@font-face { font-family: "News706 BT";}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.bodycopy, li.bodycopy, div.bodycopy { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 12.25pt; line-height: 10.5pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }

CRESTVIEW — A current Bob Sikes Airport tenant next week is expected to announce a major expansion that would bring 300 jobs to the area.

“We have been working with the project for the last year and a half,” said Kay Rasmussen, the Okaloosa County Economic Development Council’s interim president, during Monday’s city council meeting. “We’re not released from the non-disclosure law. But there will be a public announcement next week. We have been working with the state of Florida on this.”

State confidentiality laws protect businesses’ identities during sensitive negotiations with municipalities. While Rasmussen couldn’t reveal the business’ name, the EDC’s efforts assured 80 existing jobs will be retained, and more will be added.

“Through this expansion, they are creating over 300 new jobs and they will hire over the next two years,” Rasmussen said, adding the average salary of the new positions is above average for the area. “As you can tell just by the job count alone, this is a high-wage company and a huge investment in the community.”

The official announcement will come from Gov. Rick Scott’s office, which has worked with the Okaloosa EDC on a package of incentives to retain the company and allow it to grow.

The unnamed tenant’s expansion follows a recent expansion announcement by another airport business. L3 Crestview Aerospace will begin construction of an administration building this month and will build an 80,000-square-foot hangar next year.

Rasmussen also distributed a list of 12 projects the EDC is working on in the Crestview area, including four within the city limits and most of the rest at the airport or its neighboring Industrial Air Park. Among them is a possible expansion of Qwest Air Parts, which would add approximately 100 jobs.

“There is a lot of activity taking place in Crestview and surrounding Crestview,” Rasmussen said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Airport business to add 300 jobs

CRESTVIEW — Peter Mayer Advertising of New Orleans will take over promoting Okaloosa County as a top tourist destination.

County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a three-year contract with the company.

“This is a great day for Okaloosa County tourism,” said Dan O’Byrne, director of the tourism development department. “The (selection) process, although slow at some times, provided absolutely the right outcome.”

Read a copy of the contract.

The county began negotiating a contract with Peter Mayer in October.

The 45-year-old firm has 200 employees and offices in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Under the contract terms, the company will charge $115 an hour for new product development services and no more than $36,465 in base services each month.

Peter Mayer will handle a variety of promotional needs for the county, including account management, public relations, website management and social media content.

“Tourism and hospitality is a very significant part of our business,” Mark Mayer, the company's president, told the commissioners.

Mayer said the firm has extensive experience working for cruise lines, various states, destinations, hotel chains and the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.

He said he is excited about promoting Okaloosa County.

“We think there’s tremendous potential, particularly in your shoulder season, to improve occupancy and revenue,” Mayer said.

Commissioner Wayne Harris, who sat on the seven-member committee that evaluated the original pool of 17 companies, praised Peter Mayer for its presentation.

“If you do half of what you say you’re going to do … we’ll be in good shape,” he said during the meeting.

The county’s contract with Peter Mayer reflects the increased oversight of tourism spending the county put into place in the wake of the Mark Bellinger fraud scheme.

Bellinger, the former director of the Tourist Development Council, killed himself May 4 after it was revealed he had purchased a $710,000 yacht with county bed tax money.

Since then, the list of items he bought illegally or without county approval grew to include a $740,000 home in Destin, a $48,000 Porsche, RVs, customized motorcycles and a building lease.

Under Bellinger, the county’s two main advertising firms were given a high degree of freedom in how they spent money on behalf of the county and how they were reimbursed.

Under the current contract, Peter Mayer will not be allowed to spend county money without written authorization.

All purchases and expenses up to $25,000 must be approved by a department head and the purchasing director. All purchases and expenses between $25,000 and $50,000 must be approved by a department head, the county administrator and the purchasing director.

Purchases and expenses greater than $50,000 must be approved by the county commissioners.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa approves contract with new promotions firm (DOCUMENT)

@font-face { font-family: "News706 BT";}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.bodycopy, li.bodycopy, div.bodycopy { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 12.25pt; line-height: 10.5pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }

CRESTVIEW — The city council unanimously voted to take no action on placing a proposed city charter on the March 2013 ballot. Meeting Tuesday evening in a public workshop, the body surprised residents in the audience with its action.

Discussion at the Nov. 26 council meeting had indicated council members were determined to again place the matters before voters, and might even break it into three ballot measures to offer voters a “menu” of charter components.

The lack of action at the workshop, however, does not mean the council cannot still vote to approve an ordinance placing the charter on the spring ballot at its Dec. 10 meeting. The ordinance had its first public reading at the Nov. 26 council meeting.

