RIBBON CUTTING

Niceville’s new Senior Center Recreation Area

The City of Niceville is hosting an outdoor community event on October 12 at 10:00am to celebrate the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the new Recreation Area adjacent to the Niceville Senior Center.  

Serving as the foundation of Niceville’s community of adults over 55, the new Senior Center Recreation Area hopes to deliver on the community’s desire to create an outdoor activity space for senior Adults. Started in November 2018, the City had the vision to establish a lively mixed-use, recreation area at the core of Niceville’s City Complex.  

The new Recreation Area consists of the courtyard, dedicated to Gary Allen Brown in recognition for his 30+ years of community service to the City of Niceville.

• Brown honorably served in the Air Force for 20 years at Eglin Air Force Base and served for 24 consecutive years as a City of Niceville Council Member. He was known as an accomplished community leader with great integrity, passion, and dedication for preserving the heritage of Niceville.

The Recreation area also has:

• Pickleball courts
• A putting green
• Two gazebos
• Shuffleboard courts
• Restroom facilities

The pickleball courts are open to the public outside of the Senior Center hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

“There has been a longstanding vision for the creation of a vibrant Senior Center that can be shared and enjoyed by the senior adults in our community,” said Julie Mooney, Senior Center Manager. “We are so proud to open the Recreation Area where our community can gather and create lasting memories with friends.”

The public is invited to attend the celebration at 201 Campbell Drive. The event will take place on Wednesday, October 12 at 10:00 a.m. 

PUBLIC SAFETY

Okaloosa County Marine Unit deputy named 2022 National Officer of the Year

OCSO Marine Unit Deputy Sheriff Daniel Williams has been named the 2022 National Officer of the Year by the National Association of Safe Boating Law Administrators.

He’s been with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office since April 2017 and was described by the OCSO as someone who consistently displays a strong work ethic and tackles new challenges with positivity and confidence.

• “Deputy Williams is a pro-active law enforcement officer,” says NASBLA. “However, he also demonstrates proper judgment in conducting his daily duties. His diligence in patrolling the waterways of Okaloosa County in 2021 was exemplary.”

According to the OCSO, he self-initiated 1,050 vessel stops and totaled 1,512 calls for service. During this time, Deputy Williams issued 131 citations and made 63 arrests, including 27 boating under the influence (BUI) arrests, the most ever by an OCSO Marine Deputy.

“He focused his efforts towards educating the boating public, only citing 13 percent of the violators he encountered,” continued NASBLA. “Additionally, Deputy Williams also initiated over 60 logged calls for distressed boaters and swimmers.”

As of yesterday, Deputy Williams was on his way to Charlotte County to assist Hurricane Ian victims.

FEEDBACK

Okaloosa County prepares for upcoming ‘Resident Survey’

Okaloosa County officials have announced that they will be conducting a comprehensive quality of life community survey beginning in the month of October.

In the days to come, randomly selected residents living in the unincorporated areas of the county will receive a postcard invitation to complete the survey online. If the survey is not completed online, a reminder will be sent, along with a paper survey.

• Soon after, the county will announce the survey to open for all residents by visiting the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners’ website at myokaloosa.com.

 “We are excited to be conducting this survey,” says Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners Chairman Mel Ponder. “This survey will help Okaloosa County staff and board identify priorities for the community and improve the quality of life in Okaloosa County.”

The survey instrument, known as The National Community Survey™, allows the County to compare results and benchmark residents’ opinions against other communities across the country. The survey will include questions about quality of life, important characteristics of community, services provided by Okaloosa County and priorities for the future.

• The survey will not ask for any personally identifiable information and all responses will remain anonymous.
• The survey will be available online in English and Spanish.

COMING SOON

Twin Cities Hospital breaks ground on $8.5 Million ER expansion

HCA Florida Twin Cities Hospital broke ground Wednesday on an $8.5 million emergency room expansion project. This expansion is set to double the capacity by adding six exam rooms and three fast track rooms.

“Our community is constantly growing, and HCA Florida Twin Cities Hospital is committed to ensuring this space meets those growing needs for our patients,” CEO Todd Jackson said. “This renovation will increase the hospital’s ER capacity, while enabling us to continue delivering the highest quality of care.”

