May 28 Alachua County Commission Regular Meeting
Press release from Alachua County
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Alachua County Commission will conduct its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 28, 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 3 minutes to comment on anything not on the agenda and 3 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:
- Approval of a Proclamation declaring June 1 as Gate of The Muses for Ray Charles at Dreamers Garden Day in Alachua County, Florida
- Approval of a Proclamation declaring May 25 as Family Abduction Awareness Day in Alachua County, Florida
- Approval of a Proclamation declaring June 3 through June 7, 2024, as Code Enforcement Officers Appreciation Week in Alachua County
- Advisory Board Update – Citizen Climate Advisory Committee (CCAC) update
- Value Adjustment Board Chairperson Election
- Legacy (former Ability Housing Site) community engagement
- Affordable Housing Plan 2024
- Santa Fe River – Block Tract Option Contract to Purchase Real Property & Land Acquisition Reimbursement Grant Agreement
- Request to Advertise an ordinance for speed enforcement in Alachua County School Zones
- Request to Advertise Public Hearing on amendments to Unified Land Development Code Landscaping requirements
- Option to accept assignment of Purchase Contract from Viking Companies for West End Golf Course
- Ranking of RFP 24-465-LC Program Manager Services for Alachua County’s Fresh Food Pathways Program for the Office of Sustainability, Equity, Economic and Strategic Development
- Ranking of RFP 24-39-PM Annual Re-Entry Hub Program Services for Community Support Services
- FY24 Budget Amendment for Re-appropriations and Fund Balance
- Public hearing on proposed amendments to the Unified Land Development Code, related to Personal Wireless Services Facilities (PWSF)
- Public Hearing for the Vacation of the Plat of Seminole Pines
They’re going to buy West End Golf Course…Celebration Pointe and Viking Companies went bankrupt and cannot close the sale so Alachua County taxpayers will be eating the cost..this is all part of the 2025 INDOOR Track Championship…the public/private partnership that gave millions of tax payer money to Celebration Pointe to build that huge gymnasium…so basically it’s a publicly funded public/private partnership…??
West End is already being advertised as an event location. It’s a done deal…and a nepotistic one.
https://wmaci2025.com/eventdetails/
I hope everyone realizes the county is spending millions to buy an old golf course (with known environmental contaminants) just for one athletic event….they’ve already spent millions to build the gym off Archer Rd…for one event. And due to storm water requirements, they won’t be able to flip this property even if they wanted to…half of the property is unbuildable.
Bankrupt con man Viking has an option to buy West End which expires July 31. Property been on the market for two years and no rush to buy it. If the county simply waits till July 31 they can buy the land directly from West End WITHOUT paying a quarter million dollars payola to a bankrupt con man, who, by the way, has not paid his 2023 taxes on any of his properties and owes hundreds of thousands to the county.
Before this is over I think a forensic grand jury needs to Follow the Money and find out who Viking paid off for the county to keep throwing money his way. Viking got paid flat rate $30 million to build a cheap no bid energy inefficient tin barn that could be built for $20 million. Where did the money go? There is crookedness here from my vantage point.
Viking is the front man…basically a builder. Not the true developer. Tower Hill Insurance family has deep pockets and politics reach. Look no further.
From Public Records, for fans of Celebration Pointe:
On March 14, 2024, three of the fifty plus shell LLC corporations which exist and operate as “Celebration Pointe” filed for Federal bankruptcy. Case 2024-bk-10056. They owe primarily out of state banks $100 to $500 million and can’t make payments.
In Alachua County Circuit Court there are two open lawsuits against the Viking empire.
Case 2023-CA-004161 is some folks who claim they invested $2 million to build a student housing building east of Tigert Hall. Building was never built, the site is today a parking lot. The investors claim Viking refuses to return their $2 million and the lawsuit uses the word “fraud.”
