UPCOMING

REVIEW COMMITTEE: 9:30 a.m. Oct. 12, Emergency Operations Center, Northwest Florida State College, 90 College Blvd. E, Niceville. The committee will review and consider submittals for RFQ PS 65-16, EMS medical director.

REVIEW COMMITTEE: 10 a.m. Oct. 14, Public Works, 1759 Ferdon Blvd. S., Crestview. The committee will review and consider submittals for RFQ PW 70-16, Right of Way Acquisition Services for PJ Adams Parkway widening.

PURCHASING DIRECTOR SCREENING COMMITTEE: 8:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 18 and 8:30-11 a.m. Oct. 19, Okaloosa County Administration Building, Board of County Commissioners Administrative Offices, 1250 N. Eglin Parkway, Shalimar. The committee will conduct in-person interviews for the for the Purchasing Director position.

RECURRING

BLACKMAN FIRE DISTRICT BOARD: 7 p.m. first Mondays, 1850 U.S. Highway 2, Baker.

CRESTVIEW CITY COUNCIL: 6 p.m. second and fourth Mondays, City Hall, 198 N. Wilson St., Crestview.

CRESTVIEW HOUSING AUTHORITY BOARD: 5:15 p.m. third Mondays, 371 Hickory Ave. W, Crestview. Open to the public.

CRESTVIEW CITY COUNCIL: 6 p.m. second and fourth Mondays, City Hall, 198 N. Wilson St., Crestview.

MILLIGAN WATER SYSTEM BOARD: 6 p.m. second Tuesdays, 5340 U.S. Highway 4.

LAUREL HILL CITY COUNCIL: 6 p.m. first Thursdays, City Hall.

BAKER FIRE DISTRICT COMMISSION: 7 p.m. first Thursdays, Baker Area Public Safety Building.

DORCAS FIRE DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS: 7 p.m. first Thursdays, 5232 Deer Springs Drive, Crestview, off Highway 90.

HOLT FIRE DEPARTMENT: 7 p.m. second and fourth Thursdays, fire station, 490 W. U.S. Highway 90, Holt.

ALMARANTE VOLUNTEER FIRE DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS: 7 p.m. second Thursdays, Almarante Fire Station, 3710 Old California Road, Laurel Hill.

OKALOOSA-WALTON TRANSPORTATION PLANNING ORGANIZATION: 3 p.m. third Thursdays, Niceville Community Center, 204 N. Partin Drive. Call 1-800-226-8914 ext. 231 to confirm.

NORTH OKALOOSA FIRE DISTRICT: 6 p.m. third Thursdays, fire station 82, 5549 John Givens Road, Crestview.

HOLT FIRE DISTRICT COMMISSION: 6:30 p.m. third Thursdays, 490 W. U.S. Highway 90.

HOLT FIRE DEPARTMENT: 7 p.m. second and fourth Thursdays, fire station.

LAUREL HILL VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT: 7 p.m., second Fridays, in Laurel Hill City Hall's fire department office.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: North Okaloosa County public meetings

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview City Council will meet 6 p.m. Oct. 10 in Council Chambers at City Hall. Here’s the agenda.

1. Call to Order

2. Invocation: Pastor Paul Mixon, Central Baptist Church / Pledge of Allegiance

3. Open Policy making and legislative session

4. Special Presentations

a. Presentations by Mayor Cadle

5. Approval of Minutes

Approval of the minutes from the August 15, 2016 Special Meeting, August 15, 2016 Budget workshop, August 22, 2016 Special meeting August 22, 2016 Workshop, and the September 12, 2016 Council meeting

6. Public Hearings:

a. Ordinance 1609 – 2016 Local Mitigation Strategy

7. Public Opportunity on Council proposition

8. Consent Agenda

a. Approval of invoice from Ben Holley in the amount of $4147.50.

b. Approval of invoice from Allen, Norton and Blue in the amount of $2142.00.

c. Approval of the issuance of the Certificate of Compliance for Alcoholic Beverage Sales for JM of Okaloosa Inc. DBA You Sushi & Hibachi.

d. Approval of Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative Interlocal Agreement.

e. Approval of the Site Construction Plans for the Publix Northcrest Complex.

f. Approval of the Site Construction Plans for the P J Adams Self Storage

9. Resolutions

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview City Council agenda: Oct. 10

MILTON — Santa Rosa County held its final public hearing for the fiscal year 2016-2017 budget on Sept. 20. While attendees’ knowledge on the county budget varied, one person is particularly familiar with it: Santa Rosa County budget director Jayne Bell.

Bell's job includes directing, organizing and producing annual budget documents. She monitors the budget’s monthly execution and analyzes year-end financial position of funds. She also manages multiple staffs.

Here, she talks more about that.

What's next for the budget department?

"I assemble a TrIM package that I send, which is truth in millage, to the department of revenue. Then it's a wrap for this year and we immediately start looking at the following year."

