Part Three: Helicopter Technologies And Georges Van Nevel’s Future Plans
February 13, 2008
(This is the third of a three part NorthEscambia.com exclusive series. To read part one from Monday, click here. To read part two from Tuesday, click here.)
Years of battles with the Federal Aviation Administration have taken their toll on Georges Van Nevel with Helicopter Technologies in Century. Van Nevel is tired and perhaps a bit broken by the whole situation, ranging from multiple fine tooth comb inspections to a full blown federal raid with weapons drawn. That, coupled with a fatal crash late last year of a FH1100 that had just left his Century factory, has left him with many sleepless nights. But he has no intent of giving up, nor does he have any intent of leaving Century behind.
It’s not the kind of thing you smile about in the morning and move forward like nothing every happened. His customers are worldwide, far beyond the local news stories. But the helicopter industry knew of the federal raid last month. In fact, articles about the raid here on NorthEscambia.com were picked up and linked to by powerful industry sites and large publications like Rotor & Hub magazine, Vertical Reference Helicopter Forums and the Rotohub website in Europe.
So what does Van Nevel do next?
“Small businesses can’t afford high price lawyers to fight the FAA,” he told NorthEscambia.com in an exclusive interview in his office. “It’s been very difficult, but there has been a lot of support from our customers.”
“I will sue the FAA when I find an attorney; I need to be compensated for damages to my company and the threats I’ve faced,” he said. “I want to go on ‘20/20′ and ‘60 Minutes’ and let the world know what the FAA did to me.”
It’s important to mention again at this point that after years of inspections and allegations by the FAA that Van Nevel has never been charged with any crime, nor have they ever found anything significantly wrong with his operation. The exact cause of the fatal FH1100 crash last year in Lousiana has not been determined, and National Transportation Safety Board documents NorthEscambia.com has examined do not imply a fault with the helicopter.
“I’ve invited them (the FAA) to inspect me many times,” he said. “They have never found anything.”
“The told me during the raid that I was concealing something and they were going to find it. They even searched up there,” he said, pointing to an area physically above the office area of the building.
“I told them right off that I was concealing something,” he said with a laugh, pointing to a huge row of large filing cabinets, clearly labeled with alphabetized labels. “I told them it was all carefully alphabetically concealed right there; things filed away under the letter where they are suppose to be.”
“I was born in Europe,” he told NorthEscambia.com. “That’s a crime here. The Birmingham office of the FAA is an office of good old southern boys, and I’m not one of them.”
Van Nevel recently had 12 employees and always had plans to grow in Century. Now his number of employees stands at two. He’s one of those two.
The building Van Nevel occupies is owned by the Town of Century. His monthly payment for use of the building is $3,257.61. He was reported to be eight payments behind by Town Clerk Dorothy Sims at a January council meeting. That would put him $26,060.88 behind.
“The payment to the city. That one bothers me,” Van Nevel said. “I will recover and make that right. I am not leaving Century.”
“How far are we going to let him get behind before we do something,” council member Henry Hawkins asked at the January town council meeting. “We are going to have to put a stop to it somewhere…I think he needs to go.”
“There a lot of politics in this town,” Van Nevel said. “No matter who it is, no matter how good the idea, somebody in this town is going to fight it. But we have an excellent mayor now. He’ s a good man, with principals. He’s an honest man.”
Van Nevel knows that he faces a long battle to recover his business. But he says he’s ready for the fight.
He took NorthEscambia.com on a complete tour of his facility. We left his office through a central conference room that looked as if a remodel had yet to be completed. We proceeded through an engineering area, full of file cabinets after file cabinets. If the FAA were to have seized all of the records in the filing cabinets, it would appear that it would have taken a semi truck to remove them.
We see the Van Nevel Helicopters Academy classroom. It sits empty except for a few pieces of furniture and an old copy paper box full of books on a folding table.
We headed toward the factory. It was dark. Empty and quiet. His employee is off on Fridays, the day we visited last week. He stopped at a breaker panel and turned on the lights. As we entered the factory, there was the distinct smell of fuel and oil, much like an old garage.
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There’s a row of FH1100 helicopters neatly lined up. Some look like they could fly away at a moment’s notice. Other looks as if they are just skeletons, bare bones. He gives a little history of each as we move down the line. Some, he says, have an improved aerodynamic front nose area that he says looks much more modern.
