Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
October 5, 2017 4:00 p.m.
It’s taken more than eleven years, but who’s counting? Finally, at the October 3, 2017 Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) meeting, commissioners had an opportunity to review an ordinance dealing with the problem of newsracks in the downtown area. (See previous article “Pimples on the face of paradise” – Centre Street News Rack. /pimples-on-the-face-of-paradise-centre-street-news-racks/ )
Jeff Kurtz, Executive Director of Fernandina Beach Main Street, presented the proposed plan for design of a standardized newsrack and locations throughout the Central Business District.
Commissioners had no comments or questions regarding the future locations or the reduction in the number of boxes from 60 to 36. All of their comments related to the box design.
Commissioner Roy Smith asked Kurtz, “So that’s what we’re proposing [referring to the black box design]? We hoped we’d come up with something a lot better than that. That’s very disappointing. It looks like the existing ones.”
Mayor Robin Lentz said, “I think what they’re trying to do is to achieve consistency, so they are all the same design and all black. Right now some of them are plastic, they get blown around in a bad storm, [some] look like houses, they are blue …”
Kurtz agreed. He added that the News Leader accounts for the preponderance of newsracks downtown and the standardized design proposed is consistent with their existing boxes.
Smith said, “So really what we’re saying is that if they painted their boxes black, most of them would conform.”
Commissioner Tim Poynter said, “If we are going to look at changing, then let’s look for some better design. Eleven years and this is what we’ve come up with?”
Commissioner John Miller took a different tack. Miller said that since the News Leader has the majority of the current boxes, he doubted that they would react well to learning that they would have to replace, as opposed to repaint, their current boxes. He argued that they are a local business and that “newspapers aren’t doing great right now.” He said that having to replace existing boxes with what could be expensive new boxes could create a significant financial burden for the company.
“Just because you don’t like a rectangular box, you’re telling them they have to replace these things which probably aren’t cheap with something else,” Miller said. “I’m hesitant before telling the News Leader that they have to get new boxes because we want them to be round or shaped like pine cones or something. I thought our goal was uniformity. I personally am okay with this. I don’t know what we’re looking for.”
Lentz agreed with Miller. “I’m personally okay with making them black. That could be a really large expense for the News Leader.” Lentz referred back to the recently released National Citizens Survey that indicated that 57 percent of residents get their news from print media.
Miller said, “We are already cutting in half the number of boxes out there. Personally, I think requiring them to buy new ones is a lot to ask for a business.”
City Attorney Tammi Bach, in response to a question from Vice Mayor Len Kreger, stated that News Leader publisher Foy Maloy had not raised objections to the ordinance as presented. He had asked a series of questions with respect to permits and implementation.
Kurtz also reported that the committee studying the problem had examined the possibility of the city’s purchasing and maintaining newsracks that vendors could rent. That idea had been rejected for a variety of reasons, including potential problems relating to maintenance and vandalism. The proposed ordinance, Kurtz said, “would get the city out of the [newsrack] business.”
Poynter said, “All I’m suggesting is that if we are going to look at new locations and trying to clean the place up, I’m a little disappointed that we have nothing else to look at, no costing.” In addressing concerns with the boxes not owned by the News Leader, he added, “Somebody is going to have to buy something. It would be nice to have pricing. What kind of a hardship is this? Is it $30,000—is it $5,000? Somebody is going to have to pay. We want uniformity. It sounds to me like we’re saying we’re going to use what we have, spray paint it, reduce the number and throw out the plastic stuff.”
“It’s a start, Commissioner Poynter, it’s a start,” Mayor Lentz said.
Poynter disagreed, saying, “No, we should be finishing this. We should have more information so we can make a better decision.”
Smith said, “This will strike everyone as strange, but I agree 100 percent with Commissioner Poynter. [audience laughter] Let’s make a decision and get it done. Let’s get something that doesn’t look like a big cardboard thing with a coin receptacle. Those things are hideous.”
Miller retorted, “Those ‘things’ are called newspaper boxes. They keep people from stealing newspapers. I don’t think we should make a business—the oldest newspaper in the state of Florida—go out and buy new ones just because we want something ‘really cool.’ I think it’s the wrong road to go down.”
Eric Bartelt, who serves on the Main Street Design Council, told the FBCC that his group had worked on this matter for a long time. He said that there are not a lot of options. He suggested that the city should not want a high design object, but an object that would blend into the background. The plastic ones are designed to demand attention. “You want something that is going to blend in with the rest of the street furniture,” he said. “I don’t know where you’re going to get other designs; they don’t exist.”
Smith said, “It took a village out there eleven years to come up with a solution that says just use the box we’ve got and paint it black. This should have been finished ten years ago. Those things are hideous. There’s got to be something better than that out there.”
Bartelt reminded commissioners that his committee had met with media representatives who agreed with the proposed solution. “If you go back and tell Foy Maloy [News Leader publisher] that he’s got to replace all those boxes, it’s a cost.”
Senior Planner Kelly Gibson advised that new boxes cost about $600 and that refurbished ones start around $250.
Mayor Lentz asked commissioners to approve the ordinance on first reading to avoid killing the matter once again. She suggested that on second reading answers to commissioners’ questions could be brought back for further discussion and action.
Poynter moved approval, seconded by Kreger. The ordinance was approved on a 4-1 vote on first reading with Smith dissenting.
Bach said that she would provide Maloy with answers to his questions prior to the next reading and also work with staff to find some other options for commissioners to consider.
Poynter said that the FBCC would like information on costs. He said that repainting and powder coating existing boxes also involved costs. “There is going to be a cost associated with this, and we should know what it is,” he said.
Editor’s Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.