Dr. Ed Wright, former Dean for FSU-PC and fellow blogger publishes a blog specifically on WestBay, Florida.  He offers a very informed opinion and provides an excellent source for facts on the goingson in the WestBay area. 

Some of his recent posts include:

A Regional Airport?  – There was a very interesting article in Sunday’s News Herald (11/4/07) about the need for the new airport to have a regional name and identity. This is definitely something we should discuss and consider.

Friday at the Beach to Highlight Audubon Nature Center  – On November 9th, the Panama City Beaches Chamber’s Friday at the Beach breakfast will feature Linda Macbeth from Florida Audubon. Linda will discuss Audubon’s plans to build a world class nature center in West Bay.

For those that have not noticed, I have a spot in the sidebar that displays RSS feeds directly from his blog, WestBayFlorida.Blogspot.com.  Whenever you are on pcbdaily.com, you can see the latest on his blog.  To read the entire post, just click on the title and it will take you to the WestBay Florida blog.

Thanks Ed, for all the valuable information and input you publish on WestBayFlorida.Blogspot.com

First I’d like to apologize. There has been tons of stuff in the news this week that I’m sure many have been expecting to see on here, but needless to say, it has been quite a crazy week.

As I’m sure you figured from the title, the official ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Panama City Bay County International Airport was announced this morning to take place on November 1st. I received my invitation this morning and hope to take video and pictures. I heard that Governor Crist will be the keynote speaker for this event. The event will take place near the new airport site on 388.

Click here for all the archived information on the Panama City Airport Relocation.

Also:

Date Set for Groundbreaking Ceremony!

Governor Crist to Attend Groundbreaking

Community Airport Redevelopment (or CAR) of Salt Lake City, a subsidiary of Leucadia, was awarded the sale of the current airport site and is expected to move quickly.  Leucadia’s original bid came in second place to the Pittsburgh group, PCA, at $50 million.  Leucadia is previously know for the development of Rosemary Beach and Draper Lake Developments.

“The Panama City – Bay County Airport and Industrial District (Airport Authority) today announced it has approved a contract to sell the current airport site to a subsidiary of Leucadia National Corporation of New York (NYSE:  LUK) for $56.5 million in cash and significant revenues from transfer fees from the sale of future properties developed on site. The airport is being relocated to a site in northwestern

Bay County to be donated to the Airport Authority by The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE).  The current airport site is approximately 700 acres adjacent to North Bay inPanama City.”This is the final piece of the puzzle; our financial plan for the new airport is in place,” said Bill Cramer, Airport Authority vice chairman and lead negotiator for the property sale.  “We can now move forward aggressively to meet our goals to create a new airport with improved air service, provide an opportunity for economic development and create an environmental jewel for the entire region.”

The purchaser or the airport site is Community Airport Redevelopment, LLC (CAR), which is 90% owned by Leucadia National Corporation.  Leucadia developed Rosemary Beach and

DraperLake inFlorida, among numerous other properties. The remaining 10% of CAR is owned by WMR Capital Corporation, a Delaware corporation which has developed more than 30 residential, commercial and office real estate projects including Willow Creek Plantation in Okaloosa County, Florida, and Noventa Ocho inWalton County, Florida.

Upon execution of the contract, CAR will place $56.5 million into an escrow account.  Transfer fees will provide the Airport Authority with 0.05% of the sales price on most properties on the current site sold by CAR over the next 90 years.  These fees were previously estimated to total some $38 million over the first 30 years of the agreement with additional fees collected during the final 60 years.”

Read the full press release here:  Airport Property awarded to CAR/Leucadia

I have heard unofficially that the groundbreaking for the new airport will take place at the end of the month or first part of November.  I’m hoping to attend so as to get video and pictures. 

Two lawsuits are expected to surface against the airport relocation:

• The National Resources Defense Council – challenges the legitimacy of the FAA’s decision to approve the airport given the potential impact on the West Bay Area, does not acknowledge the approximately 10,000 acres of dedicated bayfront conservation land.
• Several groups, including the Clean Water Network of Florida – challenging the legitimacy of the issuance of the 404 Permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. There is not a suit yet, but one is expected in the coming months.

