Tag Archives: Jefferson County

Give Suwannee, Falmouth, and Telford Springs Parks to Suwannee County –SRWMD Lands Committee 2025-04-08

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There’s nothing on the SRWMD agendas for Tuesday, April 8, 2025, about the proposal last month for a swap of the back of the SRWMD Ellaville Tract for Riverview Farms on the Withlacoochee River. Presumably negotiations are still in process. See the previous post for a petition against the swap and other things you can do:
https://wwals.net/?p=67339

But this month’s Lands Committee Agenda contains examples:

  • Of the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) asking the Florida Department of Environmental Proteciton (FDEP) for springs acquisition funds (as they could do to buy Riverview Farms instead of swapping for it).

    This Avalon Woodlands Ravines is in Jefferson County in the Aucilla River watershed for a conservation easement with Tall Timbers Research, Inc., who would conduct all easement monitoring and compliance.

  • Of declaring SRWMD land surplus (as they already did years ago for the back of the Ellaville Tract).

    This Turkey Island Tract is in Levy County near the Suwannee River, because “The parcel is isolated from the larger tract, with no adjacency to District lands and is located within a residential neighborhood.”

[Collage, SRWMD Lands Committee 2025-04-08]
Collage, SRWMD Lands Committee 2025-04-08

Let’s concentrate on a proposal to transfer several SRWMD parks to a county: “5. Intergovernmental Agreement for Conveyance of Suwannee Springs Park, Falmouth Spring Park, and Telford Spring Park to Suwannee County,” all on or near the Suwannee River.

Why? SRWMD staff thinks these parks are too developed and intesively used for SRWMD’s passive parks model, and they would fit Suwannee County better.

And: “An estimated $35,000 will be saved per year in management expenses by conveying the properties to the county.”

This is the same Suwannee County that sold off the site of Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park to what has become perhaps the most intensively used private park in the county, just downstream and across US 129 from Suwannee Springs Park. So I wonder what Suwannee County wants to do with these three parks. The proposal does say transference would include a deed restriction that public access must be maintained. Continue reading →

Northern Turnpike Extension Kick-Off meetings 2021-12-07

SB 100 didn’t stop one of the M-CORES projects: a toll road up US 19 across the Suwannee River to Jefferson County connecting to Thomasville, Georgia.

Starting tonight are three meetings about the current incarnation, which aims to run from FL 19 at Wildwood through the horse country of Marion County past Dunnellon into Levy County past Chiefland, stopping (for now) just short of the Suwannee River. That’s already a sizeable swath of the springs heartland of Florida.

But don’t expect it to stop there: SB 100 authorized it to go “to a logical and appropriate terminus as determined by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)”

So please attend online or by telephone or in person. Otherwise, they’ll say nobody objected.

[Map and Meetings]
Map and Meetings

Tuesday Dec 7, 2021, 5:30-7:30 pm, FDOT Public Kickoff Meeting Continue reading →

Videos: Toll roads as prosperity drain and climate change, at M-CORES toll road meeting, Madison, FL 2020-02-11

More toll roads could drain prosperity, and more driving means more climate change, said two speakers at the meeting in Madison County, Florida, February 11, 2020.

You can send your opinion to FDOT.Listens@dot.state.fl.us. And Sierra Club has provided a convenient way for Floridians to tell FDOT No Build:
https://addup.sierraclub.org/campaigns/no-roads-to-ruin/take-action

See also the No Roads to Ruin Coalition facebook page.

A couple of speakers in Madison were for the toll roads, both claiming economic benefits. Madison County later terminated the consulting contract for one of them as a cost-cutting measure due to virus pandemic.

If one county can do that, the state of Florida can do that, as we previously suggested. See also Philip Beasley, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, April 12, 2020, Put federal dollars in hands of jobless.

Here are the WWALS videos of speakers in Madison:

Solar power would bring more jobs than toll roads –Suwannee Riverkeeper in Gainesville Sun 2019-05-22

In the Gainesville Sun, yesterday, May 22, 2019:

Now that Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed the toll road bill, SB 7068, Suwannee Riverkeeper — which was among the 90 organizations throughout Florida that asked him to veto it — continues to oppose that boondoggle and propose actual benefits to Florida’s economy and waters.

Aerial Google map, Crystal River to Monticello and Thomasville
Google map of one likely route of the Suncoast Connector.

One of these three unneeded turnpikes would have to cross the Suwannee River, plowing through counties where we have many members. All this very poorly written bill says about its route is: “Suncoast Connector, extending from Citrus County to 164 Jefferson County.” Apparently that means from Crystal River to Monticello, and on to Thomasville, Georgia, through farms, forests and swamps. If this toll road builds its bypasses, bye-bye local businesses in Chiefland, Fanning Springs, Old Town and Cross City.

Yes, the turnpike bill has a “project development phase” for $45 million and increasing each year, with a Continue reading →

Monticello, FL bans fracking

Passed a resolution, actually, but that contributes towards an ordinance or a statewide ban on fracking in Florida.

Our Santa Fe River, 4 August 2015, Sometimes You Win One!

Members of the Floridians Against Fracking Anti-Fracking Coalition and other supporters and friends celebrated tonight when the Monticello City Council voted unanimously to support a ban on fracking by resolution. Multiple members from OSFR were present and addressed the Council.

Today, August 4, 2015 was an important date for Continue reading →