High Springs City Commission raises taxes by 0.25 mills, increases utility rates, and keeps Fire Department

BY DAVID LIGHTMAN

HIGH SPRINGS, Fla. – At the August 28 regular meeting, the High Springs City Commission agreed to lease the Santa Fe Room to Swampbots Robotics for $500/month, terminated the Special Magistrate contract with the Gilchrist Law Firm due to very high charges, raised the millage rate by 0.25 mills, raised utility rates by an average of $24.25/month, and reduced Commissioners’ pay by 25%.

Swampbots Robotics rental

The first item of business was a proposal from Swampbots Robotics: “I’m Jason Sweat, founder and president of Swampbots Robotics, here in High Springs. Let me first start by saying thank you to everyone here at the City for the partnership that we’ve had over the last four years. Without that partnership, we could not have become the program that we are today… We are the premier youth robotics, STEM education, and robotics program in the area. We started back in 2018 as a mentorship program, and we quickly grew into a full-fledged youth education and robotics program.

“Our competition robotics teams have represented the city everywhere from California to Daytona Beach, and most recently, this past summer, in South Africa, where they competed against 80 teams from around the world. The teams here in High Springs have been in the top three in the state for the last three years in a row, out of 655 teams… Since our official start as an organization three years ago, we’ve grown from 25 kids to just over 130 this year and counting [in over 30 teams]… We provide this program at little to no cost to the kids. Our program is completely funded through local businesses and donors and grants that we get from the Children’s Trust. We currently use the Poe Springs Room. The City has been gracious enough to allow us the exclusive use of that for the last three years… But we’ve obviously outgrown that now… So, what we would like to propose tonight to the City is to expand into the Santa Fe Room. Rather than just come and say, ‘Hey, can we just have the Santa Fe Room?’, we would like to enter into a rental agreement and contribute back to the City to help fund the use of the building, and the utilities, and that sort of thing.

“What we would like to offer is 500 bucks a month to continue using the Poe Springs Room and then move into the Santa Fe Room, as well. And hopefully that will help to offset some of the cost of the use of that building. Thank you.”

Mayor Tristan Grunder said, “I’m all for this.”

Commissioner Katherine Weitz asked City Manager Jeremy Marshall about any plans to use the Santa Fe Room as a location for a Community Resource Center that the County could potentially locate in High Springs. 

Marshall said, “We haven’t made any decisions or guidance or anything on what you want to do with that Santa Fe Room. So, that’s why I asked the robotics to come and give a presentation on what they’re doing. So, you can decide as a Commission what the best use of that room is.”

Weitz said, “Finding some kind of happy medium would be ideal.”

Commissioner Wayne Bloodsworth asked whether they would need to leave equipment in the room. Sweat said they do have lots of robotics equipment and big tables that are not easy to move around, and they are hoping to find a permanent location.

Responding to Commissioner Andrew Miller, Sweat said, “Last year, we came in with the City’s approval. We repainted the Poe Springs Room and freshened it up a little bit. And we would look to do the same thing in the Santa Fe Room… We’re not asking that they come in and change the carpets and all that kind of stuff… It’s fine just the way it is.” Miller pointed out that no one rents the Santa Fe Room currently because it is in such poor condition.

Weitz asked how often the lease would renew. Sweat said it could be a 12-month lease at $500/month, similar to the lease the club has for the Poe Springs Room at $0/month, or the cost could be $250/month per space, if the City would prefer that.

Weitz still had concerns about the County wanting to use the space and their ability to pay a higher rent. Sweat said the annual robotics events bring thousands of people into the area every year, but events are currently held at Legacy Park in Alachua because of crowd sizes.

Commissioner Chad Howell made a motion to move forward with a lease for the Santa Fe Room, as proposed. Miller seconded his motion, and it passed 5-0. 

Special Magistrate

Attorney Kiersten Ballou of Folds Walker introduced herself as the new alternate City Attorney for meetings that Attorney Danielle Adams will not be able to attend. 

