July 31, 2018 5:00 p.m.
Editor’s Note: Every year the Fernandina Observer presents questions to candidates in order to help our readers be informed voters. We have disabled the ability to offer comments on this post. Thank you candidates for responding to our request and for running for office.
Aaron Bell
Board of County Commission
District 2
To View Aaron Bell’s Announcement of Candidacy click here.
What is your highest priority for Nassau County?
As a former business owner, my highest priority is making growth pay for itself. We can see the effects of unplanned growth all around us in our congested roads, downed trees and crowded places of business. I want to make sure the cost of development is borne by those who develop or migrate to our area and not on those who currently live here. It is a fine line, because some growth is good; but unplanned growth can turn us into the chaos of Jacksonville, for instance, something that I am personally determined to avoid. The method to accomplish this is simple – we need to increase impact fees significantly to be more in line with those charged in St. Johns County.
How would you work to create resource saving/ sharing opportunities for the county with the school district, ocean and port authority, and cities of Fernandina Beach, Callahan, and Hilliard?
I believe there are resource sharing opportunities in information technology (IT), human resources, legal/contracting services, and grants departments.
For Amelia Island, I think there is an opportunity to build on the incredibly successful partnership between Fernandina and Nassau County for the lifeguards on the beaches. A few years ago, both Fernandina and Nassau County maintained their own lifeguarding departments. Then, Nassau County decided to contract with Fernandina to manage lifeguarding on Nassau County Beaches which resulted in lower costs to taxpayers. In conjunction with input from residents and businesses we can explore other opportunities like this to reduce taxpayer costs.
One thing that is required before we explore more resource sharing opportunities is to improve communication between Nassau County and the other governing bodies in the County. We need to meet quarterly with the School Board and City of Fernandina, and at least annually with the Port Authority, Callahan, and Hilliard. Sharing resources requires a level of trust between the different entities which must be earned.
What are your suggestions for providing levels of public safety and infrastructure to both the east and west side of the county?
We have always been fortunate to live in a safe county, partly because of its pronounced rural character. However, our emergency services are woefully underfunded. Right now, if there are two house fires in Nassau County and someone has a medical emergency, help will need to come from Jacksonville since all our fire and rescue efforts will have been sent to the two house fires. I propose hiring additional fire and rescue personnel, so that there are some additional personnel per shift that can be placed in the busiest stations. This will have the added benefit of reducing overtime costs in this department as these areas can function with just two personnel.
Similar to above, at any one time in Nassau County there are only 9 patrol deputies on duty covering the 82,721 Nassau County residents (that’s one deputy per 9191 residents). I propose supporting the Sheriff by adding additional deputies to allow for additional coverage.
The westside has long felt ignored and overshadowed by the concerns of Amelia Island. An example is the many miles of dirt roads, which wash out during rains and are expensive and time consuming to maintain. I would like to explore a chip seal program to pave these roads at a fraction of the cost of asphalt paving, which will dramatically reduce ongoing maintenance costs for grading these roads. This program will have the added benefit of making these roads much easier to traverse which will improve access and reduce wear and tear on resident’s vehicles along with fire trucks, police cruisers, and school buses.
We have the opportunity to have a road parallel to SR200/A1A to the south which would connect William Burgess to Miner then to Amelia Concourse and then to Clements Road (east of Old Nassauville). This would allow Nassau residents living in this area to shop or get to work without having to get on SR200/A1A. But we need to act quickly to ensure that the right of way can be acquired before any additional development renders this solution impossible. Similar to above, we can connect Page’s Dairy to Blackrock Road.
Nassau County does not have a grants department to fund these infrastructure projects with money from outside the county. A grants department would pay for itself many times over by allowing Nassau to receive its fair share of grant monies that are made available by Federal, State, and private sources. Historically, Nassau County has declined some of the few grants we do receive for paving roads or hiring additional fire/rescue personnel because the county commission refused to come up with the 25% matching funds. We need to make sure that we find the resources to take advantage of each and every grant that is available to us.
How should Nassau County approach providing recreation opportunities and facilities for our citizens?
We need to evaluate and increase our impact fees assessed against new growth to make sure that we are funding our parks and recreation (along with other infrastructure) properly. We also need to evaluate our Comprehensive Plan to ensure that the standards contained within are current and make sense. Current residents should not have to subsidize new residents infrastructure or parks and recreation facilities.
Aaron Bell faces Dawn Hagel for a seat on the Nassau County Board of Commission, District 2 The outcome of this race will be determined on August 28, and all registered voters will be allowed to vote.
Dawn Hagel
Candidate Nassau County Board of Commission, District 2
To view announcement of candidacy click here.
What is your highest priority for Nassau County?
There are many important issues we are currently facing. Development and planning, infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges and MANY drainage issues, parks and recreation, and animal control which needs an expanded facility, keeping our beaches public and our emergency services which are operating at less than ideal levels.
How would you work to create resource saving/sharing opportunities for the county with the Nassau County School District, the Ocean Highway and Port Authority, and the cities of Fernandina Beach, Callahan, and Hilliard?
Recently we spent $47,000 on a county seal. I think we could have used other resources instead of using a company in Jacksonville. My idea would be to utilize our schools, have a contest between those children in digital design for a $2500 scholarship, save money for the county while we build relationships as well as use our resources. This is just an example of the many things we could do.
What are you suggestions for providing adequate levels of public safety and infrastructure to both the East and west side of the county?
The East and West side are the same county right? Should there be a difference in how we provide service to our county? We need to do whatever it takes to keep the citizens of our county safe no matter which side they are on.
How should Nassau County approach providing recreation opportunities and facilities for our citizens?
I think we should work with the people of our community like we have in the past
(i.e., Playscapes & Amelia Island Trail) and get to work towards making our community a great place to LIVE, LEARN and PLAY!
Dawn Hagel faces Aaron Bell for a seat on the Nassau County Board of Commission, District 2 The outcome of this race will be determined on August 28, and all registered voters will be allowed to vote.