With the council’s action, e-bikes and motorized scooters join skateboards, roller blades and roller skates as the types of “micromobility devices” that are prohibited from streets and sidewalks in the downtown area. Wheelchairs and “power-driven mobility devices” for disabled people are not prohibited.
The new ordinance aims to help make downtown sidewalks safer for pedestrians and prevent deterioration of the city’s Main Street streetscape project, according to city Development Services Director Barry Henderson.
The nearly $5.7 million project was completed last spring and consisted of various upgrades to a six-block portion of Main Street, generally between Industrial Drive and U.S. Highway 90, and to sections of adjacent streets. The improvements included new sidewalks, curbs, crosswalks, and landscaping, as well as the milling and resurfacing of Main Street.
A first-time violator of the new ordinance will receive a written warning. A second-time violator will be fined $150, a third-time offender will be fined $350, and anyone who commits a fourth or subsequent violation will face a $500 fine. Each violation is a non-criminal infraction.
The City Council authorized the agreement on Monday. The $30 million represents a not-to-exceed limit.
City Councilor Dusty Allison had an excused absence from the meeting.
Final interest rates and repayment schedules for the loaned money will be determined at the time of bond issuance, and debt service will be paid from non-ad valorem revenues or other designated funding sources, city officials said.
After the council meeting, City Manager Jessica Leavins told the Crestview News Bulletin that city officials hope to close on the loan by the end of February. Examples of funding sources that will be used to pay off the loan, she said, include city utility fund revenue and local option half-cent infrastructure surtax money.
Leavins
The money to pay off the loan “is not coming from property taxes, which is great,” City Councilor Shannon Hayes said during the meeting. “So, it means we’re not going to have to raise our taxes for our citizens.”
Hayes
Established in 1998, the Florida Municipal Loan Council helps cities, counties and other local governments finance projects more cost-effectively by leveraging the benefits of larger, pooled financings, according to information from the Florida League of Cities.
Projects
Here are the projects that will use loan proceeds:
The ROC
In mid-December, the city closed on the purchase of Central Baptist Church’s Recreational Outreach Center, aka “the ROC,” for about $1.4 million. The center, which consists of a gym and a five-lane, 25-yard, 56-person capacity pool, stands at 1105 S. Pearl St.
The city has had a new HVAC system installed at the ROC and upgrades to the gym floor are nearing completion. The gym remains open for basketball games. The pool, which continues to be operated by the nonprofit Emerald Coast Fitness Foundation, remains open.
Fire Station 3
Crestview officials are hopeful that renovations to Fire Station 3 at 585 Brookmeade Drive will be completed later this year. Because of an HVAC system-related mold problem and structural issues at the station, staff members have been working out of North Okaloosa Fire District Station 84 on John King Road since last spring. The renovations are estimated to cost a little over $2.6 million.
Public works facility
City officials intend to start construction of a new public works facility before the end of this year. Plans call for it to be built by the city wastewater treatment plant, which stands next to Arena Road in the heart of the bypass project area. The estimated construction cost is a little over $20.1 million.
Among other problems, the existing public works facility east of State Road 85 and just north of Long Drive dates to the 1950s and does not provide enough space for employees and equipment, city officials said. It eventually will be demolished to make room for a planned public safety building that will house Fire Station 1 and the city police station.
The existing police station next to Old Spanish Trail Park will not withstand a strong hurricane and eventually will be demolished to provide more room for the park to accommodate the needs of the city’s sports programs.
During a budget workshop last summer, “We realized that some of these dreams” to get the projects listed above completed “may be out of our financial reach without raising taxes, (but) this City Council has been adamant that we will not be raising taxes,” Leavins said during Monday’s meeting. “So this plan (to borrow money for capital projects) that is before you is the plan that we discussed back in the summertime that doe not include any changes to the ad valorem rate.”
Hayes said he’s glad the city is making progress on the capital projects now.
“If you wait until later, you’re going to pay more” because of inflation, Hayes said.
“I just wanted to reiterate that…we are not raising property taxes to fund this loan,” City Councilor Doug Capps said.
County half-cent infrastructure surtax money will help pay for the widening work, Mixon said. With a potential allocation of $10 million in surtax funds, the FDOT could begin the project in the summer/fall 2027 timeframe, according to county information.
