Blog Archives - The County Insider

The County Insider

Bicentennial Celebration: Healthy Kids Day

3/29/2024

3/29/24 @ 12:15 p.m.

We are pleased to partner with the First Coast YMCA at Wildlight to host Healthy Kids Day! This free community event will take place on Saturday, April 20th from 9am to 1pm at Tributary Park. It will feature sports skills and drills, soccer games, family fitness activities, a STEM Project, vendors and more!

Don't forget to visit on Visioning Tent and share your ideas for Nassau County's future through our Nassau Vision 2050 exercise and win some cool swag!

Date: Saturday, April 20th
Time: 9am - 1pm
Location: Tributary Regional Park, 75433 Edwards Road, Yulee, FL 32011

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer

Fiscal Year 22/23 Audit Presented

3/28/2024

3/28/24 @ 3:15 p.m. - At the Monday, March 25, 2024 meeting, Ron Whitesides, Auditor for Purvis Gray Company, presented the audit for FY 22/23 which ended on Septmeber 30, 2023. A team of ten individuals from this outside firm spent approximately 1,800 hours studying the Board's controls and processes to ensure they are appropriate and functioning properly.

Mr. Whitesides stated, "The audit went very well. We spent 1800 hours here and came up with two things that could be done to improve your processes. One relates to a cuttoff process for year-end payables accounting. The other relates to an year-end performance on land grants."

Mr. Whitesides stated that during the audit, the firm is looking at operating results. "The County continues to be in good financial position at absolutely every level", he said. "I can only comment on what the financial statements show in terms of revenues, costs and fund balance levels. What financial statements don't address is the infrastructure condition and the cost of growth. Nassau County is a rapidly growing county, and there is a cost with that. The County is in good financial position but that can be a challenge when keeping up with pace (of growth)."

Clerk of Courts and Chief Financial Officer John Crawford stated, "Congratulations on a good audit and on being in great financial shape. I want to thank you (the Board), each of the Constitutional Officers, and Mr. Whitesides. We work in harmony in this county for the protection of taxpayers. The audit shows them (the taxpayers) that they can have a high level of assurance that things are right financially and that there is transparency in County government. I commend you for that."

To view the auditor presentation, please click here. The presentation is listed under Tab D.

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer

Week in Pictures

3/28/2024

3/29/24 @ 9:30 a.m.- Below are pictures from the week of March 22 - March 29, 2024.

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer

Landscape Matters: The Unseen Landscape

3/28/2024

3/28/24 @ 1:45 p.m.

The Nassau County Public Library System and the Nassau County Extension Office have partnered to bring a Landscape Matters Class to the Fernandina Beach Library Branch. Classes will be lead by our Master Gardeners.

There is no cost to participate, however registration is required. Visit www.nassaureads.com. During registration, please determine whether you will attend in person or on-line. Everyone registering will automatically receive a sign-in link to view the program online.

When: April 10, 2024 from 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Where: Online or in person at 25 N. 4th Street (Fernandina Library)
What: Landscape Matters Class: The Unseen Landscape

Questions? Call (904) 530-6500.

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer

Plant Sale

3/28/2024

3/28/24 @ 10:45 a.m.

Calling all plant lovers! The next Master Gardener Volunteer Plant Sale has been scheduled for Saturday, May 11, 2024 from 9am-12pm. During this event, you can find a variety of flowers, plants and shrubs to fit your landscape needs, all of which are native to the area and were carefully propagated, grown and maintained by our master gardeners. Look closely and you'll likely find unique plants that aren't often found at local stores and nurseries and are bound to make your neighbors green with envy.

The event will take place at the Nassau County- UF/IFAS Extension Office located at 58531 Miner Road in Yulee. Please note that they will only be able to accept cash and checks for payment (no credit or debit cards). All proceeds will benefit the Master Gardener Volunteer program.

Questions? Call (904) 530-6350.

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer

Book Cover Contest

3/27/2024

3/27/24 @ 4:00 p.m. - In recognition of National Library Week, the Nassau County Library System is hosting a Book Cover Contest. Recreate any book cover and submit your design for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!

Entries are due by midnight on April 4, 2024 to [email protected]. All entries will be uplaoded to the Library's FaceBook page so the community can vote on their favorite during National Library Week which is April 7 - 12, 2024. All ages can participate however we respectfully request that there be only one entry per person.

Below are examples of entries shared last year to give you some inspiration.

Questions? Please contact the Library at (904) 530-6500 or email [email protected].

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer

National Red Cross Month

3/27/2024

3/27/24 @ 11:30 a.m.

At the meeting held on Monday. March 25, 2024, the Board of County Commissioners approved Proclamation No. 2024-014 proclaiming March 2024 as National Red Cross Month in Nassau County, Florida. March has been recognized across the nation as National Red Cross Month since 1943 when the first proclamation was issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of voluntters and the generosity of donors. The American Red Cross responds to more than 65,000 disasters annually, and delivers vital services to members of the Armed Forces, their families, and veterans at home and oversees, and has provided lifesaving health and safety training to more than five million people in 2023.

