New big blue signs in SoWal

Someone PLEASE tell me I'm wrong, because right now I am thinking that means they spent $13K to survey 150 people.

If so, time to take away Jr's credit card!!!

I found a payment to that company. I think it was around $13K. I wonder if that is the survey.

Sweet Lord, pass the nitroglycerin, I am having chest pains!

I swear I am going to apply for that open job!

I've got a college degree, no criminal record, can easily pass any drug test, and am reasonably eloquent. My tendencies towards fiscal responsibility and common sense may be considered negatives though!

Someone PLEASE tell me I'm wrong, because right now I am thinking that means they spent $13K to survey 150 people.

If so, time to take away Jr's credit card!!!

Probably not. $10K for the 07-08 Visitor Tracking Study
$4,666.67 for the 07-08 Visitor Services Study

The last one looks like an amount split up for invoicing. These were billed in the March 28 EAL. I will look back and see if I can find a bill for them that may indicate it is for the signs.

Okay I found it.

Signage Study 50% Due $5250.00


Now I do not know if that means that the study only cost $5250, or if it was $10500.

Okay I found it.

Signage Study 50% Due $5250.00


Now I do not know if that means that the study only cost $5250, or if it was $10500.

Continuing to throw good money after bad. Unbelievable. Like I said: A full, independent audit that brings to light every penny spent so that every citizen can see the results. Only so many folks are seeing the numbers that WGOP is posting here on SoWal.

WGOP- do you see anything in the expenditures about the Mickey Thompson tires on some of the TDC trucks? It'd be several months old. I'll bet we paid a pretty penny for those high-end tires when some goodyears or bf goodrich's would have done the job.

Okay I found it.

Signage Study 50% Due $5250.00


Now I do not know if that means that the study only cost $5250, or if it was $10500.

Sounds like $10500 to me! Doesn't the Jr. College there have some math course that could incorporate a little statistics study? They'd have most likely done a more statistically correct "survey" than this group has.


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Self-selecting, piles of money, no oversight.....move along people, nothing to see here!

So, this group wouldn't chip in on Artsquest. They didn't spearhead the scenic highway designation. What else?

chrisV, don't you know that lipstick is expensive?

What is becoming very apparent is that the TDC doesn't care about how much money they spend, because they think they don't have to answer to the ones who pay those bed taxes. Locals don't typically go after them for spending someone else's money. A Bob Dylan song is coming to mind, "The Times, They are a Changing."

chrisV, don't you know that lipstick is expensive?

What is becoming very apparent is that the TDC doesn't care about how much money they spend, because they think they don't have to answer to the ones who pay those bed taxes. Locals don't typically go after them for spending someone else's money. A Bob Dylan song is coming to mind, "The Times, They are a Changing."

Sounds like $10500 to me! Doesn't the Jr. College there have some math course that could incorporate a little statistics study? They'd have most likely done a more statistically correct "survey" than this group has.


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Or they could have jumped on their trusty keyboard for free and looked at our favorite website's pole to see what 1400+ visitors, property owners and locals think of the signs. :roll:

Or they could have jumped on their trusty keyboard for free and looked at our favorite website's pole to see what 1400+ visitors, property owners and locals think of the signs. :roll:

Too easy!

.

Or they could have jumped on their trusty keyboard for free and looked at our favorite website's pole to see what 1400+ visitors, property owners and locals think of the signs. :roll:

Good one. Just gave you some rep.

Speaking of our favorite website....did anyone at the last TDC meeting pick up on the fact that the $15,000 survey showed that most visitors had glowing praise for the informative, well-designed TDC website? The TDC was very self-congratulatory about that one...

Problem is, their website isn't very good.

I'd be willing to bet that marketing survey didn't control for confusion between beachesofsouthwalton.com and sowal.com/

Speaking of our favorite website....did anyone at the last TDC meeting pick up on the fact that the $15,000 survey showed that most visitors had glowing praise for the informative, well-designed TDC website? The TDC was very self-congratulatory about that one...

Problem is, their website isn't very good.

I'd be willing to bet that marketing survey didn't control for confusion between beachesofsouthwalton.com and sowal.com/

I'd be willing to bet you are right.

Rep for you too, clever girl.

It's really dark outside. Hubby and I decided that the signs don't look that bad when you can't see them.

