Alachua County Special Meeting

Minutes

-
Gainesville City Hall Auditorium
200 E University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32601
Present:
  • Commissioner Mary Alford, 
  • Vice Chair Ken Cornell, 
  • Commissioner Anna Prizzia, 
  • and Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler 
Absent:
  • Chair Charles S. Chestnut, IV 

A.
Call To Order

 

Mayor Ward called the meeting to order at 1:00pm

B.
Welcome

 

C.
Introduction

 

D.
Adoption of the Agenda

 

Commissioner Willits moved approval of the agenda with the addition to authorize the grant agreement 59 and adding "managers comment" to the end of the meeting. 

2nd Commissioner Duncan-Walker

The motion carried 5-0 with Commissioner Eastman not present. 

 

Commissioner Prizzia moved approval of the agenda with adding "manager comment" to the end of the meeting.

2nd Commissioner Wheeler

The motion carried 4-0 with Chair Chestnut not present. 

 

The City of Gainesville adopted their March 24th, 2025, minutes and discussed the authorization of the city grant agreement 59. 

  • To approve the Agenda. 

E.
Items For Discussion

 

1.
UF Eastside Urgent Care Center - 25-00438

 

Toni Wilson, UF Health Clinical Manager presented the above item to the commission. 

 

Primary Goals of the Urgent Care

•To provide an alternative to the emergency room for bumps, bruises, twists, and other non
life-threatening injuries and illnesses
 •To provide care for an underserved population in East Gainesville
 •To fill in the gaps for the area family medicine practices

 

Common diagnoses

  • UTI (500)
  • Bronchitis (800)
  • Pharyngitis (300)
  • Cough (800)
  • Chest pain (200)
  • Other general signs and symptoms (2000)

 

City Commissioner Eastman joined the meeting at 1:11pm

 

City Commissioner Moore-Chestnut, Mayor Ward, Commissioner Alford, Commissioner Prizzia, Commissioner Wheeler, Commissioner Cornell, City Commissioner Duncan-Walker, and City Commissioner Ingle all presented comments.

2.
Meridian Behavioral Healthcare Central Receiving Facility - 25-00496

 

Jennifer Barber, Director of Meridian Healthcare’s Central Receiving Facility presented the above item. 

- a single access point for all individuals looking for mental health treatment and/or substance use services. 

- available to all ages

- open 24/7 and insurance is not required 

 

Commissioner Prizzia, Commissioner Cornell, Commissioner Alford, Commissioner Wheeler, City Commissioner Willits, Mayor Ward, and City Commissioner Ingle all presented comments 

3.
Hoggetowne Medieval Faire - Update of Future Status

 

Leslie Ladendorf, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation cultural affairs presented staff who gave a presentation to the commission. 

Sunny Adre and Lily Tzou gave a presentation to the Board. 

For the last two years The Hoggetowne Medieval Faire has been held at Depot Park. With this change from the fairgrounds to depot park there have had to be some accommodating changes. 

Reduced:

- There has had to be a decrease in the number of stages. From 11 stages to 6 stages

- A change of 150 vendors to 90 vendors 

- Reduced Faire time from 3 weekends to 1 weekend

Notable Losses:

- Joust

- Birds of Prey

- Barely Balanced performers

- Medieval Games

Funding:

The medieval faire is self-sustaining and relies on ticket revenue along with booth fees, grants and sponsorships to pay for all expenses. 

Only staff time for planning the event is covered in the general fund. 

Ticket Sales - 92%

Booth Fees - 4.5%

Sponsorships & Grants - 3.5%

To Host a large 3 weekend event the site needs/requirements are:

- 50-60 acres of flat dry land that is mostly cleared

- 4 miles within the Gainesville City Limits

- All of January and some of February with additional prep time option, if needed

- Must be able to secure permit

  - Requirements are achievable

  - Sufficient time to complete

- Multiple entrances and exits 

  - Two for guests

  - One for staff/emergency vehicles

Four lane highway - guest access

Two lane highway - staff access

Site Needs: Infrastructure

- Water: Crucial for food vendors and animal performers

- Power: Support at least 15 food vendor booths

- Fencing: Perimeter fencing to prevent unauthorized access

 

Commissioner Alford exits the meeting at 2:30pm

 

Commissioner Cornell, Commissioner Prizzia, Mayor Ward, Commissioner Wheeler, Roxi Gonzalez, City Commissioner Eastman, City Commissioner Willits, Commissioner Cornell, Commissioner Book, Roxi Gonzalez, Mayor Ward, City Commissioner Moore-Chestnut, City Commissioner Ingle, City Commissioner Eastman, Commissioner Prizzia, and City Commissioner Willits presented comments.  

