CRESTVIEW — A quick between-meetings discussion in the city council chamber resolved a potential sticking point in an interlocal agreement between the city and the county to expedite replacing the Okaloosa County courthouse.

Prior to a workshop before Monday evening's City Council meeting, county board of commissioners Chairman Nathan Boyles presented a draft memorandum of understanding that would allow the county to handle all aspects of the project, including inspecting plans and on-site construction details to assure code compliance.

That didn't sit well with Crestview building official Jonathon Bilby and Fire Chief Joe Traylor.

CITY INSPECTORS

Bilby, who inspects building sites to assure codes are met, requested the council to vote against the request "so I can do my job as I've been charged with doing."

Traylor said legally his department is obligated to perform inspections for fire code compliance.

 "The authority to enforce the fire code rests solely with the fire department, per state statute," Traylor said. When the project is complete, "the Crestview Fire Department is required to provide fire protection."

Boyles said the agreement as written was simply a way to streamline the demolition of the current 1955 courthouse and expedite construction of its replacement.

"At the end of the day, what we should all focus on is getting this project done as quickly and efficiently as possible for the benefit of all our citizens," Boyles said.

COMPROMISE

Mayor David Cadle urged the city and county work together on the project.

"We need to get past this competition between the county and city," he said. "Let's work something out that's a compromise."

After the workshop adjourned, Cadle, Traylor and Boyles held a brief discussion and agreed that the fire department would fulfill its obligation to perform fire inspections.

The City Council agreed with the plan, noting the agreement already made provision for Bilby's department to augment county inspectors as needed, for which the city would be reimbursed.

"I think we're of the consensus we go with the changes to the agreement with the fire department added, and go with it, and to maintain the building inspector under the purview of the county," city Council President Shannon Hayes summarized.

Boyles assured the council there were no hard feelings and appreciated the city's cooperation.

"There is not problem. This is working things out before there are issues," Boyles said. "This is a way to streamline the project. My take is, it doesn't make a hill of beans bit of difference to me who does the inspections. I just want a quick and efficient process."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview, Okaloosa officials compromise to expedite courthouse project

CRESTVIEW — The Southern Rail Commission may expand membership eastward as Amtrak considers restoring Gulf Coast passenger rail service between New Orleans and Jacksonville.

Crestview Mayor David Cadle said commission members — currently representing Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana — recently briefed DeFuniak Springs Mayor Bob Campbell, a Destin City Council representative and him following the SRC’s Dec. 4 meeting in Mobile.

“The restoration of Gulf Coast rail service depends on what Congress does with Amtrak’s budgeting,” Cadle said.

Commission members were encouraged by the U.S. Senate’s Dec. 3 passage of a $325 million transportation bill, including $500,000 to study restoring passenger rail service to the Gulf Coast, according to AL.com. The potential for federal rail service funding marks a turnaround from the government’s previous stance, which demanded affected states pay for passenger rail service, the website stated.

Before Hurricane Katrina, Amtrak’s “Sunset Limited” passed through Crestview and neighboring communities including DeFuniak Springs and Pensacola. However, Cadle said, the train’s inconvenient Crestview stop in the early morning hours, coupled with a poor on-time record, deterred ridership.

The proposed service, if approved, likely would follow the “Sunset Limited’s” New Orleans-to-Jacksonville route. That train had stops including Gulfport, Mississippi; Mobile; Pensacola; and Tallahassee.

SRC Chairman Greg White said restoring Gulf Coast rail service in three to five years is “realistic," according to a report by WBRC-TV in Birmingham. “Amtrak specifically has established a series of meetings across the Gulf Coast with stake holders that they hope to bring to the table,” White said.

Meeting participants include leaders of communities, such as Crestview, where the new service could stop, and railroads such as CSX Transportation, which would provide some of the rail infrastructure.

If passenger rail service does return, it would work well with local plans to promote the downtown area by renaming a portion of Industrial Drive as Crestview Junction.

“The CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) has plans to build a new depot similar to Crestview’s original station for its Crestview Junction initiative,” Cadle said. “Maybe one day that new depot can be used for the real thing.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Amtrak may restore Gulf Coast service with Crestview stop

LAUREL HILL — The City Council has deferred action on a proposed resolution defining the procedure for annexation into the city until after a Jan. 7, 2016, workshop.

The issue of having a prescribed set of rules governing how a property owner may request annexation into the Laurel Hill's city limits arose after the city charged former Councilman Johnny James a $2,500 annexation fee, then the council tried to assess nearly $1,000 more to cover consultant's fees.