What trends have you seen in our budget over the last several years?

"I think the thing that jumps out at me the most is how much our population is growing, but our revenues are not growing in tandem with our population so we are having to do much more with much less.

“When our budget does grow, it's growing because we have a growing population to service, not because there is any particular waste. To me, it is to actually meet the growing demands of this county."

However, Bell said Santa Rosa’s budget growth isn't matching the population because property values haven't grown proportionately.

"We don't increase our fees much,” she said. “Last year was the first year that we increased our permitting fees and raised our gas tax, but they were a long time coming. We were playing catch-up."

Would it have been possible to maintain a courthouse fund?

"That's hard to say. In 2007, we had approximately $58 million in revenues from ad valorem taxes and we haven't seen that. This year … we have $51 million, so that's nine years and we are still considerably less. It would have been a stretch … Another reason I say it would be a stretch is because of the state mandates.

“For example, our Medicaid — we didn't know that we were going to be popped for an additional million dollars," Bell said.

The Department of Juvenile Justice cost the county more as well.

"I had $100,000 in the budget for that,” Bell said. “Then the state said they needed $850,000. These are unforeseen mandates the state can put on us at any time."

Can citizens speak directly with you about the budget?

"They can call me anytime … I'm always here. I'm always available to answer any questions they have. The more questions they ask me, the better I get — so bring it on.

“It helps me to have the community involved in this.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Santa Rosa 'having to do much more with less'

CRESTVIEW — When the next generation of military weaponry sensors come online in a few years, Bob Sikes Airport aviation experts can know they had a hand in the equipment’s perfection.

Even if they can’t talk much about it, or even reference all of the participants.

For two weeks in May, the skies above and the tarmac below Crestview’s airport were abuzz as pilots, technicians and engineers from defense industry leaders joined local contractors for Eglin Air Force Base’s annual Sensor Week.

That’s the one time of year Eglin opens its ranges to defense contractors for free equipment tests, provided the contractors share their data with the Air Force.

The local general aviation airport was “an ideal place (for the test flights) with this beautiful 8,000-foot runway,” Sunshine Aero Flight Testing owner and pilot Bob Keller said during a recent Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce Airport Committee at Emerald Coast Aviation.

Keller’s company, the charter Crestview Technology Air Park tenant and partner, provided two of its aircraft to test contractors’ sensors, and hosted three other companies’ planes during the test weeks.

“During Sensor Week, we have the facilities to handle confidential equipment,” Keller said.

Because of the program’s popularity in the defense industry, this year’s “week” expanded into two weeks, Keller said. Test flights flew almost constantly, but due to Okaloosa County Airports’ prudent buffer zone management, few residents were aware of the increased activity, he said.

“It was a very busy place,” Keller said. “We flew 24 hours a day. Some flew at night because they had sensors designed for night use.”

Testing had military and civilian aviation applications, Keller said. For example, during one mission, Sunshine Aero’s two-engine King Air plane carried an infrared missile detector pod under its belly.

The equipment could detect terrorist missile launches aimed at commercial airliners, such as the Russian missile investigators determined brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July 2014.

Testing companies included some of the industry’s biggest names, including Lockheed Martin, Dynetics, KEYW Corp., and some that, for security reasons, couldn’t be divulged, Keller said during his presentation.

Keller has been a Bob Sikes Airport tenant since 1980, when, fresh from a career as an Air Force pilot, he started the airport’s fixed-base operator service, a job he held until 2012.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bob Sikes Airport prime base for equipment test week

LAUREL HILL — The City Council will meet at 6:05 p.m. Oct. 6 at city hall, 8209 U.S. Highway 85 N.

Here is the meeting's agenda.

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance.

1. Public Comments

2. New Business

a. Approval of Consent Agenda: Sept. 1, 15 and 22 minutes, and update on internal audit: General and Water Funds(September)

b. Bob Mearns (Florida Rural Water Association)

c. Ordinance 325 (Fire Public Safety Facilities Fee)

d. Elect chairman and vice-chairman

4. Adjourn

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill City Council agenda: Oct. 6

CRESTVIEW — A group of downtown business owners that first met July 19 has adopted an official name and set tentative goals, including loosening the city’s alcohol sales rules.

Meeting Tuesday evening at Casbah Coffee Company, the Downtown Crestview Merchants and Owners Association said that is one key to revitalizing downtown.

Members understood the Community Redevelopment Agency board’s concerns about downtown venues serving alcohol, particularly at outdoor events where people might carry a beer with them.

Some members, including Main Street attorney Nathan Boyles and business owner April Meier, said one solution might be to consider the restrictions on an event-by-event basis.

But the near-blanket ban not only stifles business and restaurant development, such as craft brewery one potential downtown business owner would like to start, it also virtually assures Main Street looks like a Wild West ghost town after 5 p.m., some merchants said. 

