City Coat of Arms
Published by the Department of Public Affairs, City of St. Augustine. Florida                               June 8 2010

  Recycling by the ton

     FDOT bridge remains become city riprap

      
Bridge rubble at Riberia Street site     The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) gets rid of tons of concrete from the dismantled temporary Bridge of Lions, and our city gets necessary riprap to protect the marsh area at the south end of Riberia Street.

     For FDOT, moving the debris to Riberia Street saved the expense of more distant hauling, while our city saved the expense of purchasing necessary stone for a state-mandated "armament" around a former landfill at the south end of Riberia Street.

     City Manager-designate John Regan negotiated a multilateral agreement with bridge contractor Skanska, FDOT, the St. Augustine Port Authority, and state Department of Environmental Protection for the riprap, reducing the project cost to about $100,000 from the $600,000 to one million dollars it could have cost importing stone.

     The concrete transfer is the last major trucking project along Riberia, scheduled for major improvements to begin in October. Phase one will extend from King Street to the area of Bridge Street.
historic lane
City among
top US 100 
      St. Augustine gets kudos from relocateamerica.com as one the nation's best places to live.
      "The zoning authorities in the nation's oldest city have done an outstanding job of preserving the charm and history for both visitors and residents," the relocation guide says. 

     "Homes and lifestyles are as varied as the flags that have flown over the city since its founding. From condominiums on the ocean or waterway to gated golfing communities, from restored houses in the city to horse farms in the country, St. Augustine has something for everyone."

Sign on for Report
 
Previous Issues
America's oldest street?

     Is Aviles Street North America's oldest continuously used street? City Archaeologist Carl Halbirt, Research Assistant Melissa Dezendorf, and their volunteer team mean to find out, and the redesign project for the block from King Street to Artillery Lane provides the opportunity.

Archaeologists on Aviles Street     As the city will be lifting the current brick surface to replace utility lines and expand the west sidewalk to provide outdoor dining, the dig is made possible.

     Among initial findings: in the area of Artillery Lane, at least 13 distinct road surfaces dating from the early 1600s have been uncovered, while at the north end, Henry Flagler's road improvements of the late 1800s have been revealed.

     Aviles Street was part of our original town plan, laid out by Spanish royal ordinance in 1573.

 

Follow city boards on TV

     Our city's two major boards under our City Commission are the Planning and Zoning (PZB) and Historic Architectural Review (HARB) boards. You can follow all three - our City Commission both live and rebroadcast, and PZB and HARB in delayed broadcast - on Comcast Channel 3. An easy to read/post schedule is on our city website.

     Regular commission meetings are broadcast live at 5 p.m. each second and fourth Monday of the month and rebroadcast the second and fourth Wednesdays at 9 a.m. PZB meets the first Tuesday at 2 p.m. and HARB the third Thursday at 2 p.m. Those meetings are taped for viewing - PZB the first Friday at 9 a.m. and HARB the fourth Friday at 9 a.m.

     Meetings are held in the Alcazar Room at City Hall.

Mooring field reservations begin

     The reservation process for boater locations is under way as the date nears to install mooring fields in our bay and Salt Run.

     Reservations for waterfront property owners will be accepted through June 13, then all city and St. Johns County residents through June 27, and finally the general public.

     Mooring sites in Matanzas Bay have gained names, the San Marco Field north of the Bridge of Lions and the Menendez Field south, while Salt Run is designated the Salt Run Field.

     Installation of the mooring fields will begin after the July 4 holiday, with completion expected by the end of August, General Services Director Jim Piggott says.  

     Complete details on our city website, and the St. Augustine Municipal Marina 904.825.1026 can answer questions

 

River platform on July agenda
  Matanzas River platform design

     That proposed observation platform on the Matanzas River adjacent to the Council on Aging's (COA) River House moves to our Planning and Zoning Board's (PZB) July 6 agenda after being tabled this month due to a lack of quorum.

     Proposed is a 1,320 square foot platform on what COA Executive Director Cathy Brown calls "this last available waterfront acre."

     "The waterfront has all been gobbled up, in private hands," Cathy says. "This observation platform will be a way - with an accessible path from the River House - to be on the River ... luxuriating in all its beauty."

     The platform will need approval as a Conservation Overlay Zone Development. The PZB session will begin at 2 p.m. in the Alcazar Room at City Hall.

 
History's Highlights  

       Huguenot Cemetery 'a Publick burial place'

       One in a series of historic features as we prepare for our commemorations, drawn from research by George Gardner.   
 
      5 years, 3 months, and 1 day to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary
   
     Samuel Fleischman is at rest in the northeast corner of this simple, century-old cemetery, the first recorded burial, October 18, 1821. He was 14 years old.

     Florida became a U.S. territory July 10, 1821, after more than 250 almost uninterrupted years of Spanish rule. Within months, visitors and immigrants flocked to this unknown semitropical paradise, some to settle, others to visit for their health.

 Huguenot Cemetery    Within months, too, a deadly visitor arrived - yellow fever. City fathers knew they must prepare for burials.  

     The only existing burial ground of the time was the Tolomato Catholic Cemetery. Protestant burials would not be allowed.

     In September, 1821, the city sought a " ... Suitable Lot for a Publick burial place for all Protestant denominations of Christians."

     The site, significantly just outside the gates of the city, was part of the original Castillo defense area, granted out for farming but taken back in times of military need. The U.S. territorial government decided it would no longer be needed, and approved its use as a cemetery.

     Its last grantee under Spanish rule sold it to Presbyterian Minister Thomas Alexander in 1827. Five years later the minister transferred title to the Presbyterian Church. It is owned today by the Memorial Presbyterian Church and maintained by the volunteer Friends of the Huguenot Cemetery. In its 63 years before closing in 1884, at least 120 burials were recorded.

     The half-acre Huguenot Cemetery may have been  named for the French Protestants wiped out by Pedro Menendez de Aviles in 1565 as he claimed Florida for Spain. It might also have been named by tourist-conscious city promoters. "Huguenot" was a unique term to most visitors; it originally referred to followers of Hugue Besancon, and later to Protestants active in the Calvinist Reformation.

 
     The St. Augustine Report is published by the Department of Public Affairs of the City of St. Augustine each Tuesday and on Fridays previewing City Commission meetings. The Report is written and distributed by George Gardner, former St. Augustine Mayor (2002-2006) and Commissioner (2006-2008) and a longtime newspaper reporter and editor.  Contact The Report at gardner@aug.com