New and Familiar Faces Join the PSJ Commission

The crowd was large and the thanks extensive as Benny Roberts and David Horton retired from the Port St. Joe city commission Tuesday night.

A retirement reception before the regular commission meeting was packed with well-wishers and family as Roberts and Horton traded stories and talked about fishing.

At the beginning of the commission meeting, Horton, who served a decade on the board, thanked the town for its years of support, saying it had been "a pleasure and an honor" to serve as a commissioner.

During the reception he said he was planning on spending his newly-freed time on "more fishing."

Roberts told the audience that naming the Tenth Street Sports Complex in Port St. Joe in his honor last year was the highlight of his life, except for marrying Mrs. Roberts.

Roberts, who served as a city commissioner almost 30 years, said he could now go and spend time with his five grandchildren and fish.

"I can stay ‘til they run me off because now I don't have any meetings to get back to," he said.

He also thanked his wife of 52 years, Ann.

"She's answered the phone for 30 years," Roberts told the crowd. "She said she felt she'd done her part. I couldn't have made it without her."

After bidding Horton and Roberts well in the next phase of their lives, it was time for County Judge Fred Witten to do the honors of swearing in their replacements.

Rex Buzzett and John Reeves took their places in the Group 4 and Group 3 seats, respectively, after the swearing-in ceremony.

Once underway, business conducted at the meeting:

- There will be a public workshop Wednesday, June 25 at 5:30 p.m. at city hall to allow the public to discuss the city's new trash ordinance with the city commission. The public is urged to attend.

According to city administrator Charlie Weston, copies of the ordinance summary are available on the first floor of city hall.

- Tom Graney, current director of the Gulf County Economic Development Council (EDC) requested $10,000 from the city as part of an emergency fund to carry the newly-revised EDC to the end of the fiscal year (September 30).

The EDC recently made the same request of the county and Wewahitchka.

After Graney explained the public-private partnership that he presented several weeks ago to the county commission, city mayor Mel Magidson requested an outline of how the money was to be spent and asked Graney for another presentation at the next commission meeting.

- Matt Fleck, representing The St. Joe Company, announced that Sacred Heart Hospital and St. Joe had closed Monday on the hospital land transaction and the building pad was complete. Bo Creel, the city's building official, had approved the hospital plans, and Sacred Heart "was now able to start pouring concrete."

"We're finally there," Fleck told the commission, adding that at the next commission meeting he would be able to bring commissioners a target opening date for the new hospital.

- Gail Alsobrook, director of the Port St. Joe Downtown Redevelopment Agency (DRA), announced that improvements would begin along Williams Avenue on July 7, and that she would visit all the businesses on Williams to let them know what to expect.

- At Alsobrook's request, the commission approved Patrick Jones as the permanent director of the DRA and took Jack Kerigan's nomination under consideration for provisional director.

Alsobrook also reported that Troy White, the previous DRA board director, was back on the board and recovering nicely after a severe car accident a few months ago.

- Weston presented a concept drawing of a proposed layout for the city hall parking lot, which is a vacant field beside city hall, at the corner of Reid Avenue and Cecil G. Costin Boulevard.

Weston asked commissioners to look at the concept, which he said would be partially funded by the city's road bond, and be prepared to discuss the concept at the next commission meeting.

- Buzzett emphasized that the city needed to have mixed use zoning on Reid and Williams Avenues, referencing the discussion of the topic from the last commission meeting.

He asked the board to "put the necessary steps in motion to make it a reality."

Magidson replied that the zoning change was "in the works," that the city was in the process of finalizing its land development regulations (LDR).

The LDR will then be sent to the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for approval, and then the city will ask for an amendment to change the downtown zoning to mixed use, Magidson told Buzzett

The mixed use zoning designation will allow retail shops on the ground floor of downtown buildings, with residential space above the stores.

Mixed use zoning was recently approved for the planned unit development of Marina Cove between Baltzell Avenue and the city marina.

Magidson said the timeframe for changing the zoning would probably be the end of August for LDR approval, and probably not until October for final action.