Commission decries university’s
uses of city’s historic properties
Big screen football games in the Colonial Quarter and big volume bands at Government House will have the
City Commission taking another look at a partnership agreement with the University of Florida, which manages
some 34 state-owned historic properties here.
Resident Chris Fulmer raised concern during public comment on a large
screen in the Colonial Quarter televising a football game, and later in
commission discussion Mayor Nancy Shaver cited, “my concern with the
leasing of Government House during the Nights of Lights kickoff with that
God awful band that played at a very high decibel rate.
“(The university is) not really being partners that are sensitive to our city.”
Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline said of the Colonial Quarter actions, “These
are tenants; my issue is with the University of Florida. The tenants didn’t make
us any promises. UF made us promises.”
Vice Mayor Leanna Freeman added, “When I hear such a comment (about the big screen) it makes me second
guess the flexibility we’ve been showing on some of the requests we’ve been getting.”
City Manager John Regan suggested, “We should go back and review the original partnership agreement” with
the university. He added he’ll meet with UF Vice President Ed Poppell “to discuss our dismay over this trend.”
December 12 2018
Parking attendant
state award winner
Michelle Hill, a decade-long employee
at the City of St. Augustine’s Visitor
Center parking facility, is the 2018 state
winner of the Carol Easterling Award, an
annual recognition by the Florida Parking
& Transportation Association for front
line employees in the parking industry.
“Your nomination by (Visitor Center
Manager) Sharon Langford expressed
your dedication to the City of St.
Augustine by keeping a high standard of
customer services as a priority,” said
Salena Tepas, Carol Easterling Award
Committee Chair.
Michelle or one of her 14 full and part-
time co-workers are likely the first people
who meet and greet visitors to St.
Augustine, and Michelle welcomes the
role as unofficial greeter and information
host, says Langford, shown nabove with
Hill.
City wades into
rental regulation
City commissioners Monday waded into the rental
wars, first with City Manager John Regan and
Planning and Building Director David Birchim
outlining state statutes controlling rentals and city
codes that preceded those statutes, then discussion to
form more effective local regulations.
Newly seated Commissioner John Valdes, with
years of experience as a builder and member of city
boards, said, “Setting out inspecting rental
properties is going to be arduous but one concern is
we are populated by yellow pine frame structures
sitting in close proximity to each other.
“They are unsprinkled, they have one point of
access and egress – they are basically fire traps.
They can set the buildings around them on fire and
St. Augustine has burned before. The fire marshal
can’t inspect because people won’t invite him in.
They’re just happy to have a place to live.”
Birchim said the city does respond to renter
complaints, “but this (proposed stronger regulations)
would be different. We are going to go after every
rental to get in that property.”
Commissioners decided to start tackling rental
properties by fashioning regulations for short-term
rentals and posting an education plan on the city
web site with fire safety rules.
Gamble Rogers Holiday Faire at Colonial Quarter
The Gamble Rogers Music Festival Holiday Faire is set for Friday, December 14 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the
Colonial Quarter on St. George Street.
The free community event will feature live holiday music, caroling, and a crafts, and gifts market.
The VW Bus photo-booth will feature $5 pictures with Santa! Food, drinks, baked goods, hot cocoa, and
s’mores will be available for purchase.
See the Facebook event here.
History’s highlight
The Siege of 1702
The holiday season of 1702 was grim for St. Augustine’s 2,000 residents and garrison, crowded inside
the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos. That the Castillo was only recently completed was a singular gift
the settlement could acknowledge.
November 6, 1702. "The enemy is approaching by land and by
sea and they are bringing the means to attack and besiege the
royal fort."
Governor Joseph de Zuniga y Zerda issues his proclamation to
the garrison and people of St. Augustine. The governor orders all
inside the fort, including "all priests, friars, women, children, Negro
slaves, free Negroes and all Indians of whatever nation which have
rendered obedience to his Catholic Majesty.”
