Fiscal Year 2010/2011 Annual Report to the Citizens of Santa Rosa County

Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners Annual Report to the Citizens of Santa Rosa County Fiscal Year 2010/2011

R e f l e c t i o n s

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

2 Welcome

3 County Leadership

5 County Administrator & County Attorney

6 Organizational Chart

7 County Profile 11 Figures 13 County Engineer Engineering Department, Environmental Division,

and Navarre Beach 19 Human Resources Personnel, Risk Management, Grants Department,

and Library System 23 Office of Management & Budget Administrative Services, Budget Office, Procurement

Department, and Computer/GIS Department 27 Public Services Animal Services, Emergency Management,

Development Services, Housing, Transportation,

Long Range Planning, and Veterans Services 37 Public Works Building Maintenance, Road & Bridge, and Parks Department

43 Public Information 44 Veterans Memorial

45 County Extension

46 Maps

Cover photo: Pond Creek by Darliene Stanhope, Planning & Zoning Inside cover & back cover: Fun by the shore by Natasha Godwin, Library Services

In order to offer this service at the lowest cost possible, this publication was created in-house and is not professionally printed, but is available on the county’s website at www.santarosa.fl.gov. The public can view current and past issues of county publications at www.santarosa.fl.gov/news and sign up to receive the publication of their choice automatically via e-mail by clicking the subscribe button found on www.santarosa.fl.gov. To help ensure access to the county's informational pieces, citizens without internet access are encouraged to use the public computer resources available at one of the five county libraries or call (850) 983-1877 to receive a copy by mail.

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We l c o m e As we reflect on the past year with its many challenges and accomplishments, we look to the future with great optimism.

All of your board of county commission employees, the constitutional officers and their employees have and will continue to provide the best services possible with fewer employees than in the past and at the lowest cost possible to the citizens of Santa Rosa County. Santa Rosa County is living within its means. We have a balanced budget without any increase in taxes. According to an October 2011 Florida TaxWatch Report, “How Florida Counties Compare,� Santa Rosa County ranks 61st out of 67 Florida counties in terms of total county and city taxes per capita, with 67 being the least taxed in the state.

Everyone must continue to work together to meet the challenges ahead. Hopefully, the economy will return to some normalcy soon, which would make life better for all of us. We are blessed to live in a county that has such great potential to grow its economy and provide jobs for its residents.

We are reevaluating the way we do economic development in our county. Our goal is to make economic development in Santa Rosa County the best in the state of Florida. In doing so, we must also partner with our neighboring counties to strengthen our endeavors.

Our county is in dire need of a new judicial complex as the present one is outdated and insufficient. Our employees and the public deserve a decent place to conduct the legal issues of our county. With continued planning, all of us can figure out a way to build and pay for this much needed facility.

2010-2011 Board of County Commissioners Bob Cole, Don Salter, Jim Williamson, Jim Melvin, and Lane Lynchard Santa Rosa County has been working on many transportation projects this past year and will continue to plan other projects to meet our future transportation needs.

As a life long resident of Santa Rosa County, I have seen many changes. I still think Santa Rosa County is the best place I know of to live and raise a family. I am grateful to all of you for giving me the opportunity to serve as one of your five commissioners.

Wishing you all a blessed 2012.

Jim Williamson Chair & District 1 Commissioner

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County Leadership

We l c o m e

The board of county commissioners consists of five constitutional officers or five elected commissioners, who are elected at-large to serve and represent one of five districts and the county as a whole, as the governing body for Santa Rosa County. The Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners serves as the legislative and policy setting body of Santa Rosa County as established under Section 125 of the Florida Statutes. The board duties include, but are not limited to: • Adopting, reviewing, and adjusting the annual county budget (see page 13) and authorizing expenditures.

• Setting and authorizing the levy and collection of county-wide property taxes, with the exception of school board, water and fire district millage rates (see page 15 for millage rate history).

• Establishing policies and procedures for county departments to meet county goals.

• Appointing the county administrator (see page 7), county attorney, and county representatives to other governmental boards or committees.

• Ratifying, modifying or denying the actions of commissions and boards which are advisory to the county board.

• Adopting and ratifying ordinances and resolutions as needed for the enforcement of county- wide actions.

• Reviewing the effectiveness of county services and programs as performed by the departments under the board of county commissioners. Departments primarily provide development, building, emergency, environmental, road, and park functions or services.

• Communicating to state and federal government agencies and officials the needs and concerns of Santa Rosa County residents and our community.

• Representing the county on administrative/advisory boards, commissions, and associations which provide direct and indirect county services, on a local, regional and state level.

• Other duties and responsibilities that may be enacted by the federal government, state legislature and governor.

The commission meets in regular session to vote on agenda items beginning at 9 a.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. Discussion of agenda items takes place during committee meetings on the Monday prior to the second and fourth Thursday of each month. Both meetings are held in the commissioners’ board room in the administrative center located at 6495 Caroline Street. Meetings can also be viewed on the Web live at www.santarosa.fl.gov/bocc/meetings.html, or by watching the meeting in its entirety posted the afternoon of the meeting at the same link. Special meetings and workshops are advertised and open to the public.

How to contact your county commissioners: (850) 983-1877 Office, (850)983-1856 Fax 6495 Caroline Street, Suite M Milton, FL 32570

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Chair & District 1 Commissioner Jim Williamson comm-williamson@ santarosa.fl.gov

Vice-Chair & District 2 Commissioner Bob Cole comm-cole@ santarosa.fl.gov

District 3 Commissioner Don Salter comm-salter@ santarosa.fl.gov

District 4 Commissioner Jim Melvin comm-melvin@ santarosa.fl.gov

District 5 Commissioner Lane Lynchard comm-lynchard@ santarosa.fl.gov

NEW COMMISSION DISTRICT LINES Reapportionment or "redistricting" is the process of redrawing the electoral district lines and boundaries for all levels of government including the U.S. House of Representatives, state legislatures and many local government organizations like county commissions, school boards, and city councils in order to equalize district populations and help ensure fair representation. The Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners is required by law to adjust the boundaries of the county commission districts into five commission districts as equal in population as possible following each decennial federal census.

In 2001, the county commission districts were redrawn to include approximately 23,000 people in each of the five commission districts. Since the 2000 census, the population in Santa Rosa County increased 28.6 percent to an estimated 151,372. In 2000-2010 commission district 4 experienced the greatest population growth, with the other districts of the county generally growing proportionately.

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The process of redistricting included a series of public review periods and meetings where citizens gave input and five options for new district lines were developed. After a final public hearing on October 27, commissioners voted to adopt the new commission districts boundaries.

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1 2010-2020 Commission Districts

4 4 5

2000-2010 Commission Districts

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It is important to note that in Santa Rosa County, the commission is elected "at large," meaning all registered voters in the county are able to cast a vote for each commission seat on the ballot. The commissioners represent one of the five districts and the county as a whole. The redistricting does not affect the "working districts" of the county, with each district contains an equal number of road miles.

County Administrator On behalf of the Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners, it is my honor as the county administrator to present the Fiscal Year 2010/2011 Santa Rosa County Annual Report, which is designed to encapsulate the accomplishments and achievements of the offices, functions, and departments responsible to the board of county commissioners.

This year’s annual report is entitled "Reflections" and focuses on the natural assets or resources of Santa Rosa County. The most obvious asset or resource, natural or otherwise is our people, while the second most obvious asset or resource is our beautiful environment and quality of life.

The on-going economic downturn and resulting reduction in revenue again challenged the

resourcefulness and capacity of both senior staff and our workforce. Again this year, as part of the annual budget process, this office, along with senior management staff conducted a department by department review to ensure our workforce was properly aligned to the workload.

The result was a reduction in a number of budgeted positions.

The challenge will be to continue to ensure that service levels are minimally impacted by funding reductions while providing exemplary service with fewer resources.

This year there was no dominant event like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. However, this was the year that Santa Rosa County joined with every other city, county, and state government in reapportioning its elected representatives to align with the recently completed 2010

U.S. Census. The board engaged the public in an interactive exercise to reapportion its five commission districts in equal population units consistent with state and federal statutes. The most significant change of this reapportionment or redistricting was the moving of the district 4 boundary southward to the East River to accommodate the shifts in the population primarily in the Navarre area.

Like our natural resources, our human resources proved to be resilient and resourceful and our most important asset. I remain extremely proud of our employees and their dedication to providing the best service to Santa Rosa County residents.

Hunter Walker County Administrator

C ounty Attorney

Veterans Memorial Plaza courtesy of Bill Gamblin/the Santa Rosa Press Gazette

The county attorney is appointed by the Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners and serves as its in-house chief legal counsel to the board in all legal matters. The attorney provides legal advice and representation to the board of commissioners, the county administrator, all county departments, and the boards and committees organized under the board of commissioners on matters related to their official responsibilities. Angela Jones has served as the Santa Rosa County Attorney since 2010.

The county attorney represents the commission in litigating claims filed against the county in state and federal court including eminent domain, personal injury, and breach of contract cases, but does not handle any criminal matters. Duties also include attending mediation and arbitration sessions, drafting ordinances, resolutions, contracts, interlocal government agreements and other legal documents, handling mortgage foreclosures and bankruptcy petitions and performing legal research.

The county attorney is not authorized to provide legal advice to private citizens in her capacity as county attorney.

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R E S I D E N T S O F S A N TA R O S A C O U N T Y Clerk of the Court

Property Appraiser

Board of County Commissioners

Sheriff

County Administrator Hunter Walker (850) 983-1855 hunterw@santarosa.fl.gov

Public Information Officer Joy Tsubooka (850) 983-5254 joyt@santarosa.fl.gov County Engineer Roger Blaylock, PE (850) 981-7100 rogerb@ santarosa.fl.gov

Human Resources DeVann Cook (850) 983-1863 devannc@ santarosa.fl.gov

Office of Management & Budget Joel Haniford (850) 983-1843 joelh@santarosa.fl.gov

Asst. County Engineer Michael Schmidt, PE (850) 981-7100 michaels@ santarosa.fl.gov

Grants Sheila Harris (850) 983-1848 sheilah@ santarosa.fl.gov

Administrative Services Tammy Simmons (850) 983-1940 tammys@ santarosa.fl.gov

Environmental Jerrel Anderson, PE (850) 981-7135 jerrela@ santarosa.fl.gov

Library Services Gwen Wilson (850) 981-7323 gwenw@ santarosa.fl.gov

Navarre Beach Terry Wallace (850) 963-6110 terryw@ santarosa.fl.gov

Personnel Cindy Williams (850) 983-1889 cindyw@ santarosa.fl.gov

Computer/GIS Aleta Floyd (850) 983-1841 aletaf@ santarosa.fl.gov

Risk Management Melissa Lloyd (850) 983-1863 melissal@ santarosa.fl.gov

Procurement Orrin Smith (850) 983-1870 orrins@ santarosa.fl.gov

Peter Prince Airport Industrial Park Whiting Aviation Park

Budget Office Joel Haniford (850) 983-1843 joelh@santarosa.fl.gov

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Supervisor of Elections

Tax Collector

County Attorney Angela Jones (850) 983-1857 angiej@santarosa.fl.gov

Public Services Director Tony Gomillion (850) 983-7000 tonyg@santarosa.fl.gov

Public Works Director Avis Whitfield (850) 626-0191 avisw@santarosa.fl.gov

Animal Services Dominic Persichini (850) 983-4680 dominicp@ santarosa.fl.gov

Assistant Director Stephen Furman, PE (850) 626-0191 stephenf@ santarosa.fl.gov

Emergency Management Sheryl Bracewell (850) 983-5360 sherylb@ santarosa.fl.gov Inspections & Compliance Tim Tolbert (850) 983-7000 timt@santarosa.fl.gov Planning & Zoning Beckie Cato (850) 983-7000 beckiec@ santarosa.fl.gov Veterans Services Karen Haworth (850) 981-7155 karenh@ santarosa.fl.gov

