The Newberry City Commission approved a plan to apply for a state grant to repave roads in lower-income areas of town during a regular meeting on Monday.
The commission also voted unanimously on a franchise ordinance that will allow Central Florida Electric Cooperative (CFEC) to furnish, sell, and distribute electric power in the city.
CDBG Neighborhood Revitalization
In a public hearing city staff brought a recommendation that Newberry apply for the state’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), which is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. To receive the grant, an applicant must submit a plan that meets certain requirements.
The neighborhood revitalization grant Newberry will apply for is administered by FloridaCommerce and requires that 51% of the homes in the area where funding is applied must be considered low to moderate income. The grant can be applied toward fire protection, flood and drainage, water and sewer improvements, or sidewalk and street improvements.
Newberry’s plan is to use the funding to repave existing streets that are “extremely worn.” Staff said the grant would normally be capped at $700,000, but because of back-to-back hurricanes last year, the funding has an emergency order and will be capped at whatever the approved project costs.
Commissioner Tony Mazon asked about another portion of the town, near the neighborhood staff had identified for the road improvements. He said the other place, north of 6th Avenue, experiences repeated flooding, and asked if there is a way this grant could be applied there too.
Jane Sullivan, grants and funding manager, said she could submit a second application for the other neighborhood, but warned that when a town sends in two applications for a grant the state may choose to approve one and ignore the other.
She said she would “go back to the drawing table” and talk with other city staff members to make sure the issue is addressed.
Mayor Jordan Marlowe suggested that, instead of applying twice for one grant, staff might look for a different “pot of money” that could address a flooding issue.
“Once you’ve identified this is the criteria that will be successful, I really hate to mess with that,” Marlowe said. “But I do want to address Commissioner Mazon’s point.”
Electric Franchise
The City Commission also unanimously approved the second reading of an ordinance granting a 30-year franchise to CFEC, which staff said was the final major utility provider in the area that did not have a franchise agreement.
The ordinance grants CFEC access to use city streets, easements and public spaces for its infrastructure, though the city maintains regulatory oversight and right of way.
The franchise fee is set on a step-up basis, where CFEC will pay a growing percentage of its Newberry electric sales revenue over the 30-year timeframe. For the first 10 years, it will pay 10% of revenue, then 5% for years 11-20, and 5.5% for years 21-30. Staff said this is the same as the agreement Newberry has with Clay Electric.
NC Ranch
The commission also approved an application on behalf of NC Ranch, a 1,293-acre planned development that is to be constructed over the course of the next 50 years.
Though the development has not yet submitted construction plans or a final plat to the city’s Community Development Department, the commission has approved a community development district to help pay for the project.
The developer asked for a one-year extension on the May 28, 2025, deadline to submit a final development plan and, on Monday night, the City Commission unanimously approved the request.
Track Line
During public comment, the City Commission also heard the plight of an industrial business that missed its filing deadline by a day and has been issued a stop work order.
Dave Malay, owner of Track Line LLC, said his company offers the unique service of converting retired railroad ties into alternative fuel. Malay said his company moved into Newberry in October to become a primary fuel source for Argos.
The company is in the process of buying about 17 acres of land and has about $6 million worth of equipment in Newberry already, according to Malay, and had been running its operation on a temporary basis before receiving a stop work order for submitting a full site plan on Saturday instead of Friday.
“We recently came into your city… and there’s been a lot of gracious help with us,” Malay told the commission. “I come to you with a small solution I need on a temporary basis of us trying to file for our permit. As always, there’s communication with a large project, and there’s things like that we failed at, and we’re here humbly to ask for a resolution.”
Jay Brown, president of JBPro, which was helping Track Line with the project, noted that the city offices are closed on Friday, saying his team thought there would be no difference if they took a little extra time to look the site plan over, and submitted it through the online portal on Saturday.
Citizen Joy Glanzer, who recently ran for mayor and earned about 47% of the vote, also spoke up for Track Line, asking the commission to make a way to support the business and get it across the finish line for approval.
City Attorney Scott Walker said he would look into the matter, and Marlowe said the city welcomes Track Line’s presence and will do what it can to help, but it must follow the process. He said the process as it is has gotten “out of whack.”
“Everything that everybody said, [I] agree with100%,” Marlowe said. “If they submit that application, we’re gonna expedite it and we want them to be here, but the men and women back here that live in this town also have a right to the opportunity to see the application, read it, hear the presentation, ask their questions, before the business gets started.”