Town of Middleburg?

Evin -

as a long time Middleburger, or more accurately, Clay Hill-billy, this idea has floated around before and never gets beyond this stage.  For good reason.

To me, it is unnecessary.  It would be more bureaucracy, more cost, very little benefit - if any.  If anything, maybe Clay County should consider consolidating the entire county like Duval and Jacksonville did.  For all practical matters, Clay is nearly that way already.  I guess the municipalities, and the people who live there, would fight this tooth and nail.

The idea of consolidation is going to go about as far as the idea to incorporate Middleburg.  I hear the idea taking its last breath now.  AHHHHhhhhhh.

Bax, Evin,

Almost as an aside, I decided to pipe in on this.  Nothing serious, mind you.  I don't live in Middleburg.  For that matter, that's part of a personal problem.  I live in what is known as unincorprated Orange Park.  That's my little problem.  I have an Orange Park mailing address.  I live in Clay County.  But I don't live in a recognizeable, acknowleged place.  This is the first time I have had to deal with this bit of reality.  It is a foreign concept to me.

I was born & raised in Chicago.  The neighborhood was & is, still called, Bucktown.  I had roots.  I had an identity with which I could relate.  Family, friends, schoolmates both grade & high school all had a common bond.  I find that missing here.  Let me be clear.  In no way do I blame any external forces.  But I wasn't born or raised here.  I didn't go to any schools here.  I don't have children & don't have any connection to the school system except for the fact that I help pay for it.  Not a problem.  Been doing that for decades.

But it is the lack of social, physical & legal connection that keeps me an arms length from any intimate connection with the area.  But that is only my personal view.  Heck, if I were to win that darned lottery & keep to my claim, I'd move back to Chicago, very possibly to my old neighborhood & pretty much pick up from where I left off & feel completely at home.  That is a feeling of personal, mental & social comfort that I could never feel for any other place.  But once again, that's just me.  JATFUR.

Rich K

Baxley: 

You raise some interesting points about bureaucracy, etc.

In the spirit of enlightened, civil discourse, I would pose the following question:

How many employees does the City of Weston, FL have? 

"Winners walk out laughing; losers cry, 'Deal again!'" - Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers Band Political Advertisement Paid For and Approved by Tom Platt, Republican, for County Commission, District 1.

As Bax said, this isn't a new concept.  I moved here in '82 and remembering hearing about it shortly after.  It resurfaces every now and then, but never has made sense from a cost/benefit perspective.

Besides, Middleburgers are Middleburgers, even if there's not an official boundary line.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net

How many?  Zero?  Incorporated in legal status - Board w/supervisors - but "sub" all the services back from the County?

I'm assuming a lot (always dangerous), but what good would that do?  Provide some level of representation that does not currently exist?

Ref. lily's blog on Parties:  Is this a Republican idea, or Democratic?  From an "I want my voice heard" perspective I can sort of see why some would like it, but just adding 2 at-large commissioners is criticized as "bloat", when what I see is at-large, whole county representation.  Perspective.  Ah, sweet perspective.

Great conversation.  Bill Garrison.

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=9005

Doesn't say here, but looks like it was mainly a CC & R city.  What does that do, you have laws instead of covenents?

If   you can get it to open here is the home page: http://www.westonfl.org

UR - I lived for a few years in a small Georgia town as a kid (Guyton).  I think I know the feeling you are talking about.  Boundaries do help create a sense of identity.  But I submit they are not necessary to feel the sense of community you describe.

I grew up in mainly unincorporated, rural areas of SC and GA, and feel very connected to that "community".  Open, rural, agricultural with plenty of elbow room.  Makes sense I like living in Clay Hill so much.

My brother met his wife in Chicago 20+ years ago, and they raised a family there.  He's since relocated back to SC and is always pining for Chicago.  Must be something in the water there.

I live in Doctor's Inlet, have a Orange park phone # and a Middleburg zip, my kid will go to Lake Asbury Junior High. Talk about not having any roots.