Council Chairman Larry Hendren said the proposed resolution had nothing to do with James' situation, but was an attempt to codify the procedure to prevent future similar situations from arising.

Councilman Scott Moneypenny said he had researched state statutes governing municipal annexations as well as another city's policy.

"I think we need to review what this city's done before we go deeper into annexation so we don't come across any problems in the future with fees or anything," Moneypenny said.

Moneypenny said city attorney Daniel Campbell needs to be involved in developing the resolution.

As Moneypenny distributed copies of his research, the council's newest member, Travis Dewrell, recommended the body hold a workshop to discuss the materials in greater detail.

Hendren, responding to a resident's question, said the reason the proposed resolution required a $6,500 annexation fee rather than the current $2,500 fee James was required to pay, was to cover expenses including property surveys, a planning consultant and advertising costs for public hearings.

"That's the reason for the jump" in price, Hendren said. "The reason for the jump is the previous resolution was way outdated."

When the resident inquired about the benefits of annexation, among factors such as attaining city services such as water and the fire department, Dewrell said city residents don't have to pay Almarante Fire District's annual assessment.

"So in 65 years I'd break even with their $100 annual assessment," the resident said to laughter around the chamber.

Moneypenny said another benefit is property values are generally higher within a municipality. Additional residents also benefit the city, he said.

"It increases the city's tax base," he said. "If development had ever taken place, that increases your population base which increases your tax base."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill council defers annexation rules

CRESTVIEW — When storm waters receded after an April 29-30, 2014, storm, residents found washed-out roads and collapsed dams.

While most North Okaloosa County roads have been repaired and are back in use, county Public Works officials are still working on getting Oak Hill Road back in service.

Read about storm repairs, one year later

The north-south connector, between Old Bethel Road and the Lake Silver community, remains impassable where Davis Mill Creek washed away much of the road.

And residents are getting frustrated.

“It’s a problem,” Lake Silver resident Bill Treadway said. “Those neighborhoods are cut off.”

Compounding the problem for residents, visitors and public safety responders, online and GPS direction systems — such as Mapquest and Google Maps — still show Oak Hill Road as passable.

In reality, “If you need an ambulance, they have to go all the way around (State Road) 85 to Lake Silver,” Treadway said.

DESIGN DELAYS

Several factors make Oak Hill Road's repair more complicated than most other storm damage projects, Okaloosa County Public Works Roads Division Manager Brian Moore said.

First, the damaged section over Davis Mill Creek is being completely redesigned.

“Normally, you can get the paperwork through FEMA pretty quickly if you’re going to put it back in like condition, but we are redesigning the road completely so (the road) doesn’t fail again,” Moore said.

“Several things slowed this process down,” Moore said. “One, there was mitigation involved. And two, it was over the threshold of what we can do in-house, so it had to be bid out. And third, we had to redesign it when we couldn’t get the construction easement from a resident.”

EASEMENT ISSUES

Though a construction easement is only temporary, and the property would be restored to the same condition it was in when the project started, a resident did not grant the easement, which would’ve allowed equipment to traverse or be staged on the homeowner’s land, Moore said.

“The set of plans had to go back and be redesigned, and that was a huge part of the holdup,” Moore said.

County engineer Scott Bitterman said now that new engineering plans have been completed and approved, bids will be solicited in the next month or so.

Construction of the estimated half-million-dollar restoration is planned for spring of 2016, he said. Because of the project’s scale, it involved more than most other storm damage repairs.

“It’s a large event, and everybody’s going to be relieved to have construction underway,” Bitterman said.

NO USDA FUNDS

U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service district conservationist Darryl Williams said the project was ineligible for federal mitigation funding.

“It didn’t qualify for the Emergency Watershed Protection program we administer,” he said.

“In our engineers’ review, they determined it was more of a maintenance issue that caused it to fail than the major rain event we had."

Bitterman said he understands residents’ frustration at the seemingly slow process, but believes people affected by the washout will be pleased with the redesigned crossing over Davis Mill Creek.

“It’ll make everybody happy, not just the public, but (also) emergency responders, the people who haul trash and everybody,” Bitterman said. “It’s a needed connection for everybody.”

Federal, state, county and local officials continue to address repair projects related to an April 29-30, 2014, storm that caused North Okaloosa County washouts.

•Sexton Drive, Baker: Okaloosa County engineer Scott Bitterman said the county is still working on a repair plan for this rural road north of Baker.

•Gil-Ava Gully, Crestview: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service district conservationist Darryl Williams said now that federal funding has been received, Crestview Public Works is handling restoration of a major washout near the Gil-Ava water tower. City engineer Fred Cook said bids will be opened today or Thursday, with construction starting shortly after Christmas. The project is expected to be completed by April or May 2016.

