Alachua County commissioners adopted a special assessment district July 8 to pay for chip-seal improvements to Quail Street in the Melrose area, setting the annual per-parcel assessment at $766.66 over 10 years.

Public Works Director RamF3n Gavarrete told the board the project originally was estimated at about $74,459 but final costs came in lower at $62,133.16. Based on final invoices and the property list, staff proposed the equal-per-parcel assessment to recover the project costs across participating owners.

The public hearing produced several heated statements. Neighbor David Bonazzoli, who said he had spearheaded the petition work, told commissioners the contractor stopped short of the last property and that the county had 1 day's opportunity to fix the transition when the crew was on site. He urged the board to direct the county to extend the chip-seal surface so the last homeowner would not be left with a dusty frontage. Bonazzoli and other residents said 1 homeowner, identified as Mister Barrow, remained exposed to dust because the crew did not pave far enough past his property line.

Public Works staff described the technical basis for the assessment: Florida statute 197.3632 and chapter 37 of the county code direct that assessments be based on special benefits and generation factors; staff used trip-generation methodology from the Institute of Transportation Engineers to compute shares. Gavarrete said staff had added about 15 feet of transition and placed approximately 120 feet of asphalt millings beyond the last property line to reduce dust and provide an adequate roadway edge. He also noted the state mill-and-pave work on State Road 26 later damaged part of the newly placed surface near the intersection and that FDOT had been notified.

Commissioner Mary Alford moved staff's recommendation, and commissioners also asked staff to return with clearer standard transition distances for future chip-seal work on lime-rock roads. Several commissioners said the county should consider adding a clear communication protocol and a fee schedule so residents know up front how estimates and final assessments are calculated.

Board members approved staff's recommendation with an additional direction: the county will extend the chip-seal surface an estimated 50 feet beyond the previously set limits at county expense to address the last-property dust complaint (staff estimated the extra work would be less than the $10,000 difference between estimate and final cost). Commissioners also asked staff to study process improvements for future special-assessment projects and to consider folding routine preparatory fees into the single early petition fee rather than billing them separately.

The resolution passed 4-1. Commissioner Chestnut voted no, saying he objected to the county's involvement in owner-financed pavement in this fashion. The county will levy assessments and provide a process for hardship applications and protests as allowed under county ordinance and state law.