A clerical error resulted in the Nov. 6 vote being nonbinding, although nearly 90 percent of Crestview voters who voted in the election also voted on the charter question. At the Nov. 26 council meeting, several residents advised the council members to consider the vote against the charter a straw poll indicative of the electorate’s opinion.

Councilman Charles Baugh Jr. opened Tuesday’s meeting with a recitation of the 23rd Psalm, saying afterwards that he had “spent the entire day fasting and praying to find the right words to say” at the meeting.

“We’ve had this pretty much bantered around for three years’ time,” Baugh said during the brief meeting. “I’d like to say during the general election, although it was a non-binding referendum, some see it as a straw poll for the will of the people.”

Baugh said the 8,114 people who voted on the charter question was the largest turnout to ever vote on a city initiative. He noted that more than 500 people voted against the new charter than had voted for it. The final results were 4,319 opposed to the proposed charter and 3,795 in favor of it.

While still he feels the proposed charter, particularly its provision for a full-time professional city administrator, would greatly benefit the city’s 21,000 residents, “at the same time I cannot ignore the voices that were cast… If the citizens say no, I think we need to listen to the citizens.”

Baugh and Councilwoman Robyn Helt had been two of the charters strongest proponents on the city council. Helt had served on the charter review committee prior to her election, and though she spoke strongly at the Nov. 26 meeting in favor of placing the proposal before voters in March, she did not comment Tuesday evening.

The council was originally planning to discuss putting the charter on the March ballot in three measures to allow citizens a selection of options, including voting on the concepts of a council-appointed city administrator, a council-appointed city clerk, and the balance of the charter. Some council members felt this might prove difficult.

“I personally think to break it up, you have a fractious charter,” Councilman Tim Grandberry said. “If they vote different things, some win, some don’t.”

Councilman Tom Gordon said, “I made no secret of my support for the charter,” but added, “I suggest we let this die and we move forward.”

Gordon put his suggestion in the form of a motion, which was seconded by Baugh. The motion was unanimously approved by the council without further discussion. The meeting adjourned less than 10 minutes after it began.

Among those observing the proceedings was former Crestview Mayor Jerry Milligan, who had chaired the charter review committee. He said after the meeting that he had been perturbed because some of the committee’s recommendations were omitted from the proposed charter, even though some council members said the document followed the committee’s suggestions.

“The charter that was proposed was not at all what the charter committee sent to the council,” Milligan said. “That’s where I differ with it.”

He praised the council for its decision to let the matter drop.

“Maybe, we can only hope, they did indeed listen to the voice of the people in the general election,” Milligan said.

Though it voted to adjourn the workshop without action on the charter, the city council at its Dec. 10 meeting could still approve the ordinance required to place the document on the March ballot.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Council may drop charter issue

LAUREL HILL — Most residents who crowded First Baptist Church of Laurel Hill’s fellowship hall Tuesday night said this north county community should dissolve its city status.

The City Council wanted residents’ input on whether it should place a dissolution option on an upcoming ballot. Resident Harold Jones’ comments on poor road conditions during a Nov. 15 council meeting spurred the town hall.

Residents mainly discussed the main roads’ disrepair and expressed concerns about how their tax dollars were spent. Most favored dissolution.

"My position is that we are in the county and we all need to make (the city of) Laurel Hill go away," Harold Jones said.

"I'm for it," Deborah Adams, a Laurel Hill School teacher, said. "If Laurel Hill is no longer a city, that does not mean that they are going to erase those letters off the map."

A few residents favored Laurel Hill remaining a city.

Despite the city’s high debt and low reserves, the likelihood of Okaloosa County taking the task, post-dissolution, would be a “pipe dream,” Mike Blizzard said.

"We’re not going to be in any better shape than we are now," he said, adding the sole difference would be the area’s municipality loss.

The city has $380,000 in reserves; just $272,000 is available at the city’s discretion. This could cover infrastructure, paying down debt or equipment purchases. However, about 14 miles of roadway need repairs; about 55 percent of them need asphalt resurfacing, which would cost about $60,000 per mile, Okaloosa County Public Works Director John Hofstad said. The remainder would require reconstruction, which would cost two to three times as much.

Florida Rep. Doug Broxson, Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles and Hofstad offered moral support, but did not express stances on the dissolution issue.

However, Hofstad gave the issue perspective.

"We just want to be very clear that if your goal is to dissolve the city and become unincorporated in Okaloosa County, it’s not like we show up the next day and start repaving roads," Hofstad said after the meeting. "We have a process we go through."

The county commission must approve funding for road repairs, and that’s just part of the lengthy process, he said. Nevertheless, “we certainly want to help out Laurel Hill where we can … and we certainly will in the future.”

During the meeting, an audience member asked the council to give input.

