43rd Coffee With the Commissioner This Wednesday Morning

We will be having our 43rd Coffee With the Commissioner event this Wednesday morning live on Facebook from 6:30-7:30 AM.

Our Guests this week will include County Administrator Janice Gilley, UWF and Triumph Gulf Coast Chief Economist Dr. Rick Harper, and Pensacola Businessman Collier Merrill.

The discussion will center on the Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Escambia County, Pensacola, and the region.  I'll also be asking about the potential long-term impacts, economically, this COVID-19 shutdown may produce and what the panelists believe the most intelligent strategies will be going forward to limit the economic damage from this Pandemic.  Feel free to email questions you's like me to ask!

To join the event live Wednesday morning, simply go to https://www.facebook.com/CommissionerBergosh/

"See You" online this Wednesday!

When Will Bars Open?

When?  When can we open too, like the restaurants are?  This is a question that is being asked of me---on Facebook and also via email.  Folks want to know why there appears to be a double standard allowing "restaurants" to serve alcoholic beverages but not allowing bars and breweries to open to serve alcoholic beverages.

To me it is not unlike the illogical allowance of dental cleanings and procedures while simultaneously barbers were forbidden from opening to cut hair.  Or like hotels being able to cram hundreds of guests into small rooms, and turn over these rooms every couple of days--while the owners of larger condos and homes on the beach could NOT rent their properties on a short term basis.  Those both got fixed thankfully.  So now--why can a restaurant that sells LOTS of alcohol be allowed to serve guests cocktails and beers on a patio---yet the "Bar" next door that does not sell food but that has a patio cannot sell cocktails and beers to guests on their patio?

It is a fair question.  It needs to get fixed ASAP or some of these establishments will not reopen ever...

Albert asks me this in an email to my office Thursday:

"I am emailing you today as the owner of a bar in Downtown Pensacola called XXXXX located on Palafox Pl. We have been open for 10 years and my employees are asking me when we are going to re-open. Now I am calling on you for guidance on this issue. Every business around us, including restaurants, bars that have a food permit but are essentially operating as bars, gyms, and retail shops are open. In some cases, operating at full or even over capacity. We have been closed since March 16th, among the first industries to close and still have no clarity on when we can open, despite being one of only a few industries forced to remain closed. XXXXXXXXXXX. believes this policy may be discriminatory.

Please let me know if you can provide any clarity on this issue for me."

Neal asked me this on Facebook recently:

"With restaurants, beaches, stores and youth sports opening back up,  there are other small businesses that still are forced to remain closed. Many are family owned with no other income. There are nine breweries in the area, and only a few  serve food, all with ample room for people to spread out indoors or go outdoors. Do you have any idea when they might be allowed to reopen? Hopefully before they have to close permanently."

Transfer Station On the Back Burner in Light of New Information

If ECUA knew in late March/early April that service in Santa Rosa County was being terminated---why did they not reveal that fact when also requesting permission from the Escambia Board of County Commissioners to build a Transfer Station?  Can an ECUA Employee make this call without an action and/or vote of their governing board?

I have been meeting with and speaking to County staff and others associated with ECUA about the potential of a new transfer station off of Pine Forest Road.  I've been having these discussions for about a year and a half.

I have been told this was absolutely, unequivocally needed without delay.

So I went out and toured the site and listened to ECUA's sales pitch on this.

I even wrote this blog post on it--which was very negatively received in my district.  Very, very negatively received.

But I did my best to explain the justifications for it, and I also publicly stated that I would not support it unless and until one or more public meetings was scheduled in the Bellview community of District 1 at which the ECUA could let citizens know the following:

1.)  Why a transfer station NOW
2.)  Why a transfer station HERE
3.)   A business case analysis illustrating precisely the operational cost savings this would achieve for ECUA and the rate-payers.
4.)  A complete and thorough illustration of HOW the transfer station would look, operate, and be kept clean and smell-free.


That was two weeks ago.  A lot can change in a couple of weeks.......

Now comes the revelation that ECUA has already decided it will end it's twice weekly waste and recycling collection services in neighboring Santa Rosa county this year (via a letter sent on April 2nd.).

