Okaloosa
County
League
of Cities, Inc.
Executive
Board Meeting
Minutes
Monday,
August 7, 2006
CALL
TO ORDER
President,
Mayor
Mike Anderson
, called the meeting to order at 12:07 p.m. at
Two Trees Restaurant in Fort Walton Beach.
PRESENT
BOARD MEMBERS
Mayor
Mike Anderson
-
Fort Walton Beach
(President)
Mayor
Gary Combs
- Shalimar (Secretary/Treasurer)
Heyward
Strong - Valparaiso (Vice President)
Councilman
Ellis Conner - Crestview
Fay
Miller - Laurel Hill
Margaret
McLemore - Mary Esther
ALSO
PRESENT
Dave
Swanick - Eglin A.F.B.
Bill
Roberts - Okaloosa County
Tina Smith
- Shalimar
MINUTES
- Commissioner
Strong moved to approve the minutes of the July 10, 2006 meeting as written.
Councilmember Miller seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
TREASURER’S
REPORT:
$1950.03 after paying $79.45 for the
July 10, 2006
lunches.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
-
New Quarterly Dinner Meeting schedule (attached) - The Board agreed with
the new quarterly dinner meeting day of the 3rd Tuesday of the month.
-
Eglin Bypass Resolution 2006-01 (attached) - The attached resolution will
need to be revised. It was suggested
that the board table this item and put in on the September Meeting agenda.
NEW
BUSINESS:
-
Sales Tax Interlocal Agreement (attached) - The attached interlocal
agreement will need to be approved by each city after the election if the
referendum passes. Commissioner
Roberts will contact Sandee Launch and have her call Tina Smith with the cut-off
date.
Mayor
Anderson asked each board member what they were doing to promote the sales tax
and the feedback they have received. He
will be speaking to many groups, on Channel 6, and with local newspapers.
Other cities have posted information on their web sites and in their
monthly newsletters.
Mayor
Anderson reminded everyone about the Florida League of Cities Conference.
ANNOUNCEMENTS/REPORTS
FROM CITIES:
Cinco
Bayou - No one from Cinco Bayou was
present
Crestview
- The city does a monthly survey with the residents that Mr. Conner thinks might
be interesting to members of the board. He
will bring copies of the survey to the next meeting.
Destin (attached)
Eglin
AFB - Mr. Swanick left before his
report
Fort
Walton Beach -
Sound
Park -
Construction has begun on the seawall at the Sound Property across from City
Hall. About 350 feet has been completed as of August 1st. When this
park is finished, it will feature a pier, boardwalk, native plantings and picnic
area. The City received a grant and in-kind financial assistance from the
Fort Walton Beach Rotary Club to build this passive park.
Water
Transmission Line
- Construction on the water transmission line continues. The project has
reached
Racetrack Road
and is about to be tapped in
to that line. The new pipe will bring water from the Golf Club area to the
downtown water distribution zone, providing much needed redundancy in the
City’s ability to provide water between the Golf Club area and the downtown
area.
Friday
Night Flicks -
Friday Night Flicks continue to be a huge hit. The outdoor movies are
averaging about 350 people per show. The big name movies start at
8:30
each Friday night through the
month of August. The City sponsors the event along with Petermann
Corporation and with support from Cumulus Broadcasting.
City
Hall Athletic Complex - The City Hall Athletic Complex, consisting of two multi-purpose grass
fields, rest rooms, viewing areas, and an exercise path, is almost complete.
Crews are currently completing the walking path around the park and have
recently finished work on the retention pond. The fields will be used for
flag football soccer and baseball. This complex was constructed utilizing
funding from the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program.
FRDAP
Grant Received
- The City has received another FRDAP grant recently, this one for improvements
to Liza Jackson Park. The $112,000 grant will go towards new playground
equipment, boat-trailer parking and landscaping. Construction should start
in October and wrap up in about three years.
Library
Grant Received
- The City Library also received a grant. The Target store in Mary Esther
gave the library a check for $1,500 for children’s literacy programs.
The library plans to use the money for a festival called “Joust
Read” and will feature all sorts of games, activities and performances in a
fair like atmosphere.
National
Night Out –
The City hosted the “National Night Out” event at the Creative Senior
Citizens Center on
Memorial Parkway
. Participants pledged
to do their part in the fight against crime by making an “I prevent crime”
pledge to start off the night. The goal of National Night Out is to
heighten crime and drug awareness while generating support of local anticrime
programs and law enforcement.
“Rescue
6” Dedicated
– In July, the Fort Walton Beach Fire Department, along with the F.W.B.
Professional Firefighters Association IAAF Local 2601, dedicated the departments
new rapid response vehicle to retired Battalion Chief Richard Pitts.
Battalion Chief Pitts died from complications of surgery on
January 2, 2006
. Battalion Chief Pitts
served the City for 29 years, putting himself in harms way countless times.
Fellow firefighters describe Battalion Chief Pitts as a “firefighter’s fire
chief.”
Hurlburt
Field - No one from Hurlburt was
present
Laurel
Hill - City hall got struck by
lightning and all of the computers were lost.
Fortunately they were able to repair one of them.
Mary
Esther
-
The City Council agreed to keep the millage rate at 3.5 mills
-
A FRDAP grant for Mary Esther Manor Park has been applied for
-
The city’s fence ordinance is being reviewed
Niceville
- No one from Niceville was present
Okaloosa
County
-
Marler Park on Okaloosa Island will be opening soon
Shalimar
-
The Starbucks process is still moving forward - the Commission approved
the Planning and Zoning Board recommendation
-
The
Shalimar
Yacht
Basin
will be one of the stops for
Boat Week (August 12-19)
Valparaiso
-
The city still has not received garbage bids
-
The 2 budget workshops are complete. The
commission agreed to increase the starting salary for their Police Department.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
-
September 11, 2006 at 12:00 p.m. -
OCLOC
Executive Board Meeting Lunch
ADJOURN
– The
meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
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