The Newberry City Commission unanimously approved an agreement that will allow Alachua County to purchase five acres of land for a Rural Collection Center at the Newberry Environmental Park during a regular meeting Monday night. 

Interim City Manager Dallas Lee said Newberry and the county had originally been in talks, years ago, for joint use of a rural collection center. Since then, legislative changes and other pieces of the plan, which fell through, canceled that project, so the county instead proposed a purchase of the five acres it needs. 

A rural collection center is a facility for the collection of recycling, solid waste, yard trash, bulk items and household hazardous waste. It will be staffed by county employees and funded through the county’s solid waste assessment, free for all Alachua County residents. 

The land is located beside the Newberry Environmental Park site on SW 266^th Street, across a driveway from a future composting site. 

The county and city have negotiated a price of $35,000 per acre, or $175,000 in total. According to Lee, the city paid $12,500 per acre in 2022. 

Newberry will also be responsible for bringing utilities to the site. Gus Olmos, the county’s director of solid waste and resource recovery, said the county will be ready to move forward with the project as soon as utilities are available. 

Commissioner Tim Marden said he was glad to see the project moving forward. He said the project came to be because Newberry offered to partner with the county after High Springs had contention over the same project. 

Marden made a motion to authorize staff to execute a purchase agreement and other necessary documents. Commissioner Tony Mazon seconded the motion, which the commission passed unanimously. 

“This was always a positive partnership, and I agree with Commissioner Marden, it’s wonderful to get back to that because Newberry and Alachua County really do work well together, most of the time,” Mayor Jordan Marlowe said. 

Easton Facility Expansion 

The City Commission also unanimously directed staff to negotiate a contract with Easton Sports Development Foundations that would extend the current agreement and allow Easton to expand its footprint at the Newberry-owned site it currently occupies. 

Newberry and Easton partnered in 2008 to build the main facility at the Easton-Newberry Sports Complex — Easton paid $1.5 million for the 17,600-square-foot facility, and the city provided property, managed construction and paid the balance, about $1 million. 

Both parties now share the facility, and according to meeting documents, the city pays most of the operating and maintenance costs through building and grounds. 

The original contract, created during development, included a 20-year term, terminating in September 2029. The contract also granted Easton the option to renew the lease for an additional 10-year period. If the city does not grant the extension upon Easton’s request, it would owe $1.5 million, adjusted for inflation, as liquidated damages. 

Easton now proposes an extension of the relationship, in addition to an expansion of the sports center. The proposed expansion would add 9,800 square feet to the facility, to be used exclusively by Easton. 

Easton would cover 100% of the expansion cost, estimated at $3.5 million. 

The proposal also includes a new contract, with a 35-year term after the certificate of occupancy. 

Staff brought forward a few concerns with Easton’s proposal, including the need for new construction to be functional for programming other than archery after the term of the agreement, the extensiveness of a 35-year contract, a need for clearer separation of Easton’s and the city’s office spaces, and a need for more equitable distribution of shared expenses. 

Marlowe interrupted staff’s presentation to say he had had a “really exciting conversation” about the Easton expansion earlier that day, and while he said that conversation would point the commission toward negotiating with Easton on the new contract, he said it might also render much of Monday’s presentation moot. 

Marlowe declined to elaborate on the conversation, as he had not yet discussed it with recreation director Rod Clark, but he asked the commission to direct staff to negotiate. 

“Give us an opportunity to kind of flesh out the conversation that I had today, which I think is gonna negate what a lot of your concerns are,” Marlowe said. 

Marlowe said he had just sent out an email requesting to meet with Easton next week. 

Commissioner Mark Clark made a motion in line with the mayor’s request, and Commissioner Ricky Coleman provided a second before the commission unanimously voted to have staff begin negotiations.