By Jesse Farthing
Nearly every item on the Pensacola City Council’s Oct. 10 meeting agenda passed unanimously without debate between council members.
Council members voted to authorize Mayor Hayward to execute an agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation to replace the 12th Avenue bridge over Bayou Texar, approved a license agreement with the Veteran’s Memorial Park Foundation, approved future land use map amendments and authorized the mayor to enter into an agreement with the United States Environmental Protection Agency for a petroleum and hazardous materials Brownfields Assessment Grant.
A “brownfield site†is defined as real property that may be contaminated by a pollutant or hazardous substance, and the Brownfields Assessment Grant is given to communities to assess and formulate a cleanup plan for contaminated areas. The EPA agreed to negotiate a grant with the city to formulate assessment plans, and the council voted unanimously to accept.
The only point of debate for the meeting was a proposed policy amendment for the City of Pensacola Environmental Advisory Board, which would call for the EAB to consult and advise the mayor as well as the city council on environmental issues, whereas previously they only reported to the council.
Several other minor changes were listed in the document, which councilwoman Sherri Myers called “terrible,†but the major grief from those who did not want it to pass was the fact that the EAB would now be answering to two masters.
Councilman Charles Bare put forth an amendment removing the mayor and changing some of the other words, but, despite support from Myers, it was voted down 7-2.
Myers then motioned for the document to be sent back to the EAB for another look before a final vote took place, but her motion was voted down as well.
The original policy amendment passed as initially proposed with another 7-2 vote.
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