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Northeast Business Briefs - Sept. 2004
IN THE NEWS
Crestview -- Crestview/Okaloosa County Airpark has a new tenant, Bay State Cable Ties, a new company making plastic tie wraps for wires. Initial employment of 20 could peak at 70.
Escambia County -- AccessEscambia, a recently organized group of medical and community leaders, is asking the County Commission to place a proposal raising the county sales tax by a half-cent, to 8 cents, on the November ballot. The increase would fund healthcare for the working poor.
Escambia County Circuit Court has given preliminary approval to a $70-million settlement in two class-action pollution suits against Conoco-Phillips, which formerly ran an Agrico Chemical Co. plant in the county. Owners and former owners of 3,700 parcels of property with contaminated soil and water have until Sept. 13 to apply for a share of the settlement.
Fort Walton Beach -- Accounting firm partner Steve Riggs didn't play football but is scoring big for athletes at his alma mater, giving $500,000 to help Fort Walton Beach High School build its own football stadium. The stadium likely will be named for Riggs, a percussionist in the marching band in his school days.
Gulf County -- Voters will decide in November whether to put the whole county under Central Time. Split between Eastern and Central, Gulf is the state's only county with multiple time zones.
Jackson County -- County commissioners doubled the bed tax Aug. 1 to 4 cents on each dollar paid for hotel/motel charges. Bed tax money benefits tourism promotions; the increase is reserved for the pursuit of a conference center.
Marianna -- A September construction start is possible for the city's $20-million wastewater treatment system expansion and development of an associated 533-acre sprayfield. The project is needed to halt pumping of effluent into the Chipola River.
Panama City -- Developer Bob Blackerby wants to buy City Hall, swap land and build a new City Hall in a planned retail, government and office complex he's calling Village on the Bayou. His proposal -- enthusiastically received by the mayor and City Council -- also includes donating property and $750,000 for a library and erecting a $100-million condominium complex on the old City Hall site.
Pensacola -- Industrial uses at Port of Pensacola should be phased out as contracts expire, a city advisory committee recommends. Members favor mixed-use waterfront development and maximizing of downtown intellectual and cultural opportunities to attract tourists and creative workers.
Pensacola Bay Area -- Condominiums are hot commodities in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, brokers say. Condominium and townhouse sales this year through May were up 24% compared to a year ago; dollar volume increased 56%.
Port St. Joe -- Pensacola-based Sacred Heart Health System will build a physicians office building and possibly a 25-bed hospital to help Gulf County meet community healthcare needs. St. Joe Co. (NYSE-JOE) has offered to donate the land. The town's only hospital, Gulf Pines, is in bankruptcy and could face foreclosure.
Tallahassee -- Local planners are proposing development of 15 greenway parks with 79 miles of trails at a cost of $37.4 million, 60% to be paid with local sales-tax revenue, the rest potentially from state grants. The parks would be within a short walk or bike ride of most Tallahassee homes.
Walton County -- Taxable property values this year are expected to be up $1.65 billion from year-end 2003, a 26% gain, according to preliminary tax rolls. New construction is accounting for almost one-third of the increase, with most of that, $421.1 million, south of Choctawhatchee Bay. Meanwhile, Walton County's population grew by 14.2% between 2000 and 2003, according to Census figures, ranking the county as the seventh-fastest-growing among Florida's 67 counties.
