County commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to prohibit data centers in Wakulla – and received a standing ovation from the standing-room only audience.
Data centers are profliferating with advancements in artificial intelligence and have become controversial over the enormous strain on local electrical grids and the immense use of water to cool the centers.

County Commissioner Valerie Russell put the issue on the agenda for the June 15 meeting and moved to have staff draft an ordinance prohibiting the permitting, construction and operation of data centers in the county.
About a dozen citizens spoke out against data centers, most expressing concern about the potential impact on local water resources.
Evan Rosenthal, attorney with Nabors, Gublin & Nickerson law firm which represents the county, was filling in for attorney Heather Encinosa at the meeting and Rosenthal advised commissioners of possible legal risk if they passed a permanent ban.
Rosenthal noted that, while the legislature did pass SB 484 that allows local governments to reject data centers, there was potential conflict with SB 180, which restricts local governments within 100 miles of a federally declared disaster zone after a hurricane from adopting land-use regulations that are more restrictive. That law encompasses Wakulla County through Oct. 1, 2027.
Commissioners debated whether to declare a moratorium for a year on data centers, until Commission Chair Ralph Thomas commented that he believed the board should take the risk and go forward with an outright ban “because we think that’s the right thing to do.”
All five commissioners voted for the prohibition.
Assistant County Administrator Somer Pell noted that it would likely take two or three months to draft an ordinance and hold public hearings to pass it.
Citizens who spoke against data centers included Madeleine Carr, who said: “Nothing in this county is more important that the water under our feet.”
Kellie Keys commented that Wakulla’s unique karst features are just sand and limestone over underground water making it the wrong place for potential pollution.
Fishing podcaster Hunter Levine said it was important to protect the county’s natural resources.
Adrianne Johnson, who is executive director of the Florida Shellfish Aquaculture Association, said oyster farmers could be devastated by reduction in water flows.
Chad Hanson, who chairs the Wakulla Springs Alliance, said, “Water extraction is a problem,” and noting the number of dark water days at Wakulla Springs are increasing.

Bruce Ritchie, a reporter with Florida Politico, was visiting Wakulla recently, and had an unusual experience of seeing a peacock on the side of the road on Spring Creek Highway, and then another a few miles away near Cherokee Sink.

He contacted The Wakulla Sun saying he was unsure if these were people’s pets that had gotten loose, but was uncertain as to the strange sightings of two peacocks on the side of the road miles away from each other. Anyone know the story behind these birds? Let us know by calling The Sun at (850) 962-8024. (Photo by Bruce Ritchie on Facebook)

County commissioners held a budget workshop after their regular meeting on Monday night, and much of the focus was on how to respond if the constitutional amendment on property taxes passes in November.
The state Legislature has proposed a constitutional amendment that would increase homestead exemption on residential property from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027-28 and then $200,000 the year after. It will appear on the ballot on the Nov. 3 general election.

The amendment would still allow taxes for school districts.
Wakulla County is heavily dependent on ad valorem taxes to fund county services such as the sheriff’s office, fire-rescue and constitutional offices. Forty-six percent of the property taxes collected in Wakulla are on homestead properties, and if the amendment passes, the county is projected to have a nearly $9 million shortfall in revenues.
County Commission Chair Ralph Thomas said the key question the board needs to answer is whether they will cut services – the library and recreational sports programs would likely be among the first to go – or seek other funding sources and try to make up for the lost revenue.
Thomas noted for example that the county could pursue other assessments, such as Municipal Services Benefit Unit (MSBU) for services such as fire and sheriff.
Projected taxable values in Wakulla for the next budget year are $2.64 billion, an increase of $120 million or 4.78%. That’s a marked decrease from prior years: Last year values increased by $243 million or 10.66%, and the year before the increase was more than 14%.
Of this year’s increase, $99 million was from new construction.
County commissioners took under advisement requests from non-profits for $170,000 in funding. That includes $100,000 for the senior center; $40,000 for Keep Wakulla County Beautiful; $15,000 for We Care Network; and $15,000 for North Florida Medical Centers. Florida Wild Mammal Association did not make a funding request this year.
Commissioners acknowledged that if the property tax amendment passes, non-profit funding is likely the first thing to go. The board would hold that money until November to see the outcome of the vote.
Commissioners also gave a head nod to increasing the pay of county staff by 3%, but withholding the increase until after the November election. If the amendment doesn’t pass, the pay increase would be retroactive to Oct. 1.
It was noted that the cost of employee incurance is anticipated to increase 8% this year under Capital Health Plan. Commissioners indicated support for passing on some increased costs for insurance to employees: a $35 per pay period increase for employee and spouse in the top tier plan; or $53 for employees in the top tier family plan.
The board was also told there is an anticpated 11% premium increase for property, auto and liability insurance coverage.

Special to The Sun

Wakulla County teens gathered for an evening of music, connection, and fun at the recent Sunset Social Dance, a lively event hosted by Wakulla 4-H. Held following the Teen Town Hall, the dance offered youth the flexibility to attend one or both events, empowering them to shape their own experience for the night.

