Century To Accept $282,000 Offer From Dept. Of Corrections & Not Sue
June 19, 2008
Rather than going to court, Century will settle a billing dispute with the Florida Department of Corrections for about $282,000, far less than the $569,000 they had originally hoped to receive.
“The dispute had one feel in the beginning, but now it has a different appearance,” Matt Dannheisser, the town’s attorney, told the council at a special meeting Wednesday.
Town Accountant Robert Hudson had reported to the council that the DOC owed about $569,000 in back payments. But that amount included $127,000 in interest that Dannheisser said the DOC was not willing to pay.
The dispute stemmed from billing practices that dated back to 2000. Under the town’s agreement with the DOC and Century Correctional Institute, the prison was to pay for natural gas at the rate of 120 percent of the town’s actual cost. The town’s billing system would generate a bill at the normal rate, then town employees would re-rate the bill and send a new bill about 10 days later at the 120 percent rate. That adjustment was originally done twice a year based upon the rate from nine months earlier.
But in 2000, there was spike in natural gas prices, Dannheisser said, and the town went back to the DOC that agreed to pay 100 percent of the town’s cost on a monthly basis. But they did not agree to pay the 20 percent profit margin until a new agreement was reached.
The first problem, Dannheisser said, was that there was no proof that the town ever mailed the adjusted bills to the DOC. “If we did not seek that adjustment, we’re sunk,” he said.
He said the state is allowed to pay interest on bills more than 40 days late, but only if the billing party can prove they actually sent a correct invoice.
“We have not been able to locate the corrected invoices for the Department of Corrections,” he said.
And more problems with the town’s natural gas bills for the DOC were also found.
“We discovered two anomalies going through this event,” he said. One was an over-billing of $105,000, and the other were two missing payments.
“There are two payments we can’t find,” Dannheisser said. “The department says they paid them…we simply can’t find them.”
Those payments, once for $37,400 and one for $46,100, total $78,500.
“I’ve called for copies of the checks,” Dannheisser said. He said the DOC had located a copy of one, but he had yet to see it.
When the $78,500 in missing payments and the $105,000 in over-billings are subtracted, that left the DOC owing the town $282,087.
Dannheisser recommend that the council accept the $282,087 from the Department of Corrections rather than taking DOC to court. “I would suggest that you approved taking the settlement,” he said. “They are now paying what we billed them.”
The council voted 4-0 on Nadine McCaw’s motion to accept the $282,087, with council member Henry Hawkins not present for the meeting. The amount is contingent upon the DOC proving they made the $78,500 in payments they say they have made. If not, that amount will be added to the total settlement.
While investigating the natural gas billing issue with the Department of Corrections, Dannheisser said he discovered that Century Correctional Institure was being billed $20,400 per month for water service under a 1996 contract.
The contract had a contingency clause to raise the rate based upon the Consumer Price Index, which has gone up 36.1 percent since 1996. Based upon Dannheisser’s findings, Century Mayor Freddie McCall recommended that the prison’s base water bill be raised by the 36.1 percent, or about $7,400 per month. A motion to that effect was approved.
There were no members of the general public at Wednesday’s meeting. It was attended by the council, the attorney, a consultant and two town employees. NorthEscambia.com was the only media at the meeting.
Century Does Not Want Flomaton Sewage, Even If They Pay
June 19, 2008
The Century Town Council made a preliminary decision Wednesday not to provide sewer service to a mobile home park in Flomaton under an agreement with that Alabama town.
Mathis Trailer Park is planned for the north side of the street known as Alley 5, just feet north of the Alabama state line in Flomaton. Flomaton does not have sewer service available south of the railroad tracks near the state line. Under a proposal from Flomaton, that town would provide individual sewer connections for the five planned trailers on the lot, and they would run a line to the state line. At the state line, Flomaton’s sewer line would connect to a line from Century.
