Published by former Mayor George Gardner April 8 2015
The Report is an independent publication serving our community
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Local Heroes use as bar revoked by plan board
If we filed a complaint every time we'd wear out the police.
Local Heroes bar neighbor Len Pellicer
Local Heroes bar attorney Jeremy Mulligan questioned due process but nearly a dozen residents and the Planning and Zoning Board in a unanimous vote weren't swayed: Local Heroes' use as a bar by exception was revoked after an extensive hearing Tuesday.
Police reported 27 noise citations and 19 closing time citations in the past year as the bar continued to operate under conditions set in 2012 - among them that there be no more than three noise citations.
The north St. George Street/Spanish Street bar, dominated by a large courtyard and entertainment platform, was put on probation after noise and other complaints dating back to 2011.
Monk's Vineyard plan supported
Dan Hamann thought his timing was bad, being on the same agenda with the contentious Local Heroes bar issue, but the board supported his plan to open up the second floor of Monk's Vineyard and operate both floors as a bar with seating in an historic theme.
The board decided against putting conditions on the plan.
Hamann is contemplating purchasing Monk's Vineyard from longtime owner Hank Williams.
Len and Nancy Pellicer, among neighbors speaking against Local Heroes, were among those supporting Hamann's plan, noting, "We had our rehearsal dinner upstairs there."
"Actually we had music in another restaurant we operated and took it out," Hamann said. "We found it didn't impact our business. I would hope that I don't need that ... I hope our historic theme will draw patrons."
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The Fort Mose story can reach the world, Freebooters Producer Derek Boyd Hanker-son believes, with a little help from friends at Jacksonville's One Spark this week.
Derek's company is minority representative with Holly-wood's Tri Coast Worldwide, and The Fort Mose Story, with veteran actor James Bullock as its commander, Captain Francisco Menendez, is entered in the crowdfunding festival.
The goal is $150,000, and your vote counts toward it. Find details on the website
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Dow PUD tabled
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A contentious proposal for Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning of the former Dow Museum of Houses was continued Tuesday to the May 5th Planning and Zoning Board (PZB) meeting, but still drew a half dozen public comments from concerned neighbors.
The PUD request is to develop a multi-suite hotel.
"Delay, and delay, and delay," said activist Ed Slavin. "Seems odd that a (development) team with extensive experience can't have their paperwork in order," said one of several St. George Street neighbors.
Major concern was on more than $600,000 in repair work currently underway. "Is it for the houses or hotel suites?" asked one resident.
Board member Jerry Dixon said he'd visited the property and found only structural repairs are being done, and Planning and Building Director David Birchim and Asst. City Atty. Denise May assured the board that any improvements will not impact government decisions on the use of the property.
Hotel height needs 'context'
Hotelier Fred Ashdji returned to the Planning and Zoning Board Tuesday with a modified plan for his proposed Hyatt Place hotel, reducing its height from 55 to 40 feet.
After extensive debate the board continued the request to its May 5 meeting for more details - building elevations and context with the neighboring streetscape.
Mark Knight of the Wright Firm noted the additional five feet would provide the extra first floor height more upscale hotel franchises want.
The Hyatt Place would replace Ashdji's Quality Inn on US 1 north.
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Walks with Mayor Shaver
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Mayor Nancy Shaver continues her Walks with Mayor today - this one Flagler Model Land tract from 6-7 pm starting at United Methodist Church, Riberia and King streets.
The mayor is keeping the community up to speed on her website, http://nancyshaver.com/
Rhythm & Ribs weekend
 St. Augustine Sunrise Rotary Club's Rhythm & Ribs Festival fills Francis Field this weekend, featuring seven regional and national BBQ champions, continuous live music, arts, crafts, vendors, children's games, rides and activities.
Hours Friday 4-10 pm, Saturday 11 am - 10 pm, Sunday 11 am - 6 pm; tickets $5, under 13 free.
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An affair to remember
Easter Promenade, Parade for 450th
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 An Easter Promenade in the Plaza de la Constitución filled with finery, Easter prize baskets and a tub of duckys to count - actual number 319, winner guessed 317 - and an Easter Parade bringing back Kip Dingler floats (courtesy of Jalaram Hotels) after many year's absence, and introducing St. Augustine's newest fire department purchase - the 1928 fire engine first bought by the city in 1928.
A Mad Hatter creation won top honors in the promenade's Most Creative Hat division, while three of those four Dingler floats earned medals in the parade - Jalaram Hotels' Hilton flag float, Cross and Sword and 450th birthday floats.
Winners and categories:
Easter - 450th Birthday Float, Oscar's Paint and Body Shop, Ancient City Road Runners
Historical - Jalaram (St. Augustine Hilton Flag Float), Cross and Sword, Ancient City Privateers
Religious - Crescent City Baptist Church, Memorial Lutheran Church, Eastern Star
Open - St. Augustine Ballet, St. Augustine Fire Department, St. Augustine Cruisers
Overall Best of Parade - St. Augustine Ballet, Jalaram, Cross and Sword
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A floral tribute to St. Augustine's 450th
Garden Club of St. Augustine creativity and repurposed granite curbing have created historic dates in the west side parks flanking the Bridge of Lions.
The club and city Streets and Grounds Division workers fashioned planter boxes in Gibbs Park with flowers spelling out 1565 on the north side of the approach to the bridge and 2015 on the south side.
