ORANGE PARK — Local realtors took a break from selling homes on Thursday, Aug. 27, to learn of some burgeoning county updates that directly impact their community.

The North Florida Association of Realtor's (NFAR) Southwest Area Council hosted its tradeshow where industry professionals and local community leaders met at the Courtyard Marriott to network, discuss future county projects and some harrowing realities.

Sheriff Michelle Cook, Supervisor of Elections Chris Chambless and District 1 Commissioner John Sgromolo were the guest speakers of the afternoon.

As the largest professional trade association in Northeast Florida, and the fourth largest in Florida, NFAR provides opportunities for professional development and social engagement for its 11,000 members.

Each presentation during Thursday's event was followed by a brief Q & A session.

In addition to future public safety projects and crime statistics, Cook kicked off the two-hour luncheon answering some questions from attendees, particularly surrounding the sheriff's office's use of Flock cameras.

This discussion came just days before the agency's decision to remove the license plate readers from Clay County roadways. A recent memorandum from the Florida Department of Transportation, that revoked all current and future license plate reader permits, prompted law enforcement offices across the state to begin the removal process. 

Although Cook's presentation was premature to their final decision, she still stressed the important role the cameras had on the agency's work. ALPRs are a network of security cameras that log information about passing vehicles to a database that can be easily searched.

Since 2018, license plate readers have been proven to be a valuable crime-fighting tool for CCSO. In the past year alone, license plate readers helped the agency find a missing 76-year-old woman from South Carolina, whose vehicle was located in Middleburg by an ALPR; identify and locate a homicide suspect in a deadly stabbing; and safely find a 10-year-old who was taken in a child custody interference case.

Cook told the audience that it had been the best investigative tool the agency had.

As of Aug. 31, agencies across the state have 30 days to remove the readers. The sheriff’s office said it would continue to adhere to state guidelines, and it looks forward to continuing conversations regarding technology in law enforcement.

Supervisor of Elections Chris Chambless took his time urge the community to get to the polls after only less than half of registered Clay County voters showed up during the primary on Aug. 18.

While the turnout was the fifth largest in the last 15 years, Chambless said there was still only a 25% voter turnout. That, he said, was despite 45 days of availability, 64 hours of early voting and 12 hours of voting during election day.

"As a taxpayer, you need to know that $187,500 of your taxpayer investment did not have a return," he told the audience.

The elections office always prepares for 100% voter turnout no matter what. That's taxpayer dollars that are used to fund $250,000 worth of ballots and advertising sample ballots. That funding also includes destroying unused ballots, obtaining necessary systems, staff payroll and postage.

It cost $75,000, Chambless said, just to send the sample ballots out just one time. 

Although he's certain the general election will be a much higher turnout, Chambless said the public should begin getting involved in the election process.  The next General Election will be on Nov. 3. In addition to a new District 2 county commissioner, Florida Senate, House and Governor races, there will also be three measures on the ballot:

And amendment to increase homestead tax exemption and limit how much municipalities can spend on property tax revenue; an amendment to increase the amount of funds that could be retained in a budget fund from 10% to 25% of general revenue; and a property tax exemption for agricultural-related tangible personal property.

Early voting begins on Oct. 23. For more information or to find your nearest voting precinct, visit clayelections.gov.

Amid a fluctuating budget, District 1 Commissioner John Sgromolo said the county is always searching for ways to efficiently use taxpayer dollars. That means finding out exactly what constituents are asking for.

Sgromolo discussed some future county projects, ideas for a new public safety complex, five new fire stations and an Animal Service Building. Road safety also continues to be a priority with projects in the works.

One of the highlights here was a follow up of the stormwater assessment fee, which was approved on Tuesday, Aug. 25.  Against much public protest, the county voted 3-2 to impose the fee that will have homeowners pay extra depending on the impervious area of their parcel.

According to the county, the direct funding stream will help to fix and maintain aging stormwater infrastructure, as well take preventative measures. An example is the culvert failure at Moody Road last year that costs the county $1 million to fix.

The fee, Sgromolo said, has been in discussion for a few years. With $5 million needed annually for infrastructure maintenance and $61 million needed in replacement, Sgromolo said a restrictive budget makes it difficult to find revenue streams to pull from. Having a separate direct funding source, he said, helps with that.