CRESTVIEW — A downtown segment of Industrial Drive will soon be rebranded as “Crestview Junction," harkening back to the city's origin as a railroad town.

The Community Redevelopment Agency Board unanimously approved the motion — "part of the marketing; it’s hard to market ‘Industrial Drive,’ CRA director Brenda Smith said — on Monday.

The segment to be renamed is at the former junction of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Yellow River Railroad. Industrial Drive follows the Yellow River Railroad’s original route through north Crestview.

The two-block length to be renamed is from Main Street to Brett Street North. Smith said the name change would affect just two commercial properties behind Coney Island Hotdogs.

As part of the project, Smith proposes constructing a business activity center and recreating the original Crestview L&N Railroad depot on two city-owned lots east of Ferdon Boulevard's railroad overpass.

She suggested constructing the former out of retired shipping containers, following an urban design trend that converts the insulated, weatherproof metal boxes into shops, restaurants, offices and homes.

For several years, a lot bordering Twin Hills Park has been discussed as the preferred location for a recreated depot.

A committee of Main Street Crestview Association and Historic Preservation Board members pursued the proposal around 2009-10, seeking input from grant consultants.

The committee suggested making the recreation historically accurate but more practical for multiple uses by widening the original depot’s floor plan, which committee chairman Cal Zethmayr obtained from the West Florida Railroad Museum in Milton.

Smith sought and received CRA Board approval to talk with Florida A&M University architecture students and University of West Florida design students about the project.

The board also approved vacating Crestview Junction area rights of way, contracting with the city’s engineering consultants to provide surveys, and assembling a technical advisory team for the project.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Junction Project would rebrand Industrial Drive downtown segment (VIDEO)

One simple bypass could relieve congestion around Crestview High School and Davidson Middle School. The road is already there — it just needs to be paved.

CRESTVIEW — Traffic is a top concern in the Hub City. But did you know there's a way to improve peak traffic flow around Davidson Middle School and Crestview High School?

And it's really quite simple: Just pave Jones Road as an alternative to State Road 85.

“My dad was always so dumbfounded that county roads got paved stretching so far out into the country, but this road, which would be such a pivotal connector, alleviating traffic on 85, remained unpaved,” Crestview resident Bruce Teel said of his late father, Billy.

SLOWDOWNS

When school starts or dismisses, drivers encounter slowdowns around Old Bethel and Airport roads' intersection with S.R. 85. This is due to parents entering and leaving the schools, 25 mph school zones and the intersection’s traffic light.

But Jones Road remains almost empty, paralleling S.R. 85 behind DMS and CHS before entering the Adams-Powell neighborhood or joining S.R. 85 via Park Lane. Scenic, rural and unpaved from Old Bethel Road south to Adams-Powell, Jones Road has minimal neighborhood traffic and no school zone speed limit restrictions.

In addition to bypassing backups, the few drivers who use Jones Road also bypass S.R. 85’s traffic signals at Old Bethel/Airport Road and Garden Street, respectively. “I used to use Jones Road all the time when I attended Bob Sikes Elementary,” said Crestview attorney Bert Moore, whose family has lived on Old Bethel Road for generations.

‘IT’S MADDENING’

Bruce Teel’s sister, Ann Teel Hatcher, said their dad promoted paving Jones Road for years, gathering project feasibility information from city and county sources. She said his volunteer efforts accumulated enough community service hours to secure almost $5,000 in State Farm Foundation Good Neighbor Grants for DMS, CHS and the Okaloosa County School District.

Their mother, Clara Jo Teel, still champions her late husband's effort. “To go out to a band concert, or the chorus or the drama club is just maddening,” she said. “On a game night, it isn’t just Crestview residents involved, but all the guests are joining in the madness to get in.”

Drivers improvise parking spots along local streets or use lots at neighboring businesses, including at the Crestview post office and First NBC bank across the street from the high school. “People are walking across four lanes of highway, with cars coming and going, to get to the school grounds,” Clara Jo Teel said. “That doesn’t make good sense to me.”

