After a bit of wrangling over its makeup, Santa Rosa commissioners have settled on establishment of an 11-member task force to tackle specific areas of the county’s Land Development Code (LDC). That includes two picks by each commissioner and one additional pick agreed upon by board as a group.
Commissioners reached consensus on an amended resolution after residents complained during board meetings earlier this week about shifting the number of task force members— from 10 to 12, and back to 10 — and, further, that it was too heavy with development interests.
“I feel the task force is heavily weighted in favor of builders and real estate interest and this is something that has been addressed for many years in Santa Rosa County,” said Robert Smith with the North Santa Rosa County Utility Coalition at Monday’s committee meeting. “We just feel that the trade positions of many of these people make up a heavier side on the task force than common citizens and that is our concern.”
Addressing that issue regarding builders on the board, District 1 Commissioner Bobby Burkett, said he will continue to push for smart development in the county and pointed out that it makes sense for development to have some representation at the table.
“I want y’all to understand construction is our industry in Santa Rosa County. We don’t build aircraft. We don’t build planes. We don’t build chips. We don’t have a car manufacturing plant. We have construction,” he declared. “So, to shut down construction will have your property values drop down to nothing and we’ll be a ghost town. I don’t think that’s what you want.”
When Monday’s meeting ended, the board agreed to a 10-member board, with each commissioner getting two picks, one professional, who could live outside the county and one layman, who has be a resident.
On Thursday, their appointees were made official.
Burkett’s selections included Phillip Robbins, his citizen choice, who serves on the Chumuckla Water System board and Mike Neal, president of MCN Construction of Pace. Burkett recommended Neal for his work in the area of land clearing and knowledge of how to deal with erosion issues.
Board Chairman and District 2 Commissioner Kerry Smith picked Michael Patterson, production manager for Adams Homes. He also selected Dara Hartigan, president of the activist group, Save Our Soundside.
District 3 Commissioner Rhett Rowell chose Brandt Hendricks, a third generation farmer from Jay, who also is a member of the board of the Santa Rosa County Farm Bureau. Rowell’s second pick is Trent Matthews, a farmer and district conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Ray Eddington, District 4 commissioner, selected Carmen Reynolds, who serves on the Holley Navarre Water System board. His second pick is Kelvin Enfinger, a commercial builder, who is a member of the board of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of North Florida.
With his two picks, District 5 Commissioner Colten Wright chose Matt Posner, an environmental scientist, who also serves as director of the Pensacola Perdido Bay Estuaries Program. He also selected Austin Tenpenny, a Santa Rosa County resident who is also president of the West Florida Home Builders Association (HBA).
“I greatly appreciate the vote of confidence,” said Tenpenny. “And contrary to what people think, we (homebuilders) do care about what happens in this county.”
At this point, the task force seemed to be set, but earlier there had been calls to appoint an 11th member as a tie-breaker and there was a lot of support for appointing Chris Curb, a flooding and drainage expert, who’s a member of the flooding watchdog group, Flood Defenders.
“I support Chris Curb as your obvious pick for 11th man,” said Sherry Chapman, who lives in Pea Ridge at Monday’s meeting. “He’s always at your meetings advocating on behalf of flooding, which is the number one problem in our community.
“Chris Curb has drawn my attention to flooding and drainage,” added said Elizabeth Plant, a resident of East Milton, on Thursday. “I even follow him to Escambia County to listen; I’m learning a lot.”
In the end, Chairman Smith acknowledged hearing from other residents with similar thoughts and made the motion to add Curb to the task force. All the other commissioners agreed.
“I do feel Chris Curb has a place on this board,” said Commissioner Wright, who also wanted to add an engineer. “But having said that, I would support 11 and have that be Chris Curb.”
“Wow, I’m floored,” said Curb, after commissioners agreed to add him to the advisory panel. “I don’t stop working and whether I was on this or not, I would be part of it, whether at this dais or on the task force.”
”I think you’ve picked responsible people to be on there,” resident Jerry Couey stated. “I think that’s a fair mix. That’s what we were all about...I look forward to their work product.”
The LDC task force will focus on priority issues including erosion and sediment control, clear-cutting, and alternative subdivisions. It will report to the County Commission by May 2nd, with the option to extend to May 30th if more time is needed.
