Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
August 23, 2019 – 8:15 a.m.

Following the recent National Citizen Survey, a few people questioned the process of the survey. I contacted Ms. Damema Mann, Director of National Engagement of the National Research Center, to solicit her response to some of the local concerns. Please note that most of the information that she provides is included in the Technical Appendices provided (but typically not read) as part of the survey results. 

Hi Dale, Thanks for sharing this article, and the comments from the City Commissioner.

The Technical Appendices report has detailed methodology (including information on the sampling/household selection process) in Appendix C: Detailed Survey Methods. I encourage you to direct folks there, and of course, I’m happy to answer any follow-up/clarification questions anyone may have. It’s always our goal to use best practices in survey research, be transparent with our methods and get you data that is an accurate reflection of your population as a whole. Here’s some information from that section that directly addresses how households are selected (and, yes, all households within Fernandina Beach’s limits were eligible to be selected):

Selecting Survey Recipients

“Sampling” refers to the method by which households were chosen to receive the survey. All households within the City of Fernandina Beach were eligible to participate in the survey. A list of all households within the zip codes serving Fernandina Beach was purchased from Go-Dog Direct based on updated listings from the United States Postal Service. Since some of the zip codes that serve the City of Fernandina Beach households may also serve addresses that lie outside of the community, the exact geographic location of each housing unit was compared to community boundaries using the most current municipal boundary file (updated on a quarterly basis) and addresses located outside of the City of Fernandina Beach boundaries were removed from consideration.

To choose the 2,900 survey recipients, a systematic sampling method was applied to the list of households previously screened for geographic location. Systematic sampling is a procedure whereby a complete list of all possible households is culled, selecting every Nth one, giving each eligible household a known probability of selection, until the appropriate number of households is selected. Multi-family housing units were selected at a higher rate as residents of this type of housing typically respond at lower rates to surveys than do those in single-family housing units. Figure 1 displays a map of the households selected to receive the survey. In general, because of the random sampling techniques used, the displayed sampling density will closely mirror the overall housing unit density (which may be different from the population density). While the theory of probability assumes no bias in selection, there may be some minor variations in practice (meaning, an area with only 15% of the housing units might be selected at an actual rate that is slightly above or below that). An individual within each household was selected using the birthday method. The birthday method selects a person within the household by asking the “person whose birthday has most recently passed” to complete the questionnaire. The underlying assumption in this method is that day of birth has no relationship to the way people respond to surveys. This instruction was contained in the cover letter accompanying the questionnaire. Continue reading →

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
August 22, 2019

At the beginning of the August 20, 2018 Regular Meeting of the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC), both Westrock and the city spent considerable time putting rumors to rest and addressing public concerns over the reported chemical spill into the city’s sanitary sewer system that occurred August 13.  Due to quick action of city Wastewater Treatment employees and supervisors along with full cooperation from Westrock, the problem was quickly identified and remedied.  By Monday morning, city sanitary sewer service had been restored to Westrock and the ph of the city’s wastewater treatment areas had returned to safer levels.

Daniel C. Rowland, General Manger of Westrock’s Fernandina Beach plant, addressed the FBCC to explain what happened, corrective measures taken and preventive actions to guard against future releases.  City Utilities Director John Mandrick lauded Westrock’s full cooperation and explained the redundancies built into the city’s treatment processes that prevented disaster.  Commissioners were effusive in their praise for the efforts of city employees who worked over the weekend to contain the damage and rectify problems

Both Rowland and Mandrick agreed that the problem was caused by an accident.  A faulty gauge caused the release of excessive amounts of alum (ammonium sulfate) into the city’s sanitary sewer line.  Ammonium sulfate is an inorganic salt with many commercial purposes.  Like lime, it lowers alkalinity in soils; but excessive amounts in the wastewater treatment process can interfere with the bacterial process that break down organic waste.  If those bacteria die off as a result, it can take 20 days for new bacteria to activate, meaning that the discharge of safe wastewater into the Amelia River could be compromised.

Mandrick said that city supplies of chemical to counteract the effects of the ammonium sulfate were insufficient to address the problem, but that Westrock had immediately stepped up sending 2,000 pounds of soda ash from their own supplier in Jacksonville that arrived on the same day as the spill.  An additional 7,000 pounds of soda ash was delivered from Atlanta.  “Without that,” Mandrick said, “we would not have been able to neutralize the ammonium sulfate online.”

Mandrick said, “There was no intentional dumping, and we [city and Westrock] worked well together to respond to the accident.”  Mandrick continued, explaining that because the city has a spare treatment train, his team was able to switch the city’s normal waste to the seond train, thereby containing the spill. Continue reading →

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
August 22, 2019 – 10:00 a.m.

As expected, the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) unanimously approved Resolution 2019-135 at its August 20, 2019 Regular Meeting.  This Resolution established the official qualifying dates of July 13, 2020, through July 17, 2020 for the 2020 City of Fernandina Beach General Election, which will be held on November 3, 2020.  

The Qualifying Period is the window of time for candidates to pay fees and file required paperwork and with the City Clerk.  Any potential candidate who has not qualified by either paying a Qualifying Fee of $360 or provided 108 valid petitions prior to noon on Friday, July 3, 2019, is ineligible to seek elected office in the city in 2020.

All candidates must pay the Election Assessment Fee of $120.

The 2020 Election marks the first time that three City Commissioners will be selected by the voters.  The change in terms from three to four years was approved by the voters in 2013, but it was phased in over time.  Commissioners Phil Chapman and Chip Ross are the last two commissioners who were elected to three year terms.  With the change in term length, city commission terms are now in sync with terms of County Commissioners and School Board Members.

Of the three seats that will be contested in 2020, at least two will have no incumbent commissioner.  Mayor-Commissioner John Miller will have completed two 4-year terms and by City Charter may not seek reelection at this time.  Commissioner Phil Chapman has indicated he does not choose to pursue reelection.  Only Commissioner Chip Ross has yet to indicate whether he will or will not seek reelection.  Vice Mayor Len Kreger and Commissioner Mike Lednovich, who were elected to their seats in 2018, will continue to serve and will be eligible to be considered for the position of Mayor on the straw ballot, also conducted at the time of the General Election.

City Attorney Tammi Bach attempted to clear up confusion over how soon candidates may formally declare their intention to run.  The bottom line is that as soon as an individual opens a campaign account, s/he can start collecting petitions, raising money and campaigning.  There is no need to wait until the Qualifying Period.

For complete information on becoming a candidate in the City of Fernandina Beach, visit the City Clerk’s website and follow up with City Clerk Caroline Best at (904) 310-3115 or email [email protected].