• Trouble logging in? Send us a message with your username and/or email address for help.
New posts

Bob Hudson

Beach Fanatic
May 10, 2008
1,066
739
Santa Rosa Beach
Email sent today

Dear Walton County Board of Commissioners and Tourist Development Council

Thank you all for your support over the past (almost) two years at the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center (501c3 registered name as Nokuse Education, Inc.). Your willingness to renew the present agreement between the Tourist Development Council and the Center is greatly appreciated, however, in view of budget restraints and increased demands, we must respectfully decline. You have our most sincere gratitude for your past support and our best wishes.

Sincerely,

Christy Scally

We are a 501(c)3 and rely on donations to focus on environmental education. Won't you join us? Christina Scally E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center Director
 

Jim Tucker

Beach Fanatic
Jul 12, 2005
1,189
497
The E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center has sent Walton County a letter thanking the Board of County Commissioners and the Tourist Development Board for their almost two year support, but says they will decline renewing the agreement.


In a letter dated March 14, the Biophilia Center says the willingness to renew the present agreement between the Center and the TDC is greatly appreciated, but in view of budget restraints and increased demands, they must respectfully decline. The letter, signed by Center Director Christy Seally, gives the TDC their most sincere gratitude for the past support and best wishes.


At a recent Walton Commissioner meeting, the TDC and Center came with a request to renew the agreement for a third year. This was met with questions by commissioners as the number of visitors the center receives compared to the amount of funds given. The Center works with a number of school children and has been opening to the public with a target of south Walton guests. The Center also planned to allow the TDC to install a kiosk with south Walton information.


One recommendation from Commissioner Cindy Meadows was to cut the request by half and give the money to other ecotourism attractions. Meadows was the main commissioner questioning the request. Commissioner Comander suggested they need to be given the same amount for the third year so the Center can continue to operate as it has been and try to increase the number of Center visitors.


With this letter, the agreement will not continue for the third year.


https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByS7t-sx60TLc2k4ay1ZQzc2Ync/edit?usp=sharing
 

j p nettles

Banned
Jul 1, 2012
380
63
76
Ebro
Why not cut through all the bravo sierra. M. C. Davis is the biggest contributor to most of Walton County's elected officials, since Jay Odom seems to have encountered some unpleasantness. Ms. Meadows seems to be an exception.
 

SoWal Staff

Serving the Community!
Staff member
Apr 14, 2006
3,835
511
South Walon, FL
SoWal.com
http://defuniakherald.com/?p=6123

Mar 8th, 2013 |

By DOTTY NIST

An agreement providing for the E.O .Wilson Biophilia Center to continue to serve the general public was approved by county commissioners on Feb. 26 after some discussion by commissioners and the public.
The decision took place at the Feb. 26 Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting at the Walton County Courthouse in DeFuniak Springs.

Operating since 2009, the center is located on Nokuse Plantation’s approximately 50,000 acres of wildlife corridor east of Freeport near Bruce. It is a $12 million private facility created for the purpose of providing environmental education to school groups and educators. Among the features of the center are an exhibit hall, classrooms, conference rooms, a birds of prey complex, and a network of nature trails on the surrounding property.

There are plans for the addition of a bat cave, a petting zoo, and a NOAA Science on a Sphere.
Prior to a parnership agreement two years ago between the South Walton Tourist Development Council (TDC) and the center, it was open to the general public only on special occasions several times during the year. In accordance with the TDC’s goal of expanding eco-tourism in Walton County, the council pledged through the agreement to provide financial support to the center in order to enable it to open to the public, including visitors to the area, during certain days and hours. A yearly fee of $119,500 was agreed on as a means of offsetting the center’s costs of serving the general public. The source of those funds is the new product development “cent” of the tourist bed tax.

On Feb. 19, the TDC had voted unanimously to renew the partnership agreement with the E.O. Biophilia Center for a third year.

The agreement provides for quarterly reports from the center on the number of visitors, their comments and feedback, and visitor demographics. Information on these topics was presented at the Feb. 19 TDC meeting and at the Feb. 26 BCC meeting, at which the commissioners reviewed the TDC recommendation to renew the agreement.

It was reported that more than 6,000 members of the public had visited the center during 2011 and 2012 since its opening to the public, with 3,846 of those from outside Walton County.

It had been noted at the TDC meeting that tracking of visitors by the center had not been very detailed. Representatives of the center had responded that some visitors had been reluctant to provide information due to privacy concerns, but that there would be effort in the future toward obtaining more detailed information from patrons. TDC Executive Director Dawn Moliterno also noted that there had been an agreement for the TDC to place a kiosk promoting Visit South Walton at the center.

“It’s a unique asset here in Walton County,” Moliterno said of the center.