The sewage flow from Flomaton would be paid for by the Town of Flomaton, with Flomaton billing the trailer park owner. If the trailer park owner did not pay Flomaton, Flomaton would still pay Century for the sewage, Century Mayor Freddie McCall said. In addition, the Town of Century would receive a $1,000 connection fee for each of the five trailers, and $1,000 each for additional trailers added to the park in the future.
The proposal has already been approved by the Flomaton Town Council. But Century’s council did not approve the agreement at a special called meeting Wednesday.
“I don’t support providing sewer service to anybody we don’t provide water service to,” Council President Anne Brooks said. Under the discussed agreement, water service for the trailer park would come from Flomaton.
“I am not particularly happy about going across the state line with our sewage,” council member Gary Riley said.
Council member Sharon Scott also expressed her displeasure with the idea. Council member Nadine McCaw said she would support the proposal. Council member Henry Hawkins was not present at the meeting.
The council is expected to formally deny the request at their next regular meeting on July 7.
See The Big Moon Last Night? Your Eyes Were Tricking You. Really.
June 19, 2008
If you noticed a larger than normal looking moon rising in the east over North Escambia last night, you did not see what you think you did, according to NASA.
Sometimes you just can’t believe your eyes. This week is one of those times.
This week step outside just after sunset and look around. You’ll see a giant form rising in the east. At first glance it looks like the full Moon. It has craters and seas and the face of a man, but this “moon” is strangely inflated. It’s huge!
You’ve just experienced the Moon Illusion.
There’s no better time to see it. The full Moon of June 18th is a “solstice moon”, coming only two days before the beginning of northern summer. This is significant because the sun and full Moon are like kids on a see-saw; when one is high, the other is low. This week’s high solstice sun gives us a low, horizon-hugging Moon and a strong Moon Illusion.
Sky watchers have known for thousands of years that low-hanging moons look unnaturally big. At first, astronomers thought the atmosphere must be magnifying the Moon near the horizon, but cameras showed that is not the case. Moons on film are the same size regardless of elevation: example. Apparently, only human beings see giant moons.
Are we crazy?
After all these years, scientists still aren’t sure. When you look at the Moon, rays of moonlight converge and form an image about 0.15 mm wide on the retina in the back of your eye. High moons and low moons make the same sized spot, yet the brain insists one is bigger than the other. Go figure.
A similar illusion was discovered in 1913 by Mario Ponzo, who drew two identical bars across a pair of converging lines, like the railroad tracks pictured right. The upper yellow bar looks wider because it spans a greater apparent distance between the rails. This is the “Ponzo Illusion.”
Some researchers believe that the Moon Illusion is Ponzo’s Illusion, with trees and houses playing the role of Ponzo’s converging lines. Foreground objects trick your brain into thinking the Moon is bigger than it really is.
But there’s a problem: Airline pilots flying at very high altitudes sometimes experience the Moon Illusion without any objects in the foreground. What tricks their eyes?
Maybe it’s the shape of the sky. Humans perceive the sky as a flattened dome, with the zenith nearby and the horizon far away. It makes sense; birds flying overhead are closer than birds on the horizon. When the moon is near the horizon, your brain, trained by watching birds (and clouds and airplanes), miscalculates the Moon’s true distance and size.
There are other explanations, too. It doesn’t matter which is correct, though, if all you want to do is see a big beautiful Moon. The best time to look is around moonrise, when the Moon is peeking through trees and houses or over mountain ridges.
A fun activity: Look at the Moon directly and then through a narrow opening of some kind. For example, ‘pinch’ the moon between your thumb and forefinger or view it through a cardboard tube, which hides the foreground terrain. Can you make the optical illusion vanish?
Stop that! You won’t want to miss the Moon Illusion.
Article, photo and graphics from NASA.
One More Year For Carver/Century; Then Closure Recommended
June 18, 2008
School Superintendent Jim Paul will recommend the closure of Carver/Century K-8 School at a budget workshop on June 26.
The school will remain open for the the upcoming 2008-2009 school year, but will close before the 2009-2010 school year if Paul’s recommendation is approved by the five member school board. The schools 200 plus students would be transferred mostly to Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle School.
