Gulf Power Working To Keep Those Air Conditioners Humming
August 4, 2011
This week’s high temps and heat indexes are causing air conditioners to work overtime along the Gulf Coast, and Gulf Power Company says they are prepared for record electric demands.
“We work hard to anticipate additional demand from our customers in the summer,” Jeff Rogers, Gulf Power spokesperson, said. “Through careful planning, we forecast demand years in advance to provide ample, reliable electricity for our customers. That includes planning for future power plants and other facilities. And, as part of Southern Company, we work with Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power to help ensure we have sufficient capacity.”
The utility can generate 2,659 megawatts of electricity on its own and purchase more electricity if necessary from sister companies and neighboring utilities. The all time peak record occurred in August of 2007 when Gulf Power customers demanded 2,634 megawatts. This year’s peak summer demand of 2,432 megawatts was reached on July 2, however a new summer peak is expected this week.
“What this means is our customers are buying more electricity to stay comfortable in the summer heat,” said Rogers. “About half of the electricity a customer consumes during the summer is for air conditioning.”
No Property Tax Increase For Century Residents
August 4, 2011
The Town of Century will not increase property taxes for the next year.
Ad valorem taxes will remain at .9048 mils. Even with the same tax rate as last year, city officials said that property tax revenues will actually decrease. That’s because property values are down.
Headed To The Creek? Santa Rosa Deputies Enforcing New Rules
August 4, 2011
Fun seekers headed to Coldwater Creek need to be aware of new rules and regulations, according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.
According to a Sheriff’s Office news release:
Timber company Resource Management Services has closed the area on the northeast side of Coldwater Creek on Munson Highway to all traffic. Due to liability concerns, RMS has decided to post it as “No Trespassing” and has asked the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office to enforce this. The area has now been posted for several weeks and strict enforcement is set to begin.
The land on each side of Steel Bridge Road, excluding a portion of privately-owned land next to the water on the northeast side, was recently acquired by the Florida Division of Forestry. This area is also frequented by swimmers and is used as a launching point for canoes and inner tubes. Recently, the land was posted as an “Alcohol-free” zone by the state, which means no alcohol is allowed on the shoreline of the creek. Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office plans to begin strict enforcement, and violators may face a $50 fine.
Pictured above: Coldwater Creek. Photo courtesy the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Major Road Project Planned For Flomaton; Atmore Highway Gets Improvements
August 4, 2011
Major roadwork will soon begin in Flomaton, while a state improvement project is already underway in Atmore.
Highway 29/113 Flomaton
Highway 29/113 from the Florida state line at Century to the Highway 31 intersection will be resurfaced in Flomaton. The project should begin within the next two months, according to Rebecca Leigh White, spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Transportation. The contract allows for 30 working days — about two calendar months — to complete the project, making the estimated completion sometime late this year.
The seventh-tenths of a mile will be resurfaced by low bidder Mobile Asphalt Company, LLC, of Theodore for $267,826.20. Other bidders on the project included Roads, Inc. Of NWF, from Cantonment at $270,348.85 and Hosea O. Weaver & Sons, Inc. of Mobile at $285,568.20.
The state had estimated the project would cost $256,000 TO $313,000 to complete.
Highway 31/Industrial Atmore
A project is currently underway on Highway 31 in Atmore to add a turn lane at Industrial Road. Highway 31 will also be widened six feet on each side to accommodate the turn lane.
The $365,000 project is funded through an Industrial Access Roads Grant through the Alabama Industrial Access Road and Bridge Program administered by ALDOT. The grant can be used to build or improve public access roads and bridges to assist new or expanding industrial and manufacturing firms, according to White.
“ALDOT is pleased this project that will provide more efficient access to manufacturers in the Atmore Industrial Park as industry continues to expand in this area of Alabama,” White said.
Contractor Roads, Inc. Of NWF, from Cantonment is expected to complete the project this fall.
Pictured top: Cantonment’s Roads Inc. is working to add a turn lane on Highway 31 at Industrial Road in Atmore. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
State Forecasts Property Value Increases
August 4, 2011
In a sign that Florida’s housing market may be on the road to recovery, the state’s top economist expects an increase in school property tax rolls next year of 1.3 percent.
Though that is actually a slight decrease from the original forecast of 2 percent, it is one of the most promising signs yet that Florida’s ailing and hard-hit housing market is on the mend after four years of plunging values.
Florida’s housing market was one of the hardest hit in the nation, the victim of an overwrought housing bubble, loose mortgage standards and a tourism-based economy.
The state’s housing woes have become fodder for national newspaper and magazine articles spotlighting the housing glut, examining over-developed South Florida subdivisions with plummeting home values.
But now Realtors, economists and property appraisers say they see signs of a housing market recovery.
