September 3 Alachua County Commission Special Meeting
August 30, 2024
Press release from Alachua County
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Alachua County Commission will conduct a special meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Grace Knight Conference Room on the second floor of the Alachua County Administration Building (12 SE 1st St., Gainesville).
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.
The meeting items of interest:
- Advisory Board Appreciation and Diversity
- Affordable Housing Plan Update
AC article: At the Aug 22 BOCC meeting “During the approval of the agenda, County Manager Michele Lieberman explained that the agenda item about the proposed Tara Forest West development in the City of Alachua was not on the agenda as requested because the City of Alachua told the County that the item would not come before their board for two or three months; the board had previously been told that it would be discussed at the Alachua City Commission’s August 26 meeting. Lieberman said staff would bring back more information on the property at the County Commission’s regular meeting on September 24.”
This is true, and totally misleading. The BOCC needs to establish a position before the Sept 24 meeting. The Tara developments north of Mill Sink have several names, all starting with Tara. Tara Wast, Tara Phoenician, Tara East, etc.
True: The Tara West project will not come before the board for several months.
But: True fact: At the Sept 10 Alachua Planning and Zoning meeting at 6 PM is an application related to this entire development. The applicant is Tara Forest, LLC. (slightly different name, same owners, same development) They want a Special Exception Permit for a long north south parcel east if I-75 and west of Mill Creek to use as a stormwater facility for the other Tara developments.
The county manager was wrong to say the County Commission did not need to adopt a position until Sept 24. The BOCC needs to discuss this at the Sept 3 meeting, and declare interested party status and send reps to the Sept 10 meeting to protect Alachua County’s aquifer.
Local citizens interested in Mill Sink need to attend this meeting.
Despite having one of the most expensive audio-visual systems around, the City of Alachua does not live stream ANY meeting. You must attend in person.