There was discussion among the commissioners about possible revisions to the hours during which the center is open to the public in order to make it more convenient for tourists to visit. Current hours are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. June through August and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. September through May. District 4 Commissioner Sara Comander suggested reducing Saturday hours, when many tourists are busy checking in or out of their lodging, and expanding the Thursday and Friday hours.
Comander was enthusiastic about the center, saying that she regularly takes her grandchildren from the northern U.S. to visit there when they are staying with her.

“It’s becoming a destination draw,” Moliterno commented, adding that special events held at the center attract as many as 1,000 people.

However, District 5 Commissioner Cindy Meadows was not comfortable with the numbers of out-of-town people being reported in attendance at the center in consideration of the amount of money being provided to the center through the agreement. This was despite her having voted as TDC chairman for approval of a renewal on the contract. Meadows said that since that time she had done more thinking about the expenditure and had looked at some new information.

J.B. Hillard of DeFuniak Springs was complimentary about the center’s service to the area school districts but questioned why the school districts were not being asked to contribute money rather than the TDC. “There’s got to be an end to this passing out TDC money,” he complained. Hillard also had concerns about the center being a 501(c)3 charity organization, receiving public funding and also charging the public an entrance fee.
Miramar Beach resident Don Riley was also critical of this expenditure of bed tax dollars, saying that he got more visitors per year at the condominium where he lives than the Biophilia Center gets.

Christy Scally, director for the center, explained that the center is currently in the process of transitioning from a private to a public foundation, a process that takes approximately five years and which requires that public funding be obtained. Other funding has been received from the St. Joe Foundation, she commented. Per the center’s agreement with the schools, they cannot be asked for funding, she noted, although the schools do provide more than $80,000 for transportation of students as an in-kind contribution. Without the funding in the agreement with the TDC, Scally explained, it would not be possible for the center to remain open to the public. She added that attendance has been increasing each month and that it takes time to build a destination.

Moliterno explained that the purpose of the small entrance fee charged to the public was to prevent the center from being used as a “baby-sitting drop off” by parents.

She clarified that it was the TDC that had approached M.C. Davis, founder and owner of the center, about entering into the agreement, rather than the center coming to the TDC for funds.

Comander said she saw support of the center as part of the effort to diversify tourism and promote tourism options aside from the beach. However, she requested better record keeping by the center in the future.
Meadows said she thought the center was a great asset and certainly worthy of some funding but proposed that TDC funding to it be scaled back, at least for the next year, in conjunction with an emphasis on promotion of the county’s other ecotourism attractions, Morrison Springs for example.

She motioned for approval of the contract at a level of $60,000. However, there was no second to her motion, and it died.

Comander commented that two years ago the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center had been told “we’re going to give you a chance.” She motioned for renewal of the agreement at the $119, 500 level, per the request, in order to give the center another year to build itself as a visitor destination. The motion was approved 4-1, with Meadows voting no.
 
Last edited:

j p nettles

Banned
Jul 1, 2012
380
63
76
Ebro
Let me get all this straight. 6000 visitors in two years. Over 100gs from the TDC. The owner doesn't have to pay property taxes on 50,000 acres of land. And the owner is the biggest contributor to the people who control the purse strings. Sounds like an expensive public service.
 

Zebraspots

Beach Fanatic
May 15, 2008
840
247
Santa Rosa Beach
I loved my very educational visit to the center and their forum on the oil spill, but am very concerned about the politics of this.

It seems like the amount we give them is a wash compared to what they shell out on political donations. :sosad:
 

j p nettles

Banned
Jul 1, 2012
380
63
76
Ebro
If I'm not mistaken, Nokuse Plantation is set up as a 'for profit' corporation which suggests to me that it probably shows a huge loss for the owner when it's time to pay income taxes. I'm sure that there are other more complex issues also that play into all this. What concerns me is the fact that one person can use a dozen or more entities and companies that finance our political candidates.....including the sheriff. Kind of puts the little guy who might want to run for office at a disadvantage. I vote for the candidates who I think are the best (and most honest) but they usually lose because they don't get the big bucks when they run. And I can't afford to contribute the $500 maximum that I'm legally allowed to give. I also have to keep in mind that Jay Odom has also been a contributor to the same Walton County politicians.....until political contributions became a big problem for him.
 

Andy A

Beach Fanatic
Feb 28, 2007
4,389
1,738
Blue Mountain Beach
The E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center is a diamond in the rough. It is a very useful tool for all who are willing to learn but especially for our school children. Unfortunately, it sits in the middle of nowhere and many do not know of its existence. It needs to be more sucessfully promoted by Walton County. Some of us get so hung up on the spending of our bucks that we can't realize when they are used wisely and for all's benefit. There is plenty of waste regarding our tax dollars in this nation. The money used to promote the Biophilia Center was not among them. It must have worked. They are not seeking public funds this year. If you haven't visited this treasure, I strongly suggest you do so.
 
New posts


Sign Up for SoWal Newsletter