Archer City Commission schedules special budget meeting on July 29, extends Dallas Lee’s contract, hears about wastewater plans

BY DAVID LIGHTMAN

ARCHER, Fla. – At the July 14 monthly meeting, the Archer City Commission agreed to continue using Dallas Lee as a financial consultant and agreed to hold a combination special meeting and second budget workshop on July 29 to discuss the budget and a potential property tax increase.

Alachua County Sheriff’s Office presentation

The meeting began with a presentation by Alachua County Sheriff Chad Scott and some of his staff. Topics included an increased homeless presence in Archer, traffic enforcement, recent local crimes, upcoming social media apps to help the Sheriff’s Office communicate with the public, the University of Florida/Gainesville’s appearance at the top of a list of most dangerous college towns, and gun violence initiatives. 

A deputy said that one in five traffic stops involving marijuana produces cannabis that is laced with either fentanyl or methamphetamine, as revealed by lab testing, and people aren’t aware of how common this is. Sheriff Scott characterized Gainesville as “a severe homeless situation.” 

Wastewater treatment plant update

Commissioners heard a second presentation by Mike New, former City Manager of Newberry, who now works as an engineer with the Woodard and Curran firm. New said, “We are under contract with the City of Archer to help you with the funding and financing of your wastewater treatment plant, and your City Manager requested a couple of weeks ago that I give a status update to you about where things are with your wastewater plant. We put together a presentation, and… these things aren’t moving at an ultra-fast pace, but [I’m] absolutely happy to come in, every quarter or semiannually, whatever frequency the Commission requests, to give you updates.”

Before beginning his lengthy presentation, New explained, “You’ll see that I tend to be a little bit of a chatterbox.” 

New discussed differences between central wastewater treatment systems and septic tanks. He said Archer has four times as many septic tanks (600) compared to the number it should be able to support according to standards (130), and he stressed the need to convert septic tanks to wastewater.

New said, “Water and wastewater utilities go through a lot of effort to keep stormwater out, and the regulatory community — in our case, it’s the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) — they regulate us to ensure that we’re doing our best to keep stormwater out of your wastewater system.”

System may use two grinder pump wastewater transport stations

New said Archer may choose to utilize two grinder pump wastewater transport stations for its new wastewater system. He said High Springs’s wastewater treatment system is based solely on grinder pump stations, and they are generally considered a good option because of their lower initial cost, although their maintenance cost is generally higher than some alternatives. New said individual neighborhoods and businesses may require their own lift stations, depending on how flat or “hilly” the land is, and those entities may or may not be required to pay for their lift stations, depending on local regulations.

New continued, “The system that y’all have selected is a wastewater collection system that will be bought, paid for, owned, and maintained by the City of Archer. And so you guys will get those pipes, those manholes, those lift stations, and your team will maintain them. And then, from that master pump station that you referred to, Commissioner Penny, it will be pumped to Newberry. Newberry is building a wastewater treatment facility, and Archer is buying capacity — about 15% of the capacity of that treatment plant is being reserved and dedicated to Archer.” 

New said an agreement will require at least a 20-year commitment, but Archer will be free to leave Newberry’s wastewater system once the commitment has expired.

Of concern to local restaurants, New said grease traps will be required by FDEP for any drains that discharge into the new wastewater system.

Average monthly residential bills should be around $50

New said average monthly residential bills for wastewater should be in the range of $50, or double the cost for water. 

Discussing funding, New said Archer received a loan of approximately $1 million from the State, only about $200,000 of which needs to be repaid. He said they recently received notice that the State had granted an additional $1.25 million, and more grants may be forthcoming, including a potential $38 million federal grant.

New said his firm estimates that the design firm Kimley-Horn has completed approximately 95% of the design and plans for construction, which are necessary to obtain a permit before beginning any work. He said Archer will be expected to be ready to connect to Newberry’s system once it is online, in June or July 2028.

Responding to a question, New said a local lift station requires an area of land of approximately 50 feet by 50 feet. 

Commissioner Joan White asked about Kimley-Horn: “My understanding is now that once we pay them off, we’re done.”

New answered, “And my assessment as an engineer is that they’re not going to be done.” He said there may be some minimal extra hourly fees involved for Kimley-Horn.

During public comments following the presentation, Roberta Lopez said, “I think what’s been said about the sewer system and everything is very important, but I also feel that this should have been a workshop. There’s too many questions and too many unanswered ones. And I think when we bring [New] back, or whoever we need to bring back, it needs to be in workshop form… We have one meeting a month, and we should not have a civil workshop in this meeting.”

