Environmental resource permit hearing — Paynes Prairie sheetflow

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held on November 20, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. at Alachua County Administration Building, 12 SE 1st Street, concerning the matter described below. The District will consider a draft environmental resource permit for a sheetflow restoration berm and two water-control structures intended to rehydrate historic wet prairie east of U.S. 441. The project includes a temporary construction easement across county-owned pasture, a gopher-tortoise relocation plan prepared by a licensed authorized agent, and a five-year vegetation monitoring schedule with photo stations and a cover-class protocol. Staff finds that the preferred berm alignment avoids the recorded bald-eagle nest buffer and keeps heavy equipment off the existing park tram road except at two designated crossings. Dewatering discharges would pass through sediment bags before returning to the prairie. A no-action alternative and a pump-only alternative are evaluated in the staff report. Copies of the draft permit, the ERP application, and the species survey are available at the Alachua County library headquarters and from the District clerk. Persons whose substantial interests are affected may request a hearing in the form required by Chapter 120, Florida Statutes. This Legal Publication is a fictional seed record on Notice Nearby and does not describe a live agency action. Location of the subject property or matter: Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Micanopy vicinity. All interested persons may appear and be heard. Written comments will be accepted until the close of the hearing. This notice is published in accordance with applicable open-meeting and notice statutes. Docket / matter number: ERP-2025-0388441. Applicant / agency: St. Johns River Water Management District; County of Alachua. First published on Notice Nearby (noticenearby.com), qualifying publisher for this jurisdiction, on 2025-10-30.