What were Pensacola’s top stories this week? Take a look

Brandon Girod, Pensacola News Journal
·5 min read

Here's a roundup of our top stories from the past week that are available only to our subscribers.

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Eglin approves land lease to divert wastewater off Navarre Beach

Santa Rosa County is waiting for the U.S. Air Force to sign a lease agreement allowing Navarre Utility to send its treated wastewater to a discharge location on Eglin reservation property. Currently, the utility discharges its effluent into Santa Rosa Sound.
Santa Rosa County is waiting for the U.S. Air Force to sign a lease agreement allowing Navarre Utility to send its treated wastewater to a discharge location on Eglin reservation property. Currently, the utility discharges its effluent into Santa Rosa Sound.

Santa Rosa County Public Works Director Michael Schmidt on Wednesday received a 43-page copy of an executed lease authorizing his department to construct a Rapid Infiltration Basin System on 200 acres of Eglin Air Force property off of State Road 87 near the Holley community.

Among the more than 30 maps and exhibits accompanying the lease document is a letter dated May 23, 2002. In it a former Department of Environmental Protection official addresses a former Air Force official regarding "the rapid infiltration basins proposed by Santa Rosa County to be located within the boundaries of the Federal Reserve also known as Eglin Air Force Base."

There are few better indicators of how long the RIB System, which will allow for the disposal of treated wastewater of three South Santa Rosa County water systems, has been a topic of discussion.

Now that it holds a 25-year lease to land obtained via a lump sum payment of $210,000, the county will be able to embark upon a $32 million plan that will, among other things, allow it to stop pumping up to 900,000 gallons of treated wastewater a day into Santa Rosa Sound at Navarre Beach.

Full story: 20 years after talks began, Eglin offers land to divert wastewater out of Santa Rosa Sound

Another Broken Egg Cafe debuts second Pensacola location

Ronald and Teresa Schier plan for the opening of their newest Another Broken Egg location on Nine Mile Road on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
Ronald and Teresa Schier plan for the opening of their newest Another Broken Egg location on Nine Mile Road on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.

Nine Mile brunch lovers, rejoice! There is another, Another Broken Egg Café coming to Pensacola, and its grand opening day is Monday.

Despite being a national franchise, Another Broken Egg Café captured Pensacola’s heart with its mom-and-pop style hospitality in its downtown Pensacola location on 721 E. Gregory St.

In December 2021, franchisees Ron and Teresa Schier purchased the Gregory Street location from owners Homer and Linda Biggers, who had run the store for 10 years prior. The Schiers wanted to continue the grow the business while keeping the customer relationships that the Biggers had nurtured at the forefront.

Now, the Schiers are continuing to grow their Pensacola footprint through their newest location at the former Village Inn on 1590 E. Nine Mile Road. Starting April 3, the restaurant will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Keep reading to find out how this one will be different.

Full story: Pensacola's newest Another Broken Egg opens Monday. Here's how it will be different.

New apartments often seem to pop up without warning. Escambia ordinance may change that.

A rendering from Fifth Dimension Architecture & Interiors shows what a 325-unit apartment complex near Perdido Key will look like once it's completed.
A rendering from Fifth Dimension Architecture & Interiors shows what a 325-unit apartment complex near Perdido Key will look like once it's completed.

Apartment developers in Escambia County may have to notify nearby residents about upcoming projects if commissioners decide to revise the county's land development code on multi-family developments.

Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh on Thursday polled the other four commissioners to see if they would support a change that would require residents to be notified when an apartment development is being planned nearby.

"One of the challenges that we've all had in our districts, I've had particularly in my district, is what happens when a large multi-unit, high-density residential complex is planned for a community," Bergosh said. "And I think there's a bit of a hole in the process because the residents, a lot of times, are not aware of what's coming."

Bergosh pointed to a new apartment development near Perdido Key as a recent example and said the developer followed all the rules but the residents were unaware of the project until construction began.

Full story: New apartments often seem to pop up without warning. Escambia ordinance may change that.

Santa Rosa oysters may rebound thanks to $15M reef restoration project

Laura Geselbracht of The Nature Conservancy highlights the successful efforts to restore oyster reefs in the East Bay at Escribano Point on Friday, March 24, 2023.
Laura Geselbracht of The Nature Conservancy highlights the successful efforts to restore oyster reefs in the East Bay at Escribano Point on Friday, March 24, 2023.

Thirteen years after embarking upon what would become the Florida Nature Conservancy's largest oyster reef restoration project, representatives of the many organizations that played a role in helping the agency create 33 reefs in Santa Rosa's East and Blackwater bays off Escribano Point gathered Friday to celebrate the project's completion.

They had been brought in for the occasion to demonstrate the amazing capacity of the salt-water bivalve mollusks to filter sediments and nitrogen from the waters in which they live. At the onset of Friday's festivities, the living oysters were housed in an aquarium full of dank, dark water. By the end of the day's event, the water had been filtered nearly clear.

Historically oysters had been found throughout the Pensacola Bay system, but over time sediments washing off of dirt roads, erosion, pollution events and, to some degree, negligent harvesting practices conspired to lay waste to a nearly 15,000-acre ecosystem.

Plans for the East Bay oyster reef restoration project were being laid before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Birch said, but came to an abrupt halt in 2010 as the world watched oil spread across the Gulf of Mexico.

In the wake of the disaster, though, partnering with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Nature Conservancy was able to tap into $15 million in oil spill money dedicated specifically to habitat restoration that was accessed through yet another partner, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Full story: Oysters are regaining a foothold in Santa Rosa's East Bay thanks to 33 new reefs

Get to know Santa Rosa County's newest school, Wallace Lake K-8

Wallace Lake K-8, located on a 33-acre site at 3354 Wallace Lake Road in Pace, will serve 1,182 students at full capacity when open for the 2023-24 school year.
Wallace Lake K-8, located on a 33-acre site at 3354 Wallace Lake Road in Pace, will serve 1,182 students at full capacity when open for the 2023-24 school year.

Santa Rosa County’s second kindergarten through eighth-grade school, Wallace Lake, is preparing to open up in Pace for the 2023-24 school year.

Principal Missy Floyd and her right hand, Vice Principal Joey Goodwin, began work this month to start building a school up from scratch.

Here's what you need to know about the new school:

Full story: Get to know Santa Rosa County's newest school, Wallace Lake K-8, planned to open this fall

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola news this week: Here's a recap of Pensacola's top stories