CRESTVIEW — At Police Chief Tony Taylor's request, the City Council unanimously approved accepting the donation of approximately $25,000 worth of K-9 and other police equipment.

The donation includes two K-9 outfitted patrol vehicles, which Taylor said the agency would use as backups should the existing Crestview K-9 vehicles become inoperable.

In addition to the vehicles, the donation included an assortment of policing equipment including five fingerprint kits, three tint meters, three M26 Tasers, four spike strips, three shotgun racks, a Hazmat bio suit, a radar unit and an in-car camera system.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview accepts donation of K-9, other police equipment

CRESTVIEW — The City Council unanimously agreed to vacate former alleyways that ran through land on which the American Legion post on U.S. Highway 90 currently sits.

The legion is remodeling its facility, and the financial institution backing the project required original signatures on easement and vacation-of-rights documents, City Clerk Betsy Roy said.

Because the original resolution documents granting the vacation, approved by the council on Oct. 11, 1948, are unavailable, the current council had to vacate the no longer existing alleyways again.

The council unanimously adopted the new ordinance on its first reading, moving it to a second reading and probable approval at the Feb. 9 council meeting.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Council agrees to vacate alleyways — again

CRESTVIEW — Councilwoman Robyn Helt’s effort to establish a committee to advise city officials on developers’ horticultural requirements has hit a snag.

At the Jan. 12 meetings of the Community Redevelopment Agency and the City Council, Helt proposed reactivating the dormant Beautification Committee, which last met in 2004.

Helt suggested staffing the committee with horticulturists, county extension agents, Crestview Garden Club members and landscapers to help rewrite current landscaping requirements that stipulate specific varieties of trees and shrubs.

There's a reason for that.

“Many of our business owners have found that in implementing the code, they're being required to plant things that are going to be chopped down by Gulf Power or they're going to grow up so well they block the view of the business,” Helt said.

However, unlike most city committees, the Beautification Committee’s mandate is delineated in the economic development portion of the city’s comprehensive plan. To change it would require the state's approval, administrative assistant Teresa Gaillard said.

Upon realizing that the committee’s mandate also includes presenting awards for landscaping excellence, Helt said, “I don't know if standing up the former Beautification Committee is what we need.”

Helt suggested the city take a different direction to avoid complicating the matter.

“Let's forget what was said about beautification and create a committee to advise on landscaping,” she said. “I just don't want us telling people they have to plant a specific species of trees that they're going to have to cut down in two years because it doesn't grow right.”

Gaillard said her department is already working on revising city codes, including landscape requirements, as part of the Evaluation, Appraisal and Recommendations Report the city is required to file with the state every seven years.

“Mrs. Helt’s got a good idea and a great direction,” Gaillard said. “It is one of the same directions we’re running. It’s a little different process. Like everything else, we have to follow the code itself.”

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Councilwoman: City needs horticultural experts' advice

CRESTVIEW — Councilman Tom Gordon, candidate for mayor, challenges Mayor David Cadle to debate the city's rise in violent crime.

The city ranks 180th on ValuePenguin's 2014 Safest Cities in Florida Study. Valparaiso and Niceville rank No. 10 and No. 15, respectively; and Fort Walton Beach, No. 86.

In 2012, the last year for which data was available, Crestview had 186 violent crimes and 38 robberies, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics.

“This doesn’t tell the whole story,” a news release from Cadle's office states. “In 2013, (Police) Chief (Tony) Taylor’s first year in office, violent crime decreased 12.2 percent and overall crime decreased 13.1 percent, which is the last full year data are available. For the first six months of 2014, violent crime was down an additional 6 percent.”

“Since the release of damaging crime figures to credible national and local sources, Cadle has said the numbers are wrong, skewed, and not true," Gordon said.

“If David Cadle’s statements are truthful, he should be willing to a debate in a public forum, such as the Crestview Community Center, and let residents and voters decide for themselves the facts and the truthfulness of the candidates.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Gordon challenges Cadle to debate crime

PENSACOLA — WSRE, PBS for the Gulf Coast, wants Northwest Florida residents' questions for Thursday’s broadcast of “Legislative Review: Dialogue with the Delegation.”

The program, moderated by Jeff Weeks, will air live 7-8 p.m. Thursday on WSRE-TV and WNRP News Radio 1620 AM. State legislators will answer constituents’ questions about local issues and priorities for the 2015 legislative session.

Participating legislators include Sens. Don Gaetz (District 1) and Greg Evers (District 2), and Reps. Clay Ingram (District 1), Mike Hill (District 2), Doug Broxson (District 3) and Matt Gaetz (District 4).

Questions may be submitted to questions@wsre.org or wsre.org/facebook. Every question must be accompanied by the person’s name and city of residence.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Questions sought for legislative review program

CRESTVIEW — The Liveoak Lookout Tower at the city's McMahon Environmental Center now bears the registration number 1,000 on the National Historic Lookout Register, and could one day be incorporated into an educational center.