OTHER STORM DAMAGE PROJECTS

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Redesign, easement issues slow Crestview's Oak Hill Road repair

CRESTVIEW — The City Council got a first public glimpse of the proposed façade design for the proposed new courthouse that will crown Main Street.

Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners Chairman Nathan Boyles, a Main Street attorney, presented the rendering Monday evening to the council.

The drawing was presented the night before it will be shown to Boyles' fellow commissioners at Tuesday's board meeting, which will be held at the courthouse slated for demolition within a year.

Boyles said the design, one of three façades created by Sam Marshall Architects, was chosen by the Crestview Historical Preservation Board to best reflect the style and massing of the county's original 1918 courthouse that once stood on the same site.

BETTER INTEGRATION

Preservation board President Ann Spann said the new design will better integrate the building into the city's historic district, unlike the existing 1950s modern style courthouse, Boyles said.

And rather than turning its back on downtown Crestview, unlike the current courthouse's U.S. Highway 90 entrance, Boyles assured the councilmen that the new building will proudly face downtown.

"One of the things I've insisted on is to return the entrance of the building to Main Street," Boyles said.

The new courthouse will be approximately 65,000 square feet in size, Boyles said, as compared to the current 1950s courthouse's 50,000 square feet.

By moving the building's footprint closer to Hwy. 90, between 50 and 65 more parking spaces will be added, he said.

IMMEDIATE START

The county wants to begin relocating courthouse functions and employees to other locations, most likely in the south end of the county, at the start of the new year.

Boyles said he wants to see the process of relocation and demolition of the old building accomplished "with all possible haste" to get the new building built and functioning, returning court functions and services to the county seat.

Councilman JB Whitten praised the commissioners for expediting the project, while Councilman Bill Cox praised to the new design.

"We're working together for a common goal and we appreciate this," Council President Shannon Hayes said.

"I really believe we're heading for a renaissance in downtown Crestview," Boyles said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview courthouse design presented

CRESTVIEW — Five years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Okaloosa County is poised to receive funds from BP's settlement with affected states and counties.

But state politics could mean money earmarked to compensate Northwest Florida counties could be redirected to Central and South Florida's metropolitan areas.

Speaking to the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce Airport Committee, Dennis Mitchell, an associate of Crestview Technology Air Park developers Dr. Paul Hsu and Bob Keller, said a meeting of the three men and Mayor David Cadle with state Sen. Don Gaetz brought troubling information.  

“The first thing he tells us is, ‘Guess what guys? You have a 50-50 chance of seeing that money come into your county,’” Mitchell said.

“What I do believe is that when hundreds of millions of dollars are on the table, politicians will instinctively reach for the money to fund projects in their own areas,” Gaetz stated in an email to the News Bulletin.

CREATING PARITY

Mitchell said some of the economic settlement money — a separate fund from RESTORE Act money — by legislation skips state control and goes directly to affected counties.

Some of the money can be used to create parity with neighboring states, such as Alabama, that lure major businesses through existing programs including tax incentives and fee waivers, Mitchell said.

“They can say, ‘We’ll go in debt. We’ll float a bond. Whatever it takes to get you to come here,’” Mitchell said. “This BP money represents our once-in-a-lifetime chance to have parity and go out there and compete with those folks.”

But according to Mitchell, Gaetz said he worries legislators from Central and South Florida counties may try to divert some or all of the $1.5 billion Florida portion to their districts.

“That’s why it’s so important for business leaders and local government officials in our area to work with our legislative delegation to protect the economic damage award we have secured in law and in the courts,” Gaetz’s email stated.

POSSIBLE HELP

Gaetz told the men there is hope for assuring the county retains its money.

“As someone who has helped the governor achieve major tax cuts and economic development gains, Rep. Matt Gaetz (Gaetz's son) is in an excellent position to advocate for Northwest Florida’s interests,” Don Gaetz stated in his email.

The stakes are enormous for attracting high-paying jobs to the area, particularly at Crestview Bob Sikes Airport. A C-TAP hangar expansion could bring between 200 and 600 high-paying technology jobs to the Crestview area.

“That is about a $12- to $36 million payroll,” Mitchell said.

Additionally, the money can develop a technology corridor along Interstate 10, U.S. Highway 90 and the CSX Railroad line, he said.

“You can't do that down at the beach,” Mitchell said, referring to South Okaloosa County. “It can't just be one isolated project. We have to build an economic development east-west zone.”

