Okaloosa
County
League
of Cities, Inc.
Executive
Board Meeting
Minutes
Monday,
September 11, 2006
CALL
TO ORDER
President,
Mayor
Mike Anderson
, called the meeting to order at 12:10 p.m. at
Two Trees Restaurant in Fort Walton Beach. He
led the "Pledge of Allegiance" to the Flag and a moment of silence.
PRESENT
BOARD MEMBERS
Mayor
Mike Anderson
-
Fort Walton Beach
(President)
Heyward
Strong - Valparaiso (Vice President)
Craig
Barker - Destin
Margaret
McLemore - Mary Esther
Randall
Wise - Niceville
ALSO
PRESENT
Bill
Roberts - Okaloosa County
Tina Smith
- Shalimar
MINUTES
- Commissioner
Strong moved to approve the minutes of the July 10, 2006 meeting as written.
Mayor Wise seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
TREASURER’S
REPORT:
$1875.57 after paying $74.46 for the August 7, 2006 lunches.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
Mayor
Anderson asked if anyone had any ideas about what could have been done
differently during the 1-cent campaign. Most
agreed that many voters feel overtaxed and didn’t want to add another tax to
the list. There really wasn’t
anything more the cities could have done.
-
Eglin Bypass Resolution 2006-01 - Mayor Barker briefed the Board and
presented a resolution, 2 position papers, and a Scoping Report.
Mayor Wise moved that the Okaloosa County League of Cities adopt the
concept of the resolution but it will need to be reworded to pertain to the
league. Also that all cities pass a
similar resolution supporting the Bypass concept.
Commissioner Strong seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
When all cities have approved the resolution, they should be forwarded to
Mayor Anderson who will work with the County Commission.
NEW
BUSINESS:
-
Florida League of Cities Legislative Priorities - Mayor Anderson reminded
everyone to get their Legislative Priorities lists to the Florida League of
Cities.
-
OCLOC dinner plan - No one from Crestview was present to give a report
about the dinner meeting. Commissioner
Strong explained that the Northwest Florida League of Cities no longer plan to
meet with the Okaloosa County league in the fall.
Commissioner Strong moved that the Okaloosa County League no longer
address a joint meeting with the Northwest Florida League of Cities unless
someone from the Northwest Florida League brings it up.
Mayor McLemore seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Mayor
Anderson asked what the board members thought about bigger cities having more
votes. Commissioner Strong believes
that if the league wants the smaller cities to remain a part of the league, they
should remain equal. Mayor Anderson
encouraged all Okaloosa County League of City representatives to attend the
meetings. If they are unable to
attend, he asked that they send another elected official.
Mayor Barker moved that Mayor Anderson forward a letter to all of
the city representatives encouraging attendance and, if they are unable to
attend the meeting, let Tina know. Commissioner
Strong seconded the motion. Mayor
Barker amended his motion to allow Mayor Anderson to forward a notice via
e-mail. The motion passed
unanimously.
ANNOUNCEMENTS/REPORTS
FROM CITIES:
Cinco
Bayou -- There was no one from Cinco
Bayou present.
Crestview
-- There was no one from Crestview present.
Destin
-- Destin is in the middle of 2 significant road projects; Crystal Beach and
Main Street. Also, the City Council
is discussing lowering the millage rate from 1.8 mills to 1.62 mills.
Eglin
AFB -- There was no one from Eglin
AFB present.
Fort
Walton Beach -
-
FY 2006-2007 Budget Public Hearings – The
Fort Walton Beach City Council will hold two Public Hearings for the proposed FY
2006-2007 Budget in September. The first meeting is scheduled for
September 6th and the second for September 20th.
Both meetings start at 5:30 p.m. and are held in the Council Chambers at City
Hall (107 Miracle Strip Parkway SW).
-
Sunday in the Park
– The Sunday in the Park Concert is scheduled for September 10th at
the Fort Walton Landing on Brooks Street. The event features two area
bands, Dry Creek and Tidewater. Dry Creek, a group from Marianna, will get
the show started at 2 p.m. with their mix of bluegrass, county, folk and blues
music. Tidewater will take the stage at 3:15. The Panama City group
entertains crowds with its Celtic – Appalachian style music. The event
is free and runs from 2 – 5 p.m.
-
Water Transmission Line
- Construction on the water transmission line continues. Hemphill
Construction crews have finished laying the line down Denton Boulevard and have
moved over to Justin Street. USA Drilling has completed pulling the line
through a hole they drilled under Cinco Bayou. Once the line on Justin
hits the Bayou, the two lines will be connected, joining the new line to the
City system. 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.
- Hurlburt
– City Reuse Water Line – The City and Hurlburt Field broke ground on a
new reuse water line in late August and crews have already begun laying the line
on base. This project is a partnership between the City and the base and
will bring treated wastewater from Hurlburt’s Wastewater Treatment Plant to
the City system. The water will eventually be used as irrigation at Beal
Memorial cemetery, eliminating the dependence of potable water. The
project is paid by a state grant that encourages more partnerships between
military installations and surrounding communities.
-
Cinco Bayou Force Main Relocation Project – This
project is to relocate the sub-aqueous sewage force main underneath Cinco Bayou,
to the underside of the Cinco Bayou Bridge. After Hurricanes Ivan and
Dennis, the City experienced failures from the storm surge driven debris in the
water. The project will attach the line to the bridge decking making it
more readily accessible. Work should begin in the next few weeks.
-
Street Repaving –
The City has recently repaved 2.25 miles of roadway on nine different streets
around town as part of the annual asphalt overlay project. Crews are now
getting ready to begin painting stripes along the roads. Contractor C.W.
Roberts milled, patched, leveled and paved portions of Holmes Boulevard, Shell
Avenue, Memorial Parkway, Bobolink Street, Third Street, Okahatchee Circle and
Fairway Court.
-
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
have planted over twenty trees and installed irrigation. A ribbon cutting
is scheduled for mid-September. The fields will be used for flag football
soccer and baseball. This complex was constructed utilizing funding from
the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program.
Hurlburt
Field -- There was no one from
Hurlburt Field present.
Laurel
Hill -- There was no one from Laurel
Hill present.
Mary
Esther -- Mayor McLemore briefed
that all of Mayor Thomas’ arrangement information will be forwarded to Tina.
The city’s first public budget hearing was last Monday and the second
one will be on September 15. The
council’s biggest challenge is their water and sewer rates because they
aren’t charging what it costs the city.
Niceville
-- Niceville’s annual Mullet Festival is next month - the 3rd
weekend in October. Also, the City
Council is lowering the millage rate from 3.7 mills to 3.5 mills.
Okaloosa
County -- Marler Park is within a
month of being completed.
Shalimar
-- There is nothing new to report for the town.
Valparaiso
-- The city is still looking for a garbage company.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
-
September 11, 2006 at 12:00 p.m. -
OCLOC
Executive Board Meeting Lunch
ADJOURN
– The
meeting adjourned at 1:10 p.m.
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