Published by former Mayor George Gardner May 25 2016
The Report is an independent publication serving our community
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Events moratorium passes
Francis Field events and parade limits
 City commissioners Monday approved a plan to limit major events and parade times in peak periods for the next two years, with one modification: all parades must be in the morning but not limited to Saturday mornings as proposed by Public Affairs Director Paul Williamson. "The Easter Parade is going to gives us pushback," City Manager John Regan forecasted as that traditional parade has been held on Easter Sunday afternoon for half a century. The modification does accommodate the annual Veterans Day Parade, allowing it to be held on Veterans Day. Williamson provided a list of Francis Field events that can continue during the two-year moratorium while the city develops a mobility plan. The Great American Burger Fest made the cut to continue in a list that includes mainly homegrown events. Regan said criticism since the plan was announced is focused on the size of Francis Field which accommodates larger capacity, and Saturday parade limits "incongruent with our history and with the sense of patriotism, referring to the Easter and Veterans Day parades.
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6.3 million visitors in 2015
$1.7 billion in visitor spending
$167 million paid by visitors in state and local taxes
29,000 jobs supported by visitors
$9.43 million in bed taxes
$0 paid by residents to promote tourism
From St. Augustine Ponte Vedra Visitors & Conventions Bureau
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Public Affairs Director Paul Williamson said an increased event fee schedule helps reduce $23,426.98 in city costs for events. Three day event fees will increase from $1,200 to $4,000, one-day events with less than 2,500 attendees from $300 to $500, and events involving right of way for less than an hour from $0 to $100.
Commissioners focused on major events at Francis Field, Commissioner Leanna Freeman saying, "If we go through another spring with multi-day festivals, none of us are going to be here ..."
Mayor Nancy Shaver suggested, "We may consider limiting the size of Francis Field to the scale of who we are," but Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline countered, "It's more practical to implement the satellite parking."
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Resident: 'Exercise
mobility and civility'
As mobility planning gets underway, the citizen Mobility Task Force makeup and continuing frustration with traffic cut-throughs in neighborhoods got public comment at Monday's City Commission meeting.
Susan Rathbone, president of the St. Augustine North Davis Shores neighborhood association (SANDS) criticized City Manager John Regan's' failure to appoint two Davis Shores residents to the mobility committee and St. George Street resident Lee Geanuleas noted, "40 percent of this task force don't live in the city."
Rathbone noted "This study will take one year, but there are immediate concerns. We have spillover parking from businesses and cut-through traffic. People are using our tranquil residential streets to get to the bridge of lions."
Regan defended his Mobility Task Force appointments and at the next commission meeting will "describe each member and the diversity they bring. We have all the different stakeholders that, in effect, parking and traffic represented."
Davis Shores resident Jay Bliss called cut-through traffic "massive intrusions" and noted St. Augustine police in one 24-hour period counted 479 vehicles on Oglethorpe Boulevard.
"Why not signs, No Cut-Through Traffic," and a speed limit of 20 mph, and speed bumps on Flagler and Oglethorpe Boulevard," asked Bliss. "(Mobility consultant) Littlejohn may arrive at these conclusions in a year, but these problems are occurring here and now. We need people to exercise mobility and civility."
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on city's 'unwritten history'
"What was a $500,000 project is now $1.8 to $1.9 million," University of Florida Historic St. Augustine Board Chair Alan Lastinger told city commissioners Monday of a four-part documentary being vetted by New York's WNET for consideration on the PBS network.
For that expense, Lastinger said "We have raised $1.5-$1.6 million. We are optimistic we'll have it fully funded through private donations."
He said the four-episode documentary will chronicle St. Augustine's history from 1565 to 1821.
$20 million invested in historic properties In the six years since the University of Florida took over management of 34 state-owned historic properties here, the university's Ed Poppell told commissioners "$20 million has been invested, much of it in activities to promote tourism." He said renovation of Government House is nearing completion, and "Financially. the Colonial Quarter is doing well." He noted "Last year we engaged one of our colleges' tourism departments for an overall study of the Colonial Quarter. What do we need for the future?" A report is expected next month. Poppell said funding for a Spanish street connection to St. George was vetoed by the governor last year but will be resubmitted. "We think we can create a pedestrian pass-through with craftsmen, a market, a park-type atmosphere." Historic St. Augustine management meets monthly with a city senior management team on progress in the university's stewardship.
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Appeal for timeliness
in revised appeal process
Applicants "find out in two weeks now. Under this (proposed revision) it goes to 6-8 weeks" City Commissioner Todd Neville said during discussion Monday of a proposed procedure change for negative recommendations from the city's Planning and Zoning Board to the City Commission. "I'm concerned about adding that much time."
The legislation would require applicants with negative recommendation from the plan board to go through an appeal process before the matters goes to the commission.
The ordinance will move to public hearing and final action with a commission-added modification giving plan board appellants two weeks to file appeal, with appeal sufficiency and process at the same commission meeting.
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History's Highlight
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Hurricanes shaped our founding
The 2016 Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting 6 to 11 named storms, of which 3 to 6 could become hurricanes.
But for hurricanes, St. Augustine would have been an also-ran for the title of nation's oldest city - if it were established at all.
 Tristan de Luna was totally prepared to succeed in 1559 where Spain's previous settlement expeditions had failed. His thirteen ships carried fifteen hundred soldiers and settlers, building and farming implements, and food enough for a year. He anchored in Pensacola Bay August 14, 1559, forty six years after countryman Ponce de Leon discovered La Florida.
Supplies were left aboard his ships in the bay while land was cleared and shelter built. One month later, on September 19,a hurricane struck. After 24 hours of pounding, most of the fleet and its stores, and many of the Spaniards, were lost - one caravel being hurled into a grove some distance on land. The remnants of the expedition struggled through the following winter, then abandoned this effort to establish Spain's first settlement in the new world.
Six years later, Pedro Menendez de Aviles had his test in a hurricane as well. He too was fully prepared to "explore and colonize Florida, but also on instruction from his king, "if there be settlers or corsairs of other nations not subject to Spain, to drive them out."
France's Jean Ribault was laden with supplies and reinforcements for the French settlement of Fort Caroline, near present-day Jacksonville, and both fleets arrived within days of each other in early September, 1565.
Again, a week after Menendez planted the Burgundy cross on our shore, a hurricane struck. Ribault decided the storm would cover a surprise attack by sea on St. Augustine. Menendez thought better. Creating this land's first militia to guard the newly founded settlement, he led his troops over land in the driving storm to a defenseless Fort Caroline, while Ribault's ships were scattered by the hurricane's fury along the coast south of St. Augustine.
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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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