The Gainesville City Commission approved Thursday a downtown ambassador program for $3.1 million over the next three years and also OK’d the sale of an unused fire station off South Main Street.

Also at Thursday’s meeting, the City Commission directed staff to start the design process for a renovation of City Hall’s front plaza.

The ambassador program will begin around two months after the city finalizes its contract with Block by Block, a company that performs these services for cities across the country. The company is currently employed by six Florida cities—Miami, Miami Beach, Jacksonville, Hollywood, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables.

The ambassador program will be split into three different districts, two for the downtown area and another for the Innovation District area just east of UF. The funding will come from the Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area (GCRA) for the downtown zones and from a pool of funds collected through tax increment financing.

Rick Smith, GCRA director, said the downtown ambassadors, hired and trained by Block by Block, will perform different tasks based on the zone.

He said the downtown zones will have a mix of safety engagements (circulating for visibility, reporting suspicious activity, escorting people to vehicles), interacting with homeless individuals and cleaning litter and weeds.

More in line with traditional programs, the ambassadors will also give directions, information on where to park, recommendations for attractions and other such activities.

The West University zone will focus on safety engagements, Smith said.

Smith added that Block by Block tries to hire people leaving homelessness and other second-chance hires for the roles.

Smith said Block by Block would have seven or eight employees around the districts on any given day. The company will hire a mix of full-time and part-time employees who will work a combined average of 508 hours per week.

Annually, the contract will cost $719,000 for the downtown zones and $287,000 for the West University zone. Smith said the contract allows the city to exit at any time with no repercussions.

In response to commissioner questions, Smith said the financing sources can only be used in specific geographic areas, so the funds couldn’t be used to fill gaps in the city’s general budget.

The GCRA funds are part of a strategic plan for downtown, with money set aside for various projects. The tax increment financing was collected from the College Park and University Heights neighborhoods east of UF and south of University Avenue, forcing the use of the funds to benefit that area.

Commissioner Ed Book also addressed the cost question considering the city’s fiscal standing.

“We say we have financial issues and here’s 3 million dollars we put,” Book said. “But we’re doing it because it’s strategic, and it also has specific requirements on the way we use those funds.”

Smith said the ambassador programs would result in less staff time by Gainesville Fire Rescue and Gainesville Police Department on homeless engagements and visits through the area.

The ambassadors will serve as eyes and ears for both departments and be able to reach out if it needs city response.

“I think this is a very holistic approach to a lot of the issues that we’ve been facing downtown,” Commissioner Reina Saco said.

The motion to finalize the contract with Block by Block passed unanimously.

Fire station

The city has been moving forward with the sale of the fire station for several years. Appraisals came in at $2.8 million and $3.1 million, and the city set the higher appraisal as the reserve price.

The city will take sealed bids for 45 days to decide who will purchase the 0.9 acre property. Fire Station 1 operated from 1962 until 2017 when it was closed, and the city notes that the building is being sold as is, with all known and unknown faults and defects.

Andrew Persons, chief operating officer for Gainesville, said the property is zoned Downtown, the city’s most intensive zoning as far as density and height. The city added a claw back provision in the terms, requiring the new owner to develop the property within two years or it can return to city ownership.

City Hall plaza

Thursday’s item and motion directed staff to hire JBrown Professionals for design services, costing $136,000.

The project started as a way to fix the costly fountains in from of City Hall, but staff found funding to allow a full remodel. The City Commission approved the master plan for the site earlier this year, and the design work will follow that vision.

The design will then return to the commissioners to approve the start of construction. City staff said construction could begin in February and last until August, but that timeline depends on when the design plans return.