Let’s get caught up on what happened at the December County Commission meetings beginning with the December 3 meeting. The December 17 meeting will be published later this week.
This was the first meeting following the new agenda announced by Commission Chair Krista Joseph.
The meeting began with an invocation from a familiar face, former County Administrator Hunter Conrad. (Many residents may not know he is also a pastor at Turning Point Calvary Church.)
This was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by former Tax Collector Dennis Hollingsworth. Mr. Hollingsworth was surprised after the Pledge by a commemoration of his 46 years of service to the county.
With no additions or deletions to the consent agenda, Public Comment was opened.
Commission Chair Krista Joseph read a prepared statement about restoring Public Comment to the beginning of the meeting. This is from the meeting transcript:
“NOW I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT PART. WE ARE GOING TO OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT THAT ARE NOT ON THE REGULAR AGENDA. AND I JUST HAVE A QUICK STATEMENT TO READ REAL QUICK BECAUSE I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS BEING BACK. I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE A SPECIAL WELCOME TO YOU, THE PEOPLE, WHO ARE GIVING PUBLIC COMMENTS THIS MORNING.
IT HAS BEEN FOUR LONG YEARS YOU HAVE WAITED FOR THEM TO BE REMOVED TO THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING WHERE THEY TRADITIONALLY WERE. SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE HAD TO TAKE TIME OFF OF THEIR WORK TO GIVE THEIR PUBLIC COMMENT. I KNOW THIS CHANGE WILL INCREASE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. AND THAT IS WHAT I’M ALL ABOUT. TO INCREASE THE PUBLIC’S OPPORTUNITY TO BE INVOLVED IN THE GOVERNMENT AND DECISION-MAKING. IT IS IN THE SAME SPIRIT THAT I WANTED TO INVOLVE MORE VETERANS IN LEAVING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AT THESE MEETINGS.
SOME VETERANS WERE LEAVING THE PLEDGE MANY TIMES AND MOST VETERANS HAVE NEVER LET IT. SO I WROTE AN EMAIL TO JOY ANDREWS AND STAFF STATING I WOULD LIKE TO SEE VETERANS I HAVE NOT SEEN LEAD THE PLEDGE BEFORE LEAD THE PLEDGE. MY INTENT WAS TO SHOW HOW VETERANS LEADING ARMED FORCES CAN COME AND WORK FOR THE COUNTY AND SHARE THE EXPERTISE THEY LEARNED SERVING
AND PROTECTING OUR COUNTRY. NO ONE WROTE BACK ABOUT THE VETERANS COUNCIL INVOLVEMENT, OR I MOST CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE CONTACTED COLONEL DUDLEY FIRST. HE AND I HAVE SPOKEN AND I LOOK FORWARD TO HIS CONTINUING ASSIGNING VETERANS TO LEAD THE PLEDGE. RESULT IN MORE VETERANS HAVING THAT OPPORTUNITY. THANK YOU, COLONEL DUDLEY. YOUR HARD WORK ON BEHALF OF OUR VETERANS.”
There had been a lot of information floating around the county about the decision to change who led the Pledge of Allegiance. A Public Records Request to the County yielded this email that Commissioner Joseph referenced in her remarks.
It is possible that staff might have assumed that after 2 years of serving on the Commission, Commissioner Joseph was aware of the involvement of the Veteran’s Council in leading the Pledge at the Commission meetings and that is why it wasn’t brought to her attention. We don’t really know what happened there.
In a previous blog post I had shared concerns from Lt. Colonel Dudley about the changes that were made without discussion with him.
St. Johns County Veterans Council Blog Post
My Public Records request also yielded this email:
Why am I bringing these to your attention? Because during Public Comment, the controversy continued.
Public comment lasted 52 minutes and included remarks from many regular speakers who share their opinions during Public Comment at the Commission meetings. Some of these speakers had strong opinions about the press coverage and controversy around the changes in who would lead the Pledge. This was clearly a divisive issue and continued on into the December 17th meeting. Watch for my update about that meeting.
