Archive for the ‘Airport’ Category
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page. Included in the full agendas are copies of any contracts, agreements, ordinances, or resolutions.
Note: This meeting will take place on Monday, March 8. The meeting begins at 3:15 PM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall. The Economic & Community Development Committee and the…
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page. Included in the full agendas are copies of any contracts, agreements, ordinances, or resolutions.
Note: This meeting will take place on Monday, January 25. The meeting begins at 2:00 PM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall. Note the earlier-than-normal start time…
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page. Included in the full agendas are copies of any contracts, agreements, ordinances, or resolutions.
Note: This meeting will take place on Monday, January 11. The meeting begins at 3:15 PM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall. The Finance Committee and the Community Redevelopment Agency will not meet.
Continue Reading...
City Manager Al Coby has appointed Melinda Crawford as Director of the Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport, effective December 30.
Ms. Crawford has served as the Airport’s interim director since the departure of former Airport Director Frank Miller in May. She previously served as the Airport’s assistant director for finance.
In a memorandum to City Council members, Mr. Coby lauded Ms. Crawford’s “unquestionable ability to manage” the Airport.
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page. Included in the full agendas are copies of any contracts, agreements, ordinances, or resolutions.
As the first set of committee meetings since City voters approved a new charter last month, Monday’s committee meetings are expected to be lengthy. In addition to a large agenda otherwise, the Committee of the Whole meeting will likely…
Continue Reading...
A few items we wanted to highlight today:
There’s a storm a-comin! Hurricane Ida is hanging out around the Yucatan Peninsula right now and is set to head north over the next few days. Current projections show Ida strengthening to a Level 2 storm before dropping back down to a Level 1 and making landfall in south Baldwin County sometime Tuesday.
More PNJ charter coverage…
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page.
Note: This meeting will take place on Monday, November 2. The meeting begins at 3:15 PM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall. The Economic & Community Development Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Community Redevelopment Agency will not meet.
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page.
Note: This meeting will take place on Monday, October 19. The meeting begins at 3:15 PM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall. The Finance Committee will not meet.
Continue Reading...
Your publisher has been out of the City for a few days, on an ill-timed but much-needed vacation. Looks like we missed some noteworthy stuff:
Eagan saga. In a bizarre incident, Tim Eagan, a convicted felon and City Hall lurker, attempted to hold the City hostage by threatening a petition campaign to reverse the City Council’s decision to issue bonds for the Community Maritime Park project. City officials negotiated an agreement with Eagan, but are facing a lot of flack for doing so…
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page.
Note: This meeting will take place on Monday, October 5. The meeting begins at 3:15 PM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall…
Continue Reading...
Here’s a brief recap of yesterday’s Pensacola City Council committee meetings:
Absences: None.
Appointments: Council reappointed C. Ray Jones and Daniel Lindemann to the Architectural Review Board, reappointed Danny Grundhoefer and Daniel Keck to the Code Enforcement Board, and appointed Ashton Hayward as the Planning Board representative on the Architectural Review…
Continue Reading...
Last year, the City signed a long-term lease with Julian MacQueen’s Sandspur Development, which plans to develop a site adjacent to the airport with a hotel and other retail facilities. Under the terms of the agreement, the City was obligated to turn over the site by September 15, 2009. However, due to pending litigation against the City from rival developers, the City has decided not to turn over the site until the legal issues are resolved.
Sandspur Development has agreed…
Continue Reading...
A few items we wanted to highlight today:
CMP groundbreaking. The long-awaited groundbreaking on the Community Maritime Park project was held last night. In the coming weeks, a security fence will be erected around the site, and crews will begin clearing overgrowth.
UWF Board meets today. The UWF Board of Trustees meets today and will make two important decisions. Firstly, the board will decide the final location of…
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page.
Note: This meeting will take place on Monday, September 24. The meeting begins at 3:15 PM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall.
Continue Reading...
The Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a rally this evening in support of the efforts to lure Southwest Airlines to Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport. The rally is set for 5:30 PM at New World Landing, 600 South Palafox Street.
Food will be provided, as well as entertainment by the Washington High School band.
For more information, contact the Chamber at (850) 438-4081.
Continue Reading...
A few items I wanted to highlight today:
Local 9/11 events. Hard to believe it’s been eight years. It really doesn’t feel that long ago that I watched on TV as a plane flew into the second tower. Every time I’m in Manhattan I go to the World Trade Centre site, and it’s like this horrible, heartbreaking open wound. I wish we could rebuild faster.
