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Published by former Mayor George Gardner July 12 2014
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Sweet deal?
Mayors' St. George Street investment paying off
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A lease agreement executed back in quieter days on St. George Street is paying handsome dividends to a former and current mayor.
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Weeks and Boles
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In 1989 contractor Len Weeks, attorney Joe Boles and restaurateur Chris Way approached the city to lease a vacant lot at 81 St. George Street, promising to build and maintain public restrooms as part of their development.
Weeks would later serve as mayor from 1995 to 2000 and Boles is current mayor. The developed property today is sublet to Florida Cracker Café and Savannah Sweets.
Against some protest to the lease at the time, then Mayor Kenny Beeson said, "They came up with the idea, so it's theirs."
The agreement was for 20 years with rent of $100 a month for the first ten years and $750 for the second ten, with inflation adjustments.
A 1994 addendum provided options to renew for three successive five year terms beyond the original twenty, with monthly rent to increase by $250 during the first five-year period, $500 during the second and $750 in the third.
Way dropped out of the leasehold at that time and Weeks and Boles have since sold the café business to Travis Graft.
The second of those renewals begins July 25. City Attorney Ron Brown says, "According to its terms, the lease renews automatically unless the tenants provide written notice of their intent not to renew. The City has not received such notice."
With rents on St. George Street at $40 to $80 a square foot today, the 2,500 square foot Weeks/Boles building on the city-owned leased land can be yielding $100,000 to $200,000 annually.
Sweet deal.
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Museum rehab
project completed
Eight of 16 rooms in the historic Ximenez-Fatio House have been restored using special historic preservation techniques.
The work was made possible through a $50,000 grant sponsored in part by the Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources, and Florida Department of State, assisted by the Florida Historical Commission.
The Museum building was built ca. 1798 by Andres Ximenez and was converted into a boarding house in the early 1800's. Being 216 years old, the plaster ceilings and walls needed restoration and the wooden doors and windows had begun to deteriorate.
The Museum, owned by the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The State of Florida, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Sundays and Mondays.
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Commission candidates
meet in Tuesday forum
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The Neighborhood Council of St. Augustine hosts a City Commission candidates forum Tuesday, 7 to 8:30 pm at the Galimore Center - the only candidate gathering scheduled so far for the August 26 primary.
Three are running for mayor and a commission seat:
Mayor
Nancy Shaver, an activist who rooted out flaws in the city's Picasso exhibit and proposed coral growing and aquarium projects for Riberia Pointe. She's campaigning on Your Choice for Change on her website.
Ken Bryan, former County Commission chair, who promises Experienced Leadership with Real Solutions for the Ancient City on his website.
Joe Boles, incumbent mayor, who says Make sure St. Augustine remains the world-class destination it has become o n his website
Seat #4
John Valdes, a building contractor and present and former member of several city boards, aims for Lower Property Taxes, Building Financial Reserves, Development Control and Improved Traffic & Parking on his website.
Ron Berben says I will be committed to prioritizing basic services and spending taxpayers money wisely on his website.
Todd Neville, an accountant, promises A city focused on core municipal services at the top of its priority list on his website.
Top two candidates in the August 26 primary move on to the November 4 general election. If any one candidate receives 50% plus one vote in the primary election, he or she will win the seat outright.
Incumbent Vice Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline is opposed by former Planning And Zoning Board Chair Grant Misterly in the November election.
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Weaving leftovers into
Tapestry
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With $40,000 left over from the $240,000 Journey: 450 Years of the African-American Experience exhibit closing tomorrow, 450 Director Dana Ste. Claire wants $35,000 "to create a Tapestry exhibition development budget to bridge us through the end of the fiscal year.
He'll make the request to commissioners Monday. the regular meeting begins at 5 pm in the Alcazar Room at City Hall.
"The funds will be used in research, design and development of exhibition components for Tapestry: The Cultural Threads of First America exhibition program, which will be the signature and anchor exhibition of the 2015 St. Augustine 450th Commemoration year," he says.
The 450 office has been rolling over remaining funds from Visitor Center exhibits as well as applying ticket and merchandise revenue; $190,000 left over from $385,000 authorized for the Picasso exhibit went toward Journey.
The 450 office budgets total $1,661,686 over the past four years.
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Wayfinding getting better
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The city's $80,000 wayfinding signage program approved last year is getting under way in the historic district with installation of some dozen six foot tall map signs listing historic and civic sites.
Among the first are locations in the Plaza de la Constitución and visitor information center. The program also includes smaller lists and maps in other locations.
City Historic Preservation and Special Projects Planner Jenny Wolfe says the larger map signs are keyed to the heaviest pedestrian areas.