There is no time limitation as to when the lawsuits need to be filed, but the relocation progress will continue. If one of the groups wins, the relocation will be stopped, but as time moves on, stopping the relocation will become more difficult.

The latest I’ve heard about the groundbreaking was sometime in October, no definite dates yet.

For more information on the airport relocation, visit WestBayFlorida.BlogSpot.com

Some recent topics include:

• Tannhill Rebuts Palm Beach Post – Dear Editor: The Palm Beach Post editorial board has ably demonstrated it knows nothing about the relocation of the Panama City airport. It attacked the project, claiming it would damage a body of water called “South Bay.” There is no South Bay near Panama City. If the Post were truly interested in understanding the essential need for relocating the airport, it could have contacted the local Airport Authority to ask a few questions. Instead, the Post regurgitated inaccurate talking points compiled by a discredited opponent of the project. . . (more)
• About the non-binding public referendum voting against the Airport Relocation – Relocation opponents and out-of-town editorial writers like to continually bring up the 2004 non-binding referendum on airport relocation. Never mind that only about 20,000 Bay County voters bothered to show up to vote. Never mind the referendum was held in conjunction with the Democratic Presidential primary. . . (more)

Trim Dispute Extension

The Bay County Commission first motioned to try and extend the deadline 14 days, even thought they were uncertain whether they had the authority to do so. Yesterday, however, it was approved to extend it 21 days by the Department of Revenue with he support of Senator Don Gaetz.

News of the Panama City Bay County International Airport is in the news in Jacksonville. This makes sense as St. Joe, with one of Florida’s largest real estate holdings with over 800,000 acres, is based in Jacksonville. read more

The latest word on groundbreaking falls sometime in October. I haven’t heard any solid dates as of yet, but I hope to attend.

Recently Phoenix Construction of Lynn Haven was awarded the bid on construction of the first phase of the new Bay County Airport construction. Their bid was the lowest at $80 million and includes clearing the land and building roads runways, fences and other infrastructure. Recently there was scrutiny with how Phoenix Construction bid for the fill dirt, where they stand to make up to $9 million more if they get all of the 5.8 million cubic yards of dirt from the relocation site. Phoenix Construction is not a new company, and definitely not new to working with our local county municipalities. They’ve been working with Bay County since 2001 and have been praised many times for their work.

Bay County has a rating system in place for work it contracts out. Phoenix has scored “very good”, the second highest rating, each time it has completed a job for the County. In 2006 they were given an award for their work on the Florida International Airport’s Midfield Terminal Complex near Fort Myers.

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that the Atlanta Journal Constitution covered a story on the Panama City Bay County Airport relocation. With Atlanta being the largest feeder market for our area, a new airport means the possibility of cheaper fairs and more frequent flights to the beached commonly termed “Atlanta’s Beaches”. (read more)

Realtors, what’s the buzz out there? The 404 permit was announced to have been received on Thursday the 16th of this month and a buddy of mine got a call the very next day from someone that he had been working with in the past that said he heard about the final permit for the airport being issued and is ready to make a move towards purchasing here. I’ve heard at least one other story like this, has anyone else had similar experiences?

Some of the rumors that I’m hearing is that FedEx will be using the new Bay County Airport as a shipping hub and that between that, the staffing at the Bay County Airport and Pier Park, our area will have over 8,000 new jobs. I’ve also heard rumors that Southwest is indeed coming this way and that they are in negotiations with AirTran and JetBlue, to other low cost carriers.

