August 13 Alachua County Commission regular meeting
Press release from Alachua County
ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – The Alachua County Commission will conduct its regular meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. The regular meeting is in the Jack Durrance Auditorium on the second floor of the Alachua County Administration Building (12 SE 1st St., Gainesville). The meeting begins at 11:30 a.m. The evening portion of the meeting is canceled.
The meeting can be viewed on Cox Channel 12, the AC TV app (Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku), the county’s Facebook and YouTube sites, and the county’s Video on Demand website.
During the regular meeting, the public can make comments at the meeting in person or call in during the 12 p.m. (noon) comment period. Callers will have three minutes to comment on anything not on the agenda and three minutes to discuss anything on the agenda. Callers can choose either or both. Those commenting on items on the agenda will not be allowed to comment again on agenda items if attending the meeting in person later in the day. The call-in number is 1-929-205-6099. When prompted, enter meeting ID 873 5974 1977. Callers can hear the meeting while on hold and can use the system to listen. If you wish to comment, “raise your hand” by dialing *9 (star nine). Once you are called on by the last four digits of your phone number, unmute your phone by dialing *6 (star six).
Items of interest:
- Retirement Recognition for Gerald Bailey
- Appoint Two Citizens At-Large and one alternate member to the Historical Commission
- Recreation and Open Space Committee Update
- Infrastructure Surtax Oversight Board FY 24 1st Quarter Presentation
- Interlocal Agreement Between Alachua County and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office for a Radio Maintenance Program
- Request Approval of Joint Wild Spaces Public Places Project with the Town of Micanopy
- Sale of Former Dollar General Site to Town of Micanopy
- Appointment of substitute and alternate members of the Canvassing Board for the 2024 General Election
- Purchase of Sunrise Residence Inn from St. Francis House
- Ranking of Request for Proposal (RFP) 24-480-LC Architecture & Engineering (A&E) Services for Animal Resources & Care Facility for Facilities Management
- Ranking of Request for Proposal (RFP) 24-481-LC Construction Manager at Risk for Animal Resources & Care Facility for Facilities Management
- Evaluation of the Metamorphosis Therapeutic Program
- Public Hearing for Affordable Housing Inventory List of Properties
- First of two public hearings for amendments to the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) related to Florida Statutes and staff-initiated updates
This will be the last quiet BOCC meeting for a while. Why? Manager Lieberman is in Sweden at the 2024 World Masters meet. European vacation paid for with tax dollars.
Prediction: This will be the last meeting for the next six months where “$1 million MORE” for the WMA will not be on the agenda. All previous cost estimates have been low balled to sucker in the BOCC and they bit. The real cost estimate was included in the bid package over a year ago, but the LOC will only provide a redacted version to the public and the BOCC, in total violation of the Florida Public Records Law. No county commissioner has the balls to demand an unredacted bid document.
Prediction: Lieberman will return with a shell shocked look, finally realizing she has bitten off more than she can provide. For example, the Paris Olympics had 15,000 athletes and took 45,000 local volunteers. The WMA has 5000 athletes and a minimum need of several thousand volunteers. I don’t believe there are enough unemployed/retired folks in the county to volunteer for two weeks straight to put on a senior citizen track meet this large. Lieberman will have to come to the BOCC begging money for the LOC to hire temps. However county diversity/inclusion prohibits free or slave labor at minimum wage, all workers must get the county minimum of $18/hour. To hire 2000 temps will cost at least $4 MILLION. Pony up, BOCC. It’s only tax money.
Prediction: Millions more of “unanticipated expenses” will show up in the next six months.
Prediction that will not happen: The Local Organizing Committee has put up a $40,000 Performance Bond with the WMA. IF the BOCC really cared about doing their duty of proper stewardship of public tax dollars, they would pull the plug NOW and cancel this WMA boondoggle before it sucks up millions more tax subsidies. Let the LOC, funded with tax money anyway, lose their Performance Bond. Cheaper than continuation.
Remember, if all 5000 athletes stay 10 days at the Celebration Pointe hotels with jacked up prices of $200, the 5% tourist bed tax is going to net the county at most $500,000 in bed tax. They have spent this ten times over already so a few out of town owned hotel chains can make a few dollars, while county citizens get nothing but trafic jams. Two commissioners can be voted out in November, but since no opponents are using this boondoggle track meet as a campaign issue, I have to assume they all approve of it, so the single member elections will do nothing to effect change. Sad.