MediaUpdate

By Cindy Swirko
Staff writer

An email from a reader has prompted Alachua County to study speed limits on Northwest 53rd Avenue.

Georgia McDaniel wrote that the speed limit is 55 mph from the red light on N. Main Street east to Waldo Road. The speed limit from Main Street west to U.S. 441 is 45 mph.

"I travel this road twice a day going to and from work. I think the speed limit should be 55 mph instead of 45 mph," McDaniel said. "There are very few businesses on this stretch of road."

The road is under the jurisdiction of Alachua County. Chris Zeigler, senior engineering technician for the public works department, said the speed limits will be studied.

"We will study the road to determine if a change in the speed limit is warranted," Zeigler responded. "Due to the upcoming holidays we won't be able to perform the study until the second half of January at the earliest."

Meanwhile, Adrian Dovell wrote with a concern about the traffic signal at Northwest 13th Street and 16th Avenue.

"When you are eastbound on 16th Avenue and trying to turn left (north) onto 13th Street, there is usually a wait of two cycles of the light, particularly during heavy traffic hours," Dovell said. "There needs to be more time allotted for cars to make that left turn."

Matthew S. Weisman, city of Gainesville's traffic management operations engineer, responded that many Gainesville roads are over capacity at peak times. That intersection if particularly crowded because of commuter traffic to the University of Florida and Gainesville High School.

"If we reduce the green time on … 13th Street., we would have cycles leaving residual queue. After several cycles of residual queue, you get a compounded backup similar to what we see on Archer Road in the afternoon heading westbound at 34th Street.," Weisman said. "These residuals are much less on Northwest 16th Avenue. Therefore, the signal is timed for optimum traffic throughput. During all other times of day and night, there is usually ample green time for all movements at this intersection. It's just when driving during these high traffic times we can't always service every vehicle in one cycle."

By Morgan Watkins
Staff writer

Area residents will get a chance to tell state legislators where their priorities lie at an annual hearing Tuesday.

Alachua County’s legislative delegation hearing will be held at 1 p.m. in the Santa Fe College Kirkpatrick Center, 3737 NE 39th Ave. It will be the first such meeting for two new legislators representing North Central Florida — Sen. Rob Bradley and Rep. Clovis Watson.

The event provides a forum for the public and elected officials to offer their views on issues they feel will be important in the coming year.

This year’s local delegation includes Sen. Bradley and state Reps. Watson, Keith Perry and Elizabeth Porter.

The Alachua County Commission will convene Tuesday morning, but at least one commissioner will attend the hearing even if others still are meeting. Commissioner Mike Byerly will give a short presentation at the hearing. The morning agenda looks light, so he said he expects the entire commission will have an opportunity to attend.

Byerly said a key concern is home rule for local governments, which has been a top issue for the past four or five years.

“Generally, each year has seen some new taking away of local authority, and we hope that doesn’t happen,” Byerly said.

An issue that’s probably even more important is the state’s budget, as related decisions can greatly affect counties. Byerly said he hopes the Florida Legislature won’t balance its budget on the backs of local governments in the coming session.

Those seeking additional information or who wish to be added to the hearing agenda can contact Perry’s office at 313-6544.

By Morgan Watkins
Staff writer

Several Florida counties have strengthened their ethics policies beyond the standards of the state's longstanding laws — but Alachua County isn't one of them.

A recent study by Integrity Florida, an ethics advocacy nonprofit, and the LeRoy Collins Institute, a Florida State University think tank, surveyed 45 of the state's 67 counties and determined many have implemented ethics reforms. Meanwhile, the state hasn't revisited its ethics laws since the 1970s.

Alachua County government hasn't enacted stricter ordinances because it doesn't have a corruption problem, County Attorney David Wagner said. In his 20 years at the county, he said, there haven't been aggressive discussions about amplifying state ethics laws.

"I think it's just the nature of the community," he said. "People are law-abiding here, especially people in government."

