Signs a $260,000 mistake; The big one; Dr. Ignasiak part of SWCC history

Signs are a $260,000 mistake
 
Recently, numbers of huge blue signs were erected along scenic Walton roadways. These commercial eyesores came courtesy of the Walton Tourist Development Council and more tax money than it can reasonably spend.
The TDC plans to put up 49 of these beauties at a cost of $260,000. That’s more than $5,306 a copy.
The old signs, removed by the TDC, were small, attractive, natural wood and easily read. They blended with our picturesque landscape. They cost only $300 each.
This is yet another example of your government and tax dollars at work.
There is a justified, loud and growing consensus. The signs must go.
While the new TDC signs would be apropos for a used car lot, most private developments on Scenic 30A have graced their roadway with tasteful signs in harmony, not contrast, with nature.
Shouldn’t the TDC be compelled to comply with the letter and spirit of Scenic Corridor Guidelines as well?
Will the TDC attempt to justify spending an outrageous amount of money on aesthetic fiascos?
Or will the TDC do the right thing and remove them?
Certainly, any cost of removal and replacement should be borne by overflowing coffers of the offending TDC.
The TDC is hosting a sign workshop, March 26, 5:30 p.m., at the South Walton Coastal Branch Library. All concerned are invited to attend.
Be there and help us remove the blue blight from our beautiful countryside and seaside.

Rick McQuiston
Santa Rosa Beach

The big one

He engages force and preemption, pounding a victim senseless. Eyes closed, fists clenched, arms flailing, reason and values on detour, a bully will garner success only when confronting single, weaker opponents.
This has been our record in Viet Nam, Kuwait, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran?
Admiral William Fallon is no bully. He has brains instead.
Russian Chief of General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky declared recently "Russia may resort to a pre-emptive nuclear strike in cases specified by its doctrine."
Where have we heard this Doctrine before?
Why, from the lips of our commander-in-mis-chief!
Now the world is fast catching up to such new options, and tripping over all those unspent nuclear weapons that won't have to be put in safe storage if detonated on the other side of the globe.
Armageddon here we come! Who will blow bomb number one?

Kinga T.Z. Barravecchia
Ponce de Leon, Florida

Dr. Ignasiak part of SWCC history

This week, after a four-year investigation, Dr. Robert Ignasiak of Freeport was indicted for fraud and selling prescription drugs illegally. Dr. Ignasiak had a connection to south Walton County. In 1995 he proposed a hotel on Hwy. 30A in Seagrove Beach, a few lots east of One Seagrove Place. This project was one of the first examined closely by the newly formed South Walton Community Council (SWCC).
Although required to send notices of the public hearing to every owner within 300 feet, Dr. Ignasiak sent a single notice to the townhouse development right across the street from his lot, Cassine Garden. The Cassine developer accidentally mentioned the hotel to a few of the Cassine owners, at which point the owners quickly got the hearing postponed because of faulty notification.
Doing some hasty research, these owners found that a hotel was not allowed in that location by the recently approved Walton County Comprehensive Plan.
So the Cassine owners contacted Wally Bair, president of the fledgling SWCC, who argued against the project at its hearing. In the end Dr. Ignasiak was told he must change the design, so he reworked his hotel plans and came up with a four-story condominium building.
As the building was going up, one of the construction workers told an SWCC member that the design was a clever one. Although the units were three-bedroom condos, every bedroom faced a corridor and could be entered separately. In other words, the end result could be very much like a hotel. The SWCC took the matter to an official county committee and urged it to disallow this design. While the committee did not do that, it did extract the doctor’s word that every unit would be rented only as a complete condo, never just a bedroom.
So the building was completed. Rather than sell the condos, as most builders along 30A did, the Ignasiaks kept them all and rented them out. The doctor’s wife was in charge of reservations.
Several years ago another developer bought the building and spent two or three years completely renovating it. This work, finished last fall, created Park Place. The units are for sale.

Nancy James
Seagrove Beach