He stops at one with tail number N556F. Ths bird was ready to leave the nest…it is the one he says he had sold until the FAA contacted the purchasers and told them they would not certify it. He looks over it for a moment, and slides the cover back off the shiny refurbished engine. It’s much like looking under the hood of a new car…it looks ready to go.
We continue our factory tour. Just past a large fuel truck, we see a paint booth and a room full of a machine with a series of rollers that he says is for for making rotors.
The signs on the doors back at the front of the building warns that photography is strictly prohibited in the building. But he encourages NorthEscambia.com to photograph whatever we would like in order to share with our readers.
On the way out of the factory, we pause so he can pose for photographs in front of his copters.
Back in the lobby, he admits that he’s physically tired in the weeks after the raid. He takes us back to the conference room. On a small table in the corner is his next dream. A small model of a military helicopter that he says would save the government a lot of money, being cheap and easy to produce. It’s an impressive looking model, ominous in appearance like an Apache helicopter.
As we leave, he promises to move forward.
“I’ll never give up; I don’t know how.”
Century Care Center Parties Again
February 13, 2008
The residents at the Century Care Center attended another party Tuesday. This time, they enjoyed “The Belles of Saint Rose”, a group of old time “flappers”.
One of the residents stated “it brought back memories of the days we used to dance and listen to those songs.” Many expressed similar feelings. Our residents truly enjoyed the performance, and that is what counts. Our thanks to “The Belles of Saint Rose”, said Mae Hildreth, volunteer coordinator.
The term “flapper” was coined in the 1920’s to refer to a “new breed” of young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to the new Jazz music, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior, according to the Wikipedia.
Photos courtesy Mae Hildreth. Click to enlarge.
Watches, Warnings Expire; Few Problems Reported
February 12, 2008
Fast moving storms caused a few power outages, but few other problems were reported across North Escambia Tuesday night.
At 5:30 our office in Walnut Hill experienced heavy rain and winds were gusting about 50 mph with heavy rain. At 545, a wind gust of 45 mph was recorded in Molino. By 5:55, the heaviest weather had passed the North Escambia area. The main line of rain had cleared the North Escambia area by 6:50.
Power outages were reported across the area, including in the area of South Pineville Road, Sandy Hollow Road and Highway 4, and near Bratt. The McDavid Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a report of power lines and a tree down on Cox Road near Highway 29 about 5:50. Cox road was reported open again about an hour later.
Cooler temperatures are in store for Wednesday. The Wednesday high is expected to only in the low 50’s. Wednesday night will be colder with a low of 28, and a high of 63 is expected on Thursday.
Walnut Hill Baptist Cancels Beth Moore Class Tonight Due To Weather
February 12, 2008
Walnut Hill Baptist Church has canceled a Beth Moore Bible study class scheduled for tonight due to weather. Classes will resume next Tuesday night.
“The Patriarchs” study will takes place Tuesday evenings at 6:00 at the church.
The study is led by Ellen Boyd, and it is open to women regardless of whether or not they attend Walnut Hill Baptist. The cost is $14.95 for the book.
The church is located at 5741 Arthur Brown Road, about about 1.5 miles from Highway 97. For more information, call 327-4595.
FCAT Writing Time Is Here
February 12, 2008
Tuesday began the writing portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test for Escambia students in grades four, eight and ten. Principals at schools across North Escambia say they were not worried that the big day has finally arrived because their students are ready.
“The teachers at EWMS have done an excellent job preparing the students for the FCAT,” said Ernest Ward Middle School Principal Nancy Gindl-Perry. “The students have worked hard preparing for this FCAT and I know our students will do their very best. ”
Ernest Ward was rated an “A” school by the Florida Department of Education last year. At Ernest Ward, 93 percent of students made high standards in writing last year. About 15 miles away at Carver/Century K-8 it is a different story. Just 61 percent of students made high standards in writing last year. Carver/Center was rated as a “F” school by the state last year.
“I feel confident that we are going to show some improvement from last year, Carver/Century Principal Jeff Garthwaite said.
“The more you learn, the more you earn” has become a common slogan among Garthwaite and his Carver students. The school recently held a “cash grab” awarding cold hard cash to students that show improvements on practice FCATS given late last calender year.
“We have taken the two practice FCATs, and all indications show that our students are improving,” he said. “We done as much tutoring as possible. We have held ‘FCAT chats’ one on one with students to explain their scores.”
