Published by former Mayor George Gardner January 27 2016
The Report is an independent publication serving our community
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Commission rejects time
extension for Madeira
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78 minutes later, and following some hesitation after a motion was called for, the City Commission Monday rejected by 3-2 vote a time extension for completion of the Madeira development on the former Ponce de Leon golf course.
For Commissioner Leanna Freeman it was disappointment "in how the city handled the annexation. I personally believe that a golf course should be there today."
For Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline it was disappointment "that this ever happened."
For Mayor Nancy Shaver it was "if you're asking for an extension, is there something you might do for us that reflects the public good component?"
All three voted against extending time to 2023 to complete the 749 home development. So far, 74 homes have been built on the sprawling development along US 1 at the north end of the city.
The proposed amendment to a Planned Unit Development sought extensions of five years in each of three phases. They were originally set to begin in 2003, 2008 and 2013. The request was for five years each from 2016 and 2018.
Project Attorney Ellen Avery-Smith argued unsuccessfully that the recession stalled construction activity.
Said Freeman, "If all PUDs out there don't get their act together in time to build it consistent with what was approved during the time frame and conditions that the city felt was good for the community, why don't they have to go back and be reassessed before being able to go back and add everything?
"I think it's our responsibility to give it a second look. You start taking away elements and the consideration isn't there anymore."
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 French Taste in our Gilded Age
Lightner Museum Curator Barry Myers' monthly tour February 3 will feature American's passion for French design in the Gilded Age.
"Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson spent time as ambassadors to France and developed a taste for not only French cuisine but also decorative arts, introducing French style to the American public. From the 1850s to the 1910s, French style was all the rage.
"Wealthy Americans traveling to Europe during the 19th century became enamored with French style and culture."
The tour will begin at 10 am in the museum lobby, included in admission price, free to St. Johns County residents with valid ID.
Image: Maid at the Door, oil on canvas, Leon Francois Comerre, French, 19th century.
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Interim tweaking
for taxi ordinance
City commissioners Monday wouldn't accept a proposed ordinance prepared by Sax Taxi, but called for some of its elements to be addressed in current codes while the whole question of regulating vehicles for hire in the city continues under study.
"Short term I'd like to see us move on the miles, the age of the vehicles, the fines, and non-smoking," Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline said of some elements in the proposal, which includes limits of less than ten years old and less than 250,000 miles.
Assistant City Attorney Denise May told commissioners some elements of the proposal could create financial hardships on some cab companies. She'll work on inserting those initial elements of concern into the current code.
Sax Attorney James Whitehouse told commissioners, "They're just trying to address these few things that we've been talking about for a number of months. They're trying to make a level playing field, just something for the next four or eight months" while the city studies what Mayor Nancy Shaver termed " the bigger landscape" of vehicle regulation.
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Commission approves
7-Eleven sale to FDOT
City commissioners Monday quickly approved sale of the former 7-Eleven site at May Street and San Marco Avenue to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for $1,097,687.50 to provide a pseudo roundabout in its effort to reduce congestion at the intersection.
City Manager John Regan told commissioners that with an anticipated sale of a home at 1 Nelmar Street, included in the city's purchase of the 7-Eleven property, for $152,000, it will leave the city about $200,000 short of recouping the $1,458,000 purchase of the site last May.
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St. Augustine's festive Nights of Lights ends Sunday, nine weeks after the switch was thrown the weekend before Thanksgiving.
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Paddling through the Americas
New Government House exhibit
 Canoes have taken over the Government House exhibit space, replacing the First Colony
exhibit which is now at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville through mid-April, when it's expected to tour throughout the United States until 2021.
Historic St. Augustine Director Linda Dixon says of the First Colony exhibit on the founding and military and community life, "We think this exhibit tour will bring attention to the important history in St. Augustine."
Paddling Through the Americas, developed by the Florida Museum of Natural History several years ago, is an interactive exhibition featuring American dugouts from ancient times to present, Dixon says, which describes, "how dugout canoes have affected life and travel throughout the Americas, from Florida to the Amazon and the Pacific."
