From: Pat Hubbard Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 10:42 AM To: Travis Peterson; John Asmar; Bill

Reynolds Cc: John Asmar Subject: RE: DRAFT presser for Blount School

Travis, we are close but no cigars. yet. Nice article, two points I have highlighted in yellow: * The current fines are not $250,000 but more like $52,000. The $250 per day fine was recently assessed. I would recommend deleting the exact accumulated fine amount. * Take out the Mayor's quote of 'shit hole' and replace with something as colorful but not so graphic. Also, we anticipate closing on or before September 30, 2011. Pat
Pat Hubbard Housing Director City of Pensacola P.O. Box 12910, Pensacola, FL 32521 850.858-0350 850-595-0113 (fax) phubbard@ci.pensacola.fl.us Notice: Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state and local officials regarding government business are public records available to the public and media upon request. Your email communications may be subject to public disclosure.

From: Travis Peterson [mailto:press@ashtonhayward.com] Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 10:23 AM To: John Asmar; Bill Reynolds Cc: John Asmar; Pat Hubbard Subject: DRAFT presser for Blount School

I'm going to work on getting a neighborhood person to quote also. TP

***BEGIN***

Fulfilling a campaign promise to crack down on blight and improve neighborhoods, Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward today announced that an agreement had been reached with the owners of the old Blount School building on East Gregory Street for the City to purchase the property and demolish it.

The school building, a dilapidated structure that has lain vacant for decades, has been an eyesore for the surrounding neighbors and community at large. Over the past several years, the property has accrued over $250,000 in code enforcement liens from the City of Pensacola, for violating city ordinances governing upkeep of property, and is accruing liens of $250 per day. Hayward announced the deal as part of an intensive effort to revitalize city neighborhoods and crack down on property owners that neglect their property and hurt the value of surrounding homes and neighborhoods. "For decades, this property has been an eyesore and a blight on a historic neighborhood that is trying to restore itself," said Hayward. "I remember knocking on doors on Gregory Street during the campaign, or going to games at Legion Field and thinking what a tragedy it was for that property to just continue to sit there and rot. One of my big priorities is to clean up Pensacola, and this deal will go a long way to helping the Gregory Street and Legion Field neighborhoods attract investment and increase their potential for redevelopment." As part of the contract, the City will purchase the property for $225,000 from Blount Redevelopment, LLC, which paid $400,000 for the property in 2004. Once the sale has closed, the City will assume and forgive the liens placed on the property. Funds for the sale will come from federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, and those CDBG funds will also be used for the demolition of the property, scheduled for next year. The CDBG funds come with some restrictions on future use of the property, according to Pat Hubbard of the City's Housing Department, which administers the federal grant. "Projects like this typically end up as affordable homes, parks, or community centers, unless private investment purchases the property and repays the grant to the CDBG program, at which point the property could be developed as any other private property could," said Hubbard. "I'm just excited that we're finally able to get rid of this eyesore and I'm grateful for the Mayor's support in making this happen." Hayward praised the work of the City Housing department for seeing an opportunity to improve neighborhoods and using outside revenue to make the project happen. "This is the sort of initiative that citizens should be expecting from City Hall," said Hayward. "Pat Hubbard and the folks at Housing saw this opportunity and found the funds to make it happen, and everyone from Housing, to the City

Attorney's office, to my staff in the Mayor's office, has been working as a team to make this deal happen. I'm hopeful we can get this deal to closing so we can avoid the time-consuming process of foreclosure. I'm ready to tear down this shit-hole and help these homeowners get started revitalizing their neighborhood," the Mayor said. Closing on the deal is expected within ??? no later than September 30, 2011. ###