Also--I'm told the ECUA's regular, heavy use of the County's Palafox Transfer station has only just begun over the last 10 months.  They are overwhelming the capacity and filling up the transfer station by Thursday of most weeks.  But this is a new practice by ECUA I'm now told.  I wasn't told this before I agreed to a discussion about a new transfer station.   So, if ECUA just started using our Palafox street transfer station heavily and regularly over the last 10-12 months---why now, and where did they take it before?  Why this new change?

So we are getting new revelatory information after the big push to approve an interlocal---why after the fact, why not before?  Do they even need a new $10 Million Dollar transfer station?  Why did they not disclose the fact that they unilaterally decided to end the twice weekly residential waste pick up in Santa Rosa County--they obviously knew this when they decided and sent the letter in early April--but why leave the County Attorney and County Administrator and District 1 County Commissioner in the dark about that important fact?  (none of us knew this until very recently)

Had I been told this stuff before the initial draft of an interlocal between ECUA and the County had been brought to the board in May--I would have been a lot less supportive, and I would have had a lot more questions.  Maybe that's why we weren't told?

Importantly:  How did an ECUA employee unilaterally make this decision to end garbage collection if the ECUA board didn't vote on this?  With the end of service in Santa Rosa--why can't ECUA now re-deploy these resources (excess drivers and and excess trucks used for twice weekly trash and recycling pick up in Santa Rosa County) back to Escambia County to more efficiently route the pickup of garbage here--which would potentially negate the need for a new ratepayer funded $10 Million Dollar transfer station?

Too many questions, too many facts withheld.

This transfer station, so far as I am concerned and for my vote, is now officially relegated the back burner, on life support, until I get some answers and explanations about the revelations described  above.

How Newspapers Fail Miserably and Consistently---Nationally and Locally....

How the PNJ's Story read
once the misleading headline
and my picture was
"clicked" by readers

I hate to sound critical--but sometimes it is warranted.  As I watched President Trump sound off on the media this morning on an interview with Sharyl Attkisson--- it really resonated with me.  He is right to call them out--they have been unfair to him in many ways.  He called them corrupt and dishonest--and in many cases and instances--- they are.  In stories they cover and more importantly in stories they don't cover or how they are covered.  They play favorites and do so blatantly.  I believe he's right and I have seen it locally as well.  So although I don't like to be critical--sometimes it is warranted--so here goes.

At a lunch I attended Friday afternoon with two advertising executives, a discussion of media honesty and integrity began----- even before we talked about the real reason for the meeting which was an altogether different topic....

"I cannot believe they did that to you--I'm pissed off!" stated one attendee.  "I'm thinking about pulling my advertising with them!"  The other reaction I got from another attendee was somewhat more measured---but equally illuminating.  "They did this on purpose--no doubt."

I knew immediately what they were talking about.  "How did you all know?"  I asked.  "We are getting calls about it from people that are calling B.S. on it--plus we saw it" was the joint response from the gentlemen sitting at my table.

I knew what happened and tried to get it fixed as quickly as I could earlier that morning--but obviously it didn't get fixed quickly enough.  "If they saw it online---how many others did as well?" I thought out loud...

WHAT HAPPENED:

How the Hard Copy
 in print story eventually appeared
 on Saturday Morning

At Thursday's regular BCC meeting--I revealed that I had received indisputable, factual information that pointed to a damaging release of confidential documents by one member of the board who I did not name. I had blogged about it the day before--and that post received numerous hits and comments.  I requested the board authorize an investigation into this breach by our newly-created Ethics and Compliance division.  This request received immediate support from the chairman and at least one other Board member-- and so County Administrator Janice Gilley stated she would begin the investigation.

HOW THE PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL  PRESENTED THIS

At around 6:00AM Friday, this story was online at the Pensacola News Journal's site covering this request for an ethics investigation.  It was accompanied by my picture--which with the corresponding headline "Bergosh says another commissioner leaked confidential documents; seeks ethics investigation"  was fine.  No problem, so far, so good.

How PNJ Portrayed the story
online for hours and hours
on Friday morning and
into the afternoon ....

How PNJ kept the headline
and switched the picture
 Friday afternoon ....

About fifteen minutes later, though, this story got knocked from the main portion of the electronic site over to the side column--at which point my picture was left but the tag line was changed to "Commissioner allegedly leaked confidential legal documents"  The obvious insinuation/implication for a reader glancing through the site would be that I, Jeff Bergosh, leaked the document.  It was portraying me in a false light, and it was neither accurate nor fair.

