It takes a village. As Vice Mayor Leanna Freeman said, was it a "miracle?"
Protecting our town and defeating "temple destroyers" is what we do. Whether defeating a $1.8 million no-bid helicopter and getting a full refund or halting developers wanting to destroy historic Fish Island, we're saving our town from the formidable forces of corruption. Come on along. Have fun! Ask questions. Demand answers. Expect democracy.
Here's the City of St. Augustine's press release:
November 21, 2019
City will lease Fish Island property from the State of Florida
Passive park, trails, interpretive signs part of property management design ideas
On Thursday, November 21, the state of Florida took possession of the 57-acre property referred to as Fish Island. The successful acquisition of this conservation land would not have been possible if not for the dedication and hard work of countless state and local individual participants, community groups, elected officials, and the community at large. The City of St. Augustine appreciates the tireless efforts of everyone involved, on every level of the process, including Senator Rob Bradley, Jim Young, and Sid Ansbacher, working with the Division of State Lands, North Florida Land Trust and the city. Also, the Friends of Fish Island, the Matanzas Riverkeeper, the St. Augustine City Commission, and the people of St. Augustine who supported this project ultimately saved this land from development.
As a result of this purchase and included in the terms of the sale, the City of St. Augustine will oversee the maintenance and management of the property; however, it will be several months before it opens to the public. As the owner of record for the conservation lands, the state of Florida will execute a lease with the City of St. Augustine. The city will have one year to complete an approved management plan that will outline the future improvements on the property over the next 10 years. The plan will include management and protection of the natural and cultural resources of this passive recreational park, as well as a conceptual site plan depicting site improvements such as a small parking area, walking trails, and interpretive signage.
The development of the management plan will include multiple public meetings for community input. Additionally, as part of preparing the park land for public use, there will be community clean-up days scheduled where the public will be invited to participate in removing any remaining trash and debris, in particular tidal trash washed in from the high tides of the Matanzas River.
In the early part of next year, there will be an on-site community celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the official opening of the park that will include guided walks on site.
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Here are my July 25, 2019 and 2018 blog posts, including September 2018 St. Augustine Record column:
Thursday, July 25, 2019
FISH ISLAND SAVED ----- TODAY WE WON, AGAIN! -- State approves Fish Island purchase. (SAR)
It takes a village!
Thanks to the Florida Governor and Cabinet, who sit as the Board of Directors of the Florida Internal Improvements Trust, and thanks to FIIT's former Executive Director for his wise counsel and sage advice ---the Honorable I. Henry Dean, County Commissioner, who wrote Amendment 1, helping make Florida Forever funds available to buy land and water for conservation, working with two UF professors and Sierra Club.
Thanks to Matanzas Riverkeeper Jen Lomberk, former City Archeologist Carl Halbirt and former St. Augustine Beach Mayor. S. Gary Snodgrass, among 50 witnesses at PZB hearings last year who helped stop D.R. Horton's proposed gated community on this land.
Thanks for support to Mayors Nancy Shaver and Tracy Upchurch, Vice Mayor Leanna Freeman and Commissioners Nancy Sikes-Kline, Roxanne Horvath and John Valdes, and City Manager John Patrick Regan, P.E., the Northeast Florida Land Trust, James McCarthy, James Sutton and the St. Augustine Record for coverage and editorials.
Some 50 people showed up and spoke at the August 7, 2018 PZB or July 3, 2018 hearings, also including: Joe Blewett, Amy Koch, Tim Lyman, Rhonda Lovett, Adam Morley, Gregg Feldman, Steve Parkin, J.R. Valentine, Brandon Murawski, Dr. Virginia Quelch, Dr. Greg Smith, Marsha Chance, Tammy Johns, Brian Paradise, Susan Hill, Jon Hodgin, Sara Bailey, Trey Asner, Richard Hardy, Erin Finney, Patricia Scott, Genarro Schiavelli, Kay Lee, Craig Williams, Karen Carter Lewis, Carl Halbert, Dorothy Barrett, Marcia Daniels, Logan Williams, Karen Lane, Gina Burrell, Carolyn Smith, Eric Smith, George Ellis, Tonya Salyer, Alex Barr, Tim Lyman, Tom Brinton, Christopher Wiggin, Lisa McGreevy, Diane Lewitt, Bob T, Ed Slavin, BJ Kalaidi, Doug O’Conner.
Three cheers for all who spoke, including Sierra Club and Audubon Society witnesses who photographed the active bald eagles’ nest, subject of possible developer perjury that would be prosecuted if we had more ethical officials.
Thanks also to D.R. Horton, Inc., Fish Island Development LLC, Jim Young, and RogersTowers Attorneys at Law lawyer Ellen Avery-Smith for not appealing from PZB’s wise final decision.
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By Sheldon Gardner
Posted at 10:04 AM
Updated at 10:10 AM
St. Augustine Record
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet approved the purchase of Fish Island in St. Augustine for $6.5 million in Florida Forever funds.
