Mayor
Beverly Zimmern
Council Members
J.B. Schluter-Mayor Pro Tem
Joseph Henderson
David G. Landfair
Cherry Fitch
City Manager
Edwin A. Eddy 934-5115
[email protected]
Deputy City Manager
Curt Carver 203-6033
[email protected]
City Clerks Office 934-5115
Leslie A. Guyer
[email protected]
Stephanie D. Lucas
[email protected]
Department Directors
Parks & Recreation
Ron Pulley 934-5140
[email protected]
Community Services
Craig Carmichael 934-5109
[email protected]
Fire Chief
Craig Carmichael-934-5133
Police Chief
Robert Randle –934-5121
[email protected]
PUBLIC SERVICES
Water & Gas Services
Vernon Prather 934-5108
[email protected]
Finance & Billing
Stephen Milford 934-5100
[email protected]
City of Gulf Breeze
1070 Shoreline Drive
P.O. Box 640
Gulf Breeze, FL 32562
Phone: 850-934-5100
Fax: 850-934-5114
CityofGulfBreeze.com
November 2014
FROM THE MAYOR’S DESK
Fall has arrived and with it comes cooler weather and my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. Every year as I gather with family, I
try to be mindful of my many blessings and to personally
acknowledge individuals who have been especially impactful in
my life.
I am thankful (and a bit
sad), as this is my final
newsletter as the Mayor of
Gulf Breeze. In December,
Matt Dannheisser, our current City Attorney, will be
sworn in as Mayor. Over the
past 25 years Matt has represented (and protected)
the city's best interests.
With him as Mayor we are
gaining an individual who
has a wealth of historical
knowledge and a love for
our city equal, if not greater, than mine. I ask that
you all join me in welcoming our new Mayor and rest
assured, we are in good
hands.
With that said, I wish to
thank each and every resident for choosing to live in
our fair city. It has been an
honor and a privilege to
serve as your Mayor. I have
gained a lifetime of memories, acquired an appreciation for all city services and
a huge respect for those
who work in Municipal government.
I could not have served as
your Mayor and Councilwoman these past 14 years without
the help and support of our
city staff and employees. We,
as a council, are the individuals who take formal action
upon all the work brought
forth by staff (often beginning
with an engaged citizen’s suggestion). We serve as conduits
for progress; however, it is our
dedicated staff that takes
those ideas, observations, or
suggestions and implements
the change.
To each of our department
directors, loyal employees,
and ancillary staff, I thank you
from the bottom of my heart. I
am personally thankful for
your service to Gulf Breeze
and her citizens. My deepest
debt of gratitude goes to Buz
Eddy our City Manager. He
has served our city with distinction for the past 22 years.
During my 14 years of service
we have forged a deep and
abiding friendship; I will miss
our conversations, laughter,
and camaraderie.
Great things are ahead for
our City. As I step aside, the
Storm Water Task Force,
sidewalk repairs, transportation, and improved city services will continue. My final
request would be for us, as a
city, to vote on the proposed
countywide one-cent sales
tax. If the tax is approved,
Gulf Breeze stands to have a
solid revenue stream to
make many more infrastructure improvements such as
those recommended by our
Storm Water Task Force.
I end my remarks, and tenure as a city servant, by saying thank you for the trust
bestowed upon me. I did not
take that responsibility lightly. I am humbled by the outpouring of kind remarks and
good wishes, it makes my
transition that much sweeter.
Best wishes to our new City
Council members, I trust you
will guide our city wisely.
With warm personal regards,
Page 2
City of Gulf Breeze Newsletter
COMMUNITY CENTER NEWS
The Parks & Recreation Department is proud to say that
all 10 tennis courts are open
at Shoreline North Park. For
more information on court
availability call the CommuniPickleball is a sport that ty Center at 934-5140. The
is between ping pong and City would like to extend a
special Thank you to Gulf
tennis!!
Breeze High School and the
Santa Rosa County School
Board for allowing the general
public to use the high school
courts while our courts were
being repaired. The City is
proud to say that all of the
programs were able to contin-
ue to happen throughout the
entire repair process. Also, the
City would like to thank the
tennis community for their
patience during the repair
process of the courts.
Fall is upon us and so is the
cooler weather. The Community Center continues to host
several indoor exercise opportunities ranging from pilates to
boot camp. The Community
Center is also hosting pickleball, Wednesdays at 9a.m.
Pickleball is a sport that is
between ping pong and tennis!! Call Ryan at 934-5140
for more information. GBSA
football, cheerleading, soccer, and volleyball have had
a great year so far.
Participation numbers are
up in volleyball and Soccer
this
year
and football
is excited
to be a part
of the new
North West
Florida Sports Alliance.
Basketball late registrations
will be accepted until drafts
the week of November 11th.