Charter passed. The Pensacola City Council…
Continue Reading...
Last week, we published an article called “The $350K logo,” which dealt with a contract held by E. W. Bullock Associates for marketing services for the Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport.
At City Council committee meetings earlier this week, there was substantive discussion of the contract, including the media buy commission rate and Mr. Bullock’s overall performance. The contract overages and year two amount were approved, but they weren’t rubberstamped…
Continue Reading...
Here’s a brief recap of yesterday’s City Council committee meetings:
Absences: Councilman Wu. Councilman Jerralds left around 7:45 PM, and Councilwoman DeWeese left at 8:23 PM. The meeting ended just after 9:00.
Parades: City Council has agreed to absorb the City’s parade costs for FY2010, which were unbudgeted. Going forward, the City will work with…
Continue Reading...
Apparently E. W. Bullock likes the slop at the City trough, and wants more.
At the City Council’s Enterprise Operations committee meeting this coming Monday, Airport staff will ask the City Council to approve several pay hikes for Airport marketing consultant E. W. Bullock Associates, with whom the Airport has a three-year contract.
Firstly, Council will be asked to approve…
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, direct expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page.
Note: This meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 8 due to the Labour Day holiday. The meeting begins at 3:15 PM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall.
Continue Reading...
A few items I wanted to highlight today:
Airport coverage. The Sunday News Journal has two stories concerning the City-owned Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport. The first deals with the push to bring Southwest Airlines to Pensacola; the second is a profile of the airport and its expansion efforts under the leadership of interim director Melinda Crawford. Those who want to help out with the efforts to bring Southwest to Pensacola can check out the Chamber of Commerce’s web site or join the cause on Facebook…
Continue Reading...
A few items I wanted to highlight today:
On attracting Southwest Airlines. PNJ business reporter Carlton Proctor says “the game is on” regarding the Airport’s campaign to attract Southwest Airlines. As we’ve said, Southwest would be a colossal win for Pensacola and the Airport, and would likely secure the Airport’s place as the dominant regional airport for some time to come.
O’Brien covers Council’s caving on tree ordinance. PNJ columnist Mark O’Brien lets Council members…
Continue Reading...
A few items I wanted to highlight today:
US Airways expanding service at Airport. US Airways has announced that beginning in 2010, it will add- nonstop service between PNS (Pensacola) and DCA (Washington—Reagan National).
De Luna monument dedicated. The Spanish conquistador monument was unveiled and dedicated at a ceremony held last night in Plaza de Luna. With the dedication of the monument, the Plaza de Luna project is essentially complete…
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, direct expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page.
Note: This meeting will take place on Monday, August 10. The meeting begins at 9:00 AM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall. The Community Redevelopment Agency will not meet.
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, direct expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page.
Note: This meeting will take place on Monday, July 6. The meeting begins at 9:00 AM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall. The Finance Committee, the Economic and Community Development Committee, and the Community Redevelopment Agency will not meet.
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, direct expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page.
Note: This meeting will take place on Monday, June 22. The meeting begins at 9:00 AM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall.
All committees, including the Community Redevelopment Agency, will meet…
Continue Reading...
A few other things I wanted to highlight from yesterday’s Council committee meetings:
The Committee of the Whole meeting, where most of the contentious items were discussed, lasted about four hours and 50 minutes, ending at 8:09 PM. Most of the time was spent on three issues: the Community Maritime Park, the pension study, and the airport hotel lease. Regarding the airport hotel lease, Councilwoman Diane Mack’s much-publicised proposal that City Council break the contract with Julian MacQueen died for lack of a second…
Continue Reading...
The City Council-commissioned audit of the airport hotel deal is in. You can read it for yourself on the City’s website.
The audit puts on paper what everybody already knew. The process was imperfect, and an open, competitive RFP process would have preferred. We have again paid tens of thousands of dollars for a “report” which serves little purpose other than to formalise the obvious and allow Council members to say they “investigated.”
Were there problems with the process? Yes…
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, direct expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page.
Note: This meeting will take place on Tuesday, May 26 rather than on Monday, due to the Memorial Day holiday. The meeting begins at 3:15 PM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall. The Economic and Community Development Committee will not meet.
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, direct expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page.
Committee of the Whole
Neighbourhood Services
Enterprise Operations
Economic and Community Development
Note: The Finance Committee and the Community Redevelopment Agency will not meet.
Continue Reading...
