Veteran 6 26 2014

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VOL. 2/ISSUE 34

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

Proposed vets’ home site visited by state selection committee Mary Kemper staff writer

mkemper@veteranvoiceweekly.com

Veterans’ groups, St. Lucie County and city officials and other hopefuls for a VA nursing facility gathered to welcome a delegation from the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs who paid a visit to the proposed site in St. Lucie West on June 11. “This is your new home,” proclaimed St. Lucie County Commissioners’ chair Frannie Hutchinson to the visiting site selection committee and an estimated 100 members of veterans groups and other advocates. The visit was the third on a planned tour of nine locations, according to Letizia Nazario-Braddock, FDVA director of administration, who said the committee planned to wrap up their trip on Tuesday, June 24. The planned nursing home will be the seventh in Florida. The other homes are located in Daytona Beach, Land O’ Lakes, Panama City, Pembroke Pines, Port Charlotte and St. Augustine. The department also operates a veterans’ assisted living facility in Lake City. Currently, the closest nursing facilities for Treasure Coast and Space Coast veterans are Daytona Beach and Miami. The proposed site is located not quite 2 miles from Tradition Medical Center, St. Lucie West, on land donated by Tradition Land Co. LLC. The parcel is at the western end of Tradition Parkway. Al Carter, FDVA executive deputy director and site-selection committee chair, introduced seven of the nine total committee members attending (the ninth was delayed in arriving at the site). They included representatives of the FDVA’s legal, legislative, communications and administrative divisions, as well as medical professionals and an architect. Carter explained that half of the committee were voting members, and the other half non-voting, but who still have key roles to play in making the final

Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer Steve Murray, FDVA communications director, (in blue) greets veterans who came out to support the proposal of a veterans nursing facility to be built in Tradition before the site selection committee toured the property Wednesday, June 18. decision. He explained the rules under which the committee must operate. “There must be ‘Sunshine Law’ cleansing,” he said, referring to the Government-in-the-Sunshine Law enacted in 1967 to guarantee full access to all government records and meetings of government officials. “Voting members must disclose conversations with each other,” Carter said. “We all arrived here in separate vehicles, with the exception of non-voting admin(istration) members. “We’re allowed to ask site-specific questions, but we are not allowed to discuss site evaluation. Not until our visits are complete, and we formulate our recommendations to the state cabinet.” Hutchinson took the floor after Carter, and gave a measured, but passionate, talk touting the many qualities St. Lucie County and the city of Port St. Lucie have to offer. “You’ve got a state-of-the-art medical facility just over a mile from here; you’ve got amenities like a fire department very near

“More than 280,000 veterans live in our service area. Of these, more than 100,000 are over 65. We can handle these needs much better than anyone else.” St. Lucie county attorney Dan McIntyre

here, shopping; you’ve got serene, calm and beautiful conservation land that will not be developed. “It can’t be duplicated,” she said. “And it’s not just for the veterans, but for their families, too.” Hutchinson’s contingent included representatives from city utilities and services, who told the site committee that the infrastructure was sound, and that the facility could be easily and quickly constructed. County attorney Dan McIntyre said, “Certainly, Port St. Lucie will manage services. “More than 280,000 veterans live in our

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Veteran 6 26 2014 by Veteran Voice, LLC - Issuu