Road Department Jimmy White (850) 626-0191 jimmyw@ santarosa.fl.gov

Building Maintenance Thad Allen (850) 626-1569 thada@santarosa.fl.gov Parks Department Doyle Godwin (850) 983-1940 parks@ santarosa.fl.gov

County Profile Population 2010 Estimates Total Population 151,372 % Change, 2000 to 2010 28.6% Population under 5 years old 6.1% Population under 18 years old 23.9% Population 65 years old + 12.9% Source: US Census Bureau

Registered Voters Republican 64,194 Democratic 28,285 Non-Partisan 17,287 Other 3,823

As of November 11, 2011

Income SRC Median Household Income $53,419 FL Median Household Income $44,755 SRC Population Below Poverty Level 11.4% FL Population Below Poverty Level 15.0% Source: US Census Bureau 2009 estimates

Geography Total area of 1,174 square miles 1,017 square miles of land 157 square miles of water 88.5 miles of coast line County Roads Dirt roads 118.25 miles Paved roads 1,446.57 miles Total miles 1,564.82

Property Value (in billions) 2010 2011 Value of Real Property $12.20 $11.26 Residential $7.30 $7.36 Vacant Land $.61 $.55 Commercial $.92 $.91

Labor Force August 2011, Not Seasonally Adjusted Civilian Labor Force 72,616 Number Employed 65,347 Number in County Unemployed 7,269 Unemployment Rate 10.0% Source: Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, Labor Market Statistics Center, Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Parcels

2010 2011 Total Parcel Count 103,130 103,380 Homesteaded parcels 41,843 41,812 Senior Exemptions 2,533 2,521

Agricultural (2010) Total planted crops 75,016 acres County gross value $57,775,109* Top crops Cotton & Peanuts Livestock gross value $6,516,690

Top 10 Major Private Employers

# Employed Wal-Mart Stores (3) 1,225 Baptist Healthcare Systems 634 Santa Rosa Medical Center 498 Mediacom 300 Lowe's (2)

270 Tata Business Support Services 217 Lifeguard Ambulance Service 175 Andrews Institute 150 AppRiver, LLC 145 The Studer Group

142 Clearwire, LLC

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*Includes Green Industry est. $13,000,000 Green industry consists of approximately 35 nurseries that produce trees, shrubs, sod and flowering plants; retail outlets that sell these products, over 200 commercial landscape installation/ maintenance services, and horticultural operations including truck crops.

Source: as of July 2011, Team Santa Rosa Economic Development Council, Inc.

Public Organizations

# Employed State & Local Government 5,788 SRC School District 2,600 Federal Military 1,367 Federal Civilian Government 711

Photos top to bottom: Pumpkin farm by Dan Mullins Historic Bagdad UMC by Cheryl Powell Navarre Beach Pier by Chris Verlinde

Source: as of July 2011, Team Santa Rosa Economic Development Council, Inc. 7

Estimated Construction Dollars Spent in SRC

Construction by Impact Area

$146,140,680

150

AREA 1 New Homes- 31 Average Home Construction Costs- $112,478 Remodel/Additions Single Family- 35 New Commercial Buildings- 3 Commercial Remodels/Additions -7

120 In Millions

90 60 30

$10,598,419 High

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2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2006

2005

2007

2008

Low 2010

2009

AREA 2 New Homes- 272 Average Home Construction Costs- $117,733 Remodel/Additions Single Family- 666 New Commercial Buildings- 24 Commercial Remodels/Additions -48

Fiscal Year

Graph above represents structure costs only for both residential and commercial projects.

Both graphs represent calendar year figures. The spike in 2009 construction dollars is a result of two major projects, the Blackwater Correctional Facility and the H.T. Hackney distribution center.

Building Permit History 3500

3,298

AREA 3 New Homes- 255 Average Home Construction Costs- $156,019 Remodel/Additions Single Family- 222 New Commercial Buildings- 10 Commercial Remodels/Additions -121

All Residential Permits

Number of Permits

3000 2,509

2500 2000 1500

Single Family Permits

1,869

1,270 869

1000 500 0

All Commercial Permits 263 2000

Eglin AFB

727

175 2001

2002

2003

2004

66 2005

2006

2007

2008

8

2009

2010

Transportation impact fees were suspended for 2011 for the third consecutive year. Any new construction, residential or commercial, which would normally be assessed a transportation impact fee during the building permit process in 2009, 2010 or 2011 had impact fees waived. Those paying installments were required to make payments for 2010 and 2011. Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners originally voted to suspend the collection of transportation impact fees for the 2009 calendar year as an incentive to stimulate new local construction projects.

County Profile Cost Per Citizen

Santa Rosa County has one of the lowest per capita costs per citizen, or the average cost per person residents pay for county services. The per capita rate (county taxes only) includes the operating millage and any special county taxes for certain districts, MSTU, or debt service levies. The chart below shows Santa Rosa County rankings for 2008 and 2010 according to data available from the Florida Office of Economic & Demographic Research.

County

Population Estimates 2008

Population Estimates 2010

Citrus Escambia Indian River Martin Okaloosa Santa Rosa

142,043 313,480 141,667 143,868 197,597 144,136

142,202 311,184 142,009 143,777 195,346 146,162

Operating Millage Rate 2008 5.7299 6.9755 3.0689 4.897 3.2995 6.0953

Operating Millage Rate 2010 5.7299 6.9755 3.0892 5.5250 3.2899 6.0953

Total Taxes Levied per Capita 2008 $497 $355 $688 $1,037 $298 $367

Total Taxes Levied per Capita 2010 $436 $328 $548 $957 $250 $316

% of Population in Unincorporated Areas 92% 82% 65% 86% 59% 90%

Santa Rosa County provides services at the lowest cost compared to four of five neighboring and similar-sized counties. Okaloosa County does have a lower per capita rate, but it also has only 59 percent of its population living in unincorporated areas, where Santa Rosa has 90 percent. People living in incorporated areas, or towns and cities, generally pay additional town or city taxes which are not reflected in this table.

In the Florida Tax Watch Report "How Florida Counties Compare," when including city and town tax revenues, residents in Santa Rosa County ranks 61 out of 67 Florida counties in terms of total county and city taxes per capita, with 67 being the least taxed in the state. The state average, $1,014 per capita, is more than double Santa Rosa’s $407 per capita tax burden.

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Monroe Walton Franklin Miami-Dade Martin Palm Beach Gulf Collier Broward Charlotte Orange Hillsborough Lee Osceola

$2,154 $1,527 $1,445 $1,425 $1,288 $1,254 $1,243 $1,223 $1,174 $1,153 $1,103 $1,062 $1,061 $1,037

15. Pinellas 16. Indian River 17. Nassau

$1,031 $1,029 $1,029

State Average $1,014 18.

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Duval Sarasota Volusia Seminole Flagler Manatee St. Lucie Alachua

$1,007 $965 $944 $891 $882 $868 $868 $856

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St. Johns Escambia Bay Polk Leon Brevard Taylor Putnam Hardee Lake Hendry Okeechobee Highlands Glades 9

$853 $802 $801 $767 $752 $738 $736 $722 $702 $702 $693 $688 $685 $682

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Levy Okaloosa Hamilton Jefferson Dixie Citrus Washington Madison DeSoto Marion Clay Sumter Columbia Suwannee

$646 $638 $635 $611 $590 $584 $577 $567 $562 $541 $541 $536 $523 $520

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Jackson Gilchrist Pasco Gadsden Hernando Wakulla Bradford Santa Rosa Baker Calhoun Liberty Lafayette Holmes Union

$489 $477 $476 $474 $465 $464 $443 $407 $377 $344 $316 $301 $260 $256

Staffing Levels

Number of Employees

500 481

400 361

300

379

2000/01 2001/02

385

395

2002/03 2003/04

407

2004/05

Salaries Not Top-Heavy A majority of our employees, many who are Santa Rosa County residents, fall in the low to middle income bracket. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2009 estimates, the median household income for Santa Rosa County is $53,419 and $44,755 for the state of Florida.

Sixty-eight percent of our staff earn under $40,000 per year. Sixteen employees, or less than five percent, make more than $70,000. (Percentages are based on 347 staff members, seventeen positions were vacant.)

450

450 388

2005/06

2006/07

Fiscal Year

375

364

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11

Salary Range

# of Staff

$19,999 or less $20,000-29,999 $30,000-39,999 $40,000-49,999 $50,000-59,999 $60,000-69,999 $70,000-79,999 $80,000-89,999 $90,000-99,999 Over $100,000

16 126 95 59 27 8 5 3 1 7

358

2011/12

Percentage of Total Staff 5% 36% 27% 17% 8% 2% 1% Less than 1% Less than 1% 2%

Unlike businesses that produce a product, government is a service industry, where our greatest expenses are the people who are needed to provide the services offered to our citizens.

While the population has grown by more than 28,000, current staffing is lower than fiscal year 2000/2001. The Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners and their staff have worked diligently to reduce staffing levels by aligning workforce with workload and exploring ways to work more efficiently. Since 2006, 123 positions or 34 percent of the workforce has been reduced.

In fact, the Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners has the least number of employees per resident when compared to our neighboring counties and those Florida counties of similar size. At fiscal year 2010/2011 levels, we averaged one employee for every 402 residents.

The ratio has increased since 2008 when there was one employee for every 335 residents.

While some counties’ staff numbers are larger because they include county-run EMS and fire services, Santa Rosa County’s staffing numbers are significantly lower than our comparable and neighboring counties.

County Citrus Escambia Indian River Martin Okaloosa Santa Rosa

2010/2011 Staffing Levels 607 982 729 849 800 364

Population, millage, and per capita data taken from the EDR 2010 Florida County Ad Valorem Tax Profile available online at http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/local-government/data/data-a-to-z/advaltxco.xls & http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/population-demographics/data/FLcopops_2010.xls 10

Staff to Resident Ratio 1:234 1:317 1:195 1:169 1:244 1:402

Figures

Taxes

Licenses & Permits

Charges

Where the Money Comes From Sources of revenue for the general, road & bridge and fine & forfeiture funds are: Taxes $49,815,494 63.9% Intergovernmental $18,992,627 24.3% Charges for Services $ 5,515,770 7.1% Miscellaneous $ 2,127,632 2.7% Licenses & Permits $ 1,163,924 1.5% Fines & Forfeits $ 375,277 0.5% Total Revenue

$77,990,724

100%

SRC Budgeted Revenue

2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006

SRC EDR Population Estimates* 128,889 133,721 136,443

2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011

141,428 142,144 144,136 144,508 146,162

$83,752,985 $81,471,781 $77,952,391 $74,666,455 $73,292,994

Fiscal Year

$65,406,533 $68,544,375 $74,927,845

Just like households and businesses around the country, the Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners have been faced with the need to do more with less. While the population is increasing in the county, our budgets have gotten smaller. We are working harder and smarter than ever before to offer the same level of service to more people with less money. *To keep numbers consistent, the EDR’s population estimates are used in the tables found on pages 10 & 11. However, recent U.S. Census Bureau data shows the population in Santa Rosa County to actually be larger with 151,372 people living in our county.