You can watch the Public Comments Section at this link:
Regular Agenda Item 1
This item is the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Appropriation. Presented by Jesse Dunn, our new Deputy County Administrator. In 2021 the US Department of Treasury launched the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds under the ARPA Act of 2021. St. Johns County was allocated $51,409,434. These funds must be expensed by December 31, 2026. This amendment is being recommended in order to maximize the use of funding within St. Johns County by committing the dollars by December 31, 2024. The recommendation is to reallocate $2,187,252 to go into the Police Athletice League Project, the Diamond of Dreams in southwest St. Johns County. This would be an all-inclusive specially designed baseball/multipurpose field and playground for children of all abilities.
During Public Comment, residents spoke in support of the project. One resident asked if they could do something similar in the northern part of the county, apparently not realizing there is already the Field of Dreams in the northern part of the county. Commissioners Whitehurst and Arnold commented on the Field of Dreams that opened in Aberdeen Park in 2024 which is a a multi-use park including a baseball field for special needs children of all needs. This has been a great addition to the North part of the county and it is wonderful to see that the South part of the county will have a similar benefit as this was approved 5-0.
Learn more about the Field of Dreams at Aberdeen Park here:
Check out more about the Field of Dreams Baseball organization here: Field of Dreams Baseball organization
Watch the full presentation here: ARPA Funds Presentation
Agenda Item 2 – Intergovernmental Affairs Director Adam Teccler presented the proposed 2025-2028 St. Johns County Funding and Advocacy Roadmap – the list of priorities to secure financial resources and other support from our State and Federal Representatives. Once approved, this will be presented to the State Legislative Delegation for consideration.
An abbreviated version of the presentation was provided during the session. You can see the full version at this link: Funding and Advocacy Roadmap
Watch the presentation at this link: Agenda item 2
Included are:
- State Road 16/16A Corridor
- Florida Museum of Black History
- Intracoastal Flood Mitigation Project
- Florida Preparedness & Response Center
- District 23 Medical Examiner’s office
- Guana Flood Control Mitigation System Rebuild
Under the Transportation Infrastructure:
- County Road 2209 – upgrading the roadway from State Road 9B to County Road 210 and extending the Central Segment of CR 2209 from SR 16 to CR 208
- Airport infrastructure – request for matching state funds for a road network and site preparation to support a 440,000 SF Aviation and Aerospace Complex.
- World Golf Village I-95 Interchange – requesting FDOT to incorporate capacity upgrades to the I-95 to IGP interchange
- Protect State Road A1A
- County Road 210 and State Road 312 – Expedite upgrades to CR 210
Trails and Greenways – Orangedale to Mickler Trail, River to Sea Loop I-95 Overpass, and the North A1a Trail to the Duval County Line
Countywide Rail Safety
Feasibility Studies
- Community Resilience
- Septic to Sewer & Water Projects
- Deep Creek Watershed improvements
- Resilient Florida Program Modifications
- Other Critically Vulnerable Assets such as International Golf parkway realignment, stabilization of Porpoise Point and elevation of Jack Wright Island Road
Commissioner Whitehurst brought up an item he has been pushing for since his first year on the board and that is to overturn the vaping shop preemption that does not allow a local government to create a minimum distance between a school and a vape shop. This has been a concern for many parents along Race Track Road in the northern part of the county as there is a vape shop directly across the road from Durbin Creek Elementary School. Because of this preemption, the county was not able to stop the vape shop from being permitted. The Board agreed to add that to the priority list.
Commissioner Joseph asked if there was any upcoming legislation about the use of electric bikes on sidewalks, speed, helmets, and age restrictions. Mr. Tecler is going to research that item for the Board.
The list was approved 5-0
Agenda Item 3 – Growth Management Assistant Director of Transportation Dick D’Souza presented the 2025 Roadway and Transportation Alternatives list of Priority Projects (LOPP).
The common theme of public comment on this topic was the need for public transportation in St. Johns County.
