A very long day, indeed! The theme for the day was Schools!
The meeting began with a moving presentation of a Certificate of Remembrance for the Tristyn Bailey family honoring 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey who was murdered on Mother’s Day in 2021.
During the Public Safety Report, Director Skip Cole also spoke to the Bailey Family, honoring their grace and actions during such a difficult ordeal. He focused his remarks to the Commissioners on National Police Officer’s Memorial Day and noted that 1 fallen officer from St. Johns County was being added to the Memorial Wall and that the SJSO Honor Guard traveled to Washington to support and honor his placement on the wall. Director Cole then read out the names of St. Johns County officers lost in the line of duty.
The Clerk of Court’s Report included an interesting presentation on some of the oldest historic records maintained in the Clerk’s office. Included were historic deeds, including one for a property on Aviles Street, recorded in 1821. The oldest County Commissioner meeting records were from April 30, 1866. It was noted they did not meet during the Civil War and the Sheriff was asking for reimbursement of expenses incurred prior to the start of the war!
Consent Agenda
There was one public comment on the Consent Agenda with a representative from CARE expressing appreciation for the approval of the contract for Home Again St. Johns. This was long awaited funding for a permanent facility on SR 16.
More about the Home Again contract here: Consent Agenda Item 16
Regular Agenda
Agenda Item 1 – The Landings at St. Johns was one of the highly anticipated presentations. This development on the south side of Greenbriar Road, 1.5 miles east of State Road 13 is planned to be an Age Restricted community (55+) and thus would have in impact on the school system while generating about $1 million in annual ad valorem revenue that could be used to fund schools. The developer has committed to upfront road way improvements and, importantly, is paying for road improvements at Switzerland Middle School and Bartram Trail High School that would alleviate the traffic backups during school opening and closing times. These improvements were not required but included by the builder to provide benefit to the county.
Commissioner Joseph had several questions about the development related as related to school concerns. The developer’s representative referred back to this development not adding children to the school system and generating tax revenue that would benefit the school system.
Commissioner Joseph noted 130 letters against the development. Questions were asked by the developers representative about the letters because there is insufficient indication of where the letters originated (in the impacted area or even within the county.)
Side note: This highlights the need of residents who write to the Commissioners to include their property address so there is no question if they are part of the impacted communities. This comes up often in discussions.
During Public Comment on The Landings, Christine Mullis, representing the Greenbriar Preservation Group, presented concerns about traffic in the area and the inadequate infrastructure. A second representative from the group spoke about concerns related to the wetlands in the area. She noted some of the comments made by staff in the application process about the wetlands area.
During rebuttal, the developer’s representative pointed out that the comments made by staff about environmental concerns during the application process had all been cleared or they would not have been able to move forward to the application hearing today.
Several other residents spoke both for and against the development with those in favor noting the upfront infrastructure improvements and that this was active adult and not impacting the schools.
Some residents spoke on the need to slow down development in general because of the impact on schools in the County.
During the Commissioner’s discussion, Commissioner Dean noted the argument for compatibility as this property is surrounded on 3 sides by Res B zoning. He noted that you can’t have improved infrastructure without the development happening and that the timeline shows that the infrastructure needs will be addressed by the time the housing is complete. He also noted that new schools will be opening in 2025 – 2026.
Commissioner Whitehurst noted in his comments that when he graduated from Nease High School in 2000, it was over capacity at that time. He went on to talk about the constraints in the school budgets around not being able to build schools until they are over capacity. He commented that “that’s a bad policy.” He acknowledged the school related concerns and referenced a comment made by a resident that approval of this portion of the project is tacit approval of the remaining portions that will impact schools. He does not believe that is the case.
The Landings was approved 3:1 with the No vote from Commissioner Joseph. Commissioner Alaimo was absent.
General Public Comment
During General Public Comment, there were many residents of Rock Springs Farms speaking about a county managed park that somehow became the responsibility of the Roxbury Farms HOA to fund. Residents have spoken with Commissioner Alaimo and staff is working on a presentation to discuss this at the June 6 County Commissioner’s Meeting.
One resident wanted to share with the Commissioner’s the results of the ALICE Report for St. Johns County. The ALICE report is published by the United Way each year with ALICE being Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed residents. These are residents who make more than the poverty level so don’t qualify for financial assistance yet cannot afford rent and food in our county.
You can read the ALICE report for yourself here, ALICE Report
Kerri Gustafson spoke on behalf of teachers and the group she started (with over 3000 members on FB) SOS, Save Our Schools, and expressed concern about the pay for teachers. She referenced the recent magistrate’s report stating that the school system does not have funds to build new schools. She stressed that the schools need help both from Tallahassee and the County.
Agenda Item 2 – Marsh Landing
After a break for lunch, the long awaited Hamstra report on the conditions in Marsh Landing was presented by Mr. Hamstra. This was followed by a report from Attorney Wayne Flowers regarding the County Ordinances that are relevant to the Marsh Landing Storm Water Management System concerns.
After hearing both reports and public comment, staff agreed they have the necessary information to proceed with analysis and follow through on any violations that need to be addressed.
Agenda Item 5 – Project Krew
Project Krew is the code name for a “large scale manufacturing facility” slated to open in 4Q 2025. This project would bring $70 Million in tangible personal property and $14 million in building improvements to the county. The building improvements are anticipated to be robotics equipment.
Initially the project would provide 116 jobs, growing to 324 producing about $7.8 million in labor income at the beginning of the project. No land use or zoning changes would be required for this project.
They are requesting a $4.6 million dollar incentive via ad valorem taxes and expedited permitting.
The project was approved unanimously.
Closing Public Comment
The auditorium was fairly empty by the time we got to Closing comments however one stalwart resident spoke about the danger of St. Johns County losing its status of the #1 School District in the state because of over-crowding and the inability to hire enough teachers to support the growth.
Commissioner’s Reports
During Commissioner’s Reports, Commissioner Joseph shared her recent awareness of the University of Florida IFAS Extension service. Our residents in the agricultural areas of the county and those of us who grew up in 4-H have long benefited from the Extension Service. You can learn more about the many services provided by the IFAS Extension service here: St. Johns County Extension Service
Commissioner Dean suggested that it is time for a review of how much money has been spent and how it has been spent for schools in the county. His perception is that a tremendous amount of money has been allocated for schools and it is not clear that the problem is related to growth but related to the timing of schools being built.
Commissioner Joseph asked if the Commissioners could meet with the School Board to have these discussions. (Indicative that she has not been in such discussions since joining the Board.)
Commissioner Arnold noted that there has not been such a meeting since she has been on the Board (since 2021.)
There was agreement that there needs to be more communication between the School Board and the Commissioner’s regarding the growth in the county and impact on schools.
Commissioner Whitehurst noted that there is currently a slowdown in Building Permits with a 29% decrease compared to 2022.
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Beth Tate 