“Superintendent Jim Paul announced today that he will recommend the closure of Carver/Century K-8 in 2009-2010 at the June 26 special budget meeting of the School Board of Escambia County,” Ronnie Arnold, associate superintendent and district spokesperson said in an email news release Tuesday morning, several hours after NorthEscambia.com was first to report the school’s fate.
Closing the school for this school year was not logistically feasible, Arnold told NorthEscambia.com. “He (Paul) did not feel it could be closed in the right way in that time frame.”
“The superintendent cited a lack of adequate time to prepare for an effective closure for 2008-2009 as the overriding factor in his decision,” the news release said.
The 57 employees at the school will be offered jobs elsewhere in the system.
Building Trade and Construction Design Academy Established at NHS
June 18, 2008
The Northview High School Academy of Building Trades and Construction Design was officially established Tuesday night by the Escambia County School Board.
The program, essentially a small school within a school, has been in the works for some time.
Students at Northview will have the option of taking construction related classes as they have in the past, or they can enroll in the academy at Northview. In the academy, their other classes such as algebra, science and writing will revolve around the construction trade. For instance, if they take a construction academy algebra class, their work will center on learning to do algebra as it might be useful in the construction industry.
“Lots of students already take construction at Northview,” Principal Gayle Weaver said. “They like to work with their hands and do things in wood, plastic, glass and metal.”
“The construction academy will give the opportunity to take that a step further and learn the construction trades,” she said.
The school recently sent letters to the parents of all of the incoming ninth graders that signed up for a construction class trying to build interest in the program. Weaver said that very few students have enrolled in the program, but she expects enrollment to increase over time as students and parents learn more about what the Northview High School Academy of Building Trades and Construction Design has to offer.
Northview teacher Tom Meehan will oversee the academy. Meehan teaches drafting and construction technology. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Armstrong Atlantic University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of West Florida. Meehan has been teaching about nine years.
Specialized academies were also established by the school board at other county high schools. They include:
- J.M. Tate High School Early Childhood Education Academy
- Pine Forest High School Early Childhood Education Academy
- Pine Forest High School Culinary Arts Academy
- West Florida High School of Advanced Technology Multimedia Academy
- Washington High School Early Childhood Education Academy
- Washington High School Health Science Academy
School Board Makes North Escambia Personnel Changes
June 18, 2008
The Escambia County School Board approved several personnel changes at North Escambia schools at their Tuesday night meeting in Pensacola.
The board made the following reappointments for the upcoming school year at North Escambia schools:
- Clara Cobb, Bratt Elementary School
- Charlie Code, Northview High School
- Sherri Mims, Ernest Ward Middle School
One teacher transferred to a North Escambia school:
- Rebecca Hatch, from Sherwood to Molino Park Elementary
The following teachers and staff from North Escambia schools have resigned, all effective June 4:
- Erin Branch, teacher, Bratt Elementary
- Kathryn Hale, speech and language, Carver/Century
- Mark Heaton, teacher, Northview High School
- Tracy Jennings, teacher, Molino Park Elementary
- Janet Taylor, teacher, Carver/Century
The board also noted the passing of Molino Park Elementary School teacher Sharon Smith on May 30, 2008.
In other business, the school board approved the final payments for hurricane repairs to Carver/Century K-8 School, Ernest Ward Middle School and Byrneville Elementary School.
A Short History of Nearly Everything
June 18, 2008
The Pensacola Little Theatre presented “A Short History of Nearly Everything” Tuesday at the Century Branch Library.
In the play, characters Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin presented a short history of (like the title says)…nearly everything.
The program was the second installement in the library’s summer reading program.
Next Tuesday at noon, magician Sammy Smith will amaze at the Century Branch Library’s Summer Reading Program. The program is free for children of all ages.
For more information on the Summer Reading Program at the Century Branch Library, call 256-6217.
For more photos from the event, click here.
