25 Years ago today in The Log: The fight against incorporation begins

Here’s what was reported in The Log Oct. 13 and 17:

•Lloyd Taylor, Dewey Destin and Tommy Mikel announced the formation of Opposed to Destin Incorporation. Dewey Destin told The Log the group expressed the view of the majority of Destin residents, and the election would prove it.
Asked about the group’s position, Taylor replied that “I have no comment to any news media. You can come to the meting Monday night.”
Bob McIlroy of the Committee for Incorporation said he was delighted the group had formed because it would bring opponents out into the open: “The better chance we have to refute what they say.”
Asked why ODI had waited until less than a month before the vote to organize, Taylor said CFI was composed of “wealthy people” and that ODI members had been working on fund-raising.
•At its Monday meeting, ODI members said that if Destin incorporated, the same powerful people pulling the strings in Fort Walton Beach would try to run Destin city government. Dewey Destin said city government with a strong city manager, as the charter proposed, wouldn’t be responsive enough to the public; also, the charter’s provisions would allow the city to take property by eminent domain.
ODI’s Lucille Middleton said that the new City Hall would be “a temple for all those people who want to incorporate — and you're going to pay for it.”
McIlroy took issue with statements the charter had been drawn up in secrecy, saying CFI had public input, and that Taylor had declined to participate: “I, frankly, am very appalled that statements that were made were made. I’m appalled at the distortions.”
•The Destin Water Users board learned it would be operating its sewage plant under a consent order until it could receive a new permit.
“I don’t think our engineers have kept us informed,” Board member Malcolm Patterson said, “when we’ve no operating permit.”
DWU formed a committee to review its operations; board members said it would help them “avoid crisis management.”
•The Department of Community Affairs said the proposed growth regulations coming out of a state panel on Northwest Florida could supersede the DCA’s designation of Destin and South Walton as a barrier-island, which restricted sate and federal funding for infrastructure. The designation had drawn strong opposition from local residents.
DCA said local government would have to follow the panel’s growth rules or the barrier-island label could be reapplied.
•A 29 year old Mississippi woman filed suit against Sea Cabins condominiums over injuries she received in 1982 when she fell through the floor of a second-story closet. The suit said the closet was too poorly lit for the weak flooring to be visible.
•Police charged Hubert Alan Laird of Valencia Condominiums with abducting and beating a woman there.
•Local artist Edna Wagner Piersol said she was promoting a series of artists’ retreats in Destin, which she hoped could lead to the growth of an “artists’ colony” here.
•A group of Destin Elementary first-graders visited The Log. Most of them said the favorite part of the trip was the press: “It was very loud.” “I liked seeing the paper come out.”
•The state Ethics Panel said it’s investigation of Okaloosa County Commissioner Mike Mitchell wouldn’t get under way until after the November elections, though the panel said the elections weren’t an issue.
Mitchell had requested an advisory opinion over his votes in an Okaloosa Island land dispute. The panel said that since that request, Okaloosa Island businessman W.C. Jones had filed a complaint, which made it an adversarial proceeding.
•The Marine Fisheries Commission recommended a limit of two king mackerel per angler per fishing trip.
•FEMA said multiple buildings in Destin had “significant deficiencies” judged by the county ordinances covering construction in flood zones, including Canal Place Townhouses, Harbor Docks and several homes on Moreno Point Road. FEMA representatives said the agency could suspend flood insurance if compliance was poor, but it was a very rare step.
•The County Commission rejected Sundestin’s request to move its off-site parking lot several hundred yards north to make room for someone to build a shopping center. County Attorney John Dowd said the original area was too far away from the Sundestin building to meet county rules; Commissioner Larry Anchors said moving it further would compound the problem.
•The Destin Fire District said the access at Destin Airport for fire trucks was barely adequate for the new “crash truck” brought in to handle airplane crashes.
•DWU, which had maxed out its sewer capacity, decided against buying developer Ross Franklin’s Crystal Beach wastewater treatment plant.
Franklin said his plant had capacity for 80 sewer taps, and could be upgraded to more than 2,000. DWU engineers, however, said piping sewage to a remote site in Crystal Beach would be a mistake.
•The Log reported plans for The Crossing at Sandestin, a 150,000 square foot U.S. 98 shopping center that could become the first major retail development in South Walton. The story noted that The Market at Sandestin and Silver Sands Plaza were also in the pipeline.
•An add by IGA offered a five pound bag of sugar for 68 cents, bacon for $1.28 a pound and apples for 89 cents a pound.