The Archer City Commission voted during its regular meeting on Monday to send a letter to the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) asking to use $253,000 of infrastructure funds towards a debt incurred from the Holly Hills Stormwater Pond improvement project. 

The Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) approved the $55,930 project last summer that would provide a match for additional stormwater management features to curb flooding. 

The city initially worked on the wastewater project with engineering firm Kimley-Horn but has since acquired the services of Woodard & Curran. 

Archer City Attorney Danielle Adams said that the city carried around $290,000 in outstanding debt owed for Kimley-Horn invoices and that the work reflected on the invoices wouldn’t be distributed to the city until they’re paid.  

Adams said the city needs the work in order to be able to apply for its Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) permit, which she said the city must have in order to meet the deadlines for the entire project, or else add more debt. 

“If we do not meet the deadlines for this project, then we will owe several million dollars to the city of Newberry, which obviously we do not have,” Adams said. 

According to Adams, the county flagged $253,000 of infrastructure funds for Archer to use. In order to access the funds which would be applied to the invoice debt, the city would need to submit one application for the water project and another for the wastewater project. 

Adams said a lot of things would have to fall in place to secure the funding, but they needed to try because Archer’s original repayment plan with Kimley-Horn of $50,000 a month isn’t doable. 

The motion to send the letter also included a request for the county to waive their agenda deadline and allow the funding discussion on their May 27 meeting agenda.  

The commission also moved to send another letter to the city of Newberry asking for clarification on whether recent funds Newberry had requested, but not awarded, would affect Archer’s ability to move forward with the wastewater project. 

In light of the city’s current financial emergency, in addition to the Kimley-Horn invoice debt, the commission moved to reconsider funding the Archer Elementary scholarship after this year. 

Every year, the city gives $1,000 to an Archer Elementary fifth grader to use after graduating from high school. In order to prioritize critical spending, the City Commission decided to move forward with this year’s scholarship but include it in the budget’s consideration for the future and add an expiration date for those who forget about the funds. 

“Sorry to be a nickel and dimer here,” said Archer Mayor Fletcher Hope. “We don’t want to backlog ourselves and have $30 or $40,000 in debt service because someone [forgot the scholarship].” 

Hope also said he would “reach out to a higher authority for guidance” by asking his church and other inner-city ministerial church organizations if they’d like to consider funding the scholarships. 

Archer’s next regular meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, at Archer City Hall (16870 SW 134th Ave.), will provide a budget update and “drastic” ideas for addressing it, according to interim City Manager Deanna Alltop. 

“We’re getting ready for hurricane season,” Alltop said. “If anything significant happens and we have to pay for it and we run out of money, we’re closed. Done. It’s got to be drastic or we’re not going to be here anymore.”