CONSTRUCTION ON SPEEDWAY FROM FORT WALTON BEACH TO CRESTVIEW ON SCHEDULE

Many can give thanks to Senator Don Gaetz for his efforts in bringing this project to the area. As he noted, with the growth of the new F-35 Training Squadron along with the many others wishing to live in Crestview and work in Fort Walton Beach, it only made sense to have this project to move the traffic more efficiently from the North to the South parts of the county.

Flyover continues on course
Project also will widen SR 85 from General Bond Boulevard to NWF Regional Airport
By KARI C. BARLOW
Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4438 kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com  
VALPARAISO — The flyover under construction at State Roads 85 and 123 once again is changing shape. Earlier this month, crews installed eight concrete beams that will elevate SR 85 traffic above the entrance to Northwest Florida Regional Airport. “They’re forming the deck for the airport overpass on 85 with reinforcing steel,” DOT district spokesman Ian Satter said. “They’re going to be doing a lot of work in that particular area.” The 120-foot concrete beams were brought in from Tampa and lifted off trailers with large cranes. “The effort required a significant amount of coordination and planning,” said Mike Lenga, project manager for Greenhorne & O’Mara, the firm managing the project. “The entire team did a great job and we’re pleased to see this milestone achieved.” Crews also will work on the barrier walls for the overpass in front of the airport. The mechanically stabilized earth walls that have been completed bear the U.S. Air Force insignia as a tribute to the community’s longtime partnership with Eglin Air Force Base, Satter said. The $25.6 million project began in August 2009. It is being built by the Florida Department of Transportation with federal stimulus dollars. The flyover, which is set to be completed by the fall of 2012, was designed by H.W. Lochner and is being built by Anderson-Columbia. The project will widen SR 85 to six lanes between General Bond Boulevard and the airport. The flyover on northbound SR 85 will connect motorists to SR 123. Access to Northwest Florida Regional also will be changed by elevating the northbound and southbound lanes of SR 85 to pass above the northernmost entrance to the airport. A new frontage road will link airport traffic to SR 123. “One of the things people will probably start to see around February is … the steel beams for the bypass section, the main part of the project,” Satter said. “People are probably curious that we built up part of that overpass and then left it alone for a while.” Satter said work crews had to make sure all the necessary traffic shifts were built before the main flyover could be finished. “We had to do those smaller bridges first and then we can do the actual bypass,” he said. DOT officials said motorists should continue to be aware of reduced speeds and lane shifts, and use caution when driving through the construction zone.

CRESTVIEW PHARMACY SCHOOL ON TRACK FOR FALL 2012 CLASSES

Alatex renovations on track
FAMU’s pharmacy school should be finished next fall
By BRIAN HUGHES
Florida Freedom Newspapers

CRESTVIEW — With the clock ticking down toward its opening next fall, work continues on schedule to renovate the historic Alatex building. Workers for Peter Brown Construction are renovating the building to house Florida A&M University’s Rural Diversity Healthcare Center. “We’re working daylight to dark,” site foreman Bobby Kennedy said. “We’re finishing up the demo and getting ready to start the under-slab and MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing). We are on schedule.” Like many workers, Kennedy is a Crestview resident and proud to be working on a major project in his hometown. “We’re trying to keep it local,” he said. “It’s sometimes tough for local contractors when they come up against the state bidding process.” To prepare the building for its new life as a pharmacy school, the interior has been gutted, including the distinctive upside-down-peace symbol-shaped columns. (Some of the columns will be reused in the lobby.) But before gutting the interior, the exterior had to be stabilized. The outside has been braced by 2,000-pound steel flying buttresses against I-beam columns and temporary steel belts to hold the walls in place. Then off came most of the roof and out came the forest of support columns, interior stairways and what little other structures the original building had, revealing its spaciousness. “We could’ve knocked it all down and been way ahead, but we’re preserving the character of the building,” said Nolan Raybon, supervisor for Peter Brown Construction. Heavy equipment chugged around the building recently and holes and trenches began to appear in the floor to accommodate underground MEP services that will snake under the building. Ten-inch diameter PVC conduit was offloaded from trucks parked outside the buildinglastMondaymorning. W h e n t h e M E P i s “roughed in” under the slab, crews will begin pouring the top floor, Raybon said. “That’ll be followed by pre-engineered interior sections,” he added. “It’ll be assembled inside. It’ll be like watching a pre-engineered warehouse go up, except the exterior walls are already there.” Raybon said the interior modules are scheduled to be installed in the middle of December. The project is almost precisely on schedule, he said. “There’s always glitches, but we make up for it along the way.”

SALUTE TO ALL MY FELLOW SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE U.S. ARMED FORCES

Thank you to my fellow service men and women for serving this Great County in defending our Constitution through the many sacrifices you give or have given in protecting the rights our U.S. citizens enjoy every day. BRAVU ZULU.