“We have worked to give the students the confidence they need to do their best and to motivate them,” Garthwaite said. “And we will continue to do that right up to the time of the testing.”
At Northview High School, Principal Gayle Weaver says her tenth graders were ready for the writing FCAT.
“Our people have been working really, really hard,” she said. “We think we should be ready.”
Northview scored a “C” with the state last year, and Weaver said the students and faculty have been hard at work to improve that grade this year.
“Out continuous improvement model has all of our teachers involved for improvement,” she said. “They have looked at each student’s report and worked on ways to improve their scores.”
At Byrneville Elementary School, fourth grade students have been hard at work preparing for the writing FCAT. Byrneville scored a “B” with the state last year, with 72% of students meeting high standards in writing.
“We have been working hard to motivate the students,” Byrneville Principal Dee Wolfe-Sullivan said. Last Friday, Byrneville fourth graders learned more about writing from Kent and Gloria Fox and their puppet Sally. Mr. Fox was an MCA Recording artist and is a songwriter and videographer. Mrs. Fox is children’s author and illustrator, and is a nationally recognized puppeteer. They travel to elementary and middle schools motivating students to learn writing and other skills. They also recently appeared at Bratt Elementary School.
At Ernest Ward and Carver, good FCAT grades will not go unrewarded.
“EWMS will be giving away prizes for the top score in math, reading, science, and writing in each grade level,” Gindl-Perry said. The top score for the entire school in each subject area will receive a grand prize. “After FCAT is over EWMS will celebrate with grade level field days to reward all students for their hard work and dedication.”
Carver/Century plans to hold another cash giveaway following the FCATs, Garthwaite said.
At Ernest Ward, there are other reasons for doing well on the FCAT, Gindl-Perry said, with a direct message to her students.
“The FCAT is your turn to show how good you are as students,” she said to EW students. “Students please remember – your FCAT scores will determine your placement in classes next year…double block, all year, or a semester of reading and electives.”
Students in grades six, seven and nine will take the Escambia Writes! test, a district test similar to the FCAT this week.
Round two of FCAT testing, which will include reading, math and science, will begin March 11.
Pictured above: Fourth grade students at Byrneville Elementary raise their hands to answer questions last Friday morning. Click to enlarge.
Part Two: Helicopter Technologies, Van Nevel And Inside A Federal Raid
February 12, 2008
(This is the second of a three part NorthEscambia.com exclusive series. To read part one from Monday, click here.)
At the end of the day on January 8, 2008, Georges Van Nevel felt a little better about his Century business, Helicopter Technologies and his ongoing problems with the Federal Aviation Administration.
His newly hired consultant, one that he described as a “hard-nosed” former FAA inspector, had spent the day reviewing paperwork to help make sure everything was in order for a planned January 15 FAA inspection. Little did Van Nevel know, but his confrontations with the FAA were about escalate to a much higher level.
Sometime during the 5:00 hour that morning of January 9, federal officers surround the building with the help of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department. The federal team busted a window to gain entry into the building.
“They came into the offices with their guns drawn and put my employees on the floor,” Van Nevel said. “They took them outside at gunpoint like they were criminals. This is not a crack house, for crying out loud.”
A night watchman asleep in a trailer outside the building was pulled out of the trailer in his underwear and handcuffed, he said, and female officers made fun of the underwear clad night watchman on the ground.
“I arrived about 15 minutes later and there were flashing lights and policemen everywhere” Van Nevel said. “They secured me in the parking lot, searched my truck and asked if I had any weapons. They were in SWAT team outfits; I thought I was going to be thrown in jail.”
“I see a guy, an armed sniper guy coming out of the back,” he said. “They actually had an armed sniper hiding back there.”
“I was taken inside to an office and held so they could ask questions,” Van Nevel continued. “I was interrogated Gestapo style.”
The Gestapo literally meant “secret state police” during the Nazi reign in Germany. It was under the administration of the “SS” or “Schutzstaffel” operated without judicial oversight or above the law.
“They should have had a badge that said ‘SS’,” Van Nevel said in a NorthEscambia.com exclusive interview. “My father was abused by the SS in World War II. It was just like the SS used to treat people in World War II. My constitutional rights were violated.”
