Commission Votes To Move Forward On Consolidating Fire Departments
March 21, 2008
The Escambia County Commission voted Thursday night to finalize steps toward creating a unified, countywide volunteer fire department and to solve the issue to stipend overpayments to volunteers.
Under the plan approved Thursday night, the county will waive $24,575 in volunteer stipend overpayments. As a restriction on the stipend forgiveness, volunteers that hold an exemption letter from the State Fire Marshal will be able to continue collecting their stipend at the level of Firefighter I until September 30. Beginning October 1, volunteer firefighters holding the exemption letter will be paid their stipend at the level of Firefighter Trainee.
The plan also requires County Fire Chief Ken Perkins and Robbie Whitfield, president of the volunteer’s association and chief of the Ferry Pass Volunteer Fire Department, to present a fire department unification plan by the April 2008 Committee of the Whole workshop on April 10. The county administrator would oversee this transition.
Commissioners Want To Cut Their Own Salaries, Disagree On Method
March 21, 2008
Escambia County Commissioners held a lengthy, and sometimes heated, discussion at their Thursday night meeting about cutting their salaries by 10 percent.
District 5 Commissioner Kevin White (pictured) made a motion that the county ask the Florida Legislature cut the salaries of all county commissioners in the state by 10 percent, and if not for all counties, that Escambia commission salaries be cut by 10 percent.
Commissioner Marie Young said she was unwilling to support taking the request to the state legislature directly. She made a motion that the request go to the Florida Association of Counties first and allow FAC to present the request to the legislature. Young serves on the FAC board of directors.
“I cannot support it as only for Escambia County,” Young said. “Only if it goes through the proper channels of going through the Florida Association of Counties.”
“I’ll agree to send it to both, but not just FAC,” White said.
Young’s motion failed with four commissioners voting against it; only Young voted in the affirmative.
White’s motion was amended to present the request to both the legislature and FAC.
Commission Chairman Mike Whitehead said that in order for the legislature to approve the request, it would need a 5-0 vote by the commission, or it would fail in Tallahassee.
“I do know and understand the process when you call for a special act,” Whitehead said. “If you want to do something that is meaningful, then do it through the appropriate channels and do it correctly. What you are asking for becomes nothing but posturing.”
White’s motion passed 4-1, with Young voting against it.
County Postpones Action On New Park For Bratt
March 21, 2008
A new community park is in the works for the Bratt community. The Escambia County Commission will vote on a land swap on April 3 that will make a 10 year dream a reality.
The commission was expected to approve the land swap Thursday night, but the vote was postponed until the next meeting due to a problem with the legal description of the property, District 5 Commissioner Kevin White said.
“We are not dropping it; we are just postponing it until the next meeting,” White said.
The county is set to trade 57 acres of mostly wetlands that county owns on Hanks Road for 13.19 acres at the corner of West Highway 4 and Bratt Road. The Highway 4 property is currently owened by Kale and Donna Schneider.
“I think this is a great thing,” District 5 Commissioner Kevin White told NorthEscambia.com. “A park in that area has been needed for a long time. This has been 10 years in the making.”
The land swap will end up costing the county only about $9,000. That will leave about $141,000 currently budgeted in White’s discretionary Local Option Sales Tax funds to develop that park. In the beginning, that money will pay for land improvements, playground equipment and a walking trail. Softball fields are part of the ultimate plan for the park, White said. The county’s current Admendment 1 budget crisis will not effect the funding for the park since funds will come from the local sales tax monies.
“It will be a great asset for the community, and we expect the private sector will get involved and help too,” White said. “It provides another park in the north part of the county that the other board members have supported since I have been here.”
The new park, if the land swap is approved by the commission next month, will be located along Highway 4 between Bratt First Baptist Church and Northview High School. The land is currently an open area with just a few very small trees (pictured below). The aerial photo above shows the placement of the property.