Some counties have strengthened their policies in response to corruption within their governments, but Alachua County hasn't had scandals that might motivate local reforms, he said.

Palm Beach County, which had three county commissioners resign after they were convicted of felonies related to their public service, has since adopted key reforms, according to the study.

Former Alachua County Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut paid a $750 penalty in 2004 after the Florida Commission on Ethics ruled she had violated state law by accepting tickets to a University of Florida fundraiser from developer Clark Butler.

But Wagner doesn't recall any egregious incidents that spurred efforts to tighten policies beyond state standards.

Commissioner Lee Pinkoson agreed that corruption hasn't been a substantial problem for the county.

"I've always been impressed with the integrity of the people here," he said. "It seems like mostly the people that serve are trying to make the community better, and they're not doing it for reasons where they can improve themselves ... for self-gain."

Counties throughout the state — some nearby — have enacted ethics reforms. Nearly half of the counties surveyed in the study have specified a point person to handle ethics concerns, while just 12 of the 45 responding counties have adopted a more stringent ethics code than the state's.

St. Johns County was one of those with an ethics code that differs from the state's, while Marion and Clay counties were among the two dozen local governments that restrict lobbyists' gifts to county employees and representatives.

Marion also designated two ethics officials and, along with Putnam and Levy counties, counts among the 27 local governments that offer ethics training to elected officials.

Alachua County upholds state ethics laws, which Wagner said he considers solid and in little need of strengthening. He said he sees enforcement as the real problem.

Florida received a failing grade from the State Integrity Investigation in the ethics enforcement agencies category.

Dan Krassner, executive director of Integrity Florida, said the state ethics commission needs the ability to initiate investigations — a power 30 states have granted their commissions. Now, it can review potential violations only if a resident files a written complaint.

But people can be deterred from doing so because of the legal bills they might face if their complaints are incorrect and deemed malicious, Krassner said.

"The Florida Commission on Ethics does a great job with its current mission and the tools that it has to work with, but it's time to expand their toolkit," he said. "We have ethics laws on the books but no ethics law enforcement officers on the beat."

Alachua County has initiated little ethics reform, but the County Attorney's Office has an open-door policy with commissioners and employees. If an employee wants to know if he or she can accept a gift or a commissioner has a question about voting conflicts, they can talk to the office staff, Wagner said. The county also requests opinions from the state ethics commission in some cases.

Former Commissioner Paula DeLaney, for example, requested the ethics commission's opinion in 2005 on whether she had a conflict of interest regarding a vote on widening Southwest 24th Avenue because she owned land that could be impacted by road rulings. The commission decided there wasn't a conflict.

Wagner also includes an ethics overview in his presentation for incoming commissioners' orientation.

One area in which Alachua County has enacted restrictions tougher than the state's is campaign finance, he said. County candidates must submit financial reports more often than the state requires and have lower individual contribution limits — $250 instead of $500 for the primary and general elections.

It wasn't done in response to an incident but to address concerns about the influence of money in campaigns, Wagner said.

But where Alachua County stands out as a model for local governments is in its transparency efforts, Krassner said. Commissioners' emails — both received and sent — are available for public view on its website, and he attributes the government's success in reducing its risk of corruption to that policy.

"The Alachua County government email transparency program is one of the most impressive government transparency innovations that I've seen anywhere in the country," he said.

By making its emails publicly available, the county has given the public a tool with which to hold officials accountable.

"There's a direct connection between ethics and open government," Krassner said. "The more public access, the lower the corruption risk for a government."

By Morgan Watkins
Staff writer

Work resumed this week on repairs to Poe Springs Park, a project that has doubled in cost since the Alachua County Commission approved it about a year ago.

When the project was approved in December 2011, its estimated cost was $86,250, said Robert Avery, the county's parks and open spaces superintendent. Now expenses will total more than $130,000 for the repairs, which aim to replace a retaining wall and add steps leading safely into the water.

