Thursday November 29th, 2007 - 1:58PM

SPECIAL EDITION!

* Be the first to know: Judge Collier's non-profit Community Maritime Park Associates Board of Trustees report to City Council - your advance copy!

* We want our CMP!

* Glenn's Corner: Feedback wanted!

* Take a look for yourself: Latest graphics for Design Criteria posted

* Link up to the Maritime Museum

* Email addresses for all members of the non-profit Community Maritime Park Associates Board of Trustees

* Contact information for Ed Spears, acting Executive Director of the non-profit CMPA

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Here are the details:

Be the first to know: Judge Collier's non-profit Community Maritim Park Associates Board of Trustees report to the Pensacola City Council - 11/29/2007 at 4 PM in Council Chambers - your advance copy!

The Board of trustees of the Community Maritime Park Associates (CMPA) has been working diligently to implement the Maritime Park Project since the Board was seated in October, 2006. The Board has requested an opportunity to provide an update to the City Council on our activities. I will present the update at the November 29, 2007 Committee of the Whole Meeting. The information below represents the current status of the project to date.

1. Environmental: CMPA recognized early on that the environmental aspects of the project are critical to the overall success of the project.

The Board appointed Mr. Miller Caldwell, Principal, Caldwell and Associates, Inc., to lead this critical effort on behalf of the Board. Mr. Caldwell has brought together a team of professionals to coordinate this effort under the Design Criteria Contract with CMPA.

Major activities include updating and revising the petroleum and soil contamination Remedial Action Plan developed for the original Festival Park; engineering and permitting the eastern and western edges of the property, engineering and permitting the stormwater system for the project; and developing a mitigation plan for the wetland impacts.

Preliminary meetings with Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Department of Health regarding the project were very productive and led to the submission of a dredge and fill permit on August 13, 2007 to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE).

The application requests authorization to construct watertight bulkheads on the eastern and western property boundaries. The placement of the eastern bulkhead would result in the creation of an additional 1.68 acre area necessary to accommodate the current site plan.

The original concept contemplated the additional land to be added to the western boundary to visually align DeVilliers Wharf with DeVilliers Street.

This concept proved unfeasible after the geotechnical report was completed by Larry M. Jacobs and Associates. That report estimates that the settling from compression along the western bulkhead would be from 1 to 4.3 inches over a 4-8 year period. The settlement line would run from north to south along the existing soils. In the preliminary design, this fault line would have been beneath the proposed Maritime Museum.

This degree of differential settlement would destroy the foundation of the proposed building. By shifting the fill area to the eastern side of the property, the settlement would be underneath open park space and would not affect any permanent structures.

Additional consideration for the shift of the additional fill from west to east is to allow adequate space for the proposed public day use marina on the western edge of the property.

If the expansion to the west were completed, the public day use marina could encroach on a private property line with an adjacent owner. It should be noted that no amenities or public access to DeVilliers Wharf has been eliminated or significantly modified.

The alignment of the Wharf has been shifted some 40 feet to the east. As originally conceived by Ray Gindroz in the conceptual plan, DeVilliers Wharf is as envisioned in the current Design Criteria and site plan. The DeVilliers Street extension is in the exact location as presented in the original conceptual plan. DeVilliers Wharf is a pedestrian promenade all the way to the southern terminus of the property. Detail of DeVilliers Wharf can be found on page C-3 and C-4 of the Design Criteria Package.

As is common with such a complex project, the DEP and ACOE have requested additional information and issued a Notice of Intent to Issue Permit, which opens a public comment period on the project. It is anticipated that further discussions with both entities will continue into 2008 with the possibility of a permit being issued by spring.

CMPA’s consultant team also submitted, on August 31, 2007, a permit application to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for the project stormwater collection, transmission and treatment systems. On September 28, 2007, DEP approved and issued the permit. The stormwater system is detailed in the Design Criteria Package on page B-9.

The Environmental Permitting remains a critical aspect to the overall project success. The submissions and permits achieved to date detail significant progress in this aspect of the Community Maritime Park Project.