The North Florida Region and Northeast Florida Chapter of the American Red Cross helped more than 1,200 families affected by home fires or other disasters in 2023. They provided 13,000 vital services to miltary members, veterans, and families and deployedmore than 200 of its 1,000 volunteers in response to hurricanes and other disasters in Florida and nationally.

The Board of County Commissioners commends the National Red Cross for their continuing humanitarian service to Nassau County, as well as the State of Florida.

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer

Nassau County's Birthday: Part One - 1820s - 1830s

3/27/2024

Nassau County’s 200 birthday:
Part One: 1820s-1830s, The Early Years
By John Hendricks, historian

The origin of the name “Nassau” begins during Florida’s British Period in the late 1700s. The English named the river between the St. Marys and St Johns after the Duchy of Nassau in Germany and the area to its north gained the same name. After the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, East Florida went back to Spain. The river kept the name Nassau, but the area became known as the Upper St. Marys District. By 1800, Spain found it increasing difficult to rule and protect Florida. Realizing that they little to gain by holding on to this nearly empty possession, in 1819 Spain signed the Adams-Onis Treaty with the US. After nearly two years of little action, the US Congress finally ratified the agreement. On March 30, 1821, the new American territory of Florida was born. The sparsely populated territory was divided into two large counties: St Johns and Escambia, with the boundary line being the Suwanee River. To determine the new territorial capital, men riding horseback left the two county seats (St. Augustine and Pensacola) and headed toward each other, meeting just south of where the new capital town of Tallahassee was founded. Only about 1200 pioneers lived in the area south of the St Marys River with most living on or near the river on Amelia Island. These citizens fell under the jurisdiction of St. Johns County and had to travel either by the Kings Road or sail south to St. Augustine to take care of legal business.

Thirteen months later, in August of 1822, Jackson and Duval Counties were carved out of Escambia and St Johns, respectively. Land records of what little settlers lived the Upper St Marys district were moved from St. Augustine to Jacksonville, formerly known as the sleepy river crossing of Cowford. Two more counties were formed (Gadsden and Monroe) before December 9, 1824, when five more counties were carved out of the existing six: Walton and Leon out of Escambia/Jackson, Mosquito out of St. Johns and Alachua and Nassau out of Duval. After 28 months of being controlled by Jacksonville, our ancestors living here in the new county called Nassau chanted the Duuuuvaall cheer no longer. There were many sudden changes that the 1200 citizens of Nassau experienced within this short 5-year period between 1819 and 1824.

Boundaries: The shape of Nassau County looks different today than it did in 1824. The St. Marys and Nassau Rivers were always its northern, western, and southern boundaries. However, a set of conflicting descriptions of the land boundary between Duval and Nassau caused confusion at the onset of Nassau County’s existence. The original boundary was defined as a line heading east up the Nassau River to the Thomas Creek head waters, then running due west to the St. Marys River. This caused the areas of today’s Brandy Branch and Bryceville to fall on the Duval County side of the line. Yet, a second law passed in December of 1826, set the boundary from Thomas Creek headwaters southwestward to the headwaters of Big (Deep) Creek. This interpretation included not only today’s Brandy Branch and Bryceville, but Baldwin and small parts of today’s Baker County. The present day 45-degree
land boundary would not be officially defined until the 1850s.

County Seat: All counties need a single place for the government to conduct business and Nassau was no different. Fernandina was not the obvious choice at the beginning, as the port town was in deep decline since becoming an American possession. Fernandina, founded in 1825, was not the bustling international port and smuggling center it was just ten years prior. In January of 1827, the Florida legislature assigned Nassau County commissioners James Crozier, David Higginbotham, F D McDonnell, Elijah Higginbotham, and Lewis Bailey the task of locating the new courthouse site. The parameters were that it had to fall “west of a line running due south from Nathaniel Wilde’s landing and east of the Kings Road.” A year later, a centrally located site just south of the Little St. Marys River near today’s Evergreen was selected. A short waterway called the courthouse ditch was dug from the Little St. Marys River southward so timber could be floated to the site for construction of the log courthouse. Courts were established on the fourth Mondays in June and January. Nassau was paired with Duval County in the same militia district, in which units were called to duty twelve years later in 1836.

Call of duty, 1836: When Florida became a US territory, the American government forced the Seminoles living in the territory’s panhandle to move to a designated area in the center of the peninsular. However, in the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson demanded the Native Americans leave Florida altogether. In December of 1835, a band of Seminoles ambushed and killed over 100 soldiers marching from near Tampa to Fort King near Ocala. Shortly thereafter, the US Army began mustering members of several militias, including David Gardner’s 4th Regiment, 2nd Brigade Florida Militia which covered Duval and Nassau Counties. Captain David Gardner may be the namesake of Gardner Creek near the Hart’s Road Crossing of the Nassau River. Some Nassau soldiers included Adin Waterman, Reuben Hogans, and John Uptegrove, who lived on a Spanish Land grant west of Lofton Creek. John died within weeks of being called up for reasons unknown to the author at this time.

