view rates, visit www.visitgainesville.com/listing/?lid=733 ;

Steven Masters of St. Augustine said some racing fans who have used the campground for many years were concerned when rumors spread that it wouldn't be open this year.

"Everything seems to have worked itself out," said Masters, who has been coming to Gatornationals for more than 10 years. He attends the event with at least 15 other men, some of whom he said have used the campground for more than 20 years.

"We look forward to setting up at the camping area every year, and I know people who come to that site every year from all over the country, some even come from as far away as Canada," Masters said. 

​“Old Joe,” a statue of a Confederate soldier, isn’t standing on solid ground...

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​“Old Joe” is staying put, for now.

After months and months of negotiations, Alachua County is no longer considering moving the confederate statue to the Matheson History Museum...

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​New sales tax seen as a funding source, but voters would decide

By Cleveland Tinker

The radio system used by local law enforcement agencies and the Alachua County Combined Communications Center is so flawed that some of the portable radios used by first responders don't work properly when communicating with dispatchers.

Discussions about improving the system have been ongoing for some time, and continued during an Alachua County Commission meeting last week.

According to Alachua County Fire Rescue Chief Bill Northcutt, the city of Gainesville and Alachua County will jointly hire a consultant in the next few months who will review the current infrastructure, limitations and needs of the current system; new technology in the communications industry; cost to upgrade or replace the system with the pros and cons of both; operational models and pros and cons of each and funding options.

Northcutt said the consultant's fee is not yet known because the scope of the work has not been fully established. He said the system will be updated or replaced depending on the findings by the consultant, cost and available funding. The County Commission could pay it by borrowing the money, redirecting availabe funds or adding local sales tax approved by voters.

"The goal is to have long-term radio systems in place by 2020," Northcutt said.

Sheriff Sadie Darnell praised County Manager Lee Niblock for getting the ball rolling to resolve the issue.

"This issue started three fire chiefs ago and four county managers ago, and I want to give credit where credit is due," Darnell said.