OKALOOSA SCHOOLS

Choctaw’s Michelle Heck named Secondary Principal of the Year

On Monday night, Michelle Heck, the principal of Choctawhatchee High School, was awarded the 2022 Secondary Principle of the Year. Heck was honored because of her steadfast dedication to both her school and to her community.

According to the Okaloosa Superintendent of Schools, Marcus Chambers, Heck is a principal who cares deeply for her students and her staff.  Chambers also stated that “she is not one who is afraid to make tough decisions.”

In her speech addressing the board, Heck says “it takes a lot of hard work, but it’s the hard work of your team that you depend on, and that means the administration next to you.” 

• Chambers continued by saying that he appreciates her commitment and added, “she is someone who gives her heart in all that she does.” 

“Even though I miss being inside of the classroom, one of the most rewarding things about being an administrator is the fact that we get to support teachers,” said Heck. “To be able to still be with kids day in and day out and then help to grow teachers who are growing our kids, is the very best part of this very hard job, and I’m grateful.”

HEALTH

Monoclonal antibodies site to shutdown in Northwest Florida after FDA revokes emergency use authorization

On Monday evening, the Florida Department of Health announced that all monoclonal antibody state sites will be closed until further notice. 

• This includes the Northwest Fairgrounds location, effective immediately. 

“This evening, without any advanced notice, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revised the Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA) for bamlanivimab/etesevimab and REGEN-COV,” wrote the FDOH. “The revised EUAs do not allow providers to administer these treatments within the United States.”

“Unfortunately, as a result of this abrupt decision made by the federal government, all monoclonal antibody state sites will be closed until further notice.”

• According to the FDOH, individuals with appointments have been directly contacted regarding cancellations. 
• Roughly 2,000 appointments were cancelled last night. 

“Florida disagrees with the decision that blocks access to any available treatments in the absence of clinical evidence,” stated FDOH. “To date, such clinical evidence has not been provided by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”

From the FDA 👇

In a statement on their website, the FDA revised the authorizations for Regeneron and Eli Lilly “to limit their use to only when the patient is likely to have been infected with or exposed to a variant that is susceptible to these treatments.” 

• The FDA went on to say that “data show these treatments are highly unlikely to be active against the omicron variant, which is circulating at a very high frequency throughout the United States.“
• Further, the FDA stated that “based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is estimated to account for more than 99% of cases in the United States as of Jan. 15. Therefore, it’s highly unlikely that COVID-19 patients seeking care in the U.S. at this time are infected with a variant other than omicron, and these treatments are not authorized to be used at this time.”

From Gov. DeSantis 👇

In response to the decision, Governor Ron DeSantis demanded the Biden Administration reverse its decision to revoke emergency use authorization (EUA) for Regeneron and Eli Lilly monoclonal antibody treatments. 

“Without a shred of clinical data to support this action, Biden has forced trained medical professionals to choose between treating their patients or breaking the law,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “This indefensible edict takes treatment out of the hands of medical professionals and will cost some Americans their lives.”

The treatment site at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds was opened back in August 2021, and was administering treatments seven days per week from 9am-5pm.

In December, it was announced that the site would close on December 18th. Representative Patt Maney helped delay the closure of the NWFL site and extended operations through January 14th. 

The Florida Department of Health recommends contacting your health care provider for more information and resources in treatment options.

Resources for emerging treatments can be found at www.HealthierYourFl.com.

HISTORICAL

City of Valparaiso to decide the fate of the historical Senior Citizen Center building

On January 10th, the City of Valparaiso Commission discussed the future of the Senior Center, as it is in need of $18,000-20,000 in repairs.

During the meeting, Mayor Brent Smith started the discussion by stating that the Senior Center has been closed since the pandemic started two years ago, and that when it was open, they would see 2-3 seniors show up each week.

The 1921 building is a historical landmark for the city and was originally a schoolhouse from Eglin Air Force Base. Now over 100 years old, some of the needed repairs include:

• Plumbing
• Electrical
• Wood rot
• New roof

“I don’t think we have enough Senior citizen activity there to spend taxpayer’s money on that when they can go to the Niceville one that offers shuttles,” said Smith.

Smith went on to say that, at one time, there was a discussion about possibly tearing the building down and selling the parcels for residential homes. 

• “That would be a tax base for the city,” said Smith.

“I don’t see the benefit to the city to keep putting money into this building,” added Smith. “It’s in a pretty bad state of affairs right now.”

As for the Niceville Senior Center, the county’s EC Rider transportation shuttle does have a route that would take seniors from Valparaiso to Niceville’s center. However, Niceville’s Senior center is not free to residents not residing within the city limits. 

After additional discussion, the commission voted to hire a structural engineer to go through the building to determine if it is worth saving or not. Next steps will be discussed at the February 14th meeting.

WORKFORCE HOUSING

City of FWB holds workshop on Workforce Housing, and incentive program for builders

In a workshop before Tuesday night’s meeting, the Fort Walton Beach City Council discussed workforce housing as it pertains to the city.

• Back on November 10, 2020, City staff presented an overview of the City’s housing objectives and incentives and workforce/affordable housing programs throughout the state.

Now, city staff has drafted an ordinance, which would amend Chapter 4 of the Land Development Code (LDC), to add Section 4.10 – Workforce Housing.

Section 4.10 would create an optional workforce housing program to incentivize workforce housing through various development incentives.

• The draft ordinance defines workforce housing and income levels and defines the eligibility and requirements to participate in the program.

Proposed incentives include:

• Density bonuses
• Parking reductions
• Accelerated development review
• Potential financial incentives based on funding availability

According to the city, the details contained within the proposed ordinance were developed with input from stakeholders within the development and housing industry.