Council Chair Larry Hendren and Co-chair Robby Adams said they favored dissolution. Councilman Clifton Hall said he wants Laurel Hill to remain a city. Council members Betty Williamson, Willie Mae Toles and Mayor Joan Smith expressed no preference.

While addressing the issue, Toles shared her dissatisfaction with the current mayor.

"Laurel Hill was all right until she got here," she said.

The audience applauded the statement.

Hendren encouraged residents to call city hall with questions on the matter and do research before deciding on the issue.

Resident Scott Moneypenny agreed.

"The citizens of Laurel Hill need all the information that is possibly available before making a decision to dissolve a city," he said. "Because once you lose the infrastructure, there is going to be problems that people cannot foresee."

The next council meeting is 6 p.m. Jan. 8. at city hall.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill residents show support for city dissolution

SHALIMAR — A new task force is set to begin the process of freeing Okaloosa County government from its dependence on landlords.

“Our goal by 2014 is to be out of the rental business,” County Commission Chairman Don Amunds said.

Amunds is one of nine people who will serve on the Shalimar Annex Renovation Project Task Force, which meets for the first time Friday. All the county’s constitutional officers will be represented, along with the state attorney’s office and court administration.

The panel’s name is slightly deceiving.

While deciding how best to renovate the 58,900-square-foot Shalimar annex — while maintaining 15,000 square feet for some type of judicial function — will be a big part of its job, there are other renovations to be discussed, Amunds said.

“It’s a big picture concept,” he said. “Where all do we have space and where can we renovate?”

By moving all its offices into county-owned buildings, Okaloosa can save $1 million a year, Amunds said. He favors putting the anticipated savings into the renovations.

Amunds said the first target for renovation could well be the old Fort Walton Beach Hospital building the county owns on Hospital Drive. The old Garnier’s wastewater treatment plant on Essex Road in Ocean City also will also be reviewed.

Amunds said he hopes the sheriff’s office Investigative Division will go along with a plan to move to the old hospital or another county-owned location so the $125,000 to $130,000 rent for its offices in Shalimar can be eliminated.

The biggest rental cost the county pays is about $400,000 to lease the tax collector and property appraiser offices at Uptown Station in Fort Walton Beach.

Those leases run out in November 2014. Amunds said the two offices definitely will be relocated.

One problem the task force faces is that the county still is technically entangled in litigation over the Shalimar annex property.

The annex was almost completely vacated following construction of the new courthouse annex extension at the C.H. “Bull” Rigdon Fairgrounds and Recreation Complex on Lewis Turner Boulevard.

The Meigs family trust, which deeded the Shalimar annex land to the county decades ago, sued. The Meigs trust claimed that by moving, the county triggered a reverter clause that states if court functions were abandoned in Shalimar, the property would be returned to the family.

A judge ruled in February that by agreeing to maintain a judicial presence at the annex, the county had not triggered the reverter clause. The Meigs’ family has appealed the ruling and a decision is expected in February or March.

With the appeal pending, the county’s judiciary is weighing what its presence will be at the Shalimar annex, said Clerk of Court Don Howard, another task force member.

Until that decision is made, full-blown renovation plans for the annex remain on hold, Howard said. Both the clerk’s presence and the sheriff’s presence at the annex will be predicated upon the extent of court functions there.

“What the judiciary does will directly impact my office,” Howard said. “Like any other construction-type project, you have to first decide what it is you’re going to achieve at that location.”

Tax Collector Ben Anderson, who is on the task force, said he’s already studying plans to determine how his office can best use space at the annex.

“We’ll do our part to make it a good place for the citizens to do business,” he said.

Anderson said the “overriding focus” is to continue to provide the efficiency and convenience residents get at his office at Uptown Station.

He said he fears some difficulties in doing that at a 40-year-old building with low ceilings.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa panel to review how to eliminate rental costs

CRESTVIEW — Their votes didn’t officially count, but that didn’t stop 8,114 of 9,076 voters from opining about a proposed city charter that would alter the city’s governance. Of those, 4,319, or 53 percent, voted against implementing the proposed charter. Almost nine of 10 voters in the last election voted on the charter ballot question, an analysis of official election results shows.

Speaking before the city council at its Monday meeting, several residents advised city leaders to take the results seriously — even if they’re nonbinding due to an administrative error. City leaders expect to revisit the issue with another referendum in March 2013, which drew criticism from some opponents.

“Are you going to bring it up every time there’s an election? It appears we’re flogging a dead horse now,” resident Dan Taggett said.

“This is like changing horses in the middle of the stream,” resident Landrum Edwards said. “We’re doing a do-over. This is like kickball when we were kids; you get to do do-overs. That’s what this council is doing right now.”