“We turned the corner,” said state economist Amy Baker, though she cautioned the economic recovery is still fragile. Her forecast was part of a discussion Wednesday of adjusting estimated property tax revenue this year.
“The correction from the housing boom was severe and very dramatic on the (tax) rolls,” Baker said. “Now most of that correction is behind us, but we are still not back to the growth we typically see.” She said that property tax rolls are going to stabilize after four years of decreases, with drops over 10 percent in tax rolls in 2009 and 2010.
The forecast of school property tax rolls is a big indicator of the health of the housing market. When home values go down, school districts typically collect less money. When home values go up, then property tax rolls swell.
But is Baker’s forecast too optimistic? After all, Florida’s median home values are still sinking.
The latest real estate data shows that the median home price in Florida slipped 2 percent in June to $138,000, and that home sales fell by 4 percent in June from the same period last year.
Sean Snaith, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida, called Baker’s forecast “reasonable.”
The state’s tenuous economic recovery is heavily dependent on hiring, Snaith said.
“The states of the housing market and labor market are intertwined going forward,” Snaith said. “As we see better job creation numbers and a falling unemployment rate, that will help the housing market.” But while Florida’s unemployment rate has inched lower, it still stands at 10. 6 percent in June.
Snaith said an increase in what a school collects in property taxes could come from home value appreciation, or a combination of that and an increase in the number of people or homes in Florida next year.
Property appraisers said they are already seeing signs of an improved housing market.
Pedro Garcia, the property appraiser for Miami-Dade County, said in the downtown area, populated by high-rise condominiums, home values jumped 12.1 percent this year over last year.
In high-income areas, such as Coral Gables, property tax values have begun to inch upwards from last year, Garcia said. “It’s getting better, it’s definitely getting better,” Garcia said.
In Lee County, Property Appraiser Kenneth Wilkinson said tax rolls have improved from a 25 percent decrease three years ago to a mere 3.46 percent decrease this year.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if statewide we have a very slight increase,” Wilkinson said. “I wouldn’t disagree with Amy’s numbers. It sounds reasonable to me. What we are seeing is residential has bottomed out.”
But property appraisers said while homes and condos appear poised for a comeback, commercial properties are lagging behind. “Commercial property will always follow what is happening in residential,” Wilkinson said. “Commercial went down in double digits this year.”
Realtors and property appraisers say the recovery could still be unhinged by a significant increase in foreclosures, and a so-called “shadow inventory” of homes that are waiting to be put in the market.
The forced slowdown in foreclosures due to investigations into foreclosure fraud last year have helped home values in some areas by stalling the number of foreclosed homes, which often bring down the value of homes overall.
Florida Realtors President Patricia Fitzgerald said there are signs of increased housing activity in some parts of the state, but she said recovery is uneven, with some subdivisions seeing robust sales while others aren’t.
“We do see more activity, in the lower price ranges,” Fitzgerald said. “In the St. Lucie market, (homes) are selling like hot cakes,” Fitzgerald said.
Some of this activity is from investors, who sense the market may have reached its bottom, she said.
Some homes in St. Lucie are selling from $40,000 to $100,000 and many investors are snatching them up, she said, turning them into rental properties or fixing up foreclosed homes for a profit, Fitzgerald said.
“For the most part, you are seeing a big influx of investors coming into our marketplace,” Fitzgerald said. “A lot of those investors are local investors and are using cash.”
By Lilly Rockwell
The News Service of Florida
Two Area Farmer’s Markets Among Top 20 In America
August 4, 2011
Two Escambia County farmer’s markets are currently ranked among the top 20 in the country in a contest sponsored by the American Farmland Trust.
The Palafox Market in downtown Pensacola is number eight in the “medium” category, while The Market at St. Monica’s Episcopal Church in Cantonment is ranked number 11 in the “boutique” category.
Both markets feature vendors offering goods that include a broad range of local products, including local in-season vegetables, fruits, herbs, pasture-raised meat and poultry, free range eggs, freshly baked breads and pastries, homemade dog treats, honey, plants and flowers.
The Market at Saint Monica’s is open from 8 a.m. until noon on the first and third Saturday of the month through October (including this Saturday, August 6). The Palafox Market is open from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. each Saturday.
Voting in the 2011 America’s Favorite Farmers Market contest will continue through August 31. To vote, click here. After voting, American Farmland Trust will solicit a donation to protect American farmland. Donations are not required to vote.
Pictured: Scenes from previous Market at Saint Monica’s events in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Updated: Frontier Communications Outage
August 3, 2011
For the second day in row, thousands of Frontier Communications customers were without phone and internet service Wednesday.
The outage was described by Karen Miller, spokesperson for Frontier as a “large issue” with an AT&T circuit.
