By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Otter Creek doesn’t look like a place where the Levy County Commission would spend $230,000 of tax dollars on a vacant piece of property along U.S. 19.

            On the other hand, the 36-acre parcel appears likely to be developed into an operations center for Levy County Emergency Medical Services at some point in the future.

            Otter Creek, a city of 106 residents, is the most centrally located city in Levy County and commissioners have already named the site the Otter Creek Operations Center.

            Purchase of the site was unanimously approved by the board on Feb. 7.

            The county has leased the property from timber companies for years as a storage site for lime rock. Georgia Pacific owned it in the early years and the Weyerhauser Company more recently.

            County officials were contacted and asked if they would be interested in purchasing the property. They were interested. The county needs a central location for EMS and possibly fire operations.

            The site is close to State Road 24 which connects Bronson, Otter Creek, and Cedar Key.

            “It would be a great location to have a station for EMS if we see that we have that need in the future, and it has the turnouts to able access to U.S. 19,” said County Coordinator Wilbur Dean. “This is just one of those properties that won’t be around for long. As U.S. 19 is expanded it could be very needed for Levy County.”

            The Florida Department of Transportation is working to design and engineer improvements to U.S. 19 as a means of making traffic flow smoothly after the Suncoast Parkway toll road in Citrus County is connected to the four-lane highway.

            U.S. 19 will never be equipped with toll booths. It will remain a free highway. However, the toll road is expected to substantially increase traffic levels on the highway.

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Board of County Commission Regular Meeting February 7, 2023; Posted February 19, 2023