Nassau Now

Posted By Editor2

October 22, 2024

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Press Release

By Nassau County Board of County Commissioners

10/18/24

Nassau Vision 2050 Update

On Wednesday, October 16, 2024, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) hosted a Workshop for an update on the Nassau Florida Vision 2050 initiative, a collaborative 18-month process involving local leaders, residents, businesses, and stakeholders to shape the future of our community. This planning process and the resulting policies will be critical for the ability to promote and manage growth, as well as protecting and enhancing key areas of importance while accommodating future trends. This includes identifying what makes the community unique, establishing the vision of what Nassau County desires to become in the future, and providing the necessary baseline for an update to the County’s Comprehensive Plan.

Learn more

Vision 2050 Community Meeting

A community meeting to update the public on the Vision 2050 planning process was held on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, from 5pm to 7pm. Halff, the County’s consultant, provided a presentation summarizing the Vision process to date. The presentation included results of the community engagement process which led to the establishment of community building blocks, a framework to achieve the community-identified goals. The presentation also included information on growth projections and a market analysis identifying needed jobs and housing to accommodate the increase in population.

The community’s feedback, community building blocks, and market analysis data were used to create three growth scenarios which were also displayed. Forteeen members of the public attended to provide input on guiding future development and key recommendations of the potential growth scenarios. Next steps include finalizing a preferred growth scenario and presentation of the Vision Plan to the community.

To learn more about the Nassau Vision 2050 initiative, visit: https://www.nassaufl2050.com/.

BOCC Newsletter

BOCC Recognizes Upcoming Retirees from NCFR

At Wednesday’s meeting, the Board of County Commissioners recognized three long-time Nassau County Fire Rescue employees on their upcoming retirements.

The first to be recognized was NCFR Engineer Jerry Walden. Jerry will retire on November 16, 2024 after twenty-one years of service. The other individual recognized was NCFR Engineer Dale Green. Dale will retire on October 30, 2024 after 30 years of service. A third individual, NCFR Engineer Michael Combs, is also retiring on November 4, 2024, however he was unable to attend the meeting.

All three employees will be greatly missed by their co-workers and the residents of Nassau County. The Board extends their since appreciation to these hard-working and dedicated employees and wishes them continued health and happiness in the years to come.

Mobility Week

At Wednesday’s meeting, the Board of County Commissioners approved Proclamation No. 2024-035 proclaiming the week of October 25 – November 2, 2024 at Mobility Week in Nassau County, Florida.

Mobility Week is a collaborative effort by the Florida Department of Transportation and its partner agencies to promote awareness of safe, multimodal transportation choices by hosting an annual collection of outreach events. The week is also mean to encourage individuals to explore how various active travel choices like walking, biking, riding transit or carpooling reduces traffic congestion and serve as great alternative travel choices.

Pictured: District 3 County Commissioner Jeff Gray; Deputy County Manager/County Engineer Robert Companion; and Barb Baptista, member of the Transportation Disadvantaged Board.

Emily Adkins Blood Clot Awareness Month

At the Wednesday, October 16, 2024 meeting, the Board approved Proclamation No. 2024-033 proclaiming the month of October 2024 as Emily Adkins Blood Clot Awareness Month.

In attendance to accept the Proclamation were residents Doug Adkins and the Honorable Janet Adkins (Supervisor of Elections) who lost their daughter Emily in 2022 from a pulmonary embolism. Since then, the Adkins family have established Emily’s Promise, a non-profit organization that works with medical professionals and the public to educate Floridians about the life-threatening risks associated with blood clots.

According to the National Blood Clot Alliance, an estimated 900,000 Americans are affected by blood clots each year with 100,000 lives lost to this preventable condition. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that blood clots can strike anyone at any age, with risk factors including surgery, pregnancy, and cancer treatment – killing more Americans than car accidents, AIDS and breast cancer combined.

