Rep. Clay Ingram Says Farewell To The Florida House
March 9, 2018
Florida Rep. Clay Ingram said his farewells Thursday afternoon on the floor of the Florida House. With eight years in the House, Ingram is unable to run again due to term limits.
“It is hard to believe that my eight years in the legislature has come to a close. It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of House District 1 (and 2 before redistricting in 2012). I think a big thing that has made my time in office so special is that unlike in some other parts of the state where people may transplant to Florida and then run for office, I was born and raised in the district and moved back as soon as I was able to after college; so I have rarely had to guess where my district was on any particular issue, because I knew what I thought, and most of time, that’s what they were thinking too,” Ingram told NorthEscambia.com Thursday night.
“Central and north Escambia County are filled with the type of people who have made this country so successful. They love their God, work hard, and they take the Bill of Rights seriously. With the statewide economic turnaround that we’ve experienced since 2010, I hope we’ve put Northwest Florida and District 1 in particular in a position to benefit from future growth.”
“As we approach the final days of this legislative session, I look forward to working hard at the Capitol on their behalf. And then when the handkerchief drops and session is over, I forward to getting back to home sweet home with them again,” Ingram said.
Pictured: Rep. Clay Ingram gives his farewell speech to the Florida House Thursday afternoon. Image courtesy The Florida Channel.
Century Undecided On Natural Gas Pipeline Route Through Residential Neighborhoods
March 9, 2018
The Century Town Council held a special meeting Thursday with Florida Public Utilities to discuss a new route through the town for a natural gas pipeline.
FPU wants to abandon previously approved plans to run the pipeline along Highway 29 through Century. Instead, the company now wants to route the pipeline through residential areas along Jefferson Avenue and Salters Lake Road.
The change, according to to Florida Public Utilities Gas Operations Director Barry Kennedy, is due to restrictions imposed by the Florida Department of Transportation. In January, FDOT specified that the gas pipeline be placed underneath the outer northbound lane of Highway 29, and work would only be allowed during the night and overnight hours. The job would require digging large holes in Highway 29 every 1,000 to 1,500 feet in order to bore the pipe under the roadway.
“The Highway 29 route would create traffic problems during the work,” Kennedy said.
By comparison, burying the pipeline along Jefferson Avenue and Salters Lake Road would take about two weeks. Work would be performed during mostly daylight hours, and it would be the town’s decision oh if the contractors worked seven days or were required to stop work on the weekends.
But the idea is not sitting well with residents along the route.
“You don’t normally put a gas line in a residential area,” resident Roger Jenkins said. “You lower people’s property values. People don’t feel comfortable with a pipeline in their yard.”
“It looks like the minds here are already made up,” property owner Wayne Johnson told the council. “When it (a pipeline) comes down through a community like this, it makes a difference.”
Kennedy ask the council for a tentative approval to use right of way on Jefferson Street to allow the company to begin the process of obtaining the necessary permits. However, Mayor Henry Hawkins said the council could not vote at the meeting.
Councilman Lewis Gomez said the council and residents of the area need more time to make good decisions.
A public information meeting was set for Thursday, March 15 at 7 p.m. at the community center on West Highway 4.
The pipeline has already been delivered and is sitting above ground on Salters Lake Road, which is a county roadway. Barry said in the event the council does not approve the Jefferson Street Route, the pipeline will be removed from the side of Salters Lake Road.
Florida Public Utilities is constructing the pipeline along a 42-mile route through North Escambia from Century to Nine Mile Road. The pipeline continues south from Century along Highway 29 right of way from Century to Old Chemstrand Road. From there, an eight-inch line will follow Old Chemstrand Road to Ascend, while another eight-inch line will continue south on Highway 29 to Highway 95A in Cantonment to West Roberts Road to Pine Forest Road to West Nine Mile Road where the project will connect to an existing gas system.
Florida Public Utilities is a private company, not a government agency.
Pictured: Barry Kennedy of Florida Public Utilities (second from right) addresses the Century Town Council Thursday afternoon. Pictured inset: Gas pipeline above ground on Salter’s Lake Road. Pictured below: Highway 29 in Century Thursday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Atmore’s Poarch Creek Indians Buy Pennsylvania Casino For $1.3 Billion
March 9, 2018
Wind Creek Hospitality, an affiliate of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Atmore, will acquire the Las Vegas Sands Corp. casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, or $1.3 billion under a deal announced Thursday.
In 2007, Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem purchased the 126-acre former Bethlehem Steel plant opened the casino on May 22, 2009. The property includes a 300 room hotel, performing arts venue and a shopping mall.
