PRIVATE FIRM OFFERS TO HELP WIDEN U.S. HWY 331 IN FREEPORT

This following proposal is a major opportunity for the City of Freeport and the surrounding areas. With the opening of the new Panama City International Airport in 2010, this will make the Freeport area prime for further development.


Private firm offers to help widen U.S. 331
Proposal is the first of its kind submitted to regional Corridor Authority
By TOM McLAUGHLIN Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4435 tomm@nwfdailynews.com

SANTA ROSA BEACH — In what could be a major development, a private business has offered to partner with a regional transportation panel to widen a portion of U.S. Highway 331, including the Clyde B. Wells Bridge. Randall McElheney, chairman of the Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority, announced Thursday that he has received a letter from a company called Moving US 331 Forward LLC. In the “unsolicited” proposal, the company offers to “design, build, operate and finance transportation facilities which will provide additional capacity for U.S. 331 in Walton County.” “Our proposal is to widen to four lanes the portion of U.S. 331 from the southern end of Choctawhatchee Bay Bridge to its intersection with State Road 20,” the letter states. The offer is significant for a couple of reasons. Not only is it the first of its kind the Corridor Authority has received since it was formed nearly four years ago, it also could offer a way to fund a nearly $400 million project. “In my book, this is a stimulus package. It’s a half-billion-dollar stimulus that’s not reliant on federal dollars,” Jay Odom, the Corridor Authority’s vice chairman, said at the panel’s meeting in Santa Rosa Beach. Local officials have lobbied for years to have U.S. Highway 331 widened. The road and the bridge over Choctawhatchee Bay is the lone north-south evacuation route from South Walton. Moving US 331 Forward was founded by Denver Stutler, a former district secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation, and Lowell Clary, an assistant secretary. “We got kind of frustrated trying to do things on the public side, so we thought we’d try on the private side,” Clary told the Corridor Authority. The proposal is a first step in what will be a long process. The authority, having never received an unsolicited proposal, had to set a fee to submit such documents. It settled on a tentative charge of $50,000. That money will be used to advertise the proposal and to notify other potential bidders of its existence. Once advertisements are published, other firms that might be interested in competing for the project have 60 days to provide proposals. Moving US 331 Forward’s letter to the board was short on details. It too will have 60 days to prepare a more extensive business plan after its fees are paid and the advertising is run, according to Corridor Authority attorney Mike Duncan. The Corridor Authority also must get support from the Walton County Commission. Neither Jim Anders, the county’s representative on the authority, nor Ronnie Bell, the county administrator, had any reason to suspect commissioners might oppose the idea. “This public-private partnership might be the only way we can move forward with this project in the immediate future,” Anders said. “I don’t see anything that might keep the commissioners from supporting the concept.” The Walton County Commission meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday in DeFuniak Springs.

THE SWEDISH ARE COMING TO OKALOOSA COUNTY

If you didn't know, the Swedish are coming to Okaloosa County in a big way. As you will see by a letter from the Okaloosa County Economic Development Counsel (EDC) Chairman, Paul Hsu, this will be a significant event for this community and another great opportunity the Okaloosa County EDC has arranged to bring further economic growth to this area.



Dear EDC Members and Business Community Leaders:

As the Economic Development Council’s 2009 Chairman it gives me great pleasure to invite you to attend the March 3rd Business Expo that will take place from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Emerald Coast Conference Center.

This Business Expo will provide networking opportunities with Swedish business leaders visiting our area. Enterprise Florida’s international office in Northwest Florida has been assisting with the coordination of this special event and we anticipate a mutually beneficial meeting for all who attend.

You have opportunities to attend portions of this event that meet your interests and time availability. The display tables will be available for viewing between 10:00 and 3:00. Our speaker presentations begin at 11:30 with a lunch buffet provided. The expo’s keynote speaker and internationally successful entrepreneur, Paul Hsu, speaks at 12:15. View the attached agenda to customize your participation.

This special venue will allow you to converse with business leaders from the Swedish community and understand their business focus and how it may relate to yours.

