Gov Crist Here, Comments on Airport, No Education Cuts, and Offshore Oil Drilling

Dancing on the animated floor projection, Governor Charlie Crist made an appearance at the Panama City Beach’s Chamber of Commerce last Tuesday to attend a “round-table” meeting with 10 of the leaders of the Panama City Beach community. Among many topics, the dynamics involved with education funding, offshore drilling, and the new Panama City-Bay County Airport were discussed.

A restricted schedule kept the questions to a minimum, but 5 were able to address the Governor including Anthony DuBose on the lending industry, Al McCambry on private vs public education funding, Dan Rowe on offshore drilling, Tom Morgan about the new airport, and Gary Walsingham regarding college funding. The answers varied and actually resulted in around 50 minutes of video footage.

Starting off discussing the housing market, Governor Crist talked about the current 10% annual cap on property taxes for 2nd homes and businesses and the possiblity of that being cut in half, should the people of Florida vote on it on the November 2010 ballot. The Florida legislature just passed this to be on the ballot. In addition, there will also be a 25% reduction in property taxes to first-time homebuyers.

Governor Crist also commented on state-wide education in that when he first came into office, Education Weekly ranked Florida education 31st out of 50 in the United States. Last year, the state of Florida was ranked 14th and this year Florida ranked 10, marking a clear improvement, Crist said. The Governor humbly credited his predecessor Gov Jeb Bush for setting in play most of what led to the increase in quality education in Florida.

Regarding offshore drilling, Governor Crist voiced his opinion in support of drilling citing that if “it’s safe enough, far enough and clean enough,” then he thinks we should do it. He discussed a new technology that was presented to him three weeks ago that placed a mushroom-shaped dome on the ocean floor that housed all the oil extraction equipment so that no surface equipment would be needed any longer. He said that this could be the future of drilling and could lead to less environmental risk. “I believe the founders of our country signed the Declaration of Independence, not the Declaration of Dependence,” said Crist, describing how we need to alleviate our dependence on foreign oil.

Governor Crist commented on the airport saying that the timing couldn’t be better to help push this part of Florida into prosperous economic times. Enterprise Florida, a new initiative to grow industry in the State of Florida has the potential to spread its influence further into the Bay County area, and Crist said that is largely due to the economic opportunities the new airport will make possible. There lies huge opportunity in the aerospace, bio-engineering, cargo, and more. Crist, excited about the opportunity, “This is so much the right thing to do.”

Crist also cited that there was an increase in education funding to the tune of $2.1 billion which will lead to about $43 million in increased funding for community colleges and $100 million in increased funding for university-level colleges.

In attendance:

Beth Oltman, President/CEO of the Panama City Beach Chamber
Anthony DuBose, President of Coastal community Insurance and PCB Chamber
Mayor Gayle Oberst of Panama City Beach
Philip Griffitts Jr., Owner of Sugar Sands Inn and Suites
Paul Wohlford, VP Sales and Marketing of the Resort Collection of Panama City Beach
Marty McDaniel, President of Oaseas Resorts, Chairman of the Bay County TDC
Dan Rowe, President of the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau
Jessica Pfefferkorn, Commanding Officer, Naval Support Activity Panama City
Robert Carroll, Vice President, McNeil Carroll Engineering
Al McCambry, General Manager of Knology
Karen Blackerby, Vice President of Magnum Capital
Jack Bishop, Restaurant Owner
Steve Counts, President of Counts Real Estate Group
Gary Walsingham, CEO Walsingham Investment/Ripley’s Beleive It or Not
Elizabeth Walters, Attorney/Partner of Burke Blue Hutchison Walters & Smith
Edy Rivard, Gulf Coast Medical
Tom Morgan, St. Joe

FREE Rare Beer at Hofbrau Beer Garden Friday

Friday Hofbrau Beer Garden will be giving away a whole keg of rare Premium Unfiltered Lager. Yes, that’s the name, and if you are a German Beer fan, you know the name well. You also know that this beer is imported from Germany in a very limited supply and usually only supplied to bonafide Hofbrauhaus’. However, the owners made some calls and were able to score 6 barrels that they’ve been saving for the locals.

