The owner of a local tree service is trying to calm concerns from a neighbor over what he plans to do with 85 acres in western Alachua County.
Bill Gaston of Gaston’s Tree Service purchased about 85 acres just south of West Newberry Road near Jonesville for $1.5 million in 2022. In the past two years, he has used it as a site to grind tree debris into mulch.
Last month, a neighbor to the site spoke at a Newberry City Commission meeting and said he was worried about the current noise, as well as the land's future use.
“They want to put in what’s called a transfer station,” said Newberry resident Joe Hoffman. “… Eventually it will become an eyesore, to say the least.”
A transfer station is a place for waste companies to bring trash and recycling for sorting before they go to the landfill.
Gaston, however, said “there are no plans” for a transfer station.
“I think the simplest way to say this is that we have no interest in having a traditional transfer station of any kind,” Gaston said during a phone interview.
Gaston’s Tree Service, as well as Gaston Tree Debris Recycling and Gaston Mulch and Soil, “recycle the urban forest,” said Gaston. He said they take tree debris and turn it into “a product for beneficial use,” like mulch or soil.
Gaston explained that the location in question, which borders the 18000 block of West Newberry Road, is a satellite site for Gaston Tree Debris Recycling.
The site is where workers use an excavator to shovel tree material, like large branches and limbs, into a giant red grinder. The grinder spits out an almost constant spray of shredded wood — what Gaston described as “very large sawdust” — into fresh piles.
Gaston said that when someone buys a bag of Miracle-Gro soil from a big box store in Florida, there is a chance that it has been processed by Gaston Tree Debris Recycling.
Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe said that Gaston’s site five miles east of downtown is dedicated to grinding tree material.
Marlowe said the term "transfer station" evokes a certain image, particularly the idea of a garbage dump with toxic elements. He said this is a misclassification of the work being done at the site, and that no one should be “unjustly afraid.”
“There’s nothing going to be built on site,” Marlowe said.
Hoffman said he’s heard loud noise from the grinders on Gaston’s property several times during the past year.
Hoffman lives on 186th Street and said other homeowners in the neighborhood share his concerns.
“My biggest issue is the sound and the noise and vibration,” he said.
Gaston told Marlowe that every six to eight weeks, the grinder would run for three to four days.
“Agricultural settings can be very loud,” Marlowe said. He compared Gaston’s activities to other agricultural operations that run heavy machinery. He also said the residents who live near this site are “rightly concerned” about the noise from the grinders.
Gaston said the company is trying to work with city officials to mollify any concerns.
“We have great respect with the city of Newberry and want to have a great relationship,” he said.