Misc. Fines &

Intergovernmental

8 7

Forfeits

The millage rate in Santa Rosa County was unchanged from 2001-2007, and lowered in 2008. Despite reduced revenues, the millage has not increased.

6.9720

6.6175 6.0953

6 5 4 3 2 1 0

2000

11

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

2009

2010 2011

2012

Where the Money is Spent

Public Safety

Expenditures of the general, road & bridge and fine & forfeiture funds are divided into eight categories:

General Government

Public Safety $34,203,271 General Government $17,160,413 Transportation $15,852,684 Human Services $4,392,451 Physical Environment $3,465,526 Culture/Recreation $3,011,838 Court Related $1,335,606 Economic Environment $241,895

42.9% 21.5% 20.0% 5.5% 4.3% 3.8% 1.7% 0.3%

Total Expenses

100%

$79,663,684

Tax Collector 3.7% Property Appraiser 4.6%

Board of County Commissioners 39.8% Sheriff 48.7%

Human Services

Breakdown of Constitutional Offices Funding From the General Fund The general fund is county's primary operating fund for each of the five constitutional offices. The general fund does not include the road & bridge of fine & forfeiture funds.

Board of County Commissioners- $24,398,074 Sheriff- $29,906,963 Property Appraiser- $2,796,266 Tax Collector- $2,292,495 Clerk to the Board- $1,202,240 Supervisor of Elections- $745,964 Total General Fund- $61,342,002

Culture /Recreation Physical Environment Economic Development

Public Safety - services provided for the security of persons and property.

General Government - services provided by the legislative and administrative branches of the local government for the benefit of the public as a whole.

Transportation - cost of services for the safe and adequate flow of vehicles, travelers and pedestrians.

Human Services - services for the care, treatment and control of human illness, injury or handicap, and for the welfare of the community as a whole and it’s individuals.

Culture & Recreation - cost of providing and maintaining cultural and recreational facilities and activities for the benefit of citizens and visitors.

Physical Environment - services provided for the primary purpose of achieving a satisfactory living environment by controlling and utilizing elements of the environment.

Economic Environment - services which develop and improve the economic condition of the community and its citizens.

Clerk of Courts 2% Supervisor of Elections 1.2%

Transportation

Court Related

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County Engineer The county engineering division is comprised of three departments: engineering, environmental and Navarre Beach utilities.

Sunrise on Navarre Beach by Kenny Wilder/www.KennyWilder.com 13

E N G I N E E R I N G D E PA RT M E N T

6051 Old Bagdad Hwy., Ste. 300, Milton • (850) 983-7100 • engineering@santarosa.fl.gov

Fiscal Year Highlights

The engineering department provides technical support to all county operations and departments.

Services include engineering planning, surveying, environmental and regulatory permitting, design and construction document preparation, and inspection for multiple county projects involving stormwater management, traffic management and control systems, roadway improvements, airport infrastructure, hazard mitigation, county owned water & wastewater systems and industrial park infrastructure improvements. Additionally, all commercial site plans and subdivision developments are reviewed to determine potable water, wastewater concurrency and compliance with the county’s stormwater requirements with the land development code. The department reviews four submittal phases - preliminary plat, construction plans, final plat, paved road and drainage maintenance of subdivision developments and makes recommendations to the board of county commissioners for each phase of development.

• Peter Prince Airfield run-up aprons, project management • Oyster Pile boat ramp, in-house design and permitting • Bal-Alex seawall, in-house design and permitting with project management.

• Navarre Park Fishing Pier, in-house design and permitting with project management • Mosquito Control Building, design build with project management • Orion Lake drainage Hazard Mitigation Grant Project, project management • Villa Venyce drainage HMGP, project management • Ganges/Madura drainage HMGP, project management • Sabertooth drainage HMGP, project management • Benny Russell Park Tennis, site layout • Historic S.R. 1 multi use trail, design/bidding, CEI services, LAP administration.

• Bagdad Mill site, assisted grants department and design consultant (surveying, public meetings) • Archie Glover Dredging project, permits (FDEP, USACOE, National Marine Fisheries, USCG), construction administration • Longhorn Trail road paving MSBU project, bidding, contract administration, • Lorraine Court road paving MSBU project, bidding, contract administration • Chumuckla Springs Boat Ramp surveying, design, environmental consultant, ERP wetland permit • 100 commercial pre application meetings

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Left: Replacement of a fishing pier at Navarre Park Top Right: Industrial Park sewer lift station rehab Bottom Right: A completed section of the historic S.R. 1 restoration project

E N V I R O N M E N TA L D I V I S I O N

6065 Old Bagdad Hwy., Milton • (850) 981-7135 • environmental-dept@santarosa.fl.gov

There are three departments within the environmental division including solid waste, recycle, and mosquito control.

Solid Waste The solid waste program for Santa Rosa County consists of Central Landfill, Jay Transfer Station and four closed landfills.

Central Landfill is a Class I and III facility. Garbage is categorized into either Class I for household garbage or Class III for non hazardous, non food contaminated debris. Special waste and certain hazardous materials are accepted under specific requirements. During fiscal year 2010-2011, Central Landfill received a total of 102,454 tons of Class I materials and 26,057 tons of Class III. Operation of the landfill requires several types of large equipment. The vehicle maintenance shop maintains all the large equipment for preventative maintenance, as well as, major repairs for equipment at Central Landfill.

In addition to disposing of items in the landfill, certain materials are set aside for recycling, such as electronics, appliances, metals, and tires. We also divert many items at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility, such as chemicals, paint, and old gas. These items are accepted free of charge from individuals.

The vehicle maintenance shop at the Central Landfill.

Left: The new Jay Transfer station attendant building.

Right: Household hazardous waste staff dispose of paint brought in by residents.

Below: Household hazardous waste tanks for used oil .

The Jay Transfer Station is a drop off location on the north end of the county for individuals to drop off household garbage. During fiscal year 2010-2011, the attendant building was replaced. The combination of previous improvements to the drop off area, the new attendant building, and the on site customer service, disposal of household garbage is an easy and more pleasant task.

Landfill Remediation Wells In Santa Rosa County we have remediation systems at Holley, Class III, and Central Landfills. The purpose of the remediation systems is to clean and reduce contamination of ground water.

The Holley Landfill remediation system has two recovery wells which will receive a remediation system makeover. The system has been running continuously since 1999. Recovery well RW-2 has recovered to date 269,616,700 gallons of water; while recovery well RW-1b recovered 241,904,600 gallons. Total water remediated and returned to the aquifer by Santa Rosa County’s Holley remediation system is 611,521,300 gallons of water. This remediation system continues to 15

be the only one in the immediate area that honors its responsibility as an environmental steward.

To date the system at Santa Rosa County Class III Landfill, which started in 2008, has cleaned 89,688,000 gallons of water. Central Landfill is currently running seven recovery wells. These wells have pumped to date 2.9 billion gallons of groundwater for treatment before return to the sand and gravel aquifer. Santa Rosa County is still used by FDEP as an example for successful remediation.

Northwest Landfill, Jay, Florida has successfully reached its final closure after monitoring groundwater quality

for 20 years. No environmental impacts occurred outside of the landfill boundary.

Recycle Department The recycle department utilizes public drop sites placed throughout the county for individuals to drop off their recycle material. At each drop site there are up to six containers for residents to contribute their plastic containers, aluminum & tin cans, glass jars & bottles, paper, and cardboard. In July 2011, the south end of the county began two new franchises for curbside residential garbage collection. In addition to garbage collection the contracts also offer, for no additional charge, yard waste collection, bulk waste pickup and

Mosquito Control The mosquito control department is responsible for the larvacide and adulticide treatment of mosquitoes for Santa Rosa County. Mosquito prevention is achieved through public education, surveillance, and monitoring of adulticide and larvacide treatments.

Larvacide assessments are completed throughout the year. Mosquito larva is treated in ditches, abandoned pools, holding ponds, etc. In addition to larviciding; when temperatures are above 60 degrees, up to three fog trucks are utilized per weeknight, for spraying the adult mosquitoes. The mosquito control department has 28 spray routes that cover the entire county. During the spray season, 10-15 routes are sprayed each week.

Traps are set throughout the county, to monitor species of mosquitoes, migration patterns and breeding areas.

curbside recycling.

Since the franchise, recycling volumes have increased by about 40 percent During fiscal year 2010-2011, approximately 11,000,000 pounds were recycled county-wide, with 720,000 pounds being recycled glass. Nearly 60 percent of all recyclables were from drop sites, 30 percent from curbside collection and 10 percent from other vendors.

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In fiscal year 2011, thanks to funds provided by the Florida Department of Agriculture, the mosquito building addition began. The building extension will provide better chemical storage space and an area for employee safety education training. In fiscal year 2011 approximately 750,000 acres were treated with adulticide and 450 acres were treated for larva. Over 400 mosquito requests for fogging, water treatment, and yard assessment were fulfilled.

Fiscal Year Highlights • Central Landfill received 102,454 tons of Class I materials, and 26,057 tons of Class III materials.

• Jay Transfer Station attendant building was completed.

• The vehicle maintenance shop at Central Landfill added an emergency eye wash station and extended the roof.

• The household hazardous waste facility diverted 4,081 fluorescent bulbs, 17,095 gallons of chemicals, pesticides, oil, gas, paint, etc., 666 batteries, and 3,818 aerosol cans and more.

• The recycle department received approximately 11,000,000 pounds of materials including approximately 720,000 pounds of glass, all being diverted from landfill disposal.

• The remediation system at Holley Landfill has reclaimed 611,521,300 gallons; SR Class III has reclaimed 89,688,000 gallons and Central has recovered 2.9 billion gallons of groundwater.

• The mosquito control department treated 750,000 acres with adulticide, 450 acres with larvacide.

Top left: The new Pace Patriot Road recycling site.

Center: Preparing paper for recycling at Central Landfill Left: Mosquito traps are used to monitor mosquito species, patterns and breeding areas.

NAVA R R E B E AC H U T I L I T I E S

1411 Utility Drive, Navarre Beach • (850) 936-6110 • navarre-beach@santarosa.fl.gov

Navarre Beach Department maintains water and wastewater utilities on Navarre Beach. We also employ lifeguards, clean the beach, sidewalks, bike paths and maintain pavilions and restrooms.

Fiscal Year Highlights • Navarre Beach Water Department pumped 117 million gallons of water to approximately 1,017 accounts on Navarre Beach.

• Navarre Beach Wastewater Department treated 78 million gallons of wastewater.

• The Navarre Beach Park has eleven covered pavilions, with 258 pavilion reservations. The park offers covered picnic areas, public restrooms, grills and boardwalks to the beach. Birthdays, weddings, family reunions and just old fashion get togethers are very popular.

Call (850) 936-6110 to make reservations. Now taking 2012 reservations.

• Navarre Beach Pier is the longest pier in the Gulf of Mexico. July of 2011 had the highest monthly average of approximately 615 visitors/ fishermen per day.

• Navarre Beach Causeway Bike Path was completed last year. It ties the Highway 98 bike path to the existing Navarre Beach bike path at Gulf Boulevard.

• Turtle Season (May through October), saw seven Loggerhead nests. Two were lost to Tropical storm Lee and one nest did not hatch. It held 86 unfertilized eggs. Navarre Beach saw a total of 722 eggs with 576 turtles making it to the Gulf of Mexico. The turtle hatchings are unique to Navarre Beach. Call (850) 936-6110 to learn how to get your name on the “call list”.