Slavery: Under Florida’s Second Spanish Rule (1783-1821), enslaved workers had rights to marry, own property, and to buy their freedom. They were not considered property as they were in the US states to the north. Many runaway slaves from the US sought refuge among the Seminoles living within the Spanish Florida boundaries. When Florida became a US possession, it became a slave territory. Those free African Americans not living with the Seminoles quickly left Florida. By 1830, there were 793 slaves and 46 Freed Blacks living in Nassau County, making up 55 percent of the county’s population. This ratio would roughly hold true for the next 90 years.

End of the band on Protestant Religions: During its second possession, Spain required settlers living in East Florida to be loyal to the Crown and to practice Catholicism. This requirement became harder to enforce as Spain’s influence over Florida weakened. When Florida became a US Possession, settlers were able to start churches that reflected their true faith. Florida’s first protestant church was founded in 1821 in Nassau County near today’s Boulogne. Pigeon Creek Primitive Baptist still meets today as a congregation, although the original building is long gone. Other churches founded in this time were Memorial Methodist in 1822 in Fernandina, New Hope Methodist in 1835 in O’Neil, and Bethany Primitive Baptist in 1839 near today’s Dyal.

John Hendricks is a Nassau County historian, author, and director of the West Nassau Historical Society. You can join him on the 4th Thursdays of each month at 6:30 pm at their meeting inside the historic Callahan Train Depot.

Proclamation Honoring the Life of David Berkman

3/26/2024

03/26/24 @ 11:00 a.m. - At the Monday, March 11, 2024 meeting, the Board approved Proclamation No. 2024-009 honoring the life of David Berkman, a Nassau County resident who passed away in 2021. Mr. Berkman was a successful business man who worked in many areas of real estate including buying, selling, and development of land and apartment communities in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.

Mr. Berkman believed in giving back to his community and was a very generous donor to many charitable organizations. His most proud opportunity was sponsoring the Berkman Building at Baptist-Nassau Hospital which consists of a 49,000 square foot, 48-bed patient wing added onto the existing hospital, expanding care opportunities for Nassau County residents.

Since his passing, Mrs. Betty Berkman has made it her mission to continue his efforts in giving back to the community in Mr. Berkman's honor. Ms. Berkman has given generously in recent years, making major contributions to the quality-of-life for Nassau County residents including:

A donation to the McArthur Family YMCA to assist with plans to expand its youth programs
A donation to the City of Fernandina Beach for construction of Teddy Bear Playground at Central Park
A donation to the Council on Aging for an outdoor pavilion and memorial garden
A donation to the Boys & Girls Club for a new teen center and sponsorship program
A donation to Barnabas Center for their Health Clinic
A donation to Nassau Habitat for Humanity for construction of "Berkman Place", a site with new affordable homes in Fernandina Beach

The Proclamation was presented to Ms. Berkman and her family and a special event held at Song & Story on March 18, 2024, by Board Chairman John Martin. Chairman Martin stated, "Mrs. Berkman has done a lot to honor Mr. Berkman's legacy of kindness, generosity, and selflessness. On behalf of the Board of County Commissioners, we thank David and Betty Berkman for their commitment to serve children, families and the community they love."

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer

Employees Recognized for Years of Service

3/26/2024

County Manager Taco Pope; Facilities Foreman Julie Elliott; Asst. Public Works Director David Hearn; Public Works Director Doug Podiak; and Asst. Facilities Director Jeff Little

3/26/24 @ 9:00 a.m.- At the Wednesday, March 20, 2024 meeting, the Board of County Commissioners recognized two County employees for years of service.

Julie Elliott with our Faciliites Maintenance Department is celebrating 20 years of service this month. In her position as Facilities Foreman, Julie coordinates the labor, materials and equipment needed for assigned projects and oversees/directs labor operations in the maintenance and construction of facilities. Though she instructs and oversees the work of technicians, Julie is still actively involved in completing projects and work orders and is efficient in many areas including hanging sheetrock, performing plumbing work, installing water and sanitary fixtures, troubleshooting electrical, refridgeration, heating and air conditioner issues, and oversight of the construction or repair of sidewalks on County property.

David Hearn is our Assistant Public Works Director and is celebrating 25 years of service. In this position, David has a variety of responsbilities, including but not limited to: overseeing, directing, planning and coordination of all activities and personnel in the Road Department. He also makes recommendations to the Road Director for budgeting needs, operations and functions of the department, and reviews the work of subordinates for completion and accuracy. Under his supervision, projects are inspected for compliance with all applicable policies, procedures, laws, regulations, guidelines, County Ordinances and standards of quality and safety.

County Manager Taco Pope stated, "Julie Elliott is celebrating 20 years. Quite frankly, there's nothing that Julie can't do. And David Hearn, your Assistant Public Works Director, it's the same thing. The two of them are spectacular. We're very fortunate to have both of them here. I can't thank Julie or David enough for their efforts and their professionalism."

Thank you David and Julie for all you do for Nassau County!

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer