April 4 Alachua County Commission Special Meetings

Press release from Alachua County

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – The Alachua County Commission will conduct three Special Meetings on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. The meetings begin at 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 5 p.m. Both the 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. meetings are in the Grace Knight Conference Room. The 5 p.m. meeting is in the Jack Durrance Auditorium. All meetings are on the second floor of the Alachua County Administration Building (12 S.E. 1st Street, Gainesville). The 5 p.m. meeting includes an update on the Newberry Meat Processing Facility.

Masks for vulnerable citizens are strongly recommended. The public may view the meetings on the County’s Video on Demand website and on Cox Cable Channel 12.

In-person public comment will be taken for the agenda items, and the public will also have an opportunity to speak about items not on the agendas. Members of the public who wish to speak are asked to limit their comments to three minutes.

10 a.m. meeting item of interest:

  • Presentation on proposed changes to codes related to landscape irrigation and water conservation

View the meeting agenda and backup items.

1:30 p.m. meeting item of interest:

  • Policy discussion on parameters of the Pavement Management Program

View the meeting agenda and backup items.

5 p.m. meeting item of interest:

  • Update on the Newberry Meat Processing Facility

View the meeting agenda and backup items.

Citizens are encouraged to stay informed by following the County on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and subscribing to the County’s Newsletter/Press Release group.

  • you might be vulnerable if you think a dust mask is going to protect you

  • Fact: The Meat Plant will NOT provide “Food Security” for Alachua County
    .
    The meat plant proponents claim the Newberry small scale slaughterhouse will provide food chain security for Alachua County. The facts prove this is not true. $5.5 million and it is too small.
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    The plant is said to process 15 cows per day. At five days a week operation, this is 3900 cows per year. With 1050 pound steers, this is 4,095,000 pounds of live weight animals. With 650 pounds carcasses, this is reduced to 2,535,000 pounds. Trimming bone and fat results in 450 pounds per cow of edible beef, or 1,755,000 pounds per year of edible beef produced at the Newberry slaughterhouse.
    .
    If the BOCC requires all of this be sold to consumers in Alachua County, and all is ground into hamburger, it will provide two nutritious four ounce hamburger servings per day to 9,616 people. There are 278,000 citizens. The meat plant will be able to feed less than 4% of the population.
    .
    Each weekday the meat plant will produce at most 5437 pounds of hamburger. To provide a 3 ounce serving to small children, and a 4 ounce serving to larger children, to provide a single lunch to its 29,000 students the Alachua County School Board needs 6343 pounds of hamburger per day.
    .
    American per capita beef consumption is 85 pounds. Not counting children and vegetarians, if half the adults eat beef then Alachua County consumes 11,815,000 pounds of beef per year. The meat plant will at most supply 15% of the county’s needs. Less, since it will serve ranchers “within 100 miles of Alachua County” and many will keep their meat and take it home.
    .
    If the beef is distributed to all citizens equally to feed them during “national supply chain Covid emergencies”, the 1,755,000 pounds of beef will supply each citizen with 0.3 ounces per day of locally grown food. For those counting, that is 21 calories.
    .
    “Securely Feeding Alachua County” with 1/15 of the calories provided to a German concentration camp inmate in 1945. Thanks BOCC. You really know how to feed your constituents.

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