On another note, Mixon said construction is nearly finished on new sidewalks on the south side of Stillwell Boulevard, which runs past properties in the city limits of Crestview and in unincorporated Okaloosa County. The sidewalks run along a 0.9-mile section of Stillwell between SR 85 and Valley Road and a 0.2-mile segment between Monterrey Road and the east side of Walker Elementary School.
The networking breakfast was sponsored by the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of West Florida and took place at the Crestview Community Center, 1446 Commerce Drive.
Like Mixon, Crestview Mayor J.B. Whitten served as a guest speaker at the breakfast. Whitten, who approached the speaker’s podium to the theme song from “Rocky,” led off his remarks by joking that this morning was unusual because he did not wake up to an alert about a car wreck on SR 85.
Crestview Mayor J.B. Whitten greets chamber breakfast attendees. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
“Let me get real serious, because I made a New Year’s resolution: ‘Be very serious,’” the mayor said.
He went on to say that renovations to city Fire Station 3 at 585 Brookmeade Drive “have received 100% approval” and “we’re moving into the procurement phase.”
Because of an HVAC system-related mold problem at the station, the station’s employees have had to work out of North Okaloosa Fire District Station 84 on John King Road since last spring.
Chamber Chairman Emeritus Tom Moody, left, celebrates his birthday with Chamber Chairman John Feeney. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
Whitten also gave an update on “The ROC,” which is the Recreational Outreach Center at Central Baptist Church and consists of a gym and a five-lane swimming pool. In December, the city closed on the purchase of The ROC for about $1.4 million. The facility stands at 1105 S. Pearl St.
“The HVAC system is being replaced in The ROC,” Whitten said. “So, you can see we’re actually going to have air conditioning in the gymnasium when you play ball during the summertime,” unlike at the city’s Twin Hills Park gym. “What a novel idea! So anyway, we’re doing renovations over there, but we already have people in there starting to play ball. In fact, I’m going to join them after this. We’re going to have a pickup game.”
“I’ve had several inquiries from citizens about, ‘What are these little black poles with the black camera that are popping up in all the rights of way?’” District 4 Commissioner and Commission Chairman Trey Goodwin said at the meeting.
Goodwin
He also noted that “a few concerned citizens” at the county Legislative Delegation meeting in December asked state legislators to consider further regulations to try to secure or protect the data that is collected through LPRs.
“I think the concern that was expressed was not so much that law enforcement had access to (such data), but that it was being (collected) by private contractors,” Goodwin said.
The county Sheriff’s Office has deployed 79 LPRs throughout the county. The LPRs are provided by an Atlanta-based contractor called Flock Safety and differ from red light camera and school zone speed camera systems, which solely detect traffic violations.
Uses of the S.O.’s LPRs
About 6,000 law enforcement agencies across the nation use LPRs, according to Flock Safety information. In Okaloosa County, the Sheriff’s Office views each of its LPRs as a “manpower multiplier” that have often been used to help solve cases of stolen vehicles and other stolen items, Autrey said.
Autrey
The S.O. also has used LPRs to help find missing people, investigate a kidnapping incident, and track down shooting suspects, he said.
A vehicle approaches a Flock Safety license plate reader on Aplin Road on Tuesday. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
A LPR is “a way to kind of identify where vehicles are going,” Autrey said. “In one instance, I read where a mother had called in (to the OCSO) and said that her 15-year-old daughter was taken without permission by an uncle, and she was under the impression that the uncle was headed north, I think to the Boston area. And by using LPRs, they actually tracked them down in Ocala, so in a different direction.”
All the information obtained by the LPRs that are used by the S.O. is owned by the S.O., he said.
Flock Safety “has been pretty open in their statement that they do not release data unless it is the owner (such as the S.O.) that allows it” to be released, Autrey said.
He added that Flock Safety LPRs are part of a cloud-based service. Flock Safety officials say they have never had a breach in the information obtained by the readers and that they do not sell the information, Autrey said.
The permits for the LPRs used by the S.O. were rights-of-way permits approved by county staff and did not need the County Commission’s approval, county officials said.