So, let me reiterate. Hofbrau Beer Garden in Pier Park in Panama City Beach has 6 barrels of Premium Unfiltered Lager imported in limited supply from Germany, and they are giving 1 of their 6 barrels away for free Friday night. They received these barrels a few weeks back and wanted to save them for the locals. The other 6 barrels are expected to go quickly Friday night as well.

Premium Unfiltered Lager is described by Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas as a unique, rare and creative beer that lets beer drinkers enjoy the rich taste of hops. It’s a German-style beer that dates back to at least the Middle Ages. It is matured unbunged (the beer is exposed) in deep vaults. The final product is a smooth, naturally cloudy beer that is rich in vitamins from the yeast with a crisp taste of hops. Premium Unfiltered lager is best served between 40 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. It is said that Bavarians have been drinking this particular beer for 400 years.

One Beach, Two Extreme Events

This past weekend Panama City Beach enjoyed two very unique and extreme events; the Gulf Coast Triathlon and the Paragliders Beach Blast. Competitors and tourists from countries all over the world came down for the events hosted on the “World’s Most Beautiful Beach.”

For the fourth consecutive time, Mike Neill, hailing from British Columbia, Canada, won the Gulf Coast Triathlon, on this occasion enduring 85 degree heat to turn in a time of 4:06:33. Fellow Canadian, Ben Cotter, finished second 7 minutes off pace with a time of 4:13:58. The first local male to cross the finish line was David Shearon with a time of 4:37:17, a time good enough to land him 12^th overall. Caroline Smith of Mandeville, LA won for the women with a time of 4:43:29 followed not far behind by Gabriela Loskotova from the Czech Republic with a time of 4:47:48. The first local female to cross the finish line was Helen Libby from Lynn Haven, who, like her fellow local top finisher, finished 12^th with a time of 5:08:24.

If you were out cheering on the racers you might’ve noticed the perfect blue sky dotted with colorful gliding chutes. Edgewater Beach Resort hosted the Beach Blast, a showcase of the world’s most talented Paragliders. For those who don’t know, Paragliding is a recreational and competitive flying sport where a Paraglider, in a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft, sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing and takes to the air using air pressure and a motorized fan to pilot. Nearly a hundred of these Paragliding pilots from all over the world owned the Panama City Beach skies. It was quite a site to see. Even beach-lovers, amazed by the flying chutes, got a chance to fly as the pilots gave tandem rides to onlookers, strapping them in and flying them over the beach and shoreline.

In one weekend we saw running, swimming, biking and flying. I guess that just about covers all the bases and summer hasn’t even started yet.

More Beach Blast Pictures

LeaderShape Institute Visits Panama City Beach

We had several students from Florida State and FAMU visit for a beach cleanup and survey this week. Thanks to PanamaCityBeach.com for sending us this group and to Royal American Beach Getaways for supplies and sponsorship.

The following is a report from the students and facilitators. I’ll comment that adding trash bags to the beach could be dangerous as they indicate, but it would be better than more cans. The cans are ugly and filthy; people must learn to take their trash off the beaches for proper disposal.

The TDC has reported that they are looking into bio-degradable bags for the public beach entrances. I believe this would help.

Thank you VERY MUCH to the students and facilitators who visited our beaches and participated in the cleanup.

LeaderShape alumni include Google co-founder Larry Page.

FAMU and Florida State LeaderShape Institute

(Report from participants in the LeaderShape Institute)

60 students and 11 faculty members from Florida State University and Florida A&M University are taking part in a national program called the LeaderShape Institute. The LeaderShape Institute encourages students to develop a vision for positive change in their communities while being provided with the knowledge and resources to learn how to live and lead with integrity.

As part of the day’s curriculum theme, which was “The value of one, the power of all,” our students divided into groups to complete service projects in the PCB area Saturday morning. Engaging in active service teaches our participants how to work together to identify community needs and create positive change through outreach and relationship-building.

The students working on the beach clean up awareness campaign worked together to pick up litter and gather qualitative data from beach-goers to determine how well the needs of the beach community are being served.

Here are their findings:
1. How clean are these beaches compared to public places?

