Published by former Mayor George Gardner April 9 2016
The Report is an independent publication serving our community
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All joking aside ,
global warming is real
Ice melts above 32 degrees, no matter what your political party. Ice melts; water rises; shorelines retreat.
Oceanographer and consultant John Englander, a leading expert
on sea level rise and its societal and financial impacts.
 "Like every other coastal Florida community - and coastal and low-lying areas everywhere on Earth - St. Augustine is increasingly going to be affected by sea-level rise," Jerry Murphy of University of Florida Resilient Communities Initiative will tell city commissioners Monday. The regular commission meeting begins at 5 pm in the Alcazar Room at City Hall and live-streamed on CoSATV.
Predicting a sea level rise from three inches to 6.6 feet in the next 15 to 85 years, the university white paper says, "How the City prepares to address the impacts of this eventual inevitability is paramount to St. Augustine's future."
In Wednesday's St. Augustine Report. researcher Ann Horowitz wrote, "A projected three-foot sea level rise by 2100 may permanently inundate portions of six St. Augustine historic districts."
The white paper concludes first steps by the city include a Capital Improvements Plan and intergovernmental coordination, cooperation, and collaboration.
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22 Flagler College students will present their research on fish biodiversity, sea turtle identification, microplastics in area waterways and coastal strand fire ecology at a symposium April 21.
"A major component of our Coastal Environmental Science major is hands-on research conducted by undergraduates," Assistant Professor Dr. Ed McGinley says.
"These projects are the culmination of their hard work in less than ideal weather, as well as the resiliency to overcome unforeseen obstacles. This evening will be the most important part-presenting their results to the general public."
The free event will be held in the college's historic Solarium in Ponce Hall.
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Congestion relief
timeline adjusted
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Project Director Eric Shimer has revised the timeline for FDOT's San Marco Avenue / May Street redesign to relieve congestion.
While engineering is already underway and a public hearing April 26 will bring residents up to date, actual construction will start in summer 2017 with projected completion in spring 2019. Wednesday's Report had start and completion dates of this summer and spring 2018.
Redesign features will include a dedicated left turn lane on West San Carlos to US 1 South, an extended left turn lane on San Marco turning onto May Street east, and multiple lanes to increase traffic flow.
Cut thru cutoffs?
With a new design intersection at May Street and San Marco Avenue still years away, the city's Public Works Department has a request to close entrances to and limit exits from the Nelmar Terrace Neighborhood on May Street at Douglas Street and Magnolia Avenue.
A public meeting is scheduled for next Thursday at 7 pm at the First Church of the Nazarene, 6 May Street.
A discussion session will follow a presentation.
Update on SR 312 bypass
James Knight, Urban Transportation Development Manager for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), will give commissioners traffic updates for the SR 313, a proposed bypass from SR 207 through SR 16 to US 1 north of the city.
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$6.85 million in projects
on tap for drinking water
Three projects totaling $6.85 million are on tap in the near-term, Public Works Director Martha Graham will tell commissioners Monday as she presents a resolution for the funding to be included in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.
The Fund program makes funds available to drinking water systems to pay for infrastructure improvements.
Immediate projects are San Marco water main replacement, Fullerwood Neighborhood water main replacement and Water Meter Replacement Program
The resolution would adopt the City Drinking Water Facilities Plan, a ten-year capital improvement plan to accomplish the city's drinking water needs.
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Three incumbents,
three challengers
All three City Commission incumbents - mayor and two commissioners - have filed for reelection, and at this time two will face challengers.
Mayor Nancy Shaver will be opposed by Radio Station WFOY Owner Kris Phillips. Roxanne Horvath has two challengers, Abbott Tract resident Sandra Flowers and New Mount Moriah Christian Ministry Pastor Ron Stafford.
Leanna Freeman, most recent to file, currently has no challengers.
Shaver will be seeking a second two-year term and Horvath a second four-year term. Freeman is seeking a third four-year term.
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Community Chorus Concert in May
 A Masterworks Concert will be presented by The St. Augustine Community Chorus May 15 at 3 pm at Ancient City Baptist Church on Sevilla Street.
An American Choral Sampler will feature selections from twentieth and twenty-first century composers: University of Florida's own Paul Basler, Randall Thompson, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Paul Halley, and Gwyneth Walker.
The chorus, led by Music Director Mike Sanflippo, will be accompanied by French horn and violin soloists and a chamber orchestra. Gwyneth Walker will again be the visiting composer for this concert
The 100 volunteer member chorus has three annual concerts. Tickets $15 advance, $20 at the door, $5 for students and active military.
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History's Highlight
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St. Augustine can count within its history many major decision makers who impacted that history. Among them:
 1513 - Spain's Juan Ponce de Leon succeeds in discovering La Florida, then decides to sail south around the tip of this new land. His ships, sails trimmed to the wind, nonetheless are sailing backward. He has discovered the powerful Gulf Stream, which would provide swift passage of treasure fleets leaving the Caribbean for Spain.
1565 - Two legendary seamen, Spain's Pedro Menendez and France's Jean Ribault, prepare for battle to determine control of Florida. As a hurricane develops, Ribault decides to use it as cover to attack Menendez' fleet in the St. Augustine harbor. Menendez decides to attack Fort Caroline 40 miles to the north overland. His troops storm a defenseless fort, while Ribault's fleet is blown south of St. Augustine and destroyed along the shores of Canaveral.
1586 - England's Sir Francis Drake decides to raid St. Augustine, burning the town to the ground and prompting an inquiry by the Spanish government which decides St. Augustine should be abandoned. A lack of funds and initiative keep it from happening.
1669 - Mariana, Queen Regent of Spain, responds to a continuing series of attacks - the latest a pirate raid in 1668 leaving 60 dead. She decides to build a fortress, the Castillo de San Marcos.
1835 - Seminole War Chief Osceola decides to strike decisive blows against American forces trying to move his people west. He ambushes the Indian agent at Fort King in Ocala while Seminoles ambush Major Francis Dade's relief column on its way to Fort King. The incidents ignite the second and longest Seminole Indian War.
1837 - American General Thomas Jesup, frustrated that his overwhelming force can't defeat the Seminoles, decides to capture Osceola under a white flag of truce. Osceola is imprisoned at Fort Marion (the Castillo during the American territorial years), and later moved to Fort Moultrie at
Charleston where he dies.
1888 - Standard Oil Baron Henry Flagler decides St. Augustine can be an American Riviera for his wealthy, winter-weary northern friends. He opens the magnificent Hotel Ponce de Leon and a new era in St. Augustine history.
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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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