Doug Adkins stated, “If we can get people to ask their doctor “what is my blood clot prevention plan”. If you can convey that to your healthcare provider, it will draw their attention to your risk, and if you’re at risk, you definitely need to have a blood clot prevention plan.” He also added, “If we can help just one person, it’ll be worth it.”

Pictured: District Two Commissioner Hupp Huppmann; representative Janet Adkins, and husband Doug Adkins.

Breast Cancer Awareness Week and “Pink Day”

At the Wednesday, October 16, 2024 meeting, the BOCC approved Proclamation No. 2024-034 proclaiming the week of October 20 – October 26, 2024 as Breast Cancer Awareness Week and Wednesday, October 23, 2024 at “Pink Day.”

Breast cancer touches the lives of Americans from every background and in every community across our nation. The American Cancer Society estimated that in 2024, approximately 310,720 new cases of invasive breast cancer would be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 56,500 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer. And while breast cancer in men is rare, an estimated 2,790 men in the U.S. will develop breast cancer this year.

Two Nassau County residents and breast cancer survivors were in attendance to accept the Proclamation, one of which was our first male survivor to be recognized by the BOCC during the annual reading of this Proclamation. We are grateful to them for sharing their survival stories and for helping us spread the message on the importance of early detection. Nassau County residents can further help spread the message by wearing pink on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.

Pictured: Commissioner Alyson McCullough with Breast Cancer Survivors Shanita Burks and Jose Garcia

Turtle Talk Tuesday: Sea Turtle Life Cycle

Sea Turtle Nesting season is coming to an end (October 31st) and after spending all summer talking about the types of sea turtles, which ones nest on Amelia Island, and other facts related to nesting and hatching,this week we shared information about the sea turtle’s life cycle.

Learn more

Upcoming Events

Household Hazardous Waste Recycling Event

The bi-annual Household Hazardous Waste Recycling Event is this Saturday, October 19, from 8am-12pm (or until trucks reach capacity). The event will be held at the Yulee Road Department located at 86200 Gene Lasserre Blvd. (behind Aldi) Please enter the facility from the east end of Courtney Isles Way.

This event is FREE for Nassau County residents. Proof of residency is required. You’re also encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to be donated to the Barnabas Center.

Costume Contest

As previously announced, the 4th Annual Halloween Festival is taking place on Friday, October 25, 2024 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. at the Yulee Sports Complex located at 86142 Goodbread Road, Yulee. Brought to you by Nassau County Parks & Recreation, this is a family-friendly event where kids can participate in a variety of activities including costume contests, hayrides, face painting, games, and more. It’s also an opportunity for them to trick-or-treat safely in our Trick-or-Treat Alley.

Please note that the costume contest will take place on Field One from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Categories are as follows:

Children (Ages 0-12)
Teen/Adult (Ages 13 & up)
Couple/Group (2+ individuals required)
Pet

Prizes will be awarded for 1st-3rd places in each category.

DEA Drug Take Back Event

The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office has partnered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to organize a “Drug Take Back Day” on Saturday, October 26, 2024. This event offers the community an opportunity to safely dispose of old prescription medication, vitamins, and similar items responsibly, preventing them from entering our landfills and waterways, or worse, ending up in the hands of someone else.

See flyer for full details.

Bicentennial & Nassau Vision 2050 Activities

Scavenger Hunt

The Bicentennial Scavenger Hunt kicked off on October 1, 2024. This challenge runs through November 1, 2024 so it’s not too late to participate! This challenge is designed to teach you Nassau County’s history and encourage you to visit places you may have never seen or heard about.

Each participant completing the challenge will earn a special Bicentennial Challenge Coin and be entered into a drawing for a hotel stay, graciously donated by the Residence Inn by Marriott-Amelia Island.

In order to participate, you will need to do the following:

Download the Eventzee App, available in the iTunes and Google Play Stores.
After downloading the app, create an Eventzee Account by entering an email address, password, and username.
Enter the event code: Winswag

If you have any questions, please email [email protected].