Urgent messages have been sent to the Spanish garrisons at
Apalachee and Pensacola, to the French garrison at Mobile, and to
Spanish headquarters at Havana, Cuba.
English Carolina Governor James Moore, with 1,000 troops out
of Charleston, 500 on land under Colonel Robert Daniel and 500 under sail with Moore, must seize this
Spanish base on the North American continent.
November 7. Zuniga and his officers review the garrison strength. It should be at 355. But of 412 men, only
18 infantry and 18 militia are experienced in battle. He hasn't the strength to counterattack.
November 9. Throughout the afternoon, a steady stream of criollos (creoles, of Spanish descent born in
America), Spaniards, Indians and Negroes flow into the fort. The governor declares it his duty and moral
obligation to protect all people of all races who live under the Spanish flag.
Infantrymen are sent to carry in shingles which had been piled in the plaza to roof the church, as well as the
tablazon (planking) of the church. These materials will provide "lodging and quarters where the women and
children could find refuge . . ."
November 10. At dawn the English land force takes over the town without resistance, sets up headquarters
at the Franciscan Monastery south of the fort, and occupies the mission and village at Nombre de Dios north of
the fort.
November 11. Governor Zuniga orders "a sally of brave men escorted by two lines of muskeeters in order
to put to the torch all the large and small houses" within a range of about 750 feet of the fort - the effective
range of a cannon ball.
November 24. English heavy guns, moved into position, begin firing on the fort. The Spaniards return fire.
The tense wait continues, the defenders unaware that messages have reached Havana, Pensacola and Mobile,
and relief is coming.
December 19. English trenches run along the south and western sides of the fortress; gabions - wood
cylinders filled with earth - support the trenches and provide cover for the attackers. Skirmishes break out as
the Spaniards move to destroy the gabions.
Each side awaits reinforcements to give it the decisive edge.
December 24. Christmas Eve, two sails are sighted. They are English. Morale inside the fort hits bottom.
The governor calls for a Christmas Eve party and bonuses for the troops. His accountants say the treasury can't
afford it. The governor replies, "Charge it to next year's account!"
December 26. At midday, four sails are sighted on the southern horizon. They are Spanish, the relief fleet
from Havana.
December 29. The sight of the Spanish fleet is enough to make the English retreat. The English decide a
retreat by sea would be stopped by the fleet; they destroy their own ships and flee on foot.
Excerpt from Siege, in St. Augustine Bedtime Stories. Click for further information on this fascinating
historic series with 24 accounts of famous people and events.
Image: Siege of Saint Augustine fineartamerica.com
the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos. That the Castillo was only recently completed was a singular gift
the settlement could acknowledge.
November 6, 1702. "The enemy is approaching by land and by
sea and they are bringing the means to attack and besiege the
royal fort."
Governor Joseph de Zuniga y Zerda issues his proclamation to
the garrison and people of St. Augustine. The governor orders all
inside the fort, including "all priests, friars, women, children, Negro
slaves, free Negroes and all Indians of whatever nation which have
rendered obedience to his Catholic Majesty.”
Urgent messages have been sent to the Spanish garrisons at
Apalachee and Pensacola, to the French garrison at Mobile, and to
Spanish headquarters at Havana, Cuba.
English Carolina Governor James Moore, with 1,000 troops out
of Charleston, 500 on land under Colonel Robert Daniel and 500 under sail with Moore, must seize this
Spanish base on the North American continent.
November 7. Zuniga and his officers review the garrison strength. It should be at 355. But of 412 men, only
18 infantry and 18 militia are experienced in battle. He hasn't the strength to counterattack.
November 9. Throughout the afternoon, a steady stream of criollos (creoles, of Spanish descent born in
America), Spaniards, Indians and Negroes flow into the fort. The governor declares it his duty and moral
obligation to protect all people of all races who live under the Spanish flag.
Infantrymen are sent to carry in shingles which had been piled in the plaza to roof the church, as well as the
tablazon (planking) of the church. These materials will provide "lodging and quarters where the women and
children could find refuge . . ."
