Thursday December 13th, 2007 - 10:08PM

Pensacola City Council puts the Will of the Voters first in funding the CMP!

Perhaps Pensacola City Councilman Mike Wiggins summed it up best: "We must never forget that the public overwhelmingly approved this project. We need to obey the will of the voters; we need to proceed."

And so they did. The Pensacola City Council unanimously voted, without so much as a single word of opposition from the members, "That City Council approve in concept the proposed Phase One and Ultimate Development Master Site Plan for the Community Maritime Park submitted by the Community Maritime Park Associates Board of Trustees . . ."

What that means to you - to our community - is that the non-profit Community Maritime Park Associates (non-profit CMPA) can continue moving closer to selecting a Master Developer. The winning candidate firm will take the concepts the area approved and turn them into tangible realities.

Of course, that takes funding. And Council made it clear that it will be tight-fisted and highly focused on seeing results with the money it is investing into the non-profit CMPA.

"Every dollar we spend is important. All tax dollars are taken very seriously," said Jack Nobles.

So after airing out the issues a few days ago when meeting as the Committee of the Whole, a parliamentary protocol prior to full Council consideration, the Council voted, "That City Council approve the revised Community Maritime Park pre-development budget for calendar year 2007 and the proposed pre-development budget for calendar year 2008 . . ."

The park is projected to inject no less than 1,500 new jobs into the market. Extrapolating from Hass Center data, that amounts to more than an extra $39-million dollars pumping blood into the community's vital economic signs.

More important than money to many residents is open access to the waterfront. That access is frequently cited as one of the most important "quality of life" attributes downtown Pensacola has the potential to perpetually preserve for the public.

But for now, Council is funding, "work we are going to have to do anyway," to make the site suitable for any type of use, Mr. Nobles explained.

He cited environmental remediation, environmental preservation surveys, and bulkhead permitting.

Mr. DeSorbo read through a lengthy list of "must do items," then told members, "The money is coming out of the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) funds that are already there. These are not dollars coming out of the General Fund."

With these issues resolved, attention will focus on the Friday, Dec. 14, non-profit CMPA meeting at 1 PM at City Hall.

Friends will have out a report late Friday afternoon to keep you up-to-date on the exciting times coming up as the non-profit CMPA culls through the Master Developer candidates, to find the one that will be Master Developer of The Pensacola Bay Area's Vince J. Whibbs Sr. Community Maritime Park.

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Email Board of Trustees members with your thoughts and ideas!

Here are the email addresses for the Board of Trustees members. Remember, the non-profit Community Maritime Park Associates, Inc. (non-profit CMPA) operates in full compliance with Florida's Government in the Sunshine Act. All email communications are open public records available to anyone who asks for them.

The syntax for the Board members is first name.last name@whibbspark.org

Judge Lacey Collier (Chairman): lacey.collier@whibbspark.org
Mayor John H. Fogg: john.fogg@whibbspark.org
Collier Merrill: collier.merrill@whibbspark.org
Dick Baker: dick.baker@whibbspark.org
Dr. Jimmy Jones: jimmy.jones@whibbspark.org
Eddie Todd: eddie.todd@whibbspark.org
Rev. Hugh King: hugh.king@whibbspark.org
John Merting: john.merting@whibbspark.org
Juanita Scott: juanita.scott@whibbspark.org
Kathlyn White: kathlyn.white@whibbspark.org
Rodney Jackson: rodney.jackson@whibbspark.org
Susan Story: susan.story@whibbspark.org

Acting Executive Director on loan from the City of Pensacola

Ed Spears: espears@ci.pensacola.fl.us

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Email Relay Participants: Please forward this to your email lists, blogs, message boards, and other publications. Thanks to you, more than 500 people not on the regular Friends email list get the latest updates on the Community Maritime Park each week. You are making a difference!

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Questions? Ed Spears has the answers!

"When in doubt, call Ed to find out!"

Here is the contact information for Ed Spears, acting Executive Director of the non-profit CMPA:

Edward E. Spears, Neighborhood & Economic Development Administrator, City of Pensacola
180 Governmental Center, Pensacola, FL
P.O. Box 12910 / Pensacola, Florida 32521
(850) 436-5655 (office) / (850) 595-1143 (fax) / email: espears@ci.pensacola.fl.us

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Don't miss even one exciting second as the CMP goes from vision to reality!

Get your own FREE subscription to the Friends report: http://www.communitymaritimepark.com

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That's it for this week - until then, "Thanks!" from all your friends . . . who are Friends of the Pensacola Bay Area's Vince J. Whibbs Sr. Community Maritime Park!

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