Published by former Mayor George Gardner February 20 2016
The Report is an independent publication serving our community
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Madeira returns
3rd hearing before commission Monday
Madeira, the mega 749-home development on the former 419-acre Ponce de Leon Golf Course, goes before the City Commission Monday for an unusual third public hearing and final action.
 It came about as city commissioners pushed for "something you might do for us that reflects the public good component," as Mayor Nancy Shaver put it, in exchange for time extensions to complete the development. After 78 minutes of hearing and debate in January, commissioners voted 3-2 to deny that modification to Madeira's planned unit development (PUD).
Second hearing and final action is usually final, but City Manager John Regan told commissioners, "The commission sent a very clear and concise message that time extensions for PUDs are not automatic, (but) the vote created unintended consequences," particularly for the 74 residents currently in the development and ongoing real estate transactions.
The commission rescinded its vote to create Monday's third hearing and final action.
The property, a center for community organizations and events for years and boasting a rare Donald Ross golf course, was reportedly sold to developer Chester Stokes for $17 million in 2001. Within two years Stokes' announcement to close the historic course brought a community outcry.
Efforts to buy the property for a county/city welcome center, or a portion of the historic course as an amenity to the development, led to mediation, without success. Finally a planned unit development was adopted by the commission, with a timeline for completion of all various phases by 2018. Madeira, with only 74 homes built to date, seeks time extensions to 2023.
Commissioners are expected to push for concessions in exchange.
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Some 800 to 1,200 are expected at today's Active Seniors Expo at the technical center, along with 150 volunteers and workers.
The expo, 9:30 am - 2:30 pm, will benefit the Council on Aging and S.A.F.E (Save Animals From Euthanization).
Look for an appraiser from the PBS TV show, Antiques Roadshow, pet adoption by S.A.F.E. and information about elder law, aging in place (being able to stay at home), and other senior interests.
Contact 904-810-8535.
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"Despite the best efforts of city staff to encourage participation in the vesting of special event businesses, it appears that Ordinance 2015-32 has not had the desired effect of encouraging the "grandfathering" of existing event venues," Planning and Building Director David Birchim will tell commissioners Monday.
"To date, six applications for vesting have been submitted, with varying degrees of detail and completeness. It is possible that the reporting requirements are putting business owners in the uncomfortable position of making details of their businesses a public record that could be used by competitors."
Birchim will suggest, "The application shall may include the following minimum documentation..." along with a time extension, may produce more participation in this process."
Board appointments
on commission agenda
Commissioners Monday will appoint two members to the city's Historic Architectural Review Board and three to the Lincolnville Community Redevelopment Steering Committee ( LCRA).
Five have applied for the HARB seats: current member Antoinette (Toni) Wallace and Robert E. Olsen, Barbara Wingo, Janet Ponton Lewis, Susan Messersmith, Terrie Wiecking-NoIand, and Frank Smith.
Four have applied for the LCRA seats: Aaron Jockers, Nathan Baer, Reverend Rory Michael Hermann, and Carolyn O. Wright.
Cutting out carriages
Scrivener's busy with errors again.
The recently named Dr. Robert B. Hayling Freedom Park on Riberia Street will lose a bit of area. An error in the park boundaries included the adjacent city owned horse carriage transfer station, where franchised horse carriage businesses prepare for the day's work.
An ordinance to correct will be considered by commissioners Monday for advancement to public hearing and final action at a later meeting.
"Scrivener's error" is a legal principle which permits a typographical error in a legal document such as an ordinance to be corrected.
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Neighborhood Grant program 2016
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| | Nelmar Terrace Park was developed through a grant several years ago. |
There's $13,584 available for residents to improve their neighborhoods.
The City Commission budgeted $12,500 and 84 Lumber $1,084 for the 2016 Neighborhood Grant Program.
The program offers up to $2,500 for projects that are neighborhood centric including a tangible physical asset, new or existing, located on public space, and communication and education programs.
You can apply if you're a neighborhood association, the Council itself, an organization representing a group of residents, or a group of residents of a particular neighborhood.
The deadline for applications is Monday, March 21. Find the details here.