The exhibit is open daily 10 am to 5 pm.
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Lightner Museum meets social media
 A blog highlights special events and news about the collection and includes everything from the King and Queen of Spain's visit to the history of the museum's famous malachite urn.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest enable us to reach and interact with an international audience of scholars, museum professionals and art and history enthusiasts.
Now able to update with new exhibitions, events, programs, group tours, volunteer opportunities and blogs.
Lightner Museum's historic collections have been introduced to a thoroughly modern website.
Funding for the website was made possible through a grant from the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council.
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St. Augustine has a Film Office
We want your business. We will endeavor to smooth your way for film, TV, print, commercial, industrial or anything where our look will serve your needs.
The forests of Distant Drums with Gary Cooper (1951), Amazon jungle of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), mid-western farm of Lonely Hearts (2006) and Peruvian streets of The Celestine Prophecy (2006) beckon Hollywood back to the earliest mecca of filmmaking - St. Augustine.
St. Augustine Film Office President Marty Lewis' tagline is "After 450 Years We're Ready for Our Close-up!"
The fledgling office is part of the St. Johns County Cultural Council, "seeking to attract more filmmakers to the city to enhance our cultural standing simply by spreading the word throughout the community."
St. Augustine Film Festival
The sixth annual St. Augustine Film Festival Friday - Sunday will feature two Oscar-nominated films among more than 30 to be screened in five venues.
THEEB, Best Foreign Picture, and CHAU, Best Short Documentary, are on the program spread through the Lewis Auditorium, Gamache Theatre and three screens at the Corazon Theatre.
The film festival is presented by Flagler College.
Tickets will only be sold online for a limited time, and a limited number will be available.
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History's Highlight
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Osceola - January 1838
January 31, 1838, sensing the inevitable, Osceola directed his followers to dress him in his best finery, and he lay back on the blanket strewn floor of his cell at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina, and quietly expired. His remains are buried just outside the fort gate.
 Many Floridians to this day believe he should be reinterred in this state where, as a patriot warrior defending his homeland, he joined the legendary ranks of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Geronimo. Osceola first appeared in 1832, sitting at Chief Micanopy's side at Payne's Landing as the United States continued negotiations, trying to move Florida's Indians west of the Mississippi. Osceola was about 35 years old, and was immediately recognized by U.S. officers as a force to reckon with. The Indian agent, Wiley Thompson, called him "bold and dashing."
Negotiations, skirmishes and frustration would continue on both sides, breaking into all-out war in 1835 - the Seminole Indian War, which would stretch to 1842 and become the most costly Indian conflict in United States history.
Osceola's mind was clear. He would not be moved from his homeland. He made his point December 28, 1835, in a well-planned and spectacular pair of incidents which formally started the war. At points 40 miles apart, his forces mowed down the Indian Agent Thompson outside Fort King at Ocala and massacred a relief force of 105 under U.S. Major Francis L. Dade, on its way to Fort King.
He continued skirmishes on a frustrated U.S. military, fighting its first guerrilla-style war in the dense subtropics.
October 21, 1837, a weary Osceola and Coa Hadjo, another principal leader of the Seminoles, camped at Fort Peyton southwest of St. Augustine under a flag of truce to meet with the U.S. commander, Maj. Gen. Thomas S. Jesup.
They were unaware that General Jesup was no longer recognizing flags of truce. He was imprisoned in St. Augustine's Castillo (then called Fort Marion) until late November, then transferred to Fort Moultrie, away from potential influencing of his Seminole followers. There he was buried with full military honors in a grave outside the military base.
On his marker, military authorities inscribed, "OCEOLA Patriot and Warrior."
Image: Portrait of Osceola, painted by American Artist George Catlin at Fort Moultrie, January 1838.
Excerpt from Osceola, in St. Augustine Bedtime Stories. 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 a former newspaper reporter and editor. Contact the Report at gardner@aug.com or gardnerstaug@yahoo.com
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