2. Project Delivery: One of the first tasks undertaken by the Board was to select a project delivery model. That is, the methodology that will be utilized to bring this project to completion.

After being briefed on multiple models, the board selected the “Master Developer” Model, in which one development company would be engaged to develop the entire project, both public and private aspects.

To date, two critical aspects have been completed.

The first, a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Architectural Design Guidelines, was awarded to the 18 member team lead by Caldwell Associates Architects. The primary design firms in the team are Caldwell Associates Architects, Pensacola, FL (project leader); HKS Architects, Orlando, FL (stadium architects); Sasaki Associates, Inc., Watertown MA, (landscape architects); and Urban Design Associates, Inc., Pittsburg, PA, (conceptual architectural and site planning).

Other team members include environmental, engineering, financial, marketing, scheduling and operations specialists. The draft Design Criteria Package was presented to the general public on September 26, 2007 and submitted to the CMPA Board of Trustees on October 11, 2007 and has been available for public inspection since that time.

The Board is expected to adopt the Design Criteria Package on November 27, 2007.

The second aspect is a Request for Qualifications for a Master Developer.

This RFQ, issued in February identified and pre-qualified four Master Developer candidates qualified to construct the improvements.

The Master Developer is expected to utilize their creativity, experience and understanding of existing and future tourist, entertainment, retail, housing, commercial and other economic markets to create a unique, world-class, mixed-use development within the parameters of the Design Criteria.

The Master Developer will bring additional expertise and access to capital to implement the vision for the Community Maritime Park within the general timeframe and budget envisioned by CMPA.

The Master Developer will provide services such as: architecture, engineering, site planning, landscape architecture, scheduling, budgeting, financing, permitting, construction management, quality control, bonding, insurance, accounting, reporting, legal, public relations, marketing, leasing, tenant coordination and ongoing property management and operations.

It is expected that the Master Developer will become a critical member of the team to deliver to CMPA and the community of Pensacola the vision as affirmed by the voters of the City of Pensacola in the referendum, within the framework of the Conceptual Design, Master Lease, Master Development Agreement and the Design Criteria Package.

The four pre-qualified firms are (in rank order): Land Capital Group, Park City, UT; Hammas Company, Madison, WI; Carter Real Estate, Atlanta, GA; and Trinity Capital Advisors, Conshohocken, PA.

The next step in the selection process is to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to the four pre-qualified Master Developer candidates.

The Design Criteria Team developed the draft of the RFP, in conformance with the Design Criteria Package. The draft has been turned over to Dr. Owen Beitsch for review and comment.

Dr. Beitsch of Real Estate Research Consultants, Inc. was one of the analysts that researched the feasibility of the Maritime Park project for the City in 2005. Dr. Beitsch is an independent third party working directly for the CMPA Board of Trustees.

At the December 14, 2007 CMPA Board of Trustees meeting, the board is expected to receive Dr. Beitsch’s feedback and consider the RFP. It is anticipated that the board will authorize the release of the RFP in January with a 90 day response time.

The four candidates will submit their best proposal for the project in conformance with the Design Criteria Package.

Both the Design Criteria team and Master Developer firms have been selected in accordance with Florida Statue 287.055 or the “Consultants’ Competitive Negotiation Act” (CCNA).

3. CMPA Organization: With the assistance of Mr. Bob Hart, Legal Counsel to the Board of Trustees, CMPA has completed revisions to its Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws to reflect the organizational structure required by the Master Lease, to include the appointment of 12 Trustees, with 4 appointed by the City. Currently the Trustees are:

CMPA APPOINTEES

Dick Baker, Vice-Chairman (reappointed 2007, 3 year term, expiring 2010)

Hon. Lacey Collier, Chairman (3 year term, expiring 2009)

Rodney Jackson, Treasurer (3 year term, expiring 2009)

Rev. Hugh King (2 year term, expiring 2008)

Collier Merrill (reappointed 2007, 3 year term, expiring 2010)

Susan Story (3 year term, expiring 2009)

Eddie Todd (2 year term, expiring 2008)

Kathlyn White (2 year term, expiring 2008)

CITY APPOINTEES

Mayor John Fogg (reappointed 2007, 3 year term expiring 2010)

John Merting (3 year term, expiring 2009)

Dr. Jimmy Jones (2 year term, expiring 2008)

Juanita Scott, Secretary (reappointed 2007, 3 year term expiring 2010)

The initial, one-year terms of four members have expired and all four members were re-appointed for three year terms.

