by Jeremy Morrison, Inweekly
Holiday travelers across the country experienced delays at airports, and Pensacola’s was no different. Mayor D.C. Reeves said that travelers at Pensacola International Airport were particularly impacted as a result of one of the facility’s primary carriers: Southwest Airlines.
“Obviously, we service Southwest, so that is effecting us,” Mayor Reeves said Wednesday, during his weekly press conference.
While other airlines also experienced delays, Southwest was involved in a significant portion of the snarled air traffic. Mayor Reeves advised that local travelers using the airline keep informed of schedule changes: “Don’t just show up at the airport.”
I would say, anybody out there who’s about to take a Southwest flight from the city of Pensacola in the next few day, make sure that you’re staying on top of any updates, emails that you’re getting,” he said.
Reeves said that the city is in contact with Southwest, and that the airport would adapt to the airline’s challenges, which could continue.
“There’s a potential that this could continue, that this won’t end tomorrow for Southwest, given some of their challenges, so of course, it’s part of the airport business, we’ll adapt the best was we can,” the mayor said.
Has Bruce Beach Wastewater Issue Been Solved?
The city of Pensacola has been working the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority to determine the source of pollution fouling the waters off of downtown’s Bruce Beach. A study previously identified the presence of fecal matter in the water, indicating there was wastewater entering the stormwater system.
Mayor Reeves said Wednesday that he had conferred with ECUA a few weeks ago and that the agency felt confident that a recent discovery of a leak in the the wastewater system at the intersection of Spring and Garden streets was a major source of the pollution being detected around Bruce Beach.
“They feel very confident that what was found at Spring and Garden was a significant contributor to that,” Reeves said.
The mayor said he was under the impression that, even following the Spring and Garden discovery, testing would be continuing in the downtown area. The mayor said the city was relying on ECUA to conduct such testing, but could consider conducting independent testing if need be.
“If we ever felt at some point that that was not going to be sufficient longterm, I would never say that we don’t play an active role in that,” Reeves said.
Aside from the issues at Bruce Beach, the mayor pointed to other impacted areas, such as nearby Sanders Beach. The city is applying for grant funding, he said, to address such water quality issues.
“Be it wastewater or be it stormwater, what we know is that we’ve got issues in the city of Pensacola,” Reeves said.
Power Struggle
For more than a decade, the city of Pensacola has been operating under an expired franchise agreement with the local power provider. Negotiations on a new 30-year agreement have be slow going, and it doesn’t look like they’ll speed up any time soon.
“I would say there’s no new news,” Mayor Reeves said, noting that he had a number of other items he intended to tend to first upon entering office.
Previously, the city was in negotiations with Gulf Power over its franchise agreement. It is now negotiating with Florida Power & Light, following a recent change in providers.
Though the franchise agreement was a hot topic in recent years, even spurring talk of exploring a municipal utility, Mayor Reeves said it wasn’t something he had dug into yet.: “We’ve had no conversations whatsoever and we’ll see what comes in the new year.”
“I’ve had no conversations with anyone at FP&L about the franchise agreement,” he said.
Reeves did say that the city may need to bring in outside assistance during the franchise fee negotiation process.
“In a general sense and in conversations previously that I’ve had, be it with FP&L or our community, I say, ‘it’s the mayor’s charge to find and negotiate the best possible deal for the city and sometime we have that expertise in the building and sometimes we don’t have that expertise in the building,” he said. “I’m a big believer that the value of staff, of administration, of a mayor is not always what they know, it’s being aware of what you don’t. So, my intent is going to be to have knowledge on our side of people who have dealt with utility agreements before and say, ‘hey, you know a lot more about this than I do, let’s go figure out what is best for the residents of Pensacola in terms of franchise agreements.’”