ORANGE PARK – Growth. It’s inevitable. It’s here. It’s coming. 

It’s a message the mayors from all five communities, the chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, the Superintendent of Schools and the Sheriff delivered at Thursday’s State of the County Program at the Thrasher-Horne Center. 

The Clay Chamber’s sold-out event updated civic leaders on the progress throughout the county during the last year. It became clear a lot has happened in the past month, and even more is on the planning board. 

It started with Nina Rodenroth, the Mayor of Keystone Heights, who reported the city just wrapped up its centennial celebration on New Year’s Eve. 

She said Keystone Heights hired a new City Manager, James Booth, increased the city staff by 60%, addressed infrastructure projects, held comprehensive and strategic planning workshops, and created a public information officer who is developing a city website and social media voice. 

“Our centennial lasted all year, and boy it did not disappoint, highlighted by a time capsule ceremony and a New Year's Eve forward celebration on Lake Geneva beach,” Rodenroth said. “Some of the projects that we completed in 2025 include resurfaced basketball and pickleball courts, re-graded multiple roads and completed cemetery improvements, refinished the city hall meeting room with new paint, chairs and artwork, completed a historic mural, which I hope you all get to see some time, honoring our past, we also achieved 50% completion of the FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) project at the corner of (State Road) 21 and Highway 100 intersection 2026.” 

Rodenroth said the city developed strategic priorities for 2026, including: 

• Strengthening systems to ensure reliable day-to-day support for residents. 

• Prioritizing community engagement through volunteerism and sponsorship. 

• Grow the number of events, particularly a watercross, a plan to host a triathlon at Lake Geneva and add a summer concert series. 

• Continue to focus on economic growth by developing a plan for measured growth. 

• Completing a comprehensive plan, supported by a $60,000 Florida Commerce grant, to target the city’s historic museum and welcome center. 

• Completing an infrastructure comprehensive flood assessment, supported by a $200,000 DEP resiliency grant, to provide a foundation for identifying and prioritizing needed improvements to continue other upgrades, including the FDOT-funded turn lane from SR 21 onto Highway 100, which is now scheduled for 2027. 

• Advancing the tennis court overhaul, along with road, sidewalk and stormwater projects. 

• The Lake Geneva update to remove trees in the lake. The Board of County Commissioners is to approve a contractor in the next few weeks. 

Mayor Annette Brooks then talked about Penney Farms. And while progress keeps the town rolling toward the future, Brooks said residents still embrace its storied, simple, slow and picturesque past. 

“We still have our big old trees that cascade the highway that canopy this beautiful town,” she said. “Then when you go through the town, there's not a lot that has changed. We try to keep things consistent, and we try to keep things where it's safe for everybody to live. So, we are trying to help work on some things, to get things moving into the direction that they're supposed to go.” 

Brooks said Penney Farms is about to celebrate its centennial, while Penney Retirement Community will simultaneously commemorate its anniversary. 

She said the town is where everyone stops to say, “hello” and where everyone knows their neighbors. 

Brooks also said: 

• The town received a $600,000 Community Development Block Grant to replace old water lines by the end of the year. 

• It also got $100,000 from a Department of Environmental Protection grant to determine stormwater devices. 

• The county purchased property in the town to build a fire station by 2031 on the corner of SR. 16 and County Road 218. 

• The county and FDOT approved adding a turn lane at the dangerous corner of SR 16 and CR 218. 

Nobody knows more about growth than Green Cove Springs Mayor Matt Johnson.   

He talked about big changes, like the retirement of City Manager Steve Kennedy, the addition of new City Council members Cheri Starnes, Darren Stutts and Glee Glisson, but the most impactful transformation is the expected development of homes and business projects. 

“When I said residential growth, here are a few things to think about: we have The Preserve going in – 260 units of A-class, a market-rate apartment community going south of downtown,” Johnson said. “Also the Huntley Commerce Center is a PUD that's also going in at the Southeast corner of (US) 17 and (SR) 16. It's going to have manufacturing, retail warehouses, light industrial, and they're going to improve the rail system, the old rail system, through there as well. 

“And as I mentioned, the Rookery, that's 2100 homes, mix of single family and town homes going south of Green Cove Springs. 

“Also, we have The Prelude building downtown – 38 apartment units. The Magnolia Cove (will have) 11 buildings, 66 townhomes, and some other developments as well. I do want to say that we're addressing affordable housing. Clay County Habitat has broken ground on Harbor Ridge Subdivision, which will provide 28 new homes in the City of Green Cove Springs.” 