HOW I ATTEMPTED TO GET IT FIXED

Horrified-- I called the PNJ Editor Lisa Savage immediately and explained what was going on and why it needed to get fixed.  To her credit, she acknowledged it was problematic and said she would get if fixed. "Thanks for letting me know.  Maggie is changing it right now to a different picture" stated Savage.  I suggested "How about something fair like "Bergosh requests investigation over Leaked Documents" to which I did not receive a reply.  I assumed it was being corrected-- but hours later, I realized it had not been completely fixed....At 10:30 I saw that on the sidebar of the PNJ under "more stories" it still had my picture and the headline "Commissioner allegedly leaked confidential legal documents"  Once again I contacted executive editor Savage, at 10:34 AM and told her it still was not corrected....."Yes, [Maggie] is working on fixing that" was the editor's reply this time.  How long should that fix have taken though?!?

WHAT FINALLY HAPPENED?

After my luncheon ended, I once again checked the PNJ site and they had by that time left the headline in place "Commissioner allegedly leaked confidential legal documents" but had finally pulled down my picture and replaced it with an Escambia County logo (Which I had actually suggested Lisa Savage do on our phone call from earlier in the morning when I first tried to get this corrected).

But how many people saw the misleading headline that was up for hours, how many readers were left with the inaccurate impression (due to the false light in which I was portrayed by the PNJ) that I leaked classified documents?  I am in a hotly-contested primary election with votes beginning to be cast within 60 days---so this sort of portrayal is damaging.  Why did it happen, though?  Why did it take hours to fix once it was brought to PNJ's attention?

More than one person I have spoken with believe it was on purpose.  One in particular had a terse response:

"Come on Jeff--if they wanted to fix it they could have gone into their program and fixed it immediately and easily.."

See the pictures and the screenshots for yourself, on the right.

Stories of Our Area's Re-opening Part II: Travel Ball and Youth Baseball Tournaments Coming to Escambia's District 1

Youth Baseball leagues and tournaments will be starting soon in Florida, with Governor DeSantis' executive order from Friday removing restrictions on such activities.  Some parents want these tournaments to resume--but some remain concerned about safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  Here below are two perspectives on this topic.....

This past Friday Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order  lifting the limitations and restrictions on youth sports and leagues.

Not surprisingly, youth baseball tournaments will begin again soon----- and one has already been scheduled for June 10th at District 1's Southwest Sports Complex on Bauer Road.

A part of me is extremely happy to see our youth begin to compete again--albeit with commonsense restrictions and stipulations that mirror CDC guidelines and recommendations.  It will never again be as it was when all three of my children competed throughout the southeast in travel leagues and tournaments in soccer and baseball a decade ago.  It will, unfortunately, never be quite like that again I don't think.  But the governor believes we can start up youth activities again safely, as demonstrated by his EO.  I agree.

What was once a common, heartwarming sight on ball fields throughout America (prayer huddles like this one from 2012) prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic--- will sadly probably not be seen again anytime in the near future.  But youth baseball will be returning soon with some guidelines and social-distancing protocols in place.....

Nevertheless--- some parents remain very concerned about safety.  I understand their concerns but I also believe it is time to re-open.  We simply cannot stay in a perpetual lockdown forever.  Any parent that is concerned obviously maintains the right and the ability not to participate and not to have their own children participate.  I corresponded with just such a parent today.  His email is first, my response directly below.

"Commissioners Bergosh and Underhill :

A USSSA baseball tournament scheduled for June 10--14th to be held in Orange Beach, AL has been moved to Escambia County to be held at the SW Escambia Sportsplex.  This decision was made by the tournament director(Scott Mobley) in order to bypass Covid 19 regulations released by the Alabama Governor that would have forced him to postpone/cancel the tournament.  

This tournament has 49 teams registered from 11 different states ranging in ages of 9-13 years old.  This will be a huge event with well over 1,000 people all at 1 facility.  Frankly, I am disappointed that you would endorse/allow such an event to be held in Escambia County at that particular time.  Furthermore, comparing the Covid 19 Statistics in Baldwin County(269 Cases 8 Deaths) and Escambia County(734 Cases 24 Deaths) make your endorsement of such an event ridiculous and acting with a complete disregard for the well being of the children participating as well as the citizens of Escambia County.