That figure doesn't include about $148,500 in funds the commission approved at a November meeting for repairs to the park's roofing, carpeting, fencing and air-conditioning systems, which are more than 20 years old. The two-decades-old shingled roofing needs replacement.

“That's the life expectancy of the shingled roof, so why wait until it starts leaking and causes trouble?” Avery asked.

He expects Florida Fill and Grading, the company overseeing the retaining wall repairs, to complete its work by early spring 2013. The county is developing a contract for the park's building repairs, which Avery said should be finished by next summer.

When the retaining wall repairs were initially approved, Avery thought it would be a simple job.

“And it's turned into one of the longest projects I've had to deal with,” he said.

The repair work has been funded through the Alachua County Parks Office's share of capital improvements funding.

The first cost bump arose from the need for an on-site archaeologist during excavation work associated with the repair project in case anything unusual was uncovered. This resulted in an additional $3,800 expense, which was dwarfed by a later request to fund a set of prefabricated steps.

The steps cost about $40,000, bumping the total project cost to about $130,000, he said. The change stemmed from the realization that the bottom rock layer where concrete steps were going to be installed was too porous. Water crept in through the rock, preventing workers from pouring concrete and spurring a new plan to install prefabricated steps in the waterlogged area and extend them up past the water line. At that point, they could pour concrete steps.

Then Tropical Storm Debby swept through the area last summer, halting construction and raising the water level by three or four feet.

When the water level hadn't dropped after weeks of waiting, county staff developed a proposal for a second set of prefabricated steps that would cost about $27,000, along with $4,800 needed to repair flooding and other damages Debby caused. The commission approved that in November as well as nearly $150,000 in building repairs.

But that $27,000 won't need to be spent because the water level finally dropped shortly after the funding was approved, Avery said.

Commissioner Susan Baird, who voted against the $32,000 amendment to the retaining wall repair budget, said it was good news the money for the steps won't be needed, but it shouldn't have been approved in the first place.

“That's just a lot of money for steps in a spring,” she said.

Baird considers park maintenance a concern, but sees issues like roads and public safety as priorities more deserving of extensive county funding. She suggested a cheaper option could have been used that might not have lasted as long but would have been sufficient.

She also suggested the building repairs could have been managed by whichever entity takes over operation of the park in the future rather than implemented by the county now.

For years, the North Central Florida YMCA operated Poe Springs Park, which was developed in 1991. The county has operated it for the past year or so, Avery said, and having a separate entity manage the park is more cost-effective.

The City of High Springs was negotiating with the county to potentially take over operating the park, but that decision was delayed when the repairs halted. Avery said the High Springs City Commission was uncomfortable entering an agreement when the repair work hadn't been completed. Once the repairs are done, Avery said he expects High Springs may consider the opportunity again.

The criticisms of Commissioner Mike Byerly's decision to revisit the Archer Braid Trail issue (Dec. 5) are without merit. Byerly's support of the Haile route and his intention to revisit the issue were well known before he was re-elected by a landslide (58 percent), so the claim that he is ignoring the wishes of his constituents is nonsense.

The original vote should have been 2-2 anyway, since Commissioner Susan Baird, an owner of Haile Plantation properties, should have recused herself.

Selecting the Haile option will save county taxpayers $140,000 by tapping federal funds that would otherwise be spent elsewhere. This decision is about whether to provide safe, public bicycle and pedestrian access to the only two major collector streets in the developed part of Alachua County that don't have it,

The alleged “alternative route,” Tower Road and Archer Road, already has good facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

Don Goodman, Archer

Recent letters to The Sun have repeated the fiction that building the Archer Braid bike trail along Southwest Archer Road and Southwest 75th Street is an “alternative” to building the trail along Southwest 46th Boulevard and Southwest 91st Street in Haile Plantation. The need for that “alternative” route is a fairy tale invented by a small group of Haile board members.

