What is the True Story of What is Going to Happen at the Beulah Fire Station?

Some folks on Facebook had speculated on what is going on with Escambia County's Station 2 in Beulah, and unfortunately their speculation was not on point.  So I corrected the record there, and I am going to do likewise here.

First--the BCC voted more than a year ago to purchase the BVFD property upon which Station 2 sits.

For the last year + we have worked to get all the documentation necessary for the title company to be able to close the sale.  It has been a long process, and it is not yet completed.  It is my understanding that now we are on the cusp of getting this transaction finalized.  First American Title is handling this transaction and beginning this week the County Attorney's Office will be calling daily to check progress.  Daily.

Meanwhile--folks are wondering what the modernization of Station 2 will look like.  Here is what I say to that question and also to the question of who it is that will staff that station.  Again, I want to be clear and I want to be on record as the Commissioner from that district and a 15-year resident of Beulah---from facebook:


"The volunteer firefighters from station 2 have worked very hard with their attorney to help us get the deal closed over the last year. It has been a long and circuitous process. The BCC voted to buy the station over one year ago---and so that part is a done deal--and it has been for quite some time. As is the funding of $2.5 Million to modernize that facility. As of my conversation this past week 
with our County Atttorney--the title company is now officially the pinch-point and I have requested our RE attorney, Steve West, to make DAILY calls until we close the deal. Then we will engage an A&E firm to design what will happen next on that property. It will be modernized, there will be showers and bunks and a proper kitchen and meeting space for the personnel, and most importantly ------ This station will remain a volunteer station, with the Beulah Volunteer Fire Department transitioning from owning the property to being a tenant on what will be our newest county property. But volunteers will continue to run that station. And I will not support ANY moves to bring in paid staff to this facility so long as the volunteers continue to do an excellent job and unless they, the volunteers, request day shift coverage or enhanced coverage utilizing paid fire personnel. I support all firefighters and I have tremendous respect and admiration for volunteer firefighters in particular.  So, that is where this stands."

As it pertains to what the $2.5 Million will do:

"We have a $2.5 million budget. my plan is to engage an A&E firm to tell us what we can do with that utilizing the property and what’s currently on the property and that money in order to have a modernized facility. that’s what it means to me unless we have additional funds—which I’ll be looking for as well"

Perdido Key Public Beach Access #4 Design and Application Going to Development Review This Week

The long and tortured saga of the effort to open a 330' county-owned parcel of  Gulf-Front property on Perdido Key will soon enter a new chapter;  final plans for this property will be submitted for the  County's Development Review  this week.

Nearby residents, condo owners in the area, and some Perdido Key special interests have fought against opening this parcel for various reasons.  And the primary reason is that the status quo of keeping this parcel locked to citizens that don't live nearby allows for the exclusive use of this property by locals that live in the area---while simultaneously keeping the taxpayers who PAID for this property in 2013 from accessing it!!

You can read all about the gnashing of teeth by the special interests that oppose this, and the comfortable status quo these special interests and nearby residents have enjoyed by using our publicly owned beach as their private beach for the last 6 years, here and here.

Beginning last year, however,  the BCC  moved forward with doing the planning  for opening up this beach  access facility for use by all of Escambia County's citizens.  This should have happened years ago;  Better late than never I guess........And yes, you guessed it, there is litigation in the courts from the special interests aimed at derailing the initiative to #OpenOurBeach.  Imagine that?  😏

Once complete and opened, however, this access will be larger than our current three access points, combined!

It will feature ADA accessible mats that allow citizens in wheelchairs to access the beach, it will have 37 parking spaces, it will provide desperately needed west Perdido Key emergency access to the gulf for lifeguards and first responders, and it will have built-in protections for sensitive habitat in the dunes portion and most sandy portions of the parcel.  (Something that up until now has not been provided for)

We now have the  final design drawings relevant portions of which are pictured below:

Highlights and required steps going forward:

• DRC approval--application to be submitted this week.
• Approval of the Management Plan by USFWS, final plan set is required as a part of the Service review process (concurrent with DRC process)
• Engineer’s Probable Cost to Construct – the consultant is developing the estimate now
• Funding source approved by the BCC
• Bid and Construct

This Picture Would Have Been Very Helpful..................Yesterday When FDOT's Press Release Dropped

Apparently, according to a news bulletin put out late yesterday and this article in the PNJ--Westbound access to 9-Mile Road from exit 5 (Beulah) will be closed for construction for up to the next 3 Months.