For the Board, a highly skilled administrator is imperative to carrying out the charge given to the CMPA. We have been fortunate to have the assistance of Mr. Edward Spears, the Loaned Executive from the City.

However, it was made clear that Mr. Spears’ services were temporary until such time as the Board hired an executive to head the organization.

Slavin Management Consultants, Inc. was selected after a competitive process to conduct a nation-wide executive search. Candidates have been identified and background checks have been conducted. Due to pending matters before the Florida Supreme Court, the selection of an executive has been temporarily delayed.

In March, City Council approved the first year of operational funds in advance of the issuance of the bond for the public improvements at the Maritime Park. (EDITOR'S NOTE: The approved budget will be sent out after it is passed by City Council.)

To date, 58.4% of the budget has been expended. Amounts not used in 2007 are intended to be used to fund the 2008 budget request.

In discussion with City staff, it has been noted that City Council approved a line item budget for CMPA. As such, CMPA is not at liberty to transfer funds between line items.

CMPA is requesting City Council provide transfer authorization to CMPA for the current and all future budgets. The transfers required within the current budget are reflected on the attached.

The transfers are primarily into the Professional Services line item, which has been the majority of expenditures to date.

The majority of professional services expenditures are in association with the Design Criteria Package. The Design Criteria contract is a two-year, $800,000 per year agreement. Under that agreement, $292,000 remains to be paid this year. The remaining $800,000 will be paid in the second year budget and are reflected in the proposed budget.

CMPA is also requesting City Council approval of year two of pre-development operating funds.

The attached budget was presented to and approved by the Board of Trustees at their meeting of November 27, 2007.

Funds will be utilized to pay for an executive director for the non-profit corporation, pay professional fees associated with the project development and provide for operational expenses. Professional expenses will include all fees associated with required environmental work on-site, design fees, executive search firm and other pre-development fees. These expenses were planned for in the Master Budget presented to Council during the project development.

The Board is requesting an advance of 10% of the total budget to serve as operating capital. The Board will then invoice monthly for actual expenses incurred. This process worked is currently in place and worked well in year one. The budget and payment procedure have been reviewed by the City’s Finance Department.

It is expressly understood that all pre-development funds expended will be subtracted from the $40 million bond proceeds and reimbursed to the City.

We do not take this request lightly as the Board has an understanding of the scope and cost of this project.

We have charged Mr. Mort O’Sullivan of O’Sullivan Creel, CPA’s to seek out additional revenue sources for the Board to pursue. The CMPA intends to secure additional funds to bring a unique, world-class development to Pensacola. To that end, a Brownfield Grant has been submitted in the amount of $200,000, and Economic Development Grant in the amount of $2,000,000 is in development and two additional grants are being prepared.

4. Covenant with the Community: At the first meeting of the CMPA Board, the members present adopted a “Covenant with the Community”, which was promised by the project proponents during the referendum.

The Covenant expresses the CMPA’s commitment to diversity on the Board of Trustees; the commitment to establishing a Contractor Academy to assist local minority contractors with meeting the legal and administrative requirements to bid on government contracts, including the Maritime Park Project; awarding contracts in a manner reflective of the diversity of the community; and ensuring access to programs at the completed Community Maritime Park for all city youth.

Rev. Hugh King as been charged with chairing a committee to develop the Contractor Academy aspect of the Covenant. Trustees Susan Story and Eddie Todd also serve on that committee.

CMPA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Gulf Coast African American Chamber of Commerce to assist with the implementation of the Covenant. The Chamber has hosted several community workshops on the Contractor Academy and is developing a comprehensive list of local, small and minority vendors capable of doing work on the Maritime Park Project.

