After 35 years of working for Newberry, City Clerk Judy Rice retired on Monday as the longest-serving employee in the city’s history. Rice passed the City Seal to Randa Paul, who was sworn in as the new clerk during a regular commission meeting.
“I want to say thank you for the privilege of serving this community and its citizens for the past 35 years,” Rice said. “It has been an honor to work with you all, and I wish everyone success. I know that the continued growth and success of the city is in good hands.”
Newberry Mayor Tim Marden presented Rice with a commemorative plaque for her service and reread a proclamation from February’s State of the City address when she received a Key to the City.
It detailed Rice’s journey of working for the city, which began in the late 1980s as the utility clerk and the city’s third female employee before she transitioned to deputy city clerk, director of finance and became city clerk in 2012.
Rice maintained numerous accreditations, including Florida certified records manager, certified municipal clerk, master municipal clerk, certified supervisory manager and certified public manager. From 2016 through 2021, she represented Newberry on Florida’s League of Cities, Utilities, Natural Resources and Public Works legislative policy committee.
Multiple commissioners expressed their gratitude for Rice’s service and shared personal stories from their time working together.
Commissioner Tony Mazon, who also works for UPS, said his relationship with Rice had been authentic from when it started before his term on the dais, when he used to deliver packages to City Hall. He said he knew the city would be in good hands with Paul because Rice recommended her for the position.
Paul has experience as a real estate agent and was the city’s only internal applicant for the city clerk position.
“It is hard to find someone that doesn’t judge you for what you do, whether it’s right, left, gay, straight, and Judy does a phenomenal job of putting all that to the side and treats you as a human being,” Mazon said. “I appreciate you and I am truly going to miss you.”
The city also reached what City Manager Jordan Marlowe called a “historic moment” on Monday when the commission unanimously approved amending a 165-acre parcel of agriculturally designated land to agriculture technology.
Staff said the rezoning paved the way for developing an agriculture technology park, a project that has been 15 to 20 years in the making, to grow Newberry’s economy.
Following the approved rezoning, the commission directed staff to negotiate a tax abatement package to present to the park’s first applicant, Project Hydro.
Staff said the applicant is a result of a referendum Newberry approved about 10 years ago, allowing the city to provide a temporary reduction in ad valorem taxes to qualified businesses that invested a specific amount of capital dollars in the community and generated jobs.
Although the applicant’s real name remains confidential, Project Hydro would employ at least 50 full-time employees in the park, earning an average annual wage of $90,000. If the applicant chose to establish itself in Newberry, the final abatement would be set during a public hearing on Oct. 27.
“To the commission from an agricultural family that’s been four generations of farming in this city, I look forward to this because this is the future of ag and this is how we protect agricultural land,” Marlowe said. “Thank you, guys, for this important milestone.”
The City Commission also approved a budget for 2025-26, which Assistant City Manager and Chief Financial Officer Dallas Lee said intends to enable the city to provide for future growth, maintenance of existing infrastructure and advance the commission’s goals and strategic initiatives.
Because the city’s taxable property value grew by 8% in the 2024-25 year to reach nearly $884 million, staff said it can lower its millage from the current 5.9 mills to a tentative 5.88.
The rate is 3.16% more than the rollback rate of 5.6995 mills, which would generate approximately $159,546 less in the proposed $15,277,194 general fund budget than the tentative millage rate.
The budget also included a roughly $5 per month increase in electric utilities for the average household, $4 for water and $6 for wastewater.
All revenue and other financing sources available to the city amount to $66,709,940 in the budget, with $8,414,344 of reserves. Capital improvement funds are budgeted at $190,262, special revenue funds at $4,983,138, debt service fund at $402,650, enterprise funds total $52,513,850, and the proposed internal service fund is budgeted at $1,757,190.
Staff said the budget also accounts for investing more Wild Spaces and Public Places funds into Champions Park and Newberry Eastern Sports Complex improvements, and that the regional wastewater treatment plant expansion will be the single largest capital project Newberry has ever undertaken.
The city will more than double the plant’s capacity to 1.2 million gallons a day to meet the needs of residents and new businesses.
A half-million-gallon elevated water storage tank is planned for east of downtown to improve fire protection and system reliability for the growing community, with a new utilities and public works operation center located at the environmental park.
The final public hearing to adopt the budget will be held at 7 p.m. on Sept. 22 at City Hall.
Editor’s note: This story was underwritten by a grant from the Rural Reporting Initiative at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida. To learn more or get involved, click here.