Don Richards, president of United Peninsula Association, which represents roughly two dozen homeowners associations, appeared before county commissioners with a possible cost-saving measure last Tuesday.  Richards was joined by City of Gulf Breeze officials to recommend the switch to light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs at county-owned facilities for cost savings.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff Wendell Hall has requested an additional $904,700 for capital purchases from County Commissioners, mostly to replace aging patrol vehicles.  Clerk of Court Don Spencer made a similar, albeit smaller, request, in seeking a one-time allocation of $84,697 to fund step raises for employees.  Commissioners are expected to approve both funding requests through the Capital Reserve Fund at the December 12meeting.

Santa Rosa County Commissioner Bob Cole has reversed course and decided to use recreation funds from District 2 to fund the purchase of bleachers and other equipment for the county’s June Ates Arena in East Milton. Initially, Cole recommended that the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council (TDC) use bed tax money for the purchases.

Local businesses praised the county’s consolidation of several department functions at a public workshop hosted by the Santa Rosa County Chamber Legislative Coalition last week, and expressed hope other local and state government processes could also be refined to increase efficiency.

“I always look forward to this day, it’s one of my favorite days of the year,” said Santa Rosa County Tax Collector Stan Colie Nichols, who handed county commissioners a check for $676,597.78, representing unspent revenues earned by his office during fiscal year 2012-2013. At the same meeting Thursday, Clerk of Court and Comptroller Don Spencer returned excess fees from his office in the amount of $619,339.80, totaling approximately $1.3 million returned to commissioners.

A local pharmacy owner believes the county has been deceived when it comes to a discount drug program.