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle

 As the name suggests, I'm new here. I was born and raised in Middleburg and I would hate to see it become incorporated as that would mean more taxes (I would suppose that anyhow, I could be speaking out of ignorance here).

 Joe

"Everyone seems to be doing it, but this bridge looks pretty high"

Politicalnewbie, you are correct in that it would be more taxes as well as everything else.  Municipalities and counties perform the same functions within their jurisdiction.  There are some advantages for becoming incorporated, however, they do not outweigh the disadvantages. 

Maxie - exactly what I'm talking about.  But based on what I've read here, you are very much a part of your (our) community.

Home is where the heart is.

I live in Middleburg and like it just the way it is. Don’t mess with it. Matter of fact as the Middleburg Sheriff I am going to start enforcing the rule that all new Middleburgers moving in must own a pick up truck preferably a 4 wheel drive but a 2 wheel drive full size will be acceptable. We are doing away with the waivers. Oh yeah, all males must have a Stetson and a gun rack in the back window of the truck. That is a civil violation if you don’t have that equipment on board.

There's no place like home...We started Geocaching a couple of weeks ago, and the main idea for the game is for someone to "hide" their cache in a place that is special and interesting. I have lived in Clay County for 30 some years, and didn't know about some of these places. Being a teenager with a bug car and cheap gas, we had friends in all parts of the county, Lake Asbury was where the "rich" kids lived. All along Pine Ave, was another well to-do neighborhood. They, for the most part all had pools. OPS was a big field, and EH was nothing but pine trees and blue berries. Got to go to work, so I forgot my point! 

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle

35 years ago, Blanding Blvd was a two lane road as far north as Wesconnet, Orange Park Mall was a cow pasture, Middleburg's business district was a convenience store at the intersection of Hwy 21 & 218.  Most Jacksonville residents didn't even know where Middleburg was.

Some friends of mine moved here, over 25 years ago, and we said "why Middleburg?". Now we find ourselves living here and loving it. Don't want to change a thing. Well, except when the dirt roads wash out after a big rain......

My parents purchased a house in nice little country club. The house they purchased cost a little more than a house that was just outside of that club. At first my parents were going to purchase the cheaper home but then they got thinking. In the country club, they knew they were paying a few more bucks for extra services and extra attention. In the club, they had people who only cared about issues that had an impact on that club and not what was going on down the road.

This is the concept behind municipalities. When Orange Park and Green Cove have council meetings, they are only concerned and address issues that impact the people of those towns. They don't have to sit there for hours and hear why Fleming Island needs another high end shop on CR220, or why Clay Hill wants a road paved.

County Governments best serve us on issues that effect the county AS A WHOLE. County governments are not a substitute for issues that effect communities on a local basis. We wouldn't want to sit through a state congressional meeting every time you wanted garbage picked up on your road would we?

Only people who live and work in Middleburg know what is best for Middleburg. Once they stop allowing people who live in Eagle Harbor to make those decisions for them, they will be better off for it.

Baxley:

Last time I looked (and it's been a couple of years), Florida's newest city  - the City of Weston - had two employees.

OK, for purposes of civil, honest, unemotional discourse, here's the next question: 

What could POSSIBLY have motivated the citizens to vote to become a city?  Remember: Weston could not become a city without the majority of citizens voting in a referendum to do so. (HINT: what is the usual greatest motivator for people to do something?)

"Winners walk out laughing; losers cry, 'Deal again!'" - Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers Band   

Political Advertisement Paid For and Approved by Tom Platt, Republican, for County Commission, District 1.

 (HINT: what is the usual greatest motivator for people to do something?)

Money or beer? not necessarily in that order. Depends on what you are offering. Look how much trash is sold using sex, hot girls pushin one thing after another.

In politics from what I see, seems that people vote for things on whims and don't know what they are doing, mostly. Sometimes it's a backlash when somebody does something really stupid to tee off the voters. And who besides dyed in the wool political junkies raelly cares till after Halloween?