The students interviewed approximately 50 beach-goers at 2 sites-some local and some tourist. The responses that most tourists offered surprised many of our students because the majority felt as though the beaches were cleaner than most. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most filthy, tourists gave the beaches a 4 score on average. However, the students were presented with a very different perspective from local residents, particularly one of the lifeguards. The lifeguard, a native of Hawaii, said that of all of the country’s beaches, PCB was among the dirtiest. The students reasoned that the beaches were cleaner at this point of year than during peak seasons, which would explain why tourists’ perceptions of the beach condition would be cleaner than the locals’ perceptions. The group collected approximately 25 full bags of garbage, in which were aluminum cans, cigarette butts, Styrofoam cups, old beach toys, and even several diapers.

2. If you were given trash bags, would you be more inclined to clean up your trash?

Almost every respondent indicated that offering personal trash bags would not only fail to solve the problem, but possibly make it worse. Students cited the following reasons:
-failure to properly secure the bags would lead to wind blowing the trash out of the bags and back onto the beach
-the bags might get left on the beach, causing more litter
-the bags might blow into the ocean, creating a hazard for marine life

On the other hand, the students proposed the following solutions:
-more large blue trash receptacles
-in place of using tax dollars to comb the beach, the city should sponsor a local initiative for beach cleanup. Local residents suggested that most volunteer groups that come out to clean up the beach are from out of town and cannot return frequently enough to make a lasting change in the beach condition. By sponsoring local organizations and volunteer efforts, PCB can encourage more consistent effort and attention on the upkeep of its beaches.

3. How much money is spent on beach cleanup annually?

The students documented a wide range of responses, ranging from a few thousand to 4 million dollars. The respondents were generally surprised to find out that over 1 million dollars is spent on beach clean up each year.

The students indicated that they learned a great deal from their experience. Part of the LeaderShape curriculum emphasizes the importance of “staying in action,” so the students have been encouraged to take their new knowledge and contact the appropriate community officials and representatives to encourage more attention and funding to be given to the preservation of the beaches.

TDC Meeting Agenda – Marketing: Summer Updates, Fall Preview

Tuesday’s combined Panama City Beach Tourist Development Council/Convention and Visitors Bureau (TDC/CVB) should shed some light on upcoming marketing programs. Expect to hear an insightful update on 2009 summer marketing programs. This topic has been discussed in previous meeting s but as summer is nearly upon us, expect tangible updates on the program’s implementation process.

For the first time this year we’ll also get early discussions on the Fall/Winter marketing programs. You’ll want to bring a pen and pad for this one. Also there will be a discussion on the 2010 vacation planner.

The three board action items include consideration for approval financial statements, consideration for approval the disposition of the loan to Flying High, LLC, and consideration for approval Coastal Planning & Engineering .

You can download the agenda here, or view it below.

AGENDA

COMBINED BOARD MEETING

Bay County Tourist Development Council

Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc.

Panama City Beach

Tuesday – 2:00PM – May 12, 2009 Council Room, PCB City Hall

CALL MEETING TO ORDER

II. ROLL CALL

A.Invocation

B. Pledge of Allegiance

III. REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON AGENDA ITEMS (3 Minutes)

IV. UPDATE ON BED TAX COLLECTIONS, Ms. Charlene Honnen, Tourist Development Tax Specialist

V. BOARD ACTION ITEMS

A. Discuss and Consider for Approval CVB/TDC Financial Statements Dated March 31, 2009, Mr. Dan Rowe, President

B. Discuss and Consider for Approval the Disposition of the Loan to Flying High, LLC, Mr. Dan Rowe, President

C. Discuss and Consider for Approval Coastal Planning & Engineering Invoice #90428, Invoice #90432, and Invoice #90435, Mr. Dan Rowe, President

VI. BOARD DISCUSSION ITEMS

A. Mid-Year Update, Mr. Dan Rowe, President

B. Update on 2009 Summer Marketing Campaign, Ms. Susan Estler, VP of Marketing

C. Discuss Fall/Winter Marketing Programs, Mr. Dan Rowe, President

D. Discuss 2010 Vacation Planner, Mr. Dan Rowe, President

VII. PRESIDENT’S REPORT

VIII. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

IX. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

X. ADJOURNMENT

Free Kid's Fishing Clinic: June 6th 2009

On June 6, 2009 pack up the kids and head down to the Panama City Marina for the Panama City Kids Fishing Clinic.The Kid’s Fishing Clinic is a one day free educational event established by the Outreach and Education Section of the Division of Marine Fisheries Management in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