Continuing to the next item, Ballou said, “This is your Special Magistrate contract. Recently, you all put out for competitive bidding on this position. You selected the Gilchrist Law Firm. The expenditures from the Gilchrist Law Firm have been extreme. The invoices have been much higher than we anticipated. And because Danielle is such a wonderful attorney, she ensured that you had a ‘termination for convenience’ clause in your contract. So you have the ability to terminate with a 30-day notice.”

Grunder asked, “How much higher?” Marshall answered, “We were expecting maybe around the $15,000 mark. We’ve spent way above that already, just to hold two hearings for a $250 thing… We’ve been nickel-and-dimed severely by this.”

Grunder asked about alternatives. Ballou said there currently aren’t any pending cases for a Special Magistrate to hear, but they could consider the other firm that responded.   

Weitz made a motion to terminate the contract with Gilchrist and try to negotiate with the other firm that responded. Bloodsworth seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

Budget

The third item was to finalize the budget. Marshall said they were still dealing with a $620,000 deficit in the sewer budget and a fire deficit of $103,000, and he listed other problems. He said they have limited working days to make changes before the first Budget Hearing on September 8.

Marshall showed a slide with four possible scenarios for cutting the budget:

The first scenario includes no cuts to services. The second, third, and fourth scenarios include cuts to services in the form of not giving any raises to employees (#2), cutting Fire Department shifts from five to four workers (#3), and completely closing the Fire Department (#4). The first three scenarios involve raising the millage rate by 0.25 mills (from 6.74 to 6.99 mills), and the fourth scenario would involve raising fire assessment fees significantly.

Weitz said she thought property owners should pay to replace grinder pumps when they wear out. Bloodsworth said he disagreed: “This is what they were forced to do. We crushed their septic tanks. We filled their septic tanks full of dirt. They can’t even use their septic tank. So now we’re going to just wash our hands and say it’s the homeowner’s responsibility? I don’t agree with that.” Bloodsworth said he wouldn’t be opposed to a monthly maintenance fee for the grinder pumps. Grunder said he favors eventually making homeowners responsible for them, after 30 years or longer.

Finance Director Diane Wilson cautioned against raising utility bills by $300/year, or $24.25/month. She said many customers might not be able to pay.

Howell said the only lasting solution is the fourth option, closing the Fire Department. 

Weitz said she was against cutting staff, and she asked about holding fundraisers. Ballou said they can hold fundraisers but they must advertise what the money will be used for.

First motion

Miller made a motion to give no raises to employees (from #2), to cut Fire Department shifts from five to four workers (from #3), to increase average sewer bills by $12.15/month (from #2, #3, and #4), and to increase property taxes by 0.25 mills (from #1, #2, and #3). He also included a 25% pay reduction for Commissioners.

Howell said he would suggest keeping employee raises and raising utility rates by an average of $24.25/month instead of $12.15. Wilson said that would be #3 but with a higher utility rate. Grunder said scenario #3 would necessitate firing three firefighters. Public Information Officer Kevin Mangan said there are also safety concerns when working with only four firefighters instead of five. 

Miller’s motion died for lack of a second. 

Second motion

Bloodsworth made a motion to go with scenario #1. Miller seconded the motion. It passed unanimously.

Weitz asked if they are still free to change the budget before the second Budget Hearing on September 22. Wilson said they can, but there are time constraints, and it is not a good idea to wait that long.

Third motion

Weitz made a motion to amend the previous motion with 25% Commissioner pay reductions. Bloodsworth seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

Commissioners talked about Bridlewood and other future developments that should bring in more revenue.

Joint meeting with the County Commission

The last item of business was arranging another joint meeting with the County Commission. Weitz said they had already told her, “No, thank you,” when she conveyed the request. 

Grunder said, “I think that they have negotiated with us in bad faith, and I think that their behavior –- and I don’t know if it’s the Commissioners or the County Manager, but I think they have acted in extreme bad faith with us.” Grunder alluded to his belief that the County wants the High Springs Fire Department to fail.

Alcohol sales within 500 feet of a church

During final comments, Attorney Ballou encouraged continued feedback on the topic of alcohol sales prohibitions within 500 feet of a church, something they had discussed a week earlier with Attorney Danielle Adams.