OFF THE RADAR

After Billy Teel died in 2012, paving Jones Road dropped off local and county officials’ radar. Okaloosa County Public Works Director Jason Autrey said current focus is on paving Okaloosa Lane's middle section. “It’s a road that we maintain but it’s not on our capital improvement plan at this time,” he said.

CHS Principal Dexter Day said pastureland across Jones Road could offer expansion opportunities for the county’s largest school. He could see building a new high school there someday, or athletic facilities in the short term. “We’re in dire straits for practice facilities,” Day said. “Look at soccer: we have four teams. Where do they practice? We have five basketball teams and one gym. Where do they practice? We’ve grown, but we haven’t grown our facilities”

Even without buying the land across the street — “We’d love for someone to come up and say, ‘I’ll purchase that for the school," Day said — paving Jones Road will help the school. “That would knock down the dust when we have graduation and games back there,” he said.

“If it’s something the school would like to discuss, they can pursue it,” Autrey said. “They can do it like Okaloosa Lane, which is one we’re heavily pushing."

Without being on the capital improvement plan, there is currently no cost calculated for acquiring right-of-way and paving the road, Autrey said.

DUST STORM

Mayor David Cadle said talks between the county and city about paving Jones Road diminished when the economy took a downturn in the late 2000s.

Though the city only has jurisdiction over about 200 feet on Jones Road's south end, Cadle said tight financial resources must be spent on Crestview streets. “The Public Services Department has a hard time keeping up with our own city streets,” he said.

But, he agreed, the Teel family’s plan has merit for many reasons. “When it comes to graduation, people are parked all the way up Garden Street to Jones Road,” Cadle, a former Crestview High educator, said. “There’s just no place to park. And we always used to wet the road down for graduation to kill the dust.”

Something must be done soon, the Jones Road plan's supporters say.

“We’ve got to plan, because if we’re not planning, we’re planning to fail,” Day said. “How are we investing for our kids and our community?”

“It’s just crazy that it’s not paved,” Bruce Teel said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Family's suggestion could relieve Crestview High, Davidson traffic (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

CRESTVIEW — Crestview’s new city attorney is its previous city attorney. The City Council agreed to rehire Ben Holley, who previously resigned the position in March 2012 after 30 years.

Holley will replace Jerry Miller after the council chose not to transfer to Miller the contract with the city held by the firm with which he previously practiced.

Miller has held the post since June 2012 and chose not to submit an application, feeling the council’s decision to seek other attorneys’ qualifications was a snub against his service to the city. Holley resigned for similar reasons.

In the 3-1 decision to hire Holley, Councilman Bill Cox cast the dissenting vote, saying Councilman JB Whitten’s original motion to hire a team of Holley and fellow applicant Jonathon Holloway was “preposterous.”

Some councilmen were concerned that Holley, as a one-man law practice, wouldn’t have a back-up should he be unavailable. Whitten said Holley and Holloway agreed to partner, with Holley being appointed city attorney and mentoring Holloway, who currently serves as the North Okaloosa Fire District’s attorney.

“Mr. Holloway, you want to make him a secondary attorney-in-training?” Cox asked. “That makes no sense.”

Cox also expressed concern that the four applicants’ fees were all more than Miller currently charges, and that Holloway’s “municipal experience is in suing municipalities.”

Whitten revised his motion to refer solely to Holley for the city attorney position without mentioning Holloway. Miller’s contract as city attorney expires Sept. 28.

ATTORNEY’S FEES

Councilman Bill Cox expressed concern that newly reappointed city attorney Ben Holley will charge more than outgoing attorney Jerry Miller. Here’s how their fees compare:

Service                     Miller           Holley

Retainer                    $175/hour     $3,500/month

Public finance issues .4 percent*   .1 percent*

Litigation                   $225**         $175/hour**

*Such as loans and bonds; fee is a percentage of total amount

**Fees do not include court costs

Source: Crestview City Clerk’s office

—

Editor's Note: A previous version of this article erroneously stated that Ben Holley's public finance issues fees are 1 percent. In fact, they are .1 percent. We regret the error. 

