Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 09-10-1997 Regular — reading text

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR COUNCIL MBBTING OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA 273 SEPTEMBER 10, 1997 INTRODUCTION The September 9, 1997 regular meeting of the City Council of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was reconvened on Wednesday, September 10, at 7: 20 p. m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, with the following members present: Mayor Glenda Glover I Councilmen: Clay Bob Jim Chris Dean Carnathan Campbell Dowling Gibson Covey Margie Collins Absent: Chuck Kelley Also Present: Reid Silverboard, City Manager; Helen Spencer, City Clerk; Jerry Miller, City Attorney; Gail Abraham, Finance Director; Department Directors; Media PURPOSE The Mayor stated the purpose of the meeting is to discuss the MPO priority list and the ranking of the Around the Mound project on that list. DISCUSSION The City reported that on September 18, Manager the MPO will consider the priority listing of projects for years 1999- 2002 and stressed the importance of having the Around the Mound project moved up on the list from its current position of # 19 on the unfunded list. It was explained that the MPO is comprised of the County Commissioners and representatives from the cities of Fort Walton Beach, Mary Esther, Destin, Niceville, Crestview, and Walton County, and that the role help of the MPO is to decide how federal and transportation dollars will be spent in Okaloosa state and Walton counties. The City' s three representatives on the MPO are Councilmen Covey, Dowling, and Gibson. The City Manager stressed the importance of the Around the Mound concept and the need for something to be done within the next two to three years to alleviate the traffic problem on Highway 98, even if the project has to be funded locally. It was noted that the corridor improvement project for Highway 98, which included the Around the Mound concept, was rated # 10 on the priority list last year. Council felt that would be an issue in support of raising the ranking of the Around the Mound project, I since project relative to Susan it Myers, is effectively with the their decision making process. 259 NE Yacht Club same community support, which are issues Drive, issue and stated that is a reasonable, the MPO in previous years states doable are the ranking for the corridor project was extremely high, and this is information that the MPO needs to be reminded of.