County Considers Millions In Funding Cuts, Lake Stone Funding Gone
March 21, 2008
Escambia Commissioners have identified about $10.5 million of a needed $12 million in budget cuts, including funding for Lake Stone near Century.
The county had funded Lake Stone (pictured above) to the tune of $23,472 last year, and they had ranked it at number 34 on a list of 78 county departments. But during a budget workshop Wednesday, the commission decided to cut the funding and allow it to become self-supporting.
Other items considered by the commission to cut costs:
- continue a hiring freeze on roughly 100 vacant positions
- pay for some capital outlay projects on credit to make more funds available in the current budget
- form a committee to decide if about a half million a year that goes to the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce and the Pensacola Escambia Development Commission for job development could actually be done cheaper by the county
- eliminate three positions from the county’s human resources department, outsourcing the work
- county parks and recreation events must make enough from their fees or they would be cut
- inmate labor will be used for park maintenance such as mowing
- suspend county employee tuition reimbursement
- cut an assistant county administrator position and its office aide, saving $210,823
- consider early retirement buyouts
- cut the $115,000 for the Human Relations Commission that hears fair housing complaints
- cut the county’s Merit System Protection Board from $126,225 to $35,000 per year. The board exists to provide civil service employees a way to air work grievances, but the board has never heard a case.
County Honors Agriculture
March 21, 2008
The Escambia County Commission approved a proclamation honoring agricultural related industries in the county at their Thurday night meeting.
“Florida farm families are stewards of the land, contributing to the health, beauty, productivity and quality of our state’s water, soil and forest resources for the benefit of all Floridians,” the proclamation read.
“Agriculture and natural resources industries are the core of our county’s health, recreation and economy,” it continued.
Agriculture related revenues in Escambia County exceed $25 million annually, with forestry and related manufacturing industries contributing another $350 million annually in the county.
The proclamation officially recognized March 20 as Agricultural Day in the county.
“Agriculture is vital to Escambia County,” Jimmy Cunningham of Molino told the commission on behalf of the Florida Farm Bureau and several other farm related groups in the county. “Remember, every time you eat, what you wear and even the leather chairs you are sitting in…agriculture has made this possible.”
“We provide the necessities of life,” he continued, “food, shelter and clothing.”
About 44,000 Florida farms occupy about one third of the state’s land area, or about 10.5 million acres.
Pictured above: District 5 Commissioner Kevin White presents the proclamation to Molino farmer and cattleman Jimmy Cunningham.
Another Candidate Qualifies For The District 5 Commission Race
March 21, 2008
Georgette Harris of Cantonment has joined the list of candidates seeking the Escambia County District 5 Commission seat. Harris prefiled as a Democrat.
Harris will face incumbent Republican Kevin White of Molino, Republicans Randall McCrackin of Cantonment, Packy Mitchell of Cantonment and Chris Washler of Cantonment; and Democrat John Hartman of Cantoment.
Theatre Group This Afternooon At Century Library
March 20, 2008
The Atlantic Coast Theatre for Youth will perform the Tortoise and the Hare at the Century Branch Library this afternoon at 3:30.
Aesop’s fable is given a fun updated twist in this new musical. Bunny Hare always wins every race, so how will Thomas Tortoise be able to compete. The famous sports reporter Howard “Crow”-sel will be there to call the play by play in this fantastic fable.
ACT For Youth is dedicated to bringing the art of theatre to children and families. Their mission is to create performances, workshops, and educational programs that inspire and encourage discussion, according to the group’s website.
For more information, contact the Century Branch Library at 256-6217. Admission is free.
Easter Bunny In Century Thursday; Students Hunt Eggs
March 20, 2008
The Easter Bunny (music teacher, Mr. Morrrell) visited Pre-K. Ms.Stephens class this morning at Carver/Century K-8 School. The Easter Bunny was in Century a few days early celebrating the first day of Spring today.
The students at Carver/Century also had an Easter egg hunt today, pictured below. Scroll down to see all of the pictures.