The sale won’t be final until after it is approved by Pennsylvania gaming regulators.
Wind Creek operates Wind Creek Atmore, Wind Creek Montgomery, Wind Creek Wetumpka, Renaissance Aruba and Renaissance Curaçao in the Caribbean, the Wa She Shu Casino in Nevada, the Pensacola Greyhound Track and Poker Room, Creek Entertainment Gretna just outside Tallahassee, and the Mobile Greyhound Park.
Ernest Ward Middle Names Students Of The Month
March 9, 2018
Ernest Ward Middle School has named their Student of the Month from January. They are (L-R) Kendall Alvare, sixth grade; Vivyan Smith, seventh grade; and Sara Sconiers, eighth grade. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Education Budget Increases After School Shooting
March 9, 2018
School funding next academic year will be shaped by the Florida Legislature’s reaction to the mass shooting of students and staff at a Broward County high school.
A new $88.7 billion state budget, which was released Thursday and is expected to be approved Sunday, includes a $21.1 billion spending plan for the 67 school districts. It would boost per-student funding by $101.50 during 2018-2019 to $7,408 and represents a $485 million increase in state funding and local property taxes.
A significant increase in school spending is tied to the Feb. 14 tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
The annual school funding formula would include a new category for mental-health funding with $69 million. It would increase the “safe schools” program, which helps pay for school resource officers, to $162 million, a $97.5 million increase.
Outside the funding formula, the school districts also could apply for grants to improve the security of their campuses in a $98.9 million program.
But lawmakers pared Gov. Rick Scott’s request for an $18 million increase in funding for classroom supplies for teachers. Lawmakers backed an $8.8 million increase, which should boost the annual payments by about $50 to $300.
Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, who helped develop a $400 million school-safety initiative, said the response to the Parkland tragedy became the “most important” issue facing the Legislature.
“It put everything else we were working on, on a back burner,” he said. “I feel like we’ve done our best.”
He said one of the challenges was that the incident occurred midway during the annual legislative session, forcing lawmakers to quickly develop a response without the normal lead time and preparation.
“It certainly has impacted the budget. A lot of projects have fallen out. And money had to be reprioritized. It’s not often that you go into session and have to make a $400 million adjustment midstream,” Galvano said.
In other areas of the budget, charter schools would receive more than $145 million for renovation and maintenance work in the budget. Public schools would receive $50 million.
Jackson County would receive more than $19 million in second-year funding for a three-year project to build a new kindergarten-through-eighth grade school. Taylor County would receive $6.2 million for a primary school project and Liberty County would receive $6 million for a high school project.
Legislative leaders announced Thursday afternoon the new budget been printed and would be available Sunday for a vote after a 72-hour “cooling off” period. The spending plan then will go to Scott, who has line-item veto power.
The final negotiations on the budget also resulted in more funding for several higher-education initiatives.
Lawmakers agreed to increase funding for schools that qualify as “pre-eminent” universities by $20 million, which should benefit the University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of South Florida, if USF obtains that status in the coming year.
The budget would increase performance funding for the universities to $265 million in the next academic year, a $20 million increase.
The program that allows universities to recruit “world class” professors and researchers was increased by $20 million, and a program that rewards high-performing medical, law and other professional schools was increased by $10 million.
Florida Gulf Coast University, which did not qualify for state performance funding this year, would receive $13.7 million in additional money in the new budget.
The University of North Florida would receive more than $4 million, and Florida International University would receive $4.7 million in additional funding.
The state college system would\receive $6.75 million as a partial restoration of a $30 million cut in the current year’s budget.
St. Johns River State College would receive $3 million in additional funding. Daytona State College would receive $1 million for a writing program that provides free tutoring services for students.
by Lloyd Dunkelberger, The News Service of Florida
Tate’s Logan Hamlin Commits To William Carey University
March 9, 2018
Tate High School’s Logan Hamlin committed Thursday to play volleyball for William Carey University in Hattiesburg, MS. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Saturday Is Opening Day At The Molino Ballpark
March 9, 2018
Saturday is Opening Day at the Molino Ballpark.
Opening ceremonies will be at 9 a.m., with game to follow and continuing most of the day.
In additional to the games, there will be be team booths with food, bounce houses, kettle corn and much more for day of family fun. And the concession stand will be open.
Driver Suffers Minor Injuries When He Crashes Truck Into Ditch
March 8, 2018
Charges are pending against a driver after he crashed his big rig into a ditch early Thursday morning.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 44-year old Jeff Parker of Pensacola was traveling south on Old Palafox just north of 9 1/2 Mile Road. He as unable to maintain control of the vehicle and traveled off the roadway into a ditch, troopers said.
