CRESTVIEW — The Crestview city council members have a long list of important tasks coming up, and among those tasks is the "right-of-way parking and enforcement procedures."

Crestview resident Landrum Edwards spoke to the council about the parking issue at the Aug. 27 workshop meeting.

"This was brought up 20 years ago. You go to the south side of town, some parts of the north, to the west … a lot of the old houses are built right up next to the road," Edwards said. "Where do you park? On the right of way."

The council members discussed whether or not the police department has the ability to give someone a ticket that is parked in the street, blocking off a lane.

Police Chief Jamie Grant wasn't aware of any ordinance that gives them the ability to ticket someone in this case, but said he would do more research on this issue.

"…I need to look into it a little bit more rather than be blindsided. If we write the citation, how is that citation heard … through the court system or is it heard through the city level with it being an ordinance?" Grant said. "There's a little black area right there."

City ordinance 86-37 states that people have 12 hours to move their vehicles before they can be towed. According to the meeting agenda, the Crestview Police Department has used a 72-hour sticker that stated the vehicle had to be moved in 72 hours or it would be towed.

There is also a city ordinance that prohibits parking in the roadway unless marked for parking.

Councilman Doug Faircloth said he gave an ordinance about parking in the street to the previous police chief, but it was not enforced.

The city does have ordinances that prohibit parking in the right of way, but Gaillard said the ordinances are not specific to the shoulder of the right of way.

Edwards was concerned about another law enforcement matter — illegal drug use. He spoke about the issues with drugs he's facing on his street.

"I've complained about it," Edwards said. "I've talked to the mayor about it, and he agreed … We've got a problem."

Other important tasks discussed included a study of the flow of traffic on Highway 85, Title VI non-discrimination policy, and new zoning categories.

The council members will place a low, medium, or high priority on each task and then, give their list to Growth Management Director Teresa Gaillard.

A complete lists of tasks can be found on the Aug. 27 workshop meeting agenda on the city's website.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Right-of-way parking issue sparks public comment

CRESTVIEW — The Community Redevelopment Agency Board of Commissioners made recommendations at the workshop meeting Monday for changes to specifics on different grants offered to developers.

Although no action was taken at the meeting, the commissioners discussed changing wording and requirements for different grants.

The list of grants included the following: mixed use residential and commercial development, asbestos mitigation, building code compliance upgrade, commercial investor property development, and facade and building improvement.

Applications were also listed with each description of the grants.

CRA Director Alisa Burleson said the goal of these grants is to give businesses an incentive to build in downtown Crestview.

"The purpose of having these grants are to encourage something that's not already happening downtown," Burleson said.

Burleson used the commercial investor property development grant as an example of this purpose. The goal of this grant is to cater to businesses that will stay open after regular business hours and on the weekends.

The funds for each grant come from what Burleson calls a "bucket." The funds are not specific to each grant.

This workshop meeting comes after the CRA voted on Aug. 27 to form a grant review committee that will make recommendations to the board of commissioners after reviewing grant applications in their meetings. The committee nominations are expected to be announced at the next meeting in September.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: CRA holds workshop on grants

CRESTVIEW — The Community Redevelopment Agency Board of Commissioners will be holding a workshop meeting on Monday, Aug. 27  where they are expected to discuss criteria for nominations of a new grant review committee.

City Clerk Elizabeth Roy said  at last week's monthly CRA meeting that the CRA offers several grants and instead of having a board for each grant, they are proposing a CRA grant review committee.

The committee would have nine members including CRA Director Alisa Burleson who would administrate meetings without power to vote and present grant recommendations to the CRA Board of Commissioners. Committee members would be expected to fulfill a commitment of up to three years.

The purpose of the committee is to make recommendations to the CRA board after reviewing grant applications in their public meetings.

“Once we get the criteria set up for the four or five different grants that are available through the master plan, this committee will be the first line of defense for anybody that wants to apply for the grants,” Roy said at the Aug. 13 meeting.

Roy also said members of the grant review board can apply for grants but will not be allowed to vote for their own grants.

Council President J.B. Whitten said in the Aug. 13 meeting that members of the committee including the CRA director would not be permitted to speak with any of the CRA commissioners about the grant meetings.

Some CRA board members had mixed opinions on the committee.

Councilman Doug Faircloth said he thought the committee seemed redundant and unnecessary.

“To me, it’s like somebody scraping their fingers on a black board. It’s irritating enough to put so many layers of government in a place that you never get anything done,” Faircloth said.

Council vice president Bill Cox said he liked the idea of a grant review committee.

“Someone on that appointed board could be the champion for a particular grant … Division of labor, you can get more work done to present to Alisa and come back to the board,” Cox said.

