Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter-News Analyst
On June 3, 2013, City of Fernandina Beach senior planner Kelly Gibson briefed the Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board (CRAAB) on the status of plans for the upcoming June 13 workshop with the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC). That workshop, according to CRAAB chair Mike Zaffaroni, will hopefully increase the FBCC’s level of comfort with the CRA and help them better understand what a CRA can accomplish for the city.
The workshop grew out of CRAAB discussions and will follow a formal training session on CRAs to be held in Jacksonville on June 12, 2013. Several CRAAB members will attend the training session, along with at least two city commissioners: Mayor Sarah Pelican and Commissioner Pat Gass. Carol Westmoreland, Executive Director of the Florida Redevelopment Association, has agreed to visit Fernandina Beach after teaching the session in Jacksonville, to facilitate a workshop to help the FBCC and the community better understand how a CRA can benefit the entire city.
The June 13 workshop will begin at 9:00 a.m. and last approximately 3 hours in Commission Chambers at Fernandina Beach City Hall, 204 Ash Street. The public is welcome to attend to hear a presentation from Westmoreland on successful CRAs around the state and to receive a status report from Gibson on the city’s riverfront CRA.
Tentatively scheduled to join the FBCC and the CRAAB in the panel discussion are Steve Rieck, Nassau County Economic Development Executive Director, Fort Myers’ Mayor Randy Henderson and the Fort Myers CRA Director Lee Crabis. Fort Myers has successfully launched and administered multiple CRA districts (http://www.cityftmyers.com/Community-Redevelopment.aspx).
Westmoreland will tour the Fernandina Beach CRA area with Gibson and CRAAB member Scott Moore the evening before the workshop.
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.
June 4, 2013 11:20 a.m.
June 4, 2013 11:15 a.m.