Agenda and Run of the Show for Tomorrow's Perdido Town Hall Meeting

 Here is the agenda for tomorrow evening's Town Hall Meeting in Perdido.

Next District 1 Townhall Meeting: THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT---6:00 in Perdido at Perdido Bay United Methodist Church

We will host our next District 1 Town Hall Meeting in Perdido at The Perdido Bay United Methodist Church on Innerarity Pointe Drive on Wednesday, August 7th from 6:00-8:00 PM.

The discussion will focus on current, planned, and upcoming infrastructure projects in this fast growing area of D1 and Escambia County.

Staff from every relevant department will be in attendance and available to answer questions.

I will answer questions and make myself available for any question(s) from any citizen present.

Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend!

District 1 Debate Tomorrow Night in Perdido

 The Perdido Key Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Candidate Debate and forum tomorrow evening at 6:00 PM at the Pointe Church on Innerarity Pointe Drive.  Here, below, are the details from the chamber:

Galvez Landing: We can Have Both a Boat Launch and a Recreational Area---And WE WILL

As long as I am commissioner of District 1--the issue on Galvez Landing where the artificial binary choice (Either a Boat Launch OR a Recreational Area) was the topic------my answer is simple.

Both.

Not everything is a binary choice.  Having a great little area with a swing, picnick table, and areas for children and parents to wade in the water is perfectly fine at Galvez Landing---and the Boat launch and rebuilt docks the county has built for a first class boat launch are also just fine.

You can have both, and we will so long as I am around.

Because not everything in life comes down to an either/or decision point.

At Galvez, it can be, will be, and IS-------- BOTH.

ALL STOP: We are NOT Cutting ANY Trees Down at Galvez

We had requests from multiple folks about cleaning up a county-owned parcel of land adjacent to our Innerarity Boat launch in D1 in Escambia County.

We had a number of trees that were identified to be in need of removal by our County Arborist.

Folks park in this area, folks walk in this area and the thought was that some of these trees were dying and could fall on cars or people.  Initially, about a dozen were identified for removal.

Then, the arborist identified 5.

For any tree we were going to remove, the county was going to plant 2 6-7 foot replacement trees in the area, on the parcel.

But upon seeing the visceral reaction online to any trees being taken down--we will continue our efforts to clean the scrub brush from this county-owned parcel and to expand and dig-deeper the county-owned stormwater retention pond on this property and level the property with fill material.

But as for cutting ANY trees down----we are at an ALL STOP.  

We will NOT be cutting any down in the immediate term until a full assessment can be done that includes myself, county staff, citizens, and stakeholders.

We will only cut trees that need to come down if they pose an iminent safety hazard, are diseased, or otherwise need to be removed in the opinion of ouar professional arborist.

No "Upzoning" on Innerarity from One (1) Home to Fifteen (15) Homes Per Lot

Several concerned individuals contacted me with the rumor that a single family lot on Innerarity in District 1 was going to be "upzoned" to allow 15 housed to be built on that one lot.

I knew this wasn't right, so I asked our Development Services Department staff about this.

I was told there was a pre-application submitted about a month ago, but nothing since.  This pre-application was for the utilization of multiple lots, once acquired, to be developed for single family homes not simply one lot.  An LLC has apparently been formed, it is a developer from Perdido Key, and he is acquiring contiguous parcels that once all owned by him, may allow him to develop multiple dwellings under the current zoning (MDR 10 per acre) once he has the property to accommodate the necessary stormwater retention and street requirements.  

But I was also told all of this is under the current zoning and that no upzoning was being requested.

I asked staff if there was any way---even if he assembled multiple lots---to get to 15 homes.

I was told it was doubtful under the current zoning.  The rendering presented does indicate 18 lots over what appears to be multiple existing parcels on both sides of Innerarity Point Road.

Sorrento Road Needs to be FIXED! Part I: I Heard You Loud and Clear

At my recent town hall meeting (minute 49:30) in Perdido/Innerarity--I heard the citizens loud and clear:  "FIX the Sorrento Road MESS!"

And I have heard from many constituents since then all saying the same thing:  Sorrento Road is dangerous, dilapidated, and insufficient to handle the traffic it currently has--FIX IT!

Sorrento Road is the name of state road 292 that leads from Blue Angel over into Perdido--becoming Perdido Key Drive at the intersection of Sorrento, Gulf Beach Highway, and Perdido Key Drive.

It is a road that is travelled frequently by locals and visitors alike--and it is a road that has a series of tremendous car collissions, including several fatal ones, over the last decade and a half.