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Holley rehired as Crestview city attorney

CRESTVIEW — Northwest Florida Regional Transportation Planning Organization members generally agree a regional transportation authority is probably a good idea.

But not right now.

Commissioners responded to a Wednesday afternoon presentation by Clarence Eng of transportation consultants Kimley-Horn, who noted that all three Northwest Florida counties have public transport systems, “but there are gaps.”

“This is a group that thinks regionally in terms of transportation, but in this study, we were not able to define that vision,” Eng said. “Once identifying those needs, how can we, whether through a series of interlocal agreements or an RTA in the future, put this into perspective?”

Individual commissioners, however, said there is currently little interest in a regional transportation authority.

“It's an interesting idea that’s 20 or 25 years ahead of its time,” Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners Chairman Nathan Boyles said. “I think we need to demonstrate we can operate small-scale operations for our citizens before we look at a large scale system.”

Boyles said tourists are not generally interested in regional transportation.

“We’re a drive-to market,” he said. “They're interested in getting in their large-size SUVs and getting here. They're not interested in getting on a bus. They want to load up their Tahoe and Escalade and head to the beach.”

His sentiments were paralleled by other members.

“We’re a 97-percent drive-to market,” Destin City Councilman and former TPO chairman Jim Wood said. “Once they get to me, can I get them to park their cars and take the bus? That’s an uphill fight.”

Most of the commissioners, however, said in the future, as their county populations grow, unified regional cooperation would make more sense.

“It could potentially in the long term alleviate some of the problems we have on (State Road) 98,” TPO chairman Lane Lunchard said.

“We need to improve our own system before we think regionally, but I think we should move toward this in the future,” Pensacola City Councilman Charles Bare said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: NW Florida officials say area isn't ready for a regional transportation authority

CRESTVIEW — The years-old controversy surrounding the Confederate battle flag fluttering above Confederate Park was resolved by a unanimous decision to transfer both the flag and the Confederate veterans memorial below it to a local family.

Crestview City Councilman JB Whitten moved to transfer the equipment to trustees of the Lundy family “who can do with it whatever they choose to do with it.”

William “Uncle Bill” Lundy, a purported Confederate States Army veteran who died in Crestview in 1957, is mentioned by name on the memorial.

The quick action in the opening minutes of Monday evening’s council meeting — which was moved to Warriors Hall to accommodate the large turnout — defused tensions that have surrounded the flag since the 1990s.

The council also voted 4-0 to have Mayor David Cadle meet with representatives of the Lundy family to arrange for the memorial and flag’s removal within 60 days.

“Immediately after the meeting, Greg Lundy and I got together and worked out a framework for discussions on the matter in the next few days,” Cadle said.

THE MEMORIAL

Lundy is great-grandson of Uncle Bill, who purportedly was the last Confederate veteran in Florida. Citing census records which indicate Lundy was 5 years old when he said he served, historians question the claim.

The Crestview Lion’s Club erected the memorial near the intersection of State Road 85 and U.S. Highway 90 soon after his death.

Later it was moved to its present site on a triangular city-owned right-of-way at First Avenue and S.R. 85.

Until the council’s vote, Greg Lundy was planning to request the family be allowed to purchase Confederate Park, however Public Works Director Wayne Steele explained right-of-ways can’t be sold.

“If it's never serving any public good that way in the future, it goes back to the original owners,” Steele said. “It's not sold.”

Members of the public represented both sides of the issue.

Kenneth Daniels, a Pensacola representative of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, decried the movement to remove the Confederate battle flag from public land as part of a “Marxist-socialist plot” to “create a socialist dictatorship.”

However, Crestview resident Sharon Brown Halmon praised the council’s decision.

“This has been a topic that has really been a thorn in our sides and it's just time to move on,” she said. “What’s right is right and we need to move on as a city.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview to give Confederate flag, memorial to Lundys

CRESTVIEW — An error in TRIM, or Truth in Millage, notices sent to Crestview taxpayers — which resulted in the Okaloosa County Property Appraiser resending the notices — will slightly delay the 2015-16 millage and budget's final adoption.

