MediaUpdate

​Due to a fire at the Leveda Brown Environmental Park and Transfer Station over the holiday weekend, the Labor Day schedule for Alachua County Solid Waste has been updated.

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​The Alachua County Commission will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. The meeting is in the Grace Knight Conference Room on the second floor of the Alachua County Administration Building (12 SE 1st St., Gainesville).

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​​The 22,000-square-foot center, to be built at 3302 NW 39th Ave., will consolidate DANB’s growing studio needs under one roof, while also serving as a cultural arts center for North Central Florida. 

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​Stephen Hofstetter, director of Alachua County’s Environmental Protection Department, said the strategic ecosystem contains parcels from around 10 different landowners. Right now, he said, none of the owners have submitted development applications to the county, but the entire area surrounding the Pine Hill Forest has been built out, inevitably drawing developers’ eyes.  

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Alachua County commissioners are asking Gainesville city leaders to hold off on their plan to eliminate a third-party transportation service for people with disabilities​.

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​Alachua County officials are considering a major change to how animal control cases are handled, shifting enforcement duties from the county’s Animal Services Department to the sheriff’s office.

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​The applicant for the Gainesville Preserve rezoning request (on property contiguous to Paynes Prairie State Preserve) has requested a deferral of the public hearing before the Alachua County Planning Commission, originally scheduled for Sept. 10, 2025.

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​At today’s General Policy Committee meeting, the City Commission indicated that despite advocacy from the disabled community and a Chair letter from the Alachua County Commission, they intend to bring paratransit services in-house, possibly leaving those outside the city limits without transportation to medical appointments.

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​At the August 26 meeting, the Alachua County Commission asked the City to pause the cancellation of their contract with MV Transportation, approved three new positions to manage the Sports and Event Center, approved $750,000 to bid for the 2027 World Masters, and asked for an explanation for the noise reported by residents who live close to the road work on 53rd Avenue.

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​The center’s operation changed hands earlier this year when its private operator failed to live up to its contractual obligations. Starting Oct. 1, Alachua County will be responsible for the center’s operations.

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​Commissioners voted to take control of the Alachua County Sports and Events Center at Celebration Pointe after the management company failed to meet its obligations.

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​Alachua County just held the track and field event in March, and the indoor version happens every other year. The BOCC approved a $750,000 maximum to prepare a bid for the championships and then work to promote and set up the event.

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​All Alachua County government offices (except emergency services) will be closed on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, in observance of the Labor Day holiday.

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