New fire station at Jimmy Moore Park rejected by City Council
Yesterday, the Melbourne City Council voted 5-1 against building a new fire station in Jimmy Moore Park. The existing fire station, built in 1965, is only 3,167 square feet and no longer meets the city’s needs. The proposed replacement would have been a two-story, 18,525-square-foot facility. However, residents opposed losing park space and raised concerns about blocked views.
Mayor Paul Alfrey hopes to use 53 acres of land owned by Brevard County, currently leased to the city for large outdoor events like the Renaissance Fair, as a potential site for the fire station and a fire training facility. Other locations were considered but rejected due to increased emergency response times.
Brevard County Settlement
Brevard County Commissioners approved a settlement by a 3-1 vote to pay County Commissioner Thad Altman and his family $121,721 to settle a long-running legal battle over access to the beach on land the Altmans own off State Road A1A.
The county needed an easement on the beach land behind the Altman property at 1225 N. State Road A1A for work on a beach renourishment project.
The Altmans and several other property owners in the area balked at the county's offers for reimbursement for the easement on their beach property.
The easement gives the county access for beach renourishment projects and gives the public access to the beach land as well.
How to fight Palm Bay speeding tickets.
If you were ticketed by the automated school speed zone camera in Palm Bay, you can fight the fine. You have to go to court if you believe you were illegally ticketed. WFIT’s Rick Glasby tells us that’s what several drivers did this week.
One woman won her case because she presented a minute-by-minute print out of how fast the car was going from a GPS tracker. The other drivers were not successful. The tickets that were argued in court were from April before police shut off the cameras indefinitely. Legal experts say you need to have hard evidence like GPS-verified data if you are trying to fight the tickets in court.
Florida Python Challenge
The annual Florida Python Challenge aims to remove invasive Burmese pythons, which threaten the Everglades ecosystem.
Although there have been sightings of Burmese pythons in Brevard County, the main challenge takes place farther south.
The python removal competition begins at. on July 11 and ends on the 20th.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the South Florida Water Management District, and the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida host the annual competition to increase awareness about invasive species in the state.
There is a $25 registration fee, and participants must pass the required online training. This year, a total of $25,000 in cash prizes is available. The hunt removes about 200 snakes each year from the Everglades.
Diving with a Purpose
Erik Denson, a NASA engineer and diving instructor, is dedicated to preserving history and oceans through his work with Diving with a Purpose, a non-profit organization.
Diving with a Purpose hosts field schools in Key Largo to document history, including researching, discovering, and documenting slave shipwrecks.
They also helped document the wreckage of a Tuskegee Airman aircraft in Lake Huron.
"Not only are we contributing to history and preserving history, we also have an ocean conservation program, to help because our oceans are in trouble with climate change and the environment in general," Denson said.
More: www.floridatoday.com