DIVERSIFIED ECONOMY

Mitchell said the C-TAP partners recognize that the county’s economic base has to diversify from its dependence on tourism and the military, and with room to grow, the north county is the logical expansion area.

“We have to diversify business, but we have to diversify geographically,” Mitchell said. “We can't just keep piling everything on Highway 98. You just can’t overcome the air space issues, the transportation issues or the storm water issues. We don't have that problem up here.”

The BP compensation is key to launching such economic diversification and competing with neighboring states, Mitchell said.

Besides, South Florida already got its share of money during the oil spill aftermath when tourists avoided Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties’ beaches, he said.

“This is the money that belongs in Northwest Florida,” Mitchell said. “It does not belong in Miami or Jacksonville or Tampa. Bless their hearts, they already got their money. Our tourists went down there and spent it.”

“But, in the end, our part of the state only wins when we build coalitions with legislators who sleep in the eastern time zone,” Gaetz said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Politics may cost Okaloosa County awarded BP funds (VIDEO)

LAUREL HILL — When the school bus drives down City Councilman Daniel Lane’s street these days, he hardly notices it.

Until last week, that wasn’t the case.

“You’d think the back end was going to fall off,” Lane said. “You can’t hear it now.”

That’s because Fourth Street, where Lane lives, and two other roads, have finally been repaved after years of discussion and several failed applications for grant money.

City officials said the paving was funded by a $600,000 state Community Development Block Grant.

After a year of engineering planning, equipment from C.W. Roberts Contracting moved into Laurel Hill two weeks ago.

MAJOR SCALE

“We started applying three years ago" for the grant, City Clerk Nita Miller said. “We applied two or three times, and then it was approved in September of 2014.”

“To my knowledge, since incorporation in 1952, nothing like this has been done before,” City Council Chairman Larry Hendren said. “All they’ve done in the past is fill some potholes.”

Lifelong resident Harold Jones said he remembers a later paving in the 1960s because of a childhood injury received from Steel Mill Creek Road’s previous rough surface. While he was bouncing down the street on the way home from school, “My bicycle chain slipped and it took off the end of my toe,” Jones said.

But this is the city’s first large-scale paving project.

By working with C.W. Roberts, the city eked out extra paving than originally requested under the grant, while still coming in within the $600,000 budget.

Fourth Street, for example, was only supposed to be paved from State Road 85 to Park Avenue.

“Fourth Street was the one they had to break into two segments,” Mayor Robby Adams said. “Luckily, C.W. Roberts came in under the allowable maximum that we had, so we were able to do all of it.”

OTHER PROJECTS

Other newly paved streets are Second Street and New Ebenezer Road, on which paving was extended past Industrial Park almost to the city limits by judicious use of materials.

On the south end, New Ebenezer’s paving was supposed to stop at Third Avenue, but was extended along Third to S.R. 85.

“They (CW Roberts engineers) didn’t like the look of that surface,” City Clerk Nita Miller said. “They paved out to behind the Tom Thumb.”

“The more they can do, the better for our citizens,” Hendren said.

Hendren said though originally scheduled to take a week, the project was delayed by rainy weather. The segment of Fourth Street in front of Laurel Hill School’s track remained closed to traffic over the weekend until weather cleared up.

That slight delay didn’t bother residents, who waited decades to have their streets repaved.

“If you’d been over by my house when those pavers came through, you would’ve seen me out there doing the jitterbug,” Lane joked.

Laurel Hill officials are eyeing repaving Sunnyside Avenue for as much of its length between State Road 85 and Third Street as possible.

City Clerk Nita Miller said the city has worked with Okaloosa County officials to resurface the street, one of two main access roads to Laurel Hill School. Miller said the city hopes to start soliciting construction bids in mid-December.

County Public Works staffers are expected to provide a price to do the paving work, but a backlog in county road projects could delay construction more than a year.

If an outside contractor can beat the county’s bid, the city would probably contract with them to get the project underway as soon as possible, Miller said.

NEXT: SUNNYSIDE AVENUE

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill roads re-paved for the first time since the 1960s

CRESTVIEW — Code enforcement officer Senida Oglesby wants the City Council to implement an ordinance governing itinerant, or mobile, vendors.

"There are a vast variety of vendors who come into the city of Crestview, from mobile food vendors to auto dealers to fruit and vegetables, just a wide variety," Oglesby said. "This ordinance would help the Growth Management Department and code enforcement to regulate those types of vendors."

The ordinance would restrict mobile vendors to setting up on commercial property, and would address parking, landscaping, signage, health and sanitation concerns, Oglesby said.

"It would assist in assuring the aesthetics are kept for the use of the property," she said.