The Archer/75th route already has sidewalks and/or bike paths along its entire length! Meanwhile, the 46th/91st route in Haile is the only county right-of-way of its type that does not already have a safe, public bike/pedestrian pathway.

The real question is whether to build that pathway now, using federal grant dollars, or to build it later, using our local gas tax dollars. I don't see why any Alachua County taxpayer would prefer the second option.

Steve Hagen, Gainesville

By Morgan Watkins
Staff writer

The Florida Association of Counties has established its game plan for the state Legislature’s 2013 session as the new year nears.

FAC, which represents the interests of the state’s 67 counties, finalized its policy priorities at a legislative conference it held in Sarasota last week.

It will focus on three primary issues in the upcoming session: Medicaid billing, juvenile detention billing and the communications services tax.

Alachua County Communications Coordinator Mark Sexton, who attended the conference, will present FAC’s agenda to the County Commission at its Dec. 11 meeting. He expects commissioners to agree with those priorities because they impact county revenue, which is especially important in a time of tight budgets.

Although FAC does much advocacy work on its own, it keeps counties abreast of developments, Sexton said.

“FAC doesn’t just go off on their own and say, ‘OK, now we’ve got it from here,’ ” he said. “They stay in close contact with the counties, and when the time comes, they let the counties know, ‘OK, it’s time for you to start talking directly to your legislative delegation.’ ”

The Medicaid billing system could cost counties about $300 million annually, FAC Communications Director Cragin Mosteller said. The organization supports dissolving the system in a way that would eliminate any county-level financial responsibilities and related administrative burdens for Florida’s Medicaid services, but would also support retaining the current process if it is revised, according to its 2013 legislative program.

Suggested revisions include allowing counties to review their bills before paying them.

Alachua County Commissioner Susan Baird agreed the state should develop a system that, at minimum, ensures that counties’ Medicaid bills are accurate.

FAC was helpful when counties were disputing the Medicaid bills they received from the state, Acting County Manager Richard Drummond said. Alachua County staff collaborated with FAC to determine the accuracy of its estimated Medicaid bill. He remembered FAC organizing huge conference calls that included representatives from virtually every Florida county to assess concerns about inaccurate billing estimates.

“They work really hard to represent all the counties,” Drummond said of the FAC staff. “We didn’t have to worry about pitting one county against the other.”

Baird said FAC is useful in resolving technical issues like the Medicaid billing controversy, but she said Alachua County officials should evaluate its views and speak up if FAC’s views don’t align with local needs.

FAC also singled out the juvenile detention billing system as another in need of revision. It supports shifting the full responsibility for funding and operating juvenile detention facilities to the state as well as a few revisions to the current system, according to its legislative program.

Bills from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice cost counties between $70 million and $100 million per year, Mosteller said.

FAC’s third priority aims to ensure amendments to the Communications Services Tax, which provides revenue for both the state and its counties, do not diminish the tax as a revenue source for local governments. The tax, which applies to communications services such as direct-to-home satellite and telecommunications outlets, needs to be updated in a revenue-neutral way that doesn’t hurt their already diminished budgets, she said.

Although its legislative priorities may change from year to year, Mosteller maintained the organization’s mission to preserve and protect home rule remains its central focus.

“We want your county commissioners to have the ability to make changes and have an impact on the local level,” she said.

Drummond said Alachua County is rarely in total alignment with FAC’s goals because different counties have differing priorities. However, FAC always considers its input.

“We certainly have a voice,” he said.

I have been following the controversy about the Archer Braid Trail, with the proposed route through Haile Plantation, and had not seen the diagram of the proposed trail before Sunday's article.

If the true quest is to connect the existing path on Archer Road to the one on Tower Road, why can't they just go straight down Archer Road and connect there? I am trying to grasp what the objection is to the most obvious and least expensive solution.

But then the Alachua County leadership always has a way of making the most simple tasks complicated and cost ineffective, or have other agendas buried in the plan.

