Category Archives: City News

Many Questions About a Dune Walkover for Two Hotels

By Mike Lednovich Two hotels are seeking to connect access with each other by constructing [...]

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Code Change Study: Clarity or an End Run on Neighborhood Character?

By Mike Lednovich A parade of speakers voiced its concerns to the Planning Advisory Board [...]

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Oh, by the Way: They Raised Their Salaries 50%

By Mike Lednovich There was no mention that the 2023-2024 Fernandina Beach city budget included [...]

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A Tough Decision Gets a Board of Adjustments Variance

By Mike Phillips It can be tough serving on the Fernandina Board of Adjustments. People [...]

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New Port Customs House Wrinkle: Feds Will Prevail

By Mike Lednovich The latest twist in the ongoing controversy regarding the U.S. Customs and [...]

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Utility Chief Asks That New Study Be Used to Set Fees

By Mike Lednovich City Utilities Director Andre Desilet has sent a letter to city commissioners [...]

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Commentary: Vote AFTER the People Have Spoken

By Mike Lednovich Twice in eight days the Fernandina Beach City Commission told residents your [...]

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Fernandina’s New City Manager: Ty Ross

By Mike Lednovich It took the Fernandina Beach City Commission just over two hours to [...]

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How Citizens Say OPHA Should Sell Lots

After hearing input in August from more than 40 citizens about the Ocean Highway and [...]

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Meet the City Manager Candidates Monday

By Mike Lednovich Citizens can meet and ask questions Monday of the four final candidates [...]

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Commentary: Bean’s Gavel Is Honorary, Not a Weapon

By Mike Lednovich Mayor Bradley Bean last Tuesday night silenced a sitting city commissioner who [...]

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This Iconic Tree at the Downtown Entrance Needs Friends

By Mike Lednovich Representing an alliance of conservation groups, Julie Ferreira with the Nassau County [...]

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Chip Ross Says It’s Density, One Slice at a Time

By Mike Lednovich Three decisions by the City Commission Tuesday night could clear the path [...]

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Sturges Wants Commission to Talk About Density

By Mike Lednovich Vice Mayor David Sturges wants to discuss the definition of density in [...]

Port Commission Seeks Input on Lots to Be Sold

Port commissioners are sponsoring an outdoor listening session for the public at one of the [...]

City Manager List Is on the Table from Citizens Committee

By Mike Lednovich The search for a new Fernandina Beach City Manager that began with [...]

Commentary: A Highly Seasoned Boater’s Advice on Our Marina

By Wally Moran Having stopped in Fernandina Beach by boat more than 50 times myself, [...]

Commentary: Sidewalks vs. Trees Need Not Be a Conflict

This is an open letter from the Nassau County Sierra Executive Board to fellow stakeholders [...]

City Marina Dock Fee Increase Paused Until Next Year

By Mike Lednovich There is no denying the fact that the city marina is a [...]

Commission Decides Against Increasing New Development Fees

By Mike Lednovich The City Commission did an about-face Tuesday on funding improvements to the [...]

Tough Talk from Customs: New Port Facility or Else

By Mike Lednovich The Ocean Highway and Port Authority (OHPA) has so little money available [...]

Port Plans to Add Two Fabric Warehouses

By Mike LednovichThe Port of Fernandina is ready to start building two fabric warehouses on [...]

After a Shambles, Port Votes to Sell Historic District Lots

By Mike Lednovich The Ocean Highway and Port Authority (OHPA) voted 4-1 Wednesday to sell [...]

Nine Manager Candidates Presented to Citizen Committee

By Mike Lednovich Colin Baenziger & Associates has submitted nine city manager candidates to the [...]

City Opens Up Path to Bigger Shopping Centers

By Mike Lednovich By votes of 4-1, the Fernandina Beach City Commission Tuesday paved the [...]

An Update on the City Manager Search Process

Here is the schedule going forward for selecting the new Fernandina Beach city manager: Now [...]

Brett’s Lawyers Up, Threatens to Sue

By Mike LednovichAn attorney for Center Street Restaurant Group, owners of Brett’s Waterway Cafe, is [...]

New Wrinkles in RV Site Plan: Townhouses and City Annexation

By Mike PhillipsThe developer of a proposed RV park on Nassau County land on Sadler [...]

Port Hears First Broker Ideas About Land Sale

By Mike LednovichDuring a special meeting of the Ocean Highway and Port Authority (OHPA) Thursday, [...]

What’s With the Alachua Project? Contractor Shortages

Curious people want to know: What’s going on at the seemingly stalled Alachua rail crossing [...]

By 3-2, City Votes Rollback, Sets Up $2.5 Million in Cuts

By Mike Lednovich Joyce Tuten speaks against rollback After 50 minutes of debate over the [...]

Marina Fuel Leak: 76 Days and Counting

By Mike LednovichA leaking fuel line at the city marina fuel dock has resulted in [...]

Final 55 Manager Candidates Ready for Committee Review

By Mike LednovichThe final tally for candidates for the Fernandina Beach city manager is 55, [...]

Proposed PILOT Deal: A Park for the Debt

By Mike Lednovich Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Chip Ross is pitching a lawsuit settlement with [...]

City Critic Was Getting Free Trash Service for Five Years

By Mike LednovichNews-Leader columnist Steve Nicklas, who repeatedly criticizes city spending as wasteful, has been [...]

Commentary: It Isn’t Just $30,000 — It’s the Principle of the Thing

By Mike PhillipsThe cost of the city commission’s 50% pay raise that’s under discussion is [...]

Amid Big Cuts, a Big Raise for Commissioners?

By Mike LednovichFernandina Beach City Commissioners are cutting funding for sidewalks, beach walkovers and paving [...]