 

Prizzia moved to refer to staff to come back with potential partnership opportunities for a ticketed event in 2026 and to explore longer-term solutions around the Raceway and other options in 2027. Also, to send a joint City/County chair letter to the Gainesville Raceway to consider insurance issues surrounding rental of the facility. 

2nd Commissioner Wheeler

The Motion carried 3-0 with Chair Chestnut and Commissioner Alford absent

 

Commissioner Moore-Chestnut moved to refer City staff to work with County staff to jointly develop a plan to look at alternative sites including the Gainesville Raceway for the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire in 2027. Also, to send a joint City/County chair letter to the Gainesville Raceway to consider insurance issues surrounding rental of the facility. 

2nd Commissioner Duncan-Walker

The motion carried 7-0

 

Public Comment

Mayor Ward recognized Michael Huey who presented comments. 

4.
Regional Transit System (RTS) Proposed Summer 2025 and Transit Service Changes

 

City Chief operating officer Andrew Persons briefly presented the above item to the commission. 

 

The city terminated route 25 with the spring term, this is a route that was 100% funded by UF and the discussion has been the weekend service on route 26. Route 26 currently operates Monday - Friday. In order to add weekend services to route 26 it will roughly cost about $100,000 annually.

 

Commissioner Prizzia exits the meeting at 3:48pm

Commissioner Prizzia returns to the meeting at 3:52pm

 

City Commissioner Willits, City Chief operating officer Andrew Persons, City Commissioner Eastman, City Commissioner Duncan-Walker, Commissioner Prizzia, Commissioner Cornell, Mayor Ward, and City Commissioner Ingle all presented comments. 

 

Commissioner Prizzia moved to refer to staff to bring forward options for transit to grace marketplace, including restoring route 26 weekend service and point to point services. 

2nd Commissioner Wheeler

The motion carried 3-0 with Chair Chestnut and Commissioner Alford absent. 

 

Commissioner Duncan-walker moved to mirror the county motion as follow: refer to staff to bring forward options for transit to grace marketplace, including restoring route 26 weekend service and point to point services.

2nd Commissioner Ingle

The motion carried 7-0.

 

Public Comment

 Mayor Ward recognized Khali Blount who presented comments. 

5.
Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area (GCRA) Term Extension and Restructure

 

This item has been deferred until the September joint meeting. 

F.
Public Comment

 

There were no comments presented. 

G.
Commission General Comments and Information Discussion

 

1.
County Commission Comment

 

There were no comments presented.

Manager Comment

County Manager Lieberman briefly discussed celebration point with the Commission. 

The County sent a default notice to the operator of the Sports Event Center providing 30 days to cure. The notice had a couple different parts like reporting timelines not met and fees not paid.  Those are not fees that are owed to Alachua County, but they are fees that are owed to the Community Development District (CDD). Which is part of the obligation as the operator to pay that fee to the CDD. To date the County has not put any funds into the general operation of the facility which has been open for two years. The 30-day notice will expire around the first BOCC meeting in July. Another update will be given to the Board in July. The County pays on the facility; the County owns the facility and the land the facility sits on so it's not in jeopardy. 

2.
City Commission Comment

 

City Commissioner Ingle discussed the potential of transferring Palm Point Park instead of it being a city park to it being a county park.  

Commissioner Cornell stated that the county had already directed staff to get with the city staff to discuss palm point park about two weeks ago. 

H.
Adjourn

 

There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 4:39 p.m.

  • To adjourn the meeting. 

No Item Selected