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“Van Nevel is suspected of improperly refurbishing helicopters and helicopter parts, selling unapproved aircraft parts, performing improper repairs on helicopters and misleading the aviation community by false advertisements,” according to federal documents from the Office of Transportation obtained by NorthEscambia.com.
Federal agents were to seize documents related to all of Van Nevel’s companies, according to federal documents. Documents to be seized include both paper documents and electronic information related to the operation of the company, including employee records, customer records, supplier records and aircraft maintenance information.
Picture above are NorthEscambia.com exclusive photographs of the search warrant documents from the federal raid, taken on January 9. The black boxes in the second photograph were added by NorthEscambia.com to obscure names and cell phone numbers there were not considered classified and not part of public record. Click either photograph to enlarge and read the documents.
“They didn’t shut me down; they told me it was ‘business as usual’,” Van Nevel said in our interview in his office. “But you can’t operate when they take everything.”
On the afternoon of the raid, the driver of one vehicle drove toward the parking lot not using the main driveway but a grassy area on the side. He was quickly approached by deputies before he entered the parking lot (pictured left, click to enlarge).
For more exclusive NorthEscambia.com photos from January 9, click here.
Van Nevel’s office still contained numerous files, a filing cabinet, a computer and dozens of document binders at the time of our interview late last week.
When asked about the remaining documents, he said “They did not take everything. They took important things like customer records, my contact list. They nearly burned up my copier making copies of things and they made copies of what was on my computers.”
“They confiscated all of my new parts, not just a sample. They took all of them,” Van Nevel said. “They took my notary stamp, personal bank accounts and my customer accounts list. They took things that are attorney-client privileged information. They took aircraft log books that do not belong to me. These people are criminal.”
“They even took my copies of my correspondence with the FAA,” he said. “They are the FAA, the ones I sent it to in the first place. It makes me wonder what’s going to happen to those documents, if they are going to tamper with them.”
“I will find a way to hold them accountable,” Van Nevel said, raising his voice slightly. “They were laughing at me.”
Pictured at top of page: A row of FH1100 helicopters sits inside Helicopter Technologies in Century. Some are nearly complete, according to owner Georges Van Nevel, and others are just a frame like the one in the photograph foreground. Click to enlarge. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos.
On Wednesday morning, we’ll look at the present and the future of Helicopter Technologies, Van Nevel and how all this relates to the Town of Century and the entire North Escambia area.
FCAT Warning For Students, Parents: No Cell Phones, No Cameras
February 12, 2008
Escambia County students in grades four, eight and ten will take the writing portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) today. Students in grades six, seven and nine will take the Escambia Writes! test, a district test similar to the FCAT.
There are several important things for students and parents to remember prior to the FCAT test, according the Gayle Hanks, guidance counselor at Ernest Ward Middle School, including the importance of a good night’s sleep tonight.
Also, students must not have a cell phone or any other electronic device “within arm’s reach” even if the device is not visible, according to Hanks. Students should not have cell phones in their pockets, clipped to their belts, at their desks, or anywhere they can be easily accessed during testing. If they do, their entire FCAT test will be invalidated.
“We have announced it over the PA and made phone calls with the ConnectEd system to let them know they can’t have cell phones and other devices with them during the test,” Northview High School Principal Gayle Weaver said.
Students can leave their cell phones or other electronic devices in the office at their school or with their teacher prior to the test, Weaver said.
Some other important FCAT points on this day before the big writing test, according to Hanks:
- If a student starts a test and leaves without finishing (for an appointment, illness, etc.), he/she will NOT be allowed to complete the test. NO EXCEPTIONS will be made once the student leaves the school’s campus.
- If a student arrives at school after the test begins, he/she will not be admitted to the testing site. The student will be required to sit in the office until testing is finished for the day.
Third Candidate Enters District 5 School Board Race
February 11, 2008
A third candidate has qualified for the Escambia County School Board District 5 seat. Bill Slayton of Cantonment qualified for the seat late last week.
Incumbent Pete Gindhl and Tom Harrell are the other two candidate qualified for the nonpartisan office.
Part One: Helicopter Technologies, Van Nevel And Inside A Federal Raid
February 11, 2008
Federal officials conducted a raid at Helicopter Technologies in Century back on January 9. Combat gear, a sniper in the woods, windows busted for an entry team…all part of the raid according to the company’s owner, Georges Van Nevel. This is the first of a three part series about Helicopter Technologies and Van Nevel. Tuesday, we’ll take you to that January morning when the federal raid happened through Van Nevel’s eyes. And we’ll learn what he has to say about why the whole thing happened. Finally, on Wednesday morning, we’ll look at the present and the future of Helicopter Technologies, Van Nevel and how all this relates to the Town of Century and the entire North Escambia area.
