Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The Jefferson County School District and Gulf Power/NextEra are working together to get a federal grant to repair and renovate the old gymnasium on South Water Street.
School Superintendent Eydie Tricquet, and Joy Frisby, secretary of the Police Athletic League (PAL), addressed the issue separately on recent days, the former before the school board and the latter before the Jefferson County Commission.
The confusion, as expressed by both Tricquet and Frisby, apparently arose because of PAL’s inability, as a lessee of the building, to enter into a contractual agreement with the energy companies for pursuit of funding to repair the structure, something that only the building’s owner can do.
“The matter’s been resolved,” Tricquet informed the Jefferson County School Board on Monday evening, April 12. And on Thursday evening, April 15, Frisby pretty much delivered the same message to the commission.
Frisby said that Gulf Power had notified her only days earlier that it was working with the school district to secure the funding for the gym’s renovation, as only the building’s owner could participate in such an effort.
Frisby apologized to the commission if her earlier request had created confusion. It didn’t matter to her, she said, what entity got the funding, so long as the building received the needed repairs and was made available to all the community’s youths.
Frisby was referring to her appeal to the commission on March 4 that PAL be allowed to work with Gulf Power/NextEra and the latter’s consultant to secure a grant for the repair of the 73-year-old building.
PAL, which counts among its members the Monticello Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, leases the gym from the school district, which it uses to offer programs that coach youths in sports and help them with school-related activities.
Confusion has swirled around the gym relative to the NextEra funding since the beginning, with the building initially listed among the recipients of the energy company’s largess and then dropped off.
To recap: In June 2020, when NextEra pledged $3.3 million in direct and service contributions to the county in exchange for commissioners rescinding an ordinance that sought to regulate high-voltage transmission lines, part of the deal included the energy company availing the community of high-caliber consultants to seek state and federal funding for county projects.
And when it came to the discussion of how best to spend the pledged NextEra money, the repair and restoration of the gym for use by PAL was initially listed among the top projects.
At time went on, however, the gym was dropped from the list, largely at the behest of Commissioner Betsy Barfield, who argued that other groups were more deserving of the funding and that the commission shouldn’t be investing in a structure that wasn’t county-owned.
At which point, the gym was removed from the list.
A month or so ago, however, when Frisby approached the commission and asked that PAL be allowed to work with Gulf Power/NextEra to seek funding for the building’s repair, the board agreed.
At the time, not even Timothy Bryant, senior manager of external affairs for new development at NextEra, saw any problem with Frisby’s request.
The only caveat that Bryant raised was that NextEra’s agreement was strictly with the county.
“In order for our grant writer to work with PAL we need the commission’s approval,” Bryant said.
Which approval the commissioners gave and Frisby went merrily on her way. The problem is that no one apparently checked with the school district, which owns the building.
When school district officials learned of PAL’s request and the commission’s action, they conveyed their displeasure both to county officials and Gulf Power/NextEra.
Erected in 1948 and renovated in 1979, the gym long served for the high school’s athletic events and general assemblies, before being abandoned in the 1990s. In the last several years, however, PAL has been making use of the building.