OKALOOSA COUNTY SHORT TERM RENTAL MARKET MAKES 31.98% UPSWING IN 2011

OUR TOURIST COMMUNITY IS BACK AND THEY HAVE COME BACK IN A MAJOR WAY. ALSO, IN A RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT BY SOUTHERN RESORTS, A LOCAL LARGE SHORT TERM RENTAL COMPANY, ADVANCE RESERVATIONS ARE WELL ABOVE EXPECTIONS FOR 2012. IN CONCLUSION, OUR TOURIST HAVE FOUND OUT, THE BEACHES OF OKALOOSA AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTIES ARE NOT COVERED IN OIL AND THEY TOLD THEIR FRIENDS, THEIR FRIENDS TOLD THEIR FRIENDS, AND SO ON.

Tourists return after spill
By DUSTY RICKETTS
Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4448 dricketts@nwfdailynews.com  
Tourism professionals were hoping for a strong turnaround this year after last summer’s disastrous BP oil spill. But record-breaking bed tax collections exceeded even the loftiest hopes. September was the final month for the local tourist development agencies’ fiscal year, and bed tax collections in Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties each were up about 30 percent compared to 2010. “We were optimistic. We were hopeful that we would have a strong recovery,” said Dawn Moliterno, executive director of the Walton County Tourist Development Council. “I don’t think any of us knew exactly what those results would be, and certainly we are very pleased and continue to (hope) that this will be a strong shoulder season and catapult us into a strong season next year. We’re just absolutely pleased that the recovery happened as quickly as it did, and none of us truly expected to see the numbers come in the way that it did.” Bed taxes are collected on short-term rentals. The fiscal year ran from Oct. 1, 2010, through Sept. 30 of this year. Walton County’s bed tax collections for fiscal 2011 were up 29.54 percent compared to last year and set a new record. Okaloosa County’s numbers were up 31.98 percent, and Santa Rosa County’s were up 34.98 percent. “We did so much more advertising and so much television advertising, and things that we’ve never been able to do that we sure had our hopes and we’re happy,” said Kate Wilkes, executive director of Santa Rosa County’s TDC. “A lot of people learned about us and came to visit us this year, so I don’t think we’ll have any trouble keeping the momentum,” Wilkes added. “We have to keep ourselves out there with smart advertising.” All three counties finished the fiscal year strong. September’s bed tax collections were up 46.78 percent in Okaloosa County, 47.69 percent in Walton County and 11.78 percent in Santa Rosa County compared to September 2010. “As a result of the team effort of the community and stakeholders, the Emerald Coast had its best June, July, August and September months ever,” Mark Bellinger, executive director of the Okaloosa County TDC, wrote in an email.

OKALOOSA COUNTY LOOKING AT TAX BREAKS FOR ALABAMA PHARMACEUTICAL COMPNY COMING TO CRESTVIEW INDUSTRIAL AIRPARK

City of Crestview, Okaloosa County Officials and Economic Development Council (EDC) of Okaloosa County working hard to bring Pharmacy South to the Bob Sikes Industrial Airpark on the North side of Crestview. They were successful in bringing FAMU’s Pharmacy and Dental Schools to Crestview, so I say, keep your eyes on this one. Dr. Goetsch (Chairman of the EDC) is focusing on the continued efforts in diversifying our local economy.
Okaloosa to mull tax breaks for Alabama pharmaceutical company
November 04, 2011 6:35 PM
Kari C. Barlow
Daily News
A pharmaceutical company considering expanding to Crestview could receive almost $800,000 in tax breaks from the state. Okaloosa County officials are considering providing $156,000 of that total, while the state would cover the remaining $624,000. County commissioners voted this week to hold a public hearing on whether to grant the company, Pharmacy South of Alabaster, Ala., a five-year ad valorem tax abatement. The public hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Dec. 6 at the Okaloosa County Courthouse in Crestview. The proposal was presented to commissioners by the Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County. The EDC praises the tax break as an investment in a new industry that would bring to the county an economic impact of $108 million. “I’ll put $156,000 up to $108 million any day of the year,” County Commissioner Wayne Harris said. “To me, it’s a no-brainer.” Pharmacy South is eligible for the tax abatement under the state’s Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund Program. Okaloosa voters approved the use of such tax abatements in a 2004 countywide referendum. Since then, the measure has been used four times as an incentive for economic development, EDC officials said. Pharmacy South, which makes the respiratory drug albuterol, is considering buying land at Bob Sikes Airport to build its next manufacturing plant. The company’s 45,000-square-foot plant initially would generate about 130 jobs with salaries averaging $43,800. The pharmaceutical company’s presence could bring a much-needed third industry to Okaloosa County, Harris said. “I’ve been advocating for years to have more than just the three-legged stool,” he said. “Anything can happen at any time, as we saw with BP and tourism. … We need some type of manufacturing, some type of industry that will sustain jobs in the economy.” EDC officials say the tax break allows Okaloosa County to be more competitive when trying to attract high-tech companies with higher-paying jobs. Harris said the county has a competitive edge because of the Florida A&M University pharmacy school planned for the old Alatex building in down-town Crestview. A major coup would be to assist the company in getting its manufacturing plant approved by the Federal Drug Administration. “If we get one approved here, there will be other manufacturers who will want to be here. … It could be the impetus for filling up our area with other pharmaceutical manufacturers,” Harris said. He said the tax breaks make sense because Okaloosa County currently isn’t making any money off the land Pharmacy South is considering purchasing. “It’s a plain piece of 19 acres of dirt out at Bob Sikes Airport that is not drawing any taxes anyway,” he said.