ANNUAL HOLIDAY DECORATION CONTEST
Top Soccer
2013
Christmas
parade float.
The Gulf Breeze Beautification Committee and the
Gulf Breeze City Council
will hold its 4th Annual Holiday Decorating Contest
this year.
All residents are encouraged
to participate and present
their nominations to Stephanie Lucas or Leslie Guyer
at 934-5115 or email to
[email protected] .
Nominations must be received no later than December 5, 2014. Nomination
forms may be picked up at
City Hall, Gulf Breeze Library, Chamber of Commerce or the City’s website
cityofgulfbreeze.com. Contest participants must be
located in the city limits of
Gulf Breeze. Decorations
must be in place by December 5, 2014 and remain
through December 26, 2014.
All visible decorations will
be considered. Decorations
and hardware are prohibited in the medians, park-
ways, and any other public rights-of-way.
All
nominees will be listed on
the website for the City of
Gulf Breeze. The winners
will be announced and
yard signs will be presented at the City Council
meeting on December 15,
2014 at City Hall at 6:30
pm.
Please join us in making
this a very successful annual event.
GBUMC's
Award-winning float 2013
GULF BREEZE HOLIDAY PARADE
The City of Gulf Breeze will
hold its annual Holiday Parade on Saturday, December 6th at 10:00 a.m. This
year’s parade theme is
“Toys on Parade” The parade route will begin at the
Gulf Breeze High School
and continue down Shoreline to McLane Street and
end at the First Baptist
Church on Fairpoint.
If
you would like to participate in this year’s parade go
to cityofgulfbreeze.com and
download an application or
call Leslie Guyer or Stephanie Lucas at 934-5115. The
entry fee is $10.00 for nonprofit organizations and
$25.00 for all others. The
deadline for entry forms and
fees is December 3rd.
In addition to the parade, Santa will be riding
with the Gulf Breeze Fire
Department on December
16th. The rain date is
December 18th.
Page 3
City of Gulf Breeze Newsletter
TIGER POINT GOLF CLUB
Greetings!
Fall is here
bringing cooler weather,
football games and the holidays are just around the
corner. Tiger Point is a
great place to host your holiday office party or just for
fun. We are quickly filling
up with bookings for golf
tournaments and weddings,
and would love the opportunity to add your event as
well. For more information
on how to book your event,
contact Megan Chapman at
(850) 932-1333. We are excited to announce our new Fall
menus in the Sunset Grille.
Brunch, Lunch, and dinner
have all been updated to include some fabulous new
dishes with a seasonal flair.
The Sunset Grill will host a
Thanksgiving meal again this
year. Book your reservations
now! Our restaurant, as well
as our golf course is open to
everyone and we welcome the
opportunity to serve you
something delicious, inspired
by the amazing flavors at
this time of the year. For
more information go to our
website
www.tigerpointgolf.com.
Be sure to like us on our
Facebook page for dinner
specials, course updates and
promotions.
The Grille offers lunch everyday
from 11 a.m. to close. You can
join us every Sunday for brunch
from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and
every Thursday, Friday and
Saturday evening for dinner
from 5 p.m. to close.
CITY WELCOMES NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS
On December
10,2014, Mayor
Zimmern will
pass the gavel
onto Mayor
Elect
Matt
Dannheisser. Matt has
served as the City Attorney
for over 25 years.
The City Council appointed
Mike Stebbins as Interim
City Attorney. After serving on the City Council
since 2006, Mayor Pro Tem
JB Schluter did not seek re-
election. Renee Bookout ran
unopposed for the vacated
seat. Renee is a long time
resident of Gulf Breeze and
has served on various City
Boards. Councilman David
Landfair ran unopposed for
his second term of office.
Mayor Elect Dannheisser
and Councilmembers Renee
Bookout and David G.
Landfair will be sworn in on
December 10, 2014 at 6:30
p.m. in City Hall.
You may have seen a new
face around City Hall. Curt
Carver, is our newly appointed Deputy City Manager. Carver’s purpose as
Deputy City Manager is to
assist the City Manager in
the day-to-day operations
of the City. Curt spent
nearly three decades working in city government in
Illinois before relocating to
Northwest Florida this
past February.
NATURAL GAS SAFETY & CAST IRON PIPELINES
You may have read or
heard recent news articles
concerning Natural Gas
safety and cast iron pipelines or uncoated metal gas
lines. In an effort to address any concerns you may
have, we are pleased to
report that the Gulf Breeze
Natural Gas system does
not contain any cast iron or
bare metal gas mains. Our
pipeline system is constructed of coated steel mains
with cathodic protection
and medium density polyethylene (PE) pipe. This
PE pipe is specifically manufactured for the natural
gas industry. Our goal at
Gulf Breeze Natural Gas is
to provide you with a safe
operating system. If you
desire additional information or have any questions, please contact Harrold Hatcher at (850) 9345136.
