VOLUME 5 ISSUE 12
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“Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery”
MARCH 22 - MARCH 28, 2024
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MARION COUNTY: At the crossroads of drug rehabilitation
City awards grant to newest resident in commerce park Transportation company will create new jobs with service center. By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
T By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
Editor’s Note: This report will be
supplemented as more information becomes available.
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hen it comes to providing residential treatment for those fighting drug addiction, Marion County is punching well above its weight. Despite being ranked No. 19 in population among Florida’s 67 counties, Marion County is No. 6 in the number of treatment beds
available for recovering drug users. With seven facilities totaling 532 licensed residential drug rehabilitation beds, Marion has more capacity than powerhouse counties including Orange, Duval, Polk and Brevard, according to the state Department of Children and Families. But that capacity does not necessarily translate into better treatment services for Marion residents. A closer look reveals the numbers are inflated by patients from well beyond Marion’s borders, which is leading to a litany of challenges for mental health advocates and county officials.
Being in north central Florida, Marion County is uniquely situated to take in people from around the state as the demand for drug addiction treatment services continues to exceed the supply of available beds. Under a contract from the state Department of Corrections, the Phoenix House receives hundreds of such patients from around the state each year. The Phoenix House is the largest center of its kind in Marion County. The facility opened in Citra in 1994 and is run by the nonprofit organization Phoenix Programs of Florida, Inc. See Phoenix, page A4
High school marching bands honored to perform in NYC for St. Patrick’s Day Parade FHS and LWHS bands participate in 263rd annual celebration By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
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wo Marion County high school marching bands made a long journey last weekend, which culminated with them serenading the streets in the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. On March 16, 210 students from the Forest High School and Lake Weir High School marching bands played for about 2 million spectators while marching down Fifth Avenue, playing a medley of songs. Lake Weir High School Band Director Michael Jennings said the students worked hard fundraising money to make the trip possible. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for my students to not only get to collaborate with another school on such a significant project but to also be able to represent Marion County and the state of Florida in a national parade,” Jennings said in an email. The NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade is the oldest parade
for the holiday in the world, preceding even the signing of the Declaration of Independence with the inaugural parade taking place in 1762. The two bands jointly performed the songs “Irish Spectacular,” “An Irish party in Third Class” and “Cold Hearted” on the trek down Fifth Avenue from East 44th Street to East 79th Street. This year was the 263rd annual parade. As St. Patrick’s feast day fell on a Sunday this year, the parade was held on Saturday in respect of religious observations. For FHS and LWHS, performing in such a renowned event is just the most recent achievement of a long list of accolades. Jennings and Forest High School Band Director David Jones both said their bands consistently perform at high levels and earn top honors for it. “We received an invitation from the parade committee based on our recognition and successes over the last several years,” Jennings and Jones said. See Marching, page A3
The Forest and Lake Weir Combined Marching Band performing in the 263rd St Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City [Photo by Kevin McCormick/GroupPhotos.com]
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he city of Ocala is awarding a $150,000 grant through its Economic Investment Program to Averitt Express Inc., which will use the funds to create a service center in the commerce park that is expected to create at least 50 new jobs. The service center neighbors Amazon, Chewy and AutoZone in the Ocala/Marion County Commerce Park off Northwest 35th Street. Averitt Express is a privately owned freight transportation and supply chain service provider based in Tennessee with over 5,000 employees nationwide, according to its website. The city’s investment program is “designed to create economic growth within the city’s municipal limits and the Ocala Electric Utility service territory by selectively awarding grants to new or existing businesses that seek to locate or expand their business facilities,” according to the grant. Ocala will fund the company $150,000, in two installments, to support this large investment by Averitt Express in the commerce park. The company is expected to pay the city’s investment back within 18 months. “The estimated 5-year present value return on investment is approximately $488,676.99; this return is expected from ad valorem tax revenue,” according to the city’s return on investment analysis. By June 2025, when the service center is anticipated to be up and running, at least 50 full-time employees will work there. The employees will make an average salary of $67,524 a year, and work full time at 2,080 hours a year, excluding overtime. The service center will be larger and more costly than what the company had originally proposed, said Planning Director Aubrey Hale. “The new facility will be a 36,000-square-foot logistics and service center, which is approximately 16,000 square feet larger than what they had (planned) before,” Hale said. “This was recently approved back on Oct. 17, 2023. However, after the approval the developer met and decided that rather than going See Commerce, page A2
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