It was about 6:30 on the warm late afternoon of September 17, 2007, near Hosston, Louisiana. A lady sees a helicopter that “was not moving fast” over her home, just over the treetops. It’s so low that she waves at the person in the passenger seat and thinks the chopper is going to land in her front yard.
Moments later, 911 dispatchers in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, begin to receive several calls from people that saw a low flying aircraft and then reported seeing smoke. Deputies from the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Department were not immediately able to find a crash, but a local medical helicopter found the smoldering wreckage. The bodies of Jeffery Daniel Legro, 24, and Joseph Benjamin Grammer, 36, were recovered at the crash site (pictured above).
The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report on the crash says the FH-1100 helicopter was registered to and operated by Van Nevel Helicopters, Inc. of Century.
The owner of Van Nevel Helicopters , Georges Van Nevel (pictured left), says he had just sold the helicopter to Grammer. Federal Aviation Administration records examined by NorthEscambia.com support Van Nevel’s claim, showing that the helicopter with identification N313BG was sold to Leading Edge Helicopters, Inc. of Boulder City, Colorado. Grammer was reported to be the owner of Leading Edge. Click here to see that FAA document.
In an exclusive interview with NorthEscambia.com, Van Nevel suggested that the crash was caused by the weather, noting that a hurricane was approaching the area at the time of the crash, or by a phenomena called “mast bumping” where an improper maneuver by the pilot causes the rotor mast to break off the aircraft.
“They had decided that they wanted to challenge nature by flying in that storm,” Van Nevel said. “I had personally flown that aircraft for 25 hours. That aircraft was safe.”
“I did not know about the storm when they left here,” he said, referring to the time when the helicopter left Century. “I had been working a lot and did not know about the storm until I got home and turned on the TV. I was worried. I knew they should not fly through that weather. I got my girlfriend to call the pilot’s cellphone and tell him not to fly through that. She tried several times, but did not get him.”
“She left a message about the weather on his cellphone,” he said, his voice cracking from emotion. “I don’t know if they ever got that message. I was so worried about them.”
According to the National Weather Service, Tropical Storm Humberto was about 35 miles offshore south of Galveston, Texas, at the time of the crash. The weather service reported that at 7:00 on September 17, 2007, Humberto had top winds of 50 mph, and ran bands were coming onshore along the Texas Coast. The center of the storm, which would later become Hurricane Humberto, was about 250 miles from the crash site near Hosston, Louisiana. Tropical storm force winds extended out up to 60 miles from the storm’s center. Click here to see the advisory on Humberto from the National Weather Service.
Radar archives from the National Weather Service indicate that the rain bands from Humberto had not approached the Hosston area at the time of the crash. The radar image to the right shows the rain from Humberto about 30 minutes before the crash. The “X” in the white box was added to the National Weather Service archive image to indicate the approximate location of the FH1100 crash.
The official preliminary crash report from the NTSB as obtained by NorthEscambia.com reported the wind speed in nearby Shreveport, Louisiana, about 23 minutes after the crash to be four knots (about five miles per hour). Visibility was reported to be 10 miles under overcast skies, with the level of the overcast clouds to be 8,500 feet. There is no mention of rain in the report, nor does it mention whether or not there might have been wind gusts at the time from the approaching storm.
You can read the NTSB preliminary crash report obtained by NorthEscambia.com by clicking here.
The final report on what caused the crash has not been released by the NTSB, and is not expected for several more months. But Van Nevel said he does not believe any equipment fault will be found.
“I’ve been in aviation for 42 years,” he said. “I’ve never had an aircraft accident caused by faulty parts or faulty maintenance.” He said any accident he has been involved with has involved situations where the helicopter struck power lines, ran out of fuel or some other reason not related to parts or maintenance. “Aviation accidents are not usually caused by one thing,” he said. “They are caused by a combination of a number of things.”
“But the FAA wants to make me responsible for that crash (in Hosston),” he said.
Van Nevel bought the rights to the FH1100 from Hiller Aviation in 1999. That’s when his problems with the FAA began.