• HCA Florida Twin Cities Hospital is an award-winning, 65-bed hospital with a medical staff of over 150 physicians.
• In July, the facility was named to the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals List, being recognized as one of the top-performing small community hospitals in the U.S.

“The importance of expanding not only the beds, but the staff and the services provided is huge for this community and Okaloosa County,” said Niceville Mayor Daniel Henkel. “Having personally been treated here, you can’t get a finer hospital in terms of services, in terms of the doctors and providers. It’s been a wonderful blessing.”

The project is expected to be completed in December of 2023, and will increase the total ER square footage from nearly 9,000 to more than 12,000.

POLITICS

City Manager Michael Beedie to leave the City of Fort Walton Beach after 17+ years

On Tuesday night, City Manager Michael Beedie officially tendered his resignation to the Fort Walton Beach City Council and Mayor.

• Beedie has served in various roles with the City of Fort Walton Beach. After 17+ years, he has decided to accept another job opportunity in the private sector.

In his letter, Beedie explained that this “unique opportunity” in the private sector would allow him to further advance his career that is in alignment with his professional goals and interests. 

Beedie is required to provide a minimum of 60 days’ advance notice for a voluntary resignation, however, he has requested a shorter notice period of 30 days. According to his letter, he feels that this will be more than enough time to develop a transition plan, to allow City Council to appoint an interim City Manager and to ensure ongoing projects are continuing to move forward. 

• If this shorter notice period is approved by City Council, his last official day as City Manager will be November 4, 2022. 

In his 17+ years at the city, Beedie has seen a lot of change. He first applied for an engineering position at the city in the Public Works Department around 2003-04. He ultimately landed at the city in April 2005 as a Civil Engineer. 

He would then go on to hold the roles of:

• Utilities Operations Manager
• City Engineer
• Engineering Director
• And finally, City Manager

“I never aspired to be a city manager,” said Beedie. “My love was always utilities and that was my background. I was happy doing what I was doing, but when they were looking for somebody to take over, I volunteered.”

And while he never aspired to be city manager, it is what has happened over the past 10 years as City Manager that he’s most proud of when he reflects on his time at the city. 

“When I took over, we were struggling financially,” said Beedie to Get The Coast on Wednesday morning. “We were still operating on a daily basis, but we weren’t replacing vehicles, we weren’t maintaining facilities. With the team I was able to assemble, we’ve replaced vehicles on a regular basis and built new facilities, with City Hall being the last piece of the puzzle.”

Beedie says that what they’ve been able to put into place will put the City of Fort Walton Beach in a good position for next 40-50 years. 

“We’ve enhanced our public safety with the Police and Fire Departments and we are doing some major projects that have been in the works for a long time,” he added. 

These projects include:

• The Landing renovations
• Expanded Preston Hood Sports Complex
• Brooks Bridge Project (FDOT project)
• Downtown Master Plan
• Around The Mound

Because of the forward momentum on all of these initiatives, Beedie says it made his decision to leave his role in government a little easier. 

“Government doesn’t work quickly, but a lot of these projects are to the point now where it’s no turning back,” he said. “They’re either in final design or going out for bids. So I think it was a great time for me to leave if I was going to with where these projects are.”

Circling back to his team, Beedie was quick to point out that nothing that has been accomplished in the city could have been done without the city staff. 

“I’m going to miss the employees the most,” he said. “That was probably the toughest part of the decision was leaving the 300-plus employees that have basically become my extended family. The city is in a great place because of them so all credit should go to the employees.”

As the projects that he’s championed start to be completed over the next 3 to 5 years, he acknowledges that it is bittersweet knowing he won’t be at City Hall to see them through. 

“This is probably one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” he added. “I’ve loved working for the city and it’s been the highlight of my career, by far. I was born and raised in this area. I’ve seen the city in it’s prime back in the 80s, and I’ve seen the city kind of stagnate to development to our east. I think bringing the city back to prominence has been a huge accomplishment for me both professionally and personally.”

In the end, Beedie is confident in the city employees to continue working towards a better Fort Walton Beach. 

“We are on the right track with all of these project, whether it’s recreation, entertainment, or huge infrastructure projects,” he said. “I hope the city is able to keep all of that momentum going and see those projects through.”