The city of Archer secured $68,000 of the $253,000 loan it asked for from Alachua County on Tuesday, with county officials torn on helping in the unusual circumstances.  

The funds are needed to obtain design documents that Archer needs to finish its role in the regional Newberry Wastewater Plant project.  

Archer Mayor Fletcher Hope approached the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) at its regular Tuesday meeting. He said the city has received nearly $22 million in grants to pay for a $30 million wastewater project split into two parts. 

The city will pay $10 million as part of the construction of the new wastewater plant at the Newberry Environmental Park. The other $20 million will fund a collection system to take wastewater from Archer homes and pump it to the plant. 

Assistant City Attorney Kiersten Ballou said the city has hit a snag and needs $253,000 fronted to help guarantee the project moves forward.  

Because of Archer’s recent financial troubles, Ballou said the city fell behind in paying its design firm, Kimley-Horn. The design firm has the final documents that Archer needs to send to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to get approvals, but Ballou said the firm won’t release the documents until payment. 

Archer owes Kimley-Horn around $290,000, but Archer only asked for the $253,000 that the city is set to still receive from the countywide infrastructure surtax. The funds for Kimley-Horn are split between $222,000 for the wastewater documents and another $68,000 for documents related to a water project. 

Ballau said some of the grants coming forward might allow Archer to repay Alachua County for providing stopgap financing. If not, Archer planned to repay the county through its portion of the countywide infrastructure surtax. 

“If the city does not meet its deadline to submit the FDEP permit on time, it runs a grave risk of losing the ability to complete the wastewater project, which would lead to default on at least one multi-million-dollar interlocal agreement and the $13 million grant,” Hope said in a May 12 letter to the BOCC asking to be on the Tuesday meeting agenda. 

Ballou added that the terms of the interlocal agreement between Newberry and Archer have serious financial consequences if not met.

Hope said Archer has a line of credit with Ameris Bank for $1.5 million. The city has already borrowed some of that money, and he said the interest payments are already hurting the city with a 6.25% interest rate. 

Fletcher said he’s trying to get every nickel and dime for Archer, including asking the BOCC for a short-term loan with a lower interest rate than Ameris Bank. 

But county commissioners were skeptical. 

Commissioners worried about setting a precedent of providing short term loans for cities. With eight other cities, commissioners said they might start lining up to save funds. And the county isn’t a bank, they said. 

“This is a big mess. I’m sorry. I hate to say it that way,” BOCC Chair Chuck Chestnut said. 

Commissioner Ken Cornell said Alachua County has a clean audit year after year because it avoids risky deals like this. He asked about the impact if Archer couldn’t provide its part of the wastewater plant funding. Hope and Ballou said Newberry would need to redesign the facility.  

Cornell said it seems like Newberry should want to lend Archer money in the short term to ensure the project stays on track. He said Newberry is the closest partner to this.  

Ballou said informal talks with Newberry staff made it seem that the city is unwilling to lend the money at the time.  

If Newberry has to retrace steps without Archer, Cornell said they should want to cover a less than 1% cost to ensure Archer moves forward on the project. If not, Cornell said that might show what kind of partnership Archer is entering.  

“What I would say to the city of Archer elected is ask the city of Newberry elected [officials]. Because if the elected of the city of Newberry say ‘we’re not willing to help you on less than 1%, temporarily, on a $75 million project,’ then I would question that partner for the next three decades,” Cornell said.  

Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler said Archer is asking for a small amount, and she said the other cities won’t begrudge Archer for getting special assistance in their current situation.   

Commissioner Mary Alford said it’s an extenuating circumstance—the kind that doesn’t crop up for decades.  

But Alford said she did see where Newberry might not want to loan the money for Archer’s separate water project. She made a motion that the BOCC loan the $68,732 to Archer to pay Kimely-Horn for the water project documents.  

Assistant County Manager Tommy Crosby said he felt more comfortable lending the water project funding than the wastewater side. He said there’s less risk since Archer would be able to turn around in the next two months and repay the amount.  

He called the deal more of a short-term advancement than a loan and said he’s not sure how much Archer will really save. The county set a 4.5% interest rate, saving Archer an interest rate of 0.75% compared to using the Ameris Bank loan.  

Crosby said the county receives around 4% to 4.5% interest on its general funds put in interest-bearing accounts, so the county will remain revenue neutral. 

Cornell said Archer should look to Newberry and then the Ameris Bank loan to take care of the rest. 

Archer had a regular meeting on Tuesday night, just hours after the BOCC discussion.  

Ballou and Hope updated the Archer City Commission, and Hope said he planned to attend Newberry’s meeting that same night to get the conversation started.  

Commissioners said it seemed like Alachua County would make more sense to front the money since Archer sits under the county, not Newberry. Hope said the request also sprang from a joint meeting where the county commissioners said to ask if the city needed help wading through its financial difficulties.  

Hope told the BOCC that this short-term loan was the first opportunity to reach out and get help.  

Two Archer commissioners said they had already gotten calls from incoming Newberry City Manager Jordan Marlowe, who officially starts in the role in early June. The commissioners said Marlowe had heard that Archer would “ambush” the Newberry commissioners with the request.  

Hope said misinformation travels fast and that he planned to attend Newberry’s meeting that night to start the conversation. But the other commissioners cautioned against attending Newberry’s meeting if Marlowe had already called and wanted to set up a private meeting.  

Hope said it was his civic right to show up and talk during public comment. He asked that the rest of Archer’s meeting be tabled until June when he and the vice mayor could attend, but the other three commissioners said the items needed to be handled.  

At the Newberry meeting, Marlowe brought up the topic during his remarks at the end of the meeting. He said he’d been asked to relay a message from Archer about having a workshop. He wanted approval to begin conversations for a meeting to discuss the regional wastewater project.  

The Newberry City Commission agreed and gave him the leeway to set up something.  

Marlowe said Newberry will move forward on construction in 2026 and is ready to meet its contractual obligations.  

Hope told the Newberry City Commission that Archer wants to update its partner on the situation and also introduce the boards with new members and new staff. He said he also wants to get ahead of rumors that spread and let the boards talk together.