Eyes on officers, too
District 3 County Commissioner Sherri Cox suggested that having S.O. logo signage on the LPRs that the S.O. uses would help ease residents’ worries about the devices.
Cox
She added that she’s concerned about the LPRs keeping track of the movements of local law enforcement officers.
“The fact that our (local law enforcement vehicles) are marked very clearly and that information is available for a third-party vendor (Flock Safety) bothers me a good bit,” said Cox, who added she plans to talk with Sheriff Eric Aden to hopefully have her fears put to rest.
According to Autrey, cameras used for traffic operations in the county do not read or log any specific vehicle information, including license plate data, nor is any of the video recorded or stored for future reference.
Besides the LPRs used by the S.O. along county roads, there are LPRs used by state officials along state roads and LPRs used by city law-enforcement officials along city roads.
For example, Crestview Police Chief Steve McCosker said today that he believes there is a total of 10 Flock Safety LPRs along city streets within Crestview’s city limits.
Deloach didn’t attend the meeting to address how much park land would be included at Independence. Instead, she talked about the potential effects of the massive overall planned subdivision on the nearby, existing community.
The 10-phase Independence development eventually could have up to 1,222 single-family residential homes on 611 acres north of U.S. Highway 90, about five miles east of downtown Crestview, and directly east of Clint Mason Road. The subdivision’s developer is D.R. Horton Inc.
Deloach lives on Mt. Olive Road, a little east of the Independence site. At Tuesday’s meeting, she said much of U.S. 90 remains a two-lane road, and that at least 56% of homes have at least two vehicles.
“So, putting that number into mind, that’s how much more traffic we could possibly expect on Highway 90 or going out onto (State Road) 285, which is a two-lane highway,” Deloach said. “And I don’t know about anybody else, but driving on (State Road) 85 at any time of the day, that can be a nightmare, just to get to Walmart to get groceries” or other items. So, has that (anticipated traffic spike from Independence property owners) been taken into consideration? And if we look at expanding Highway 90, how does that impact property owners that are already out there and their land?”
The Independence project site stands within Commission District 1, which is represented by Commissioner Paul Mixon.
Mixon
Mixon said that, unfortunately, U.S. 90 “is not something that we have the authority to fix a pothole on. It’s a state highway, and so we are at the will of the state for the repairs or expansions of that highway.”
He added that the widening of SR 85, as well as the widening of U.S. Highway 98 in southwest Okaloosa County, are projects that the Okaloosa Walton Transportation Organization have prioritized ahead of the widening of U.S. 90.
Mixon said he would like to see a traffic light eventually installed on U.S. 90 next to the Independence development.
“I don’t think it’s necessary yet,” he said.
In early 2022, the commission approved the establishment of an overlay district and specific development-related requirements for Independence. They include various safeguards for Eglin Air Force Base flight operations, a 35-foot residential building height limit, and a prohibition against access to the district parcels from Clint Mason Road.
County staff members approved the development order for Independence’s first two phases in early 2024.
On Tuesday, the commission approved an agreement with D.R. Horton that requires the overall Independence site to include a total of a little over 22 acres of neighborhood parks.
Bullard, who was elected in November 2022, resigned from the council on Dec. 31 after citing increasing professional obligations, personal responsibilities, and ongoing health considerations.
Precinct 2 covers the city limits south of Interstate 10. Bullard’s term expires in November.
The application period for Precinct 2 residents interested in serving the final year of his term ran from Dec. 15 to Jan. 2.
The applicants are Louis Rodriguez, Scott Delaney, Sylvester Echols, Joseph Warren, Eric Johnson, Andrew Rencich, and Erik Register.
At a special council meeting set for 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, the current council members will rank the applicants and interview the top three before choosing the new councilor, according to information from City Manager Jessica Leavins.
Rodriguez has pre-filed to run for the Precinct 2 seat’s next full four-year term. That contest will be decided by city voters in the Nov. 3 general election.
Renich served as Crestview’s Group 2 at-large City Councilor from early 2019 to late 2024.
The qualifying period for each seat is from noon Monday, June 8 until noon Friday, June 12. However, several candidates have already pre-filed their candidacy paperwork.