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The weekend
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1st Friday with Lincoln's Lion
 A book signing by the author of Lincoln's Bold Lion: The Life and Times of Brigadier General Martin Davis Hardin will be featured during First Friday Art Walk March 4 in the St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library Courtyard on Aviles Street. General Hardin resided in the Tovar House in the late 1800s.
Author James Huffstodt has written this first biography devoted to the life of "a remarkable young man who, in the words of Civil War historian Ezra Warner, 'embarked upon a combat career which has few parallels in the annals of the army for gallantry, wounds sustained, and the obscurity into which he had lapsed a generation before his death.'"
Tolomato Cemetery Guided Tour
Tour the oldest extant planned cemetery in Florida with burials dating back to the First Spanish Period (1565-1763). Admission free, but donations are encouraged. Tours 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. 904-257-3273 www.tolomatocemetery.com
Freedom Flight by Candlelight
Flight to Freedom, candlelight tours recounting the dangerous journey of a freedom seeker escaping from a life in slavery to a new life of freedom in Spanish Florida, will be presented Saturday at the Castillo.
45-minute programs at 6, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8 and 8:30 pm. Tickets at the Castillo ticket booth first come, first served, $10 adult, $5 ages 5 to 15, children under 5 free. Call (904) 829-6506 ext. 233.
7th Annual Table Tennis Classic
The 7th Annual All American Air Table Tennis Classic at River House Saturday begins with competition 4 - 9:30 p.m. and cocktails, dinner and dancing from 6:30 pm. $100 per person, $200 player registration, to benefit Habitat for Humanity and Home Again St. Johns. 904-881-1167 www.aaacharitablefoundation.org There's also a Friday Youth Table Tennis Championship at River House for ages 10 to 17. Registration $30 includes player and one parent. Spectator tickets $10 at the door; $5 in advance. 904-669-0763 www.aaacharitablefoundation.org
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History's Highlight
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A complete account of the failed mission at Ajacon is carried in the Seattle Catholic.
During one of their visits to the Chesapeake Bay region in 1561, the Spaniards took back with them the nephew of a tribal chief. He was christened Don Luis de Velasco after the Viceroy of New Spain, and became quite literate in Spanish ways and Catholicism.
 In 1570, La Florida Governor Pedro Menendez sent Don Luis with a mission of eight Jesuits, led by Fr. Juan Bautista de Segura to "La Bahia de Santa Maria," as the Chesapeake was named by the Spanish.
Unusual for the period, there was no military escort. Fr. Juan Rogel, while taking part in the belated relief expedition to Ajacan in August 1572, wrote the following account:
"As (Fr. Segura) had twice sent for (Don Luis) and he had not come, he decided to send Father Quiros and Brother Gabriel de Solis and Brother Juan Baptista to the village of the chief near where Don Luis was staying. Thus they could take Don Luis along with them and barter for maize on the way back.
On the Sunday after the Feast of the Purification, Don Luis came to the three Jesuits who were returning with other Indians. He sent an arrow through the heart of Father Quiros and then murdered the rest....
According to Rogel's letter, the incident would have taken place in early February, 1571.
Leaving the three Jesuits dead or dying in the forest, the Indian party swooped down on Fr. Segura's encampment.
The Indians had the European axes and their own machetes ready, and Don Luis assigned one native to one Spaniard each, so that they would be killed all at once without being able to combine in self-defense.
Fr. Segura lay ill in his hut on a grass mat. When his former Indian protégé entered, the priest greeted him joyfully: "You are very welcome, Don Luis!"
The Indian replied with a series of axe blows to Segura's head and body. The other Jesuits were similarly dealt with.
More than a year after the massacre, a Spanish supply ship found and rescued Alonso de Olmos, the teenage boy who accompanied the Jesuits as their altar server and assistant. He gave the only survivor's account of the massacre.
Florida Governor Pedro Menendez traveled to Ajacan to punish the culprits. Don Luis was never discovered, but eight other Indians accused of murdering the missionaries were promptly hanged by the Spaniards.
The disastrous attempt at establishing a mission in Virginia spelled the end of Spanish ventures to colonize the area. Following the death of Father Segura and his companions in the Ajacan Mission venture, the Jesuits were recalled from St. Augustine and sent on to Mexico.
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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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