The Chamber has also assisted in developing inclusive language that is in the Request for Proposals that will be submitted to the four master Developer Candidates. This language details the CMPA’s expectations for local, small and minority participation in the project.

5. Maritime Museum: The Admiral John H. Fetterman State of Florida Maritime Museum and Research Center is proceeding with the capital campaign necessary to fund the construction of the museum.

The University of West Florida has hired a prominent consultant to assist with programming the museum.

Preliminary conceptual designs have been completed and presented to the Board of Trustees. CMPA awaits UWF’s completion of the required fundraising for the project and will be commencing discussions regarding leasing of ground space for the museum, educational, office and conference space on the property.

On September 14, 2007, the Board received a presentation requesting the addition of a Multi-Cultural Museum to the Maritime Park project.

The Board felt the inclusion of such a project was in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Maritime Park.

Subsequently, space has been identified on the current site plan. This project would fall under the same guidelines as the Maritime Museum. This would require independent fundraising for the project and negotiation of a lease for space on the property.

6. Lease with Pensacola Pelicans: A draft lease between CMPA and the Pensacola Pelicans is currently with outside legal counsel for review and comment.

It is expected that the lease will come before the CMPA Board of Trustees in the near future. The lease with the Pelicans is a conditions precedent of the CMPA Master Lease.

7. Studer Insurance: To ensure that his financial obligations are met in the event of his death, Quint Studer has voluntarily purchased $6 million of life insurance. The proceeds of the life insurance are payable to a trust, the terms of which provide that the proceeds are to be used to fund any unmet obligations of Quint Studer for the Park project.

8. Supreme Court Case: In Strand vs. Escambia County, the Supreme Court of Florida ruled that a referendum would be required prior to issuance of bonds by a specially created tax increment financing district for construction of roads on Perdido Key in Escambia County, Florida.

Because the opinion appeared to affect school financing and the ability of CRA’s around the state to finance projects without the necessity of a referendum, the Court issued a modified opinion clarifying that it would not affect certain types of financing used by school districts.

In addition, in response to petitions filed by Community Redevelopment Agencies around the state and other interested parties, the Court granted a rehearing on its original opinion. Oral arguments on the petition for rehearing were held October 9, 2007. A final decision of the Court is still pending.

Regardless of the outcome of the Strand decision, and because a referendum has already been held on the development of the Maritime Park, the Board of Trustees respectfully requests that the City begin to consider alternative financing options to fund its commitment to the project.

9. CMPA Site Plan: CMPA is requesting City Council grant conceptual approval of the Phase One and Ultimate Development Master Plan presented in the Design Criteria Package.

The Phase One site plans includes all aspects to be completed with the $40 million, the Studer Office Building, and the Maritime Museum.

The Ultimate Development Master Plan details the site at full build-out. While this is not the final development site plan that will be presented via the formal City process that includes the Planning Board, the site plan in the Design Criteria is a major step in that direction.

This site plan represents the Board’s vision of the project that will be interpreted by the Master Developer. However, many major aspects will be fixed based on the current design. Having achieved a stormwater permit, the stormwater collection, transmission and treatment systems cannot be changed without jeopardizing the permit. As such, the stormwater system, streets, and other fixed infrastructure are roughly depicted in their final location.

The current site plan is also below the state threshold for a Development of Regional Impact (DRI). The Design Criteria Team utilized this threshold for development of the site plan.

The current site plan also takes into account all current City Land Development Code requirements, including setbacks, building heights, street widths, required landscaping and parking, etc.

While not out of the realm of possibility, for a Master Developer candidate to completely disregard the Trustees vision for the project and present a drastic departure would limit their chances for being selected for this project.

In summation, CMPA is requesting the following actions of the City Council:

1. Authorize CMPA to transfer funds between line items within the current and future approved budgets.

2. Approve Year 2 Pre-Development Budget.

3. Authorize City Staff to begin exploration of all other possible funding sources to allow the project to proceed, pending final ruling by Florida Supreme Court.