“I had parts that were stock at the time,” he said. “They met all of the FAA requirements and had been inspected by the FAA in 2002 and there was nothing wrong with them.”
The part numbers of existing parts were updated with a “V” in front of the existing numbers to indicate they were Van Nevel parts.
“All of the sudden, these same parts with the ‘V’ have no traceability and they were no good to the FAA,” he said. “They (the FAA) come in here with preconceived idea that you have to be in violation somewhere.”
“With the ‘V’ in front of the part number, the FAA says that is a different part,” Van Nevel said. “How ridiculous is that?”
He said he has been trying for 10 years to resolve issues with the FAA. He said he has gone through countless numbers of inspections, with the FAA finding nothing wrong with his parts, his records or his practices.
In 2004, Van Nevel said he recognized one of the FAA inspectors as a man that he had formerly defeated in a court case. Van Nevel said “He told me with a smile on his face that he was with the FAA now and he said ‘I will find a way to harass you’ to my face.” That inspector was later removed from the case, according to Van Nevel.
But Van Nevel says the FAA harassment continued.
He said many of the improvements to the FH1100 by his company were not required by the FAA, such as upgrading the seatbelts. One such improvement that he undertook has caused great problems for his company, including allegations of falsification of records.
Over the 40 plus year life of each FH1100, records and log books have been kept in multiple books in multiple formats. Van Nevel undertook a project to compile the information from those multiple sources into one single log book.
“I didn’t have to do those things,” he said. “And the more I tried to improve the system, the more problems I had.”
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He showed NorthEscambia.com a pile of old log books dating back to the 1960’s on one helicopter. Those log books are pictured in the right of the photograph above. The new, condensed log book is in the binder to the left of the photograph, with the information categorized and organized with color coded tabs.
“We tried to catch up 30 something years into one location,” he said. “The more I did this, the more I was accused of falsification of records. I just tried to condense the records into one place for better understanding.”
“I did not know what do to please them (the FAA). I was accused of crimes,” Van Nevel said. “But they couldn’t find anything wrong other than a few typos, a few oversights…all honest mistakes.”
More investigators came. “They thought they were coming to some shady operation,” he said. ” They didn’t expect to see what they saw. I comply with regulations. I have no interest in trying to not do the right thing.”
Van Nevel said there 258 FH1100 helicopters manufactured, with about 80 of them still in service around the world.
“I am concerned with the safety of these helicopters,” he said. “I don’t want an accident putting a blemish on the brand.”
Part of his plan includes the improvement of some parts.
“I had a brand new part for safety,” he said. “In October, the inspectors came and took a single part…not a sample of parts, but a single part…and the drawings of that part and spent a day and half making sure it met the design and flight standards.”
After that October visit, the FAA contacted a customer and examined the records of one helicopter that his company was ready to deliver. “They told him that the aircraft would never be certified and he had just bought a pile of scrap metal,” Van Nevel said.
After a while, Van Nevel said he became concerned “maybe I’m missing something here” and hired a consultant to help make sure he was meeting all of the FAA’s regulations. That consultant, he said, was a former “hard-nosed” FAA inspector.
“I wanted an in-depth analysis to make sure there was no error in our paperwork,” he said.
That consultant was in the office examining paperwork on January 8, Van Nevel said. Little did Van Nevel know that the following morning, his problems with the FAA would escalate to a much higher level. On that morning, a federal raid was about to happen with combat gear, a sniper in the woods and windows busted for an entry team. His building would be searched and records seized.
Join NorthEscambia.com Tuesday for the second installment of this three part series. We’ll take you to that January morning when the federal raid happened through Van Nevel’s eyes. And we’ll learn what he has to say about why the whole thing happened.
Finally, on Wednesday morning, NorthEscambia.com will look at the present and the future of Helicopter Technologies, Van Nevel and how all this relates to the Town of Century and the entire North Escambia area.
Assistant County Administrator Willie Taylor Resigns Monday
February 11, 2008
Assistant County Administrator Willie Taylor resigned Monday. He was one of six finalist for the county’s top job, but that job was awarded to Bob McLaughlin, another assistant county administrator, last Thursday.
Taylor was heading the consolidation of the county’s volunteer fire departments and paid career firefighters. It is not known how his resignation might affect that process, but his resignation is not effective for 90 days.
He did not give a reason for stepping down in his letter. He earned $106,000 per year in the position that he had held since 2006.