![Crestview City Council members Joe Blocker, JB Whitten and Bill Cox listen during Monday’s meeting. [SAMANTHA LAMBERT | News Bulletin]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-4fde5991-dde7-063e-e053-0100007f06ed-96ab0bca.jpeg)
CRESTVIEW — A special city council meeting on Monday opened with Councilman Shannon Hayes rescinding the appointment of his brother, Rev. Sanford Hayes, to the City Charter Review Committee.
Hayes said it was in the best interest of the city to replace his brother to ensure the council was as transparent as possible. Hayes then appointed Warren Robinson, who is retired from the military.
Committee members — who must follow the Florida Public Record Law upon appointment — will have 90 days to research and decide whether the city should keep the same form of government. They will make a recommendation to the council based on their findings.
The committee alone will not decide Crestview’s government structure. Placing the matter on a ballot would be the final step in the process if residents desire a change.
Last week, Mayor David Cadle nominated Joshua Molyneux, vice chairman of the Crestview Housing Authority, to the committee; City Clerk Betsy Roy nominated Adrienne McKinnie with McKinnie Funeral Home; Councilman Doug Faircloth nominated Gene Strickland, pastor and mission director of Okaloosa Baptist Ministerial Association; Councilman Joe Blocker nominated former Crestview councilman Ellis Conner; Councilman JB Whitten nominated Andrew Rencich, local business owner; and Councilman Bill Cox nominated Michelle Simmons, a paralegal who serves on the Crestview Board of Adjustment.
In other business, Cadle spoke about a regional committee meeting that he and Whitten attended in Fort Walton Beach last week about the regional use of the Triumph Funds.
The meeting was hosted by the Northwest Florida Regional Planning Council and was attended by about 100 people, most of whom were state agency representatives.
Attendees discussed looking at projects that had regional impact for the use of the funds resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The City Council then continued with a workshop after the special meeting.
The first item on the workshop agenda was the annexation of city property, 100 acres on the south end of town and 2.7 acres adjacent to Spanish Trail Park.
Both properties are owned by the city but have never been annexed. The direct cost of annexing both properties would be $10,250. Twenty acres of the 100 acres would be used for a future shooting range for the police department. The council approved the annexation.
Also on the agenda was the Nuisance Abatement Code. According to Teresa Gaillard, growth management director, Growth Management is in the first draft of the Land Development Regulation revisions and needs direction from the council.
The question is whether to redefine Chapter 24 of Code Enforcement Citations and Chapter 38, Health and Sanitation, of the City’s Code of Ordinances, with more direct and enforceable language, clear and precise procedures, together with the appropriate fines and penalties.
This is part of what is needed to help eliminate the blight, detrimental conditions, unsafe structures or physical threats to public health and safety. Growth Management will research and develop a new ordinance to bring back to the council for a consensus.
In other council news:
•The Florida Retailers Association has named Mike Carroll of Hub City Smokehouse and Grill as Florida Retailer of the Year. April Meier of Pawsitively Scrumptious Bark Bakery and Boutique is the Florida Outstanding Retail Leader.
• Cadle met with officials from Wal-Mart about the city’s new north-end store. He noted that the Wal-Mart officials commended the city on being business friendly.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Charter review committee gets new member