4. Approve the Conceptual Phase 1 and Ultimate Development Master Site Plans.

I would like to thank the Mayor, City Council, City Manager, City Attorney, City Finance Director and other City Staff for their assistance to date. The Trustees have a daunting task before us and we not only want to deliver on the promises made, we want to over-deliver. I would also like to thank the other Board of Trustee members, who have all recognized the importance of this project to the future of Pensacola.

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We want our CMP!

Friends will ask the non-profit Community Maritime Park Associates (non-profit CMPA) at their December meeting to allow us to invest some "sweat equity" to clean-up the land for the Pensacola Bay Area's Vince J. Whibbs, Sr. Community Maritime Park (CMP).

Our goal is to provide some visible progress on the site. The idea is to spread out the "sweat equity" days across several weekday afternoons, and perhaps a Saturday or two. We are looking at January for the work to occur.

Our motivation is simple: We put the CMP up for a referendum, and the voters said, "We want our CMP!"

Now it is time for Friends of the Community Maritime Park to show we are willing to put our time and energy into making sure nothing steals our dream.

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Glenn's Corner: Feedback requested!

November marks our second highest month of hits ever, the previous month of October being our highest record ever.

I would like to ask our visitors to please click the "contact" tab at the top of the page. From there you can let us know what you want to see more of! This site is built of and contains content provided by our Friends, so we are asking our Friends to please submit anything you would like to see!

So as always, your feedback is highly welcomed, and with your consent that feedback may be published on the site!

Glenn C. Obert

Friends' site creator and administrator

glenn@webfootenterprises.com

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* Take a look for yourself: Latest graphics for Design Criteria posted

Want to see for yourself all that the park is bringing to the Pensacola Bay Area? Then click on the link below, and check it out!

Pass the link around to your email lists, bulletin boards, email address list - everyone you know needs to know that the park is set on "Grow!"

http://www.CommunityMaritimePark.com

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The Multi-Use Facility - see it for yourself!

Want to see for yourself why so many people speak so highly of the multi-use facility planned for the park? Then go right now to:
http://www.CommunityMaritimePark.com

or cut directly to the gallery at:
http://supporters.communitymaritimepark.com/page/gallery

and see them posted on the Friends' website.

Here is what you'll see:

The facility's graphics simulate four different uses for the multi-use facility: football, soccer, baseball, and concerts.

As you can see for yourself, the promise to provide a multi-use facility is being fulfilled.

Immediately below the graphics for the Multi-Use Facility, you'll find the graphics shown at the September Board of Trustees meeting regarding the Design Criteria.

The Design Criteria package was presented back to the Board at the Oct. 12 meeting. It is a public record, so if you want to see it for yourself immediately, call Ed Spears, acting executive director of the non-profit Community Maritime Park Associates (non-profit CMPA). His contact information is listed, along with the email addresses of all the members of the Board of Trustees, further down in this newsletter.

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* Link up to the Maritime Museum

A number of people asked us to include a link for those interested in learning more about the Adm. John H. Fetterman State of Florida Maritime Museum and Research Center at the University of West Florida Community Maritime Park Campus.

Give this link a try, and then bookmark it for future updates!

http://www.uwf.edu/maritime

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Email Board of Trustees members with your thoughts and ideas!

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

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

Collier Merrill: collier.merrill@whibbspark.org

Dick Baker: dick.baker@whibbspark.org

Dr. Jimmy Jones: jimmy.jones@whibbspark.org

Eddie Todd: eddie.todd@whibbspark.org

Rev. Hugh King: hugh.king@whibbspark.org

John Merting: john.merting@whibbspark.org

Juanita Scott: juanita.scott@whibbspark.org

Judge Lacey Collier: lacey.collier@whibbspark.org

Kathlyn White: kathlyn.white@whibbspark.org

Rodney Jackson: rodney.jackson@whibbspark.org

Susan Story: susan.story@whibbspark.org

Acting Executive Director on loan from the City of Pensacola

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

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

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Questions? Ed Spears has the answers!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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