 Next Meeting: Monday, July 11 12 Noon Speaker: Kyle Dorsey, Baptist Medical Center South Hear about one of the new medical facilities expanding in the County ______________________________________________ SJC County Commission Meeting 6/21 Summary The St. Johns County Commission opened their June 21, 2022 meeting honoring the 50th Anniversary of the County Park and Recreation Department and July as Parks and Recreation Month. The department gave tribute to its first director, the late Red Cox, by inducting him into its new Hall of Frame. His children, Margo Pope and her sister and brother accepted the award. Proclamations recognizing Col. William Pruitt, 105, and Ed Trester, 95, with the U.S. Merchant Marines for their outstanding service during World War II were adopted. Both gentlemen will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on June 30, 2022 at a meeting of the St. Johns County Veterans Council. Public Safety: With summer officially commencing, the Sheriffs Department is increasing patrols of our 42 miles of beaches and conducting a variety of youth programs and camps including the Police Athletic League (PAL ) to foster positive interactions between law enforcement officers and children. The Fire Chief warned of continuing rip currents as 83 persons were successfully rescued over the weekend. Extra precautions need to be taken with fireworks because of the county’s very dry conditions. The approval of the Consent Agenda included the purchase and sale agreement to acquire property, known as South Beach Grill, adjacent to county parking lot at Crescent Beach Park for $2 million. The St. Johns County Property Appraiser presented its FY 2023 budget and the status of the tax rolls as of June 20, 2022: $40.8 billion in county taxable value, a 17.65% increase over last year; and $2 billion in new construction. The final numbers will be presented to the county on June 30,2022 and the milage rate will be set in July. The county’s Property Appraiser office received the prestigious Certificate of Excellence in Assessment Administration and is only one of 15 counties in Florida to achieve this status and 57 in the nation of over 3000 counties. The St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections presented its budget with a growth of 9% and highlighted its plans to deal with the county’s tremendous growth, new unfunded mandates from the state and the increase in misinformation and public scrutiny. The office has opened its doors to public tours to help educate the public on the functions of the office and conducted a candidate workshop. There are 45 candidates for the August Primary and 85 candidates for the November General Election, as well as 100 more poll workers. The Election Office is in dire need of more space to accommodate equipment and personnel and Commissioner Whitehurst indicated he would help in that regard. The Commission approved by 4-1 (Blocker) a 240 multifamily unit development on SR 16 east of I-95 and directly south of Twelve Mile Swamp Conservation Area. There is only one other apartment complex within a 10-mile radius of this site and is a $72 million project. Approved unanimously, 4 acres on Race Track Road, to allow a self-storage facility with enclosed personal property in mini-warehouse storage units and R/V boat storage space. Earlier in the year, the Commission asked staff to make recommendations on commercial use and enforcement of the Vilano floating dock. The Commission voted to allow limited commercial use of the dock by water taxi service between the City of St. Augustine and Vilano Beach as well as public recreation use. Currently there are two water taxi companies operating and they are working together to alter taxi times. This commercial use is strongly supported by Vilano Beach Main Street Coalition. The following appointments were approved: Eugene Wilson will replace Dr. Willliam McCormack on the Planning & Zoning Agency; on Arts, Culture, Heritage Funding Panel, Lisa Johnson Cook, Holly Donohue, Katherine Dvornick, Catherine Marcum, Antoinette Siriani (alternate); to Health & Human Services Advisory Council, Howard Hitzel and Kathleen Patneau; and to the Ponte Vedra Zoning & Adjustment Board, C.F. Chip Greene. Christopher Kinslow, Land Management Specialist for the St. Johns River Water Management District, announced a public hearing on the Deep Creek Conservation Area on July 27, 2022, 6-8 PM at the Hastings Equestrian Center. Chairman Dean asked commissioners to transfer reserve funds ($5.4 M) from the next fiscal year budget in the arts council’s budget to fast track balcony construction at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, which was unanimously approved. He announced that beach restoration of for the South Ponte Vedra project has been completed and came in under budget. Sea oats are now being planted. _____________________________________________________ Minutes from June 13 Roundtable Meeting Read Sheriff Hardwick’s Comments and other items discussed at the meeting. ______________________________________________________________ MOBILITY FEES We asked you what you thought about Mobility fees. Most of the respondents to the survey, did not understand mobility fees, but they did say that the impact fees should be raised to the maximum allowable limit. If you want to learn more about mobility fees and why other counties have adopted this system, check out this link https://www.fdot.gov/docs/default-source/transit/Pages/FinalMobilityFeeGuidebook111816.pdf ______________________________________________________________  This Is Why We Live Here Congratulations to Heather Barnes for taking this beautiful picture at Princess Place Preserve. She was the winner of the Matanzas Riverkeeper Spring Photo contest in the People and Recreation category. ______________________________________________________________ GTM Reserve Beach Clean Up Join Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM) for a beach cleanup on every fourth Saturday of the month. Enjoy coastal views while helping remove debris and microplastics from the beach. GTM Rangers will supply gloves and trash bags at 9:30 a.m. at a different meeting location each month. Visit www.gtmnerr.org/events for information on where to meet. ______________________________________________________________ Upcoming Election Dates Yes, this is an election year! Primary Election: August 23, 2022 Registration and Party Change Deadline: July 25, 2022 Deadline to Register: October 11, 2022 General Election: November 8, 2022 __________________________________________________________ Upcoming Meetings July 11 President, Baptist Medical Center South, Kyle Dorsey Officers: Jim McLane, Chairman Lisa McGlynn, Vice Chairman and Treasurer Maureen Long, Recording Secretary Elizabeth Tate, Member At Large Committee Chairs: Janet Patten, Government Affairs John Pilecki, Education Barbara Olson, Health Care Working Together For Our County St. Johns County Civic Roundtable Policy Positions · About Us · Links to Elected Officials · Roundtable Resolutions and Letters · Minutes Contact Us : info@sjcroundtable.org Visit us at SJCRoundtable.org |
St. Johns County Civic Roundtable Read-Out
