Does Alachua County smell what’s coming?

Stock image via Adobe.

Something smells in Jacksonville.

No, seriously, there is an actual smell, prompting citizen complaints and a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) investigation.

But now the stench is growing — and spreading — from Duval County all the way to the Alachua County Commission chambers.

It’s an ugly brew of rotting waste, missed permit deadlines, the risk of out-of-control fires, unpaid credit cards, numerous state violations, seized equipment and more.

The source is a company named Sunshine Organics and Compost, run by Michael J. Kelcourse Jr., who has pulled the tarp over the eyes of Jacksonville local government and is on the verge of doing the same in Alachua.

Sunshine has been testing the patience of DEP for 2 1/2 years. The agency has fired off multiple letters and made site visits revealing a breathtaking array of issues, not the least of which is Sunshine is actually operating a Jacksonville composting facility without the required DEP approval.

Another of the plethora of problems is exceeding the 50-foot-high limit for piles of waste. If you don’t know the threat this brings, check out what happened near Ft. Myers when a runaway compost pile fire burned for 10 days.

DEP’s most recent letter to Sunshine, dated June 24, listed a series of findings from two site visits, and gave Kelcourse seven days to respond. That was 23 days ago. So far, the file shows no response at all.

But the story doesn’t stop here. A new community is about to get the same treatment.

Now, Sunshine has slithered down to Gainesville, apparently hoping the Alachua County Commission hasn’t Googled Kelcourse’s companies’ litany of DEP violations. At a June meeting, the Alachua Commission authorized its staff to negotiate with Sunshine on a new plan to process up to 120,000 tons of its yard, food and wood waste annually.

Memo to Alachua County staff: You might want to do a little more research before signing anything. The first question you could ask Kelcourse is, how will he be able to do the work when one of his main pieces of equipment — a grinder — has been seized by the order of a Florida 4th Judicial Circuit Judge?

Circuit Judge Virginia B. Norton found in April that Kelcourse’s Kelco Recycling defaulted on more than $83,000 and ordered the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to seize the grinder and return it to the plaintiff, Financial Pacific Leasing Inc. In case you didn’t know, the grinder is used to perform the exact type of work Alachua is about to hire Kelcourse to perform.

Also hot on the trail of Kelcourse is American Express, which just this week was granted a default judgment for a Kelcourse debt of more than $20,000 from way back in May of 2023, after Kelcourse failed to respond to or show up for any court hearings.

Is this really the type of businessperson for whom state and local governments should exercise any more patience?

Is this really someone that Alachua County taxpayers want in charge of composting and other important environmental initiatives?

From Jacksonville to Gainesville, something smells in Florida and it’s not just a pile of compost. This one warrants some more sniffing around.