HOLIDAY CLOSINGS
City Offices will be closed:
Thanksgiving:
Thursday
Nov 26th & 27th
Christmas:
City offices will close at
noon on
Wednesday,
Dec 24th
and reopen on
Friday, December 26th
New Years
Thursday
January 1, 2015
City e-alerts
The City provides general and
emergency information, alerts
and occasional notices to
residents who sign-up with
their e-mail addresses. This
is a fast and very cost
effective way for the City to
reach residents, especially
when emergencies threaten.
If you are interested, please
sign up via the City website:
www.cityofgulfbreeze.com.
The City complies with the
CANN-SPAM act
City of Gulf Breeze Newsletter
AVOIDING TELEPHONE SCAMS
Police Chief Robert Randle
“If you receive a
questionable phone call
demanding money, simply
advise the caller that you
are calling the Police and
hang up. Contact us at
934-5121 to report the
call.”
There has been a flurry of
phone scams of late and everyone should be vigilant of
these schemes to defraud.
Some of these scams are new
and some have been going on
for several years. As I was
writing this article, a local
resident came to the Police
Department to report a phone
scam that he had just recorded
on his cell phone. The caller
identified himself as a police
officer and requested an immediate call back regarding a
very time sensitive matter.
The caller then left a long
distance phone number to
call. Fortunately, the resident
realized it was a scam and did
not call the number back.
Many people, however, do
make the mistake of calling
back or talking with the indi-
vidual when they first call.
This scammer was posing as
an “Officer” but never identified what agency he was with.
The following are the most
common telephone scams
 Grandchild or child – hospitalized or arrested in a foreign country and need large
amount of money to be wired
to them by Western Union.
 Gulf Power – overdue payment that must be paid immediately or power to be
shut off.
 IRS – owe unpaid taxes and
request banking information
to wire money immediately,
with the threat of being arrested
 Winning a prize or the lottery
 Change your cell phone plan
Very rarely will you ever see
your money again as many
times it is being routed overseas to foreign countries. In
cases such as these it is almost impossible to trace the
suspects and arrests are extremely unlikely. Many of
these scammers target older
victims who are more likely to
believe the stories and fall
prey. If you receive a questionable phone call demanding money, simply advise the
caller that you are calling the
Police and hang up. Contact
us at 934-5121 to report the
call. The only way we find
out about the new scams is if
you notify us.
We are here to help you in
any way we can.
Robert Randle,
NATURAL GAS SAFETY - YOU CAN HELP
Gulf Breeze Natural Gas
Giveaway!
Gulf Breeze Natural Gas will
give away two Publix gift
cards valued at $150 each.
The winner will be contacted
by phone on the days of the
drawings, November 20th and
December 18th. For a chance
to win, stop by City Hall and
complete a registration form
and drop it in the fish bowl
located in the lobby. You
must reside in the Gulf
Breeze Natural Gas service
area to win. For more
information contact Ashley
Tyler at
934-5100 or
[email protected].
Gulf Breeze
Safety First. It’s a motto used
by countless industries. But
probably in no other does it
represent the successful tradition and commitment to safe
delivery and use of a project
as it does with natural gas.
Gulf Breeze Natural Gas is
constantly striving to maintain
and improve its excellent safety record, but we need your
help. Prevent line ruptures
during excavation.
5100 (24 hours a day). If the
odor increases in intensity, or
Call Sunshine One 811 be- seems to be everywhere, follow these simple guidelines:
fore you dig.
The City of Gulf Breeze will OUTDOORS: Call 934-5100
mark the locations of all un- (24 hours a day) immediately.
derground pipes for you. If
you ever smell natural gas’s
distinctive odor and cannot
locate the source or safely
correct the problem, call 934-
INDOORS: Do not light a
match or switch anything on
or off. Leave the premises
and call 934-5100 (24 hours
a day) immediately.
REDUCE STORM WATER DRAIN CLOGS
Storm Water that does not
soak into the ground becomes
what is called “Urban Runoff”. In our City, this excess
water drains into both catch
basins and curb drains. When
storm drains become clogged,
street flooding can occur.
Trash, yard clippings, wood –
all can get caught in the drain
and stop the flow of water.
Items such as motor oil, pesticides, soap suds and pet waste
don’t clog but flow freely into
the catch basins and ultimately
to the Sound, Bays and Gulf.
To help reduce the amount of
clogs and pollutants in our
storm drains, try to limit the
amount of debris, pesticides,
and trash that is disposed in
your area. We cannot prevent
100% of clogs and pollutants,
but if we each do our part, we
can bring the percentage
down to a healthier level.
“Only Rain in our Drain”