Unfortunately, I know this decision or allowance is strictly financial.  Which again, is shocking considering most if not all: Lodging, Restaurant, Entertainment revenues generated by this event will be taken in by Baldwin County NOT Escambia County.  

I am simply asking that you please pause, truly think about how risky this event is at this particular time and you are providing a venue to possibly expose children and the citizens of Escambia County to a possible outbreak that is beyond unnecessary at this particular time.  

Money can be made at a later time, Revenue can be recovered at a later date, Human lives cannot.

By the way, I am a parent of a player on a team registered for this event.  I am also a public school educator and a coach. 

Do you want to be responsible for an outbreak in your area to exacerbate a problem like this???

Is MONEY and TAX REVENUE more important than the safety and well being of children??

Do the right thing.

Sincerely,

A concerned Father."

My Response

"Mr. XXXXXXXXX,

Like you I am concerned about safety—now more than ever.  But Governor DeSantis has been very meticulous and thoughtful in his reopening plan, and The Escambia BCC has followed this guidance.  His most recent executive order allows youth sports with some commonsense recommendations and stipulations.  I understand your concern, and if you feel it is not safe for you and your young child to participate—I would encourage you not to participate.

A couple of things to consider:  If the tournament is held here, I believe a significant portion of the players and families will stay in Escambia County in either Perdido Key or Pensacola Beach.  I know this because all three of my children played youth travel sports all over the Southeast---and we would always stay at the nearest “resort” type area within a short drive of the sports venue---as did the lion’s share of fellow players and families.  I have to assume that tendency has not abated.

As I study the data, trends, and numbers on this disease locally---I happen to believe that we have flattened the curve locally as it pertains to new positive cases and especially as it relates to hospitalizations and ventilator capacity-- and that our Governor has done an excellent job—balancing safety and the economy to come up with a plan that has worked and is working.  I say this because when compared to the draconian lockdown, shelter-in-place complete off-switch plans of states that are smaller than Florida (like New York and New Jersey)—where Governors there have pressed the pause button on life—our numbers here (deaths in particular) are much smaller in comparison—thankfully  (29,031 Deaths in New York, 11,082 Deaths in New Jersey, 2,233 Deaths if Florida) . Although we mourn every life lost and we pray for all the victims of this horrible plague with which we are contending----- Florida and leaders in Florida are doing it right or at a minimum much closer to “right” than are other states as illustrated above, so far as I can tell. 

And at some point we have to re-open.  We simply cannot let our country totally and completely devolve economically; otherwise, there will be nothing left to salvage when we overcome this horrible Wuhan Chinese Coronavirus—COVID-19 that has claimed nearly 100,000 lives in our country.  We will beat this virus, we will fully uncover the whole and accurate story of how this happened to us and who allowed this to happen, and those that contributed to this disaster will be held accountable.  This is what I believe. 

We are Americans, and we will overcome!

Sincerely,

Jeff Bergosh

Escambia Board of County Commissioners,

District 1"

Stories of Our Area's Re-Opening Part I: Sam's Fun City's Re-Opening Plans

On Wednesday our office received a request for help from a local Escambia County Business, Sam's Fun City.

In accordance with the Governor's re-opening plan, a theme park needs to provide a local government's approval letter of such a theme-park's re-opening plan-- in order for such a plan to be approved by the state to re-open.  Sam's fun city submitted their plan to our office on Wednesday.  We forwarded it to county administrator Janice Gilley that same day.

On Friday afternoon, after analysis of Sam Fun City's plan, Administrator Gilley sent the County's authorization to re-open (below) for Sam's Fun City to the relevant state authorities.  We wish this local business all the success possible under this plan to help salvage as much business as they can and remain a viable entity going forward.

42nd Coffee With The Commissioner Wednesday With Senator Doug Broxson and Representative Alex Andrade

We will have our 42nd Coffee With the Commissioner event this Wednesday Morning, May 27th from 6:30-7:30 AM.

Our guests this week will be Senator Doug Broxson--our state senator representing Escambia, Santa Rosa, and parts of Okaloosa Counties, and Representative Alex Andrade, State Representative representing a portion of both Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties.  In addition, Escambia County Administrator Janice Gilley will also be with us for the chat.