Pictured above: Characters Isaac Newton, Marie Curie and Charles Darwin from “A Short History of Nearly Everything” at the Century Branch Library. Pictured below: Children enjoy the program. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Molino Highway 29 Crash Seriously Injures One
June 17, 2008
One person was seriously injured in a two vehicle accident Tuesday morning in Molino.
The accident happened about 6:30 at the intersection of Highway 29 and Barrineau Park Road. The Florida Highway Patrol says the driver of a white Nissan car pulled into the path of a southbound Dodge pickup truck. The driver of the white car, a 17 year old female, was trapped in her car until being freed by firemen. She was taken by LifeFlight to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.
The driver of the pickup truck was not seriously injured.
No further information was immediately available from the FHP. The accident remains under investigation.
The Molino Volunteer Fire Department and the Cantonment Volunteer Fire Department both responded to the scene.
Pictured above: The driver of this vehicle was take by LifeFlight to Sacred Heart Hospital following an accident in Molino Tuesday morning. Pictured below: The pickup truck that struck the white car. Pictured below, middle: Troopers investigate the crash. Pictured bottom: Northbound traffic was backed up several miles. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Upcoming School Time Changes Will Not Apply In North Escambia
June 17, 2008
New money saving school start and dismissal times in the works for the next school year will not apply to North Escambia schools.
Shawn Dennis, assistant superintendent for operations, presented the new start times at a school board workshop Monday, but said the changes would not apply to Bratt Elementary, Carver/Century K-8 School, Molino Park Elementary, Ernest Ward Middle or Northview High School.
For the rest of the county:
- Elementary schools would start at 7:30 a.m. and end at 2:00 p.m.
- High schools would start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:35 p.m.
- Middle schools would start at 9:30 a.m. and end at 4:35 p.m.
But there could be some minor time changes for North Escambia students, Associate Superintendent Ronnie Arnold told NorthEscambia.com. The district is proposing adding an additional 30 minutes per day to the elementary schedule. Northview High students could see a minor time change next year as well, as one period is dropped from the daily schedule. Updates to North Escambia school start times will be posted here on NorthEscambia.com.
The start time changes are forecast to save the district an estimated $1.2 million per year by allowing a more efficient use of school buses.
Carver/Century Won’t Close This Year; Paul To Recommend Closure For 2009-2010 School Year
June 17, 2008
NorthEscambia.com has learned that Paul will recommend the closure of the school at the June 26 special budget meeting of the school board.
Carver/Century K-8 School will not close for the next school year.
Superintendent Jim Paul did not recommend the closure of Century’s only school at Monday’s school board workshop, and it is not on the agenda for this afternoon’s school board meeting.
As NorthEscambia.com first reported early Monday afternoon, the school will remain open for the 2008-2009 school year. But Paul will recommend the closure of the school for the 2009-2010 school year in just a few days.
“It was not on the agenda, and it was not discussed,” Associate Superintendent for Public and Interagency Affairs Ronnie Arnold said of Monday night’s meeting.
“But he (Paul) is expected to bring a recommendation that the school be closed for the 2009-2010 school year at the board’s meeting in July,” Arnold told NorthEscambia.com Monday night after the board’s four and a half our workshop wrapped up.
Closing the school for this school year was not logistically feasible, Arnold said. “He (Paul) did not feel it could be closed in the right way in that time frame.”
Laura Nelson, a member of the town’s Blue Ribbon Committee to save the school, told NorthEscambia.com “I give the Lord the Praise!”
Nelson organized a community prayer service in early May to pray to keep the school open.
“We never felt like the school should close because it was not best for the children. I also would like to thank Mr. Jim Paul for taking time to hear from us and consider what we had to say,” she said.
To read Principal Jeff Garthwaite’s reaction, click here.
This afternoon’s meeting of the Escambia County School Baord will take place at 5:30 in Room 160 of the J.E. Hall Center at 30 East Texar Drive in Pensacola. Meetings are open to the public. At Monday night’s meeting of the Century Town Council, council member Sharon Scott and Mayor Freddie McCall still encouraged Century residents to attend today’s school board meeting to support the school.