Published by former Mayor George Gardner October 22 2011
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3 show interest in Spanish Quarter
Qualifications from three tourism companies interested in operating the Colonial Spanish Quarter go before the City Commission Monday.
Pat Croce & Company, St. Augustine Historical Tours, Inc., and Orlando Dinner Entertainment, Inc. have each presented qualifications to the city for possible public/private operation of the Colonial Spanish Quarter. It was closed October 1 by the city in the face of a projected $700,000 operating deficit.
Both Croce (Pirate and Treasure Museum) and St. Augustine Historical Tours (green trolleys) have tourism operations here.
The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) did not seek plan proposals. Assistant City Manager Tim Burchfield will ask commission approval to proceed to that phase- likely an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN).
The University of Florida, which manages all state-owned historic properties here including the Spanish Quarter, also reviewed and approved the RFQs. The city manages the Quarter under agreement with the University of Florida.
The regular commission meeting begins at 5 p.m. in the Alcazar Room at City Hall, after a 3:30 p.m. workshop during which commissioners will hear a report from Access Public Relations on fundraising for the Spanish Constitution and other anniversaries in the 450th Commemoration, and will review the current version of the 450th Commemoration Strategic Master Plan. | |
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New markers curb motorists
"It only took two years of work, but it happened and that's all that matters, St. Augustine Uptown Neighbor-hood Association (SAUNA) President Rhey Palmer says of mid-street markers now in pedestrian crossing zones.
"The traffic is really slowing down. That's a good thing."
Palmer, also chair of the First City Beautification Committee, says on Saturday starting at 8 a.m. volunteers from the Garden Club, Master Gardeners, San Marco Mer-chants, SAUNA and others will join in a clean-up to further beautify the San Marco entry corridor. |
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Gambling to expand West Augustine sewer | |
Commissioners Monday will be asked to gamble $390,000 from Utility Fund Reserves to win a $1.88 million pre-construction planning and design loan from the state for West Augustine area sewer expansion.
The monies are required by the clean water State Revolving Fund (SRF) for feasibility studies for the project. These will determine whether to proceed to pre-construction planning and design.
An interlocal agreement with the county, approved by the County Commission Tuesday, ultimately seeks $20 million for actual line construction. City and county are working with Jacksonville engineers Black and Veatch for engineering and grant-writing to seek a low-cost loan.
Under the agreement, the $390,000 will be reimbursed by the state if the project proves feasible; otherwise, the county will reimburse the city for half the outlay. |
Southern cedar as city tree? | |
The Southern Red Cedar will be proposed to the City Commission Monday as the official city tree.
Making the recommendation: the city's Street Tree Advisory Committee.
A resolution states, "The Southern Red Cedar is native to St. Augustine and the North Florida region, and is a protected species of tree due to its being the only tree which supports the Sweadners Hairstreak Butterfly, also known as the St. Augustine Hairstreak Butterfly) which is an endangered species."
The city recently replaced failing red cedars in the Plaza de la Constitucion.
The Hibiscus is the city's official flower, and the Spanish Bayonet its official plant. |
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Six ordinances in public hearings |
Six ordinances go before the City Commission Monday for public hearings and final action.
Two make adjustments to the city's Architectural Guidelines for Historic Preservation and two others affect zoning at the Winn Dixie North Towne Shopping Center. The others cover Solid Waste regulations and updating the Industrial Pretreatment Program.
The Architectural Guidelines for Historic Preservation (AGHP) have been the bible for regulation of construction and modifications in the city's Historic Preservation Districts for years.
A difficulty in handling adjustments to the AGHP was that, as part of the city's Comprehensive Plan, any changes had to be approved by the state Department of Community Affairs. A City Commission modification allows changes without state review, but establishes a lengthy public hearing process to fully air any changes.