Stockholm, Sweden has been ranked in the Top-Seven International Intelligent Companies for 2009 by the Intelligent Community Forum. Stockholm is the economic and political capital of Sweden. In the mid-90s, Stockholm established a company called Stokab to build an open-access fiber network. Today, the 4,500km network connects more than 90 competing service providers to government and business customers. Though the city already has a 98% broadband penetration rate, Stokab will also provide FTTP access to over 95,000 low-income households in public housing by the end of 2009. Stockholm also manages KISTA Science City, housing more than 1,400 companies, plus a support program for start-up and early-stage companies. The city's latest focus is to become northern Europe's quality-of-life leader by enlisting all 45,000 employees in a 3-year effort to improving housing, traffic, and the delivery of an already impressive list of online services

I look forward to being a part of this event and look forward to greeting you on March 3rd as well.


Sincerely,

Paul Hsu
Chairman, Okaloosa EDC

CRESTVIEW NEW SCHOOLS TAKING SHAPE - READY FOR 2009/2010 SCHOOL YEAR

Crestview School system is getting ready in a big way for the massive growth expected for Crestview.

By BRIAN HUGHES Florida Freedom Newspapers

CRESTVIEW - The future Riverside Elementerry School and Shoal River Middle School buildings taking shape on the east side of town have different architects and individual charac tors, but their collaboration assures a cohesiveness to the schools' design. By having red brick exteriors, blue metal roofs and many fixtures and furnishings in common, the Okaloosa County School District benefited from being able to share materials between the schools. Both schools are going up, but Riverside is further along than Shoal River. They will be ready for the start of 2009-10 school year. Riverside will replace Southside Elementary School. Shoal River will replace Richbourg Middle School. The contractor for both jobs is Jacobs/Titan. The company has designed, built and refurbished schools for the county for 14 years. "A child can go to school from kindergarten through eighth grade right on this site," Jacob/Titan's Thomas Mitchell said during a tour of Riverside earlier this month. Inside Riverside, work ers were laying carpet and installing trim and technology hook-ups. A “full-blown A/V system,” as Mitchell described it, was being installed in the multi-purpose room. Outside, the bus ramp is complete. Its rigid aluminum construction will keep children dry on rainy days and hold up to hurricane-strength winds. “We haven’t lost one to wind yet,” Jacobs/ Titan program manager Joel Lindner said of using the same system on other schools. Out front, masons and metalworkers were well along on the front entrance and parents’ drop-off ramp. By keeping school buses and parents’ vehicles separate, traffic will flow much better and reduce the risk of injury to a child. Riverside’s 50 classrooms open both to the central hallway running the length of each wing and to outdoor courtyards between the five wings. Cubbyholes run along the wall beneath the large windows. Each room has 10 computer and phone/Internet hookups. Floors are carpeted and windows have impactrated glazing. “You could actually house kids here during a hurricane,” said Lindner. Each classroom has its own restroom and shares a teacher planning room with the room next door. Energy-saving features include occupancy sensors that turn lights off after a room is vacated. Rather than a large, cumbersome central heating and cooling plant that requires special mechanical skills to maintain, several classrooms share a smaller, almost residential-style unit. In addition to easing maintenance, it allows teachers to regulate the environment in their classrooms. For students’ security, visitors only can go into the front office after entering the school’s lobby. Each classroom has its own telephone. Classroom doors have “intruder function locksets,” to allow teachers to secure rooms from inside. Jacobs/Titan’s designers consulted with teachers, students and administrators when designing the new schools. The company used Antioch Elementary School and Davidson Middle School as models. “Plus, our kids go to district schools,” Mitchell said. “I get a daily report from my son about what he doesn’t like or what does work in his scho

ROUTE THROUGH LAND POSSIBLE - GREAT FOR CRESTVIEW RESIDENTS

Just another reason to make Crestview your home and the south part of the county your place to play and work.

