Action News Jax Now
GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. — The Clay County Sheriff’s Office closed the entry gates to this year’s Strawberry Festival over traffic and safety issues today, according to Sheriff Michelle Cook.
Visitors reported huge traffic backups in the area near the fairgrounds as people came in droves to the annual event.
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Sheriff Cook released a statement Saturday blasting the organizers for what she calls inadequate staffing:
“For the past few years we have gone back and forth with the promoter about the security and traffic needs for the Strawberry Festival. A couple of years ago they literally hired 2 deputies to work the event. Although they have increased the number of off duty deputies, the staffing is still not acceptable. Our deputies have been out there all day with no breaks. We’ve had to call in on duty personnel to assist. This is unacceptable. This will not happen again.
“Let me be very clear….the Strawberry Festival should hire enough staff to support an Incident Management Team (those that command and support the working personnel) and hire enough staff to support a full and comprehensive traffic plan – similar to what the Fair does – the CCSO will not support this event.”
The Clay County Agricultural Fair took to social media Saturday afternoon to assure that the weren’t responsible for the traffic this time.
“While we are certainly not perfect and have our bad days too, please know that we do staff vastly different than most to prepare for all different sorts of scenarios,” the Clay County Fair organizers said. “We work with what we’ve got the best we can, a two lane state road with one way in and out.”
The fair continued, saying it added 200 additional parking spots last year and is doubling its CCSO officers for parking and traffic enforcement on 2025′s busiest fair days.
The Clay County Agricultural Fair begins April 3rd.
Related: Clay County Fair announces 2025 concert lineup
Sheriff Cook is encouraging neighbors and event visitors to email the Strawberry Fest organizers any feedback they have about the event, especially regarding traffic issues.
The Sheriff’s Office plans to have more on-duty personnel assigned to the event tomorrow, but emphasized that “taxpayers should not have to pay for a private vendor event.”
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