Santa Rosa giant flag proposal hits a potential spring break snag
Update, 3:30 p.m., March 27:
Santa Rosa County officials announced early Wednesday afternoon that a special Tourist Development Council meeting planned for Thursday was canceled because the TDC board could not muster the numbers during the week of local spring break to assemble a quorum.
County Administrator DeVann Cook said the meeting will be rescheduled for a later date.
The meeting, requested by District 3 County Commissioner James Calkins, had been scheduled to discuss Calkins' proposal to erect a 207-foot flag, which would make it the state's tallest. Bids of between $291,000 and just over $300,000 had been considered by the County Commission.
Original story:
If Santa Rosa County Commissioner James Calkins wants to get his 207-foot American flag off the ground he's going to have to work with the county's Tourist Development Council and Clerk of Court's Office to make it happen.
But he may not be able to convince the TDC to support his proposal as soon as he would like. A special meeting of that body he arranged to have called for Thursday might have to be cancelled due to there not being enough members present to hold it.
Calkins has championed the idea of raising the tallest flag in the state, and to do so would require a flagpole extending more than 200 feet in the air. Bert's Barracuda Harley Davidson dealership, in Pinellas Park close to the city of Clearwater, presently boasts the state's highest flag at 200 feet.
Calkins originally went to his fellow commissioners with a proposal to put the 207-foot flag in the parking lot in front of the county's Administrative Building and use bed taxes to pay for it.
During the commission's March 14 regular meeting, County Clerk of Courts Donald Spencer said he did not agree a huge flag in the middle of the Milton business district would draw visitors from out of town and told commissioners he would not sign off on the expenditure of $291,000 to erect it at the administrative center. His signature, along with that of Commission Chairman Sam Parker, is required on every commission expenditure.
"I can be held criminally responsible for the improper spending of county tourist funds, not the board," he told commissioners. "The statutes are very restrictive on what tourist development tax funds can be spent on."
In the same meeting, Calkins met opposition to his plan from commissioners Colten Wright, Ray Eddington and Kerry Smith. The three said they might support the giant flag concept, but called for a better location and more organized planning.
Wright said he would be more supportive of a public, private partnership being established to plan and fund the flag, and after a lengthy discussion the idea of turning to the TDC for logistical, and possibly financial support for the project, was hatched. He offered to put up $1,000 from his business to help jump start fund raising.
Spencer said he would consider revisiting his opposition to signing off on TDC expenditures if a suitable location at which to put the flag can be found.
But in Calkins' apparent rush to get his idea before the TDC, he went to Santa Rosa County Administrator DeVann Cook to set up a special called meeting to be held during the week of spring break.
TDC Chairperson Michelle Guilbeau agreed to arrange the Thursday meeting, but made it clear she would not be available to attend due to plans she had already made. Wright, the County Commission's representative to the tourism board, said his family also had made plans to travel this week.
Wright said he didn't understand the rationale behind calling the meeting. The commission itself had several months ago cancelled scheduled Monday and Thursday commission meetings along with a Thursday rezoning hearing in anticipation of spring break.
"I think it's unreasonable to expect that during spring break the TDC can be expected to convene," Wright said.
The nine member TDC board is presently down to six members. Two seats were already vacant when Gulf Breeze City Councilman Todd Torgersen, the city's TDC representative, vacated his council seat rather than comply with controversial new financial reporting criteria required by the state.
So with Wright out and Guilbeau out, TDC President Julie White was waiting to hear from two members who had also announced potential conflicts with the Thursday meeting time.
Milton City Councilman Jeff Snow, who represents that city on the TDC board, did say he would be present at the meeting. The city has passed a resolution in support of the big flag proposal.
Calkins, however, said he had no plans to attend.
"I'll be interested in seeing what happens," he said. "It's a pretty big project that I think the county will absolutely love when it's complete. I think it will happen, maybe not as quick as we'd like. The other commissioners didn't want it to be rushed."
If the special called TDC meeting is held it will convene at 1 p.m., Thursday at the Board of County Commission chambers in Milton.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Florida's tallest flag proposal hits a spring break snag in Santa Rosa