By Terry Witt- Spotlight Senior Reporter
A Gainesville firm is planning to construct a 51-home subdivision along East Main Street in Bronson.
Christopher Potts, director of engineering for JBPro, a development company, introduced the project to the Bronson Town Council on Aug. 2.
Potts said the 32-acre piece of property would be developed into 37 half-acre lots and 14 third-acre lots. He said variances would most likely be requested later to allow the smaller lots.
The proposed housing development is the third private development project being planned for Bronson this year.
Potts said roads will be paved in the subdivision. The town will serve the development with city water but the city currently doesn’t provide central sewer to that area.
“We’re working with Town Manager Susan Beaudet on installing the infrastructure when the project is developed,” Potts said.
The project is being funded by three investors. One of the investors developed the Town of Tioga development in Gainesville. Another is from Brooksville.
“We’re planning on hopefully having a real nice subdivision,” Potts said.
He said it will look similar to the Town of Tioga “as far as aesthetics.” He said there won’t be any curbing in the subdivision as far as pathways and sidewalks for pedestrian activities.
The town requires a minimum of half-acre lots for development, which is why variances will be requested to the lot size requirements.
No Driveway Access
Chiefland businessman Stoney Smith is developing property at the corner of U.S. 27A and State Road 24. The shopping plaza will feature a gas station with a Jiffy Store, package store, and Hardees Restaurant.
Beaudet said Smith has yet to apply for permits to deal with drainage and access to the property. She and Florida Department of Transportation officials, and Mills Engineering met with Oelrich Construction, Inc. officials on July 29.
Beaudet said Mills Engineering is conducting a traffic study and will apply for the permits when the study has been completed.
“It should have been done before,” Beaudet said. “They just haven’t done the permits yet.”
A reporter asked if Smith has driveway access to the store property at this point.
“They do not have a permitted driveway,” said Councilman Jason Hunt, the vice mayor in charge of running the council meeting in the absence of Mayor Beatrice Roberts. “That’s what they said. They don’t understand why they (Smith’s company) hasn’t applied for permits when they’ve gone this far with the project.”
Family Dollar Tree
Family Dollar Tree has been given town approval to build a Family Dollar Tree store directly across from the Levy County Courthouse at the corner of Picnic Street and Court Street but the project is pending county approval of a driveway permit. Without county approval, the project is dead at that site. Both town streets are owned by the Levy County Commission.
Town Litigation
Depositions were reportedly taken Friday by attorneys representing the former Councilman Berlon Weeks in a lawsuit against Bronson. Weeks is alleging he was illegally removed from office by the council.
Weeks has named council members Beatrice Roberts, Robert Partin, Aaron Edmondson, and Jason Hunt in the suit along with former Interim Clerk Melisa Thompson and Town Attorney Steven Warm.
Warm said the Levy County Historical Society is moving forward with its lawsuit against the town to stop construction of the Family Dollar Tree in the county’s primary historical district in the area of the Levy County Courthouse.
Warm said the historical society wants to depose all the council members but he has filed a lawsuit to dismiss the litigation.
“Until and unless the court rules on the motion to dismiss we’re not going to agree to any depositions because it may be that the depositions are academic,” Warm said.
In plain language, if Warm succeeds in having the historical society lawsuit dismissed there won’t be a need for depositions in the case.
Warm Isn’t Billing
Beaudet said she is working with Warm to catch up on his billing. She wants to bill him monthly for his services. Warm is months behind on billing the city for his services.
“Did you ever have a lawyer that didn’t bill on a monthly basis?” Warm joked. “That’s me. My mother always said be different. I’m not sure that’s what she meant.”
Drug Testing?
Spotlight Founder Linda Cooper asked if the city was drug testing employees.
Beaudet said she began testing her employees for drugs when she first took over the job and all have passed their drug screening.
Repaving Park Track?
Bronson may be the only municipality in Levy County that has a high school track in a town park, but the track is aging, cracked, and needs to be repaved and repainted.
This reporter asked the council if it would be interested in applying for a Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program grant to pay for resurfacing and repaving the track at James H. Cobb Park.
Hunt said it sounded like something the town could do, but there was no motion to move forward with the project. Beaudet said she would bring it back to the council.
If the track was resurfaced and repainted to meet Florida High School Athletic Association requirements it could be used for Bronson Middle High School home track meets, an idea BMHS Track Coach Rod Thomas endorsed in a discussion with this reporter. Thomas hasn’t approached the full board about resurfacing and repainting the track.
Bronson Middle High School has no track of its own. The Levy County School Board can’t commit funds to improve the town-owned track at James H. Cobb Park. The school board is also in the middle of building the new Chiefland Middle High School. All funds for construction activities in the school district are committed to the new Chiefland Middle High School for the next year or two.
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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting August 2, 2021; Posted August 14, 2021