I look forward to discussing Florida's recovery from the devastating consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic--both economic and from a healthcare perspective.  I'm interested in hearing the lawmakers' perspective on a special session on the budget, when and if these gentlemen feel the federal government will fund bailouts for the states (which I do not support), and also what the rest of the summer tourist season will look like in their opinions.

--Will there be additional funding for schools to compensate for social distancing on buses?

--Will unfunded mandates be foisted on counties, cities, and school districts around the state?

--Will a second wave lead to a second statewide shelter in place order--or just a selective quarantine of medically susceptible individuals?

--Will there be legal amnesty for hospitals, doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in the wake of the pandemic?



Email me any questions you would like to ask of these members of our state delegation--and I will "see" you online Wednesday morning!

Who Spilled the Beans, Redux?

People can say or do what they want, but there are consequences to face for taking actions against legal advice and that unilaterally usurp the board, the "client" from deciding on whether or not it wishes to release key documents that are privileged......

I've now been contacted by numerous individuals who appear to be in possession of documents that are privileged and that pertain to ongoing litigation (albeit in the waning stages) between the county and ECUA over the Innerarity water/sewer debacle from 2014--today.

The documents in question are the transcripts of the then Board of County Commissioners' shade meetings, or "executive sessions" that pertain to the litigation strategy the board would pursue (or not pursue)as it struggled to contend with the abandoned utility at Innerarity--and whether or not joint receivership in the courts would be sought by the BCC--forcing ECUA to jointly share the BURDEN of taking on this water/sewer utility that went belly-up.

Upon receipt of these transcripts, our attorney admonished all board members that these documents were confidential and not to be released to the public.  Her exact quote in her email sent to board members containing these transcripts was as follows:

"CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS ATTACHED

Commissioners,

By request, attached are the transcripts of the attorney-client sessions related to the receivership of IIDC (Innerarity Island water and sewer).  The litigation is still open and is not expected to be concluded until after the transfer to and acceptance of the sewer system by ECUA.  Thus, these transcripts are CONFIDENTIAL until the conclusion of the litigation (per section 286.011(8)(e), Fla. Stat.) and should not be released or shown to the public or the media.

Separately, I am gathering a timeline for you from Legal’s perspective, and I assume some other departments may be doing that as well.

Please do not reply all, but get directly with me if you have questions or concerns.

Alison"   

At a subsequent meeting, I even asked county attorney Alison Rogers, point blank, if a release of these documents would constitute a breach of ethics, to which she responded "Yes." (minute 3:33-5:00 of this video)

As one board member, I felt it may be helpful in this instance to release the transcripts---as I was not on the board at the time and the transcripts would shed light on the thought process that led the board to take the action it took back then.  But I was told I could not and I was given the reasons why and I totally understand and concur that it is inappropriate for any one (1) commissioner to release these.  Only the "client" can voluntarily waive this privilege and release these records.  In this instance, the "client" is the full board, not one (1) individual member and part of the client.

Disturbingly, it appears as if a member of our board just decided unilaterally to release these documents and did so.

This was a mistake.

Now, it weakens our bargaining position with ECUA on not only this project, but others as well.

These documents were classified for a reason, and as our attorney advised above--should not have been released.  So we will see what happens now as a result.

41st Coffee With A Commissioner Live Stream Today

We held our 41st Coffee with a Commissioner Event this morning.  You can watch the uploaded YouTube video of this event here.

You can watch the Facebook video here.

Our special guests this morning included County Administrator Janice Gilley, Escambia County School Board Member, District 1, Kevin Adams, and ECUA Board Member, District 1, Vicki Campbell.

The topics of discussion were centered around COVID-19 and the ramifications/implications the pandemic is causing to each entity.  Janice gave a nice update on our plans to open up vacation rentals (finally), Kevin Adams discussed education in Escambia County in this atmosphere and the challenges this is presenting, and Vicki Campbell discussed the tremendous surge in garbage collections the sheltering at home is creating.

In addition we discussed:

-The burn ban
-ECUA Transfer Station
-School Graduations
-What lunches and bus rides will look like next school year
-Superintendent Search update
-Innerarity Island Sewer issue
-financial ramifications for each local entity  from the state budget cuts that will invariably occur
....and many more topics

Second Group Interested in Pensacola Civic Center Rebuild....