The CRA board approved the grant review committee on Aug. 13.

The criteria for the grants and applications are expected to be completed by the September monthly meeting along with the current board members’ committee nominations, Roy said.

The workshop meeting is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 27 at 4 p.m in City Hall.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview moves forward with grant review committee

CRESTVIEW — Citizens of Crestview can voice their opinion about a possible new assisted living facility coming to Crestview at the next city council meeting in September.

The city will hold a second public hearing about a Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, the facility developers need.

One of the six property owners, Fredrick Barrow, said at last week’s city council meeting they need the grant for road work. They want the city to extend Patriot Lane to connect to Brookmeade Drive, which runs behind the hospital. Barrow said the goal is easier access to the hospital.

Barrow, a former Crestview resident, said they are in a sense donating the property to the city.

“The city of Crestview working with us on this is definitely to their benefit, and it’s for the good of all of Crestview because Crestview is really fast growing,” Barrow said.

Currently, Crestview has three assisted living facilities and the Eden at Crestview coming in 2019, which will be the largest assisted living facility in Crestview with room for up to 70 residents.

“Right there around the hospital area, that’s it, a 30-bed facility … nothing in a resort style like we’re wanting to build and Eden’s wanting to build,” Barrow said.

The federal funds from a CDBG in the economic development category are given based on how many jobs developers create. The city will be required to pay back the funds to the state if the facility does not create the number of jobs listed on the application. If the application is approved, the city will require the owners to sign an agreement that will hold them responsible for jobs not created in order to keep the city from having to pay back the funds.

If the grant is approved, the city would be responsible for contracting out construction for the road work.

In the economic development category, the city can apply for up to $1.5 million.

Barrow said at the Aug. 13 city council meeting that he built an assisted living facility in Jay. He told the council that the Crestview facility would be similar.

“We have a lot of contacts there. We have a lot of doctors that know we’re building there and excited about us coming there,” Barrow said. “I think the thing is going to be full before we ever open the doors.”

The facility in Jay, called The Terrace at Ivey Acres, is licensed for 70 beds and 30 full-time employees.

The Crestview city council held the first public hearing for the grant on Aug. 13 and unanimously approved the development of the application with Councilman Shannon Hayes absent.

The second public hearing is expected Sept. 10 at city hall.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: New assisted living facility potentially coming to Crestview

CRESTVIEW — The only building official and license holder for the Crestview building department left Friday for a job in Pensacola.

Jonathan Bilby is the only person in the building department that is licensed to administrate and interpret the Florida Building Code.

“I can’t say that his leaving is not going to create a vacuum. He’s very valuable … The question is how quickly can we fill the position with a qualified individual,” council president J.B. Whitten said.

The department will be relying on qualified employees of Fort Walton Beach’s building department to assume Bilby’s responsibilities.

“The building official we’re going to rely on is very good at his job. We shouldn’t see any slowdowns as far as that goes,” Bilby said.

According to the agenda at the Aug. 13 city council meeting, Fort Walton Beach will be using electronic systems to review plans and will perform inspections via Skype or Facetime.

The agenda says, “The electronic transfer of files is the most efficient and cost-effective ways to accomplish the task.”

The city will be required to pay the building official from Fort Walton Beach $48 per hour and the inspector $25 per hour.

The inter-local agreement—a contract allowing local government agencies to perform joint operations—between Crestview and Fort Walton Beach passed 4-0 with Councilman Shannon Hayes missing from the council.

Bilby has been with the city since 2012 but decided to leave Crestview after receiving an offer for the Inspection Services Administrator position in Pensacola.

“It comes with a substantial pay increase. It’s a chance to manage a larger jurisdiction, and then, I will actually be closer to home because I live in Navarre,” Bilby said.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview business director leaves for Pensacola

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview city council has unanimously approved three ballot questions to be voted on in the August primary election.

The council held a special meeting May 29 to vote on a variety of ordinances ranging from rezoning to an extension of the Community Redevelopment Plan. The most pressing issue, however, was the precise wording of the three referendum questions that will appear on the August 28 ballot.

“This is a long process,” council president J.B. Whitten said. “We wanted to make sure it got done expeditiously, so the reason we called a special meeting tonight was to make sure we got this done and over to the supervisor of elections.”

The deadline for ballot questions to be submitted is June 15.

The three questions will allow voters to decide on specific changes to the city’s charter that could alter the way the city operates.

Question one will ask voters to allow the city to repeal and replace the current city charter in order to modernize it and delete “obsolete and redundant” language. The second question will ask voters to approve a switch to a city manager form of government. The third question will ask voters to allow for the city clerk, currently an elected position, to be appointed by the city council.