What is Mitigation

When local environmentalist talk seriously about the airport relocation project and the creation of the West Bay Preservation Area, you hear the term “mitigation land” thrown around. But what is mitigation? If you understand what it means, it helps you understand the environmental value of the West Bay Sector Plan (and by extension, airport relocation). Here’s a brief (and non-expert’s) explanation. . .” (read entire article)

“Fraud” is a Serious Allegation

“A week ago a News Herald headline boldly proclaimed that KBR, the company hired to provide oversight for the construction of the new airport, “has a history of fraud.” But the story didn’t support the headline or charge. The lead in the story refers to “allegations of overbilling and fraud” – but no proof was presented. Perhaps the reporter is saving the proof for presentation to a grand jury. Because when you say a company has “a history of fraud,” you’d better have something more than “allegations.” (read entire post)

An Avalanche of Local Experts

Yesterday a friend told me he was amazed by the sheer number of aviation experts we have in Bay County. We must have more per capita than any other county in the country. Every few days another person writes a letter or a longer piece in the News Herald expressing doubts about the new airport. Strange, though, how they all seem to be working off the same set of discredited arguments and talking points. . .” (read entire post)

Safety First

“Is our airport unsafe? No, it is not unsafe. Is our airport as safe as it could be and should be? No, it is not as safe as it could or should be. Is it possible to have an honest discussion about how to make our airport as safe as it could be? If recent events are any indication, probably not. A week or more ago, a member of the Airport Authority raised the “safety issue” at our existing airport – and the danger of taking off and landing on short runways – by raising the example of the recent crash in Brazil. . .” (read entire post)

This is what we’ve all been waiting for, this is what many have claimed will be the beginning of the end of all their problems. The final federal permit needed for the Panama City Airport Relocation, the 404 Permit, was received as announced today by the Bay County International Airport and Industrial District (Airport Authority).

Quote:

“In issuing the Section 404 permit, the USACE concurred with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP) analysis.  In its analysis, FDEP cited a number of net ecosystem benefits that will result from the project, including:

•  The conservation and permanent protection of significant contiguous portions of the West Bay region, including bay shoreline, wetlands, streams, uplands and the overall watershed;
• A wetlands function lift significantly in excess of that needed to compensate for functional losses (impacts);
•  A mitigation plan that significantly exceeds both state and federal requirements for all possible current and future impacts; and
• An effort to restore a large contiguous tract of uplands and wetlands to approximate historical conditions more suitable for dependent species native to the area. . .

The Airport Authority is nearing completion of a ten-year process to relocate the Panama City – Bay County airport.  In the late 1980s, the Airport Authority began an effort to address significant deficiencies at the existing airport, including non-standard runway safety areas.  When local environmentalists and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection objected to extending the existing runway system into Goose Bayou, a particularly environmentally sensitive part of St. Andrews Bay, the Airport Authority began considering relocating the airport.

After completion of a feasibility study in 2000 and a site selection study in 2001, the Airport Authority identified a new site for the airport in northwestern Bay County (West Bay) on land owned by The St. Joe Company.

Following the FAA’s selection of the site, the Airport Authority partnered with the State of Florida, Bay County and St. Joe in an innovative planning process authorized by Florida law known as “optional sector planning.”  The process included numerous public meetings, data gathering, analysis and visioning for the future.   The plan was approved by Bay County and the State of Florida in 2002 and detailed specific area plans were also approved in 2003.

The sector plan incorporates approximately 78,000 acres and of particular significance is that the boundary of the plan includes an entire bay system (West Bay) thereby allowing unprecedented planning to protect an entire watershed.  The purpose of the plan was to ensure that appropriate land uses were placed near the airport and that appropriate environmental protection measures were built into the plan.  The plan is conceptual and guides future development and conservation. . .”

Read the entire press release here.

The other day I posted on the FAA’s NextGen reform. The reform addresses many aspects of the aviation industry, including the new airport, however something else it addresses is the rapidly becoming overwhelmed radar network. Technologically, the aviation industry has never seen much improvement with regards to aircraft location tracking with the GPS or ADS-B, as it is called having been in the works for the last 10 years.

Anyway, Popular Mechanics just wrote an article speaking into the technology of ADS-B giving a little background and an explanation of how it works. And yes, I said how it works, as in present tense. They have been testing the system, with great success I might ad, on Alaska Air. UPS has already began utilizing this technology and Southwest Airlines expects to install the system on its entire fleet of 737’s by next year. (more)