Cybersites too
Acknowledging modern technology, Wolfe got a grant from the Florida Division of Historical Resources to produce a mobile website accessing the Florida master site file with detailed information on historic sites and structures. Wolfe says visitors could use the website alone to tour the city.
And that could be more than a day's meandering. There are 1,650 historic places in St. Augustine recognized by the federal government.
Wolfe hopes to have the mobile website online by the end of June 2015.
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What do you envision?
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The city's visioneers want your opinion.
The Visioning 2014 & Beyond survey is short - two essay and four list questions - the steering committee hopes will give them a sense of community vision.
The questions:
1. What could happen in the next five to ten years (positive or negative)?
2. List topics you believe need to be discussed in the vision process
3. What three descriptors would you use to describe St. Augustine (i.e. livable, old, small).
4. List three things you like about St. Augustine
5. List three things you do not like about St. Augustine
6. List three things that are missing that you would like to see in St. Augustine.
Find the survey here. It can be filled out online, emailed or printed and mailed. Deadline is noon Thursday, July 17.
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Vision in commissioners' eyes
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Initiating its own vision for St. Augustine, commissioners and city staff have a list of 45 Strategic Action Items for 2014/2015.
The commission Monday will discuss the package developed at a pre-budget session June 26. The regular meeting begins at 5 pm in the Alcazar Room at City Hall.
- Infrastructure and Streetscape Aesthetics has nine items including continuing "red water" line renewal and replacement, development of an underground electrical policy and increased street repaving and re-bricking.
- Promote a proactive/visionary planning department to update ordinances and entry corridor guidelines and gather more community organizing assistance among five items.
- Livable City Initiative focuses on review and update of the city's noise and alcohol policies, listening to residential concerns and creating a neighborhood grant program among eight items.
- Parking and Traffic Management has eight targets including satellite parking and mass transit shuttles as well as reviewing previous studies.
- Economic Development has three items including a connection fee policy for industrial development, Nights of Lights innovation and the West Augustine utilities issues.
- 450th Commemoration has seven items including solidifying and communicating a schedule, establishing a 450th "Non-recurring" budget and fostering community involvement.
- Historic Preservation is last on the list - five items including Establish a preservation revolving fund, and policies on public/private participation in historic structures and event relevance to a historic city.
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History's highlight
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City budget back in the day
424 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary
From Augustine.com
As St. Augustine enters its annual budget season, reflections on city budgets and funding a century ago, when federal funds were not available to local governments for building roads and bridges.
In the case of St. Augustine, Henry M. Flagler was the benefactor and he, like the federal government in modem times, was not always pleased with the way his plans were carried out.
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Flagler
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Ingraham
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In 1906, Mr. Flagler wrote to his third vice president, J. E. Ingraham, complaining that the city was not keeping the streets in good repair and asked for "a little measure of public spirit, at least enough to keep the only street we have to the railroad in good condition."
Mr. Ingraham looked into the situation and wrote to Mr. Flagler, explaining to him that, at least in his opinion, the city was doing the best it could with what it had to work with. He pointed out that only the year before, the tax rate had been raised from 1.5 to 2 percent and that this managed to bring into the city's coffers a total of $53,085.42, more than double the revenues for the year 1892.
Twenty years previously, Mr. Flagler had built the very streets about which he was complaining (.89 miles - 4,700 ft. of wooden block streets and 1.19 miles of asphalt).
To this the city had added 1.55 miles of brick-paved thoroughfares, plus 6.53 miles covered with oyster shells, and they had done this without going into debt or increasing the taxes on property owned by the Florida East Coast Railway. The only really large outstanding obligation was for the water works which had lately been much improved.
Mr. Ingraham hoped that the new city council, just elected, would be able to do a little better about keeping the city's streets repaired, but he pointed out that St. Augustine was not a wealthy community.
In his report he said, "St. Augustine is too close to Jacksonville to make much business here, and there are not more than six men who are residents of the city or county who have an income of $5,000.00 per annum, so it could hardly be expected that anything of importance could be carried through without your help."
Mr. Ingraham closes his report to his boss by reminding Mr. Flagler that in 1859, many years before Mr. Flagler came with his money and his interest in developing the city, the total money brought in by the city in taxes was just $588.07.
Not much street repair, or anything else, could have been financed in those days.
James E. Ingraham served as St. Augustine mayor 1914-1920.
Images: Henry Flagler (left), J.E. Ingraham (right)
Henry Flagler is one of St. Augustine Bedtime Stories, capturing the city's rich history. Click
for further information on this fascinating historic series
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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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