Whitten has campaigned in favor of the changes, particularly when it comes to moving to a city manager form of government.

“This is the most important vote that you can have concerning the future of Crestview,” Whitten said at a May 24 town hall meeting.

Currently, Crestview is the largest city in Florida that still utilizes a “weak mayor” form of government. The majority of “weak mayor” cities have fewer than 6,000 residents. Proponents of the change argue that a professional city manager is needed to run the day-to-day operations of a city the size of Crestview.

Council member Shannon Hayes announced later in the meeting that he too would be holding town halls to speak to voters about the referendum questions.

“I plan on having one in June and at least one in July and maybe one in August,” Hayes said. “I’d like to make sure [the voters] are informed of this. I’m in favor of it, but I want to tell them why I’m in favor of it.”

Whitten has previously held two town hall meetings and is planning another in June.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview referendum questions set for August ballot

Crestview Mayor David Cadle announced that on Wednesday, May 9, he placed Crestview Chief of Police, Tony Taylor, on administrative leave with pay while the department is conducting a review of city of Crestview employee regulations and Crestview Police Department policies and protocols, according to a press release from the mayor’s office. Cadle hopes to conclude the review as quickly as possible.

Crestview Police Department has not responded to calls as of 3:30 p.m. May 9.

We will update this story with more details as they become available.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Chief Taylor placed on leave

CRESTVIEW — City Council President J.B. Whitten held the first in a series of town hall events April 26 at Casbah Coffee Co. Whitten plans to host a total of at least three town halls this spring to discuss his views on the upcoming city charter referendum.

The referendum, which will appear on the August 28 primary ballot, will give Crestview voters the opportunity to decide whether they want to keep the current form of city government or bring in a city manager.

The current form of city government is a weak mayor system — the mayor heads some city departments and does not have a vote at city council meetings. Under the proposed changes, the council will be able to appoint a city manager to preside over the day-to-day operations of city government.

Whitten made it clear that he supports the proposed changes to the city charter.

“As one of your elected officials, part of your city government, I’m telling you that in my opinion we are inefficient in the way we operate,” he said. “I’m not saying that people are bad people. I’m not saying that we have bad leadership. I’m saying that what we have is inefficient.”

The majority of cities in Florida currently operate under a city manager form of government, particularly those with populations similar to Crestview’s.

“We are operating like a town that has about 1,700 people. And I will tell you probably in 1963 when we put that charter into effect, it probably worked for us,” Whitten said.

According to Whitten, Crestview is the largest city in Florida that still has a weak mayor form of government.

A previous referendum to change the city charter in 2012 failed by a 53 to 47 margin. Whitten said he believes that failure was caused in part by a lack of voter education on the issue.

Whitten, a first-term city council member who is running for mayor in 2019, expressed frustration at the way the current form of city government works.

“I’ve worked with the city government enough to know that it doesn’t work as well as it should. We’re doing a disservice to our people,” Whitten said. “I see the need to have one individual in charge of everything on a full-time basis.”

Bill Toannon, who owns Casbah Coffee Co., supports the idea of a city manager.

“I love our city council and it represents us very broadly, but I don’t know that our city council has municipal HR under their belts or municipal finance under their belts or municipal real estate development under their belts or all of these things that you look for in a professional city manager,” Toannon said. “That just thrills me to enable the city council to govern at that high level where they need to be, but also getting all the things done at the level where we live.”

Whitten plans to hold at least two more meetings with citizens to talk about the charter referendum at different times of day. He is planning an afternoon meeting in May and an evening meeting in June.

“In my four years on the city council … I consider this the most important issue that I’ve had to deal with, and we’ve done some pretty significant things,” Whitten said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'I consider this the most important issue'

CRESTVIEW — A new shooting range for the Crestview Police Department is in limbo after residents near the proposed site for the range raised concerns.

Mark Anderson, who lives near the proposed site off Retta Lane, spoke at the April 9 Crestview City Council meeting where the council voted unanimously to annex the site into the city. The council had previously voted to allocate that land for the shooting range in December 2016.

Anderson brought up a number of concerns, including safety, quality of life due to the noise generated by the range and the impact on the value of the surrounding properties. He felt that some of the claims made by police chief Tony Taylor and others at the council meeting were misleading.

“I believe that the police chief or whoever presented this to the city council deliberately left that information out,” Anderson said, speaking about the fact that there were houses adjacent to the proposed site. “I really didn’t appreciate that the gentlemen were spinning around the subject.”

