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Published by former Mayor George Gardner January 26 2013
The Report is an independent publication serving our community.
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George Gardner 57 Fullerwood Drive St. Augustine FL 32084
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$22 million bond refinance to lower
interest, yield $2 million for projects
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A $22 million refinance of decade-old bonds will save the city $1.3 million in debt service through
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Litzinger
Photo: historiccity.com
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lowered interest and provide $2 million in additional monies for capital projects.
City commissioners will consider the refinancing plan at Monday's regular commission meeting, beginning at 5 pm in the Alcazar Room at City Hall.
City Comptroller Mark Litzinger said the refinancing follows a recent refinancing of utility bonds which reduced debt service and provided $4 million to be used for corroded water line replacement.
"A total of $500,000 of this refinance will be used for scheduled capital maintenance of the parking facility," Litzinger said, "and the balance could be used for other projects like the North City waterworks building restoration, street bricking, Spanish Street streetscaping, Lightner building repairs" - all projects in regular discussion.
Litzinger noted the city's bond debt is a web of interrelated services, "but the goal is to keep a level debt service across the board." All the bonds are being financed without property tax monies, Litzinger said.
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2 for 1
Herbie Wiles and Dr. Robert Hayling have both been nominated for the city's La Florida Award and, unlike previous procedures, city commissioners will have to decide publicly Monday between the two for a single slot on the award roster.
City Attorney Ron Brown says the tradition of polling commissioners privately before a public vote creates a "collective decision of the Commission without a duly noticed meeting" in violation of the state's Sunshine Law, enacted after the award guidelines were established in 1975.
Hayling led the St. Augustine civil rights movement in 1964, and Herbie Wiles Insurance founder Herbie Wiles is a former county commissioner active in a wide range of community organizations and causes.
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A pool grows
in Lincolnville
Brand new and on budget, Galimore Center will have a new swimming pool by Memorial Day if all goes well.
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Pool has 5 foot depth,
3-4 feet in shallow el
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The cost to remove the existing pool - work that began this week - and install a new, five swim lane pool with shallow el section is $300,000, well below the $360,000 set aside from $400,000 issued by the county when it discontinued maintenance of the Galimore Center.
Some of the funds were used to keep the center open for the past year.
General Services Director Jim Piggott said additional monies might go toward YMCA management of the pool, which would operate through Labor Day, as well as renovations to the building interior and outside restrooms.
He'll host a "brown bag lunch" with residents at Galimore Wednesday, January 30th, 11:30 am - 1 pm, along with pool contractor Stuart Maxwell and consultant Jerry Dixon, to provide details.
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Sorting out entry corridor review
City commissioners decided at a previous meeting that the city's Entry Corridor Review Committee, originally created to review any disputes in guidelines regulating development applications along King Street, San Marco Avenue, and Anastasia Boulevard, should look at beautification and other elements as well along those entry corridors.
Apparently step one is changing the review process from a committee of Planning and Zoning (PZB) and Historic Architectural Review (HARB) board members to HARB alone.
Commissioners Monday will consider an ordinance to make that change, while later in the meeting they'll consider reestablishing the Entry Corridor Review and Parking and Traffic committees, both sunsetted annually.
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Faces in the chamber
Appearing before the City Commission Monday:
Dr. Stanley Bond will receive the de Avilés Award for his archaeological work with the
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Bond Erdelyi Billie
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city, including development of the city's archaeological ordinance.
Attorney Susan Erdelyi, of Marks Gray, P.A., Florida League of Cities Insurance Trust Attorney, to discuss options to limit transient vending and street performing. Commissioners would like to ban transient vending citywide.
Bobby C. Billie, Clan and Spiritual Leader of the Council of the Original Miccosukee Seminole Nation Aboriginal Peoples, will present the aboriginal indigenous view of archaeology and the rights of aboriginal indigenous peoples to protect their Burial Grounds.
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CRA - from blight to bright
It's not fun to be called "blighted," but if it that legalese term can lead to addressing problems all neighborhoods face - traffic patterns, drainage, zoning - Lincolnville residents appear ready to accept it.
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Otis Mason and Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline at CRA session.
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A large and diverse outpouring of residents turned out for a three-day discussion of needs for the historic neighborhood this past week in sessions conducted by consultants Prosser Hallock of Jacksonville, hired by the City Commission to develop a Finding of Necessity for a Community Redevelopment Area (CRA), which would reinvest property tax increases into neighborhood improvements.
Some 50 residents weighed in on the final day to vote on a wish list they had developed in earlier sessions. Highest vote-getters in six categories:
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- Housing - homeowner assistance and acquisition and replacement of dilapidated structures
- Connectivity - sidewalks along South Street
- Amenities -revive cultural festivals
- Sense of place - beautification - design guidelines for Lincolnville style, and programs to celebrate cultural heritage of Lincolnville
- Land use - neighborhood scale commercial services on ML King Avenue
- Infrastructure - underground power lines
Prosser Hallock will be issuing a draft plan to commissioners in this first of many promised opportunities for neighbors to shape improvements in Lincolnville.
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History's Highlight
2 years, 7 months, 17 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary
This is the first of two highlights on notable women in the history of St. Augustine. These excerpts are from Florida Women's Heritage Trail, a Florida Heritage Publication of the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
Maria de Los Dolores Mestre Andreu (1801-1871) became one of the nation's first female lighthouse keepers in 1860 upon the death of her husband.
Lucy Abbott spearheaded development of the Abbott Tract, twelve blocks between San Marco Avenue and Matanzas Bay. She came to St. Augustine in the 1860s and was one of the city's earliest real estate speculators.
Clarissa Anderson Gibbs (1895-1990), daughter of Dr. Andrew Anderson. Her
philanthropic endeavors included Echo House, an African-American learning and social center; the Dr. Peck House and Women's Exchange; Flagler Hospital; Flagler College, and the St. Augustine Historical Society.
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Maria based on
Mary Evans Fenwick
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Abbie M. Brooks (1830-1914) was a writer who sometimes worked under the pen name Silvia Sunshine. She lived in St. Augustine for many years and was best known for her travel guide, Petals Plucked from Sunny Climes, which told of her travels throughout Florida between 1876 and 1878. She also traveled to Spain to research and transcribe colonial archives resulting in her 1907 Unwritten History of Old St. Augustine. She lived her last seven years under the care of the Hopkins family at 50 Water Street, known as the Abbie M. Brooks House.
Luella Day began the legend of the location of the magical Fountain of Youth, promoting the park as one of the city's first tourist destinations. Day was a pioneering woman physician during the Canadian Klondike gold rush and wrote of her experiences in The Tragedy of the Klondike.
Fannie Louise Fulwood (1910-1944), a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) during the 1960s civil rights movement in St. Augustine, earned her living as a housekeeper and maid, was the recipient of numerous awards, including the St. Augustine de Aviles Award and a fellowship award from the Unitarian Universalist Church. Her residence for 71 years was 83 Kings Ferry Way.
Mary Evans Fenwick (1730-1792), married Major Joseph Peavett, paymaster for the English military, when the British took control of St. Augustine and lived in today's Gonzalez-Alvarez (Oldest) House. In addition to her business as a midwife, she operated an inn and tavern in her home. A fictional account of her life and times was recorded in Eugenie Price's book, Maria.
St. Augustine Bedtime Stories - Dramatic accounts of famous people and events in St. Augustine's history - in booklets designed for quick reads before bed. Information here
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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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