• Navarre Beach employed twelve lifeguards. Lifeguard season runs March 1 - October 31. The highest daily attendance was the May 29, Memorial Day weekend with an estimated 925 beach goers in the guarded area.

Top: 2011 Navarre Beach Lifeguard Staff (Photo courtesy of the Navarre Press) Middle: Navarre Beach Causeway Bike Path Bottom: Covered public pavilions are available on the gulf and sound side of Navarre Park.

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NAVA R R E B E AC H P I E R Over 117,600 people are estimated to have visited the Navarre Beach Pier in its first year of operation. Pier managers,The Pier, Inc., reported 28,743 fishing and 88,755 walking admissions were paid from June 7, 2010 through May 31. In addition, 117 annual fishing passes and 55 annual walking passes were sold.

The 2010-2011 fiscal year revenue was $296,547.

At 1,545 feet, the pier is the longest in the state of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. The new Navarre Beach Pier opened in June 2010 after Hurricane Ivan destroyed the “T� end design of the original pier in 2004 and Hurricane Dennis destroyed the mid section in July 2005.

BA N N E R Y E A R F O R T O U R I S M 2010-2011 fiscal year was a banner year for tourism in Santa Rosa County.

Our bed tax revenues exceeded $1,000,000! The previous year's oil spill was a struggle but the revenues county leaders worked so hard to get from the state of Florida and BP allowed the Tourist Development Council to deliver the message that Navarre Beach was as pristine as ever and open for business.

The bed tax collections for this fiscal year were 35 percent more than the 2009-2010 fiscal year and 17 percent more than the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

Gross rental receipts for July 2011 were approximately $5,000,000.

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Human Resources Santa Rosa County Human Resources is comprised of two separate departments, personnel and risk management. With a staff of six, they provide comprehensive human resource management services for the board of county commissioners. The department provides services to 353 BOCC employees which includes guidance, information and assistance to division heads, department heads, and supervisors on personnel matters to ensure compliance with policy, procedure, and labor laws. Human resources also provides recruitment assistance and personnel procedural information to the clerk of courts, property appraiser, sheriff ’s office, supervisor of elections, and tax collector. The grants department and library system also fall under human resources.

Bear Lake by Sabrina Brown, Development Services 19

P E R S O N N E L D E PA RT M E N T

6495 Caroline Street, Ste. H, Milton • (850) 983-1948 • HR@santarosa.fl.gov

The personnel department is responsible for the coordination of recruitment, classification and compensation, training and development, employee health & benefits, and wellness programs. The day-to-day operation includes ensuring that policies and procedures are followed and applied equitably for all employees.

Fiscal Year Highlights

• • • • • • • • •

• • • • • •

• •

Employment announcements/postings - 36 Web page employment interest hits – 10,042 Employment applications received/processed – 1035 Applicants referred to hiring department - 525 Eligible employment lists established – 37 Elimination of BOCC positions due to budget reductions - 13 Personnel reassignments/transfers – 3 An animal control officer weighs in at the Employee separations – 45 (23 resigned, 18 retired, 3 dismissed, 1 released during probation).

2011 employee health fair.

Coordinated a flu shot clinic for employees in September 2010. Baptist Occupational Health provided on-site flu shots for employees.

Created and provided daily messages via computer startup page and intranet for employee wellness and safety tips.

Held FRS webcast workshop February 2011 for employees regarding the topic of nearing retirement in the FRS & income tax planning.

Hosted workplace violence awareness training in March 2011 for Employees and Constitutional Officers.

Assisted with the Fourth Annual Employee Health Fair held in July 2011.

Underwent a compliance audit review in August 2011, and received commendation.

Received and reviewed 333 claim applications related to the State of Florida mandated program, Health Care Responsibility Act. Human Resources staff verified eligibility of claims to be 69.

Coordinated announcement and arrangement of the 2011 open enrollment process.

Prepared 109 in-house and public records and report requests.

R I S K M A NAG E M E N T

6495 Caroline Street, Ste. I, Milton • (850) 983-1863 • melissal@santarosa.fl.gov

Santa Rosa County Risk Management administers the self-insurance fund which involves the processing and adjusting of all insurance claims resulting from auto liability, property, inland marine and workers’ compensation claims. Safety programs and committees, as well as safety training and inspections, are handled through Risk Management.

• • • • • • • • • •

Fiscal Year Highlights

Administered approximately 107 ongoing workers’ compensation open claims.

Worked with our third-party administrator, rehabilitation nurses and attorney on 59 new workers’ compensation claims.

Generated loss-analysis reports reflecting all claims against Santa Rosa County.

Managed the County’s safety shoe program.

Coordinated employee safety awards for over 350 employees.

Managed all general liability, auto and property policies.

Adjusted 20 auto claims, 34 property loss claims, 27 general liability claims and 19 equipment claims.

Coordinated claim settlements for numerous general liability and workers’ compensation claims.

Completed the process of updating all our Material Safety Data Sheet documents (over 200).

Monitored certificates of insurance for companies doing business with Santa Rosa County and those using county facilities.

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G R A N T S D E PA RT M E N T The grants department provides grant writing and grant management assistance to other departments of the county. This year the grants department assisted other departments with the management of over 30 grants totaling more than $10 million in State and Federal funding. These grants are for a variety of projects including drainage improvement projects, senior center improvements, park projects, sewer extension programs, emergency management preparedness programs, disaster recovery public assistance program, and transportation improvement projects.

6495 Caroline Street, Ste. H, Milton • (850) 983-1848 • grants@santarosa.fl.gov 26

BAGDAD HISTORIC MILL SITE SITE PLAN

8 10

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25 10 109 8

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Fiscal Year Highlights

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Phase One (FRDAP 2012-2013 Application)

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Project Phasing

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Concrete Sidewalk Ten-foot Wide Asphalt Multi-Purpose Trail

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Reenactment Commons Area Meadow

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Stormwater Management Facility (Vegetated Wetland Prairie)

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Stormwater Management Facility (Vegetated Wet Detention)

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Handicapped Accessible Fishing Pier

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Picnic Tables (7) and Grills (3)

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Benches (6)

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Asphalt Parking Lot (50 Parking Spaces; 4 Handicap spaces)

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Site

Trash Receptacles (2) Bike Racks (1) Utilities (Potable Water, Fire Lines and Hydrants, Sewer)

1 • Received FEMA approval for Local Mitigation Strategy and Flood 3 6 Mitigation Plans.

11 30 9 31 • Administered Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds for drainage 9 3 13 6 improvements to Long Street and Lambert Lane to reduce flooding impacts.

• Design of Neighborhood Revitalization project for Bagdad has been 20 completed. Improvements will begin on sewer line extensions and hookups in spring 2012.

• Defense Infrastructure Grant funds of approximately $500,000 were NORTH expended to purchase property and restrictive easements around NAS Whiting Field to prevent further encroachment and to protect the base from BRAC and an additional $207,000 was secured for future purchases.

• Completed design of Bagdad Mill Site Passive Park facilities utilizing DEP Coastal Initiative Partnership Program funds. Permitting of site improvements is currently underway.

• Completed infrastructure improvements to support Blackwater Prison utilizing Community Development Block Grant Program Economic Development grant funds.

• Administered acquisition and demolition of flood-prone property in Pace utilizing Flood Mitigation Program Funds.

• Continued grant administration of Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis and Katrina public assistance program grant funds in excess of $84 million.

• Assisted with administration of over $5 million for six hazard mitigation grant stormwater improvement projects.

• Administered Florida Boating Improvement Program Grant Top: Conceptual site layout for the Bagdad Mill Site Passive Park. funds for dredging of Archie Glover Boat Ramp Channel to Center: Conceptual image of the Bagdad Mill Site entrance. improve boater access.

Left: Conceptual image of the Bagdad Mill Site entertainment pavilion.

• Coordinated Natural Resource Damage Assessment project Right: Bagdad residents and other interested citizens attend public workshop to design Bagdad Mill Site Facilities. list as a result of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

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Future Phases

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Entrance Gateway and Sign

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Teaching Pavilion with Restrooms and Storage

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Multi-Purpose Pavilion

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Gazebo

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Flag Presentation

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Restrooms

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Reconstructed Flywheel Exhibit

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Future Trail Connection to Forsyth Street

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Grassed Amphitheater Event Seating

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Wayside Exhibit Kiosk

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Floating Tee Boat Dock

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Floating Waterfront Boardwalk/Dock

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Handicapped Accessible Ramp to Dock

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Kayak Launch

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Kayak Launch Parking

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Trail Boardwalk

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Fenced Dog Park

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Site *

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(15) (Funded with Multiple Sources)

Maintenance Building with Future Caretaker Office and Residence Fenced Maintenance Yard

Street Lighting

Existing Facilities – Other than fencing and trees, there are no existing facilities

L I B R A RY S E RV I C E S

6275 Dogwood Drive, Milton • (850) 981-7323 • gwenw@santarosa.fl.gov Santa Rosa County libraries offer a wide range of services to county residents. These services include the availability of bestselling fiction and nonfiction, music, movies, and the use of public computers. Libraries located in Gulf Breeze, Jay, Milton, Navarre, and Pace provide a place where residents of all ages can access both information and entertainment. Additionally, meeting room space is available at several locations. Whether study materials are needed or items for recreation, residents may obtain a free library card and use it to check out library materials in print, audio, and video formats.

By visiting our library website at www.santarosa.fl.gov/ libraries, library card holders have access to numerous library services both inside the library and from the convenience of their homes. Library patrons may: • View the library catalog • Access the library’s events calendar • Request library materials from any library in the system and have them sent to their home library • Review personal library accounts • Access hundreds of authenticated electronic sources provided by the library on topics such as: ▷▷ Audio books to download onto personal listening devices ▷▷ Auto repair information and help ▷▷ Books and authors and online book clubs ▷▷ Business directories ▷▷ Computer skills ▷▷ Genealogy and family history sources ▷▷ Health information. ▷▷ Homework subjects such as biography, history, science, social issues ▷▷ Investment services. ▷▷ Kids “readable” books ▷▷ Magazine articles on all subjects for consumers and journal articles for students and researchers

Top: An American History Book Club meeting at the Navarre branch.

Center: A reading dog encourages a young reader to read aloud.

Left: Public computers are one of the most utilized resources.

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Fiscal Year Highlights

• 7,850 new library card registrations • Checkout of 361,897 items • 29,097 research questions answered by library employees with incalculable hours of instruction from employees on location and use of library materials and use of public computers • 3,600 county youth attended 215 library youth programs • 1,834 youth participated in 58 library youth Summer Reading program events – an all time record attendance.

• Through Senior Servies Outreach, over 1,500 books were read at county care centers • 1,445 hours of assistance were provided by adult volunteers in the library volunteer program • 417 hours of assistance were provided by high school student volunteers working towards scholarship goals • Community groups used library meeting rooms 461 times for over 6,000 attendees • Community organizations used library bulletin boards, displays, and literature racks to distribute non profit information • Voter registration assistance was provided to citizens • Wireless access service available at all library outlets for customer mobile devices

Many residents use the library as a quiet place to study, like this Milton Library patron.

Office of Management & Budget The office of management and budget consists of the budget office, computer/GIS mapping division, administrative services and procurement.

