City looks to replace school fences
BY VICI PAPAJOHN Gulf Breeze News vici@gulfbreezenews.com

At the Gulf Breeze City Council Executive Committee meeting last week, council members voted to ask the Santa Rosa County School Board to convey an 8 foot strip of property to the city to be used for a brick column and metal upright fence around the perimeter of Gulf Breeze Elementary School (GBES) in place of the old, unsightly chain link fence. The fence would be much like the fence constructed around the Gulf Breeze High School (GBHS) property.

"I know that we had some strength problems with the high school fence," remembered council man Dick Fulford. "And I want to make sure that we built it strong this time."

After the 2005-2006 hurricane season, the fence at GBHS was damaged and required repairs - at the city's expense.

"We will definitely have strength requirements clear in the RFP," said City Manager Edwin "Buz" Eddy. Installing the fence was one of the priorities listed after the community redevelopment meetings held in 2006 when citizens listed the school fencing as "eyesores" at the gateway of the community.

The council also discussed fencing the playing fields and stadium on the north side of Gulf Breeze Parkway.

The council approved scheduling a Park Master Planning Meeting on March 26 at 6:30 p.m. Eddy says that the park needs to have a master plan to guide future development, which can of course be updated.

"We will do better in future development of the park with a master plan to guide future work," Eddy encourages. "The Council wants to be sure everyone has the opportunity to attend."

The planning meeting will take the city into the next 30 years, according to Eddy.

"A lot of rebuilding occurred after the hurricanes, and we have been building and maintaining our parks for the last 30 years, most of which were built in the 70's. Now, we look to the future for the next 30 years of park improvements."

The community meeting will be held at City Hall at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26 and all city residents are encouraged to participate.

"I want to make sure every one that has an interest, every organization and group has ample opportunity to attend and comment," said Councilman Dick Fulford. "We are forming a long range plan and want every citizen there."

TDC funds distributed

The council approved distribution of the Tourist Development Council (TDC) bed tax funds. Appropriation to the following groups was approved: Gulf Breeze Celebrates the Arts ($7,000); Gulf Coast Soccer Invitational Tournament sponsored by Bayside Soccer ($2,000); Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Chamber of Commerce annual tourism partnership dues ($5,000).

In August the council established a $40,000 budget that includes Gulf Breeze Chamber of Commerce ($6,000) and miscellaneous groups including the Gulf Breeze Historical Society, sports tournaments, TDC fund administration and county-wide tourist-related advertising. The bed tax funds come from county wide taxes on bookings in area hotels. Of every $100 spent in a Gulf Breeze hotel, $3 returns to the city.

"We keep one hundred percept of the second and third dollar spent in city hotels," explains Eddy. "And the chambers send visitors and conventions to our hotels." City looks to send natural gas to beach

City council approved hiring Baskerville-Donovan to prepare a dredge and fill permit, survey and submerged land lease permit to further city efforts to provide natural gas service to the beach. Gulf Breeze Natural Gas has proposed offering the service, and the first step will be to investigate whether the gas line under the sound can be approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

"Let's also work to find anther service provider who could share expenses with us," recommended Councilwoman Bev Zimmern. "Multiple servers could use the same trough and share expenses."

The council also approved the annual elementary school run to be held March 27.