Phone and high speed internet experienced a failure just before 8 a.m., leaving Frontier customers unable to call outside of their local exchange. Phone service appeared to have been restored by about 8:20 a.m. in the Molino, Walnut Hill, Bratt, Atmore, Huxford and Monroeville exchanges. But high speed and dialup internet customers were still unable to access the internet for hours. By 10:30 a.m., internet service was restored for most customers, but reaching some websites was impossible at times.
As of 7:30 p.m., Miller said AT&T had restored service on their circuit that carries Frontier traffic between Atmore and Atlanta.
A NorthEscambia.com test call to 911, made at the request of Escambia County officials, indicated that 911 service was still available in Florida during the period.
Tuesday Outage
Phone circuits in the Atmore central office required resetting on Tuesday, according to Miller, creating the “toll isolation” problem for about 45 minutes.
The problem impacted Frontier customers in the Molino, Walnut Hill, Bratt, Atmore, Huxford and Monroeville exchanges.
Frontier high speed internet customers experienced difficulties reaching some websites on Tuesday. According to Miller, the problem was with an unstable circuit between Frontier in Atmore and AT&T in Atlanta.
Florida’s New Medicaid Package Unveiled
August 3, 2011
Florida’s Medicaid overhaul would not start shifting people into managed-care plans until 2013 and would use a controversial pilot program as a springboard, according to hundreds of pages of documents released Tuesday.
The documents are Florida’s detailed proposal for carrying out new state laws that would eventually require almost all beneficiaries to enroll in managed-care plans. The state Agency for Health Care Administration sent the proposal Monday to federal Medicaid officials.
Supporters hope the federal government will sign off on the proposal, which they say would help control costs in the $21.2 billion Medicaid program and improve care for beneficiaries.
“What Florida’s proposing really is at the vanguard of what states are doing, and a lot of states are looking at Florida,” said Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican who was an architect of the plan.
But opponents are worried about requiring Medicaid beneficiaries statewide to enroll in HMOs or other types of managed-care plans. Some, including Democratic legislative leaders, want the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reject the proposal.
Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich, D-Weston, said she is concerned about the ability of managed-care plans to serve low-income people who have severe medical needs, including seniors who need long-term care.
“In and of itself, it (requiring seniors to enroll in managed care) gives me heartburn,” Rich said. “Because this is an extremely vulnerable population.”
Lawmakers approved a two-bill package in May, with a goal of moving roughly 3 million Medicaid beneficiaries into the new mandatory managed-care system by October 2014.
AHCA appears to have closely followed the Legislature’s direction in putting together the proposal. But the documents also fill in details about how the state would transform the Medicaid system — and how it hopes to convince the federal government to go along.
As an example, one of the new laws says AHCA will begin “implementation” of the managed-care program for seniors in July 2012. But the documents make clear that seniors would not start enrolling until early 2013, because of the process of awarding managed-care contracts.
Similarly, the law says AHCA will begin “implementation” of statewide managed-care for a broader Medicaid population in January 2013. But the documents indicate people would not start enrolling until late 2013 at the earliest.
The documents request a series of approvals for what are known as “waivers” to federal Medicaid laws. The state is seeking two new waivers, which are intertwined, so it can require seniors to enroll in managed care.
But the state also is seeking an amendment to an already-existing waiver so that it can require managed-care enrollment for the broader Medicaid population, such as women and children.
That move quickly spurred criticism Tuesday, because the state uses the already-existing waiver to operate a Medicaid “reform” pilot program that requires most beneficiaries in five counties to enroll in managed care.
Democratic lawmakers and some patient advocates have long argued that the pilot is filled with problems.
“What I see is what I think we all expected,” said Greg Mellowe, policy director for Florida CHAIN, a group that advocates for Medicaid beneficiaries and is highly critical of the pilot and the statewide proposal. “It’s mostly a building off the Medicaid reform experiment.”
Negron said he would have preferred to seek a new waiver instead of amending the pilot waiver, adding that some of the pilot’s results are a “distraction” from what lawmakers are trying to accomplish with the new statewide system. He said AHCA and House leaders thought it would be better to use the already-existing waiver instead of starting over.
“My first choice would have been to come at this with a clean slate,” Negron said. “But that’s not where we are.”
Michael Garner, president of the Florida Association of Health Plans, however, said the new statewide program will be substantially different from the pilot.
“This is a new law,” Garner said. “The Medicaid waivers are simply tools for implementing policy.”
Two other proposed amendments to the pilot waiver also are likely to draw heavy scrutiny. Those proposals seek to require Medicaid beneficiaries to pay $10 monthly premiums and to pay $100 if they go to hospital emergency rooms for non-emergency conditions.
Opponents have contended since May that those ideas would hurt low-income people and violate federal Medicaid laws.
But in the proposals to the federal government, AHCA said the ideas were aimed at increasing personal responsibility and stemming the unnecessary use of emergency rooms.