Club Project Manager Terry Nelson and Streets and Grounds Foreman Chris Anderson worked out the design. The granite curbing came from the city's older brick streets, stored away as those streets were refurbished for possible future use - like celebrating the city's 450th anniversary.
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City Team visits State Legislature
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Mayor Nancy Shaver and City Manager John Regan, and earlier city commissioners Nancy Sikes-Kline and Todd Neville in separate visits, traveled to Tallahassee as the 2015 Florida Legislature reached the mid-point of its 60-day session.
They're lobbying for funding for the West Augustine Sewer Expansion and historic preservation projects in the city and county.
The mayor and city manager's visit coincided with passage of resolutions in the House and Senate designating September 8, 2015 as Founder's Day in the State of Florida.
The West Augustine project, to relieve the area from dependence on septic tanks, carries a price tag of $7 million. The city is hoping for $6 million from the Legislature while St. Johns County has applied for a Community Development Block Grant for other improvements in the area.
Historic preservation funds would go toward continued rehabilitation of the north city Waterworks Building, a survey update for the Town Plan National Register Historic District, expansion of the city's wayfinding sign program, and conversion of City Hall lobby space into an archaeological exhibit identifying how the colonial city evolved from the 16th century through 1763.
Other projects: Trinity Episcopal Church of St. Augustine, the Sisters of St. Joseph, Inc., Forward March, Inc., the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program, Flagler College and the Town of Hastings.
Environmental and Climate Challenge Day
All about the natural world around us, and how to get closer to it, will be showcased Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm at the Willie Galimore Center.
Look for family-friendly vendors, a dolphin rescue truck and Whitney Traveling Zoo, and learn about honey bees, sea turtles and mosquitoes, community gardens, GMO-free plants (genetically modified organisms), pottery and hybrid automobiles.
Speakers will discuss sea level rise, a ban on fracking in Florida, important environmental issues locally and internationally, and dolphin rescue efforts in northeast Florida.
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There goes the neighborhood
Natives meet early explorers
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 The interplay between indigenous peoples and Western explorers who encountered them will be discussed Tuesday, April 14 in the closing session of Flagler College's Community Lecture Series.
The program, featuring Flagler Assistant Professor of Anthropology Dr. Lori Lee in what she calls, The Steel Crown: Indigenous Responses to Exploration, is at 10 am in Flagler College's historic Solarium.
Tickets $5. Reservations required, and space is limited. Call (904) 826-8617 or visit the website.
"Exploration involves the investigation of unknown regions - unknown, that is, to explorers," Lee says. "Yet most of these regions were both known and inhabited by indigenous peoples."
Her research includes case studies from North America, South America, and Africa, examining the responses of indigenous people to ever-increasing exploration.
The lecture will last about an hour and be followed by a coffee and pastry reception.
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St. Augustine in the beginning
154 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary
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First of two highlights from Walking St. Augustine, Elsbeth 'Buff' Gordon, a walking guide to St. Augustine
It is September 6. Outside St. Augustine's treacherous sandbar, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés' lead ship,
San Pelayo, and four smaller ships drop anchor in deep water. On board are eight hundred soldiers, sailors, women, and children from various regions of Spain and Africa. Captains Andrés López Patiño and Juan de San Vicente with two hundred men disembark in small boats (tenders) and cross the dangerous bar into the inlet, the arm of the sea. They reconnoiter the area for the most convenient place to unload supplies and dig a defensive trench in which to collect the people so they can defend themselves with artillery before a fort can be built.
An enemy attack is imminent. Menéndez had encountered Jean Ribault's French fleet the night before at the mouth of the St. Johns River forty miles to the north. Ribault's ships had come to supply Fort Caroline, built by French Protestants (Huguenots) in 1564 and commanded by René de Laudonnière.
Ribault knows where Menéndez is unloading. In 1562 and 1564, he and Laudonnière had sailed by the island (today called Anastasia) and had noted the ocean inlet that now leads into the Spanish encampment.
On September 7 and 8, Menéndez's smaller ships enter the inlet on incoming tides. Soldiers, married men, wives, and children disembark with provisions, artillery, and munitions. Pedro Menéndez disembarks after noon on September 8 in a small boat launched from the
San Pelayo
, which is still anchored off the coast. He crosses the sandbar and lands with ceremony, trumpets, artillery fire, and Catholic ritual led by his chaplain, Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales. Menéndez is sworn in as adelantado, captain-general and governor, and officially takes possession of St. Augustine, named after the fifth-century Catholic saint and bishop of Hippo (Algeria).
The day and the saint hold particular significance and symbolism for Pedro Menéndez. September 8 is the feast day of Our Lady of September, the patron saint of Menéndez's home region of Asturias in northern Spain. A solemn mass is held in her honor.
Observing Indians seem friendly. One eyewitness writes that Menéndez has "the Indians fed and dines himself." Their thanksgiving cocido (stew) undoubtedly has a Spanish shipboard flavor-salt pork, beans, and garlic, hardtack and wine-hopefully enlivened with Indian corn, squash, a fresh fish catch, and berries.
Image: Lawrence Packard drawing, 2013, Spanish galleon
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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 a former newspaper reporter and editor. Contact the Report at gardner@aug.com or gardnerstaug@yahoo.com
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