The ordinance would also mandate how the vendor parks his or her truck or trailer on the host property.

Non-profit organizations soliciting door to door, vendors setting up in an approved festival or celebration, and yard sales would be exempt from the ordinance, among other exemptions.

“I see a need for this,” Council President Shannon Hayes said during Monday's city council meeting.

'WE NEED THE MONEY'

Other area cities have successful itinerant vendor permitting processes, and Crestview could benefit from them, assistant Public Works director Carlos Jones said.

"That's what every other city around here does," Jones said. "We need the money."

While she did not have specific permit fees on hand, Oglesby said she would expect them to be comparable to those assessed by other cities of Crestview's size.

Some council members did raise concerns about the recommendation.

"I don't want us to be gouging anybody with exorbitant fees where people don't come," Hayes said.

"We don't want to be seen as trying to drive business out of town," Councilman JB Whitten said.

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD

Several business owners spoke during the presentation. Auto dealership owners Bob Lee and Allen Turner — who own Crestview's Chrysler and Chevrolet dealerships, respectively — said the ordinance is necessary.

"We just want to see the playing field leveled," Lee said. "What we're concerned about … is we don't believe it's fair for someone to come to town and pitch a tent. There's a lot of things we're required to do to operate in town that an itinerant vendor doesn't have to do."

Main Street Crestview Association member and business owner April Meier, of Pawsitively Scrumptious, cautioned against crafting an ordinance that would affect vendors setting up for downtown events such as the Triple B and Fall Festival.

“They're paying $75 already” for booth space, Meier said of vendors. “If there's going to be another fee on there, I want you to be cognizant of that.”

Festivals would be exempt from the ordinance, Oglesby said.

Resident Wendell Beatty expressed concern about the council implementing more hurdles to running a mom-and-pop business.

"I ask you to think about the little guy when trying to solve the big guys' problems," Beatty said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview ordinance recommended for mobile vendors

LAUREL HILL — Former City Councilman Johnny James and his wife, Earnestine's, property is closer to being annexed into the city.

The council on Thursday voted 3-1 — with Councilman Scott Moneypenny dissenting — to accept the Jameses' petition for annexation.

Now, the matter needs to be passed by ordinance, but there is some confusion about how to handle that.

At Council Chairman Larry Hendren's request, Councilwoman Debra Adams amended her motion to accept the Jameses' petition, as long as a land-planning consultant guides the city through the annexation process.

James needs to pay $950 to cover anticipated consultant's costs, Hendren initially said.

But upon reviewing itemized fees stipulated in a 2007 city annexation resolution, Adams said the Jameses met the requirements and paid the correct $2,050 fee.

Several residents spoke in favor of the Jameses' petition.

"There was no problem taking his check," one resident said. "To stand there and say, 'We're not going to do it' — that's not right. The man has jumped through hoops."

"We (want) to bring people into our city but we're fighting as hard as we can to not bring this man into our city," Adams said.

Moneypenny said his concern was having taxpayers cover the $950.

Adams said the council shouldn't even have the discussion because James met the city's requirements for annexation, including filing the correct fee.

"This should already have been an ordinance on the agenda, ready to go, because he (James) did what the resolution said," Adams said. "It shouldn't be a request … according to Florida statutes."

Johnny James stepped down from the city council dais in April after learning his property was outside city limits.

Asked if he wants to serve as a council member again, following annexation, he said, "I don't know. I want to take care of first things first."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Former Laurel Hill councilman's land closer to annexation, but process gets complicated

LAUREL HILL — The City Council has a new, fifth member after months of deadlocking on the decision.

City leaders on Thursday voted 3-1 to appoint Travis Dewrell to serve the seat Johnny James once occupied.

Councilwoman Debra Adams voted nay in the 3-1 vote.

James stepped down from the dais in April, upon learning his residence is outside Laurel Hill city limits.

Dewrell's appointment followed the council's provisional acceptance of James' application to have his property annexed into the city.

 "I've been coming here three months," Dewrell said after the vote. "I was expecting to be nominated again, but not appointed. I expected it (the vote) to be 2-2 for the next however long."

Council Chairman Larry Hendren immediately swore Dewrell into office.

"It'll be different," Hendren said, having also presided over a four-member council for 18 months before the filling of a vacant seat in the March elections.

"I think it's wonderful to have a five-person council," he said. "No more tie votes."

"Hopefully we'll get some stuff done now," said Dewrell, who will start serving the city in December. "We won't always be two-to-two."

During the meeting, the council again failed to appoint a vice chairman due to deadlocked votes.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill council selects fifth member