Posted in BOCC, St. Johns County

What is on the July 18 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting?

The July 18 meeting is a bit lighter than recent meetings but could still be a long day.

There are no proclamations in this meeting so after the usual introductory items, they will be jumping right into the Public Safety Report and the Clerk of the Court’s report.


Then on to the Consent Agenda where there are 42 items to be approved.

Here are a few items on the Consent Agenda that may be of interest.

Items 4 and 5 are to approve transfer of impact fee credits from the Marshall Creek PUD to the Stokes Landing Workforce Housing Development and the Bridgewater PUD.

Items 6 is approval of School Concurrency Proportionate Share Mitigation Agreements for Greenbriar Helow PUD HBIS.

“The proportionate share mitigation for the HBIS Property for the 1,144 non-age restricted units is $18,208,155.00, which is being satisfied by the dedication of a 63 acre school site valued at $4,482,932.00 and the payment of the balance of the required proportionate share mitigation in the amount of $13,725,223.00 or $11,997.58 per unit. Dedication of the school site is required on or before December 31, 2023 and the remaining mitigation is required to be paid prior to Construction Plan approval. The Agreement also authorizes school impact fee credits in the amount of the total proportionate share mitigation. The Agreement was approved by the St. Johns County School Board on June 13, 2023, pursuant to the School Concurrency Interlocal Agreement, and the proposed Agreement must also be approved and executed by the BCC.”

The Item 7 description is approval of the School Concurrency Proportionate Share Mitigation agreement for Momentum Twin Creeks.

Interestingly, the supporting document for Item 7 is for Transportation mitigation.

“Twin Creeks Development Associates, LLC (Owner) and Momentum Residential, LLC (Applicant) have proposed a Proportionate Fair Share Agreement (Agreement) to mitigate the project’s transportation impacts to CR 210 and Alternate CR 210 pursuant to Section 11.09.04.B of the Land Development Code in order to meet transportation concurrency requirements for the Momentum Twin Creeks PUD for the development of 192 low-rise multi-family units.”

Item 22 is the bid award for the construction of Mill Creek Park, (formerly known as Turnbull Park.)

“Through an impact fee credit agreement, Murabella Owner LLC will be responsible for paying $950,000.00 (50%) of Phase 1 for the intersection of State Road 16 and Villages West Park Entrance.”

“2.1 Project Description The construction of Mill Creek Park (formerly known as Turnbull Park) located at 4625 State Road 16, St. Augustine, FL 32092 (Parcel ID 0286600000) consists of baseball and softball fields, a large multi-use field, parking, a concession stand, a stand-alone bathroom, an entry road, a turn lane, and supporting infrastructure.”

Supporting Information for the Mill Creek Park bid award can be found here:

Mill Creek Park Bid Award

Public Comment will be heard at time certain 11:30.


Regular Agenda Items

Agenda Item 1 is a report on recent First Responder Exercises with the St. Johns County Fire Rescue Department.

Agenda Item 2 is of interest to those who attended the March 7 BOCC meeting where the Bella Terra development was denied. The developer is requesting a waiver to the 1-year time constraint on when they can refile their application.

Agenda Item 4 is a request for a Comprehensive Plan amendment to change Future Land use designation of 19.81 acres of land from Rural/Silviculture to Res 1 with a text amendment limiting the property to a maximum of 5 single family dwelling units. This property is south of the SR 16/SR13 merger and just east of the Shand’s Bridge.

Agenda item 6 is a General Discussion that was requested of staff at the March 21, 2023 BOCC meeting regarding the St. Johns County Land Development code tree protections.

The very informative presentation can be found at this link: Tree Protections

Agenda Item 7 is the Fiscal Year 2024 Recommended Budget.

2024 Budget Presentation

Of note, there is a proposed millage increase this year that would result in an ~3% increase for Homesteaded properties, and ~16.5% increase for NON Homesteaded properties.


Agenda Item 11 is of great interest, an unsolicited proposal from Project Shamrock to develop a recreational and sporting facility in St. Johns county.

The County received an unsolicited proposal from Project Shamrock sharing their vision of developing a recreational and sporting facility in St. Johns County. Project Shamrock will present this proposal to the Board. The presenter for this project will be Steve Livingstone. Sports savvy residents will recognize that Mr. Livingstone has recently brought a new professional Soccer team to the Jacksonville area with plans for a women’s professional team as well.