He also claims that nobody spoke with him or his family when the range was first proposed. His neighbor, Danny Rhodes, said the first time he was made aware of what was going on was when he saw yellow police tape around part of the property directly across the street from his.

“Had somebody walked out here and talked about it, maybe it might be a little different. I don’t know,” Rhodes said. “With it being so close to everybody, why did nobody say anything?”

In December of 2017, activity increased at the site.

CPD Commander Andrew Schneider said that was when the department began clearing the land with a bulldozer donated by a resident. Officers also volunteered their time to go out and help clear the wooded property. Schneider said that was when the nearby property owners began to express their concerns.

“Right now, we’re in a holding pattern,” Schneider said. “We’re putting things on hold until we can basically determine what type of impact it’s going to have on some of those people in the surrounding area right there.”

Schneider said that it was unfortunate that the range was so close to some of the residents in the area, but that it was difficult finding a place to put a shooting range where it would not impact anyone.

“The conundrum is we’re trying to find a place that can be both safe and beneficial to our agency. Out of all the areas they want to do it, that’s the property that is the most ideal.”

He also addressed specific concerns the property owners had.

“There’s a big misconception that we’re going to be out there shooting all the time, all day long, like it’s going to be an open range and stuff like that. It’s not,” Schneider said. “There’s only going to be less than 50 times a year that we’re going to be out there on the shooting range.”

Rhodes is concerned that an active shooting range oriented towards Retta Lane would block the only access to and from his house. Rhodes, who has a military background, said the military would close off roads adjacent to their shooting ranges while they were active.

“There’s several times where somebody goes up and down this road, and if I have to wait because they’re out there doing their stuff, then I can’t get anywhere,” Rhodes said. “This is my only egress to get in and out of here.”

But Schneider said that was not necessary because of the 48-foot wide by 24-foot tall berms that will surround the range.

“We’re talking about 48 feet of dirt. There is not a caliber (gun) that’s currently in the arsenal of the United States government that’s capable of penetrating that.”

Schneider also noted that there would be large red flags put up when the range was in use to alert residents, as well as fencing around the entire property to prevent anyone from wandering into the range.

Rhodes said he understood the need for the shooting range, but did not want it so close to his front door.

“It’s right on our doorstep. It’s not far enough away,” Rhodes said. “We are not against them training. We understand that they need training.

“We don’t want to be looked at badly by the police force. You can probably poll them and ask them if it was in front of their house would they like it. I bet they’d say no.”

After the April 9 council meeting, council president J.B. Whitten arranged a meeting with Mayor David Cadle, Chief Taylor, Andrew Schneider and Wayne Steele, the city’s public services director. The group discussed alternative plans for the shooting range, including Anderson’s suggestion that they use a nearby spray field at the city’s wastewater treatment facility.

Anderson said he contacted the Florida Department of Environmental Protection about the idea and he was told there was nothing restricting the city from building a shooting range in that location.

“It’s a viable option for them,” Anderson said, citing the larger space that is further from residential areas.

But Whitten said it was not that simple. He said Steele contacted the DEP as well, and they highly recommended against building a shooting range in the spray field, citing examples of other cities that did so and had poor results due the high levels of chlorine in the treated water being sprayed.

“We kind of took that off the table, I believe, at that meeting,” Whitten said. “We need to look at what we can do to minimize the impact of this if in fact we go forward with this. The chief is focusing on limiting the type of weapons, limiting the days and the hours.”

Schneider said the department is now waiting on the city council to determine what will happen with the location.

“The next step is just assessing the impact. We have definitely heard and respect the people that live around there. We respect and appreciate their concerns. We have to move forward with some type of decision to either progress with a range there or find a location elsewhere that we could do it.

“Right now we’re just in the stage of making an assessment and putting trust in the council members to make a decision that can be beneficial for everybody.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Plans for police shooting range on hold

CRESTVIEW — If you don't have any idea what a Community Redevelopment Agency is, you’re not alone.

Crestview has had one for more than 20 years, but CRA director Alisa Burleson is concerned that many residents don’t know just what it is the CRA does.

“The purpose of the CRA, the sole mission and purpose is to get rid of slum and blight,” Burleson said.

Florida state law allows local governments to designate Community Redevelopment Areas for revitalization projects. The majority of these areas are downtown areas that have seen businesses shut down and move to other parts of the city. Crestview enacted its CRA plan in 1995.

“When you see all these cities across the country and downtowns are being revitalized and redone, that’s the result of some of those (CRAs),” Burleson said. “We go in and try and evaluate the area and see what can be done that can build it back up and make it look good and make it vibrant for the community as a whole.”