“The notices came out with an incorrect rollback rate,” City Clerk Betsy Roy said. “The tax rate for last year was correct, and tentative millage rate was correct but the rollback rate was wrong.

“It was my mistake and fortunately I was the one that caught it before the process got completely done."

The “rollback” — the current year’s millage — would be the default millage rate if the City Council didn’t adopt a new millage and budget, she said.

The millage increases from 5.8466 to 6.9466 mils with the new fiscal year. Roy said Property Appraiser Pete Smith’s office cooperated with the city to reissue TRIM notices in time to meet state mandates to adopt the 2015-16 millage and budget by Oct. 1.

Roy estimates that sending new TRIM notices will cost less than $7,500.

“This was a mistake. It wasn’t a conscious, ‘We have to redo the TRIM,’” Roy said. “The property appraiser’s office has worked diligently to keep the cost as low as it can so it doesn’t cost the city as much.”

WANT TO GO?

The Crestview City Council's first budget hearing is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. Sept. 22. The final hearing will be during the regular council meeting Sept. 28.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Error results in Crestview re-issuing TRIM notices

CRESTVIEW — City workers may begin accumulating paid time off, commonly called PTO, in lieu of set sick leave and vacation time if the City Council approves a plan presented by City Clerk Betsy Roy.

"This takes away using sick leave for time off," Roy said during an Aug. 27 workshop. "If it's, 'I need a weekend and (my supervisor’s) all right with it,' it eliminates using sick leave for something it's not intended for."

City Councilman Joe Blocker sought assurance the proposal would not cause employees to lose any sick time or vacation they’d already accumulated.

"Sick leave and annual leave are the same, the hours are the same, there's absolutely no loss," Police Chief Tony Taylor said.

In a brief presented to the council, Roy said there is “a ‘perception’ that the employee will ‘lose’ time if they don’t take it” under the current policy.

“PTO sets the maximum amount of time that can be taken off during any fiscal year,” Roy stated in the brief. “This makes it a management issue rather than a payroll issue. Managers will be responsible for insuring that employees stay within the maximum allowed for each year.”

Roy said the new policy, if approved, would still permit city employees to donate leave to one another or take emergency leave.

A consensus of department heads and city councilmen showed they generally favored the proposal, which if approved at an upcoming council meeting, would be implemented Oct.1.

PAID TIME OFF

Under the proposed paid time off, or PTO, plan, Crestview city workers would receive the same number of combined sick leave and vacation time hours as the current policy allows.

Years of service     Firefighters’ hours         All other workers’ hours

Up to 2                   18 monthly/216 annual          11.34 hrs. monthly,136 annual

2 to 4                      22 monthly/264 annual            14.67 hrs. monthly/176 annual

4 to 6                      26 monthly/312 annual             18 monthly/216 annual

6 or more                32 monthly/384 annual              21.64 monthly/256 annual

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview contemplates PTO plan for employees

CRESTVIEW — With more than 23,000 residents, Crestview remains Okaloosa County's biggest city. It's also Northwest Florida’s fourth-biggest city, behind Tallahassee, Pensacola and Panama City.

With room to expand, Crestview continues to increase the population difference between southern neighboring communities constrained by Eglin Air Force Base reservation and the Gulf of Mexico.

But with growth comes challenges when vying for federal and state grant money, city officials say.

“One of the things that is hindering us as a city is that we are in the bottom of population with cities competing for grants,” Public Works Director Wayne Steele said. “We are in the same category as Pensacola. We can't compete with them, especially in the matching funds requirements.”

When he said that during an Aug. 24 City Council meeting, Steele was referencing the Water Pollution Control State Rotating Funds program. It's the city’s primary funding source for wastewater treatment plant upgrades, sewer infrastructure improvements and storm water pollution projects.

“The grant-type loan is available for all size cities, but for those cities having populations smaller than 20,000,  they are entitled to priority use of 15 percent of all available loan funds,” Steele said.