For example, longtime District 2 County Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel and longtime District 4 County Commissioner Trey Goodwin have pre-filed to seek re-election in the Aug. 18 primary election. Ketchel and Goodwin, both of whom are Republicans, have served on the commission since 2014.
In the nonpartisan primary election contest for the District 3 School Board seat, Crestview-area resident Cynthia West and Baker resident Mitch Reed have pre-filed as candidates. Linda Evanchyk has served as the District 3 School Board member since 2018.
Some candidates have also pre-filed for the nonpartisan Crestview City Council races that will be decided in the Nov. 3 general election.
Frederick Butts has pre-filed for the Precinct 1 seat currently held by Dusty Allison. Louis Rodriguez has pre-filed for the Precinct 2 seat, and Jillian Harker and incumbent Doug Capps have pre-filed for the Precinct 3 seat.
Ryan Bullard, who was elected to the Precinct 2 seat in November 2022, recently submitted his resignation after citing increasing professional obligations, personal responsibilities, and ongoing health considerations. His resignation takes effect today.
Applicants interested in serving the final year of Bullard’s term have until 5 p.m. Friday to submit their applications. The council plans to choose the top candidate on Jan. 12.
“I’m well within my rights to own as many properties as I want,” Bullard told the News Bulletin. “My primary home ownership is within the precinct.”
In a Bullard-written letter partially read by Mayor J.B. Whitten at the Dec. 8 council meeting, Bullard said he would be resigning from the council because of “increasing professional obligations, personal responsibilities, and ongoing health considerations that require my full attention at this time.”
Bullard, who is a licensed mental health therapist and the founder and clinical director of BeHealthy Counseling in Crestview, was elected to his four-year council term in November 2022. Precinct 2 covers the city limits south of Interstate 10.
Citizen complaint
Whitten today told the News Bulletin that information in a Nov. 29 “citizen complaint” indicated that Bullard had moved outside of the city limits.
The emailed complaint included a copy of an Okaloosa County Property Appraiser’s Office record that shows Bullard and his wife own a residence in a subdivision that stands in the unincorporated area adjacent to southeast Crestview. The complaint also included a screenshot of an announcement by the subdivision’s homeowners association that shows Bullard was elected to the HOA board.
“The citizen sent some proof, so I opened an investigation,” Whitten said. “So did (county) Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux. I had what I thought was a verifiable complaint about (Bullard) living outside of the city limits. If you’re elected to an HOA of a subdivision outside of the city, it would strongly show that you’re living outside the city limits.”
Whitten
According to Crestview’s city charter, council members from precincts 1, 2 and 3 shall reside in their respective precincts.
“If at any time a council member elected from a precinct moves his or her official residency from said precinct, a vacancy shall automatically occur in said office,” according to the charter.
Whitten said he was out of town during the first week of December and was unable to talk with Bullard in person about the citizen complaint. The mayor said he received Bullard’s resignation letter via a Dec. 7 email.
“Bullard sent his resignation letter to me and to Paul Lux,” Whitten said. “After I received it, there was no reason for me to continue my investigation. I didn’t find (Bullard) in violation of the charter, but I had enough evidence to do so. I never talked to him because he submitted his resignation.”
Bullard said it was inappropriate for the mayor to conduct an investigation.
“He should have called me or notified me and the fact that he didn’t is disturbing,” Bullard said.
He said neither the city charter nor Florida law grants the mayor authority to investigate a sitting council member. Under Article IV, Section 7 of the Florida Constitution, matters involving elected municipal officials fall under the authority of Florida’s governor, not local officials, he said.
According to the city charter, however, “The mayor shall have the power to make general investigations into the official conduct and affairs of all city officers or employees of the city, and may examine the conditions of all city books, papers, records, property, and equipment. It shall be his/her duty to make a report to the council of all violations or neglect of duty or any misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance in office, neglect of duty or improper conduct on the part of any city officer or employee that may come to his knowledge.”
‘No conspiracy’
Bullard said he has always maintained a home in Precinct 2.
“Buying another home is permitted,” said Bullard, who added that he serves on both the HOA of the neighborhood that contains his primary residence and the HOA of the neighborhood where his second home stands.