The truck came to rest in a ditch on the east shoulder of Old Palafox, laying on its driver’s side.
Parker received minor injuries and was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital.
Apartment Developer Threatens Legal Action Against Century Over $100K In Water, Sewer Fees
March 8, 2018
The developers of a new 50-unit apartment complex in Century have paid the Town of Century to connect water and sewer service, but they are threatening legal action of the town does not refund over $100,000.
The Paces Foundation, Inc. submitted a $165,180 check to the town for waster and wastewater fees along with a protest letter from attorney William J. Dunaway of the Clark Partington law firm in Pensacola. The letter informed the town that the payment was made in full, but the amount remains in dispute.
“This payment is made under protest. My client reserves the right to challenge the amount of assessed connection fees, and will pursue all available judicial and administrative remedies to that end,” the attorney’s letter states.
“We received it (the attorney’s letter) under protest,” Century Mayor Henry Hawkins said.
“Nevertheless, because Century Park Apartments must have water and sewer before issuance of a certificate of occupancy, the enclosed check for $165,180.00 is tendered as full payment under protest of the disputed amount of water and sewer connection fees. My client respectfully renews its request that the Town refund the balance of $101,430.00 for the overpayment resulting from the increased fee assessment. My client is hopeful that this issue can be resolved without litigation, but they are prepared to pursue legal action in the event a voluntary refund is not forthcoming,” Dunaway wrote.
Paces contends they agreed to pay fees of $63,750. The amount, they say, was decided upon during a 2015 meeting with then-Mayor Freddie McCall and Town Planner Nickles. The only written agreement to come out of that meeting was a handwritten page showing calculations that Paces said were based upon the 2015 rates as published online in the town’s municipal code. The handwritten document also included a proposed fee for natural gas; however, the developer later opted to go all-electric.
The apartments will have a single large water meter and a single large sewage connection. It will not have 50 individual taps into the city services.
“It was agreed to by me, as a representative of the Paces Foundation, and the mayor at the point in time and your town planner. So from that, we had an agreement,” Development Manager Rick Haymond of Paces told the town council in December.
“So at the time we went by the documentation that was written under the ordinances and your resolutions for the fees,” Nickles told the council. Haymond said he never had a written contract regarding tap fees with a municipality in his 17 years, and had often used published rates available online.
McCall and Nickles (pictured left) do not deny the meeting, nor do they deny the agreement or the approximate $63,000 tap fee. “The town made a commitment to them. To me, they should do the right thing and honor that commitment,” Nickles said.
“I don’t know what else we could have done than to go to the highest officials in the city,” Haymond told the council, pointing out that the tap fee is the only disputed amount; he said Paces will be subject to all other current water and sewer rates.
Paces previously tendered a $63,750 payment on December 12, but the town rejected the payment and returned the check on December 18.
According to the Escambia County Building Services Department, Century Park Apartments has not yet been granted a certificate of occupancy as the building and inspections process continues.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Update: Safety Improvements At Barrineau Park & Highway 29 Part Of Federal Project
March 8, 2018
We now know that the roadway safety improvements made on Barrineau Park Road at Highway 29 were not in response to a fatal collision at the intersection just days prior.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 56-year old Franklin Webb was traveling east on Barrineau Road when he failed to properly yield his Toyota Tundra at a stop sign at the intersection of Highway 29 on the afternoon on February 25. His vehicle was hit by a southbound pickup truck. Webb was pronounced deceased at the scene. [Read more...]
Two days later, someone repainted rumble strips and other pavement markings on Barrineau Park road approaching Highway 29 from both the east and west. At that time, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation said it was not FDOT or their contractors, and Escambia County said they did not do the work on the county road either.
This week, the FDOT spokesperson said FDOT had determined the improvements on Barrineau Park Road at Highway 29 were done as part of an ongoing Federal Highway Administration safety project.
A total of 65 “un-signalized intersections in Escambia County were identified to receive safety upgrades which include refurbish signage and thermo (thermoplastic striping) at the approach to state roads,” according to Tanya Branton, FDOT public information specialist. “New signs have been installed and concrete work and ramps for ADA compliance have been constructed at identified selected locations. All that remains is placement of thermo at 60 remaining intersections.”
In addition to Barrineau Park Road at Highway 29, additional intersections in North Escambia that are part of the project include Woodland Street at Highway 29 in Cantonment and Highway 95A at Highway 29 in Molino.
Work is expected to be complete on the entire project by May.
For an earlier story, click here.
