St. Augustine Report

Published by the Department of Public Affairs, City of St. Augustine. Florida May 3 2011

Fence on the street, line in the sand

City seeks FSDB input on plans

Collins House behind fence

A fence, city codes, and future plans are on City Manager John Regan's agenda as he prepares to meet this week with President Danny Hutto of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.

"I'll say, 'Here's the heart of the problem. What can we do?" he told two dozen Nelmar Terrace residents at a meeting last week following complaints the school is expanding a single family residence into a student dormitory.

Hutto was out of town on a family emergency. Regan said he wanted to get the neighborhood's and school's feelings to craft any recommendations for the City Commission.

The focus is the 1924 Collins House on Nelmar Avenue, undergoing a $1.3 million renovation and expansion that neighbors say will change its single family appearance. A longer standing issue is a high fence around the property neighbors say impacts the neighborhood character.

And future plans concern neighbors abutting the school property. "If they can get away with this, what will be next?" one neighbor asked.

"This is the project to draw the line in the sand," Regan said.

Nelmar Terrace joins Register
Nelmar Terrace, the area northeast of San Marco and San Carlos avenues, has become the city's seventh listing on the National Registerof Historic districts.

The listing raises the level of historic sensitivity for the neighborhood as it wrestles with Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind plans.

Properties in these neighbor-hoods are eligible for city and county Historic Preservation Property Tax Exemptions for renovations.

Other designated districts are City of St. Augustine (downtown St. Augustine,) Model Land Company, Abbott Tract, Lincoln-ville, North City, and Fullerwood Park.

Plan Board gets positive requests

If today's Planning and Zoning Board agenda is any indication, things may be looking up.

The J. R. Fraser Revocable Trust wants approval to add three rooms to its hotel at the north end of St. George Street; St. Paul AME Church wants approval for a School of Excellence at the historic Echo House, anticipating a construction start within a year, and Rivers View Hotel, LLC wants a two-year extension of its Planned Unit Development for a hotel at 311 and 333 South Ponce de Leon Blvd.

The meeting begins at 2 p.m. in the Alcazar Room at City Hall.

Also on the agenda: a request to remove four protected southern red cedar trees for construction of a new single family residence at 69 Riberia Street (previously tabled to consider relocation of the house to preserve the trees), and dredging for boat access adjacent to Hospital Creek. This was referred from the City Commission for recommendation on archaeological and navigation impacts.

May Day for archaeology

Tonight at 7 p.m. in the Flagler Room, Flagler College, the St. Augustine Archaeological Association will host a trio of local archaeologists discussing recent activities around the region and under the sea.

They include Robin Moore of St. Johns County, Chuck Meide of the St. Augustine Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP),and Sarah Miller of the Florida Public Archaeology Program (FPAN).

Neighborhood Association Meet

The Flagler Model Land Company Neighborhood Association meets tonight at 7 at The Floridian Restaurant on Cordova Street to socialize and discuss neighborhood activities.

Five Centuries of Our Coast

From 1502 to today's satellite imagery, a new St. Augustine Historical Society exhibit traces Five Centuries of Our Coast, documenting the city's history through maps staking territorial claims, telling stories, promoting tourism or aiding navigation.

Dr. Parker with map exhibit "For 500 years, artists and mapmakers have recorded the coast around St. Augustine," Society Director Susan Parker says. "The site of St. Augustine has, literally, been on the map from the earliest days of European exploration in the Americas.

"In fact, St. Augustine is the first U.S. city ever to be mapped."

The exhibit is presented daily 9 - 4:30 in the Page Edwards Gallery at the Oldest House Complex.

The tale of a tale

Michael spent an hour in a phone interview with Betty Jane Stewart of Orange Park on her experiences in Egypt's Jasmine Revolution.

Shaping it into a story, he sent it to his Flagler College Journalism instructor and mentor, Rob Armstrong, who recommended he submit it to the Gargoyle Anthology for the college's online newspaper.

Michael wasn't optimistic, facing stiff competition. Then word came that the story would be published in the premiere issue of the anthology and Michael would be invited to the awards ceremony.

At that ceremony, "I heard the first two lower awards for feature reporting called and, expecting to hear some up and coming young journalist's name to be called, I missed my name being called," Michael says.

Michael received the 2011 Gargoyle Anthology Gold Award for Feature Writing.

Michael Isam, who is known to thousands of county veterans for regularly email publishing veteran information, will graduate Flagler College in December 2012, at the age of 65.

Read his award-winning article here.

History's Highlight

The French seize secret dispatches

4 years, 4 months, 6 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary

From the 10,000-word Memoir of Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, principal priest with Pedro Menendez de Avilés on his voyage to Florida June 28 - August 28, 1565.

Before our fleet left Spain, three caravels had been sent out by his Majesty's directions as dispatch-boats, each at a different time, to transmit to St. Domingo and to Havana his Majesty's orders in regard to what should be done on our arrival. The second of these caravels took with her a great many sealed dispatches concerning arrangements to be made, and a great many valuable objects. Bahamas Channel

When she arrived off Mona Island, she was attacked, and compelled to surrender to a French vessel. The enemy boarded her, possessed themselves of all her papers, read the plans for the conquest of Florida, took off all the other things they saw fit to take, and then told the ship's company to go as fast as they could to St. Domingo to notify their countrymen.

As I have stated, we learned at St. John's of Porto Rico that our dispatch-boat had been captured. This fact, joined to the reflection that our fleet was much injured by the storm, and that of the ten vessels which left Cadiz only four remained, all this made it evident to our captain-general, a man of arms, that the French would likely be waiting for him near the harbors a little farther on, and precisely on our route to Florida.

This was all the more to be expected since the French had come in possession of our plan to unite our forces at Havana. The general decided to take a northerly course, and pursue a new route, through the Bahama Channel, leaving the enemy to the windward.

Following this dangerous navigation, the Lord permitted the admiral to arrive safely in port on Sunday, the 20th of August. We saw two islands, called the Bahama Islands. The shoals which lie between them are so extensive that the billows are felt far out at sea.

The general gave orders to take soundings. The ship purchased at Porto Rico got aground that day in two and a half fathoms of water. She soon got off and came to us. Our galley, one of the best ships afloat, found herself all day in the same position, when suddenly her keel struck three times violently against the bottom.

The sailors gave themselves up for lost, and the water commenced to pour into her hold. But, as we had a mission to fulfill for Jesus Christ and His blessed mother, two heavy waves, which struck her abaft, set her afloat again, and soon after we found her in deep water. At midnight we entered the Bahama Channel.

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