Route through Air Force land possible despite the species’ new ‘endangered’ designation
By TOM McLAUGHLIN Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4435

tomm@nwfdailynews.com

Northwest Florida’s reticulated flatwoods salamander became an endangered species Tuesday. But where once local planners despaired that a proposed U.S. Highway 98 bypass through Eglin Air Force Base land could die at the little feet of the rare amphibian, hope has arisen that a compromise can still be achieved. “I think it can all work out so that everyone is satisfied,” said Janet Mizzi, deputy field director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Panama City. The Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority learned recently that a report compiled at Hurlburt Field indicated officials there had found an alternative bypass route through salamander territory they might be able to live with. Eglin already has signed off on a compromise route. Cor ridor Authority member Jay Odom said the Hurlburt report indicated a “most preferred,” or “least intrusive,” bypass route. “It says ‘there’s a way to get this done,’ ” he said. He said his next step is to meet with representatives of all of the players involved in the bypass discussion to get their approval of the new bypass proposal. The bypass was conceived in 2007 as a way to relieve traffic congestion on U.S. 98 from State Road 87 in Santa Rosa County to U.S. 331 in Walton County. As envisioned by the Corridor Authority, the original road would have crossed the Eglin reservation near its southern border and pass through Hurlburt Field. The flatwoods salamander lives in six counties in Florida and two counties in Georgia. The animal came to the attention of Northwest Florida residents last June when Fish and Wildlife officials notified the Air Force that the proposed bypass ran through important sections of the threatened species’ habitat. Then in October, the feds announced a plan to split the flatwoods salamander into two species. The finalization of the species split and endangered designation were announced Tuesday. The problem that arose out of all of the species splitting for transportation planners was that along with the endangered species designation, the reticulated flatwoods salamander’s habitat was declared “critical.” “Approximately 4,453 acres across portions of the states of Florida and Georgia are designated as critical habitat for the reticulated salamander,” a Fish and Wildlife Service news release said Tuesday. There are 2,593 acres, primarily in the southwestern corner of Hurlburt Field and just west of Hurlburt on the Eglin reservation, which would have been considered critical habitat had they not been on Air Force land. Fish and Wildlife chose not to designate land on Eglin and Hurlburt critical habitat because base officials are required under their own natural resource management plans to protect endangered species. H u r l b u r t , w h e r e 713 acres of critical salamander habitat are located, reviewed four possible compromise routes before selecting its “most preferred,” Odom said. Ray Reissener, a vice president for HDR Engineering Inc., which is developing the bypass plans, said his company is waiting for a final go-ahead from Hurlburt before proceeding with any more design work. “If they allow us to proceed we’re OK,” he said. “If they don’t, I don’t know what we’ll have to do.”

