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Northwest Fla., Big Bend Business Briefs - May 2008
BAY COUNTY
» An Atlanta-based federal appeals court rejected a motion by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups seeking to halt construction of the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport at West Bay.
DEFUNIAK SPRINGS
» Eglin Air Force Base is the biggest green power customer of Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative, which last year started selling 100 kilowatt-hour blocks of “clean’’ power for $2 extra per month for each block. Eglin Air Force Base signed up for 2.7 million kilowatt hours this year. The power is produced from methane gas at a Waste Management landfill at Campbellton.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
» County Commissioner Gene Valentino wants to accelerate regional road projects through his recently organized and county-approved Regional Transportation Finance Authority. He’s seeking to sign up neighboring counties.
» The County Commission hired Bob McLaughlin as county administrator. He served as assistant county administrator beginning in 2002 and as interim administrator following the resignation last fall of former administrator George Touart. Touart’s departure stemmed from controversy over his personal business relationships with companies doing business with the county.
MILTON
» The Department of Environmental Protection ordered restoration work on the Locklin Lake dam stopped after workers unearthed and damaged a historic mill site. The Benjamin Jernigan mill, built between 1828 and 1830, was Milton’s first water-powered sawmill. Replacement of the 1940s-era dam won’t resume until an archaeological survey is done.
PENSACOLA
» Pensacola Regional Airport has kicked off a $104-million, three-phase expansion expected to take three years to complete. The project will provide a rental car facility, terminal expansion, four new gates, larger security screening areas and an additional 1,250-space parking garage.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
» A barrage of lawsuits has further snarled development of the county’s biggest-ever residential project, a 588-home community and town center introduced with celebrity fanfare last year as Jubilee and recently renamed Contrada Hills. Santa Rosa County resident Euby Black sued California investor and new project leader Barney Ng and other key players, saying they cut him out of the deal and its promised returns. Ng’s company, 2718 Santa Rosa, subsequently sued the original developer, Atlanta-based Eagle Group, its founder Ron Reeser and President Hal Hayes, along with Black, for breach of contract. Unpaid contractor bills stalled the project last summer.
TALLAHASSEE
» GT Technologies has completed a $30-million plant expansion and new-equipment purchase, enabling it to move high-cost Ohio production to Tallahassee and create 149 jobs locally. GT says its decision to remain in Tallahassee, where it employs 150, was due in part to $3.1 million in state and local financial incentives, obtained with assistance of local business leaders. GT manufactures valve actuation systems and components.
TAYLOR COUNTY
» Concerns of the Department of Community Affairs over the environmental impact of J. Crayton Pruitt’s second blueprint for a coastal development have put the project in limbo. The Reserve at Sweetwater Estuary, to consist of a hotel, condominiums, commercial space and a golf course, was a modified version of an earlier $700-million plan that included a marina.
