CALL TO ORDER

President, Councilwoman Fay Miller , called the meeting to order at 12:01 p.m. at Two Trees Restaurant in Fort Walton Beach .

PRESENT BOARD MEMBERS

Councilman Dutch Payne – Cinco Bayou

Mayor Mike Anderson – Fort Walton Beach

Councilwoman Fay Miller – Laurel Hill (President)

Councilwoman Fay Young – Mary Esther

Mayor Randall Wise – Niceville

Mayor Gary Combs – Shalimar

Commissioner Heyward Strong – Valparaiso

ALSO PRESENT

Wanda Jones-Heath – Eglin A.F.B.

Tina Smith – Shalimar

MINUTES

Commissioner Strong moved to approve the minutes of the November 7, 2005 meeting as written.  Mayor Combs seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

TREASURER’S REPORT:  $705.29 as of 12/04/2005 – Commissioner Strong moved to approve the treasurer’s report.  Councilman Payne seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

-  Affordable Housing – Mayor Anderson reported that there will be a meeting on the 13^th to finalize the details of the symposium.  The symposium will be an all day event and is set for February 1, 2006 at the Conference Center .

-  Proposed Sales tax – Commissioner Strong has the sales tax letter and has not received a response from Crestview and Destin.  Mayor Wise believes that the county will not agree to anything other than a 60/40 split so he doesn’t want to sign the letter.  Commissioner Strong will contact Crestview and Destin to find out if they are going to sign the letter to the county.  If both mayors will sign the letter, Commissioner Strong recommended that the letter be submitted to the county with only 8 signatures.  Mayor Combs moved that Commissioner Strong submit the letter to Okaloosa County with only 8 signatures.  Commissioner Strong seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:

Mayor Anderson noted that the next scheduled meeting will fall on a holiday so the board agreed on meeting on January 9.

ANNOUNCEMENTS/REPORTS FROM CITIES:

Cinco Bayou

·         All FEMA money has been received

·         The project next to townhall has stalled

·         Mayor Frucci has moved out of Cinco Bayou and the new mayor is Mike Iovieno

·         The city’s Christmas decorations are all up

Crestview – No one from Crestview was present.

Destin – No one from Destin was present.

Eglin AFB

·         Change of Command Ceremony on December 13^th

·         Tops in Blue will be December 12 at OWCC

Fort Walton Beach

·         The Fort Walton Beach Christmas Parade will be held on December 5^th starting at 6:30 p.m.   The parade will start on First Street and move up Eglin Parkway to Uptown Station. 

·         The Fort Walton Beach Police Department will host a women’s self defense seminar on December 10^th from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.   The seminar will focus on home/car safety, defensive tactics, awareness techniques and holiday safety tips.

·         On December 13^th, a ceremonial deed transfer of the Fairgrounds/Softball Complex property from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service to the City of Fort Walton Beach will be held.  The City of Fort Walton Beach recently purchased the 42.3-acre property from the Forest Service.

·         As a result of Hurricane Dennis damage last summer, the boardwalks at Liza Jackson Park and the Fort Walton Landing are currently being rebuilt. 

·         Work to build a 750,000-gallon water tank at the Fort Walton Beach Golf Club and a 500,000-gallon water tank on Nicholson Street continues.  The foundations have been completed, and erection of the steel tanks has begun.

·         Okaloosa on Ice, a Fort Walton Beach MainStreet ice skating/holiday lighting event, will continue at the Fort Walton Landing through January 2^nd.  In conjunction with Okaloosa on Ice, the City of Fort Walton Beach will hold an outdoor Christmas movie on Saturday, December 17^th starting at 5 p.m. on the Landing stage.

Laurel Hill – Laurel Hill had nothing new to report.

Mary Esther

·         Mayor Thomas is not currently able to attend the meetings so Mary Esther sent Fay Young

·         Bids to enlarge the library were opened last Thursday and were all well above what the city planned.  They are now looking for lower bids.

Niceville

·         Bids for the library extension will be opened next week

Shalimar

The Planning and Zoning Board is meeting with the County to discuss the proposed condominium development.

Valparaiso

·         The water tank project has been delayed approximately 3 months but it appears that it is now back on track

·         All of the gas generators have been received and will be installed by the start of the next Hurricane Season

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The next meeting will be at Two Trees on January 9, 2006.

ADJOURN – Commissioner Strong moved to adjourn the meeting at 12:30 p.m.   The motion was seconded by Mayor Combs and passed unanimously.