November 10. At dawn the English land force takes over the town without resistance, sets up headquarters
at the Franciscan Monastery south of the fort, and occupies the mission and village at Nombre de Dios north of
the fort.
November 11. Governor Zuniga orders "a sally of brave men escorted by two lines of muskeeters in order
to put to the torch all the large and small houses" within a range of about 750 feet of the fort - the effective
range of a cannon ball.
November 24. English heavy guns, moved into position, begin firing on the fort. The Spaniards return fire.
The tense wait continues, the defenders unaware that messages have reached Havana, Pensacola and Mobile,
and relief is coming.
December 19. English trenches run along the south and western sides of the fortress; gabions - wood
cylinders filled with earth - support the trenches and provide cover for the attackers. Skirmishes break out as
the Spaniards move to destroy the gabions.
Each side awaits reinforcements to give it the decisive edge.
December 24. Christmas Eve, two sails are sighted. They are English. Morale inside the fort hits bottom.
The governor calls for a Christmas Eve party and bonuses for the troops. His accountants say the treasury can't
afford it. The governor replies, "Charge it to next year's account!"
December 26. At midday, four sails are sighted on the southern horizon. They are Spanish, the relief fleet
from Havana.
December 29. The sight of the Spanish fleet is enough to make the English retreat. The English decide a
retreat by sea would be stopped by the fleet; they destroy their own ships and flee on foot.
Excerpt from Siege, in St. Augustine Bedtime Stories. Click for further information on this fascinating
historic series with 24 accounts of famous people and events.
Image: Siege of Saint Augustine fineartamerica.com
Commission approves
St. Francis bed costs
The price of short-term lodging is going up
– not the Airbnb sort but the homeless shelter
sort, and not as a goal of St. Francis House but
to help police enforcement.
Commissioners Monday approved an
increase to the city for 12 beds at St. Francis
House $36,000 to $162,000 a year - from
$8/bed/night to $37/bed/night.
The beds allow police to enforce city rules
against sleeping in public. “The city can’t keep
people from sleeping in public if there’s no
alternative place for them to go,” City Manager
John Regan said.
“Saint Francis house is not an overnight
shelter,” Mayor Nancy Shaver said. You can
see that model falling away in every city in the country.
“Saint Francis house takes people into their program, gets them IDs, helps them find jobs and helps them
find housing. That is the program and the approach that is the solution to homelessness.
“What we have here are beds that help us enforce our camping ordinance and that quite frankly we're lucky
to have.”
It’s the first cost adjustment since the program was initiated in 2007.
Appeal moves forward
to save a red cedar tree
An appeal will go before the City Commission
January 14 to save a 21-inch diameter southern red
cedar tree at 61 Lighthouse Avenue.
The Planning and Zoning Board in November
approved removing 26 trees including that red cedar
for a home for Edward and Laura Byles. She’s a
granddaughter of former Mayor Eddie Mussallem.
The City Commission Monday approved legal
sufficiency for neighbor Chad Smith to make the
appeal.
Smith is not appealing the decision to remove the 25
trees on private property but that one tree – a protected
species in city code - which is on public right of way.
Tree Mitigation Fund OKd
Street Tree Committee member and advocate Gina
Burrell got a thank you “for keeping this in front of us”
as city commissioners Monday adopted a
Tree Mitigation Fund which will include
fees paid in lieu of planting replacement
trees and fines from unpermitted
removal of trees.
"This Tree Mitigation Fund shall be
used by the City to plant and maintain
trees in appropriate locations and
support the city's tree program within the
City right-of-way or on City or other
public property to promote street tree rehabilitation,
maintain a diverse tree inventory and support tree
canopy throughout the City," according to the
resolution.
Charter review under study
City Attorney Isabelle Lopez will do a full review of
what corrections have been made to the city charter and
what policy changes commissioners may want to
consider, promising an update by March 2019.
City Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline also urged
getting information to the community as soon as
possible to get input in the review process.
