WATER SAFETY

Okaloosa Commission sets public hearing for new Waterway Rental Safety Ordinance

On Tuesday morning, the Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners heard a presentation on the draft Waterway Rental Safety Ordinance. 

• Background: Throughout the 2020 Summer, there was a series of on-water accidents involving jet ski and pontoon boat rentals that resulted in severe injuries and at least 1 death.

According to County documents, outside of those formally recorded incidents, there have been many other reports of rentals demonstrating: 

• Excessive speeds in confined areas
• Reckless boating
• Minimal operational experience
• No knowledge of local hazards/zones
• An overall lack of boater courtesy

At the February 2, 2021 Board meeting, the Commissioners created a nine-member committee to assist the County in the creation of an ordinance and other measures related to marine livery safety.

• This includes personal watercraft (jet skis) rentals, but also potentially pontoon boats rentals and other motorized rental vessel/water related safety issues. 
• Members were appointed soon thereafter and work began in April.

According to the County staff, this ordinance was put together over the last 12 months and was modeled after some of the ordinances presented to the Board at the time, along with ordinances from the cities of Destin and Fort Walton Beach.

“Creating the ordinance was a detailed process, encapsulating what we believe is within the County’s authority and represents buy-in from the three industry appointees, resident appointees, and the two appointees from the Cities of Destin and Ft. Walton Beach and the Sheriff’s Office,” said Craig Coffey, Deputy County Administrator. 

In May 2021, the 2020 Boating Accident Statistical Report was released showing that Okaloosa was ranked number 6 in leading accidents. The majority of reported incidents were collisions with other vessels, and the primary cause was the “lack of proper look-out or inattention.”

• Among Okaloosa’s 31 reported boating incidents, 12 involved pontoon boats and 17 involved personal watercrafts. 
• Two incidents involved fatalities and 16 involved accidents with injury.

By the end of July 2021, there were 191 waterway citations issued (non-BUI) by the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Department, of which 74% were from tourism related rentals, according to county documents.

According to Coffey, about 20% of vessels in Okaloosa County are rental vessels. 

“They are about 70% of the BUI infractions and approximately the same number of speeding infractions,” said Coffey.

Highlights of the ordinance include the following:

For the Customer:

• Requires Safety Training
• Implements wrist-band system for Customers that provides operation status.

For the Business:

• Requires Training for the Staff Members
• Identification standards of vehicle
• Requires radio and cell phone communication during all hours of operation
• Inspection of vehicle for safety
• Set minimum insurance provisions
• Requires a response vessel for emergencies and to assist customers
• Require emergency contingency plans

For the Location:

• Requires these businesses to be located in a commercial location
• Restricts new locations to 500ft separation, grandfathers existing locations from separation.
• Sets site standards requiring a bathroom.
• Establishes Parking requirement through a separate ordinance – Similar to Destin and Fort Walton Beach.

John Stephens, of Luther’s Pontoon, Waverunner & Kayak Rentals, pointed out that there are some differences in the county’s draft ordinance, and what Destin and Fort Walton Beach have in place. He said he would like to see the cities adopt some of those differences into their ordinances, specially the wrist band system.

A public hearing will be held at the April 19, 2022 County Commissioner Meeting at 8:30 a.m. or soon thereafter to consider the adoption of the ordinance.

Click here to read the draft ordinance

EXCUSE ME, WHAT?

Man steals vehicle at CEFCO, tries to run over victim, then strikes pole attempting to flee the scene

On April 5, 2022, Fort Walton Beach Police officers were dispatched to a stolen vehicle at, 325 Eglin Parkway NE, the CEFCO service station.

• The suspect entered the parking lot of the CEFCO and forcibly removed the victim from his company vehicle.
• He then attempted to run over the victim who was fleeing on foot. 

During the suspect’s attempt to strike the victim, he struck a parked vehicle and a fuel island, where the victim was attempting to seek shelter. 

The suspect then sped through the parking lot to flee the scene but struck a light pole. 

When officers arrived at the scene, they located the suspect on the property and following a short altercation, with officers, he was taken into custody for Carjacking, Aggravated Assault with intent to commit a felony, Resisting without violence, and Possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.

Click here to watch the video of the incident

BIG EVENT

Construction Junction Kids’ Day is back, featuring BIG trucks, helicopters, K-9 demonstrations and more!

Construction Junction is the Fort Walton Beach Police Department’s largest community event, and it is back on April 16th. 

• This event is a joint event between law enforcement, civilian, and military organizations.

Now in its 20th year, Construction Junction has become a community tradition that continues to grow year after year.

“The last time we held this event, we had about 2,300 people attend,” said Fort Walton Beach Police Officer Kalan Wasson.

The event is free to the public, with hot dogs and hamburgers served all day. But importantly, guests will be able to see:

• Military vehicles
• Police vehicles
• Tow trucks
• Dump tucks
• Helicopters
• K-9 demonstrations
• Fire trucks
• and more

There will be a live DJ and all guests will get a ticket at the door for a free raffle prize. Door prizes are expected to be done every 30 minutes.

Prizes include tickets to

• Wild Willy’s Adventure Zone
• Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park
• “The Track” Amusement Park

Kids are able to play in the “Mountain of Sand” donated by the Construction Materials of NWF, and a “Kids Crew” hands-on building kit is also available to them, donated by The Home Depot.

“This is by far our largest community event,” said Wasson. “You have all of these local businesses stepping up to show support to the community and to give kids a day to come look at cool things that we do for our jobs,” said Wasson. “Come out to the event. I think your kids are gonna love it.”

