NATURAL GAS

92% of WM’s truck fleet is now running on compressed natural gas in Okaloosa County

WM (formerly known as WasteManagement) has been operating in Okaloosa County for over 30 years, providing trash and recycling options to the community.

• As part of their “Think Green, Think Clean” initiative, WM is now running 42 compressed natural gas vehicles that are powered by Okaloosa Gas.

“Approximately 92% of our fleet is presently converted,” said Domenica Farmer, WM Area Vice President. “We have actually shifted from the traditional means of running diesel trucks to a much more sustainable, cutting edge experience by incorporating compressed natural gas.”

WM has made a multi-million dollar investment with the infrastructure in Okaloosa. 

According to Farmer, the most significant changes moving from a diesel operation to compressed natural gas is that the trucks are quieter and produce less emissions into the atmosphere. 

• They also reduced the use of diesel by 8,000 gallons annually. 

The garbage that is collected in Okaloosa county is taken to a WM landfill in Campbellton, Florida, approximately 90 miles away. 

Landfills naturally produce methane gas. However, WM captures that methane gas, compresses it and then puts it back into the grid. Farmer says that this powers 5,000 homes in Jackson County, Florida.

Single-stream recycling

Single-stream recycling is a method where residents and commercial businesses can place numerous types of recyclables into one bin, with no need for sorting. This includes:

• Plastics
• Cardboard boxes
• Aluminum cans
• Metal
• Paper

WM collects approximately 1,200 tons per month of single-stream recycling. 

“That is 1,200 tons per month that is no longer sent to a landfill, but is actually used to create other products,” said Farmer. “WM has a commitment to our environment, and part of that commitment is to help educate our public in terms of what can be recycled.”

Farmer says the goal with education is to increase diversion from the present 30% diversion to 50% over the next couple of years, in order for WM to ultimately get to a net zero landfill.

“This facility is a great example of our commitment to running compressed natural gas in our community,” she said. “We continue to expand that commitment to other communities in order for us to reduce emissions and partner with our communities for a safer, cleaner environment.”

Click here to watch our interview at the facility

GETTIN’ AROUND

Electric scooters in Fort Walton Beach getting an upgrade

Back in September 2021, the Fort Walton Beach City Council unanimously agreed to permanently allow motorized e-scooters, and other micro-mobility devices, to operate within the City of Fort Walton Beach.

• Bird Scooters is currently the only scooter company operating in the city.
• During the pilot program, the city only received one complaint about the scooters. The complaint was about a scooter that was parked in front of a residential property.
• Since then, zero safety incidents.

Now, roughly 6 months later, the Bird scooters can be seen all over the city with residents using them to get to-and-from work or travel around town during heavy traffic. In fact, Bird sees approximately 50 rides per day in Fort Walton Beach.

With all the use and popularity, Bird has decided to upgrade to a newer model.

• 70 new scooters were delivered on Monday, April 19th, and will be dispersed throughout the city beginning today, April 21st.

“The newer models are the Bird3 and are slightly larger, more powerful, and have a longer battery life,” said John Reece, Fleet Manager in Fort Walton Beach.

Reece says that, initially, most ride were between neighborhoods and Downtown Fort Walton Beach. However, in the last two months, there has been a sharp increase (almost 40%) in rides from neighborhoods to business fronts and then return trips from those same locations. 

“I was probably the fiercest opponent of this pilot program when it first launched,” said FWB Council-member Nic Allegretto. “But at the same time, the majority of people that I’ve seen riding these are not riding them for pleasure. I see a lot of people going to work on these things. If that’s an opportunity to offer one of our residents the ability to get back and fourth to a job, that’s a big deal.”

As for future growth, Reece says that by the end of 2022 he expects the fleet size to increase from 70 to over 100 scooters.

Click here for more details on the scooters

WATERWAYS

Okaloosa adopts new Waterway Rental Safety Ordinance

On Tuesday morning, the Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners approved a new 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.

“This really came from a grassroots movement by locals and citizens that came to the Board two years,” said Commissioner Trey Goodwin. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Goodwin says there were many difficult issues to tackle in getting this ordinance passed. 