One ordinance in public hearing Monday will require City Commission action on changes by ordinance rather than resolution, plugging in the lengthier process. The other provides for architectural styles other than colonial in the Historic Preservation One (HP-1) District south of the Plaza, and incorporates three new National Register Districts - North City, Nelmar Terrace, and Fullerwood Park. |
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City Manager to be graded on first year |
City Manager John Regan will submit his report to city commissioners Monday for grading on his first year in office.
Annual evaluation of the city manager was instituted in his contract succeeding Bill Harriss in July, 2010.
"The purpose of the annual review is to provide constructive feedback so that I can continually improve my performance and ultimately the organizational performance provided to our community,"Regan writes in a letter listing government activities. "I hope this partial list helps you in the evaluation and goal setting for the coming year.
"The challenge that we have met is to downsize government commensurate to the economic reality of plummeting revenues, while maintaining high service and productivity levels required by the City Commission."
Regan outlines his four general goals as core values, quality of life, infrastructure, and economic development, and includes evaluation forms to be filled out by the commissioners. |
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Business start-ups at farmers market |
The plea of a Galimore Center supporter for more black businesses and a business incubator program come together Sunday at the opening of the Lincolnville Farmers' Market.
Judith Seraphin of Global Wrap, one of the organizers of the market, tells how her accountant, Dave Winters, was inspired on a visit to last week's Kiwanis yard sale where a vendor was selling his creations and wishing he could make a business of it.
Winters, president of The Back Office, a Palencia business, will be providing "scholarships" at the market, including free booth space, a pop-up tent, and table and business training for start-ups.
He'll be providing the nuts and bolts of business - writing business plans, setting up accounting, establishing pricing and marketing.
Purcell Conway, chair of the Galimore Center Advisory Committee, has decried the lack of black small businesses and envisioned such an incubator program.
The farmers market will open with a ribbon-cutting Sunday at 10:30. It's located adjacent to the Galimore Center off Cerro Street. |
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History's highlight
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3 years, 10 months, 18 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary
Throughout the 1600s and 1700s, the land we know today as Georgia was a vast territory known as "the debatable land." Three of the world's mightiest nations competed to occupy and control it.
It was a highly valued land mostly because of its river systems and its natural resources. The rivers made for good transportation, and the natural resources could be used to make valuable consumer products back in Europe. Fortunes could be made or lost in the business of colony building. 
In the struggle for the New World, the English pushed south from Virginia and the Spanish pushed north from Florida, which made Georgia the frontline of the battle.
In 1587 the Spanish established a small mission on St. Catherines off the Georgia coast. Ten years later, a Guale Indian named Juanillo led an uprising against the Spanish, killing five Franciscan friars and destroying missions along the Georgia coast.
On St. Catherines, two missionaries were killed and the settlement burned. Juanillo was captured and killed, and eventually the Spanish rebuilt that mission.
The next 80 years were known as the Golden Age of Spanish Missions, with at least 15 established in Georgia, some located farther inland. Spanish hegemony remained relatively unchallenged in the Southeast until 1670, when the British established Charles Town in South Carolina.
This sparked almost a century of heated conflict over the debatable land. In 1680, the English with Indian allies attacked the mission on St. Catherines. The Guale were successful in repelling their attackers, but abandoned the mission, which was left to the ravages of time and disappeared under shifting sands and dense vegetation.
This marked the end of Spanish settlement on the Georgia coast as well as the end of the Guale Indians, who were to vanish without much known about them.
Georgia was not completely in English hands until Oglethorpe defeated Spanish troops on St. Simons Island at the Battle of Bloody Marsh in 1742 and a peace treaty was subsequently signed.
Image: Debatable Land exhibit at Massie School, Savannah's Museum for History and Architecture |
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The St. Augustine Report is published weekly, with additional Reports previewing City Commission meetings as well as Special Reports. The Report is written and distributed by George Gardner, St. Augustine Mayor (2002-2006) and Commissioner (2006-2008) and a former newspaper reporter and editor. Contact the Report at gardner@aug.com |
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