ChristinaAbel's blog

The St. Johns County Utility Department has issued a precautionary boil water notice for customers in Palencia, Las Calinas, Kensington, Florentine and the Shops at St. Johns and Businesses at St. Johns. The notice is in effect until a retraction has been posted.

The precautionary boil water notice is due to a line break that occurred at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Hilden Road today.

After water service returns, county officials advise that customers in affected areas boil all water before it is used for drinking or cooking. A rolling boil of one minute is sufficient.
<

 The St. Johns County Utility Department has issued a Precautionary Boil Water Advisory for customers north of Ray Road, which includes Walden Chase and the surrounding area.
 
On Wednesday, October 8, a contractor accidentally cut a water line in the area. After water service is restored, as a precaution the Utility Department advises that all water used for drinking or cooking be boiled. A rolling boil of one minute is sufficient. As an alternative, bottled water may be used.
 
The Precautionary Boil Water Notice will remain in effect until a bacteriological survey shows that the water is safe to drink. At such a time a retraction notice will be posted.

By CHRISTINA ABEL, Shorelines

Whether it's planting wildflowers, installing signs or picking up trash on the side of the road, the Friends of A1A Scenic and Historic Byway are interested in improving the road through St. Johns County.

At a Ponte Vedra Beaches Coalition meeting Monday, Sallie O'Hara, the program administrator for the byway group, spoke about ways the group is improving the roadway. In Ponte Vedra Beach, the group plans to install a street sign and monument sign next year near the county line to tell drivers they are traveling on a scenic and historic road.

By CHRISTINA ABEL, Shorelines

After eight months of waiting, four Vilano Beach oceanfront homeowners whose dwellings are within feet of tall, eroded dunes have permission to build a seawall to protect themselves from further beach erosion.

The homeowners have been working with the state Department of Environmental Protection to get approval to build a permanent wall that would stop more sand from slipping away from their homes' foundations.

Members of the St. Johns County Civic Association Roundtable voted Monday to support the charter form of government option that will appear on the general election ballot Nov. 4.

The county commissioners voted to put the item back on the ballot after it was defeated in the primary election Aug. 26.

The association previously supported the charter option when it was on the primary ballot and there was some debate among the members about whether they needed to take a stand on the issue again.

In a surprise move, the St. Johns County commissioners decided Tuesday to stop a plan that would have charged homeowners a fee for fire services.
Four of the five commissioners had voted in favor of the fee in June, but changed their minds after receiving a lot of negative feedback from the public.
Currently, homeowners pay for fire services through their property taxes, but that’s not enough to fund infrastructure needs, such as new fire trucks and fire station buildings, so the commissioners were looking into charging a fee based on the size of the residents’ homes rather than their property values.

The sky is not falling on Ponte Vedra Beach’s restaurants.
With recent publicity about several businesses closing, other businesses are feeling the fallout from rumors that they are also shutting their doors.
Steve Anderson, regional marketing director for Twisted Martini restaurant and nightclub, which has locations in Ponte Vedra Beach and downtown Jacksonville, said rumors that the bar is closing have hurt the business.
Anderson said they have no plans to close their Ponte Vedra Beach or downtown locations. He said they are deeply involved in the Ponte Vedra Beach community and, since they opened their second location there in April 2007, business has been booming.

Some residents want the walk that would start at Ponte Vedra Boulevard.

By CHRISTINA ABEL, Shorelines

PONTE VEDRA BEACH - A residents' movement to build sidewalks on Ponte Vedra Boulevard has gained even more traction and now a group of homeowners wants to extend the sidewalk to Mickler's Landing.

In a Municipal Service District meeting Monday, Jim Staman said he's trying to get his neighbors together to pay for a 4,500-foot sidewalk on the west side of the boulevard that would run from 1008 Ponte Vedra Blvd. south to Mickler's. That stretch of concrete is expected to cost about $73,000.

   Dozens of Sawgrass Marriott Cabana Club members are planning to boycott ordering food and drinks at the club to show their anger over an 80-percent increase in membership dues.
   In support of the members’ protest, the president of the Ponte Vedra Athletic Association baseball club has decided to no longer hold their annual fund-raiser at the club.
   And club member Scott Erwin, who is also the general manager of the San Jose Country Club, called the dues increases “grossly unreasonable.”
   But the Marriott is holding steady with its new fees.
   “The only thing I will say is that our membership renewals are going very well,” said Debi Bishop, managing director of the Sawgrass Marriott.

A precautionary boil water advisory is in effect for certain customers in Ponte Vedra to boil water used for drinking and food preparation through Saturday.

The customers in Ponte Vedra are from 181 San Juan Drive to 196 San Juan Drive.

This precautionary advisory is issued as a result of bacteriological (coliform) samples showing possible contamination of the water during a planned water main outage. Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other potentially harmful, bacteria may be present.

Coliforms were found and this is a warning of potential problems.