Orange Park Mayor Randy Anderson talked about staff members as well as introducing new Town Manager Joseph Taylor. 

He also praised Kyle Croce, the Director of Public Works for the following projects: 

• Finishing a $1.2 million trail extension on Milwaukee Avenue. 

• Continuing the five-year, $14 million drainage project at Johnson Slough. 

• Starting new utilities through Reed Street and other streets. 

Anderson said Orange Park primarily completed the projects with grants, and that the town remains debt free. 

Anderson also mentioned it has two dog parks, walking trails and opened the first art gallery in the county.

He closed by saying the town is already talking about its options if state legislators vote to remove ad valorem collected through property taxes. 

BCC Chair Kristen Burke said commissioners are concentrating on keeping pace with infrastructure projects “to protect our quality of life and invest in public safety. That is our No. 1 priority for our safety, for all of our citizens. More families and businesses are choosing to call Clay County home. We have about 237,000 (people) here now, and it’s definitely growing by the day.” 

She listed several projects the county started or completed to keep pace. 

“We must keep pace with the services and infrastructures that make our community safe, strong and prepared,” Burke said. “We’re planning, intentionally, building responsibility to ensure our residents continue to receive the high level of service they expect and deserve.” 

Some of the achievements included: 

• Completing Fire Station 20 in Green Cove Springs and starting new fire stations on Fleming Island and Old Jennings Road in Middleburg. 

• Building a new Animal Services building off County Road 220. 

• Building a second Administration Building to house economic development, building and code enforcement departments. 

• Agreeing to build a new library in Oakleaf. 

• Continuing with several county road projects. 

• Installed more than 200 AEDs at public facilities with state settlement funds. 

• Will decide which properties to purchase to support conservation. 

Superintendent David Broskie spoke two days after the Clay County District Schools learned its graduation rate jumped to a record of 95%. 

Already ranked among the Top 10 in Florida in every academic category, including No. 1 in civics. Clay County students also are among the Top 10 in graduation rates. 

“In order to have a great public school system, you really need three groups all working together,” he said. “One is the teachers and all the people that you traditionally think of when you think of the school system. We're lucky to have, and truly blessed, to have great teachers or personnel and leaders within our county schools. 

“But it also takes parents and parental support. I always kind of point out the statistic that parents have students 86% of the hours in a year, and schools have them 14% of the hours in a year. As a superintendent, that statistic alone tells me we better make good use of our time.” 

Broskie reminded guests that 93% of all schools in the county are rated as A or B schools by the Florida Department of Education, and that Orange Park Elementary is ranked third best in the state and RM. Paterson is 15th. 

"Out of roughly 6,000 schools,” Broskie said. 

He said a new high school will be built by 2030 in Saratoga Springs in the Lake Asbury area, and the district saved about $60 million by adding sixth grade centers at Lake Asbury and Oakleaf junior highs instead of building new schools. 

“Anybody want to guess what a new high school costs? About $220 million. Right?” Broskie said. 

The final speaker was Sheriff Michelle Cook. She said her agency is currently spread among 30 buildings, with a jail that’s more than 50 years old. 

“The inefficiencies that we see every single day, because I have to hire multiple people to run mail and make deliveries and insurance and repairs and maintenance,” she said. “You're going to hear me talking a lot this year about what I'm calling a public safety complex. We have to move forward with this. This community is growing too fast. My agency is growing too fast to continue to try to piece people and stuff in different buildings. I have homicide evidence in a boat ramp, much to the chagrin of many in this room, because I have nowhere else to put it.” 

In 2025, the sheriff’s office made 3,859 arrests, made 39,326 traffic stops and answered 264,347 service calls, Cook said. 

She said CCSO will increase the number of body-worn cameras from 50 to 150 this year, and the number of deputy vacancies is now less than 10. 

Instead of providing voluminous statistics on the sheriff’s offices’ arrests and crime figures, Cook printed 12 pages of graphs, numbers and information. 

Included in the packet was the agency’s 2026 priorities, which included: 

• Growth by remaining steadfast to provide a high level of public service to implement process efficiencies, utilize smart technology and focus on hiring and retaining quality personnel. 

• Relationships that will continue to build and foster genuine and productive relationships to maintain trust, ensure transparency and provide follow-up.

• Continuing to focus on reducing crime and fear of crime by practicing flexible resources management, quickly identifying and addressing crime patterns and trends, and addressing community concerns quickly.