Jordan Pond by Aleta Floyd, Computer/GIS Department 23

A D M I N I S T R AT I V E S E RV I C E S

6495 Caroline Street, Ste. J, Milton • (850) 983-1940 • bocc-support@santarosa.fl.gov

The Santa Rosa County Administrative Services Department provides administration for county owned parks, airplane hangars at Peter Prince Field, road vacation requests, county record management compliance and various other services utilizing two full-time employees.

The parks department is responsible for 73 parks. Park related duties require issuance of work orders for repair, maintenance, and renovation of public parks and recreation facilities including processing of associated invoices as well as handling the reservations of facilities to include coordinating with risk management issues that involve the safe use by park users. The administrative services manager acts as a liaison between the county and the sport associations to assure management agreement compliance and facilitates the Santa Rosa Parks and Recreation Committee.

There are 100 county owned hangars located at Peter Prince Field. Administrative services is responsible for the compliance of tenant lease for the hangars at Peter Prince Field. The primary duties performed are biannual hangar inspections and processing of work orders for repair and maintenance issues. Administrative Services provides administrative support to the county Aviation Advisory Board and is also responsible for the minutes of meetings.

Additionally, road vacations are processed by administrate services upon request by citizens according to the Florida Statue and county policy. Prior to presenting a vacation request to the Board of County Commissioners for approval several other departments are tasked with verifying county/citizen needs, surveys, and any other related issues. Administrative services also serves as the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners Records Management Liaison Officer to insure records are maintained/destroyed according to Florida Statute and is responsible for the recording and distribution of county meetings.

BUD GET OFFICE

6495 Caroline Street, Ste. L, Milton • (850) 983-1853 • budget@santarosa.fl.gov

The budget office wears two hats. They are a service organization to help departments acquire the goods and services necessary to perform their jobs and assist citizens with MSBUs, or municipal service benefit units, and a control organization to ensure all funds are spent properly and in accordance with the approved budget.

The budget office ensures that program managers, based on the availability of revenues, receive the resources needed to operate effectively and efficiently. The budget office is responsible for the development and monitoring of the annual operating and capital improvements budgets, fiscal policy analysis and special project research.

See page 11 for a break down of the fiscal year 2010/2011 budget.

They also coordinate program evaluations and provide management consulting services as requested by the board, the county administrator and directors. Staff continuously reviews and streamlines the budget process.

P R O C U R E M E N T D E PA RT M E N T

6495 Caroline Street, Ste. L, Milton • (850) 983-1870 • bidinfo@santarosa.fl.gov

The procurement department is responsible for all aspects of the county bid process including the review of bid specifications, development and submittal of the advertisement of each bid request, notification of that request to registered vendors, receipt and review of bid submittals, maintenance of the files on all bid submittals, and maintenance of the registered vendor list.

Additionally, the procurement department is tasked with the responsibility of maintenance of the county communication systems. This includes the telephone systems located at the county courthouse, the administrative center, public works, the south Santa Rosa County service center, and all county libraries. Included in this task are the review and maintenance of all county cell phones.

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COMPUTER/GIS MAPPING DIVISION The Santa Rosa County Computer/Geographic Information System Division provides technical and mapping support for over 40 divisions and agencies and fulfills map and public record requests for the public.

Demands for our technical services continue to increase as the reduced county workforce must expand their utilization of technologies to help them complete the same or increased work tasks.

Over 700 various types of technology equipment is monitored and maintained such as work stations/ thin clients/ tablet computers, servers, network equipment, printers, and GPS equipment. Custom software code to run county business is written in-house by staff after analysis is conducted with employees in the various divisions. On-going support of the hundreds of software programs is a daily function along with providing liaison support for purchased governmental software. The vital county data and information generated through the use of the county software is safely protected and accessible 24/7 in a secured network environment.

The county’s web site, www.santarosa.fl.gov, is comprised of over a thousand web pages, all of which are created and maintained by staff, with one goal in mind: to have information, forms, and data easily accessible for the 1,000 to 1,500 daily web visitors we serve- both residents and businesses. Other responsibilities include providing support for all of the public libraries, maintaining county databases, creating GIS maps from hundreds of mapping layers, and assisting emergency management operations with the paging system, citizen alert system, and e911 mapping. Routine support is provided for mobile phones, e-mail, anti-virus/spam/spyware protection, data file backups, and daily technology health checks.

• A new program was written for Rapid Intake which improves the registration processes for the special needs shelter during a disaster. The program allows • The board of county commission minutes are now searchable from 1916 through current. Over 95 years printing of bar codes for the patients and family members. of minutes are posted and available for research.

• A damage assessment program was written to work • A new secured program was designed and available on mobile devices for the damage assessment field on the web for building contractors allowing one workers – will even work if no cell service is available. centralized location to view all of their permit This program also has an option to collect pictures information, comprehensive inspection results and send back to the emergency operations center. for all contractors associated with a permit, • A disaster response program was written to track inspection history, pending inspections, and details of escrow account and current balance. They can set which local business personnel are allowed on the roadways immediately after a storm. This program up new inspections online too. is also used by the sheriff ’s office to communicate • Since inspection results affect building contractor’s clearance verifications with the deputies. project timelines, Santa Rosa County now emails/ texts inspection results as soon as a building inspector • 2011 was a year of major redesign of the county’s web pages in order to facilitate easier web navigation and completes an on-site inspection. Contractors also receive instant notification when a power release has research. Two main projects were the meeting calendar and combining the building permit and zoning web been issued. pages into the new development services web pages.

• GoBiz is a new software program to assist staff with Additional new pages will continue to be rolled out. tracking and monitoring zoning and permit • Supervisor of elections main page updated to keep activity for new businesses opening in Santa Rosa. statistics current of registered voters by party.

The process from start to finish can be overwhelming, but this program allows staff to assist • Recommended new receipt thermal printers to the contractors and business owners with navigating development services office which saved hundreds of dollars in printing costs. through the process.

• A transportation receipting system was created • GoPlans is a new program to assist plan reviewers to assist with fee collections for the public with tracking and documenting review results for building plans until the approval process is complete. transportation system.

This program improves the workflow which allows contractors to move forward with their construction projects sooner.

• To help quickly address citizen complaints, a program was created in-house to track complaints regarding the new solid waste franchise areas.

Website & Technology Fiscal Y ear Highlight s

Left & right: GoBiz streamlines the zoning and permitting activities so staff can personalize customer service for new businesses.

Far right: Rapid assessment of damage is critical in order for response teams to formulate recovery plans and is available via a program created in-house for mobile devices.

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6495 Caroline Street, Ste. L, Milton • (850) 983-18480 • bcc-computer@santarosa.fl.gov • Assisted library administration with filing for e-rate status. If approved this will save the taxpayers thousands of dollars via federal reimbursements of reoccurring library technology expenses.

GIS Mapping & Document Imaging Milestones The GIS Mapping staff is always extremely busy as map requests are submitted to help county departments tie their data to maps. This is needed in order to visualize work product and projects, whether it is to map street paving projects, new construction growth, emergency management plans, location of businesses, subdivisions, census data, or environmental issues.

Fiscal Year Highlights • Reverse911® which calls and alerts residents of emergency events in their area, was upgraded to an improved GIS mapping coordinate/structure system from a street centric system. System tested with 100 percent success rate.

• Joint project completed with e911 to update the street and building mapping layers to be compliant with the new e911 dispatching software.

This upgrade was needed to allow for automatic vehicle location and routing of emergency vehicles.

• Maps and data are provided annually to all fire districts for hydrant locations, and for ISO inspections.

• Maps created for the new waste management franchise areas, which also allows residents to enter their address to find the name of their solid waste provider.

• New detailed fire district map completed for Allentown Fire District, used by the fire fighter volunteers.

Other fire district maps forthcoming.

• New points of distribution maps created for post disaster distribution assistance.

• New mosquito control area maps created to assist routing of mosquito fog trucks.

• MSBU area maps created for public dissemination and review.

• New detailed brick location map created for the Veteran’s Plaza Park and permanently displayed to assist family members with locating their donated bricks.

• Creation of new school districts maps and legal descriptions using the 2010 census data.

• The residential and commercial building layer now contains over 109,000 GIS points and approximately 15,000 street segments in the streets layer • Many other GIS mapping layers have been updated throughout the year; layers of interest now contain: 166 bridges, over 5,770 hydrants, 397 billboards, 438 retention ponds, over 560 critical facilities identified, and over 28,300 street sign GPS points collected.

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• Over 223,000 pages and 38,000 documents were added to the county’s document /imaging system.

• The county’s document imaging system upgraded via a major software revision allowing county staff to continue to shift from a paper filing system to a paperless document system.

• Development services staff can now click one button to access associated building images such as plans and building forms while assisting permitting customers. The new feature saves time and improves customer service.

Network/Computer Fiscal Year Highlights • To fight the never ending battle of security, the county’s firewall went through a major software upgrade and re-design, and a new firewall was added specifically for the public library computers.

• Worked with library administration on switching their phone system over to a VOIP phone system, which will save hundreds of dollars in annual phone costs; also many more features are available for staff.

• The county’s email exchange server software was upgraded in order to offer improved security measures and additional features to staff such as email forwarding to smartphones.

• Installed new VPN appliance in order to allow county employees to work remotely as needed, which augments the county’s pandemic preparedness plan.

• The emergency operations center computer equipment and software was thoroughly tested to ensure the center is ready to be operational during disaster/event activations.

• Assisted e911 with their major hardware and software upgrade of the 911 system.

• Provided support for the ARES team software and hardware as part of the EOC disaster plan.

• Upgraded the Landfill’s wireless network link to improve services for credit card customers and improved speed throughput for data backups and virus definition updates.

Public Services The five divisions of Santa Rosa County Public Services include inspections and compliance, community planning, zoning, and development; emergency management, animal services and veteran services. These divisions work hard to continuously evaluate new ways to meet the needs and expectations of our customers.

The public services staff has done a great job of embracing the numerous customer service initiatives over the past three years, and the results are evidenced by the increased positive feedback from customers. The fact that a number of divisions are regulatory in nature, increases the challenge of obtaining a positive response from those being impacted by these regulations. The increased positive customer responses received by these divisions is of particular importance and is a significant indicator of the success of the customer service programs that have been implemented.

Pond Creek by Darliene Stanhope, Planning & Zoning 27

A N I M A L S E RV I C E S

4451 Pine Forest Road • (850) 983-4680 • animalservices@santarosa.fl.gov

Animal services is here to encourage local county residents to value animals, promote responsible pet ownership, and support the efforts of humane animal welfare. The department operates as both a response agency and an animal shelter. The shelter receives animals for various reasons including owners surrendering their pets, stray animals that are roaming at large, nuisance animals causing destruction of property, aggressive animals endangering the public, and injured animals in need of medical attention.

Services offered by Santa Rosa County Animal Services include: • • • • • • • •

Humane traps(resources are limited, elderly and special needs will be considered first) Bite Investigations Complaints/Animal Nuisance Cruelty/Neglect Investigation Adoptions Dangerous and vicious classifications of animals who meet criteria Night boxes available to citizens after business hours Requested euthanasia of owned pets for a donation of $15

Our adoption center is located at 4451 Pine Forest Road in Milton. All adoptable animals are screened for heartworms, given vaccinations, wormed, temperament tested, and are in good health before they are placed in adoption. Our office is open to the public Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with kennel hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Animal control officers respond to calls for service between the hours of 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday. Animal services also has an after hours emergency on-call officer who responds through the dispatch center at emergency communications, between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. This year animal control responded to 7,518 calls, up from last years 7,213.