Board members received the following unsolicited email yesterday from a new group interested in a potential arrangement with the county to modernize the Pensacola Civic Center: (It drew a stern response from the purchasing department very quickly thereafter, which is copied on the bottom of this post)

"Board of County Commissioners, County Administrator & County Stakeholders,

As you may be aware, we had the privilege of serving the County in studying various best-use options of the Bay Center back in 2011. In response to the RFI seeking a Public/Private Partnership to potentially replace the Bay Center, Johnson Consulting has put together a team interested in serving as the development advisor on behalf of the County.  Attached you will note our team experience as well as proposed services that may be of interest in helping the County’s decision-making process for the future of the Bay Center.  Johnson Consulting has significant experience serving as development advisor to various municipalities in relation to  public/private partnerships, with a specialized focus on public assembly venues as well as adjacent entertainment districts.  A few of our current/recent project for arenas and mixed-use districts include:

·       One Central, a proposed 20 million square foot mixed-use development, which includes an entertainment district adjacent to Soldiers Field in Chicago, IL.

·       Navy Hill Arena, a $1.5 billion public/private partnership for a proposed new arena and mixed-use district in Richmond, VA, which included a convention center headquarter hotel as well as office, retail, and residential.

·       Xtream Arena, a new 5,000 seat arena as well as an adjacent 180 acre mixed-use development called the Iowa River Landing Reinvestment District in Coralville, IA.  The development includes the following uses: office, retail, residential, hotel, a museum, and an indoor fieldhouse catered towards youth and amateur sports tourism.

·       The Yards, an 11-acre mixed-use public/private partnership, which includes: a new 5,000 seat ice arena with two community ice sheets, hotel & conference center, parking garage, office, retail and residential.

·       Dallas Fair Park, solicitation for a third-party management company to oversee the operation of the City’s fairgrounds. 

If appropriate and willing, our team would be pleased to schedule a follow-up conference call with whom you deem appropriate to discuss in greater detail the extent of this proposal as well areas in which we believe may be of value to the County during this process."

PURCHASING DEPT. RESPONSE:

"This is not appropriate.

This violates Escambia County’s Conduct of Participants (page 3) of the solicitation for PD 17-18.002, Multi-Use Sports and Event Venue Public Private Partnership.

After the issuance of any solicitation, all bidders/proposers/protestors or individuals acting on their behalf are hereby prohibited from lobbying as defined herein or otherwise attempting to persuade or influence any elected County officials, their agents or employees or any member of the relevant selection PD 17-18.002, Multi-Use Sports and Event Venue Public Private Partnership committee at any time during the blackout period as defined herein; provided, however, nothing herein shall prohibit bidders/proposers/protestors or individuals acting on their behalf from communicating with the purchasing staff concerning a pending solicitation unless otherwise provided for in the solicitation or unless otherwise directed by the purchasing manager."

41st Coffee With the Commissioner Event Online this Wednesday

Virtual Event, Next District 1 Coffee with the Commissioner May 20

Join us Wednesday morning for our 41st Coffee event live online. The live stream will take place from 6:30 - 7:30 a.m. Guests will include Vicki Campbell, ECUA District 1 Board Member, Kevin Adams, Escambia County School Board, District 1 and Janice Gilley, Escambia County Administrator. The discussion will be centered on the challenges for the future for Escambia County, ECUA and Escambia County Schools in the face of the ongoing worldwide coronavirus pandemic..

To join, simply go to the following Facebook page at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 20 and watch the live stream: www.facebook.com/CommissionerBergosh/. 

Residents are encouraged to send virtual questions and comments they would like to discuss with their District 1 Commissioner during the event through Facebook. 

Transfer Station Concept For Increased Efficiency and Traffic Reduction Moving Forward in District 1

The initial, draft conceptual drawing of the proposed District 1 Godwin Lane Transfer station was provided back in January.  The purple line shows the proposed ingress-egress of the trucks that will enter and exit the facility daily

Back in January I toured ECUA's proposed transfer station site on Godwin Lane at Pine Forest Road.  With me for the tour were ECUA District 1 Board Member Vicki Campbell and ECUA Residential Waste Services Supervisor Keith Kyles.  I had lots of questions and the ECUA staff present had the answers.