The original CRA district covered all of Main Street, as well as Highway 85 from the center of town to the point where Main Street empties into it. It also covered the adjacent parts of Wilson and Spring streets. After three expansions, it now covers more of Wilson Street, much of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue to the west, and the Twin Hills Park area.

The CRA board currently consists of the five sitting city council members and two other appointed members who work in the CRA district. The board will soon be expanding to add an eighth member, who may be seated on the board as early as the next meeting in May.

Agreement with Okaloosa County

Earlier this month, the CRA, the city and the Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners all agreed to enter into an interlocal agreement regarding the CRA. Among other things, it renews the CRA until 2040, another 15 years beyond its original expiration date of 2025. It also requires that a county commissioner be seated as a non-voting member of the CRA board.

Nathan Boyles is the county commissioner for District 3, which encompasses most of the CRA district. He also owns Main Street Land Title Company and Main Street Eats in the downtown area. Boyles said there’s an expectation that he will be the commissioner named to the CRA board at the county commission’s April 17 meeting.

“I love downtown Crestview, which is why we invested heavily, probably over-concentrated frankly, in downtown Crestview,” Boyles said. “I saw tremendous potential with that downtown district. So I’ve been, I think, a proponent of trying to capitalize on that potential since I bought my first building downtown.”

Boyles said he feels that having a county commissioner on the board will facilitate communication between board members and help leverage the additional resources the county has.

“If I am appointed, I’ll have the opportunity to work in much the same way that the mayor does currently in the city council structure, which is to work both before, during and after the meetings with the members of the CRA to move us towards progress and towards good decision-making,” Boyles said.

“If I’m the one sitting up there, certainly I’m not shy about sharing my opinion, and I fully intend to do so.”

Current Projects

The CRA is currently working on various projects with the goal of making the downtown area a livelier, more business-friendly area. There are limitations on what it can do though.

For example, the CRA can’t replace the bulbs in the street lights on Main Street, as that falls under the city’s responsibility. The CRA can, however, repaint the light poles or undertake other beautification projects.

One misconception, Burleson said, is that the CRA can spend funds anywhere in the city. The CRA can legally only spend funds within its district. It can’t, for example, bring in most big-box or chain retailers, because they have too large a footprint to fit into the downtown area.

The most recent project to receive approval from the board is new gateway signs for the downtown area. Burleson said the signs will be an invitation for both businesses and the public to come downtown.

“If I can do things in that area that provide the citizens a positive experience, whether it be shopping or just the atmosphere or restaurants, it’s just a positive experience,” Burleson said. “That’s what I’m shooting for.”

Challenges

Redeveloping Main Street Crestview is not without its speed bumps and roadblocks. Burleson said the biggest challenge she sees is downtown property owners sitting on empty properties.

“The biggest challenge is we’ve got vacant properties downtown that people want to sell, but they’re valuing way more than what they’re worth,” Burleson said.

“I have had people … that if they would come down on the price, I would have something there tomorrow. But they want too much for the property, and they don’t need the money, and they would rather let it sit there than let somebody come in and buy it or even rent it.”

Boyles identified other challenges, such as consistent leadership and the changing retail landscape.

“One (challenge) has been a lack of leadership. I think we’re working through that issue to kind of regain some focus on the district and focus on a plan for success,” Boyles said, citing turnover at the position of CRA director.

“The continuing changing landscape of the retail market has been, and will continue to be a challenge. That’s one that can be overcome, but it requires a consistent and dedicated approach. And really what it requires is building a destination.”

An eye to the future

The interlocal agreement extends the CRA’s mandate to 2040, giving it another 22 years to try to revitalize downtown Crestview. The state of Florida is pushing to bring an end to future CRAs, which means the prospects of extending that mandate past 2040 are increasingly unlikely.

Burleson said her vision for 2040 is “an 18-hour day with people living in apartments above the shops and shops downstairs. It’s a place to where everybody of all ages can live, work, play, eat and enjoy.”

Boyles also hopes to see a revitalized downtown.

“What I believe it can be, what I believe it will be, is a vibrant business district that consists of a mix of retail shops and restaurants and professional businesses and governmental entities,” he said. “I believe it will also have a substantial component of homes, whether those are apartments or condos or single family homes.

“You’ll have a substantial population who values living in a city center and values doing business in a city center. I think you will have adequate green space and connectivity to places like Twin Hills Park so folks can exercise and enjoy the outdoors and yet still be in a location where they can walk to get most of the basic amenities that they need to live.

“I believe that district will be a major economic engine, creating jobs and providing tax dollars to support the community as a whole. I think it will be a place that we are really, really proud of.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Downtown redevelopment board looks toward the future