Frank Miller, Director of the Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport, has resigned to accept the head job at San Antonio International Airport. His last day will be May 15, at which time he will be paid 1,020 hours of accrued leave time, for a total of $64,817.80.
Mr. Miller has served as Pensacola’s Airport Director since 1987.
Progressive Pensacola, noting the multitude of improvements to the Airport during Mr. Miller’s tenure, as well as the Airport’s leaps-and-bounds superiority to comparable airports…
Continue Reading...
Below is the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week. As always, direct expenditures are highlighted. Links to the full agendas are included at the bottom of the page.
Note: The Community Redevelopment Agency will not meet.
Committee of the Whole
Neighbourhood Services
Enterprise Operations
Economic and Community Development
Finance Committee
Continue Reading...
Here’s the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week:
Committee of the Whole
Appointments: Council will make appointments…
Rules changes: Council will also vote to codify changes to its Rules and Procedures…
Neighbourhood Services
*Council will approve the name for the new community center in the Sanders Beach neighbourhood…
*Staff will inform Council of the decision to retain Quina Grundhoefer Architects for design services…
Continue Reading...
Here’s the breakdown of what the Pensacola City Council will consider in the coming week:
*Committee of the Whole
*Neighbourhood Services
*Enterprise Operations
*Finance Committee
Note: The Economic and Community Development Committee and the Community Redevelopment Agency will not meet on Monday; however, the CRA will hold a special meeting on Thursday night, before Council, from 5:30-6:30 PM.
Continue Reading...
The News Journal’s man on the government beat, Jamie Page, is on a prolific streak, with several readworthy posts today:
“Councilman wants big charter changes”
Mr. Page spoke with Councilman Larry B. Johnson about changes Councilman Johnson hopes the Charter Review Commission will implement. The Councilman’s hopes, along with a few thoughts…
“Outside firm investigating city land deal”
“City getting proposals for new library”
Continue Reading...
Now what’s going on with the other committees of the Pensacola City Council this coming Monday:
Keep in mind the City Council’s committee meetings are open to the public. Meetings start at 3:15 PM in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, Second Floor, City Hall.
Economic and Community Development
Neigbourhood Services
Enterprise Operations
Finance
Community Redevelopment Agency
Continue Reading...
Oh, snap.
Rick Outzen is reporting that PNS Hotel Group, Ltd., a consortium of developers, has filed suit against the City of Pensacola over its lease of property at Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport to Sandspur Development, LLC for the purposes of developing a hotel and other commercial properties. PNS Hotel Group is comprised of Bob Cleveland, Dave Cleveland, Jim Cronley, Tony Terhaar, Darryl Lapointe, and John Connell, and owns and manages three hotels in the Airport area.
Continue Reading...
Here’s the cliffnotes from yesterday’s City Council committee meetings. Remember that items approved by committees then proceed to the regular Thursday night Council meeting to be approved or disapproved by the full Council.
Committee of the Whole
*Dr. Coy Irvin appeared to thank the City for its help with the Celebrate Pensacola 450th anniversary festivities. Everyone patted one another on the back.
*Staff provided to Council the “initial evaluation” of the CMPA development agreement by Abramson and Associates.
Continue Reading...
On the agenda for Monday’s meetings of the various committees of the Pensacola City Council (the last committee meetings of the current Council!):
Committee of the Whole
Dr. Coy Irvin will give a presentation on the Celebrate Pensacola 450th anniversary festivities.
Staff will provide to Council the “initial evaluation” of the CMPA development agreement by Abramson and Associates.
Community [...]
Continue Reading...
The PNJ’s Mark O’Brien has two worthwhile posts up today:
Mark O’Brien: “Troubles continue”
As Mark notes, City-owned Osceola Golf Course finished FY2008 more than $180,000 in red, which the City taxpayers will make up. I was planning on getting to this, but Mark beat me to it. As we’ve said before, the City should sell the [...]
Continue Reading...
The PNJ’s Jamie Page has a story out this morning on the email chain I published yesterday, between the Innisfree developers and they City’s airport director.
One part of Page’s story that sticks out at me is this quote from Frank Miller:
Miller said Thursday the e-mail did not influence the timing of his presentation to the [...]
Continue Reading...
On November 5, the day after the general election, Richard A. Chism, the Director of Development for Julian MacQueen’s Innisfree Hotels, wrote an “political appraisal” in order to help determine the timing of bringing the Airport project before Council.
Mr. MacQueen then forwarded this email to Airport director Frank Miller, at which point it became a [...]
