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County approves Watermelon Pond parcel purchase to expand Watermelon Pond conservation project
Summary
The commission authorized assignment of an option contract and purchase of a 66‑acre parcel (the You/Yoe property) that connects several recent acquisitions to Goethe State Forest; staff reported a purchase price of $902,789 and total immediate expenditure of $1,061,348 including due diligence and contingency.
Alachua County authorized purchase of a 66‑acre parcel in the Watermelon Pond project area to connect recent county land acquisitions with Goethe State Forest and expand conserved sandhill habitat.
Alachua Conservation Trust had negotiated an option with the landowner and county staff presented a recommended assignment of that option to the county. County planners said the parcel contains remnant sandhill groundcover and several gopher tortoise burrows; although much of the overstory had been removed, planners reported that the site’s groundcover remains ecologically valuable for restoration to longleaf pine.
The county agreed to acquire the parcel for $902,789 and to fund due diligence costs estimated at $37,000. The total immediate expenditure request presented at the meeting — which included a 10 percent contingency — was $1,061,348. Staff said the property is located within the Watermelon Pond priority conservation area, where county conservation efforts focus on surviving remnant sandhill habitat.
Commissioners approved assignment of the option and authorization for the chair to execute closing documents. The motion closed the acquisition pathway that county staff, Alachua Conservation Trust and other partners have used to assemble over 200 acres in the Watermelon Pond project footprint and to connect county holdings to the neighboring Goethe State Forest.
Ending: County staff said restoration and longleaf replanting will follow closing; a correction to the draft budget estimate noted that reforestation costs would be added to implementation budgets as staff develops the restoration plan.