NEW HOTEL ALONG INTERSTATE 10 - AN INDICATOR OF CRESTVIEW'S GROWTH

New hotels along I-10 an indicator of Crestview’s growth
By THOMAS J. MONIGAN Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4438 tmonigan@nwfdailynews.com CRESTVIEW — Okaloosa County’s largest town has seen constant growth in recent years, and among the most visible newcomers are Tractor Supply and Staples. But just how much impact comes from being wrapped around an interstate also has become apparent. Two national chain hotels opened adjacent to Interstate 10 late last year, and another is set to open in the near future. Combined, they mean about $10 million worth of investment and 220 rooms for potential visitors. “And they’re a driver for other things,” said Wayne Harris, executive director of the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce. “They mean more retail and restaurants as well as tourists.” Best Western, Country Inn & Suites and Holiday Inn Express are the newcomers. They are in an area that has about 45,000 vehicles traveling daily on State Road 85 near I-10, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. Crestview now has almost a dozen hotels and motels, according to Harris. “Our advantage is we have had a high occupancy rate,” he said. “That’s why we’ve got that many. The rate has been in the high 80s and 90s consistently.” But lodging is not all about tourists. Army Rangers are moving to the area because of military relocation, and the official agreement to bring the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter here was signed last week. “I imagine they (the new hotels) will get quite a bit of traffic, with construction workers and 2,500 soldiers being stationed here, and their families as well,” Crestview planning official Eric Davis said. Larry Sassano, president of the Okaloosa Economic Development Council, said he was not surprised by such development, even in what has turned out to be a scary economic climate. “They’re smart, and they’ve already done their research,” Sassano said of the hotels. “They’ve studied what’s coming in natural growth and what’s coming from the military. If I owned a hotel I would build one right there.” The Best Western opened last November, and sales manager Jonna Barth said it has been running about 50 percent occupied since. “The holidays were very good to us, and soon as the tourist traffic starts in March we’ll really get going,” Barth said. “Crestview has definitely been discovered, but the hotels are still a little ahead of the growth that is to come.” Barth said the Best Western’s meeting room space has been used in many ways, and the visibility of the building itself has been a factor. “Being on that hill (just off John King Road on the southern side of I-10) has been a big plus for us,” she said. Slightly farther south on SR 85 is the Holiday Inn Express, which is targeting April for its opening. On the north side of the interstate is Country Inn & Suites, where Jatin Shah is the general manager. It opened in early November. “It’s been tough,” Shah said. “Our entrance is a little difficult and we can only put signs on our own property. We’re running under 20 percent, but hopefully in March that will start to pick up. … We’re the nicest hotel in Crestview, and that’s good enough to compete.”

THE NEW F-35 TRAINING PROGRAM ON THEIR WAY TO EGLIN

Guess who coming to dinner. With the construction of the new Army base at Eglin and new facilities for the new F-35 training program to Eglin in a very short timeline, there will be a massive amount of construction activity for quite some time. Also, don't forget the privatization project for the military housing program in our area. With all of this construction, which could be over a billion dollars in the next few years; we will have our own economic stimulis package.

F-35s will go to Eglin despite noise protests
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writerPosted : Friday Feb 6, 2009 12:36:41 EST

The Air Force is going ahead with plans to locate the joint F-35 Lightning II school house at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., service officials said Friday.
While the school was expected to be at Eglin, the Air Force did not make the selection official until Friday. The decision was stalled because of protests from some communities near Eglin where noise levels from the F-35 were projected to reach up to 90 decibels.
Maj. Gen. Charles Davis, who oversees the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office and will become Eglin’s senior officer in April, said Friday that ongoing noise measurements of F-35s should show the jets are not as loud as earlier evaluations found. Davis conceded the jets are louder than the F-15 Eagles they’ll replace at Eglin’s 33rd Fighter Wing.
An Air Force environmental assessment study of the F-35’s noise impact at Eglin found that noise from the fighter’s operations would reach 83 decibels in military housing areas and base schools. Off base, the noise would be even louder, reaching up to 90 decibels in civilian neighborhoods under an Eglin flight path.
Friday’s decision clears the way for the first F-35 to arrive at Eglin in March 2011. Fifty-nine F-35s will be stationed there by 2013, including the Marine Corps and Navy versions of the fighter.
The Air Force is continuing to look at several options to reduce the noise impact, such as building an alternate training airfield on the Eglin Reservation and improving Eglin’s existing runways so that fewer jets would need to fly over civilian communities adjacent to the base.

U.S. ARMY SPENDING BIG BUCKS TO KEEP THEM AROUND

As you can see by the story below, the Army is not going away anytime soon. The Army's mission is changing and in today's environment they will be needed more than ever. This new policy only illustrates the need to keep the Army force strong and vital. This does not mean they will not moderize and use their forces more effectively and efficiently. This means they will become a force to reckon with within the services and funding to use this force more efficiently to come more easily. How do they do this in our present economic climate? What I hear and believe is that you will see more forces outside the country being returned to the U.S. and the closure of more costly bases outside the US. The warfare of the future will be more rapid deployment forces and high tech weaponary. Guess what! With the building of a new Army Base for the Army Special Forces being built within Eglin AFB, the Army Ranger Training at Eglin, the Headquarters of the Special Operations Command at Hurlburt, and the mission of testing of new high tech weapons at Eglin, I believe our area is sitting in the cat bird seat. Any questions or comments, give me a call.


