by Jeremy Morrison
Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson made clear Monday that he was upset about an issue brought forward last week during a Pensacola City Council meeting concerning needed restoration work along Carpenters Creek—calling it a “personal matter†during his regular weekly press conference.
Last week, Councilwoman Sherri Myers brought forth an add-on item during the council meeting, requesting that the city inquire about the Florida Department of Transportation’s plan to conduct restoration work on a stretch of Carpenters Creek near Davis Highway.
Mayor Robinson elaborated Monday on a position he staked out via a memo last week during that council meeting, railing against what he said amounts to Myers potentially derailing plans to have the Florida Department of Environmental Protection handle the restoration work instead of FDOT.
“This to me is particularly disturbing,†the mayor said.
Essentially, Mayor Robinson is upset that Councilwoman Myers is looking to engage FDOT about Creekside erosion near a department project site located near Waterford at Creekside. She is also interested in how the tree canopy will be replenished following the removal of trees and how a filtration system installed by the city is contributing to erosion.
Robinson stressed Monday that the city is working with Escambia County Commissioner Robert Bender to have the needed restoration work performed by the FDEP, the state agency that handles environmental concern. The mayor noted that FDEP has the needed funds, probably around $15 million, to perform the work, whereas FDOT does not.
“We went and met with DEP; there’s money from NRDA that doesn’t need any match from the local city,†Robinson said, referencing National Resource Damage Assessment funds, which stem from and environmental fines associated with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
In his May 11 memo, Mayor Robinson attributed Myers’ request to contact FDOT about the restoration work to the councilwoman’s “ambition to rant.†On Monday, he chalked it up to her “looking for political gain.â€
Robinson said he intended to have consultants working with Escambia County on a slate of environmental projects associated with Carpenters Creek make a presentation to city council members in June to provide them information on restoration plans.
Though he criticized Councilwoman Myers for not approaching him directly instead of submitting her concerns about restoration work in an agenda add-on item, Mayor Robinson said he hadn’t contacted the councilwoman before unloading during his weekly presser.
“If she wants to come talk about it, I’ll do it,†Robinson said, describing his approach as engaging and Myers’ as less so: “From my standpoint, I will always openly invite. She is not openly inviting to people, and this creates friction and things that are not needed for us to move the community forward if we’re going to have real solutions.â€
Technically, Fields
Mayor Robinson said the city will be approaching the Pensacola Economic Development Commission about using an empty parcel of land downtown that has long been marketed as a potential tech park to no avail. The city is looking to use the space for additional soccer fields in the face of swelling numbers of participants in its youth sports program.
“Our youth sports are growing at an explosive rate and they need more fields,†the mayor said.
The so-called tech park is approximately 10 acres. If PDEC grants the city’s request, Robinson said the city would expect to take over maintaining the “fallow asset.†Nets would also likely be installed to prevent ball from being kicked into nearby W.D. Childers Plaza.
In discussing this item, Robinson spoke a bit about the city’s evolving needs when it comes to sporting fields: “It use to be we were an incredible baseball town. I mean, you don’t go to a park and not see a baseball diamond in the park. And kids use to come out and they’d play baseball, they’re not doing that now. Not to say baseball’s bad, baseball has it’s place, baseball is there, but what we’re seeing is an explosion in people who want to play soccer and some of these other sport — we have nothing at lacrosse at this point.â€
Navy Base Blues
Naval Air Station Pensacola has been closed to the public since a 2019 terrorist attack on the base. Now, state and local officials are requesting that it be reopened.
“So people can go to the museum and the other things that are there,†Robinson said Monday, prior to reading a city proclamation officially requesting that NAS be reopened.
Robinson said that he felt that NAS could maintain security integrity while also again allowing visitors on base. In the city’s proclamation, the base’s local impact is referenced, noting “the loss of more than $10 million in labor income and nearly 350 jobs due to the enhanced security measures …†The mayor also made a cultural connection to between the local public and the military base.
“It’s certainly a treasure that we have out there that belongs to the people, and the people need to be able to get to it,†the mayor said.