Smaller cities also qualify for loans from the funds' remaining unreserved 85 percent, Steele said. “The remaining available funding — whatever percentage that may be — annually is basically competed for by all of the remaining cities whose populations are larger than 20,000,” he said.

“When we request things like grants, we’re being lumped in with cities of that size,” Mayor David Cadle said. “When it calls for matching funds, the city of Crestview is at a disadvantage because we don’t have that money available."

For example, the city is competing for two $50,000 Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program grants; they would benefit Community Redevelopment Agency projects for which there’s no local match requirements.

However, if the projects were lumped together as part of a larger plan, the city would have had to put up a 25 percent matching grant. For projects over $150,000, the city would have to find 50 percent matching funds.

“It was much easier for us when we were in the small cities target area,” Steele said.

NORTHWEST FLORIDA'S LARGEST CITIES

Rank   City   Population

1. Tallahassee: 185,784

2. Pensacola: 52,758

3. Panama City: 35,773

4. Crestview: 23,209

5. Fort Walton Beach: 20,719

6. Destin: 12,541

7. Panama City Beach: 12,000

Source: Florida League of Cities 2015-16 Municipal Directory

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview's increasing population means competing with bigger cities for funds

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview Housing Authority anticipates flood damage from an April 2014 storm and construction of mitigation structures will be finished almost two weeks ahead of its 30-day schedule.

Crews from J. Miller Construction in Pensacola started work Aug. 26 on a massive washout between sections of Harry Booth Terrace, low-income housing on Laurel Oak Terrace and North Spring Street, respectively.

During the storm, water cascaded down a creek that runs through the development as well as from Anything Pawn's parking lot, eroding embankments and almost completely silting over the retention pond between the two housing sections.

Pond-side erosion threatened at least one of the development’s units, and possibly a second, Executive Director Judy Adams said.

“That was one of my main concerns,” Adams said. “If it had not been repaired, we would have had to displace families. And we might possibly have had to (demolish) some of the units and lose available low-income housing.”

The $85,500 mitigation project, which includes securing the creek’s channel and strengthening embankments, is funded by the federal Watershed Protection Program through the local U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

A key partner is the city of Crestview, Adams said, which provided in-kind matching funds through restoration of the retention pond, which completely silted over in the deluge, resulting in what is mostly now a green meadow.

Formerly 4-foot-tall fencing surrounding the pond is now less than 2-feet tall in some sections due to the volume of dirt that swept into the water.

Public Works crews will remove the sediment from the creek through the pond, which is more than 4-feet-thick in some spots, as the city’s contribution to the project.

“The city agreed to step in,” Adams said. “We appreciate what they’re doing. We as a sponsor cannot match our federal dollars to another federal grant, so it was a huge resource for the city to do this for us.”

The Crestview Housing Authority is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and operates under a cooperative agreement with the city. The City Council appoints members of the authority’s board.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Housing Authority storm damage repair ahead of schedule (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

LAUREL HILL — The City Council unanimously approved a 3.5 mil ad valorem millage rate for the 2015-16 fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

The council also unanimously approved a budget for the new fiscal year that includes a $396,374 general operating fund and a $209,500 enterprise operating fund, for a $605,874 total budget.

The millage is projected to raise $52,900 toward the city’s revenue, with a further $42,000 electricity franchise and utility tax forecast.

Other sources of revenue include $40,000 in local government half-cent taxes; $35,000 in local option fuel taxes; $19,900 in rent from Elite Trailers, the city’s industrial park tenant; $11,324 from a state mowing contract, and $33,500 from state revenue sharing.

The enterprise fund will see $195,000 revenue from water sales and $14,500 in garbage, impact and water fees, including late fees and reconnect fees.

The city expects to pay off a $35,520 FNB Bank loan by September 2016. A motion at the Aug. 6 council meeting to pay off the loan early failed on a deadlocked vote, with Council Chairman Larry Hendren and Councilman Scott Moneypenny voting in favor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill approves 2015-16 millage and budget