The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted to finance homeless outreach with $350,000 following a study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness and also heard an update on $133.8 million in phase 1 construction projects slated for the next three years. 

The BOCC also approved a permit needed to host a portion of the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships at West End Golf Course. 

Alachua County funded the outreach program at GRACE Marketplace for the last year, stepping up to fill a gap left by the city of Gainesville. The city raised its contribution this year to $2.05 million, but the county looks to continue funding homeless outreach, hoping to expand outside Gainesville city limits.  

The BOCC directed staff to get a study of the outreach, and staff contracted with the National Alliance to End Homelessness for the work. In the study, the alliance said the current outreach program exceeds many national metrics and called it an excellent program that is severely underfunded.  

The study found that 39% of the people who encounter the outreach program exit the street and into housing—above the national average. 

The study also pointed to a lack of data for the rural areas of Alachua County along with Bradford, Levy, Gilchrist and Putnam counties—all combined under the Continuum of Care for North Central Florida. 

The Continuum of Care (CoC) recently changed leadership, with the TaskForce Fore Ending Homelessness taking the reigns as lead agency.  

Commissioner Anna Prizzia asked if the CoC had a strategic plan moving forward.  

Jacob Torner, vice president of programs for the TaskForce Fore Ending Homelessness, said the CoC revised its action plan with its members in March. The TaskForce took over the lead agency role shortly after that revision, and he said the CoC wants to engage the community to continue revising the plan.  

Prizzia asked that the CoC return to the BOCC in 2025 to give its recommended changes to the action plan. 

“Not only are we doing an amazing job, but we’re also a benchmark above standards around the country for how that’s being done,” Prizzia said.  

Commissioner Ken Cornell said the issue now is scaling the program currently in place. He said the focus to start should be reaching outside Gainesville city limits into the rest of Alachua County.  

But he also recommended having joint meetings with Bradford, Levy, Gilchrist and Putnam counties as other members of the CoC, noting that homelessness is a regional issue. He recommended having those meetings just after the next legislative session because of any clarifying bills that might impact how counties approach homelessness. In the last session, the Florida Legislature passed a large change to local governments’ approach. 

Prizzia made the motion to approve the study, direct staff to reach out about joint meetings and to fund the CoC with $350,000 for its outreach program, historically run through GRACE Marketplace.  

The BOCC also heard an update on its Facilities Management Master Space Plan, projected to build $133 million in new construction over the next three years. The county is also renovating and moving around offices to consolidate space.  

The biggest move will be a new home for the civil courthouse and court services. The new civil courthouse will join the Stephen Mickle Criminal Courthouse at what will be the new court complex.  

The civil courthouse will cost $70 million for everything—along with $12.5 million for the parking garage and $6.3 million for a chilled water central energy plant. All these facilities are estimated to finish construction by November 2026. 

In phase 2, Alachua County will consider moving administration, finance and accounting, IT, tax collector and property appraiser into the soon-to-be-vacated civil courthouse.  

Also under phase 1, Alachua County will build a new $27.5 million animal resource facility, scheduled to start construction in January 2026 and finish a year later. The county still needs to finalize a contract with UF for the property, the former Swine Unit just south of the main campus. 

Alachua County will also renovate a former armory building to house a new fire rescue HQ and emergency operations center. The current fire rescue HQ building will then be turned into a space for the Environmental Protection Department.  

In September, the BOCC approved the $10 million purchase of a more than 75,000-square-foot warehouse. Facilities management, public health, fire rescue and food programming will move to this site.  

The BOCC will build a land conservation complex at Four Creeks Preserve for $7.6 million, scheduled to start in July 2025. 

Lastly, the county plans renovations of the Budget Inn, Scottish Inn and the Sunrise Residence Inn for permanent supportive housing. The county decided to buy Sunrise Residence Inn earlier this year. 

The BOCC also approved a two-week temporary use permit for World Masters Athletics to use West End Golf Course for the indoor championships hosted in March 2025. The championships will use the Alachua County Sports and Event Center as well.