Impound Source

Fiscal Year Highlights

Officer Responses 7,518 Annual Adopt-a-thon 64 Total Adoptions 528 Animals Transferred 210 Total Bite Investigations 436 Total Animals through Shelter 7,822

Transferred from other Agency 18

Confiscated 136

Disposal Required 8 Euthanasia Request 109 Owner Surrenders 2,313

Stray Animals 5,128

Quarantine 32 Adoption Returns 78

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Dr. Summerlin of ARK Animal Hospital vaccinates a cat during the rabies clinic Animal Services in partnership with the Santa Rosa County Health Department conducted a rabies clinic on September 28.

Working with local veterinarians, the clinic helped to vaccinate 197 animals in Santa Rosa County at the low cost of $10 per pet.

PetSmart Inc. donates valuable retail space to PetSmart Charities so that Santa Rosa County Animal Services can showcase homeless pets that are in need of homes. This fiscal year the Pace store's adoption program placed 52 animals.

Partners For Pets Help us reach our goal of finding every adoptable pet a loving, "fur-ever" home. Learn more at: www.santarosa.fl.gov/partnersforpets

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT The division of emergency management, which includes the emergency communications and enhanced 9-1-1 center is responsible for providing the residents of our county with a comprehensive and coordinated emergency operations program where risks are reduced, emergency services are promptly delivered and impacts from disaster events are effectively managed to make our community a safe place to live, work and play.

Emergency Management coordinates major disaster responses from the Emergency Operations Center. From this one location, representatives from county and city departments, public-safety agencies, emergency relief organizations, faith-based community, school district, chambers of commerce and other essential agencies and organizations are able to coordinate response and recovery activities. During daily operations, the emergency management communications center, also known as the ‘county warning point’ is the twenty-four hour point of contact for the public to access emergency responders by dialing 9-1-1.

Teaching citizens how to prepare for disasters and daily emergencies is critical to the resilience of Santa Rosa County. Emergency Management provided training and educational programs that focused on disaster preparedness, response, and mitigation along with programs such as citizen corps, community emergency response teams, first responder, CPR, first aid and sheltering in place. Emergency Management participated in many community events providing informational brochures and guides throughout the year.

Major Incidents • September 2011 – Tropical Storm Lee

Fiscal Year Highlights

Major Projects • In partnership with the county computer/GIS department we developed a damage assessment program that allows staff to gather damage details on smart phones and track the damages on a map. This information is provided to the local weather office to help determine the path of storms and wind damage incidents.

• Developed 2011 Disaster Guide and distributed over 35,000 copies • Conducted hazardous analysis on 44 facilities • Reviewed disaster continuity plans for 14 businesses • Reviewed disaster continuity plans for all 33 public school facilities • Installed UHF receiver site to improve emergency medical and law enforcement portable radio communications in the north end of the county (purchased with funds from traffic citation program) • Santa Rosa County and Lifeguard Ambulance Service installed automated vehicle location devices in all emergency response ambulances and quick response vehicles in Santa Rosa County along with monitors in the emergency communications dispatch center. This provides an on-screen view of the movement of each ambulance allowing the dispatcher to assign the closest available ambulance to emergency calls. Utilizing mapping created by the county GIS department, software and GPS equipment, the dispatchers can now view an ambulance as it responds to emergency scenes. The ambulance crew can also view mapping in their ambulances that shows the location of the incident • Enhanced 9-1-1 equipment was upgraded that provides redundant systems at the Sheriff ’s Department and Emergency Management Communication Centers

Top: Emergency operation staff during the 2011 hurricane drill.

Center: The Navarre Beach Causeway during Tropical Storm Lee. 29

Bottom: Damage from a F0 tornado touchdown.

4499 Pine Forest Road • (850) 983-5360 • emergencymanagement@santarosa.fl.gov Presentations/Training and Exercises • Twenty-two All Hazards presentations • Three Community Emergency Response Team training courses with 36 participants • Introduced CERT to Jay High School and trained 43 students in TEEN CERT • One hundred and six CPR/First Aid courses training over 1,657 people in life saving techniques • Three First Responder courses training 48 additional emergency responders • One Firefighter I course with 22 firefighters participating • Participated in four major disaster exercises 127,377 Total Calls Received by Emergency Management Communications Center • Administrative Calls Received- 65,039 • Transferred Calls- 34,419 • Direct response calls- 27,919

9-1-1 Calls - 62,338 Sheriff's Dept. (transfer)- 24,116 39%

45%

Fire and Rescue The fire service in Santa Rosa County is comprised of 15 departments. Each district has a board of directors which is responsible for district funds. Fire department personnel are comprised of 61 career firefighters and over 160 volunteer firefighters who responded to 13,806 calls last year. The primary services provided by fire and rescue departments include:

• Fire Suppression • Fire Prevention & Public Education

• Emergency Medical Response • Technical Rescue Operations

• Search and Rescue Operations • Hazardous Materials Response Fiscal year 2010/11 marked the fourth year for the existence of a unified effort with the nine MSBU departments to enhance fire service capabilities by promoting teamwork and accountability, reviewing budgets and expenditures, and developing consistent, safe, and efficient response guidelines. This group is guided by an executive group representing the nine departments and two unaffiliated citizens.

Fiscal Year 2010/2011 Fire MSBU Funds Overview • Collections-approximately $2,773,676.00 • Expenditures- $2,703,591.00 • Purchases included funding for new Bagdad Fire Station, five sets of fire protection gear, ten two- way radios, thirteen tone pagers for alerts, four Self Contained Breathing Apparatus or SCBA, and stipend program funding for over 150 volunteers

Smoke from a fire near Avalon Boulevard fills the air.

Milton Police Dept. (transfer) - 2,762 Gulf Breeze Police/Fire (transfer) - 1,507 Other Law Enforcement (transfer)- 5,127 Other Agencies - 907

1%

5% 8% 2%

Emergency Communications- 27,919

A station in the Santa Rosa County Emergency Communication Center.

Fire fighters respond to a fire in East Milton.

(Photo courtesy of Mathew Pellegrino / the Santa Rosa Press Gazette) 30

Emergency Medical Services

Fire & Rescue Fiscal Year Highlights Fire Department Allentown Avalon-Mulat Bagdad Berrydale East Milton Gulf Breeze Harold Jay & Town of Jay Midway City of Milton Munson Navarre Navarre Beach Pace Skyline

Tax Designation MSBU Legislative MSBU MSBU MSBU Municipality MSBU MSBU Legislative Municipality MSBU Legislative Special MSBU MSBU MSBU

Annual Calls 203 610 452 192 940 812 143 289 2,163 1,594 188 2,462 288 2,389 1,081

ISO Rating 5 / 9 (reduced 2011) 5/9 6/9 6 / 9 (reduced 2010) 6/9 4 (reduced 2011) 8/9 7/9 3 4 9/9 7/9 5 6/9 5 / 9 (reduced 2011)

When ISO develops a single Public Protection Classification for a community, all of the community's properties receive that classification. In many communities, ISO develops a split classification. Generally, the first class applies to properties within five road miles of a fire station and within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant.

The second class applies to properties within five road miles of a fire station but beyond 1,000 feet of a hydrant.

Dr. Kim Landry, medical director for both Lifeguard and Santa Rosa County, was selected as the Florida EMS Medical Director of the Year by the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Emergency Medical Services.

Dr. Landry has been the Santa Rosa County Medical Director since 2008 and is actively involved in and dedicated to improving the emergency response system by implementing and monitoring medical protocols for the dispatchers and medical responders.

Santa Rosa County commits to provide our citizens with a high standard of patient care in pre-hospital emergency services. In 2011, the board of county commissioners extended the contract with Lifeguard Ambulance Service, LLC for an additional 10 years to provide this service with no county subsidy. The relationship between Lifeguard Ambulance, the emergency management communications team and a dedicated medical director contribute to the continued success of this public-private partnership.

Fiscal Year Highlights

• Became the 8th Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services accredited ambulance service in Florida, out of 396 advance life support providers • Invested more than $250,000 in technology to improve response and patient care • Capability to send cardiac monitor readings to the emergency room allowing medical direction for paramedics to administer life-saving medication and providing records to the emergency room physician before arrival of the patient.

• Converted from paper patient care reporting to electronic patient care reporting • Installed mobile data terminals and automated vehicle locators in all advanced life support ambulances • Received more than $150,000 in grants for system improvements and training • Provided funding for fifteen EMT’s to attend paramedic school • Provided funding for sixteen paramedics to attend critical care paramedic training • Participated in CPR in the schools program; provided first responder and other medical training to local fire departments • Maintained a robust quality assurance program

EMS Compliance 100 98 96 94 92 90 88 86

Contract Requirement = 90% Urban Rural

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept 2010 2010 2010 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011

Santa Rosa County’s ambulance service provider, Lifeguard Ambulance Service, continues to exceed the county’s compliance standards. In fiscal year 2010/2011, Lifeguard Ambulance met the response time requirements more than 90 percent of the time, based on fractile response time, not an average, as required by contract.

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HOUSING

6051 Old Bagdad Hwy, Ste. 201 • (850) 981-7076 • janiceb@santarosa.fl.gov

The housing program mission is to provide residents with a variety of quality affordable housing choices. Housing program efforts focus on utilizing state and federal funding to improve housing opportunities for low and moderate income families. During the past year, 85 families were assisted and $1.4 million was invested to support affordable housing initiatives.

Fiscal Year Highlights

• Florida’s State Housing Initiatives Partnership or SHIP Program ▷▷ 47 families received down payment and closing cost assistance to help with the purchase of their first home. ▷▷ Three low-income homeowners were assisted with rehabilitation work to address safety and sanitary issues and building code violations. ▷▷ Assistance was provided to build 5 Habitat homes for very-low income families.

• HUD HOME Partnership Initiative through the Escambia Consortium assisted six low-income homeowners. Three dilapidated homes were demolished and replaced with affordable new construction. Three homeowners were provided substantial rehabilitation funding to bring their properties up to code and to address health and sanitary conditions.

• HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program or NSP was used to purchase and repair abandoned and foreclosed properties. $338,323 was provided to assist ten home buyers. $303,322 was funded to rehabilitate 14 homes that will serve as rental homes for very-low income families.

The units purchased and repaired with NSP dollars must remain affordable to income-eligible families for a minimum of 15 years.

• The week of April 18 was proclaimed “Fair Housing Week” in Santa Rosa County. Citizens were encouraged to better understand their housing rights. Information is available in the housing program office located in the public services complex.

HOME funds were used to demolish the dilapidated structure and rebuild a safe and substantial affordable home for a very-low income homeowner. Photos show the structure before demolition and the new home built on the property.

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D E V E L O P M E N T S E RV I C E S

6051 Old Bagdad Hwy, Room 202 • (850) 981-7000 • developmentservices@santarosa.fl.gov Efficient, Coordinated and Consistent

This past year has been one of refinement and continued customer focus as development services has looked through the eyes of the customer to improve service, safety, quality of life and cost efficiency. Listening to concerns of local residents, contractors, design professionals, business owners and property owners constructing their own homes, the Development Services staff has worked to transform the development process into one seamless operation. Your input has provided the opportunity to improve how development services operates and responds to the community’s needs.

What can be expected from the Development Services Office?