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NorthEscambia.com Investigative Series Part Seven: Allied Waste Responds
March 20, 2008
Today, NorthEscambia.com completes our seven part investigative series looking at Allied Waste and their service to the citizens of the North Escambia area. Our Emerald Coast Utilities Authority Board member, Larry Walker, has pushed the board for months to pull Allied’s franchise agreement that is currently set to expire in 2010. Walker has stated repeatedly that he wants ECUA to take over the 11,000 Allied customers in North Escambia. So far, ECUA has rejected the takeover, but they have ordered 11,000 automated collection waste cans and seven new garbage trucks.
Today, we hear from Allied and their responses to Walker’s plans and our NorthEscambia.com series. NorthEscambia.com called Andy Liess, Allied Waste’s Pensacola general manager, last Friday to get his responses. He requested that we submit our questions via email, which we did. He called back with his responses on Tuesday.
Walker presented numerous citizen complaints about Allied to the ECUA board at their last meeting, some of those complaints dating back to last year. Liess did not deny that Allied had service problems in North Escambia, but he said Allied had resolved many of their problems.
“I’m not going to tell you that we did not have issues in the past,” Liess told NorthEscambia.com. “But we have improved. We make sure we continue to improve.”
When Allied is notified of a problem with service, Liess said they make every effort to solve that problem the same day, even if it means sending someone out “in the middle of the night”. But in order for a problem to be solved, a customer must first contact Allied and let them know something is wrong, he said.
“We take our commitment to Escambia County very seriously,” he said. “We have invested millions of dollars in Escambia County, and most of our 100 plus employees live in this county. We understand the importance of customer service, and we make sure our customers get a level of service they deserve.”
Walker stated in documents to the ECUA Board that Allied routinely skips some pickups, especially on dirt roads and around major holidays like Christmas.
“I see no reason that holidays should have more problems,” Liess said. “But dirt roads do present an issue after rain events. Our trucks are 55,000 pounds and it is dangerous to put them on a dirt road. It is a challenge for us. But we resume service as soon as possible.”
Liess acknowledges past service problems, including problems with calling customer service, but says those problems have been corrected an additional solutions added.
“There were previous phone problems, but we added an email contact with same day service, and our hold times have returned to reasonable levels. The additional communications methods have made a dramatic improvement.” Additionally, Liess said that Allied is working on a website for local use and customer service for better and easier access. That site, he said, is expected to be complete in two to four weeks.
“We do realize that there are gaps in our service,” Liess said. “We continue to make improvements to close those gaps, especially in the last several months.”
“We take our commitment to Escambia County very seriously. We have had a partnership with ECUA since 1995, and we look forward that partnership for years to come,” he stated. “The ECUA board and the staff have discussed Dr. Walker’s requests. Both the board and the staff continue to support us.”
To read part one of this series, click here, for background information.
To read part two of this series, click here.
To read part three of this series, click here.
To read part four of this series, click here.
To read part five of this series, click here.
To read part six of this series, click here.
Happy National Agriculture Day
March 20, 2008
Today is National Agriculture Day, and the EscaRosa Young Farmers and Ranchers along with the Escambia Farm Bureau directors will present FOCUS, Farmers Offering Consumers Untold Savings, outside the Escambia County Governmental Center Complex from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
This first-ever event will feature agricultural exhibits, farm equipment, and produce from area growers to educate citizens on locally produced agricultural goods and raise awareness of the industry in Escambia County. Representatives from the EscaRosa Young Farmers and Ranchers, Escambia County Farm Bureau Board of Directors and Escambia County IFAS Extension Services will be on site to answer questions and educate citizens on the “untold savings” of having agricultural producers of food, clothing materials and timber in our community.
“Consumers take the relatively low cost of food, clothing, and lumber for granted and assume that the money that they spend goes directly to the farmer,” said Libbie Johnson, Escambia County agriculture extension agent. “Most consumers and elected officials are not fully aware of the amount and variety of agriculture that we have in this county and how agriculture benefits all.”