From what I have read, the majority of the people living in the immediate area are not in favor of the trail route through their neighborhood. To me that should be the deciding factor.

Richard DesChenes, Archer

Just because you were re-elected does not mean you can ignore the wishes of your constituents Commissioner Byerly.

The residents of Haile Plantation made it clear in many ways they do not want the Archer Braid Trail to run through their subdivision. Putting the issue back on the agenda clearly shows that you don't respect what the people have said.

I am hoping that Commissioners Chuck Chestnut and Robert Hutchinson review previous meetings about this issue before it comes to another vote. It is time that the commissioners represent what the people want and stop trying to push their own personal agendas.

Linda Butcher, Micanopy

County Commissioner Mike Byerly is a local reflection of tax and spend politicians throughout this nation intent on bankrupting us and the country.

Haile Plantation has made it clear they do not want the Archer Braid Trail. The most direct route will cost $140,000. Byerly's route will cost $750,000 and be where it is not welcome or needed.

His arguement appears to be the cheaper, shorter route will use county money, while the more expensive, longer route will be Department of Transportation funds. The fact is the money is our tax dollars, not his, not the county or the state's.

I live in Union County and am not affected by Alachua or Gainesville politicians but will apparently suffer Byerly's spending if he is successful.

Jack Schenck, Lake Butler

GAINESVILLE – The Alachua County Commission has ensured that the FluMist program will continue to run for the next 15 years. The Commission voted unanimously to approve funding of $1.5 million from CHOICES program funds for FluMist. The CHOICES program was created to provide access to health care services for working and uninsured residents.

Each year the CHOICES program will allocate $100,000 for FluMist. The funds will be used to cover the cost of administering the program.

CHOICES had previously provided funding of $80,000 per year for the past three years to FluMist.

The most expensive part of the FluMist program is currently the vaccine, Paul Myers administrator of the Alachua County Health Department said.

The Florida Department of Health provides the vaccines. Myers said this year the program is on target to vaccinate 14,000 students.

Students from kindergarten to eighth grade are the target population for administration of the vaccine. There is no fee for these students to receive the vaccine, which is generally administered through a nasal spray.

Myers said according to models, vaccinating around 70 percent of students from kindergarten through the eighth grade can protect an entire community from influenza.

“Of all the outbreaks we had investigated in schools, none had been vaccinated so far,” Myers said. “This whole program is based upon community immunity.”

GAINESVILLE – The three suspected West Nile virus cases discovered in Alachua County have been declared negative.

Paul Myers, Alachua County Health Department administrator, said one of the victims had symptoms consistent with West Nile.

“The confirmatory blood test indicated that one of the three individuals had been infected with the West Nile virus sometime in the past,” Myers said. “We just don’t know exactly when.”

The men had attempted to donate blood when the antibodies for West Nile were the discovered. Each of the men had been exposed to extensive time outside. One of the men had been infected with West Nile sometime in the past.

Alachua County is still under the Mosquito Born Illness advisory that took effect on Sept. 27, 2012.

West Nile symptoms include sudden onset of headache, fever, stiff neck. Symptoms can appear from 2 to 14 days from the first time of exposure.

The illness first appeared in Sentinel chickens. Myers mentioned at least one horse being infected with West Nile. Alachua County had one confirmed case of West Nile in 2003.

Myers said it is been a particularly bad year for West Nile virus.

“It goes back to the winter of 2011-2012. It was a very mild winter, the mosquito die off was not complete,” he said. “Tropical storm Debby came through and created overwhelming numbers of breeding places for mosquitos.”

Even with the cooler weather, Myers still urges residents to protect themselves

“It’s imminent that I will be lifting the Mosquito Borne Illness Advisory in consultation with the state health office,” he said.

Myers still recommends residents drain any standing water, wear long sleeves and check that window screens are in good repair to ensure protection from mosquitoes.