“You’ve got to navigate a whole web of state preemption and, at the same time, you’ve got to respect businesses that have invested in our community,” he said. “You’re trying to strike a balance between all these different interests.”

And while Goodwin believes this is a good start, he says there is still more work to be done on the matter. 

Commissioner Paul Mixon voiced his concern over the enforcement aspect of the new ordinance, both on land and in the water.

“This is going to cost money,” he said. “It doesn’t end with us creating an ordinance, it really just begins. So how much is it going to cost and how are we going to do it?”

According to Mixon, county staff is going to bring back ideas to the Commissioners as to how to make the enforcement aspect work. 

“I have some meetings set up with the Sheriff and some of his staff to see how we can partner together and how that can work into our Growth Management Department,” added Mixon.

• Moving forward, the county would like to work with each city to create a unified ordinance across all municipalities.

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 Craig Coffey, Deputy County Administrator, 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. No PO Boxes.
• Restricts new locations to 500ft separation, grandfathers existing locations from separation.
• Sets site standards requiring an ADA bathroom.
• Establishes Parking requirement through a separate ordinance – Similar to Destin and Fort Walton Beach.

EARTH DAY

Volunteers needed for this weekend’s Earth Day Beach Cleanups

Celebrate Earth Day by participating in The Earth Day Beach Cleanup on Saturday, April 23rd at 6 host locations along the Emerald Coast. 

The Earth Day Cleanup event starts at 8:00 am and runs until 10:00 am on Saturday, April 23rd. Free event t-shirts will be available at each host location for the Earth Day Cleanup event on a first come, first serve basis. 

• Enjoy coastal cleanup activities and fun, including a prize for the most cigarette butts collected! 

Following the cleanup, a limited complimentary pancake breakfast will be available at select host locations. Pre-registered cleanup participants will receive a complimentary pancake breakfast at select host locations.

Register to reserve your t-shirt and breakfast (at select locations) by clicking here.

What do you need to bring?

To help conserve and reduce additional waste, participants are encouraged to B.Y.O.B (Bring Your Own Bucket), & cleanup equipment:

• Bucket or mesh bag for debris
• Reusable hand gloves or garden gloves (or trash pickers!)
• Reusable water bottle
• Don’t forget to protect yourself with sunscreen and sunglasses!

Cleanup locations:

• The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island (1450 Miracle Strip Pkwy SE, Fort Walton Beach)
• The Crab Trap, Destin (3500 Scenic Hwy 98 E, Destin)
• Henderson Beach State Park (17000 Emerald Coast Pkwy, Destin)
• Norriego Point (1 Gulf Shore Dr, Destin) – this is a beach cleanup as well as a paddleboard (water) cleanup
• Joe’s Bayou/Mattie Kelly Park (825 Beach Dr, Destin)
• Surf Hut, Miramar Beach (551 Scenic Gulf Dr, Destin)

COMING SOON

Destin approves new two-story parking garage for McGuire’s

On Monday, the Destin City Council approved a new two-story parking garage for McGuire’s in Destin.

The project is located at 90 Sibert Avenue, with the property totaling approximately 0.43 acres. The applicant, Gregory Uzdevenes, on behalf of William N. Martin, is proposing to construct a two-story parking structure to serve the McGuire’s restaurant, as well as the Harborview Shopping Center.

• The parking structure will allow for 58 parking spaces and 9 bicycle spaces.
• This will bring the total parking for the area to 241 spaces.

Additionally, the parking garage will have one entrance/exit that will be on the Sibert Avenue side. The original plan did have two entrances/exits but it was ultimately decided that more parking spaces could be added with one.

“I’ve been involved with the McGuire’s both here and in Pensacola for 25 years,” said Gregory Uzdevenes. “This piece of property is pretty much useless as there is a 25 foot embankment coming off the back of the existing shopping center.”

• That area has been primarily used for employee parking.

“They’re [McGuire’s] going to spend a fortune on this and it is going to improve the parking,” added Uzdevenes. “It’s going to look fantastic.”

The parking structure will not be general public parking, but is intended to serve patrons of McGuire’s restaurant, as well as the Harborview Shopping Center.