“We really need to define what workforce housing is,” said City Manager Michael Beedie. “I think we throw around workforce and affordable housing, all in the same breath, but in reality, we’re looking at true workforce housing.”

Beedie told the council that the city is going to have to get involved somehow because they don’t have developers knocking on their door willing to cut profit margins to make housing more affordable. 

The involvement will likely be more on the financial side, whether than means the city buying properties and partnering with developers, or by waiving fees.

“The city is going to eventually have to have skin in the game,” he said. “We’ve actually been meeting with a lot of the stakeholders over the last two years to try to figure out what types of incentives would really spur this type of development.”

Click here to view the proposed DRAFT ordinance. 

Workforce Housing Incentive Fund

Upon City Council adoption of this ordinance, a Workforce Housing Incentive Fund will be created with an initial City contribution of $1,500,000 from General Fund Unrestricted Fund Balance. Replenishment of the Workforce Housing Incentive Fund will require City Council approval during the annual budgeting process.

According to the draft, any workforce housing development meeting the criteria in this section may qualify for funding from the Workforce Housing Incentive Fund. Requests to utilize this Fund shall be brought to City Council for consideration and approval.

• Additionally, funding requests to utilize the Workforce Housing Incentive Fund will be evaluated on a first come, first-serve basis and until the Fund is depleted. 
• City Council has the sole authority to replenish the Fund.

Beedie says that the city has been working with the military through the Tri-County Partnership and stated that workforce housing is one of the top priorities for the military. 

“They’re interested,” he said. “They have the most land in the area so there could be possibilities where they do a 50 or 99 year land lease for a development.”

Bernard Johnson, with Florida Light & Power and also the FWB Housing Authority, told the council that FP&L will continue to waive costs for under grounding utilities that will save the developer quite a bit of money. 

• “We will continue to do that, and it doesn’t look to go away anytime soon,” he said.

The future of workforce housing in FWB

“This isn’t something that the city is going to tackle on its own,” said Beedie. “We’re working with other utility companies and other organizations, all the way from the state to the federal level.”

“It’s going to take a team to really tackle this problem but I think this is a good start.”

Click to read about city-owned property for workforce housing

CONSTRUCTION

Fort Walton Beach approves FDOT maintenance agreement for Brooks Bridge Replacement

On Tuesday night, the Fort Walton Beach City Council unanimously agreed to enter into an Off-System Project Maintenance Agreement with FDOT for the Brooks Bridge Replacement Project.

• FDOT is planning to start construction on the replacement of Brooks Bridge in late 2022.

Due to the new footprint of the bridge and associated approaches, the proposed project will impact numerous rights-of-way and facilities located both in and outside of FDOT right-of-way.

• Some of the roadways included in the Brooks Bridge replacement project lie outside of FDOT rights-of-way, specifically Brooks Street, Florida Blanca Place and Perry Avenue south of U.S. Highway 98.

“The project doesn’t just include the bridge,” said City Manager Michael Beedie. “There’s also some work to be done on our side, underneath the bridge, where FDOT is going to realign Brooks Street. Then, they’re going to do some work on the south side of Perry and Florida Blanca, and those streets are not within the FDOT right-of-way.”

According to Beedie, in order to do the work, FDOT requires an agreement adopted by Resolution that allows them to basically take over ownership and maintenance of the right-of-ways for a temporary period during the project.

• FDOT will do all of the work related to lighting, stormwater, and realignment. 
• Once the project is completed, the right-of-ways will revert back to the city, along with the maintenance responsibility.

“This is the first of many items related to the Brooks Bridge Replacement Project that will be brought to the city council,” said Beedie.

BEACH

3 miles of sand dune fencing on Okaloosa Island is now complete

On January 22nd, 3 miles of sand dune fencing on Okaloosa Island was successfully completed.

• This project began on November 6, 2021, as a partnership between the Okaloosa County Tourism Department and Trees On The Coast.

The project consisted of installing 10,600 feet of sand fencing along 3-miles of Okaloosa Island public beach, from El Matador condos to Beasley Park.

Pre-existing sand fencing allowed the dunes to build, but recent storm damage and erosions has destroyed and covered a large portion of that fencing.

The installation of the dune fences will help enlarge the dunes over time and provide an additional protective barrier for structures on Okaloosa Island, as well as provide a robust ecosystem for the species of animals that depend on the dunes to survive, according to the county.

“This project was faced with a number of challenges over the past couple years from COVID delays, material shortages, seasonal restrictions and more,” said Alex Fogg, Coastal Resource Manager. “In the end, this was a great example of how a group of community volunteers helped make it happen.”

The fencing will assist with dune restoration while mitigating impacts that have been made to nesting sea turtles, piping plovers (👈 that’s a bird btw) and other nesting birds in the area. 

• The dune stabilization provides additional wildlife habitat as well as protection for upland structures during storm events. 

According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, sand fences can also assist dune vegetation and placement of beach compatible sand in rebuilding sand dunes by trapping windblown sand. 

Standard fencing used in dune restoration projects consists of wooden slats wired together with space between the slats as originally designed for snow fences. 

• These fences are recommended to have a 40% open space to 60% closed space ratio for most effective sand trapping. 
• Sand fences are usually 2 to 4 feet high.

“This project could not have been completed without the tireless work from volunteers as they were guided by members of our Coastal Resource team at the Tourist Development Department,” said April Sarver, Public Information Officer for Okaloosa County.

• According to the county, crews worked 11 days between November and January to ensure proper installation of the fences.

“I look forward to monitoring this project to see how much sand accumulates over the coming months,” added Fogg. “In April, we will be looking for volunteers to help plant almost 200,000 plugs of sea oats and other native vegetation throughout the project area to help stabilize the dune. More information will be made available in the coming weeks.”

The project was funded with a matching grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and County bed tax revenue.