At least that's what this press release, below, intimates.

If such a plan would have in any way affected travellers heading westbound on I-10 exiting on exit 5 and intending to travel west on 9-Mile Road toward Beulah----such a plan would have been a disaster of epic proportion.

Unfortunately--the late afternoon news release without a map was not clear to many readers.

After emailing the entire world this morning and asking for clarification--I received the below diagram

Illustrating what is actually going to be closed.  If this is what is going to be modified, the impacts will be a lot less severe.   A lot less severe.....

Too bad they didn't add this picture with yesterday's press release.... a lot of folks would not have gone through a lot of stress and anxiety.

Glad to see there will be no diminution of the traffic exiting from I-10 Westbound on to Exit 5 (Heading up the hill to Beulah and NFCU's Campus)

Answers Received....

Late last night I did receive answers to those portions of my initial 7 questions that were not answered regarding what I believe to be the unusual treatment of one employee in particular at EMS over the last 7 months.

Apparently, a member of the HR staff sat down and asked our employee, the medical director, to answer the questions or portions of the questions I had put forward that HR staff could not they, themselves, answer.

I have more questions now, based upon this response, and some of these answers do not square with what others have stated.  I will probably have follow on questions to these answers--but at least they got me these answers.

Here they are....I'll let these answers "speak for themselves......"

Ten Big Escambia County Commission Stories to Watch in the New Year!

2020 is upon us--Happy New Year to Everyone.....(and here are some issues to watch from the BCC in the new year)

It's New Year's Eve--Happy New Year to everyone!

The new year will provide lots to look for from the BCC--lots of issues, items, and even an election...

Here are ten items I believe will be newsworthy in the upcoming year that folks will want to watch....


1.  New Jail will be completed:  This is slated for mid-summer.  At a cost of more than $130 Million this will be the BCC's largest building project to date.  More importantly--it will save the taxpayers as much as $5 Million yearly in expenditures we are currently making to house inmates elsewhere.

2.  Electronic Beach Tolls:  We have voted to go "all electronic."  I believe this will be a tremendous improvement in flow of traffic to the Beach.  Our utilization of the panic switch last summer to flush traffic during the summer, combined with Commissioner Bender's excellent data presentation, point to this as a huge help to reducing beach traffic gridlock.  We will see, in 2020.

3.  Bob Sikes Bridge repairs:  These will happen over the winter.  Will these repairs get us another 15 years out of the current bridge?  Will the board vote to start a sinking fund for this structure's eventual replacement?  I think we will.

4.  Civic Center Replacement:  The existing Civic Center is paid for as of 2019.  Will we get a triumph grant to allow for a new events center--or will we instead spend the monies necessary via bonding against currently available bed-tax revenue to modernize the existing facility?

5.  Beach Roundabouts:  The issue has been studied to death, it has been planned, and it has been presented to the public.  Hotel operators want it, and are convinced it will help keep beach traffic flowing.  Beach residents don't seem to be keen on the idea, and a lot of the general public is polarized for or against.  The SRIA seems to be torn on the issue. Will it even come before the board of County Commissioners for a vote?

6.  Modernized Fire Station for Beulah/NFCU Master Plan for OLF 8/ NW District 1 Master Plan:  The fastest growing area of Escambia County, Beulah, also has one of the oldest, most outdated fire houses in the county.  The property has been purchased by the county, and $2.5 Million in LOST Funds have been identified to modernize this facility for the firefighters of station 2 in Beulah.  What will the new facility look like?  We will find out in 2020.  NFCU will pay for the Master Plan of OLF 8--this will happen in 2020.  The NW District 1 Advisory Committee will finish their work and precincts 5, 43, and 68 will get a master plan or an overlay district that will more intelligently plan for growth.  What will this look like?  We will find out in 2020.

7.  Completion of 9-Mile Road 4-Lane Project:  A large part of this project will be completed in 2020--particularly the portion from Exit 5 to Beulah Road where the majority of the gridlock from NFCU happens daily.  This portion is slated for completion in March of 2020--just three months away.  But will it be?  And more importantly--will it put a dent in the commute time gridlock on 9-Mile Road in Beulah?