It's really dark outside. Hubby and I decided that the signs don't look that bad when you can't see them.

great,BR! That is perfect!


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Odd how Mr. Sean Boon failed to mention the letter I read to the workshop audience in his front page article. The letter personifies the majority position of the community and points out that Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach had the opportunity to "OPT" out of having signs in front of the towns. This is a very important point. This precedent really means any town may request they not be there. Here is the letter I read. Perhaps the press will read it here and mention it's importance in future articles.

Dave Rauschkolb




To: TDC Board of Directors

We know that you have received countless letters about the new signage along 30A, and you probably do not wish to read another one. But as the Founder of Seaside and as a Senior Vice President of The St. Joe Company who collectively represent approximately 500 units contributing significant revenue to the bed tax which supports your good work, we felt it important to reinforce what we understand to be the consensus along 30A…that the recently installed signage along 30A is inappropriate from an aesthetic perspective, particularly along a corridor which has been recently designated as a “scenic highway”. We acknowledge that the TDC has invested considerable time and money into these signs and that there could be much debate about what type of signage, if any, would be appropriate. But the prevailing view, which we share, is that the new signage is not at all representative of “what 30A is about” and that the signage should be removed.

It is our understanding that Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach learned about the proposed signs before their installation and elected to “opt out”. Now that we have seen the signage, we would like to do what we would have done had we learned about the signs in advance of their installation…and that is to formally “opt out” of this new signage initiative. We would like to have these signs removed from the entrances to our properties, but we also feel that the removal of these signs is important to the integrity of the entire 30A corridor. 30A is special in so many ways, including its characterization by some as the “Design Coast” and by others as “the nation’s laboratory for traditional neighborhood design”. We attract people from all over the world to this unique seaside venue – from architecture professionals to full time residents, second home owners and vacation visitors. We would hope that their experience of this unique part of the Gulf Coast lives up to everything they have read about and seen on countless travelogues which extoll the natural beauty which the TDC has done so much to protect and to promote.

We are sensitive to the difficult issues that you must face from time to time, including this one, and are grateful for the time you and your dedicated staff put into bringing these issues to resolution. As we prepare for Spring Break activities and the summer season that follows, we respectfully request that the signage in proximity to Seaside and the communities of WaterColor, WaterSound Beach and WaterSound West Beach be removed while alternative solutions are being studied.

Respectfully,


Robert Davis, Founder of Seaside


Roderick T. Wilson, Senior Vice President, The St. Joe Company

Great Letter! Now, if only all the other beaches were incorporated and had a "leader' government official to write these types of letter.

Does anyone know how Alys Beach got prior notice to the installation and the opt out option? Could it be that the other areas are not incorporated and there was no one to send the notification to? Is Watercolor an incorporated "city" as Seaside and Alys Beach?

According to the TDC, everyone was informed of the signs six years ago, in 2002. lol.

According to the TDC, everyone was informed of the signs six years ago, in 2002. lol.

And, how did they inform everyone? Was Alys Beach existing in 2002? I think maybe the start of it.

Is informing everyone a requirement by any type of government rules? If so, where is their proof any notification ever sent sent out?.

In 2002, the signs were noted in the public record of a BCC meeting, and again, once more, in 2003. As you note, the problem with that is that many people who live here today, weren't living here in 2002 and 2003, just as Alys Beach had not started then.

Hey Booger...your on to something here......I say dressed as tourists and the TDC yard is brilliant!You get rep for that one.

Tommy Bahama's and Kahki's ... SUV. Can anyone line up a Gerogia SUV with a "W the Presdient sticker" ?

Hey Booger...your on to something here......I say dressed as tourists and the TDC yard is brilliant!You get rep for that one.

What's a Rep?

Dave

It stands for reputation. People can give you positive or negative reps for each of your posts. As you get more positive reps, the little green squares under your avatar, increase in quantity. If you get enough red ones, they may reduce the number of your green ones, or if you have a net negative number, your green square will be red.

Tommy Bahama's and Kahki's ... SUV. Can anyone line up a Gerogia SUV with a "W the Presdient sticker" ?

Georgia tag...very good. TB and Kahki's...oh so typical and perfect. How about the redneck sticker..."here's your sign?"......