Alachua County Commission discusses paratransit service, takes over operation of Sports and Event Center, questions construction noise on 53rd Avenue

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – 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.

MV Transportation contract

During general public comment, several people asked the Commission for help because the City of Gainesville has signaled that they will bring transportation for disabled people in-house at RTS, and MV Transportation, which currently holds the contract in both the city and county, has said it would not be cost-effective to continue operating here if the City ends their contract. 

Spencer Morton, who serves on the Transportation Disadvantaged Board for Alachua County, said people “will no longer have access to transportation, to their medical appointments,” or to shelters when a hurricane is approaching. Morton said some dialysis appointments are at “four or five in the morning; if MV leaves the area, we will have no transportation for these people, that I’m aware of, that is effective, safe, and reliable.”

Judith Hamilton, an advocate for people with vision loss, said the people who will be hurt the most by the City’s decision are those who live outside the city limits of Gainesville, “the ones who live in the unincorporated and county areas, like Hawthorne, Newberry, Alachua. MV cannot sustain themselves without the additional contract.” 

A caller said Gainesville’s mayor “has completely disregarded the paratransit community. He asked me, when I went into his office, the first thing he said, ‘Did MV send you?’… No, I want to make a disclaimer. George Soros does not pay any of us. We do this out of the passions of our hearts, to fight for what is right and be a voice for the voiceless.”

Another member of the Transportation Disadvantaged Board said, “Uber is not a substitute for paratransit. If you’re ambulatory, that’s great, but my 100-year-old grandmother or my 67-year-old sister who has a neurological condition, they can’t use Uber or Lyft… All the stakeholders are happy with the service that we get with MV.” 

During board discussion after the public comment period, Commissioner Anna Prizzia said she had originally planned to ask for the paratransit issue to be placed on the agenda for the County Commission’s next joint meeting with the City Commission, “but given that the City has canceled our joint meeting coming up, I’m hoping that we could refer to staff to bring back to us what, exactly, is going on with paratransit with relationship to RTS and how it would impact the unincorporated areas and the small cities with regards to transportation access for the transit-disadvantaged.”

Commissioner Ken Cornell said he wanted to take “an additional step, a Chair letter, because, as I understand it, there’s still two years left on the contract.” He said MV Transportation has offered to reduce their fees for rides for residents inside the city limits, “and I also think that we have a big issue as it relates to paratransit outside the city.” 

Motion

Cornell made a motion to prepare a Chair letter asking the City to “pause any actions to cancel the current paratransit contract, which also provides CTC [Community Tranportation Coordinator] service for the County — part one. Part two, with two years left on the contract, we further request that this item be [placed on the agenda] for a future MTPO meeting, which will happen before the joint meeting. And then part three would be to ask staff to bring back information as to how, if this is canceled in January of 2026, that would affect paratransit outside the city.” Prizzia seconded the motion.

Gary Luke, the General Manager for MV Transportation in Gainesville, said, “My concern, and the community’s concern, should be — if the ADA services are in-sourced and it is managed by RTS, we unfortunately would not be able to sustain ourselves to do just the outskirts; it’s not cost-effective… To keep it simple: we wouldn’t be able to do it.” He said over 50% of the individuals they transport are for dialysis appointments, and the rest are for medical appointments: “So I plead with you… We have two years left on the contract; at least allow us to finish executing that contract before you make a decision.”

Cornell said there was a motion made at last week’s MTPO meeting “to research, really, the future of RTS. Where is that going? We have two years left on this agreement. This will give us some time to actually look at it holistically, instead of piecemeal, and I just hope the City will consider pausing from canceling the contract.”

Prizzia: “I think it’s necessary for us to have a more robust conversation about — overall, how do we really provide regional transit, and how do we do that for everybody that needs it?”

Prizzia said she understood “where the City is, in terms of a really difficult set of decisions that they have to make. And so I completely understand the pain and the difficulty, and I know how hard it’s going to be to ask them to reconsider the situation, potentially, if it would save money for them to bring it in-house. But I think it’s necessary for us to have a more robust conversation about — overall, how do we really provide regional transit, and how do we do that for everybody that needs it?”