This free event teaches children fishing ethics, angling skills and safety while providing a positive fishing experience. Kids can have fun fishing and learning about the vulnerability of Florida’s marine ecosystems as well as fundamental saltwater fishing knowledge. For attending, each child receives a free rod & reel, tackle and lunch. So mark your calendars.

This event is still in need of sponsors and volunteers. To become a sponsor or volunteer please contact Ellen at (850) 234-2621 or Ellen@halfhitch.com

In The Works: Beach Volleyball League

After the AVP volleyball Pro Volleyball tournament hit the sands of Panama City Beach, people all over the beach wanted to show off their volleyball skills in competition. If you are one of those people, now you have a chance. On the week of May 18^th, PCB Sand Sports in partnership with Sharky’s Beachfront Restaurant & Tiki Bar, will be offering a competitive league for you to get your spike on.

Interest in the sport has always been a local staple on Panama City Beach but, as of late, that interest has become a desire to provide a permanent place to play. PCB Sand Sports, in an attempt to address that desire, plans to create leagues, tournaments and events for the local community as well as for tourists in the area.

Leagues during the week will be available in several categories from fun-loving novice to expert competitor. PCB Sand Sports is part of the AVPNext program which is the membership organization for AVP Pro Volleyball tour. AVPNext is working with Barefoot Wine to offer the winners of the Barefoot Men’s division or Women’s doubles a change to win prize money of $1,000.00 along with a trip for two to San Francisco to take part in the Barefoot Championship Cup held in August.

All leagues are $50.00 per player for registration along with a $10.00 per player membership fee to join the AVPNext program. All leagues will run for about 8 weeks. It should be all sorts of sandy fun.

Tuesday: 4 person co-ed (at least one woman on court)
Wednesday: Barefoot AVPNext Men’s Doubles
Thursday:6 person co-ed “fun” league (at least 2 women on court)
Friday: Barefoot Women’s Doubles

For more information email beachresearch@yahoo.com or contact Roman at 850-769-4802

Dunkin Donuts Falls Victim to Bay County Health Director

In a bold move, Bay County Health Director, Dr. Jason Newsom recently included shots fired directly at Dunkin Donuts in the rotation of the regular rotating messages on the digital billboard in front of the Bay County Health Department. The digital billboard flashes in rotation a number of “health-messages” that often chime in to the tune of “french fries = thunder thighs” or specifically what the Health Director came under fire about, “Dunkin Donuts = death”, and “Dunkin = diabetes”.

In a letter to Dr. Jason Newsom, Commissioner Mike Thomas requested Dr. Newsom’s resignation citing that this was not the only time his messages were too edgy. No complaints had been made on the Dunkin Donuts message, but many complaints had been made in the past to County Commissioners.

The frankness of the messages exceeds the tolerance of many in the public, and although I can understand, sympathize and even endorse a consistent message conveying good health habits, I would think naming businesses directly would be counter-productive as to the purpose of the messaging to begin with. Surely there could be a better way to convey a healthy message other than to say “fries = thunder thighs“; try “apple = healthy heart“. Maybe conveying a positive message could be more productive and less criticized.

I don’t know Dr. Newsom, nor have I followed his actions as Bay County Public Health Director, but I would think it irresponsible as a public official to participate in slander on a business.

This particular incident fired up Commissioner Mike Thomas because of the use of the name Dunkin Donuts, which is slated to open in the next 30 days at Back Beach Road and the newly renamed R Jackson Blvd. Thomas cites that the use of a business name could put Bay County at risk of lawsuit. I think the message is short-sighted and irrisponsible and agree with Thomas that Dr. Newsom should have the sense to not single out a business in his “public-health” messages. I don’t know that I would call for his resignation, but this clearly shows a lack of capable discernment and emulates poor judgement.

On a side note, although I think donuts are delicious, they are terrible for you.