This transfer station project has been pursued by ECUA for several years as the community has grown, the demand for residential waste pick up has increased,  and as the County's Palafox Street transfer station has out grown its capacity.  A transfer station is simply a place where residential waste garbage trucks can consolidate their loads into larger trucks, keeping the residential trucks in the field locally longer without the need to drive all the way out to the Perdido Landfill in Beulah between route stops.  The route garbage trucks fill up-- and then transfer their loads to much larger semi-truck trailers that then carry the larger loads to the landfill multiple times daily.  This process increases efficiency for the routes, saves fuel, and most importantly----reduces traffic congestion in District 1 between Pine Forest Road and the Perdido Landfill on Beulah Road.

The transfer station property on Godwin lane in District 1-- where the proposed new transfer station will be built-- is already owned and maintained by ECUA at this time.  It is currently an administrative office complex, truck parking facility, Pensacola Energy CNG refilling station, and waste container storage yard.  There is plenty of space to build the transfer station while leaving plenty of natural vegetative "buffer" between what will be built and nearby properties.  I have spoken to nearby business owners who seem generally accepting toward the new plan---with reasonable limitations in place.

At this past Thursday's BCC committee of the whole meeting of the Escambia of County Commissioners, these limitations were discussed and formalized into a written document.  An inter-local agreement was put forward by staff which was generally acceptable to the board.  This agreement has some stipulations that the county added which were reasonable:  Hours of operation will only be between the hours of 6:00AM and 6:00PM daily, the trucks will ONLY use Pine Forest Road (not Godwin Lane) for ingress and egress, and garbage will not be kept on the premises overnight or for extended periods of time.  There are other stipulations and limitations in the agreement which protect the county's position on multiple other points--most important of which is the flow control concept.  Flow control is simply the rule which stipulates that the garbage generated and collected locally by ECUA must be brought to our landfill in Escambia Count;  the reasoning behind this is that ECUA's business brings a lot of revenue to the county's landfill and therefore it is in the county's interest to maintain this revenue stream by not permitting these loads to be taken out of the county.

For my part, I was only going to accept this agreement if the term was broken up into an initial term and subsequent extension years--which the board agreed was a reasonable modification.  (e.g. as presented, the original agreement gave the ECUA a 20 year license to operate the transfer station.  After I objected, everyone settled in on an initial term of 10 years with one or more options for an additional 10 year period.)

Once the Inter-Local agreement is ratified at a subsequent meeting of the Board of County Commissioners and ECUA's governing board--the process to design, plan, peremit, and ultimately construct this facility will commence in earnest.  And the project will go through the county's development review process to insure it meets with all environmental and building codes prior to approval.

More to follow on this project in the months to come--but initially this is a good example of coordination between entities to improve service to citizens.

Escambia Short Term Rentals: What is the County's Plan so We Can Re-Open Monday?

There was a mad scramble last week with multiple people working diligently to get Escambia County's short-term rental units back on the market, up and running as our beach season has begun.

For reasons that perplex most of us------Hotels had been given the thumbs up to open---but short term beach and other rentals had been ordered to remain closed.  This was/is ridiculous---- and many people were contacting the governor to get him to lift this restriction.

The Escambia Board of County Commissioners sent a letter requesting these rentals be allowed to open.

Property managers were desperately seeking relief and the ability to rent their client's units.

Now comes the requested relief.....

Yesterday, via this executive order by Governor DeSantis,   vacation rentals will be permitted effective Monday, May18th  IF a plan to safely open these rental facilities is submitted to the Governor's office and approved by his staff.

Late last night, Escambia County's Plan was submitted by Administrator Gilley to the Governor's office.  We believe it will be acceptable, as it is modeled on other panhandle county plans.  We believe, and are cautiously optimistic, that short-term vacations rentals will once again be permitted in Escambia County beginning Monday-----under some very measured, reasonable conditions described below.

Weekly Recap Fridays

We will be doing interactive, online Friday afternoon Recaps at 5:00 going forward, to give a run-down of the previous week's happenings as it pertains to Escambia County and District 1

I will be going live on Facebook at my commissioner's Facebook page weekly on Fridays at 5:00PM.

It will be a brief, interactive chat describing all the issues of importance that happened with the board of county commissioners the previous week.  With the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, and with normal, in-person channels of communication not currently feasible--I believe an interactive, online post weekly is a workable substitute until we as a country get back to normal.