CASH MOORE, OWNER OF CASH'S, TO OPEN BAR AND LIQUOR STORE IN LAUREL HILL

As many local folks know, Cash Moore is a staple in the Liquor Store and Bar business and he has done very well. It is quite obvious he has seen the writing on the wall with the growth of the north side of Crestview to Laurel Hill and he wants to stake his claim to some more business in the area. This announcement comes right on the heals of the opening of the new Dollar General Store in Laurel Hill, which is doing quite well.

Laurel Hill to get bar, liquor store
November 05, 2011 10:00 PM
Paula Kelley
Florida Freedom Newspapers

LAUREL HILL — Laurel Hill is getting a combination liquor store and sports bar.
William “Cash” Moore told members of the Laurel Hill City Council this week he plans to open a retail liquor store and small sports bar at the site of the Whats It Shop on U.S. Highway 90, which is closing. Moore said he plans to open the business in January. “I had a liquor store here many years ago and here I am planning to open again for business in the north end of the county,” Cash said at a Tuesday night council meeting. “I have researched the state, county and your city guidelines, and my business would be fine under all three as it is more than three hundred feet from any school or church property.” Plans call for a small sports bar, with seating for between 15 and 20 people, Moore said. “I plan to close about 10 p.m. each night, maybe put a pool table in it,” Moore said. “I estimate my annual payroll to be around $50,000.” Moore, who owns 16 liquor stores, most of which include lounges, opened his first bar on Okaloosa Island in 1965 while still in college Although he has bars in major markets, he has also opened Cash's Liquors in smaller markets like DeFuniak Springs and Freeport. He got his start in liquor stores in Crestview, where three are located. Cash said he wants to be an asset to the community. “The school has fundraisers and I will be a key supporter,” Cash said of Laurel Hill School. City of Laurel Hill Attorney Dan Campbell said the proposed location of the liquor store will not violate any ordinances or regulations. “It’ll be good to have new business-associated revenue here and all the guidelines mentioned are correct,” Campbell said. “The property is the legal distance from the school.” “Laurel Hill needs new businesses and people will sure go see you,” council member Willie Mae Toles said. Not everyone was supportive. The Rev. Mike McVay, pastor at First Baptist Church of Laurel Hill, said he gas seen alcoholism destroy families and lives. “I do not support it and I will do everything I can to not see it come to Laurel Hill,” McVay said of the liquor store and bar. “This is not what the city needs. It's not the kind of business that schoolchildren need to see here, and I am not happy.”

2011 - ANNUAL NORTHWEST FLORIDA MILITARY ASSOCIATION BALL

As the President of the Northwest Florida Military Officers Association (NWFMOA), I am looking for your sponsorship for the 2011 Annual Military Ball, which is just around the corner. This year’s Military Ball will be hosted by Emerald Grande at Harbor Walk in Destin, FL on December 8, 2011 from 6:00 – 10:00 p.m. The event will include a social, dinner, dancing, and silent auction. As a sponsor to this time honored event, you will be invited attend this event, as well. The profits from the silent auction and sponsorships are to provide college tuition assistance for the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) cadets at our five Okaloosa County High Schools to help them achieve a career as a Military Officer of our armed forces. The NWFMOA is a non-profit organization and your donation is tax-deductible.

To be a sponsor for this event, we are asking for a donation of $150.00 to become a Platinum Sponsor. As a Platinum sponsor you will be featured in the Monthly NWFMOA Magazine, “The Defender”, recognized in the Military Ball Program, and seen throughout the night on the slide show. If you wish to be one of our sponsors, please make your check payable to the NWFMOA Scholarship Fund at P.O. Box 310 Fort Walton Beach, FL 32549-0310.

If you chose to sponsor and are interested in attending the NWFMOA Military Ball, please give me a call at 850-582-6442 for the ticket application form. Ticket application forms need to be ceived by November 30, 2011. If you have any question, please do not hesitate give me a call.