“I resigned for some health concerns and to focus on my business,” he said, “and I wish (Whitten) and others would leave it at that. Those reasons were truthful when written and remain truthful today. I chose to step away quietly and responsibly to focus on my family and my work. I did not seek attention, speculation, or conflict. It’s disappointing that a straightforward personal decision has been publicly reframed without communication, context, or legal basis.
“There’s no conspiracy. I’m disappointed to see that J.B. would jump on the conspiracy bus” with people posting assumptions on social media.
Bullard added that if he no longer met residency requirements to serve as the Precinct 2 councilor, he would have said so in his resignation letter.
The following information from Whitten is from his “investigation into residency of Councilman Ryan Bullard:”
“SEQUENCE OF EVENTS Dec. 1: At 10:30 AM, I contacted our City Attorney, Jon Holloway, briefed him on the situation and we agreed to meet in person at 3PM today. At about 2:3PM, Jon called me and said that he was still out of town and would not be back in time for the 3PM meeting and since I had to leave for an event at 4PM, we discussed this situation over the phone. He agreed that in accordance with the city charter, I was authorized to conduct the investigation that I was embarking on. He recommended that I notify Councilman Bullard of the allegations against him and if he admitted them to be true, ask for his resignation. If he denied or admitted but did not want to resign that I would then refer the matter to the County Supervisor of Elections who is responsible for determining eligibility of elected individuals.
“I told him that I do not like to conduct those kind of situations over the phone, so would need to ask Councilman Bullard to come in. The problem with that was that I was tied up with another event the rest of this day and I was leaving for Orlando in the morning with no return to office until next Monday. We both agreed that waiting until I returned would be all right. At 4:48PM, Attorney Holloway called me and informed me that a citizen had emailed the Supervisor of Elections the same information that I had received and that he was going to conduct his investigation. At this point, I will stand down, monitor what is going on external to the city, then make a determination of what, if anything, I need to do next.
“On the 3rd of December at 9:45 AM [EST], while I was still in Orlando, I called Jon and asked for an update. He told me that Ryan was meeting with the Supervisor of Elections the next day, Thursday, the 4th, and that he would call or text me afterwards with an update. On the 4th of December, at 4:56PM, I texted Jon and requested an update. He told me that he expected a resignation letter from Ryan by the next day with a resignation date of the 31st of December. I never did receive anything until the 7th. On the 7th of December, at 9:53PM, I responded to an email that Councilman Bullard sent to me at 7:54PM with his resignation from the Council, effective the 31st of December.
“On the 8th of December, at 2:02PM, I called the Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections, Paul Lux and left a voicemail that I needed to talk to him. At 4:18pm, I missed a phone call from Paul Lux and he left me a voicemail to call him back. At 5:06pm, I returned Paul’s call and left him a voicemail. He called right back at 5:07PM. I asked him if he was done with his investigation and he informed me that he was done. With no further action by the SOE and Councilman Bullard’s resignation, I consider my investigation closed. (Signed) Crestview Mayor JB Whitten.”
Lux today said Bullard told him that he is staying in his second home while his primary residence is being renovated. Lux also said Bullard’s homestead exemption still applies to his first home.
Lux
After Hurricane Ivan destroyed a sitting Okaloosa County commissioner’s home in 2004, the commissioner had to live outside of his commission district while the home was rebuilt, Lux recalled.
Looking ahead
On Monday, city officials began accepting applications from candidates seeking to fill the remainder of Bullard’s unexpired term that expires next November.
Eligible candidates must be at least 18 years old, a United States citizen, and a resident of Precinct 2, and also must hold an Okaloosa County voter registration card.
All applicants must submit their application by 5 p.m. Jan. 2. Interested individuals can apply online at cityofcrestview.org.
The council unanimously approved the first reading of the ordinance on Dec. 8. If adopted, the ordinance would take effect immediately.
Currently, skateboards, roller blades and roller skates are prohibited from streets and sidewalks in the downtown area. Wheelchairs and “power-driven mobility devices” for disabled people, however, are not prohibited, and they would not be under the proposed ordinance.
The potential addition of e-bikes and e-scooters to the list of “micromobility devices” that are banned from downtown streets and sidewalks would help make those sidewalks safer for pedestrians and prevent deterioration of the city’s Main Street streetscape project, according to city Development Services Director Barry Henderson.