CRA Director Brenda Smith said the merchants’ concerns were noticed by an investors group that in August assessed downtown potential.

When the topic of loosening alcohol regulations for downtown was brought up at a Sept. 20 CRA meeting, Smith said questions arose. Finding solutions requires expert advice.

“The CRA board has some legitimate concerns about alcohol, so we bring the professionals in who can assess the district and say, ‘This will work’ and ‘This will not work,’” Smith said.

Working with marketing consultants from The Petermann Group, Smith said a thorough assessment of downtown’s potential will include surveying businesses, city leaders and customers on multiple issues, including alcohol sales. Fortunately, she said, “This board right now has been the most receptive and progressive board ever.”

Megan Bowersox, one of the association’s organizers, listed some other projects the group could consider, including:

●Implementing a downtown Little Free Library

●Collaborating with the Common Ground Community Garden on an expanded farmers market

●Working with the Main Street Crestview Association on monthly evening street festivals or other events.

“I don’t see anything but good coming from this,” Main Street President Paul Lowrey said. “This is a great time to be a business downtown. I really see a lot of great things happening downtown.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Merchants: loosen alcohol sales restrictions

At a Thursday morning ceremony in Garden Park, the refurbished marker was unveiled, designating State Road 85 as one of the program’s more than 3,000 highways nationwide.

The marker, which previously stood near the west border on U.S. Highway 90 in Crestview, was originally dedicated on April 29, 1968, and was sponsored by the Dogwood and Crestview Garden Clubs.

Over the years it had fallen into disrepair, so members of the Dogwood Garden Club had the marker refurbished, which ultimately cost more than $1,000, club member Janice Crose said.

By the Florida Department of Transportation designating S.R. 85 from Interstate 10 to U.S. 90 as a Blue Star Memorial Highway, the club was able to relocate the marker upon refurbishment to Garden Park.

But club members couldn’t do it alone.

“Our small club could not attempt to launch this project without the support of the Eglin Federal Credit Union,” club project chairman and first vice president Pam Callahan said. “They did not hesitate to act.”

Credit union President and CEO Jerry Williams said his institution was proud to partner in the effort with the club and the Crestview Department of Public Services.

“This area is rich in military history,” credit union President and CEO Jerry Williams said. “We’re greatly appreciative of the military folks who make up our membership.”

Florida Federation of Garden Clubs Blue Star chairman Rosita Aristoff said the state’s first Blue Star Memorial Highway was Route 1, with its marker dedicated on May 30, 1949 in Key West.

“The program was named after the blue star in the service banner which hung in windows of homes and businesses during World War II in order to honor the men and women serving in our armed forces,” she said.

Here are interesting facts about National Garden Clubs’ Blue Star Memorial Highway Program:

●5,000: Garden clubs across America

●175,000: garden club members

●8,000: Flowering dogwood trees planted along New Jersey Route 22, the first Blue Star highway

●5 miles: length of the first Blue Star highway in New Jersey

●3,000: Blue Star memorial markers erected nationwide on highways, parks and cemeteries

●70,000 miles: Length of total nationwide Blue Star Memorial Highways

BY THE NUMBERS

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview regains a Blue Star highway (VIDEO)

CRESTVIEW — Voter registration books close Oct. 11 for the Nov. 8 General Election. All new registrations must be submitted to the Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections office by Oct. 11. Address changes and other updates may be submitted at any time.

Both the Crestview headquarters and the Shalimar branch office will remain open until 10 p.m. to accept registration forms.

Call the Supervisor of Elections office, 689-5600 or 651-7272, or visit www.GoVote-Okaloosa.com for questions.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Final day for voter registration set

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview City Council will meet 5:45 p.m. in Council Chambers at city hall.

Here is the meeting's agenda.

1. Call to Order

2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Open meeting

4. Public Opportunity on Council Items

5. Workshop items

a. Discussion of Police/Fire 175-185 plan.

b. Presentation of FLC conference items.

c. Discussion of Sister Cities Luncheon.

6. Comments from the Audience

7. Adjournment

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview City Council Sept. 26 workshop agenda

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview City Council will meet 5:30 p.m. Sept. 26 in Council Chambers at city hall.

Here is the meeting's agenda.

Special Meeting

1. Call to Order

2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Open meeting

4. Public Opportunity on Council Items

5. Resolutions:

a. Resolution 16-26 — Out of City Water – 3153 Aplin Road

b. Resolution 16-27 — Out of City Water – 1216 Chestnut Ave East

6. Staff Reports and Recommendations

a. Ordinance 1609 – 2016 Local Mitigation Strategy

b. Approval of funds for Sister City Luncheon

c. Approval of invoices from Ard, Shirley and Rudolph in the amount of $1,260.

7. Comments from the Audience

8. Adjournment

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview City Council special meeting agenda