News
By Michael Hernandez, 01-07-24
FERNANDINA BEACH, FLORIDA—The Fernandina Beach City Commission acting on a motion by Commissioner Tim Poynter at the end of their Jan. 7th regular meeting terminated City Attorney Tammi Bach after 17-years of service.
“Due to a lack of confidence in the current city attorney, I would like to bring forth a motion to pursue a new director for legal representation and align our resources to assure the best outcomes in termination our city attorney without cause,” said Poynter and “instruct our city manager and human resources manager to place our attorney on administrative leave.”
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Genece Minshew and approved 4-1 with only Vice Mayor Darron Ayscue opposing because it reminded him of the termination of former City Manager Dale Martin “because it was wrong the way it was done” two weeks after the new commissioners took office “less than two years ago.”
Poynter said, “This is not a personal thing but in the best interest of our community. I have worked with her (the city attorney) on and off for many years. It is time for the city to change and get politics out of the legal department. While this motion is painful and I do understand the Vice Mayor but there is no better solution.”
Fernandina Beach Commissioners Approve Fees Waiver For 60th Annual Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival
Fernandina Beach Commissioners approved a fees waiver not to exceed $77,000 for the first weekend of May—60th Annual Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival which generates $15 million and 100,000 visitors according to the 2024 Amelia Island Convention and Visitors Bureau with 54 percent of visitors from outside of Nassau County. This year’s parade theme is “Diamonds Are A Shrimp’s Best Friend: Celebrating Our 60th Jubilee.”
The event generates more than $400,000 for the nonprofits that work the food booths with 100 community organizations participating. This year’s festival features include: Nassau Place for locally owned and small businesses of six or less workers; Shrimp Boat Tours of the Fernandina Harbor Marina; an expanded fireworks show will be featured on Friday night; with Fine Arts exhibited in partnership with the Island Art Association; as well as a Kid Fun Zone; antique and vintage booths; and entertainment.
The Shrimp Festival is considered one of the best and largest coastal food and historic district festivals on the East Coast as it celebrates and commemorates Fernandina Beach as the birthplace of the modern shrimping industry.
Commissioners Approve Grant Awards of $1,292,000 for Amelia Island Lighthouse Restoration
The Fernandina Beach Commissioners approved (Agenda 7.5) a grant award not to exceed $1,162,000 to Specialized Property Services In. for Historic Amelia Island lighthouse restoration and repairs and an amount not to exceed $130,000 for Historic Preservation Architectural/Engineering Project Management (Agenda 7.4) with Walker Consultants for rehabilitation of the Amelia Island Lighthouse.
$1,299,000 In Additional Spending Approved by Commissioners:
- Approved the intent to purchase in 2025/26 a Rescue Unit from ETR, LLC (Agenda 7.3) not to exceed $435,000.
- Approved a proposal from Hubbard Construction Company (Agenda 7.5) in the amount of $335,000 for patching of city streets.
- Approved a proposal from Insituform Technologies, LLC (Agenda 7.7) not to exceed $245,000 for rehabilitation of Front Street sewer and stormwater system creating new pipe within the exiting 1950 clay piping.
- Approved Weatherproofing Technologies (a subsidiary of Tremco Inc.) to perform (Agenda 7.8) Atlantic Recreation Center Joan Bean Auditorium façade repairs in the amount of $125,000.
- Approved an interlocal agreement (Action 7.11) between Fernandina Beach and the Nassau County Property Appraiser for shared services in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) used for mapping for a fee of just under $84,000.
- Approved Musco Spot Lighting, LLC (Agenda 7.9) for the purchase and installation of outdoor LED sports lighting for Central Park tennis courts not exceed $75,000.
Other Commissioner Actions:
- Authorized the City Attorney (Agenda 6.2) to defend the City against Garth Rehberg in the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court.
- Approved ATT (Agenda 6.3) to provide wide area network ethernet to City facilities.
- Terminated the Florida Department of Environmental Protection grant (Agenda 7.1) to construct stormwater improvements in the historic downtown area at CSX railroad and Front Street.
- Approved Gregory Cosgrove (Agenda 8.1) to the Airport Advisory Commission.
- Approved Mark Finkelstein (Agenda 8.2) to the Code Enforcement and Appeals Board.
- Approved Veronica Byres (Agenda 8.3) to the Historic District Council.
(Note: All motions approved by a 5-0 vote.)
Presentation Made On Fernandina Beach Main Street
Executive Director Lisa Finkelstein made a presentation on Fernandina Beach Main Street (Agenda 4.1) which has 240 businesses and 37 downtown special events including celebration held last week on Jan. 1st of the 200th Anniversary of incorporation of the City with 14 participating restaurants that prepared food for a 720 foot long table.
General Public Comments:
- Kelley Yates.: “Pride events do not belong near children.”
- Robin Lentz. (Former Mayor): “We need to make all feel welcomed. I appreciate and value our citizens.”
- Wally G.: “We have two young ladies (age 7, age 10) going to California for amateur skating this week at the highest level of amateur competition.”
- Sheila Cocce: “We will be having the opening of our new fire station.”
- Julie F.: “I got a violation (been given 14 days to seek a remedy) for mildew on my house. I will not pressure wash my house.”
Comments Against Ethanol Plant:
- John H. “The ethanol plant is a chemical manufacturing plant. Chemical processes will take place there. I have serious concerns about the potential harmful environmental and nuisance impact. This is a plant risk and traffic risk.”
- Tom B. (President of No Ethanol Fernandina).: “The claims that there will be no chemical manufacturing is a ludicrous argument. RYAM will engage in chemical manufacturing. We need to be prudent about exhausting city resources.”
- Franklin H.: “The (bioethanol) project violates the comprehensive plan and the land development code. The legal opinion provided to you prohibits this.”
- Madado M.: “To produce ethanol is prohibited. The key processes include chemical manufacturing. We can provide the city with a team of scientists, engineers and other experts.”
Upcoming Events:
- Saturday, Jan. 18 is a breakfast at The Atlantic Recreation Center at 8:30 a.m. Tickets are $25 dollars.
- The Martin Luther King annual parade is on Jan. 20 at 10 a.m. at the Martin Luther King Center.
Regular Meeting: Agenda (1,262 pages)/2 Hours
https://fernandinabeachfl.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3262/files/agenda/8471
Watch: 2 Hours
https://fernandinabeachfl.new.swagit.com/videos/325182
Waterfront Park and Brett’s Waterway Café Presentations Made At Special Jan. 7 Workshop Prior To Regular Meeting
Deputy City Manager Jeremiah Glisson made presentations of Waterfront Park with the city’s recommended vendor KBT Contracting. Fernandina Beach has budgeted $2 million with construction scheduled for February thru June 2025. Current costs are at $2.22 million with 220,000 needing to be cut from the project to make budget.
Brett’s Waterway Café’s lease will terminate at the end of the year and Fernandina Beach can do nothing now, renovate the building and renew the lease or remove the building and platform. The café is located over tidal water. According to Michael S.: “We can’t justify the cost. This cost is prohibitive.”
Special Workshop: 3 pages agenda/1 Hour
https://fernandinabeachfl.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4088/files/agenda/8460
Michael Hernandez, from California, is co-founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service. He is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted at [email protected] and is editor of the weekly “Stories Speak Volumes.”
