Another great Saturday

Got home from walking around the bay cliff/Mallory heights area, received a lot of really positive responses and encouragement.  It feels great to have so much support from the District. I attended the Candidates Breakfast this morning, and even though the election is still a little over three months away, everyone was happy that I attended and that they had a chance to speak with me.  It has been a lot of hard work so far but also a lot of fun.  Thanks again for all the support. 

www.VoteTerhaar.com site live

I have been working on my campaign website and have finally got it up and running.  www.voteterhaar.com has all my community and professional qualifications, as well as all my contact info.  I will also be adding a calender feature so that residence of District 3 and everyone else can keep track of when and where I will be campaigning.

Walking the Bay Cliffs/Mallory Heights area Sat and Sun

Yesterday I walked the Hyde Park area and I will be out walking the Bay Cliffs/Mallory Heights area tomorrow and Sunday.  If you live over there keep an eye out for me, I'll be the one covered in sweat.

Great Saturday

I had a great day of walking around, campaigning in the district.  I met a lot of nice people and got a lot of positive response.  I hope everyone had a good Saturday.  I am looking forward to the Windermere Fish Fry tomorrow.  If you are free tomorrow at 2pm swing by 3132 Oxford Circle and get some fish and chips (real chips, not fries like they do across the pond).

Good article on the rebranding of Pensacola

This article is gives a different perspective of the rebranding.  All jokes aside, I believe this rebranding effort is the first of many steps that need to be taken so that Pensacola can start to compete with other cities around the country.  Many cities, who do not have nearly the natural beauty or quality of life we have in Pensacola, are attracting young talented people better than we are and I believe we can do a better job of marketing our city.  I would have like to see the marketing contract go to a local company, but let's all get behind this new brand and turn our city into something South Florida will be envious of.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20120720/NEWS01/307200020/Shannon-Nickinson-New-brand-city-s-new-ways?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Downtown "Al Fresco" wins approval

Glad to see the new development was approved.  I think this is going to be a great addition to the downtown area.  The design allows for different types of restaurants to be located in the same area, providing the customers with more variety.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20120720/NEWS01/307200017/Downtown-food-truck-plan-wins-approval?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Meeting with the Fraternal Order of Police

I just left a meeting with the Fraternal Order of Police.  I was honored that they asked me to come by and talk with them.  They are a very important part of this city and I was more than happy to sit down with them and hear their concerns.  Thank you again for your service to the City of Pensacola and it's citizens.

Pension Slide Show

Great powerpoint presentation about where the city stands as far as pensions go.

http://www.slideshare.net/pensacolapensions/pensacola-pensions-presentation-12008699

Main Street Waste Water Plant PNJ Article

I do not think the city needs anymore land downtown.  They need to concentrate on developing the land they already own and keep the ECUA plant on the tax roll.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20120706/NEWS01/307060017/Main-Street-Waste-Water-Treatment-Plant-goes-from-eyesore-cash-cow?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Hixardt deal hits a roadblock

It is to bad, this deal seems like it is on it's way out.  I think the City and Hixardt are a little to overconfident on what will happen.  A six story 6 million dollar building may not be the best idea right now.  Why not put a proposal together for the new tech park.  I'm sure a building could be designed to be expanded as the Hixardt grows.  I think getting a solid tenant in the tech park would be the first step to attracting more quality companies to Pensacola.  I hope the City and Hixardt can come to a solution and move forward.

A highly touted deal between the City of Pensacola and Hixardt Technologies that calls for a $6 million, five-story building downtown and 100 high-tech jobs has hit a major roadblock.

In a June 27 letter to Hixardt CEO Michael Hicks, City Councilman Brian Spencer says a letter of intent from Beach Community Bank "does not adequately demonstrate" that Hixardt has sufficient funding to proceed with the project.

As a result, Spencer, who is chairman of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, has offered Hicks "in the spirit of cooperation ... an informal extension" of the deadline to secure funding until July 16.

Hixardt is a provider of information technology support services and has several major local and national private and governmental clients. Founded in 2001, the company has about 20 employees.

Hicks missed a previous March deadline to secure funding. In April, the CRA granted him an extension till June 30.

Reached at his office on Monday, Hicks, 46, a former Navy pilot, had little to say.

"Basically Hixardt and the city are still working on that, and we will meet on July 16 to discuss," he said.

The big hurdle for Hicks appears to be Beach Bank's demand the city become a co-guarantor of the $6 million construction loan to Hixardt.

The condition that the city become a co-guarantor of the loan was never part of the original deal between the city and Hixardt, CRA Administrator Ryan Winterberg-Lipp said.

Winterberg-Lipp said the July 16 meeting agenda will include discussion of still another extension for Hicks to arrange financing and the question of Beach's demand for the city to back its proposed construction loan to Hixardt.

"It's a complicated deal," Winterberg-Lipp said. "And the CRA may want to give them additional time to work things out."

Pensacola City Councilman Larry Johnson said the deal "has hit one snag after another."

"I'm disappointed and hope it will get back on track," Johnson said. "But it would be very hard for me as a councilman to accept the city being a guarantor to Hixardt."

At the core of the city's contract with Hixardt is the exchange of a 0.66-acre piece of property on Government Street, currently being used as a parking lot, that lies adjacent to Hicks' existing Intendencia headquarters.

Under the agreement with Hixardt, the CRA will hold a forgivable $750,000 mortgage against the property's assessed value of $750,000.

That loan would be forgiven under the following terms: 10 percent at the start of construction; 10 percent when a certificate of occupancy is obtained; and 20 percent for each "sustainable and measurable" 25 jobs, expected to pay in the range of $45,000-plus.

Hixardt would have five years to reach the 100-job plateau, according to the original agreement with the city.

Beach Senior Vice President Brian Bell wrote to CRA members in late June the bank also wants an appraisal of the city's property that is acceptable to the bank.

Bell could not be reached for comment Monday, and the letter did not go into further details.

The Hixardt land exchange was one of the first deals forged by Mayor Ashton Hayward who has pledged to work closely with the private sector to create jobs and find viable uses for surplus city property.

Hayward was out of the country and could not be reached for comment Monday. Spencer did not return calls.

If the loan is secured and construction gets under way, Hixardt is expected to occupy four stories of the five-story building.

The fifth floor potentially could be leased to a separate tenant, and the ground-floor possibly could include small retail uses, Hicks has said.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20120703/BUSINESS/120703020/Hixardt-deal-hits-roadblock?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

Great day for the Gulf Coast Community

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/06/in_a320_family_mobile_is_getti.html