Case 2022-CA-003014 is some folks who were business partners with Viking Student Housing, LLC, another shell corporation, to build a housing high rise north of University Avenue. Their lawsuit claims that Viking refuses to give them copies of the internal corporate documents they are entitled to by law.
Three corporations are in the Federal bankruptcy filing.
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1. SHD-Celebration Pointe LLC owns no property under its own name. However it owns and manages a few shell corporations to keep a lot of lawyers and accountants employed.
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2. Celebration Pointe Holdings LLC owns 6 parcels. None of the 2023 property taxes have been paid on them. Due by May 31. The bankruptcy filing prevents tax certificates from being sold.
6820-2-18, 6820-4-1, 6937-4-0 are tiny and of little value. However
-6820-2-0 owes $36,500 for 2023 taxes.
-6828-7-0 owes $26,700 for 2023 taxes. In addition, it never paid its 2022 taxes and a tax certificate was sold for 33,206. CPH owes this investor repayment plus interest.
-6818-0-0 owes $23,000 for 2023 taxes. It never paid its taxes for 2018, and a tax certificate for $17,677 was sold; it never paid its taxes for 2019, and a tax certificate for $21,486 was sold; it never paid its taxes for 2021, and a tax certificate for $27,402 was sold.
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3. Celebration Pointe Holdings II LLC owns one parcel.
6820-3-0 owes $24,000 for 2023 taxes. It never paid its taxes for 2018, and a tax certificate for $29,714 was sold; it never paid its taxes for 2021, and a tax certificate for $28,759 was sold; it never paid its taxes for 2022, and a tax certificate for $28,003 was sold.
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Not counting the other shell corporations, just the three bankrupt companies owe $110,200 for 2023 taxes and owe $186,247 to redeem the tax certificates for taxes they never paid between 2018 and 2022.
Ordinarily, the Tax Collector would sell delinquent 2023 tax certificates on the courthouse steps on June 1. However. The Tax Collector does not sell certificates for entities who are in bankruptcy, so Celebration Pointe gets a free pass, all the while the BOCC is getting ready to give Viking a quarter million tax dollars. Ethically and morally just wrong.
Facts on government subsidies. Some promote Public-Private Partnerships. In this case, the Public puts up the money, the Private corporations get the benefits. In reality, one way and always bad for the taxpayers.
Alachua County BOCC created a special taxing district “Celebration Pointe Community Development District No. 1” in 2012, Ordinance 2012-17. The district collects an extra 1 cent sales tax within the district, making it an expensive place to shop.
The CDD has issued three bonds to develop Celebration Pointe roads and such.
Series 2014 is for $33,730,000.
Series 2017 is for $30,245,000
Series 2021 is for $30,245,000.
Total bond debt $67,255,000 plus interest.
In 2014 Celebration Pointe received a $12,000,000 State Infrastructure Bank low interest loan through the Florida Department of Transportation to build the bridge over I-75 connecting to Butler Plaza.
In 2021 Alachua County gave Viking Inc. $30,000,000 tax dollars to build a Sports Center.
In 2021 the State Legislature gave CP $2,320,000 towards the Sports Center.
Millions more have been requested for the 2025 World Masters Track Meet.
On May 28, 2024 Alachua County proposes to pay $3.8 million plus plus to buy the pesticide contaminated West End golf course and clean it up at taxpayer expense(estimated $100,000 but these things tend to overrun), and give the Gainesville Sports Organizing Committee $355,000 (on the consent agenda) to “promote” the World Master Track Meet. The tax money cash flow knows no end.
The “Free Market Capitalist Development” of Celebration Pointe has received to date at least $111,575,000 of taxpayer money subsidies in its twelve year existence, yet it was such a misconceived idea it still went bankrupt March 14, 2024.
I would love to review the appraisal report that valued that property at $3.8million. I wonder what ‘best use’ that valuation was based on. I would also like to read phase one and phase two environmental reports. I do not see how a legitimate appraisal and environmental reports could support this price.