Staff has found that citizens expect a smooth, coordinated and consistent approach to the development process and, most of all, an efficient use of tax dollars. The past several years have been spent evaluating processes, codes and procedures. As a result development services is now a unified department with a goal of meeting your needs throughout the development process, from conception to completion. Exceptional service is our response to the community. You will know on a “first name” basis the staff member who is assisting you and what steps and agencies are involved in your project. Also, our staff will go the extra mile to keep you informed throughout the process so that you will know exactly what the status of your project is.

How is Development Services saving you money?

New software was developed in-house by the computer department and development services staff, and has allowed us to be more efficient with fewer resources.

Each new program has been developed with an emphasis on “going green”, decreasing waste and improving efficiency. For example, each program has the ability to scan and house documents electronically, which allows for time savings in retrieving documents and reduced expenditures due to the elimination of storage contracts.

GoBiz, a new software program which helps track commercial projects internally from conception to certificate of occupancy, was created specifically to implement the project management approach that the development services staff instituted in 2009 with the goal of improving efficiency and coordination for development projects. All contacts, documentation and correspondence related to a project are maintained within this program allowing for consistency and better inter-office coordination and communication. To date, 208 commercial projects have been assisted using this program, with almost a quarter of those already receiving a certificate of occupancy.

How does our work benefit our customers?

Only the citizens in Santa Rosa County can say that their flood mitigation plan was rated number one in the nation. That status was achieved due to the collective effort of the flood mitigation task force, which included the flood plain manager, grants coordinator, long range planning, emergency operations, local citizens and local businesses. This was one of the factors that resulted in Santa Rosa County receiving a Community Rating System Class 5, which results in a 25 percent discount on flood insurance for 3,829 homes in flood zones within the unincorporated areas of the county.

Above: Many services offered by development services, including filing a code complaint, are available online at www.santarosa.fl.gov.

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Left: A new single family residence that was constructed in a VE-zone and the new residents will receive a 25 percent discount on flood insurance.

GoCompliance was created to house, track and maintain all code compliance cases. This new system centralizes compliance functionality and provides powerful tools, such as a report generator and a case tracking calendar, to help our compliance officers more efficiently carry out their duties.

The licensed professionals at the development services office have been leading the way in training and professional development. They have developed and instructed continuing education courses and prelicense training for local and regional planning, design and construction professionals. Networking through education has enabled Santa Rosa County to be a leader in education to other local communities while saving money on required courses typically provided by state and national vendors. In addition, various members of our staff are involved in local, state and national professional organizations, providing leadership and expertise to help advance their respective fields.

What regulatory changes were made to improve the community?

In the past year, several regulatory changes have been implemented by the Board of County Commissioners to help improve the safety and quality of life of the citizens of Santa Rosa County.

Under the guidance of Navarre area residents, the Navarre Town Center Plan was adopted in 2005 at the peak of development activity in our community.

However, the national economic downturn and subsequent downturn in development presented the opportunity to re-examine the plan’s implementation, particularly in regard to zoning and land use regulations.

The Board of County Commissioners ultimately approved amendments to the Land Development Code to lessen the restrictions on development in the Navarre area, particularly by reducing the regulated area and lessening the architectural requirements imposed by the original Navarre Town Center Plan.

In consideration of the strategic importance of the water supply in the East Milton area, the Board of County Commissioners adopted the Fairpoint Regional Utility System Wellfield Protection Area Overlay District. This district, which is bounded

by Highway 87S on the west, Highway 90 on the north, Okaloosa County on the east and the Yellow River on the south, imposes additional restrictions on land use and development to help protect the ground water supply in the area.

Also, the Board of County Commissioners adopted a PIT Zoning District to be the singular zoning district which allows borrow, excavation and debris disposal pit operations due to the significant impact of these types of operations on the surrounding areas. The PIT district is intended to allow the development of these types of facilities in suitable locations by imposing greater location criteria and to allow citizens to be aware of where these types of facilities can and will be operated.

Santa Rosa County Development Services Department employees are dedicated professionals who are committed to providing comprehensive, quality service to meet the needs of our customers and will continue to make enhancements that will eliminate unnecessary steps in our processes.

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The Terrace (top) and the Avalex Headquarters (above) are two major projects that were successfully administered through the project management process by Santa Rosa County Development Services.

T R A N S P O RTAT I O N

6051 Old Bagdad Hwy, Ste. 201 • (850) 981-7076 • nancym@santarosa.fl.gov

The transportation section, composed of one employee, was successful in developing multimodal transportation options for the county by working with other county departments, state and regional agencies, and other local governments.

Fiscal Year Highlights • Participated in federal and state planning processes leading to construction of improvements to Avalon Boulevard and SR 87S. • Managed grant and local funds to provide the door-to-door community transportation service in the rural areas of the county.

• Managed grant and local funds to provide Santa Rosa Transit bus service along U.S. Hwy. 90 as a pilot program.

• Worked with the Florida Department of Transportation to study and secure potential routes to connect SR 87S with SR 87N. • Obtained a grant to construct a sidewalk in Jay from the end of the existing Spring Street sidewalk to the Jay schools.

LONG RANGE PL ANNING

6051 Old Bagdad Hwy, Ste. 201 • (850) 981-7076 • paulm@santarosa.fl.gov

Long Range Planning activities covered a wide range of emerging topic areas. Planners worked with citizens, other departments and local governments, and the military to develop plans, policies, and ordinances designed to meet the current and future needs of the county.

Fiscal Year Highlights • Worked with small wind energy system providers to develop regulations that allow for the location of individual-use wind turbines while addressing community and military concerns.

• Provided staff support for a citizen initiated and EPA funded Wellfield Protection Area program. The program included development of an educational brochure and GIS analysis of the county’s wellfield protection overlay district.

• Provided primary staffing for updating the county’s local mitigation strategy.

• Worked with Navarre area property owners to update development regulations for that community.

• Created a new zoning district for borrow pits and landfills.

• Began the process of evaluating and preparing code changes necessary to implement 2011 Florida State Legislative Growth Management changes.

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V E T E R A N S S E RV I C E S

6051 Old Bagdad Hwy, Ste. 204 • (850) 981-7155 • Veterans-Office@santarosa.fl.gov

Santa Rosa County is home to over 23,200 veterans, or 15 percent of the population. Veterans services assist those veterans and their families in obtaining all benefits they are entitled to receive from Veterans Affairs. Claims for numerous benefits include disability compensation, pension, death/burial benefits, education, medical expenses, housing and appeals. A staff of two assists in navigating through VA paperwork, requested forms and other military related issues.

Additionally we assist with State of Florida benefits such as homestead tax exemption letters and Florida ID cards for veterans that are 100 percent permanently & totally disabled.

Fiscal Year Highlights • Served 5,552 veterans and 2,066 family members • Over $3.3 million was awarded to veterans or family members- additional tax free dollars which are spent in Santa Rosa County (an increase from $2.4 million last year) • Personnel conducted 28 house calls and 7 assisted living facility/nursing home visits to assist veterans and surviving spouses • Filed 422 new claims (new customers) for VA benefits • Processed 2,696 letters of correspondence • Processed over 7,500 copies of newsletters for three veterans’ service organizations • Outreach actions included 25 presentations/events throughout Santa Rosa County • Participated in VA Homeless Stand Down, Veterans Day Parade/Ceremony, VA Medical Briefing, first Annual Veterans Summit and guardian to 4 veterans on the final Emerald Coast Honor Flight which has flown a total 191 Santa Rosa County WWII veterans to Washington DC.

Top: Emerald Coast Honor Flight Vets at Memorial in Washington D.C . Over 190 Santa Rosa County WWII veterans traveled to their memorial in D.C. as part of the program.

Left: Participation in the First Annual Veterans Summit 36

P u b l i c Wo r k s The Santa Rosa County Public Works Department serves residents by developing and maintaining quality infrastructure relevant to roads, parks and county buildings.

The department strives to provide timely services in the most cost-effective manner to enhance the quality of life of Santa Rosa County residents. A major emphasis is placed on professionalism and customer service as we continually seek ways to improve our service to county residents. Consisting of the roads and bridges, building maintenance and parks departments, it is the largest department under the authority of the board of county commissioners.

I-10 Bridge by Chris Phillips, Engineering 37

BU I L DI NG M A I N T E NA NC E

4530 Spike's Way Milton • (850) 623-1569 • building-maintenance@santarosa.fl.gov

Building Maintenance provides custodial services and building repairs to all county owned buildings, rental buildings and county parks. Building repairs include HVAC, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, floors, painting and many other repairs. Buildings maintained include the county courthouse, administrative offices, libraries, EOC, health department and several other office buildings.

Fiscal Year Highlights • Performed interior preparation in USDA Building for Library Administration.

• Painted bathrooms and meeting room at Benny Russell Park.

• Painted the inside of Tax Collector Office.

• Painted kennels at Santa Rosa County Animal Services.

• Painted the outside of Santa Rosa County Animal Services.

• Completed 1,320 work orders.

ROA D & B R I D G E

Grounds keeping is just one duty of the building maintenance staff.

6075 Old Bagdad Hwy., Milton • (850) 626-0191 • public-works@santarosa.fl.gov

The Santa Rosa County Road & Bridge Department maintains more than 1,500 miles of roadways. Roadway maintenance includes road paving and resurfacing, dirt road grading, drainage work, road shoulder repair, roadside mowing, brush removal, retention pond maintenance, sign installation and repair, litter removal and numerous other services. The Road & Bridge Department utilizes four inmate crews to perform manual labor tasks in order to perform such tasks in a cost effective manner. The department has not cut or reduced any services despite significant decreases in budget funding and personnel in each fiscal year since 2007. Smaller and more specialized work crews have continued to thrive in the quantity and quality of work performed.

Fiscal Year Highlights • Widened and resurfaced Quintette Road (C.R. 184) utilizing Small County Outreach Program grant from FDOT for 75 percent of the funding.

• Rebuilt the bridge on Martin Road, constructed concrete decks on bridges on Walling Road and Wallace Lake Road and repaired 18 other bridges.

• Completed 3,341 work orders.

• Continued construction of a concrete multi-purpose path on East Bay Boulevard that began at S.R. 87 and will ultimately end at Edgewood Drive.

• Completed a major drainage project on Long Street and Lambert Lane at a cost of approximately $120,000.00 with 75 percent of material costs being funded through a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant.

• Completed a widening and resurfacing project on West Spencer Field Road that included re-alignment of the roadway at the intersection of North Spencer Field Road as a safety enhancement.

• Resolved numerous drainage problems throughout the county.

• Resurfaced 36.41 miles of roadways • Paved 13.68 miles of dirt roads • Obtained Small County Outreach Program grant from FDOT for 75 percent funding to resurface Old Bagdad Highway. The project should be completed

by January 31, 2012.

• Obtained Small County Outreach Program grant from FDOT for 75 percent funding to resurface Hamilton Bridge Road. The project should be completed

by January 31, 2012.

• Obtained Small County Outreach Program grant from FDOT for 75 percent funding to resurface and widen Garcon Point Road from south of Mary Kitchens Road to one mile south of Interstate 10. The project should be completed by December 31, 2012.

• Widened and resurfaced C.R. 197 from S.R. 89 to just north of C.R. 182 utilizing Small County Outreach Program grant from FDOT for 75 percent of the funding.