“The Florida Legislature intended that eligibility for Medicaid include certain personal responsibilities on the part of recipients,” a document outlining the $10 premium said. “The new law includes provisions on participation in activities to promote healthy behaviors and modest financial participation in the program.”
By Jim Saunders
The News Service of Florida
Century Seeks New County Code Agreement To Shut Down ‘Junkyard’
August 3, 2011
The Town of Century is once again looking for a way to shut down a business the town says is operating illegally in a residential neighborhood.
George W. Philyaw says what he does behind his privacy fence at 120 front street is recycling, while the town says he is operating a junkyard on property that is zoned residential. Over a year ago, the Century Town Council cited regulations against “spot zoning” and denied Philyaw’s request to rezone the property for a recycling business.
At issue with 120 Front Street, according to the town, is whether or not Philyaw is operating a business on property that is zoned residential — not if the alleged business is a junkyard or recycling operation.
In February of this year, the town council instructed Mayor Freddie McCall to contact Escambia County’s Code Enforcement and seek a cease and desist order against Philyaw and the alleged business he operates.
But Sandra Slay, director of Escambia County Code Enforcement, said at that time that the current interlocal agreement between Century and Escambia County does not allow for the enforcement of issues like zoning, solid waste violations and stormwater.
Now, Century’s attorney has drafted a new interlocal agreement that would allow Escambia Code Enforcement to again take on zoning violations — and ultimately enforcement action against Philyaw. The Century Town Council has approved the new agreement; it now must be ratified by the Escambia County Commission at a future meeting.
The new agreement with Escambia County does not change any of the laws on the books, Mayor Freddie McCall said; it just gives Escambia County Code Enforcement the right to enforce the current laws.
“We have a severe zoning issue in the town,” McCall said. “You’ve got one house that is in the residential area that has junk piled up. He’s running a business…in a residential place.”
McCall makes no secret that Philyaw is the current target of the town’s new interlocal agreement with Escambia County, but he said the agreement would allow the town to use code enforcement to pursue any future zoning violators.
“That is the only issue we have at this time,” McCall said.
“There is a piece of property that is zoned for residential that is being used for commercial. We are going to allow code enforcement to police it for us,” Council President Ann Brooks said.
Philyaw has already been cited by Escambia County Code Enforcement for his property at 120 Front Street because it is zoned residential which does not allow his type of business to operate. But, without the new interlocal agreement in place, Escambia County Code Enforcement has been unable to take further action. Philyaw has told the town council that he simply collects metal for recycling until he has a “load” and then it is sold. The town maintains that the property is a junkyard under the town’s ordinances.
“This is not a home occupation,” Debbie Nickles, a consultant for the town, said at public hearing last year. “Based on my site visit, I consider this a junkyard…junkyards refer to storage of materials.”
Numerous residents spoke against the rezoning at that public hearing, and the council was presented a petition with signatures from about three dozen residents in opposition.
According to town records, Philyaw applied for a business license to operate about four years ago, but the application was denied because the property was zoned residential.
Pictured top: The street view of the property at 120 Front Street, Century as seen just prior to a rezoning hearing during the summer of 2010. Pictured inset: Escambia County Code Enforcement Director Sandra Slay addresses the Century Town Council earlier this year. Pictured below: The “junkyard” is located behind this fence on Front Street. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click the enlarge.
Farm Services Agency Conducting Food Drive In Molino
August 3, 2011
The Escambia County Farm Services Agency is taking part in a national goal to collect two million pounds of food for families in need this summer.
“We are all excited about the opportunity to do a little something extra for the needy in our communities that we serve. We encourage you to participate with your donation to help our fellow citizens,” said Suzette Cooper of the Escambia County FSA Office.
A food collection box has been set up in the lobby of the Escambia County Farm Bureau Building at 151 Highway 97 in Molino. Non-perishable food items, as well as personal hygiene items, are being collected through August 31. All items will be delivered to local food banks for distribution. For more information, call (850) 587-5345 ext 2.
Items most needed include:
- Canned Fruits — in light syrup or its own juices
- Canned Vegetables– low sodium, no salt added
- Multigrain Cereal — Cheerios, cornflakes, Grapenuts, raisin bran
- Grains — brown and white rice, oatmeal, bulgar, quinoa, couscous, pasta, macaroni & cheese
- Canned Proteins — tuna, salmon, chicken, peanut butter, beans
- Soups — beef stew, chili, chicken noodle, turkey rice
- 100% Juice –all sizes, including juice boxes
- Condiments — tomato based sauces, light soy sauce, ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, oils
- Snacks — individually packed snacks, crackers, trail mix, dried fruit, granola/cereal bars, pretzels, sandwich crackers
- Paper Products and Household Items — paper towels, napkins, cleaning supplies
- Hygiene Items — diapers, deodorants for men & women, feminine products, toilet paper, tissues, soap, toothpaste, shampoo