Watch the presentation here: Agenda Item 3
This was approved 5-0
Agenda Item 4 – a Change order the Master Contract for the Design of Intersection & Widening Improvements for SR 16 & IGP to San Giacomo Road.
Questions were asked by the Commission about the increased costs and also about the impact fee reductions. Great explanation of how this works and what was behind the decisions in the past.
Please watch the entire presentation and exchange of comments afterward at this link: Agenda item 4
This passed 5-0
Agenda Item 5 – Silverleaf DRI Road Impact Fee Agreement Modification.
This is a modification to the Silverleaf DRI that was initially approved over 20 years ago. Watch the entire presentation here:
Approved 5-0
Agenda Item 6 is the Presentation on Destination marketing Management Services. In November the Tourist Development Council (TDC) voted to forego presentations and proceed with award based upon the evaluation scores from the submitted proposals. After several questions and good discussion within the Board this passed 4-1 (Joseph.)
Agenda Item 7 – the Colee Cove Hamlet – a small scale comprehensive Plan amendment to change the Future land Use Map designation for approximately 45.8 acres of land from Rural/Silviculture to Residential-A. This includes a text amendment to limit the property to 11 single family residential dwelling units.
The current tenant is Rayonier who recently harvested their timber crop. That generated a lot of interest in the community.
Commissioner Joseph asked if the property owner was going to clear cut the trees. The owner explained that he did not own the trees, that is up to Rayonier.
There is a 35 ft Development edge required but Rayonier could choose to take all their trees down and it will have to be replanted.
Many of us have been interested to learn over the years that many of the trees we love in this county are part of the silviculture industry. That means that the owner is always harvesting and replanting these trees. They are not meant to be permanent parts of the environment. Once you learn about the silviculture industry locally, you start to recognize the tree farms as the pine trees are in wonderfully straight and symmetric rows, not like random natural tree growth. See if you can identify the tree farms on your local commute!
This was approved 5-0.
Agenda Item 8 – the Summer Haven Managed Retreat Project. This is a request for staff to submit a grant agreement to Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) while they continue to pursue match funding.
This was approved 5-0.
Commissioner Reports
Commissioner Whitehurst met with the group at Horse Play Therapy and asked for consensus for Adam Tecler to work with this nonprofit to identify grant funding they could receive to support their work.
He also asked the Director of Growth Management to address concerns about the new Wal-Mart proposed at World Golf Village. The development was approved in 2003 with a number of entitlements for commercial development. This would use 180,000 sq ft and there would still be 290,000 sq ft approved and available for commercial development.
The question was asked about what could be done to legally stop the Wal-Mart from being built. The County Attorney clarified that any attempts to stop it would expose the county to “significant liability” for the cost incurred.
Commissioner Whitehurst also expressed opinion about changes to the agenda including appreciation that the Board would continue proclamations and presentations. He asked that legislative and Infrastructure updates to the agenda as these were valuable updates for the public to understand what was going on in the county.
Commissioner Arnold referenced the passing of Greg White’s wife, a pillar of the community.
Commissioner Taylor asked questions about the Comp plan and Attorney Kommando offered to work with her offline on that topic. She also asked about evening meetings. The County Attorney indicated they would have to waive board rules to schedule an evening meeting.
Editorial comment – considering this meeting lasted almost 5 hours – would an evening meeting go until after midnight? Would staff have to be paid overtime to participate in these meetings? Would the applicants be willing to stay until after midnight for their item to be heard? Or would these evening meetings also have thier agendas restructured so they are shorter meetings?
Commissioner Murphy asked for consensus for staff to bring back potential options for the Summer Haven area.
Commissioner Joseph re-visited the World Golf Village traffic concerns. She wanted to know if there was a way to put a pause on development in that area. She also shared that she had talked to Mr. Kommando and he is interested in applying for the job of county attorney. She asked if the staff could do a job search and make a decision by February of 2025. The motion for the search was approved 3-2 (Arnold and Whitehurst) to do a nationwide search for attorney with the hope that Mr. Kommando would rise to the top of the applicants.
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Beth Tate 