June 12 Community Engagement with Pineville Community (St. Peter/St. Paul) to discuss the proposed neighborhood park amenities. Stephen Rodriguez made a motion to accept the presentation; Sarah Bruning seconded; unanimous approval; motion carried.
5-16-24 · With assistance from Growth Management & ITS we’ve created an online GIS map containing ALL of the public access parks & conservation lands (municipal, county, state & non-profit) in Alachua County and their respective amenities. This as well as the Parks Master Plan can be found on the Parks & Open Space portion of the County website (www.alachuacounty.us).
· Veterans Memorial Park - Gray Construction has been at it for a few weeks now after a delay obtaining the construction permit (3/22-4/19). Clearing, grubbing, and rough grading for the new playground & parking lot have taken place. The playground equipment has been delivered to the jobsite. The playground and Gold Star Memorial installers have been laying out their respective work, and installation of footings should begin next week.
· MKR/Kate Barnes - JBPro submitted plans for preliminary DRC and water management district review in February. They are working to address comments provided by the SJWMD, and they resubmitted updated plans for DRC review in April. Once all the regulatory approvals are secured, JBPro can finish the construction documents, and we will put this project out for bids with construction scheduled to begin later this year.
· Poe Springs - Two projects underway here, the first being replacing the existing spring-side restrooms and the second being improvements to the boat launch.
o Restrooms - Construction documents have been completed and we are working with Procurement to put this project out for bids with construction slated to begin October 1st.
o Boat Launch - The water management district requested delineation of the wetlands and high-water levels in the vicinity of the proposed improvements. JBPro brought on an environmental subconsultant to assist with this work. A site visit with the SRWMD is being scheduled for review and further discussion.
· Copeland & Monteocha Parks - Purchase orders have finally been issued for the A&E services for these projects. We anticipate this work will take 6-8 months, after which the bidding & construction phases will occur.
· Cuscowilla
o Pavilion - Work onsite is expected to begin next week, and the building components are scheduled for delivery then as well.
o Lighting - After several months of coordination with Duke Energy we have a photometric lighting plan for the main parking lot and a lighting service agreement outlining the upfront & continuing costs. This was submitted as an FY25 budget proposal and was tentatively approved provided a more affordable solar option cannot be found.
· Jonesville Park - Two capital projects underway here, the first being construction of a new soccer stadium and some new pickleball courts and the second being renovation of 2 soccer fields.
o Soccer Stadium & Pickleball - This project was approved by the Board on 4/23 with $500K in TDT funds and the remainder from the WSPP Surtax. We are working with OMB & Procurement to put budget in place and issue purchase orders for A&E.
o Renovation of Soccer Fields 2 & 3 - Contract was approved by the Board on 4/9 and purchase order for this work was issued on 4/23. Preliminary work onsite began shortly thereafter, and last week the contractor began removing the top layer of organic material in preparation for rototilling, laser leveling, and resodding.
· West End Park (former golf course) - Nothing new to report except that negotiations are continuing.
· Wayfinding & Environmental Graphics - Our budget proposal for this work was denied.
· We are taking a very preliminary look at some properties along the US 301 corridor on the east side of the county. The Parks Master Plan suggested two acquisitions for community parks in that area. One just north of Hawthorne, between there and Orange Heights. And the other just south of Hawthorne, between there and Lochloosa.