Newsroom

The City of Gainesville is soliciting input regarding the 2018-2022 Five Year Consolidated Plan and 2018-2019 Annual Action Plan. The Consolidated Plan is a five-year housing and community development planning document that includes how the City of Gainesville will allocate Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program funds. The Consolidated Plan is carried out through Annual Action Plans, which provide a concise summary of the actions, activities, and the specific federal and non-federal resources that will be used each year to address the priority needs and specific goals identified by the Consolidated Plan.

The City of Gainesville has updated its Citizen Participation Plan for the City of Gainesville’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) grants received annually from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The public review and written comment period concludes Wednesday, July 11, 2018.

The Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department is pleased to announce that the Gainesville Arts & Parks Foundation received a $10,000 donation for the Northeast 31st Avenue Park improvements from the GFWC Gainesville Woman’s Club. The improvement project for the park recently received approval for Wild Spaces and Public Places funding as well.

The Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department (PRCA) needs  volunteer coaches for Pop Warner Football and Cheer. Pop Warner is more than a game; it promotes academic success and accountability in its participants. Coaches help to foster values such as fairness, caring, citizenship, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness in our youth.

First aid/CPR and specific cheer/football certifications are required to coach. PRCA will train and pay for certifications. Volunteers will need to pass a background check and must be able to follow guidelines of Pop Warner.

Coaches are required to attend a mandatory meeting held by the Putnam Athletic League, held Saturday, July 21. Practices start the first week of August, with games and practices running through October. Additional games may be played for league and regional championships. Cheer also participates in league and regional competitions, with the possibility of playing at the national championship on Saturday, Dec 8. Some travel will be required.

Those interested in coaching may contact Guillermo Chacon, recreation leader for sports, at 352-393-8527 or chacongm@cityofgainesville.org.

Participants will be able to provide additional feedback and comments on designs for the park. The designs were developed from the results of community focus groups and a survey conducted in May 2018. Free hot dogs and shaved ice will be available for guests.

In November 2016, Alachua County voters approved Wild Spaces and Public Places, a one-half percent sales tax to be collected in the county from Jan. 1, 2017 through Dec. 31, 2024, to acquire and improve environmentally-sensitive lands and to create, improve and maintain parks and recreational facilities. Improvements to the Northeast 31st Avenue Park is a Wild Spaces and Public Places project.

The City of Gainesville is holding two workshops on its zero waste initiative in June. The Zero Waste Workshops are for local businesses and interested residents to discuss the zero waste initiative and its potential impacts on Gainesville with the City Commission and city staff. The workshops are:

The City of Gainesville celebrates National Bike Month with a Bike Ride with the Mayor and Commissioners Saturday, May 26 beginning at 9 a.m. The public is invited to join Mayor Lauren Poe, City Commissioners and other local leaders to highlight the benefits of cycling and the coordinated efforts of the city, county, university and local developers to create a continuous urban trail system.

Participants in the Foundations Academy After-School Program combined their efforts to create an Earth Day-themed project to promote litter-reduction at Albert “Ray” Massey (Westside) Park and Recreation Center. The Foundations program is run by the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department (PRCA) for children in first through eighth grade and focuses on the Character Counts® curriculum, which teaches the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

Please join the Department of Doing (Planning Division), in conjunction with the University of Florida’s Historic Preservation Program, for a public presentation wrapping up the year-long, grant-funded mid-century survey. The presentation is Wednesday, April 25 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Matheson History Museum, which is located at 513 E. University Ave. in Gainesville.