Commission Stands Firm on Cutting Capital Improvements

By Mike LednovichThe needle didn’t budge over the proposed 2023-24 capital improvement budget as the [...]

Manager Applications Up to 42 — 19 with Crucial Experience

By Mike LednovichTen more applications have been received for the vacant Fernandina Beach city manager [...]

Dale Martin the Unanimous First Choice for Flagler Beach Manager

By Mike Lednovich Former Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin was selected Friday as the [...]

Is Port-City Dispute Nearing Resolution? Stay Tuned

By Mike Lednovich Fernandina Beach claims each year that the Ocean Highway and Port Authority [...]

City Manager Search Extended to July 21

By Mike Lednovich Colin Baenziger & Associates, the city’s executive search firm, notified city commissioners [...]

A Flurry of Applicants Ends Manager Search With 32

By Mike Lednovich Five current or former city managers and a city administrator were among [...]

As City Considers Rollback Rate, Here’s What Would Not Happen

By Mike Lednovich At a city commission workshop Wednesday, Interim City Manager Charlie George outlined [...]

What’s With Sturges and Brett’s?

By Mike Lednovich In his first comments since a June inspection report of the supporting [...]

Two More Applicants for City Manager Make Twelve

By Mike Lednovich There are now 12 applicants for the Fernandina Beach city manager position [...]

Former Vice Mayor Joins City Manager Applicants

By Mike Lednovich Former Fernandina Beach Vice Mayor Len Kreger has joined nine other applicants [...]

Commentary: Let’s Face Facts — Brett’s Has To Go

By Mike Phillips So here we go again. Yet another well-respected engineering firm has told [...]

Engineers Say Close and Fix Crumbling Brett’s. City Says Not So Fast

By Mike Lednovich A June inspection of the supporting substructure of Brett’s Waterway Cafe has [...]

Nine City Manager Applications, So Far

By Mike Lednovich There are currently nine applicants for the vacant Fernandina Beach city manager [...]

Big Staff Fuss Over a Few Parking Spots

By Mike Lednovich On paper the plan to add 19 new parking spaces to the [...]

Neighbors File to Stop Tringali Townhouses

Neighbors of the Tringali property surrounded by the Fernandina Beach Historic District have filed a [...]

TDC Taking Another Run at Beach “Harmonization”

By Mike Lednovich The Tourist Development Council’s highly criticized redesign of three city beach parks [...]

Governor’s Budget Chopping Claims Downtown Seawall Request

By Mike Lednovich Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetoed Fernandina Beach’s $1 million funding request to [...]

Disc Golf Proposal Soundly Defeated

By Mike Lednovich The proposal for a disc golf course at Simmons Road Park was [...]

Low-Key Tour of Potential Disc Golf Course Tuesday at 3:00 pm

By Mike Lednovich The City’s Parks and Recreation Department, along with representatives of a disc [...]

Commentary: Think About a Run for Commission — Yes, YOU

By Suanne Thamm Fernandina Beach wants YOU to consider running for city commission in 2024. [...]

Smooth Sailing for City Manager Search Plan

The citizen committee assisting with the Fernandina Beach city manager search got compliments from city [...]

Parking: The Worry Never Seems to End

By Mike PhillipsAh, parking. While northern cities worry about organized shoplifting and children shooting up [...]

City Commission: Building Department Improvements Approved but Public Comments Stay at Meeting End for Non-Agenda Items

By April L. Bogle City Commissioners unanimously approved several high-profile pieces of city business at [...]

Off and Running: The City Manager Search Process

By Mike PhillipsThe citizen committee that is assisting the search for a new city manager [...]

A Challenging Week for Fernandina Beach

By April L. Bogle The Fernandina Beach City Commission considered and ruled on several contentious [...]

Tringali Neighbors File Appeal to ‘Stop the Domino Effect’

Neighbors of the Tringali property in downtown Fernandina Beach and their supporters announced yesterday they [...]

Knocke Group Gets Bingo Banned, but Pride Event Is Still On

By Mike Lednovich Fernandina Beach Pride has quickly pivoted, replacing bingo with various games for [...]

City Commission Votes 4-1 to Approve ‘Tringali’ Townhome Subdivision, Citizens Considering Lawsuit

By April L. Bogle Twelve townhomes are one step closer to being built in a [...]

Knocke Group Trying to Halt Pride Bingo Event

By Mike Lednovich Citizens Defending Freedom is attempting to stop a Drag Queen Bingo event [...]

Search Committee Agrees on One Thing: No Looking Back

By Mike Lednovich The chairman of the Citizens City Manager Search Committee sparked a conversation [...]

Another Major Debate: Townhouses in a Single-Family Neighborhood

By April L. Bogle Tonight’s city commission meeting is likely to include another long debate [...]

No Vote Tuesday on Solar Array Proposal

By Mike Lednovich There will be no vote Tuesday by the city commission to amend [...]

Solar Farm Proposed on Heavily Wooded Airport Land

By Mike Lednovich The leaseholder of Amelia River Golf Course wants to clear-cut 36 acres [...]

Commentary: When is a Public Prayer Out of Line?

By Linda Hart Green “Will you offer a prayer, Reverend?” I have been asked that [...]

Future of Sports Fields Is a Stinker of a Problem

By Mike Lednovich Where will kids play soccer? That question was mulled by the City [...]

Advisory Board Will Tackle The Downtown Parking Issue

By Mike Lednovich The chairman of the Community Redevelopment Area Advisory Board (CRAAB) wants the [...]

Commentary: Mr. Nicklas Has Opinions. Now, Here Are The Facts

By Chip Ross Steve Nicklas writes an opinion column called “Steve’s Marketplace” for the Amelia [...]

Hours of Pride Comments, But No Change

By April L. Bogle Mayor Bradley Bean announced at last night’s City Commission meeting that [...]