The nearly $5.7 million streetscape project that was completed this past spring consisted of various upgrades to a six-block portion of Main Street, generally between Industrial Drive and U.S. Highway 90, and to sections of adjacent streets. The upgrades included new sidewalks, curbs, crosswalks, and landscaping, as well as the milling and resurfacing of Main Street.
According to city information, a first-time violator of the proposed ordinance would receive a written warning. A second-time violator would be fined $150, a third-time offender would be fined $350, and anyone who commits a fourth or subsequent violation would be assessed a $500 fine. Each of the violations would be a non-criminal infraction.
The 10,500-acre park stands about seven miles east of downtown Crestview. The park’s main road, Jericho Road, runs through the park’s 6,850-acre section between U.S. Highway 90 and I-10, then crosses the interstate via an overpass to the park’s 3,650-acre section. The potential interchange would incorporate the overpass and provide tenants with another way to access the park besides U.S. 90.
“The conversations (on the possible interchange) are very favorable,” Mixon, who is the District 1 County Commissioner, told the delegation. “There will be more discussions like that in the future.”
Okaloosa County Commission Chairman Paul Mixon addresses the Legislative Delegation. (Photo courtesy of Okaloosa County)
The delegation consists of state Sen. Don Gaetz, state Sen. Jay Trumbull, District 3 state Rep. Nathan Boyles, and District 4 state Rep. Patt Maney. At its meeting at the County Administration Building in Shalimar, the delegation considered local bills, heard presentations from government entities, and took public testimony on proposals for Florida’s 2026 Regular Legislative Session that convenes on Jan. 13.
Major park projects
On Oct. 30, Pontiac, Michigan-based Williams International broke ground on the first phase of its four-phase project at the Shoal River Industrial Park. Williams International, which designs and builds aviation gas turbine engines, plans to build a 1 million-square-foot manufacturing facility on its almost 107-acre site that stands next to Jericho Road and almost a mile south of U.S. 90.
The Shoal River Industrial Park’s main entrance stands just south of U.S. Highway 90. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
The facility is expected to result in more than 300 high-wage jobs and a total capital investment of over $1 billion, the largest in Northwest Florida’s history, according to Okaloosa County officials.
William’s International’s 250,000-square-foot first phase might be completed around early 2027. The company will be the industrial park’s first tenant.
In late 2024, county officials helped break ground at the park on a wastewater treatment plant that will serve the park and future nearby residential subdivisions. The plant might be completed in late 2026.
After hearing from Mixon at Monday’s Legislative Delegation meeting, delegation members heard remarks by Crestview Mayor J.B. Whitten, who serves as a First District director of the Florida League of Cities.
Whitten (Photo courtesy of the city of Crestview)
Whitten said the League supports legislation that addresses the shortage of affordable housing in northwest Florida. He also urged delegation members to continue working on lowering homeowners insurance costs.
While legislators look at ways to potentially reduce or eliminate property taxes, the League of Cities “supports local authority over equitable property taxes,” Whitten said.
Fire district needs
The dozens of officials who made brief presentations at the delegation meeting included the leaders of a few fire districts.
Miranda Sargent, representing the Blackman Fire District, asked the delegation to support a planned expansion of the district’s Station 70 that would include an approximately 3,000-square-foot addition.
Scott Moneypenny, chairman of the Almarante Fire District Board of Directors, asked the delegation to support a requested state appropriation of about $579,000 to replace one of the district’s 20-plus-year-old fire trucks.
Delegation members also heard from Holt Fire District Commissioner Jim Connors.
“Holt needs a firehouse,” Connors said. “We have the property, we have the plans, we have the permits. We don’t have the money. The plans have divided the firehouse into three sections. We can operate with two of the sections completed … which would run about $4 million. So if you find $4 million in Tallahassee, we’d be happy to spend it for you.”
He said the district also needs a new fire truck, which is estimated to cost about $489,000. The district’s existing three trucks consist of a 2005 model, a 2003 model and a 1996 model, he said.
The district’s annual budget totals $160,000, Connors added.
“It would take every dollar that we had for the next three years to almost buy that truck,” he said.
