House Signs Off On BP Settlement Bills For Escambia, Santa Rosa
March 24, 2017
Northwest Florida counties moved closer Thursday to getting money the state received last year from the multibillion-dollar BP settlement tied to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The House unanimously voted for a pair of measures that would create a trust fund from which the BP settlement money would be available to the non-profit organization Triumph Gulf Coast and set a framework for how the counties most impacted by the disaster can use dollars.
However, the House and Senate must still agree on those uses.
“I think it’s pretty close,” said Rep. Jay Trumbull, a Panama City Republican sponsoring the bills. “There are obviously some significant differences — the Senate version does have economic incentives. But we’ve done a lot of things that mirror the Senate’s version.”
Both chambers have proposed measures to allocate $300 million of the $400 million received last year to eight Gulf Coast counties — Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla and Walton — hit most severely by the disaster. The proposals would also send to those counties three-fourths of the remainder of the $2 billion the state is expected to receive for economic damages associated with the disaster, which dumped millions of gallons of oil less than 100 miles off the Florida coast.
However, the House proposals go further than a Senate measure (SB 364) by imposing additional guidelines on how the money can be used to market Northwest Florida and to support broad economic-development projects.
Those issues reflect ongoing, larger philosophical differences between the House and Senate on business-recruitment and tourism-marketing issues.
Sen. George Gainer, a Panama City Republican who is a co-sponsor of the Senate proposal, on Thursday said the differences were minor.
“I think we’re like-minded as far as taking care of North Florida,” Gainer said. “As long as we have that common denominator, I think we’re going to be fine.”
by The News Service of Florida
Century Council Members Get Tablets; Agendas Going Electronic
March 24, 2017
New Samsung tablets have been distributed to each of the five members of the Century Town Council.
The tablets will be used to electrfonically distribute council agendas and backup materials prior to meetings, according to Mayor Henry Hawkins. Previously, town staffers have physically delivered agenda packets to council members’ homes, usually on the Friday prior to a Monday meeting.
Hawkins said the tablets from AT&T cost “about $2″ due to reworking the town’s contract with the telecommunications company.
Council members were told that the tablets come with very limited amounts of data on the AT&T network. Instead of using cellular data, council members were told to use the tablets only on wi-fi networks.
Tate Aggies Win Sarasota Baseball Classic Title
March 24, 2017
A week after claiming the title in their Aggie Classic, the Tate Aggies won the Sarasota Baseball Classic championship Thursday night 3-2 over Trinity Christian.
Tate’s Kyler Hultgren was named the tournament’s best hitter, while Aggie Gabe Castro was named tournament MVP.
Castro earned the win Thursday night for the Tate Aggies. He pitched seven innings, allowing two runs, three hits, and striking out four.
Hunter NeSmith, Logan McGuffey, and Hultgren each drove in one run to lead Tate to the tournament win.
Trinity took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning, but Tate tied it at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth before adding the winning run in the seventh.
One Injured In Overturned Dump Truck On Nine Mile
March 23, 2017
One person was injured when a dump truck overturned Thursday on Nine Mile Road near Beulah Road. The driver was transported by ambulance to an area hospital with minor injuries. Further details have not been released by the Florida Highway Patrol. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Century Earns $723K For Role In Financing $1.5 Billion In Projects
March 23, 2017
Over the past 18 years, the Town of Century has served an integral role in the tax-exempt financing of $1.5 billion worth of projects, including affordable housing projects, airport facilities, hotel and convention developments promoting tourism, health care projects, and K-12 educational buildings.
It’s a role that has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars for Century.
On the surface it might seem unlikely that Century, the poorest small city in the state, could play a part in the financing of dozens of multi-million projects including the Community Maritime Park in Pensacola, $439 million in hotel and convention centers for the Seminole Nation, airport cargo terminals, schools and apartment complexes.
The approvals were granted by Century and Gulf Breeze as members of the Capital Trust Agency, an independent public body for the purpose of financing or otherwise accomplishing development programs. Century entered into the Capital Trust Agency with Gulf Breeze in 1999 with Century essentially serving as the “second signature” for CTA, certifying that the projects meet a public purpose under IRS rules and regulations.
“Your responsibility is simply to look at these to decide if they do in fact look like a legitimate public purpose,” CTA Executive Director Ed Gray, III told the Century Town Council recently. “You are not deciding on the financial viability of them; you are not taking any liability. You are simply looking at them from the standpoint of a common sense approach that these look reasonable and therefore move forward.
The CTA is structured in such a way to indemnify Century from any financial risk, whether it be from a company that defaults on repayment or any other legal liabilities, according to Michael Stebbins, CTA attorney. The funds used for the bonds are from the CTA’s coffers, not from Century or Gulf Breeze.
Century has received $723,430.47 in fees since the inception of CTA.
“It’s a been a good relationship that should continue indefinitely,” Gray said.
Pictured: Capital Trust Agency Executive Director Ed Gray, III addresses the Century Town Council. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
House Bill Outlines How Escambia, Other Counties Can Spend BP Bucks
March 23, 2017
The House is expected to vote Thursday to approve proposals that would set a framework for how counties most impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill can use settlement money.
The proposals would, in part, create a trust fund from which the BP settlement money would be available to the non-profit organization Triumph Gulf Coast. The House and Senate are advancing measures that would allocate $300 million of the $400 million received last year to the Gulf Coast counties — Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla and Walton — hit most severely by the disaster.