8.  More Beach Access for the Public: Lots of folks are clamoring for more free, public beach access.  Escambia County is moving forward with plans to open Perdido Key Beach Access #4--a 300' pristine gulf front lot on the west side of Perdido Key.  It has been the subject of much consternation...and litigation.  Will it open by July 4th for the public at large to enjoy?

9.  Administrator Gilley's Assistant and Fire Chief:  Our new administrator has been working huge days and long hours.  She has filled several key positions--two that will be filled in the coming year will be Fire Chief and Assistant Administrator.  Who will get these jobs, and how soon will they be filled?

10.  BCC Primary Election on August 18th:  Three of us are up for election, three of us are on the ballot.  Will there be a new Board Member elected?  More than one?  Or, will the three incumbents keep their seats?  It all goes down in the primary--for this position and given the political realities for these three districts, the election that matters will be the primary election on August 18th.  I predict all incumbents will keep their seats, based upon a number of factors and polls that have been conducted----------- but we will all know for sure in August 2020.

Happy New Year to All!

Questions Asked--Awaiting Answers: Part III

Legitimate questions regarding policy implementation and policy compliance  deserve timely, complete responses from relevant staff.  Incomplete responses, ignored emails, and/or non-answers will only invite more scrutiny and more questions........

It's the holidays.  I get it.  Everyone is out on leave, away for the holidays.  People want to enjoy the holidays and I do, too.

But the wheels keep turning and things still have to happen.

Emails sent to highly-paid staff should be acknowledged at a minimum and answered promptly as a matter of practice and courtesy.

Unfortunately, I have had to ask lots of specific questions about the way an employee was treated over the last 7 months.  I have sat down in meetings with staff that have assured me that "Things were handled properly, we will get you the documents you have requested that will prove this!"

But this has not happened.

So 9 days ago I sent the below email to our new HR director with a copy to leadership staff and I have not had a response to this email from the HR director to whom it was addressed.  Nor have I

Questions Asked--Awaiting Answers: Part II

Legitimate questions regarding policy implementation and policy compliance  deserve timely, complete responses from relevant staff.  Incomplete responses and/or non-answers will only invite more scrutiny and more questions........

I have requested answers to very specific questions about the way our Workplace Harassment Policy was apparently not followed regarding the treatment of an employee of EMS.  Up to this point I have not received complete answers to the seven questions I posed several weeks back----which is unfortunate.  

Eleven days ago I asked for the rest of the questions I posed (regarding the shoddy treatment of an employee of EMS) to be answered or at a minimum what the plan was for me to receive the complete answers.  Disappointingly--we are eleven days on and I've not yet received an email response to this email, below.

"Janice:

I received the package, and I have read the responses you sent to my questions yesterday afternoon.

Several of these answers are not answers. 

Several say, and I’ll paraphrase, “Go as EMS Admin or Go ask Dr. Edler”

Of course I want complete answers to the questions I have posed, and I assume from the answers you and your staff have provided that you don’t know the answers to the questions where you simply answer by saying “Go ask Dr. Edler.”

Am I to assume that you want me to go to Dr. Edler directly to ask these questions, or are you going to ask her?  Or are you going to have staff ask her?

Please let me know your plan for ensuring I have complete answers to all questions that I have posed.

I’m also requesting that discussion of the BCC Workplace Harassment Policy be placed on the agenda for the next BCC meeting for full and complete discussion with my peers and staff.

R/

Jeff Bergosh

Escambia Board of County Commissioners,

District 1

221 Palafox Place Suite 400

Pensacola, FL 32502

850-595-4910 office

850-377-2209 Voicemail

District1@myescambia.com

www.jeffbergoshblog.blogspot.com

@jeffbergosh"

I did receive confirmation that discussion of the workplace harassment policy will be on the agenda one week from today, which I have requested.  This is good and I look forward to a robust conversation about that......But part two of my email above has not yet been answered.  

I want complete answers to Question 1, Question 2. (c), Questions 5, 6, and 7.

Hopefully I will get a complete answer with complete responses to these questions this week at some point.  

If not, during my Friday teleconference with Janice Gilley and Alison Rogers,  I will ask them again.  If they do not have the complete answer (s)--I'll  inform them that there will be an "add-on" discussion item to our next meeting agenda where I will ask relevant staff, publicly, to answer these remaining questions--and I will request relevant and knowledgeable staff to be present at our evening meeting on Tuesday January 7th to do this.  

Hopefully it won't come to that--as that could be a messy discussion.