Public announcements

During public announcements, Roberta Lopez said, “I mentioned one time to some of you that I had applied for an abandoned cemetery grant. Well, it’s official from Tallahassee, and we have $50,000. That’s going to clean up the rest of the trees at the cemetery and do ground penetration on approximately 80% of the grounds so we can determine approximately how many people are buried there.”

Other commenters said they wanted to see actual balance sheets and financial justifications before proceeding with property tax increases.

Budget workshop scheduled for July 29

After some discussion, Commissioners decided to hold the second budget workshop at 6 p.m. on July 28, but they later changed the date of the meeting to July 29.

Agreement for collection services

City Attorney Kiersten Ballou introduced the first regular item of business, an agreement with Online Information Services, Inc., for providing collection services of overdue utility bills; this agenda item was previously tabled at a meeting in February. Responding to Mayor Fletcher Hope, Ballou confirmed that the collection company will keep 50% of the amount collected. 

Vice Mayor Iris Bailey said, “We may not be ready for this right now.” Interim City Manager Deanna Alltop answered, “We want to collect the money, but I just hate to give half our money, the little bit of money we do have, away.” 

Commissioner Kathy Penny asked how much revenue had been collected since February for overdue bills. Alltop said it was probably thousands of dollars, but more importantly, they had installed water meters for customers who previously did not have working meters.

Bailey made a motion to “table it until at least January.” Penny seconded the motion, and she also requested that staff keep a total for delinquent utility bills collected between now and January.

During public comment on the motion, Laurie Costello pointed out that financial consultant Dallas Lee suggested using the collection service, and the alternative is to receive almost no money instead of 50%. 

The motion to table the item until January passed unanimously.

Using Archer Community Center as a polling place

Ballou introduced the next item, an annual license agreement with the Supervisor of Elections to use the Archer Community Center as a polling place for upcoming elections. White made a motion to approve the agreement, and Bailey seconded the motion. It passed unanimously.

Extending Dallas Lee’s contract

The next item was an agreement to continue utilizing Dallas Lee for financial consulting services. Ballou said the agreement is very similar to the previous agreement they made with Lee. Responding to Hope, Ballou confirmed that either party may cancel the agreement with 30 days’ notice. 

White made a motion to accept the agreement, Commissioner Marilyn Green seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

Changing an accessor on the City’s bank account

Ballou introduced a resolution that would authorize an additional person as a bank information accessor on behalf of the City of Archer and remove the previously designated bank accessor. She explained, “This is just a resolution that removes Amanda [Hagen] and adds back Dallas Lee, and no one else is a signatory. It makes clear that Dallas is not a signatory. He just can access the bank information.”

Bailey made a motion to approve the resolution, Green seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

Maximum property tax rate for FY2026

The next item, introduced by Ballou, was a resolution “determining the proposed maximum millage rate, the current year rolled-back rate, and the date, time, and place for the first and second public budget hearings as required by law.”

White made a motion to adopt the resolution, and Bailey seconded the motion “for discussion.” 

Alltop said the recommended maximum rate is 6.4322 mills, but they can always decide to go with a lower rate during the final vote. Hope said, “Our current rate is 5.547.” The maximum rate is 16% higher than the current rate and 21.6% higher than the rolled-back rate of 5.2910. The “rolled-back rate” is the rate that would raise the same amount of revenue as the prior year if applied to the current year’s tax roll. 

During public comment on the item, Karen Fiore questioned the complete lack of backup information to justify or support any changes in the budget and property tax rates. 

Laurie Costello said, “You shouldn’t be passing it tonight. You should be bringing back some kind of budget, something to justify the raise, and then you will have to have a special meeting. You know, it is what it is.”

Hope asked if they could bring back the item with more information at a special meeting on July 28 (later changed to July 29), prior to the second budget workshop already scheduled on the same day. Ballou confirmed that would be acceptable, as far as the deadlines.

White and Bailey agreed to amend their motion and second to bring the item back with more information from Dallas Lee at a special meeting on July 28 (later changed to July 29) at 6 p.m., immediately before the second budget workshop. It passed unanimously.

A moment later, Ballou announced that she had just received a text from Lee, and he will be available on July 29, but not July 28. Everyone agreed to change the special meeting date to July 29, which also moved the date for the second budget workshop.

Final public comments

During final public comments, Roberta Lopez said, “I am very disappointed and do not understand why the City of Archer has not aggressively gone after the former manager and accountant. It has been proven that there are misplaced funds and poor recordkeeping leading up to the financial crisis. I think it is time to contact the governor and ask for help with the investigation.”