Got a question, a comment, or a burning issue?  Call me at 850-293-1459 and I will try to get an answer for you and read it on the Recap.  Or tune in and ask any question live.

Yesterday's recap, which you can watch on Facebook here-was a discussion about our previous week's coffee with the commissioner where we discussed re-starting youth sports this month at county ball parks.  We also discussed short term vacation rentals and getting our economy back open.  Janice Gilley discussed the growing need for a burn ban until we get through these dry conditions.  We also got a local COVID-19 update.

We also discussed upcoming events including next week's 41st Coffee with a Commissioner where we will have a District 1 Elected Official Round table conversation with District 1 School Board Member Kevin Adams, District 1 ECUA Board Member Vicki Campbell, and myself, D1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh.

Join me Friday afternoons for the Recap.

On WCOA This Morning

I will be speaking on WCOA this morning on multiple topics of interest for Escambia County and District 1.

1.  Burn Ban--why this is so important right now given the extremely dangerous conditions.
2.  Getting the economy back open, including small businesses
3.  The tremendous disconnect in why hotels can open but long-term rentals cannot

You can listen to the podcast of this appearance here.

40th Coffee With The Commissioner Event this Morning

I'm really not yelling---this is just the stop-point that YouTube picked.  What we did talk about this morning on our live chat was:

1.  Burn Ban in Escambia County--I called for one yesterday-we may be issuing one later today

2.  Youth Sports commencement back in our county parks beginning next Monday

3.   Pensacola Sports President Ray Palmer discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and it's impact on Pensacola Sports' yearly events

4.  Update on the modernization of the Beulah Fire Station

5.  Will we have youth football in Escambia County this fall?

6.   Update on the boat ramp in District 1 at Heron's Bayou off of Lillian Highway

.....and lots more.  A very interesting panel discussion this morning.

Burn Ban Now!

Now is the time to be proactive in Escambia County by issuing a "burn-ban" temporarily, as other panhandle counties are doing, due to the dangerous conditions that are present that are conducive to wildfires....

I am publicly calling for an immediately implemented,  temporary burn ban in Escambia County.

Thankfully it looks as though we have the upper hand on the Hurst Hammock fire, and thankfully in Escambia County we lost NO structures---- but that fire had the potential to destroy houses, it moved so quickly.

In speaking with a firefighter on that blaze that spent three days and nights out there  "It is a good idea to do a ban right now--with the wind and conditions not cooperating these fires have a lot of potential to get bad fast!"

Between Walton County and Santa Rosa Counties over the last several weeks----40 homes have been lost.  Other panhandle counties are instituting burn bans.  We should do likewise immediately.

Conditions appear to be conducive to wildfires right now--with lower humidity, no precipitation, and strong winds.

So that's why I believe we need to institute an immediate "burn-ban" in Escambia County to run from now until these conditions change and we get significant rains.

I'll be emailing the attorney and the administrator this morning requesting what the mechanism is by which we can do this.

Stay tuned.

Innerarity Island Sewer System Mess: Maybe we need to Unwind the Whole Agreement and Go Back to Square One!

It appears that the Board of County Commissioners got played like tools in 2015 when they had the option of bringing in ECUA as a co-receiver of the abandoned Innerarity Island  Water and Sewer system but failed to do so through the courts.  Played like tools if they knew about it.....

I stand by my quote in today's paper now even more than I did when I said it at last Thursday's meeting.  As it pertains to the disastrous nightmare of the Innerarity Island sewer/water debacle-------The BCC at that time, in 2015, got totally played like tools!

But there are some big If's that must be fully known in order for that quote to be accurate.....

The BCC at that time (prior to me joining in 2016) got played like tools IF

1.  They had the ability to have the court issue a ruling that ECUA was the appropriate entity to receive the sewer system on Innerarity Island when the private company that built that system went belly-up

2.   The  individual members of the Board at that Time  (Wilson Robertson, Doug Underhill, Lumon May, Steven Barry, and Grover Robinson) were actually told this (that a judge would issue a ruling listing ECUA as the appropriate entity to be the receiver of the sewer system at Innerarity)

At the meeting last Thursday, though, Lumon and Steven both bristled at the suggestion that they knew about any "potential" circuit court ruling that would have made ECUA take possession of this failing system.

I'll be requesting transcripts from those meetings later this morning.

We will get to the bottom of it.