Joint Meeting of the Escambia County Board of Commissioners and the Pensacola City Council
18 March 2008
Hagler Mason Conference Room, City Hall
Note: This meeting was primarily for discussion between the government entities. Few decisions were made though a lot was said.
Opening Remarks from Mayor John Fogg
“I look forward to some very interesting conversations this afternoon,”
Opening Remarks from Chairman Mike Whitehead
Whitehead was the only County Commissioner present at the beginning of the meeting.
“If anyone knows were the other four county commissioners are, could you call them and tell them to get here,” Whitehead said. Kevin White, Grover Robinson and Gene Valentino showed up minutes later.
Opportunity for Combined Services
Solid Waste /Recycling Effort
“I think we can assume all three staffs are talking,” Fogg said.
“I am concerned about his one thing,” an ECUA representative said. “Under this system there would be not tipping fees?”
“Of course there would be no tipping fee,” Robinson said. “That is what is going to help us economically. We have to ask ‘what is the best thing for us progressively but also economically?'”
“Consolidation efforts make sense,” Mike Wiggins said. “I do have a couple of concerns with the level of service for the city. People in the city are used to a high level of service.”
“I like the idea of a once a week residential pick up and a once a week recycling pick up,” Perkins of ECUA said. “But we have to be aware of the political budget concerns. Consolidation is a good idea, but we have to do it one bite at a time. We need to go ahead and work on recycling, but I think there is public interest in have a viable, publicly owned waste system.”
“I am looking at the possibility of savings to our citizens,” Deputy Mayor John Jerralds said. “I am familiar with some cities that use machines to dispense coins for depositing recyclables. Are we looking at recycling at that level?”
Members said their staffs would be looking in to it.
ECUA members said they want to be part of recycling program and looked forward to it.
Roger Scott Tennis Center and the Osceola Golf Course
Meeting attendees discussed the possibility of merging the renovations and upkeep of the tennis and golf centers.
“They are pretty well split on county and city residents using them,” Jack Nobles said. “I think if we could work together we could make them first class facilities. City sales tax dollars are spent on the Roger Scott facility.”
“My funds I was going to bring to the table for the Roger Scott center were from District 4,” Robinson said. “I was not anticipating anything for the golf course.”
“The county has bellied up to the table with some funding for the Roger Scott center. With that carrot out there, I am not sure I want to tie the two together,” Mike Desorbo said. “It might be prudent to even look beyond these two facilities.”
“I have no interest in partnering in a golf course that is loosing money,” Whiteside said. “That’s why the city wants to partner up right now. When I am looking to cut ‘First Call for Help’ I am going to be hard pressed to put a couple hundred thousands dollars towards this.”
“The City of Pensacola provides very good recreational facilities,” Marty Donovan said. “The city tax payers pick up the fee. We charge a small fee to county residents, but that doesn’t touch the cost. We can no longer provide these services to the whole county and some people who come over from Santa Rosa County. We only make up 18 percent of the population. We have to ask if we can continue to provide this if the other governments don’t help. I think the answer is no.”
“If the county is this reluctant to take on the golf course we may want to look at our own future with Osceola,” Sam Hall said. “Osceola’s day might be behind us.”
“I don’t want anyone to think Osceola is a sub-standard facility,” Wiggins said. “We have put a million dollars into it. It is a first class facility. I think it very premature to say Osceola’s has had its days.”
Government Access Channel Update
Sonya Daniel gave an identical presentation to the one she gave at the county commission meeting last week.
Sponsorships for the channel is unlikely. Therefore resources from the city, county, PJC, UWF and the school system must be pooled.
Cox Communications has offered just over $82,000. The county will provide the other $39,000 needed to get the channel started.
The county is looking to launch the channel in August.
“There are a lot of things we do and a lot of things the city does that the average citizen doesn’t know about,” Robinson said. “This gives us a great opportunity to let the citizens in on what we are doing.”
“This may be a time when money is tight,” city representative P.C. Wu said. “But I think it is true that the more people know about government, the better it works.”
Wayside Park Operation and Concession
“We are going to look at building the fishing bridge out,” Bob McLaughlin said. “We want to partner upkeep and concessions.”
“I think it is a good idea to pursue this as long as we can couple it with the golf course,”
Nobles said jokingly.
The members erupted in laughter.
Shared Constituency Items
The members discussed passing on information to each other when residents seek help from the wrong government entity.
“I think our communication is the best it has ever been,” Fogg said.
“I know anytime Commissioner Young has an issue she calls me right away,” City Manager Tom Bonfield said.
ECAT / Library Funding
This was strictly an informational item on the agenda.
“The county is looking at $3.1 million for ECAT this year,” McLaughlin said. “The county is also looking at $3.1 million for the library.”
“I thought we were going to find out what the city’s contributions would be today?” Commissioner Young asked.
“No, this was just an informational item,” McLaughlin clarified.
“The city is giving to ECAT what we are giving to Osceola,” Robinson said. “Want to trade?”
“No thanks,” Nobles said. “We’ll keep Osceola.”