What do you think?

Edited 5/11/09: Dr. Jason Newsom offered his resignation Friday and is no longer the Director of Public Health for Bay County.

Pet of The Week – Friends of Bay County Animal Control

Working with The Friends of Bay County Animal Control, we’ve started a new feature called the Pet of the Week. Each week, we’ll feature a pet that is up for adoption, whether she be a soft, furry cat that will try and climb your curtains or play with yarn or a puppy with big brown eyes, be on the look out for the perfect pet for you.

This week’s pet is named Mali (pronounced Molly). Mali is a lap kitty who loves long talks and long petting too. She loves to play and often entertains herself with adorable antics. She is a small, green-eyed female who loves attention and is very sweet. Mali has been in foster care and is estimated to be about 1 year of age.

If you are interested in making Mali part of your family, please call 850-303-1083 or email FriendsOfBCAC@comcast.net.

A Word from PCBDaily – Updates, etc.

I love using etc. to capture anything that could possibly come after a statement. It’s just so . . . all encompassing.

I just wanted to write a post to you the reader from me, the owner/publisher/editor/whatever-else-you-want-to-call-me to tell you some of the new things we have going on with PCBDaily.com and some of the things you can expect to see in the future.

Cebo!

We’ve been growing by leaps and bounds, expanding our content base and adding new features utilizing technologies that aren’t necessarily new, but really hot, non-the-less. Many of you have noticed Cebo writing for us, and we are greatly appreciative of your acceptance of him. He’s super awesome and a very welcome, long overdue addition to our staff. Welcome aboard Cebo! I guess that makes it official, even though you’ve been on the payroll for 4 weeks already. Has that much time flown by already? sheesh.

Sister (or brother?) Site, SeePCB

Cebo is helping me spread the news about Panama City Beach on PCBDaily.com and he’s also been hard at work on our sister site, SeePCB.com. SeePCB is an all new site that is filling in the gap that is left by PCBDaily. In other words, SeePCB is everything PCBDaily can’t be. PCBDaily is news as it relates to real estate, growth and tourism in Panama City Beach, and SeePCB discusses everything there is to do here. Whether you are a local or a tourist, you can read SeePCB to learn about everything there is to do in our awesome town. SeePCB is a blog, just like PCBDaily and we’ll publish regular content all the time, just like PCBDaily (try 30 to 40 new articles each month) and we’ll include great pictures, video and, of course, very awesome writing about all there is to do in Panama City Beach. So, if you have an attraction, event, or shop or restaurant you’d like us to feature, let us know and we’ll come on out and write all about it. And, if you want to know all about what its like to ride a flat bottom airboat through West Bay or dine at Shan Kishi, come on over and check it out.

Visit www.SeePCB.com to check it out.

All About Real Estate TV Show

Many of you have noticed our new internet TV show all about real estate in Panama City Beach, The Beach Show. This was an idea that I’d been mulling over for quite some time (since last fall when I lost my job, frankly) and I finally took the time to get it going. We worked on the concept for weeks before we finally nailed it, and turns out, we’ve really hit on something. We’ve been flooded with emails and phone calls of both buyers, agents, and friends with nothing but great things to say – Thank you! I’ve been buddies with Karen for a long time, and she’s always been great with finding very hot deals, so we decided to team up to bring you these hot deals every week, on video.

So, here’s the scoop: every Wednesday at 9 am, we air The Beach Show at www.TheBeachShow.com. Each week, we feature three properties that are the hottest deals listed on Panama City Beach. Many times, over the last couple of weeks, the deals were so hot that they were sold by the end of the week, not necessarily from our efforts, but because they were so hot. So, that’s why it’s important to call right away if you see something you like.

If you are an agent and you want us to feature one of your properties, we’re totally willing to look at it, but we can make no guarantees that it will make the cut. I’ve been asked many times to spell out how it qualifies, but I can’t give a definitive answer; each property is looked at differently. The only thing I can say is that it has to be such a great deal that it won’t last long. Many questions are answered on our About page, you should check it out.

Visit www.TheBeachShow.com.