During public comment on the motion, Luke said MV has been providing service in the area for over 22 years, and his job has been “developing teams that not only know how to drive a vehicle but care about the individuals themselves… My folks care.”

The motion passed unanimously.

Four Creeks Preserve

Also during general public comment, two people objected to the County facility that is planned for the Four Creeks Preserve on NW 43rd Street. 

In board discussion after the general public comment period, Prizzia said she was “surprised to hear the community doesn’t want” the Four Creeks facility. She continued, “This is going to be a conservation land management building. It’s going to allow us to manage the properties for our conservation program more effectively, and it would mean that Turkey Creek and Four Creeks and the other properties that are right there are going to have direct access to the staff… and there’s going to be a new parking lot there that would mean that people aren’t parking in their neighborhoods, which they’ve continuously complained about. So it’s very confusing to me, and I feel like every time we try to do something in those areas, there’s kind of pushback.” She suggested a neighborhood meeting to address the concerns.

County Manager Michcle Lieberman said the land is in the city limits, and the City of Gainesville is managing the development approval process. “So before we start changing things on site plans and development plans, we need to make sure we’re complying with the City’s requirements for permitting, etc.” She asked a staff member to provide an update to board members on the status of the application.

Sports and Event Center

The next item was transferring the management of the County’s Sports and Event Center operations from RaddSports to the County; the move will add $2,157,000 to the FY26 budget, offset by $1.68 million in revenue from events and $477k in Tourist Development Tax funds, and the amendment to the budget will be made in November. The County is adding three positions to Tourism & Economic Development to manage the operations of the facility — a Sports & Events Manager, a Sports & Events Coordinator, and a Maintenance Mechanic. The County Commission voted to take over the operations of the facility in July after Viking Companies, the parent company of the operator, was declared to be in default of its contract, and the termination is effective on September 30.

Director of Tourism & Economic Development Jessica Hurov reiterated that General Fund revenue will not be used for the operation of the facility. She said they’re still working out what to do about concessions, and she said the County will work toward making the facility available to local sports clubs on weekdays.

Commissioner Mary Alford made a motion to approve staff’s recommendation and the staffing request, and Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

2027 World Masters

The next item was a request from World Masters for the County to host their 2027 event; the recommendation was to authorize staff to proceed with the necessary steps, including travel to international events, with a budget of up to $750,000 from the Tourist Development Tax. 

Prizzia asked to split the staff travel between “anything that’s mandatory, that we need in order to get the bid,” and travel to events for the purpose of promoting the Alachua County event, which she wanted brought back to the Commission for approval. 

Prizzia made a motion to approve staff’s recommendation regarding the bid and a Chair letter to the Local Organizing Committee, asking them to pay the host fee, and ask that staff return with requests for travel on “non-required trips.” Cornell seconded the motion.

Lieberman said the events would be “the minimal number necessary for us to attend,” and most would not need many people. 

The motion passed unanimously.

Construction noise on 53rd Avenue

During Commission Comment, Wheeler said she’d heard from people who live close to where the asphalt is being “dumped off” on 53rd Avenue, and there are also concerns about the “hours that they are being dumped in the night, when they’re trying to sleep.”

Públic Works Director Ramon Gavarrete said the County has been addressing these issues with the contractor, Watson. He said the road work needs to be done at night because of the traffic, and he said Watson recently changed the trucks they’ve been using, which should reduce the noise. “But construction is construction, and the dump trucks are dumping the millings right there… We are trying to work with them to minimize it, but unfortunately, construction equipment is noisy.” He said the milling and resurfacing will continue for at least another 30 days, if not more, depending on the weather.

Wheeler said one of the residents said he couldn’t sleep because of the noise, and Gavarrete said the road is closed around 7 p.m., and Watson works until about 6 a.m., resurfacing the entire night. 

Gavarrete further explained, “On this roadway,… we’re actually milling about six inches of asphalt,… which is a lot of millings, several passes, and we’re putting down four inches,… so they’re having to mill and pave in the same night, so it’s a slower process than usual.”