CALL TO ORDER

President, Mayor Mike Anderson , called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m. at Two Trees Restaurant in Fort Walton Beach .

PRESENT BOARD MEMBERS

Mayor Mike Anderson - Fort Walton Beach (President)

Commissioner Heyward Strong - Valparaiso ( Vic e President)

Mayor Gary Combs - Shalimar (Secretary/Treasurer)

Councilman Ellis Conner - Crestview

Mayor Craig Barker - Destin

Councilwoman Fay Miller - Laurel Hill

Margaret McLemore - Mary Esther

Bill Roberts - Okaloosa County

ALSO PRESENT

Kay Rasmussen - EDC

Sean Garretson - TIP Strategies

Dave Swanick - Eglin A.F.B.

Tina Smith - Shalimar

Mayor Beverley Billiris - Tarpon Springs

MINUTES

Commissioner Strong moved to approve the minutes of the April 3, 2006 meeting as written.  Councilmember Miller seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

TREASURER’S REPORT:  $2226.32 after paying $96.48 for April 3, 2006 lunches, $600 for the ocloc.com web site, and $4.00 for a bank correction.  Mayor Barker moved to approve the treasurer’s report.  Commissioner Strong seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

-  Proposed Sales tax - All cities have signed the letter and it has been delivered to the County.  They are having a public hearing tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. in Crestview.  Also, all representatives were reminded to get started on their lists.

-  BRAC Committee Task Force Representative/Vision 2015 Military-Community Partnership - All board members have been reminded to discuss committee representatives with their councils.  Also, a meeting is taking place today to finalize the agenda for the May 23 meeting.

-  Mayor Beverley Billiris from Tarpon Springs has asked for an endorsement as 2^nd Vice President for the Florida League of Cities.

NEW BUSINESS:

-  Briefing from Sean Garretson, AICP with TIP Strategies, Inc. - Economic Development Consulting Firm hired to do a study to help prepare Okaloosa and surrounding counties for the changes due to BRAC decisions.

ANNOUNCEMENTS/REPORTS FROM CITIES:

Cinco Bayou

- The Town of Cinco Bayou has applied for a CDBG Grant to work in conjunction with CRA TIF funds received to be used as Commercial Revitalization along the Eglin corridor starting at the Tax Office carrying the revitalization project north as far as the funding will allow.  The Town has applied for CDBG funding for Commercial Revitalization three times previously and has been denied for lack of points.  The CRA Council is working on changes to the CRA Plan for TIF funds to be used for storm water/infrastructure projects in the event the CDBG grant is denied again.

-  The Council appointed Councilman Suzan Caforio as chairman of the sales tax committee for Cinco Bayou to work with Town Manager Nell Webb and the Town’s Engineer to prioritize storm water, infrastructure and roads needs within the town.

Crestview - Councilman Conner stated that a city report would be e-mailed next month.  He briefed that Crestview is continuing to grow.

Destin - attached

Eglin AFB

-  May 18 - Commander’s Retirement party at 1:00

-  May 22 - Change of Command

-  May 23 - Vision 2015 Summit

-  May 29 - Annual Gate to Gate Run

-  May 29 - Tops in Blue at OWC from 8-9

Fort Walton Beach

-  The last week of April, the City’s two new water tanks (750,000-gallon tank at the Golf Club and 500,000-gallon tank on Nicholson Street ) were filled and will be connected to the water system in May.

-  Construction of a water transmission main to provide needed redundancy in the City’s water system between the Golf Club area and the downtown area will begin soon.  The transmission main will start at the Golf Club, move down Denton Boulevard and tie into the existing system at Beal Parkway south of the Cinco Bayou.

-  At the April 11^th City Council meeting, an ordinance was passed addressing preservation of protected trees and recognition for heritage trees.  This issue was one of the priorities of the City Council’s 2006 strategic planning workshop.

-  In April, the City’s Fire Department began responding to many emergency medical calls via a rapid response vehicle (will cut down on the wear and tear of the ladder/pumper trucks which responded to these calls in the past).

-  The City Hall Athletic Complex, consisting of two multi-purpose grass fields, rest rooms, viewing areas, and an exercise path, is almost complete.  The fields will be used for playing soccer, flag football and baseball.  This complex was constructed utilizing funding from the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program.

-  Family Reading Fun Day, presented by the Fort Walton Beach Library and WSRE-TV (PBS for the Gulf Coast), will be held at the Fort Walton Beach Library on Saturday, May 6^th, from 9 a.m. – noon.  Clifford the Big Red Dog will be a special guest at this event which encourages reading through a variety of exciting activities.

-  A Concert in the Park (part of the Sunday in the Park series) will be held on Sunday, May 21, 2006 from 2 – 5 p.m. at the Fort Walton Landing.  The concert will feature “The Stephanie Ann Show!” from central Florida and the Garrett Brothers. 

Hurlburt Field - No one from Hurlburt Field was present.

Laurel Hill

-  We now have our own building and planning department due to all the expected growth.

-  We are looking at a possible 8 mil ad valorem tax since there has been none all these years.

-  We are having a tee ball camp planned for the end of June.  Basketball camps will be planned throughout the summer.

-  We are doing a feasibility study to bring natural gas to Laurel Hill.

Mary Esther - Mary Esther had nothing to report.

Niceville - No one from Niceville was present. 

Okaloosa County - Commissioner Roberts stated that the cities need to prepare for the sales tax campaign after the public hearing tomorrow.

Shalimar

-  Shalimar's only hard liquor establishment (PK’s) closes on April 30.  We are not sure what's going to happen with property.  There is a rumor PK’s closed due a significant increase in property rental rates.   Another One Bits the Dust!

-  Shalimar’s only Hotel (just across the street from PK’s) had their Grand Opening Ribbon Ceremony on Tuesday, April 25.

-  The Shalimar Yacht Basin development architectural design was reviewed at a special Commission meeting on April 25

-  Town awarded a $20K Engineering contract for Storm Water management research to a local Engineering Firm

-  The Town is in the process of purchasing 3 vacant lots next to town hall for expanded parking

-  The Town was awarded a $10K Urban Forestry Grant for storm damage maintenance of town trees

-  The Annual ABWA Charity Poker Run will be hosted at Shalimar Yacht Basin on Saturday May 20^th

Valparaiso

-  The City is in the closeout process for their CDBG grant for the water tower.

-  The City wrote a letter to Eglin AFB asking them to take 1000 feet off of the North/South Runway.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

-  May 1, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. - Vision 2015 Meeting

-  May 23, 2006 - Vision 2015 Summit Meeting

-  June 5, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. - OCLOC Executive Board Meeting Lunch

ADJOURN – The meeting adjourned at 1:08 .