Published by the Department of Public Affairs, City of St. Augustine. Florida January 21 2011 |
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Commission seeks public input Monday
City commissioners will look for public input at their regular meeting Monday on what City Manager John Regan calls "a keystone property in Lincolnville," the M&M Market building at Bridge Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
Said Regan, "The city has the opportunity to make a long term impact in Lincolnville's future by deciding what happens on that corner. The commission is taking this decision seriously and will solicit input from the community, so we hope the community will respond."
The city purchased the property last month as part of a criminal case that led to foreclosure of the property.
The commission meeting begins at 5 p.m. in the Alcazar Room at City Hall, and also includes an update on Reconnecting the Bayfront and Castillo, and introduction of a horse carriage ordinance. |
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Lift Up Lincolnville
A multi-faceted program to bring improvements to historic Lincolnville has been organized and started by city officials.
"Lift Up Lincolnville" is addressing maintenance of public and private properties, upgrading public infrastructure, installing new landscaping and improving public safety.
An outline of the effort and elements of the program is available on the city website. |
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Several Lincolnville projects under way | |
Public input on the future of the M&M Market building is but one part of an aggressive program, "Lift Up Lincolnville," begun last fall and today bearing fruit with the multi-force police raid on the M&M Market, sidewalk improvements along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, efforts to reopen the Galimore pool, and the start of the long-awaited Riberia Street project.
Arbor Day ceremonies today will bring four tree plantings in the citizen-initiated Lincolnville Community Garden, and City Manager John Regan has answered Lincolnville residents' pleas for complete rehabilitation of Riberia Street without phasing delays by completing funding of the $8.2 million cost through a proposed $22.5 million capital project bond issue. |
Horse carriage ordinance returns | |
A proposed horse carriage ordinance will be presented to commissioners once again Monday, following numerous tweaks, the most recent in November, when commissioners voiced more concerns and decided to delay action until newly elected Commissioner Bill Leary was seated.
Assistant City Attorney Carlos Mendoza has labored with a variety of concerns from carriage business owners, commissioners and citizens since the ordinance's introduction last May. Among them: a proposed franchise system, suspension of carriage service during commuting times, routes and route restrictions, and notice for charters. |
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Bayfront options include lane shifts | |
Reconfigurations of the bayfront, including options for three southbound and one northbound travel lanes, go before the City Commission Monday for consideration.
Jeremy Marquis of Halback Design Group will outline four alternatives following months of public input and review by city boards and business groups. The design project is funded through the federal Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks grant program and has animated detail on the project website.
Among the alternatives, two create a separate horse carriage pathway "that actually makes a large reduction in the traffic impediment to vehicles while giving carriages a safe travel lane," Marquis says.
One (pictured) includes a carriage route shift from east to west side of the bayfront. Alternatives with two or three lanes southbound include a longer dedicated lane for traffic turning onto the Bridge of Lions. Bicycle lanes are also figured into the designs.
All but one alternative feature a wider bayfront, streetscape and sidewalks.
Marquis hopes for commission selection of a preferred alternative Monday to proceed toward application for an implementation grant, due by mid-April. |
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Making room for bicycles | |
There are trails and tours for bicyclists in the area - like the 260-mile St. Johns River-to-Sea Loop Trail tour scheduled for February, but how to fit pathways in and around the narrow streets of St. Augustine?
The North Florida Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) will be asking those questions tomorrow at the Old City Farmers' Market at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre from 9 to noon, and at the picnic area of the Visitor Center parking facility on Orange Street from 1 to 4 p.m.
City Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline, city representative to the planning organization, says, "There's this gaping hole - no real trails through St. Augustine."
Can't make those survey times? Go to the TPO website for an on-line survey.
260 miles of history
That February tour begins and ends in St. Augustine, rolling out the 26th and includes six overnight stays including St. Augustine's Hilton Historic Bayfront Hotel, the White Orchid Inn in Flagler Beach and the Night Swan Inn in New Smyrna Beach. Cost is $1,795 per person double and $2,095 single. Details at Bike Florida. |
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History's Highlight
The letters of Pedro Menendez
4 years, 7 months, 19 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary
Drawn from The Exploration of Florida and Sources on the Founding Of St. Augustine by Luis Rafael Arana, former supervisory historian at the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
Aboard Pedro Menendez' ships as he prepared to sail to La Florida, along with munitions to fight a war and tools to establish a colony, was an Escribano Público - a Notary Public - and 12,000 sheets of paper. Menendez made good use of these, writing seven letters to the King of Spain from August 13, 1565 to January 30, 1566, a total of more than 30,000 words. 
The first letter, dated August 13, 1565, is written from Puerto Rico and outlines his plans to sail to Florida and confront the French, who had established Fort Caroline near Jacksonville. He is aware that a French relief fleet under the command of Jean Ribault is on its way to the French settlement.
"I assure Your Majesty that though neither the troops nor the horses should come in time I shall not fail to land in Florida with such force as I shall have with me, for if it should be before the French arrive there it seems to me that we shall be strong enough to take the mouth of the harbor from them and fortify ourselves there so as to intercept the succor that they are looking for.
"For it seems to me that to end this war speedily it is chiefly important that I shall arrive in Florida before the French, and in all reason, judging from the speed with which I have come thus far and shall go from here to Florida, I shall arrive before them, and although in doing this we incur some risk and undertake great labors, yet it seems to me that we ought not for these reasons to fail to venture.
"It is a month since a French vessel went to San Germains and had captured a (Spanish) vessel with the dispatches that Your Majesty sent to these parts. I believe it carried supplies to those (French) who were in Florida, advising them of the aid that was to be sent them and that I was marching upon them and that they should fortify themselves and hold out till they arrived.
"I am very sorry but shall not for that fail to go to seek them with all dispatch with such force as I may find." |
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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 |
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