Town hall was filled with business owners and interested citizens to learn about the Competitive Florida Partnership program.

The town of White Springs recently held two community meetings, one at town hall and one at Pop’s Place on Sunrise Drive, to publicly announce the town’s intentions and actions through the Competitive Florida Partnership pilot program that they were recently chosen to participate in by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO).

Local business owners were urged to attend, as well as elected and public officials and any other stakeholders. Julie Dennis, Sherri Martin, Matt Preston and Valerie Jenkins from the DEO were also in attendance.

“The objective is to help small, rural communities such as ours come up with a viable, workable economic development plan,” said White Springs Mayor Helen Miller.

Among the businesses represented at the first meeting were the Telford Hotel, Family Traditions, Poor Boys Power Company, White Springs Self Storage, radio station WJLN 88.7 and investor Scott Gay.

Mayor Helen Miller presided over the meeting and reviewed past planning efforts and accomplishments that included street paving, brick sidewalks and pavilions in the center of town on Bridge and Hamilton Streets, which was made possible by a $250,000 grant from the Hamilton County Economic Development Authority four years ago.

Miller also explained the ideas that were suggested in the 2010 Mayor’s Focus Group meetings, such as a storm shelter/multi-purpose center/charter school at the Carver School site, a health clinic/pharmacy, an eco-lodge/civic center, the Camp museum, Riverfront Park, a cafe district/folk center, a winery/cannery, and hotels and restaurants at the I-75 interchange. She also reviewed the projects worked on in recent years by the University of Florida and Florida State University.

The town is also trying to move an old, historic Gulf Oil Distributorship building from Jasper to White Springs that was donated to the town of White Springs by the Camp family estate. Miller explained that there is a lack of buildings in the town to encourage economic development. To help matters, the town was recently granted long-term sub leases of three state properties; the tourism center, the Delegal building and two plus acres that will accommodate the Camp Museum.

In the private sector, it was noted there have been many recent changes:

• Adams Country Store renovation.
• Family Traditions Restaurant/Deli/Meats/Grocery opened.
• Dollar General relocated to a new site (the old site is for sale).
• A florist closed and the building is for sale.
• American Canoe Adventures relocated to Bridge Street.
• NAPA closed and Poor Boys Power Equipment relocated to that building.
• Suwannee Motel is for sale.
• Sharon’s Eatery opened, closed and reopened.
• White Springs Motel renovation is underway.
• Telford Hotel and Restaurant reopened and is under renovation.

“In terms of infrastructure to support business development and growth, we have a number of things underway, as well,” said Miller.

Some of the state/federal funded municipal projects are:

• Sanitary sewer project through the Department of Environmental Protection with a 93 percent loan forgiveness grant.
• Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for a new fire station is being submitted.
• Historic signage, lighting and fencing through the Florida Department of Transportation, plus the possibility of Duke Energy moving utility wires underground.
• Florida Recreational Development Assistance Program for upgrades to Willie Guy Turner Town Park has been submitted.

The business owners in attendance had the opportunity to discuss their specific issues and get valuable feedback for solutions from the town and the DEO representatives. One notable issue was brought up by resident Woody Woodard about the lengthy, varied and expensive permit process a business owner has to go through with the state.

“If you want small businesses to survive, you have to do something to take care of that,” said Woodard.

Robert Townsend, who has a cottage rental business on the other side of the river, echoed others in saying that help was needed in securing advertising dollars to promote their businesses.

Before the meeting ended, business owners were asked to complete a short survey offering their input on ideas and projects that could help grow the local economy.

The next meeting of the stakeholders in the pilot program is April 25, at which point asset mapping will be the focus.