Oh, and just on a side note, a little tip would be to subscribe to our YouTube page, you’ll be notified as soon as a new video is posted. We shoot Tuesday, and I cut the movie Tuesday night, and typically try and have it to start uploading right before I go to bed. We do everything in HD, so it takes about 2 hours to upload, but if you are a late (or early) bird, you could get the scoop before everyone else!

Visit www.youtube.com/thebeachshow

Totally Social, dude. Wow, this could be a long section.

If you are a Facebook junkie, or spend too much time Tweeting, then you probably know all about how all this works. If not, read on. In an effort to spread the word in different mediums and be sure that everyone can access our content in ways they feel comfortable, we’ve tied everything together and made it to where we can give updates on the run. First off, we’ve got PCBDaily (and all our other sites, for that matter) tied right into Twitter. Whenever we publish a new article, our Twitter account is notified, and Tweeted the article title and a link back to it. At this point, all of the “Twits” that are following us, can be notified on their mobile devices, or by email (depending on how they have their notifications settings configured) of new content being posted to the site. Many people ask me what Twitter is for, and I actually have a difficult time in explaining how everyone can use it, although I can pretty well explain why I like it. I would, however, recommend watching this video.

I love Twitter because I can send in Tweets from my cell phone whenever I have something small to say or need to give a quick update that wouldn’t warrant a whole blog post. Many times, you can follow the things we’re up to throughout the day. TDC meeting? We tweet it. Photo shoot? We tweet it. Meeting with Governor Crist? We tweet it. Get the picture?

Visit www.Twitter.com/pcbdaily

Many of you are my friends on Facebook. If you are not, then you should sign up and join in on the fun. I have my Facebook page all set up so that whenever I send in a new tweet, my Facebook status is updated with the message. I get comments all the time of people thanking me for keeping them informed right through Facebook. I also upload all our videos to Facebook and link off to our Flickr photo gallery.

There are three things to look at on Facebook. We have my main profile page, and we have a Fan Page for PCBDaily and The Beach Show. We’re building the one for SeePCB.

Visit Jason Koertge’s Facebook Profile Page.

Visit PCBDaily’s Facebook Fan Page.

Visit The Beach Show’s Facebook Fan Page.

We’ve just recently changed our policy on video hosting sites. For the last year or so, we’ve been using Vimeo. We switched because, frankly, I got tired of all the garbage that would come up after one of my videos that I embedded in PCBDaily would finish playing, plus, the quality was very crappy and they didn’t take HD. Well, times have changed, so we have too! YouTube not only will let us upload HD, but the HD videos also look as good there as they did with Vimeo! Plus, they’ve given the user more control over what plays after each video.

We also have another motive for the change. With all the videos we are publishing through The Beach Show, PCBDaily and the video show we’re going to run through SeePCB, we hope to flood out all the videos that might have a less-than-favorable protrayal of Panama City Beach. Right now, when you search Panama City Beach in YouTube, most of the videos that come up are from spring breakers drinking copious amounts of alcohol and doing who know’s what. Some of you may like that, but for the rest of you, we going to try and even out the ratio. Should be fun.

Visit www.YouTube.com/pcbdaily

Pictures, pictures, pictures. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, we want to be sure that there is no short supply of pictures of Panama City Beach. And, to be sure that we have them hosted on one of the most searched and indexed photo sharing sites our there, we upload everything to Flickr, Yahoo’s photo sharing mecca. Everything is tagged and sorted in their own photo sets. Each set is named beginning with the date, then what it’s all about. Right now, we have over 1200 pictures and growing.

Visit www.Flickr.com/pcbdaily

Visit www.Flickr.com/seepcb – 207 pictures already, and growing every day!

It’s all about the Mobile

The mobile population is growing, fast. In order to keep up, we’ve got a whole new addition to the PCBDaily offering – our very own mobile site. If you want to visit PCBDaily.com from your cell phone, just type in the normal URL, http://www.pcbdaily.com and our super smart site will automatically detect that you are on a mobile browser and redirect you to the mobile version of PCBDaily. The mobile site is optimized so that you don’t have to wait for images to load, giving you all the plain text your eyes can muster reading.

Oh, and by the way, all of the social sites can be found in the sidebars of all of our sites (or will be soon).