February 06, 2009


"Up-or-Out" is on the move again -- this time for the Army's enlisted leaders. But not everyone is going to be happy and the Army is unsure how much it will cost in the long run. Three years after the Army more than doubled the number of years a Soldier may serve as a private first class the service has now extended the shelf life for senior noncommissioned officers, in some cases by up to three years. The move provides senior enlisted leaders the opportunity to extend their careers at a time when the Army is stressed for manpower while fighting two wars and still meeting its training obligations. Lt. Col. Thomas Erickson, Chief of Enlisted Professional Development Branch, said the move was needed to retain sergeants major longer. But it affects Soldiers down to the rank of staff sergeant. "These changes to retention control points were part of our sergeant major utilization program," Erickson told Military.com. "As we worked our way back from [sergeant major rank], we had to keep master sergeants longer and RCPs were increased for several ranks. But there is no change for sergeant promotable or below." Under the new so-called "Up-or-Out" policy, a staff sergeant can serve an additional year in grade up to the Soldier's 23rd year in uniform, while a sergeant first class or staff sergeant promotable can remain in grade an additional two years up to the troop's 26th year in service. A master sergeant or promotable sergeant first class now gets three extra years up to the Soldier's 29th year in service, while most E-9s and promotable master sergeants may now remain in their rank for up to their 32nd year in service. Some exceptions exist that would allow certain E-9s to serve up to 35 years.
The Army was unable to provide precise numbers on how many Soldiers this new policy could directly affect. "The feedback we are getting is favorable," Erickson said. "Those who want to retire when they reach 20 years, they can still do that. But those Soldiers who wanted to extend their careers will now have that option." As a comparison, an E-7 in the Marine Corps must be promoted to E-8 by the leatherneck's 22nd year of service or retire, meaning his Army equivalent can serve four more years in the same grade. The change went into effect in November of last year, meaning Soldiers who were pushed out of the Army earlier in the year under the old promotion policy missed an opportunity to serve longer. "When you are working with a timeline in a calendar, there is somebody who's going to be on the other side of the line," Erickson admitted. "We need to move forward and make those decisions." Soldiers who were forced to retire or separate under the old policy -- no matter their date of separation -- are not eligible to return to the Army under the new policy, Erickson said. It's unclear how this will affect the Army's plan to grow the force, but it does mean a potentially larger pool of senior NCOs competing for promotions and coveted billets and duty stations. "The majority of Soldiers, once they hit 20, we see a spike of retirement. And once they hit their RCPs, we see another spike," Erickson said. "The change in the RCPs does not mean every staff sergeant will stay in for 23 years. It allows them more opportunities, if they choose." Erickson said he was unable to provide a cost estimate because it's unclear how many senior NCOs will take advantage of the opportunity. Under the latest pay scale, a sergeant major with 26 years will receive a monthly salary of $5,928. That figure jumps to $6,224 at 30 years and $6,536 at 34 years. The Army has experienced more success of late in recruiting -- thanks in part to the sagging economy -- but it's yet to be seen whether the plunging stock market will cause senior enlisted Soldiers to remain on active duty for a few more years without being promoted, knowing they will at least get longevity pay raises. "The cost to it is balanced against other factors. If I keep a Soldier longer, that's one less person I have to recruit," Erickson said.
The Army is spending hundreds of millions across the service to retain Soldiers of all ranks -- enlisted and officer. The Army recently said that roughly 70 percent of captains signed up for a three-year retention bonus, costing the Army at least $400 million in cash and other incentives. The Army also offers retention bonuses of up to $150,000 for senior NCOs in critical positions. Erickson said the Army is not worried the new policy will entice some Soldiers to become slack in their duties or less aggressive in seeking promotions. "I don't believe it will diminish their motivation to be promoted," he said. "If you are going to stay longer, you might as well stay longer in a higher grade."