Holding the election again was a matter of fairness because some voters, she and her husband among them, didn’t vote on the charter referendum when they learned it was no longer a valid ballot issue, Councilwoman Robyn Helt said.

“The council’s not getting a do-over on this item,” Helt said. “We have an obligation to put it on the agenda so the citizens get a chance to say. The citizens deserve to have the opportunity to vote in a valid format.”

Elections Supervisor Paul Lux’s official results show 960 of the 9,076 Crestview voters who cast ballots on Nov. 6 skipped the charter question.

More than 8,000 who did vote on it should have been enough to convey citizens’ opinion, Taggett and Edwards said.

“You’ve got an opportunity (now) that the people have spoke,” Edwards said. “Everybody had an opinion on it. If you didn’t vote, that is your own fault.”

“It was voted on and 500 people said no,” Taggett said, referring to the 524 more voters who voted against the charter than for it. “Yes, some people elected not to vote on it. If you don’t vote on it, don’t complain about it.”

Cal Zethmayr, of WAAZ/WJSB radio, referencing data from previous Crestview charter referenda, contended that based on his research, the 8,114 people who voted on the issue were likely the highest turnout they could expect.

“I think they sent you a message,” Zethmayr said. “In Crestview, 90 percent who got a ballot went all the way to the back of the ballot and they chose to send you their opinion. 524 more said no than said yes. Do you think you’re going to get 8,000 voters to turn out in March? I’ll buy a steak dinner for any of you who thinks they will.”

Zethmayr said his research showed 72 percent of registered voters voted on the charter referendum — the highest percentage of any of the previous five Crestview charter referenda from the past 20 years.

“We had 8,100 people vote,” Edwards said. “You add that up and the majority did not want the city charter to change. I don’t care if it was irregular or not counted or whatever.”

“This council doesn’t do the citizens of Crestview any service if we don’t move forward and put it to a legitimate vote,” Helt said. “I think for this council to now say, ‘Well, we just won’t go forward with it just because some people are in opposition to it,’ we would be doing the citizens a disservice if we didn’t put it to a vote … The citizens have the say. I respect their say. If the citizens don’t wish to have a charter revision, that is fine.”

Weeks before the Nov. 6 election, City Clerk Betsy Roy discovered a clerical error. A city council meeting to consider placing the charter on the ballot had been advertised for March 26, 2012, but was actually held April 9, she found. Rather than subject the charter to a potential legal challenge if it had passed, the council reluctantly agreed to rescind the ordinance that placed the issue on the ballot.

However, the action was too late to remove the referendum from ballots, which had been printed.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Charter vote was nonbinding, but 90 percent voted anyway

FORT WALTON BEACH — Nov. 30 is the final day to receive a 4 percent discount on property taxes.

"We anticipate collecting 65 percent of the tax revenue, or approximately $120 million, by the end of this month,” Okaloosa County Tax Collector Ben Anderson said. "We will have staff staged in the lobbies of our offices the last three days of the month to accept drop-off payments by check. Customers can then get in and out of our office without having to wait in line with those conducting other transactions.”

Payment options available include express payment online, where electronic checking is free.

Call 651-7300 for details.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Property discount deadline is Nov. 30

CRESTVIEW — After an Oct. 8 resolution by the city council proclaiming Crestview a Purple Heart City, the appellation became official during the council’s Monday meeting when Mayor David Cadle presented a plaque from the Military Order of the Purple Heart to Council President Ben Iannucci III.

“It’s a recognition the city has taken upon itself to honor all the fallen veterans of all the wars and all the military personnel who are on active duty and are Purple Heart recipients,” Military Order of the Purple Heart Region 4 Commander Bill Everett of Baker said. “It’s quite an honor; quite an honor indeed.”

The Military Order of the Purple Heart now lists the city and Okaloosa County on its website map of nationwide Purple Heart Cities and Counties. Okaloosa County was the state’s Purple Heart County and Crestview is the county’s first Purple Heart City.

Florida has only a handful of Purple Heart Cities, “and less than 25 (exist) throughout the United States,” said Everett, whose region encompasses eight southern states. The closest communities to share the honor are Leon County and Tallahassee, and Pike County and Troy, Ala., according the order’s website.

“How fitting it was for Crestview to come on board, because there’s an awful lot of retired military and active duty personnel in the Crestview area,” Everett said. “Crestview has given up a lot of personnel in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East.”

The ornate plaque — bearing color graphics of an American bald eagle, the U.S. Constitution and the Purple Heart medal — will hang in City Hall.

“It’s an honorary designation for a city that recognizes the commitment and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform for the defense of our liberties in our country,” Mayor David Cadle said. “It’s a way of honoring the Purple Heart recipients not just in Crestview, but throughout the nation.”

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview now a Purple Heart City