Keith Argow, the organization’s national chairman, presented the registration certificate to Crestview City Councilman Mickey Rytman and Mayor David Cadle on Jan. 22.

Though the national register has nearly 1,100 registered lookout towers, only four are in Florida, Argow said. He said the coveted 1,000 registration number had been reserved for a tower the organization deemed “special,” and Crestview’s landmark was chosen for the honor.

“As we came close to 1,000, it had to be a very special tower,” Argow said. “We are glad to assign it to the Liveoak Fire Lookout.”

HONORING THE PAST

Rytman spearheaded the placement of the more than 60-year-old tower on the registry. He credited retired forester John McMahon, for whom the environmental center is named, for helping preserve the landmark.

“Mr. McMahon has basically saved what you see here today,” Rytman said.

“I’m pleased that the city of Crestview honors its past and its beginnings,” Mayor David Cadle said. “I salute Mickey Rytman for the steps he took to get this tower on the national registry.”

McMahon couldn’t attend the dedication due to illness, but was represented by his wife, Doris, their daughter Laura Pitts, and their grandson, Curtis Pitts.

“John’s real disappointed he couldn’t be here,” Doris McMahon said.

STRUCTURALLY SOUND

After the dedication, Curtis Pitts joined several attendees in a climb up to the top of the tower. Afterward, several climbers remarked on the structure’s soundness.

“Those oak steps are real solid,” Main Street Crestview Association member Cal Zethmayr said.  

The Crestview Kiwanis Club has taken on the refurbishment of the McMahon Environmental Center as a community project.

Business partner Jayne Swift of CH2M Hill said one idea includes incorporating the fire tower’s base into a new museum and education center to replace the existing small museum.

Placement on the National Historic Lookouts Register qualifies the Crestview tower for grant money that could be used for such a facility, Rytman said.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Liveoak Fire Lookout becomes nationally recognized (VIDEO)

CRESTVIEW — Newly appointed county Public Works Director Jason Autrey recently discussed road projects with community and business leaders, dispelling what he called myths, and offering hope for road improvements.

One major myth, Autrey said, is that more county road money flows south than it does north. Of 11 major projects scheduled for work in the coming years, nine are north of the Shoal River, he said.

One reason, Autrey said, is because all south county roads are paved, while 200 miles of north county roads are still dirt.

Among projects about to begin, or in the planning stages, are paving the short dirt stretch of Okaloosa Lane near Riverside Elementary School and paving the north section of Fairchild Road.

‘THE BIG ONE’

“The big one is P.J. Adams Parkway,” he said during the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce Government Issues Committee's Jan. 14 meeting. “Every time I have a conversation with the state, it starts out with, ‘What can I do with P.J. Adams Parkway?’”

The project has advanced because county officials offered the state Department of Transportation innovative ideas, he said. The original state grant was just for part of the design phase.

“It seems kind of foolish to design a roadway that I can’t build and can’t afford to completely design,” Autrey said.

By redefining the $4.4 million grant to design just the State Road 85 to Interstate 10 segment — with money left over for some construction — the county reduced a $100 million project into more palatable sections, he said.

The Board of County Commissioners must make some tough funding decisions to ensure work on the corridor continues once it begins, Autrey said.

Options will be discussed at the board’s Feb. 3 meeting in Crestview.

NORTH AND SOUTH

A change in the “north vs. south” attitude is also helping the Public Works department tackle roadway issues, Autrey said.

“I hate to say it; there is a separation between the north end and south end,” he said. “There’s a physical separation and a mental separation. But most of the tourism base that supports the south end comes through the north end, and folks down south are starting to get that.”

He described S.R. 85 as “one great funnel down to the Niceville area” that bottlenecks through Crestview. The P.J. Adams-Antioch Road Corridor is expected to relieve that traffic, especially if an interchange at I-10 can be built.

“If you open up an opportunity to get on I-10 to the west, it will improve that situation,” Autrey said. “P.J. Adams is the first step of that. If I have P.J. Adams four-laned to I-10, I can say to the state, ‘I’ve done my part. Now you do yours.’”

The corridor is a preferred option over widening S.R. 85, he said.

“I am a believer in alternate routes instead of widening, because if you have an accident, it shuts down the whole road; but if there’s an alternate route, you have a way around it,” Autrey said.

NO EAST BYPASS

One option unlikely to occur is building an east bypass. Using Live Oak Church Road and Airman’s Road, it would eventually link with Okaloosa Lane.

Because Okaloosa Lane lines up almost precisely with the Duke Field runway, headlights from heavy bypass traffic would adversely affect nighttime flight operations, Autrey said.

Finding a solution for the congestion is a top concern, former chamber president Dennis Mitchell said. 

“We have no future in this region if we don’t get that bottleneck (S.R. 85) taken care of," he said.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: P.J. Adams is ‘the big one'; east bypass is a no-go (VIDEO)