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PA R K S D E PA R T M E N T

6495 Caroline Street, Ste. J, Milton • (850) 983-1940 • parks@santarosa.fl.gov

The Santa Rosa County Parks Department strives to be responsive to our community and the people we serve by providing safe, clean, and well maintained facilities. The Parks Department maintains 61 functioning recreational sites throughout the county providing for various passive and active recreational opportunities. The Parks Department makes every effort to enhance the charm of our community in a positive manner and to contribute to the quality of life for present and future generations in Santa Rosa County.

District

1 1 1 1 1 2

2

2

2 2

2 2

2 2 2

District Location Project Location Archie Glover Park Continuation of Canal Dredging 3 Chumuckla Community Benny Russell Park Repainted exterior of main building and re-sealed and Center and Park painted playground equipment 3 Chumuckla Jim’s Fish Camp Installed “No Wake Zone” signage Springs Boat Ramp PARA Constructed building to house ice machine 3 Fidelis Community PARA Constructed additional bleacher covers to the home Center and Park and visitors side of football field 3 Santa Rosa East Milton Park Funded contracting of Engineering Services for Sportsplex Tennis Agri-Plex Complex. Contracted automatic closures Courts on all public restroom doors and improved backstop 3 Santa Rosa at T-ball field. County constructed window covers for Sportsplex concession stands and T-ball bleacher covers 3 Town of Jay Bagdad Purchased additional chairs, tables, and carts to Community accommodate increased usage. Added Gulf Power Center security lights to the exterior of the building and dark 4 Navarre Park areas of the park Bagdad Renewed the exterior of the Community Center 4 Navarre Park Community 4 Navarre Soccer Center Complex Bagdad Mill Site Continued progress toward the opening to the 4 Navarre Sports community of the Bagdad Mill Site Park.

Complex Bark City of Milton Assisted in funding for Christmas Light-up Project Park within the City of Milton, additional tables and chairs 4 Navarre Sports for Community Center, and electrical upgrades to Complex Russell Harbor Landing Park Marquis Basin Refurbished piers 5 Bal Alex Optimist Park Added Gulf Power security light and cleared 5 Swenson Park underbrush from perimeter of park for user friendly environment Oyster Pile Boat Added Gulf Power security light Ramp 5 Tiger Point Veteran’s Memorial Assisted in the purchase of a kiosk Plaza Veteran’s Memorial Purchased portable stage for county events Plaza 39

Project Purchased additional tables, chairs, and carts and constructed a new batting cage

Purchased 19 acres of land to construct new boat ramp Constructed handicap accessible sidewalk to playing fields Provided aid to assist with operating expenses to the Pace Area Tennis Association and funded automated light system for tennis courts Completed pole barn to house portable concession stand and added additional security lights to the area Provided aid for upkeep/maintenance for Bray Hendricks Park Refurbished splash pad and contracted the replacement of the aerator in the pond Contracted construction of Pier Funded compost on one soccer field for evaluation of sod re-nourishment Built new large dog park and expanded small dog park area Contracted the upgrade of kitchen equipment in main concession stand to include grills, fryers, hood system, etc.

Contracted seawall reconstruction Moved fitness equipment around perimeter of park to create fitness circuit. Purchased additional benches, picnic tables, and cardio walker. Constructed 20’ x 40’ pavilion with ADA accessible sidewalk Continued improvements as approved by the District 5 Recreational Board; funded ball field improvements, purchased equipment/supplies for field upkeep, purchased break-away bases, and new picnic tables for playground

2011 PUBLIC WORKS PROJECT S

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P U B L I C I N F O R M AT I O N

4499 Pine Forest Rd., Milton • (850) 983-5254 • news@santarosa.fl.gov

The Public Information Officer is responsible for coordinating county communications and releasing accurate and timely information to Santa Rosa County residents, the media and board of county commissioners’ employees. The office is tasked with the organization of seasonal campaigns, managing crisis or disaster related information, as well as the day to day management of internal and external communication strategies. The PIO provides similar services to a full-service communications agency, focusing on heightening awareness of the county’s mission, programs, policies, initiatives and services offered by its 22 divisions. The county PIO also works in the field during emergencies and is available to the media 24/7.

Fiscal Year Highlights • Responded to over 275 media and resident requests for information.

• Issued more than 350 press releases, media advisories and "tweets" to local media and citizens to promote awareness of county meetings, services, programs and public safety.

• Provided copy writing, design, media training and other communications support to county departments.

• Responded on scene to fires, accidents, and weather events to support media and staff.

• Worked with computer staff to reformat county's home page.

• Continued to make improvements to the county's crisis response initiatives by integrating and managing multiple tools for disseminating information in times of disasters and emergencies.

• Designed county publications including the 2009-2010 Annual Report to the Citizens, 2011 Disaster Preparedness Guide, Transit Ride Guides and other informational printed pieces.

• Designed and distributed eight commission district newsletters and five “Your County, Your Government” fact sheets to help the public better understand county services and programs.

• Received two Image and one Judge's award for excellence in public relations at the 2011 Northwest Florida Image Awards.

• Published four issues of “Inside Connection,” a newsletter for county staff.

• Organized and/or assisted county and state organizations with special events.

Jordan Pond by Aleta Floyd, Computer/GIS Department 41

VETER ANS MEMORIAL PL AZA

5191 C Willing St., Milton • (850) 626-7292 • vetplaza@santarosa.fl.gov

The Santa Rosa County Veterans Memorial Plaza is dedicated to the veterans of the United States of America - America’s heroes of centuries past and freedom’s defenders of days to come.

History will long remember the sacrifices of America’s heroic veterans, and this memorial is dedicated to the honor, memory and respect of those brothers and sisters who have proudly and faithfully served this great nation. This memorial also stands as a chronicle of America’s history and the importance of never forgetting. May all who visit this memorial recognize and appreciate the sacrifices and contributions America’s veterans have made for all mankind.

Fiscal Year Highlights

A brick is placed in memory of Navy Lt. Clinton R. Wermers.

• Held Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day ceremonies at the memorial • Assisted with the ninth and final Honor Flight for our WWII veterans • Created the Santa Rosa County Veterans Memorial Foundation • Created two programs, the Veterans Assistance Preprogram and the Vets to VA Clinics • Placed 161 bricks in the memorial in honor of our veterans • Two weddings were held at the memorial

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Photos courtesy of Bill Gamblin/the Santa Rosa Press Gazette.

Left: Independence Day fireworks light up the Defending Eagle

bronze statue found at the entrance of the plaza.

Center: Veterans pay their respects to our fallen military during the

2011 Memorial Day Ceremony.

Right: Visitors read an inscription on one of the 16 timeline panels.

County Extension

6263 Dogwood Dr., Milton • (850) 623-3868 • county-extension@santarosa.fl.gov The Santa Rosa County Extension Service is a partnership between the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, or UF/IFAS, and Santa Rosa County to provide scientific knowledge and expertise to the public. Our mission is “to develop knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources and the life sciences and to make that knowledge accessible to sustain and enhance the quality of human life”. We do this by conducting research-based educational programs in agriculture, horticulture, family and consumer sciences, marine interest and 4-H youth development. Locally based advisory committees assure that programs are designed to meet community needs. Volunteer training is strongly emphasized in our programs to enable us to reach more of the county's population.

Fiscal Year Highlights

• The Florida Cooperative Extension Service initiated a long range planning effort to update educational program priorities to meet clientele needs.

Thirty community leaders and area citizens participated in a “county listening session” where local issues, and program needs were identified. Additional input was provided by agent program advisory groups.

• Ninety-nine individuals were trained in using “restricted-use” pesticides and 58 received pesticide applicator licenses. It has been shown that trained licensed applicators increase their annual earning capability by $6,400 or more. This translated to a potential increase in income of $371,200 for the 58 applicators.

• Through participation in the small scale egg and poultry production meeting, 131 individuals gained knowledge in breed selection, nutrition and disease management and safe food handling for meat and egg production.

• Two-hundred thirty-three local officials and area citizens participated in the 45th Annual Santa Rosa County Farm Tour where they learned first-hand of the importance of agriculture and forestry in the county and the issues facing local farmers.

• Food safety training and certification was provided for 28 fruit and vegetable growers.

Prior studies show this certification has increased annual sales by $9,250 per farm.

• The first “Apple Field Day” held in Florida was presented on June 2 at Holland Farms.

Participants had the opportunity to see three low chill apple cultivars in production.

• A bee pasture was established at a local farm in order to study, demonstrate and promote local native pollinating insects. Ten species of wildflowers were established in large plots and replicated three times.

Bird's Nest Fungus

by Dan Mullins, Extension Services

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• Fifty producers attended two specialty crop field days at the West Florida Research and Education Center in Allentown. Attendees learned about production of vegetables in high tunnel greenhouses and shade houses.

• The Santa Rosa Sea Grant Agent provided workshops for regional educators, county waterway planners and led field trips for youth and adults to our coastal areas. More than 2,000 residents and tourists participated in programs.

Volunteers with the program provided more than 400 hours of volunteer service.

• Santa Rosa County 4-H reached over 6,000 youth through community clubs, after school clubs and school enrichment programs. A wide variety of subject matter was offered through trained adult and teen leaders.

• Three thousand five hundred and twenty-three fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students participated in the annual 4-H Tropicana Public Speaking Contest.

• “4-H Know Your Government” programs and field trips to the state capitol were coordinated for five elementary schools. Over 600 fourth and fifth grade students were provided hands-on learning experiences in civic education.

• 4-H members and leaders contributed over 10,000 hours of volunteer service to the community.

• During Farm-to-City Week, extension staff and community volunteers collaborated with local agencies to provide fresh vegetables, recipes and nutrition education to 300 families receiving Thanksgiving food baskets.

• Santa Rosa Home and Community Educators provided 1,887 volunteer hours, valued at $34,343. HCE volunteers reached approximately 34,000 individuals through health fairs, community outreach, and educational presentations.

• The family and consumer sciences agent instructed 27 local professionals in a national child passenger safety certification program.

• Through the Family Nutrition Program partnership with Sodexo School Food Services, 1,865 students received monthly nutrition education lessons and demonstrated increased knowledge and positive behavior change.

• Four hundred fifty clients utilized the South Annex Plant Clinic to assist them in identifying and resolving their landscape issues.

• Five hundred and five free pH, EC and nutrient tests were performed for clients.

• Twenty-nine residential horticultural seminars/ workshops were offered and attended by 811 county residents.

• In 2011, nine county residents completed the Master Gardener training course.

• The Panhandle Butterfly House had 14,646 visitors.

Over 2,500 attended the 5th Annual Monarch Madness Butterfly Festival and 500 monarch butterflies were tagged for research and educational purposes.

• Santa Rosa County Master Gardeners volunteered a total of 10,175 hours. Community volunteers donated 1,144 hours at the Panhandle Butterfly House valued at a rate of $17.78 per hour; this represents a $201,125 contribution to the county and the University of Florida.

• Theresa Friday, Residential Horticulture Agent, received the following awards/recognition ▷▷Association of International Agricultural and Extension Education Best Poster Award ▷▷National Association of County Agricultural Agents Excellence in 4H/ Youth Programming National Finalist ▷▷National Association of County Agricultural Agents Achievement Award

Top to bottom: Farm to City Week event sign, Theresa Friday and volunteers educate at the Monarch Madness butterfly Festival, Ginny Hinton teaching students about nutrition, 4-H members participate in the IBO Spring National Archery event, and Ag Agent John Atkins examines a peanut crop.

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Commission Working Districts

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Fire Districts

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R e f l e c t i o n s Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners • 6495 Caroline Street, Suite M • Milton, FL 32570 • www.santarosa.fl.gov