Continue Reading...
Jim Cronley spoke against the MacQueen airport deal at Council last Thursday, and threw in a little showmanship:
A transcript:
I’ve got a short statement about the lease, but before that I’ve got a confession to make. Last Tuesday, I got a phone call from somebody that I knew, that said there is more than one lease [...]
Continue Reading...
Frank Miller’s prepared statement to the City Council, apologising for the airport appraisal mishap:
A transcript:
Mr. Mayor and members of the City Council,
The airport undertakes appraisals for the leasing, purchase, or disposal of property with a varying range of guidelines. For airside appraisals, we commission one appraiser with the expertise in airside regulations and restrictions; for [...]
Continue Reading...
Following up on the previous post, here’s the video of Pensacola City Councilman Sam Hall questioning Frank Miller about the misplaced appraisals at last Thursday’s Council meeting:
Transcript of the good part (starts around 1:10 into the video):
Hall: Regardless of what staff thought they understood about rental car agreements, hotel agreements, if an appraisal comes in, [...]
Continue Reading...
Update: I want to clarify that while the below post offers my thoughts on Frank Miller and the comments Councilman Hall has made, it should be noted that Councilman Hall did not single out Miller, and indeed advocates the dismissal of any member of City staff, whether Miller, his subordinates, or superiors, whom was grossly [...]
Continue Reading...
Mark O’Brien has a post up lambasting Pensacola City Councilman Sam Hall, both for his call for resignations or firings Wednesday of those responsible for the Airport appraisal error and for Hall’s rebuke of Airport Director Miller last night at Council.
The appraisal error, according to Mr. Miller, was due to the fact that the latter [...]
Continue Reading...
Late in a four-hour marathon meeting of the Pensacola City Council, the proposed lease of airport land to with Julian MacQueen’s Sandspur, LLC was approved by a vote of 7-3, with Councilmen Hall, Wiggins, and Townsend dissenting.
The proposed lease agreement, under which Mr. MacQueen intends to develop a hotel and other retail opportunities, was by [...]
Continue Reading...
The City has published the revised version of the proposed lease agreement for the contentious airport hotel project.
View the lease (pdf)
Preceding the lease is a five-page memo from Staff detailing the changes, including the rent changes, and added architectural and landscaping guidelines.
They’ve also posted an artist’s rendering of the hotel, courtesy architect Spencer Maxwell Bullock.
Continue Reading...
Update: Looks like Rick Outzen is also wondering how this “oversight” occured. See his post, “Staff has not come clean on airport appraisals”.
In today’s Pensacola News Journal, Airport Director Frank Miller says that he “overlooked the fact that there was a second appraisal and review”.
Overlooked?
According to the PNJ, Miller “discovered” the two new appraisals on [...]
Continue Reading...
As it was revealed today, developer Jim Cronley and cohorts were right about the airport property being under-appraised. I’m not sure how or why this was kept under wraps, but City staff had two other appraisals valuing the airport property at $7 million and $7.1 million, substantially higher than the $6.4 million appraisal discussed at committee [...]
Continue Reading...
We have spoken about this deal several times over the past few days. Today, Mark O’Brien has his thoughts up over at the PNJ. After digesting the issue — particularly the comments at the City Council’s Enterprise Operations Committee on Monday — Progressive Pensacola supports this deal and urges the full Council to support it on [...]
Continue Reading...
Jamie Page has a decent article over at the PNJ regarding the City plan to lease airport property to hotelier Julian MacQueen. While the City Council’s Enterprise Operations Committee did vote 4-0 Monday in favour of leasing the property to MacQueen, there were some who raised concerns — most notably, developer prince Jim Cronley of Cronley [...]
Continue Reading...
On the agenda for Monday’s meeting of the Pensacola City Council’s Enterprise Operations Committee:
More on that Airport hotel
We mentioned in the last post that Julian MacQueen wants to build a hotel on airport property. Well, as Economic and Community Development votes to allow hotels and other development in the airport restricted zone, Enterprise Operations will [...]
Continue Reading...
On the agenda for Monday’s meeting of the Pensacola City Council’s Economic and Community Development Committee:
Hotel on Airport property?
According to City staff’s memo, the financial strategy of the City-owned Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport is “to identify ways to diversify the airport’s non-airline revenue. In addition to awarding contracts for massage chairs in the airport, [...]
Continue Reading...
Subscribe to our feed
Get updates via email
Follow us on Twitter