New Happenings in Grayton

Grayton Dunes Regional Access Garfield Street Observation Area Community Meetings

The Walton County Regional Development Council will be hosting Two community meetings regarding the construction of a new handicap accessible observation area at the Grayton Dunes Regional Beach Access. The Grayton Dunes regional Beach Access is located at 288 Garfield Street Santa Rosa Beach Florida 32459.

September 9, 2009 6PM

2109 CR 395 Santa Rosa Beach Fl 32459

Fire Station

(Located near watercolor Publix)

September 10 2009 8:30AM

TDC Beach Management Committee Meeting

TDC Conference Room

25777 HWY 331 S. Santa Rosa Beach Fl 32459

For more Information Contact:

David Sell

850-267-4578

Another Great Viedo by Mike

Check this out...it is almost like you are there swimming along with him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1bM5gnQ-zY

Let Us Know Your Feelings

THINK ABOUT IT.....
if the one way Hotz Street occurs... (read entries below)


.......all car traffic will have to exit via Lydia. This means residents/ guests from Garfield and Banfil.


....All large delivery trucks (food supplies/packages/appliances) to the above areas will have to exit via Lydia.


....fisherman and their large boats will have to exit via Lydia.


....Folks living on Defuniak down from Lydia (southern end) will have to exit via Hotz, Garfield, and then Lydia.


.....This will make narrow little Lydia (which is almost impossible to widen) a throughfare in Grayton.

Please let the county Commissioner Jones know how you feel about this. You can email her at

joncecilia@co.walton.fl.us or you can call her at Ph: (850) 231-2978

Also please let your GBNA Board know your opinions on this . You can send us your opinions at:
yzarctoo@aol.com

New PC Airport Update

Airport update:

http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/othercities/atlanta/stories/2009/08/17/story8.html?b=1250481600%5E1933811&s=industry&i=resi_real_estate

HOTZ STREET UPDATES

8-20-2009 Updates

*It would appear that one way traffic on Hotz is eminent. It is going to progress quickly. I doubt some residents of Garfield and Lydia are fully aware of this plan even though all of our members with an active email have been notified.

* Grant Blackwell visited with Ms. Jones and expressed his personal view that delivery trucks operating during the day should be allowed to egress back from the Red Bar area against traffic back to Defuniak without going through the neighborhood of Garfield and Lydia. He expressed his views that having delivery trucks coming through this area would be unnecessary during the day and the folks on Garfield and Lydia should be spared this extra traffic.

*The County after surveying Hotz now plans on moving some parking spaces forward a couple of feet to widen the traffic zone and of course re-stripe the parking to accomodate one way parking and traffic.

BEACH PERMITS:
Beach Permits are on the agenda for next week. MS Jones is going to ask to table this as Mr. Blackwell told her that GBNA are resolved to research and consider alternatives to the current ordinance via a committee recommendation.

If you would like to serve on such a committee, please let Grant Blackwell know. His email is listed on the left side of this blog.

8-19-2009 Survey being done down on Hotz Street

Official County summary of the August 12th Meeting

Here is a summary of the August 12th meeting that Grayton residents were invited to attend to dicuss the parking issues in Grayton Beach. The official summary will be sent to all GBNA members who have an active email account.

GRAYTON BEACH MEETING
AUGUST 12, 2009

MEETING SUMMARY


The purpose of the meeting was to discuss solutions to traffic flow problems on Hotz Ave. The meeting was sparked by an event on the July 4th weekend when a fire truck had difficulty traversing through downtown Grayton.

Representatives present:
Commissioner Cecilia Jones
Interim County Administrator Lyle Seigler
Interim Public Works Director Starsky Harrell
Sheriff Mike Adkinson
SW Fire Chief Rick Talbert

Possible Solutions:

1. Making Hotz Ave. one way going east bound from DeFuniak St. to Garfield St. Public works would reclaim right of way to the south which would provide a few more feet to move the parking spaces out. They would also re-stripe the road along with the parking spaces to make them suitable for one way traffic, and post necessary signage.
This solution did bring up other questions such as, “Is Lydia St. wide enough to accommodate the additional traffic? Public Works is going to look at what is required to make this possible.

2. Leave Hotz Ave. two way traffic, but convert the parking to parallel parking to provide the adequate space needed for emergency vehicles. Public works would reclaim right of way to the south which would provide a few more feet to move the parking spaces out. They would also re-stripe the road along with the parking spaces to make them suitable for parallel parking.
This solution would remove some of the much needed, parking spaces that are there currently.


Other issues

There is still a parking issue created from the local businesses, large rental properties and people going to the beach. Representatives from both the Red Bar and Shorty’s were present and committed to working with the Community to find solutions. The overall feeling was that they needed to provide off site parking for their customers. The idea of pursuing State property to put in a parking lot that could be used by everyone was brought up and met with mixed feelings.
Sheriff Mike Adkinson also offered to work with the businesses to provide off-duty Deputies to help with the parking problems.
A committee was formed to find solutions to the parking issues which both representatives from the Red Bar and Shorty’s agreed to be on along with several local residents. Anyone interested in joining this committee can contact Commissioner Cecilia Jones at joncecilia@co.walton.fl.us .

Old days of Grayton (October Potluck Party)

Mark your Calendars!

Saturday October 17th, 2009

"Columbus Day Week-end"

GBNA Potluck Dinner.

Join us for some fun and some chatter on the

"Old Days of Grayton"

We are hoping to collect copies, images, and even scans of old photos, maps, documents, and history having to do with Grayton.

Laptops and scanners will be available at party so your old photos can be scanned. You are also encouraged to email any old photos, documents, etc that you scan yourself. They can be emailed as attachments to :

yzarctoo@aol.com

All of these images will be burned to DVDs so that they can be shared with the membership.

Any questions....please feel free to contact us .

Whale Sharks at Grayton Beach

Take a look....they are so beautiful!

http://www.sowal.com/bb/photos-videos/38948-video-grayton-beach-50-foot-sharks.html


Here is a video link that will tell you all about whale sharks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUMUSFLyZpU&feature=related

Special Meeting

MEETING OF INTEREST TO ALL GRAYTON BEACH RESIDENTS

When: August 12th @ 4:00 PM
Where: 70 Logan Lane (D 5 Commissioner's Office)
Who: Grayton Beach property owners and residents
Sheriff and Public Works Officials
Commissioner Jones

WHY:

To discuss and hopefully find a solution to the recent fire truck incident on July 4th. The emergency vehicles were unable to maneuver through Hotz Street to a call, due to the parking that blocked the road way.

If you have questions or comments on this subject you may contact Ms. Jones at the following email address:


joncecilia@co.walton.fl.us

Emerald Coast Magazine Article on Grayton

Great article about Grayton Beach and the folks who worked hard to save it from being lost.



http://www.emeraldcoastmagazine.com//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=349&Itemid=99



If you get a chance pick up a copy of the Emerald Coast Magazine (Aug-Sept 09) issue has some great pictures of old Grayton too.