You can read more about JAX USL at this link: JAX USL


Agenda Item 12 is review and consideration of the County Administrator’s (Hunter Conrad) separation agreement and the appointment of an Interim County Administrator. There is no indication in the documents about who the interim Administrator may be.

Link to the discussion documents can be found here: County Administrator Separation

It should be an interesting day!

Posted in Affordable Housing, BOCC, Growth & Development, St. Johns County

Commissioner Whitehurst on WSOS 103.9

On Thursday, July 7, I participated in a conversation with Commissioner Christian Whitehurst on local radio station WSOS 103.9

Beth Tate, The Kesley Group, with Commissioner Christian Whitehurst
photo courtesy of St. Johns County, Public Relations, Wayne Larson

Local business North Avenue Capital sponsors a monthly show on WSOS talking about all things St. Johns County. Commissioner Whitehurst and I were invited to talk about affordable housing needs in St. Johns County.

Ed Dwyer, North Avenue Capital with Commissioner Whitehurst
photo courtesy of St. Johns County, Public Relations, Wayne Larson

Since our invitation to the show, the Workforce Housing Ordinance was passed and Administrator Hunter Conrad resigned so the focus of the conversation shifted to more current topics. We were able to talk about the need to provide attainable housing for our teachers, firefighters, deputies, tourism and hospitality workers and others who support the county but can’t afford to live here.

You can watch the video on Facebook Live here: WSOS Facebook Live

Or listen to the conversation here:

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Posted in BOCC, St. Johns County

Hunter Conrad Resignation

Big change at the County that will surely bring a lot of comment at the next BOCC Meeting. Will they do a national search this time?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

St. Johns County Administrator Hunter Conrad Submits Resignation

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Florida, June 29, 2023 – St. Johns County Board of County Commission (BOCC) has received a written resignation from County Administrator Hunter Conrad. The BOCC will review the resignation and discuss a separation agreement at the July 18 BOCC Regular Meeting scheduled for 9 a.m. before voting on the terms of those documents. The BOCC Special Meeting scheduled for June 30, 2 p.m. has been canceled to provide ample time for review of Conrad’s resignation and a separation agreement.

BOCC Chairman Christian Whitehurst stated, “The St. Johns County Board of County Commission thanks Hunter Conrad for his years of leadership and guiding us through the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple hurricanes, and other community challenges. We want to reassure the community we serve that services will continue, and the exciting projects and programs we have in place will move forward with rejuvenated energy. We have 1,400 professional and passionate employees who will continue service to our citizens and visitors. We will strive to improve with a commitment to public service that is stronger than ever.”

Whitehurst shared that county staff will continue to report to Deputy County Administrators Joy Andrews and Brad Bradley to maintain a continuity of operations.

Attached is a copy of the resignation.

Posted in BOCC, St. Johns County

Meeting Cancelled! Administrator Conrad Resigned!

Were you planning to attend that 1 topic meeting with the Board of County Commissioners on Friday, June 30? It’s been cancelled.

Board of County Commissioners Special Meeting – CANCELLED (6/30/2023)

MEETING CANCELLED
NOTICE OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE

ST. JOHNS COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the Special Meeting of the Board of County Commissioners scheduled for June 30, 2023, which was scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. in the County Auditorium located in the County Administration Building, 500 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine, FL has been cancelled.

June 29, 2023 – St. Johns County Administrator Hunter Conrad Submits Resignation – St. Johns County Board of County Commission (BOCC) has received a written resignation from County Administrator Hunter Conrad. The BOCC will review the resignation and discuss a separation agreement at the July 18 BOCC Regular Meeting scheduled for 9 a.m. before voting on the terms of those documents. The BOCC Special Meeting scheduled for June 30, 2 p.m. has been canceled to provide ample time for review of Conrad’s resignation and a separation agreement. County Administrator Hunter Conrad Submits Resignation

Posted in BOCC, St. Johns County

Special Board of County Commissioners Meeting Scheduled

What does this mean for our County Administrator?

A special Board of County Commissioners Meeting has been scheduled for Friday, June 30 at 2:00.

The only item on the Agenda is a Discussion of the Professional Servivces Agreement between Hunter S. Conrad and St. Johns County.

You can read the notice here: Special Meeting Board of County Commissioners

Is this a follow-up to last week’s discussion between Commissioner Arnold and Administrator Conrad? Let’s watch.