The proposals would also send to those counties three-fourths of the remainder of the $2 billion the state is expected to receive for economic damages associated with the disaster, which dumped millions of gallons of oil less than 100 miles off the Florida coast.
However, the House proposals go further than a Senate measure (SB 364) by imposing additional guidelines on how the money can be used to market Northwest Florida and to support broad economic-development projects.
Triumph Gulf Coast would have to ensure that each county receives at least 6 percent of the money and would have to post online details of any project or program two weeks before cash awards are made.
The House took up its bills Wednesday and procedurally prepared them for votes.
by The News Service of Florida
County Commissioner, Public Works Boss Tour North Escambia Projects
March 23, 2017
Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry and Public Works Director Wes Moreno toured several North Escambia locations Wednesday afternoon. They checked on the progress of paving several dirt roads and the progress of other current and potential future infrastructure projects. Pictured above: Barry (right) and Moreno discuss the upcoming paving of Bradberry Road off North Highway 99 near the Alabama state line. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Senate Looks To Put Together Marijuana Plan
March 23, 2017
More growers, access to treatment for snowbirds and greater flexibility in the relationship between patients and doctors are among the items likely to be included in a Senate proposal to carry out a constitutional amendment approved by voters in November to broadly legalize medical marijuana.
The Senate Health Policy Committee held a workshop Wednesday on the implementation of Amendment 2, which garnered the support of more than 71 percent of Florida voters, as lawmakers try to reach consensus on five pieces of legislation floating in the Senate.
The most controversial issues include how many licenses the state should award to marijuana growers, now limited to seven. Also, they include who should be deemed eligible to qualify for the treatment and whether to maintain the “vertical integration” system — requiring medical marijuana organizations to grow, process and distribute cannabis products — currently in use.
Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican who was instrumental in the passage of medical marijuana laws in 2014 and 2016 and is the sponsor of the chamber’s highest-profile piece of cannabis-related legislation this year, was the only senator to appear before the committee.
The 2014 law allowed non-euphoric marijuana for limited types of patients, such as children with severe seizures. The 2016 legislation allowed full-strength marijuana for terminally ill patients. But the constitutional amendment will make cannabis available to a far-broader group of Floridians.
Under Bradley’s bill (SB 406), the state would have to issue five new licenses by the end of the year and could see another 20 marijuana operators — nearly quadruple the seven current licensed “dispensing organizations” — once the number of patients registered for the treatment reaches 500,000. The number of licenses would go up as the number of registered patients increases.
Bradley, a former prosecutor, acknowledged that his bill was likely too restrictive but cautioned against an open market for marijuana, which he pointed out is still an illegal drug under federal law.
“I hear a lot of talk about the current system as being a cartel,” he said. “This is not the selling of lawnmowers or office supplies. In those cases, there should be unlimited markets free from government oversight. This is very different. … Mom and pop stores don’t grow and sell medication that treat your wife’s cancer.”
But Bradley stressed the importance of having “a lot of different options from different providers” to keep prices down and guarantee patient access to the once-demonized substance that is now medicine in Florida.
Bradley frequently referred to a measure sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, that would require the state to issue 10 new licenses by October, and, like Bradley’s bill, includes a component requiring more licenses as the number of patients grows.
Senate Health Policy Chairwoman Dana Young, who referenced the other Senate measures throughout the meeting, told reporters her panel will propose a bill during the first week of April, at the earliest, giving time for the House and the Senate to hash out differences before the legislative session is scheduled to end on May 5.
The final product will likely be a hybrid of the Senate measures already filed, Young indicated.
“I do think that more licenses up front and different thresholds will be something almost certainly we’ll move to. The question is how many and what thresholds,” Young told reporters after Wednesday’s meeting.
Ben Pollara, the campaign manager for the political committee that successfully promoted Amendment 2, said Wednesday he felt “pretty good about” the Senate’s approach, in contrast with a House proposal that drew Pollara’s wrath.
House Majority Leader Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, is steering a measure (HB 1397) that would, among other things, bar all but terminally ill medical marijuana patients from using vaporizers or edibles to consume cannabis products.
Young, R-Tampa, said she has not been in negotiations with her House counterparts on the issue.
“I have not had any conversations with Leader Rodrigues or any members of the Florida House on this legislation,” Young told reporters when asked. “Obviously, we have got to pass a bill through both houses, but beyond that, no.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Boil Water Notice Lifted For Phalrose Lane, Cooley Road
March 23, 2017
UPDATE: The following boil water notice has been lifted.
A precautionary boil water notice has been issued for some customers of the Cottage Hill Water Works System.
The following areas are included in the notice: Phalrose Lane and Cooley Road.
The notice was issued following a water main break. Residents are advised to boil water for one minute at a rolling boil or to use six drops of regular unscented household bleach per gallon of water for water drinking or cooking purposes. Bacteriological sampling is underway and the advisory will be lifted as soon as possible.
A crew has repaired the main and is flushing out the lines. Residents are advised that there is a possibility of discolored water as a result of the break and flushing, and to flush their home’s plumbing by running their taps for a few minutes. If you have questions, contact the Cottage Hill Water Works, office at (850) 968-5485.
Blessed Are The Peacemakers: Special Visitors At Century Sheriff’s Precinct
March 23, 2017
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Century Precinct had some special visitors Wednesday from Byrneville United Methodist Church. They presented the deputies with “Blessed Are The Peacemakers” coffee mugs. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.