Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee Holds First Regular Meeting in Beulah

The Northwest Section of District 1, which includes Beulah, is illustrated in the map above.  This is the fastest growing area of District 1--and the most impacted by growth.

The nine members of the Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee held their first regular meeting this week in Beulah.  The meeting was held Monday night in the cafeteria of the newly-opened Beulah Middle School.

Joining the group for this meeting were several members of County Staff, myself, and several local residents.

The meeting went well, the discussions were good, and the comments from the public were mostly positive.

Staff and committee members prepare for the first regular meeting of the Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee

The committee hammered out the meeting dates/times for the next four meetings, as well as the location for these meetings.  Committee Vice Chair, Mr. Wilson Taylor, Principal of Beulah Middle School, has graciously offered up his school's cafeteria for these meetings going forward, which the committee felt was a great location.

Staff and committee members hear from residents during the first regular meeting of the Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee

Beulah resident Chester Holland spoke to the committee  "I've lived out here since 1974, and I don't want to lose what we have out here--people out here like it the way it is."

Beulah resident Christine Rogers also weighed in  "I live behind the [OLF 8] helicopter field and I am here tonight because I am concerned and I want to know what is happening.  I also like the fact that you are having the meetings here in a location that I can attend."

Several members of one family attended but indicated they just wanted to observe and listen.

Several committee housekeeping items were handled as well:

--Handouts on Robert's Rules of Order were distributed

--Staff gave a presentation on planning acronyms

--Staff gave a presentation on current area traffic projects and completion timelines

--the agendas for these meetings will be published on the County website, along with backup materials, at least one week before the meetings going forward.

--a public forum section will be on the agenda going forward so citizens can speak

--promotion of the meeting will be done via the county's regular meeting schedule advertisement, along with social media that citizens present said they would post.  Additionally, Kim Adderholt (a committee member that works for NFCU) said she would look into advertising these meetings internally at Navy Federal Credit Union.

the committee set goals for the next four meetings as well.

Next month, at the December 3rd meeting--the committee will hear from staff on the lessons learned from a previous county planning effort, the Perdido Key Master Plan.

At the January 14th meeting--the committee will discuss the work previously completed by the Beulah Community Master Plan citizens.

February's meeting will be a session for synthesizing the initial plans into a working rough draft, and the March meeting--tentatively and hopefully--will be promoted as an opportunity for the general public to come and add their voices for the effort.

Discussion of current area conditions at the first regular meeting of the Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee

This is an aggressive schedule for the next four months, but this committee is comprised of impressive folks who seem genuinely interested in moving forward with plans to make this community better.  I look forward to watching them work and seeing the product of their work come to fruition.

Learn more about Escambia County's NW District 1 Advisory Committee  here, here, and here.