Lake City CRA approves $166,000 budget shift to fund new redevelopment plan and boundary study

The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) of the City of Lake City on a series of unanimous votes approved a budget amendment to appropriate up to $166,000 for preparation of a new CRA redevelopment plan and findings of necessity, and separately approved a procurement to hire Inspire Placemaking Collective to prepare the plan and boundary expansion work.

The board approved CRA Resolution 2025-01 to move $166,000 within the CRA component of the city budget “for preparation and development of a new CRA redevelopment plan and findings of necessity to expand the CRA boundary,” and then approved the related procurement and resolution (CRA Resolution 2025-02) to engage Inspire Placemaking Collective for the planning work.

Why it matters: CRA plans define the programs the agency may fund. City staff told the board the existing plan dates to 2011 and no longer reflects the local economy after the closure of Shands Hospital, post-COVID retail changes and a reduced supply of workforce housing. Updating the plan and expanding the CRA boundary would enable the agency to identify projects, such as façade or infrastructure grants, eligible for CRA funding if the board includes them in the new plan.

City staffer Mr. Thomas told the board the $166,000 will come from the CRA fund and the request is to move the money from the CRA’s undesignated projects (capital outlay/infrastructure) into the operating budget for professional services. “It is coming under the CRA budget, the $166,000, because the project itself is going to cross over into the next fiscal year,” Mr. Thomas said, adding that roughly half would be paid in the current fiscal year and half in the following fiscal year. He described the vendor selection as a piggyback off an existing competitively bid contract used by another Florida community to speed procurement.

Public commenters asked how the money would be used and where it would come from. Mr. Warren, a resident, asked whether the $166,000 would come from the city general fund or the CRA fund; Mr. Thomas replied it would be the CRA budget. Other residents urged that neighborhoods already inside the CRA receive priority for improvements and recommended reintroducing a CRA advisory board to guide spending decisions. One commenter urged the city to use CRA funds to address blighted houses in the district.

Mr. Thomas described the proposed boundary expansion as modest and focused: “Some on the East side, some on the West side. The west side would go all the way over to Youngs Park… about 0.3 [square miles] on the west and about 0.5 [square miles] on the east, a little less than 2 square miles total,” he said. He said a map would be presented to the board and that the consultant identified, Inspire Placemaking Collective, has experience with Florida CRAs and the city intends to piggyback on a contract used by the City of Sebastian.

Board members and commenters raised equity and prioritization concerns. One council member said areas already inside the CRA should not be skipped in favor of newly added areas: “I think it would be wise if some people already been waiting to get stuff done first,” the member said. Mr. Thomas replied that specific priorities would be set by what the board chooses to include in the updated plan and that preferences could be written into the plan.

Votes at a glance: - Approve minutes of 11/04/2024 meeting — motion approved (voice vote). - Approve agenda — motion approved (voice vote). - CRA Resolution 2025-01 (budget amendment to appropriate up to $166,000 for plan and findings of necessity) — motion moved and seconded; roll call recorded as Yes votes from Miss Young, Mr. Carter, Miss Harris and the chair; outcome: approved. - CRA Resolution 2025-02 (approve agreement/procurement with Inspire Placemaking Collective and related CRA resolution) — motion moved and seconded; roll call recorded as Yes votes from Mr. Carter, Miss Young, Mr. Gurneyan, Miss Harris and Chairman Walker; outcome: approved.

What remains: Staff indicated a presentation and map of the proposed expansion area would follow as part of the implementation steps; the board did not adopt a detailed project list at this meeting. Mr. Thomas and staff said the next steps include preparing the plan with community input and formalizing the findings of necessity for the expanded boundary. The board also agreed to forward the budget amendment and resolution to the city council for further consideration and ratification as required by the resolution language.