The decision came during this morning’s Florida Cabinet meeting.
The land is about 57 acres south of the State Road 312 bridge and on the east side of the Matanzas River. St. Augustine residents have pushed for Fish Island’s preservation, including fighting development of the property by D.R. Horton.
The city of St. Augustine has agreed to manage the property as a passive park.
St. Augustine Vice Mayor Leanna Freeman and Jim McCarthy, president of the North Florida Land Trust, spoke at the Cabinet meeting in support of the purchase. The land trust helped make the purchase happen.
“I believe that when we look back 50 years from now that we will be very excited for the legacy that we leave for generations to come,” Freeman said.
Check back later for more details.
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Here is my column from the St. Augustine Record from Sunday, September 23, 2018:
GUEST COLUMN:
All aboard for Fish Island Park
By Ed Slavin / St. Johns County
Posted Sep 21, 2018 at 10:57 AM
Updated Sep 21, 2018 at 10:57 AM
St. Augustine woke up to wonderful news on Sept. 8, 2018, our 453rd anniversary. No appeal was filed by the developer of the proposed Fish Island gated community.
Thanks to Matanzas Riverkeeper Jen Lomberk and everyone else who organized, attended and spoke at the July 3 and Aug. 7 PZB hearings, and to those who tried to attend and speak. It was standing room only Aug. 7, with dozens waiting/watching TV on the loggia.
Decisions are made by people who show up. Three cheers for all who spoke, including Sierra Club and Audubon Society witnesses who photographed the active bald eagles’ nest, former St. Augustine Beach Mayor S. Gary Snodgrass and former St. Augustine City Archaeologist Carl Halbirt.
Thanks also to D.R. Horton, Inc., Fish Island Development LLC, Jim Young, and RogersTowers Attorneys at Law lawyer Ellen Avery-Smith for not appealing from PZB’s wise final decision.
For doing their jobs independently, based upon the law and facts, without fear or favor of vast corporate power and wealth, thanks and praise to PZB Chair Sarah Ryan and PZB members Grant Misterly, Karen Zander, Susan Agresta and Matthew Shaffer — the five PZB members who unanimously voted down the PUD. Thanks also to PZB member Carl Blow, who bailed on voting/participating after staff stigma/pressures in response to his asking questions of the applicant, in one of those ex parte meetings city officials must stop holding with developers.
Three cheers for PZB members’ independence, despite pestilential pressures from certain city staff and commissioners, some of whom expect PZB members to be louche lapdogs, not watchdogs (as when Commission adopted 4-1 Ordinance 2018-11, allowing “at will” firing of PZB. members).
What’s next? Preserving Fish Island as a public park. The City of St. Augustine Beach bought two parks with available state funds.
Why does it matter? Your future Fish Island Park embraces beautiful, natural waterfront and iconic viewshed; pristine, 75-acre Matanzas River wildlife habitat; homes for our bald eagles and other threatened and endangered species; historic site of Florida’s first citrus agriculture industry (mid-1700s), the burial place of Jesse Fish and his slaves, the site of remains of Fish’s mansion and some eight slave cabins; the last undeveloped, unprotected property bordering our pristine Matanzas River, a prime oyster-growing waterway (and perhaps Florida’s only remaining pristine estuary).
Prediction: Our Fish Island Park will become part of the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore, first proposed by Mayor Walter Fraser in 1939, introduced by then-Sens. Claude Pepper and Charles Andrews and Rep. Joseph Hendricks. Fish Island Park will help protect us from floods amidst ocean level rise, preserve Matanzas River water, wildlife and oyster quality and enhance environmental and historic tourism,
Do it for your grandchildren, and for their grandchildren: Now’s the time for organizing and action to help create Fish Island Park. Help out. Contact commissioners at both St. Augustine and the Beach, your five county commissioners, your state and federal legislators, and candidates — today.
Comments
Edward Adelbert Slavin
Some 50 people showed up and spoke at the August 7, 2018 PZB or July 3, 2018 hearings, also including: Joe Blewett, Amy Koch, Tim Lyman, Rhonda Lovett, Adam Morley, Gregg Feldman, Steve Parkin, J.R. Valentine, Brandon Murawski, Dr. Virginia Quelch, Dr. Greg Smith, Marsha Chance, Tammy Johns, Brian Paradise, Susan Hill, Jon Hodgin, Sara Bailey, Trey Asner, Richard Hardy, Erin Finney, Patricia Scott, Genarro Schiavelli, Kay Lee, Craig Williams, Karen Carter Lewis, Carl Halbert, Dorothy Barrett, Marcia Daniels, Logan Williams, Karen Lane, Gina Burrell, Carolyn Smith, Eric Smith, George Ellis, Tonya Salyer, Alex Barr, Tim Lyman, Tom Brinton, Christopher Wiggin, Lisa McGreevy, Diane Lewitt, Bob Lane, Ed Slavin, BJ Kalaidi, Doug O’Conner.
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