This free event is happening on April 16th at the NWF Fairgrounds from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.

• Location Address: 1954 Lewis Turner Blvd, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547

FOOD+DRINK

Pounders Hawaiian Grill continues to bring the “Aloha Spirit” to their fast casual Hawaiian restaurant

This local Niceville coverage is made possible thanks to Realtor Lisa A. Norton! Support those who support our local news coverage!

Pounders Hawaiian Grill is a fast-casual restaurant that has become popular, quite quickly, since opening their first location in 2017.

• We had an opportunity to speak with co-owner, Kakela Peters, who gave us an in-depth look into the cuisine, influences, and history of Pounders Hawaiian Grill.

The name starts in a place located on the north shores of Oahu Island of Hawaii, called “Laie Beach Park.” But the locals know it better as, “Pounders.“

It is a beach that Peters’ dad grew up around. It is also a tribute to one of the first restaurants Peters ever worked at, which was located in Utah, called “Pounders Hawaiian Island Grill.”

• The Utah Pounders has since gone out of business.
• The previous owners gave their blessing for him to continue the name in his own business.
• He now has a Crestview and Niceville location. 

Peters has been working in restaurants his entire life and he knew early on that this was something he wanted to do. 

“After working at that first Pounders restaurant, it kind of connected something for me,” he said. “My Hawaiian roots felt more connected. From that day forward I knew one day I was going to do a Hawaiian restaurant.”

But before there was ever a restaurant in Crestview or Niceville, there was a food truck.

Food truck beginnings

In the summer of 2015, Peters says he reached out to multiple banks and private lending options for Pounders, but was denied each time. His grandparents were able to help him out with some of the initial financing for the startup costs, making Pounders Hawaiian Grill Food Truck a reality.

He says that Pounders has always a family business, not only with the help from his grandparents, but especially his wife.

“I tend to get all the publicity and limelight for this restaurant but really, it never would have happened without my wife,” he said. “She was pregnant with our second kid back then and I just remember her mixing macaroni salad in the kitchen. It really does help to create anything this big with a partner. She’s been there since day one and I love her.”

As business grew, a physical location was opened a year later in Crestview, followed by a Niceville location in 2019.

The menu at Pounders is simple, but strong in flavor. 

There are 4 main meats to choose from: 

• Garlic Chicken
• Teriyaki Chicken
• Teriyaki Steak
• Kalua Pig

“We keep our menu super simple, the difference between our chicken and other restaurants, is we do boneless, skinless, chicken thighs,” said Peters. “Thighs can be tricky, but we use a char-broiler, so it’s high heat. If you fillet the piece of chicken out, you can actually melt away a lot of that inner chicken fat, and it won’t be as fatty as your traditional chicken thigh that you would cook on a flat top or a frying pan.”

The Teriyaki sauce used is also unique, as it is made in-house from a soy sauce that was originally made in Hawaii called, Aloha Shoyu. 

Peters says their sauce also takes inspiration from a restaurant he worked at in Utah called “Mo Bettah’s Hawaiian Style Restaurant.”

“I liked some things about their sauce, didn’t like others, so I played around with the recipe, and came up with the one that we’re serving here at the restaurant,” he said.

The pork item on their menu is called “Kalua Pig” and is a traditional Hawaiian dish. Normally it is cooked using an “Imu,” which is an underground oven. And while the Health Department wouldn’t be too happy with an underground oven, Pounders does replicate the traditional cooking conditions inside the kitchen.

“It’s not your traditional Southern-barbecue pulled-pork slathered with barbecue sauce,” he added. “It actually stands on its own really well and pairs nicely with rice, macaroni salad, and steamed cabbage.”

The White Rice, Macaroni Salad, and Leafy Greens/Steamed Vegetables are offered as sides. Also offered are various beverage options including an “Aloha Maid” drinks assortment.

At Pounders, they also take customer service very seriously. With over 1,400+ reviews at the Crestview location and 800+ reviews in Niceville, both of the locations currently hold a 4.8 star rating on Google.

“Every Tuesday we have management meetings and we go over these reviews, we pick through them and we dig into them with our managers and say, “Okay, what could we have done better here?,” explained Peters.

• “Our mission statement is to live and share the Aloha spirit, and then serve excellent Hawaiian-style food.”

“You’ve heard the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I think the Aloha spirit takes it even a step further and it provides a sense of love for others that they weren’t aware existed,” he added. “It’s a very hospitable sense of love and we try to implement that here at the restaurant as best as we can.”

Aside from caring for customers, caring for his employees is just as important. Both restaurants are closed on Sunday and Monday.

“This is a tough industry and it’s never been tougher than these past two-and-a-half years through COVID,” he said. “I don’t want our managers spending 20 hours a week hiring people. We have people that work with us today that worked with us on the food truck 6 years ago. What we’re doing here is more than focusing on profit-loss statements. We are creating something that people can find and be a part of for the rest of their life.”

And if you are looking for a job, Pounders is always hiring.

“If there’s a good application, we’ll make space for that person,” he said. “I want my employees to succeed and will put them in the best position to do that.” 

Pounders Hawaiian Grill currently has two locations in operation.

• Niceville: 142 Palm Blvd N, Niceville, FL 32578
• Crestview: 1338 N Ferdon Blvd, Crestview, FL 32536.

Peters says that he would like to open a third location, but no decision on specifically where has been decided.