At one point from 2011-2014--there was a real possibility of 4 laning Sorrento Road as the part of a larger project to provide a four lane evacuation route from Perdido Key Drive, through Sorrento Road, to Blue Angel, and ultimately out of Escambia County headed East.  That project did not come to fruition and was all but killed upon the changing of Leadership in Escambia's District 2 in 2014.

Meanwhile, the project to improve and 4 lane Sorrento Road has languished far down the priorities rankings on the Florida Alabama Transportation Planning Organization's (TPO) priorities list.  

So I told the audience at the town hall and others who have contacted me about Sorrento Road that now that it is within District 1 and I can lobby for this to be done as the commissioner representing this area and I understand the pressing nature of getting this road enhanced for safety--I am going to work as hard as I am able to get this bumped up on the priority list at the TPO so that this state road can be improved and the carnage on this roadway can end.

At last week's TPO meeting - we had a robust discussion with the panel as well as with FDOT's Bryant Paulk--culminating in my request for a formal safety audint of this state road by FDOT.  The below email was sent after the meeting by county roads division director Chris Phillips to Mr. Paulk:

"Bryant,

 This email is to follow up with written communication regarding Commissioner Bergosh’s request for a safety audit to be conducted on Sorrento Road (SR292) from Blue Angel to Innerarity Point / Gulf Beach Hwy intersection.  As discussed after the meeting, if you could provide results of the prior safety audit, it would be beneficial for my information to see what was examined for increase safety.  It would also be of benefit to see if the addition of the paved shoulders coming with this current mill and resurface project is a result of that previous safety audit.  I anticipate that since construction is about to commence for the mill and resurface and additional turn lanes at Bauer, the safety audit may take place after that construction is complete.  If there is any chance to look at the corridor sooner than later to potentially work some improvements into the current project, we would welcome that..." 

Massive Turnout for First D-1 Perdido/Innerarity Town Hall, Post Redistricting

Audience Members from half the room signal their strong support for Escambia County's work in pursuing good jobs from top notch employers through taxpayer funded economic development........ at the Perdido Key/Innerarity D1 Townhall held on 1-31-2022 

We had a massive, spillover and standing room only capacity crowd at last night's townhall meeting in the newest parts of District 1 post-redistricting, Innerarity/Perdido Key.

More than 130 folks attended the town hall that we estimated would bring 50 or so participants, therefore many attendees stood at the back of the room while others peeked in through adjoining hallways at the venue, First United Methodist Church of Perdido Bay.

We kicked off the meeting with a moment of silence, the pledge of allegiance to the flag, and staff introductions.  This was followed by brief remarks from Administrator Wes Moreno and School Board Chairman Kevin Adams, followed by D-1 ECUA Board Member Vicki Campbell.

After the remarks, we went into discussions about various county-wide issues of concern, then narrowed the conversation to areas of specific concern to the southern portion of D1--Perdido, Perdido Key, Innerarity, and nearby, adjacent communities and neighborhoods.

We took in dozens and dozens of thoughtful questions and comments of concern.  Fortunately--staff from the county representing nearly every department were on hand to answer most issues on the spot.  

Others were referred to relevant staff who were tasked with finding the answers and to getting the information back to the constituents that asked such questions.  

Multiple staff members spoke and gave input on the big issues:  Traffic, Sorrento Road, Innerarity causeway, Galvez Landing, Perdido Key Beach Access, Public Beach Access at Perdido Key versus private beach ownership, equitable funding for this part of the county (as a large portion of the county's revenues are funded out of Perdido Key yet the sense of the group was that a reasoanble, proportionate share is not being spent back in this area), FPL light bills, The 401(a) issue, and a host of other topics.

One of my favorite parts of these town hall meetings comes when I solicit audience information and input on a rapid-fire series of questions.  I was pleased to see nearly everyone in the room participate in my "Agree/Disagree" agenda item.  I'll go through each of these questions and the subsequent audience reactions in a follow-on, stand alone blog post.

We ended the meeting at about 7:45, and I expressed my sincere appreciation to those who came,  and particularly the ones who stayed to the end to come up and introduce themselves and elaborate on their particualar issues with me,  one on one.  This was the best part of the event--meeting the people, hearing their issues, and taking what they requested to staff for solutions.

This is how government is supposed to work!

My thanks to the citizens that came to the event, the staff that showed up and participated, and my counterparts from ECUA and the School Board who gave remarks and made themselves available/accessible.  Also, thanks go out to Mrs. Debbie Malsberger-Legislative aide to State Representative Michelle Salzman, for attending on behalf of Rep. Salzman.

The staff had a major issue with Internet Bandwidth at the location and therefore, unfortunatley, the livestream was not of very good quality.  But the event was recorded and a better recording will be posted on the county's webpage later this morning.  When it is posted, I will link it here.