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City, Florida's Natural Reach Road Agreement

    After months of on-again and off-again discussions, the City of Umatilla and Florida’s Natural have reached an agreement on road access along the northern end of the citrus plant’s property.  The Umatilla City Council on Tuesday night, December 17, approved an agreement that will see the city take over the right of way of Lake Ferns Road to help facilitate the development of an industrial park in the area.
    The small road, which runs west off Golden Gem Drive, has long served the city’s wastewater plant.  However, that plant is mostly off line today and much of the area is slated to be developed as an industrial park.  However, the road in its current form falls short of the standard needed to serve the park and the city’s access has historically only been through an easement.
    “During design and permitting, there was an issue with the road itself,” said Aaron Mercer with the city describing the situation on Tuesday.
    As part of the agreement, the city will receive a deed to the road in return for making improvements and maintaining the road going forward.
    The city is expected to pay for the road’s upgrades with a portion of a state grant it received earlier this year.  The grant, at roughly $5 million, was awarded as part of a state job-creation program.  
    The agreement has a few concessions for Florida’s Natural, including the city installing new chain link fencing along the south side of the road, two ingress and egress areas to the plant, and maintaining a drainage ditch in the area.
    The city aims to bring dozens of jobs to the new industrial park site, but wants the area serviced via Lake Ferns Road rather than Golden Gem Drive, as the latter is bordered with several dozen residential properties.
    Construction on the road could begin in the spring, according to Mercer.