Slice: number one job of elected officials is responsible due diligence spending taxpayer money. The resolution tomorrow says (sadly, I wish I was making this up) says “Time is of the essence”, County must close in June before Viking’s option expires in July, so “Due Diligence” is waived, and the County Manager (an unregistered lobbyist for Celebration Point, IMHO) can wheel and deal without input and consultation of the Commission, giving the County Manager dictatorial powers to run the county and enrich her Republican buddy Svein. This reeks.
The pesticide cleanup is Estimated at $50,000 to $100,00, and County taxpayers will pay for it. Anyone familiar with superfund cleanups knows cleanup costs almost always costs 10 to 100 times in initial lowball estimate, and county taxpayers are giving this IOU. The BOCC should only approve this deal IF any cleanup cost over $100,000 comes out of the salary of the county manager, county attorney, and the County Commissioners themselves. See if they pass it if their money, not the taxpayer’s money, is on the line. I bet no.
If anyone does not believe that there are two separate but not equal Justice (sic) systems in the USA, read the article above this one. Dude named Cory stole a few thousand dollars and is sitting in jail with no bail. At Celebration Pointe a dude took $100 million and did not pay it back, and he is in bankruptcy court, with a federal judge and army of lawyers protecting him while he sleeps at home’ and the County Commission plans to give him a quarter million unearned dollars tomorrow.
Cory’s problem is that he did not rip off enough money. If he stole 4000 times as much, he would be sleeping at home tonight, too. Bonus $$$$: If Cory claimed to be a former Gator Jock who knows Steve Spurrier, the Alachua County Commission would give him millions with no questions asked. It is what they do.
Cory’s problem is that he doesn’t have wealthy backers lobbying on his behalf. Money always picks front men who they think “can relate to the regular man”…so locally they use ex-jocks.
The real developers of CP starting lobby Alachua Co and the state for zoning changes, environmental leniency, and public funding well over a decade ago. Same ones who were able to secure foreign financing for hundreds of millions. Same ones who know how to structure so that filing for bankruptcy is a blessing, not a horror.
The county has been thoroughly played but yet they still continue to commit time and time again…are they saving face or complicit in corruption? I also wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised if Alachua Co is named in the bankruptcy filing considering how intertwined the CP development and the county are.
Also on the agenda is Item 3. County to spend one million dollars to hire a Chicago company (New Venture Advisors) to build a county Food Hub. This is a BS woke idea that they cannot wait to spend Federal Covid dollars on. The Chicago company is a group of women who give “consulting services” to woke governments like Alachua County to do these “sounds good but does nothing” projects. You mean they could not find anyone in Alachua County qualified to do this contract? What are all those “innovation” centers for?
It will be so nice when all this “free” Federal Covid money is gone and the BOCC will have to justify spending local tax dollars on these stupid pet social justice projects.
Election Connection: This is Prizzia’s pet project. If the Republican opponent in Prizzia’s single member district (that’s you Newberry) does not make stuff like this a major campaign issue then they do not deserve to win.
New Venture Advisors..An entire company of only white women..except for Dan the research associate.
https://www.newventureadvisors.net/about-us/
Prizza is very obviously running point in this venture!
Slice: NVA obviously knows how to play the “government bid” scam game. In bid ranking many governments, in the name of “diversity” and “equity”, give bid bonus points to women majority or minority majority run companies. It gives them such an advantage that no company can beat the point system even if it is the best company in the world, if it is run by all white men with Nobel Prizes. Government bids are rigged to only give contracts to women and minorities, a total violation of their own “equity” regulations. A company whose president is a Puerto Rican woman gets Latin bonus points and really gets a high score no white man can beat. Add a little Native American ancestry and the points go off scale. Equity my ___.
Maybe some businesses will get a clue and move closer into town if they aren’t able to pay their rent at Celebration Pointe. I have always hated the whole concept, especially the location.
No wonder we cannot get the roads fixed, the La Cos Nostra, has surfaced to a Banquet.