The Extension Arena was transformed into a vibrant tropical escape, with colorful décor setting the tone for the evening. As dusk settled, tiki torches illuminated the entrance, welcoming youth ages 11–18 into a festive and inviting space. Inside, strings of lights and upbeat music created the perfect atmosphere for socializing and dancing.
Entertainment was in full swing thanks to DJ Dave (David Pienta), who kept the energy high with a playlist that had participants on their feet throughout the night. Adding to the excitement, a popular photo booth featured local personality Jerry Boler—known to many as “Mr. Christmas” from the Songbird neighborhood—giving teens a chance to capture memorable moments with friends.
The event also provided plenty of refreshments, with pizza, snacks, and drinks available as youth mingled, laughed, and enjoyed the evening’s activities. Beyond the music and food, the event emphasized creating a safe, inclusive environment where young people could connect and build friendships.
A dedicated team of volunteers played a vital role in the event’s success. Adult volunteers Lauren Latham, Jennifer Counce, Karl Gruebel, Cari Brown, Weston Brown, Amanda Murphy-Brown, Christa Bingel, and Karen Zak helped ensure the evening ran smoothly and safely for all attendees.
The Sunset Social Dance is part of Wakulla 4-H’s ongoing commitment to offering “Safe Space” events that foster positive youth development and community engagement. Building on the success of this event – and last summer’s popular game night – Wakulla 4-H looks forward to hosting more opportunities for teens to gather, connect, and thrive in a supportive environment.
“This event is all about giving our youth a safe, welcoming place to have fun and be themselves while building positive connections with their peers,” said Wakulla County 4-H Agent Rachel Pienta. “We’re proud to create opportunities like this that support both social development and a strong sense of community.”
With its lively atmosphere and strong community spirit, the Sunset Social Dance proved to be a memorable night for Wakulla County youth—and a promising glimpse of more exciting events ahead.

The City of St. Marks was invited by the Florida Institute for Build Environment Resilience (FIBER) to and attended the Urban Futures Workshop on May 7 in Gainesville.
City Manager Katherine Gatewood and City Clerk Paula Bell attended the workshop to collaborate with other Florida municipalities, UF’s College of Design, Construction and Planning, and the Duke Energy Foundation.

FIBER is interdisciplinary research institute within the University of Florida’s College of Design, Construction and Panning dedicated to advancing research, design, and planning strategies that help communities address environmental, economic, and development challenges.
The initiative focuses on small Florida communities located within Duke Energy’s service territory that include designated Opportunity Zones, as well as other depressed areas that may benefit from strategic design and urban development concept ideas. The program aims to foster collaboration between local leaders, university researchers, and design experts to explore strategies that can support community revitalization and long-term resilience.
Participants engaged with faculty from UF and invited experts. The workshop included presentations, discussions, and roundtable sessions designed to exchange knowledge, identify local priorities, and explore potential strategies to support the future development of participating communities.
At no cost to the city, the initiative was made possible through the support of the Duke Energy Foundation, whose commitment to strengthening communities across Florida helps make efforts like this possible.
With coastal resilience the focus of Gatewood’s presentation, resilience problems identified included: historic tidal and stormwater flooding, FEMA AE/VE flood zones, aging drainage infrastructure, and businesses hesitate to invest.
Gatewood pointed out challenges such as financial constraints, deferred maintenance, limited staff capacity, no stormwater master plan and barriers to competitive funding despite being in a Rual Area of Opportunity as to reasons why the city’s resilience problems have not been solved.
A “cycle” was acknowledged and identifies with flooding risk yields investment discouragement, less investment yields limited revenue, followed by limited revenue proves no infrastructure upgrades, and finally, no upgrades equal continued flooding.
Gatewood illuminated opportunities for St. Marks by sharing that stormwater mitigation reduces risk, builds investor confidence, supports downtown redevelopment, and proved stormwater equals economic development.
After collaboration with workshop participants, a Case Study Focus was created highlighting a downtown stormwater mitigation plan, drainage improvements, potential green infrastructure, and flood mitigation strategies.

Special to The Sun

Tia Unsell, 27, of Crawfordville, will be competing June 24th-27th at the 90th Miss Florida Scholarship Competition in Lakeland.
Currently, Unsell holds the title of Miss Gainesville. Unsell won the title of Miss Gainesville January 17th at Eastside High School in Gainesville, where there were 11 young women in her division.

If crowned Miss Florida, she would be the first young woman from the Panhandle of Florida to win the crown in 12 years. She will be competing in five mandatory phases of competition: Private Interview, On Stage Question, Evening Gown, Talent and Fitness.
Unsell’s community service initiative is More Than a Ribbon- Emphasis on Early Detection and Prevention, an organization that emphasizes early detection, prevention, and resources for cancer. Her talent is a lyrical dance to “When You Believe” by Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston.
The winner of the Miss Florida Scholarship Competition will go on to compete at Miss America in September in West Palm Beach, FL. The Miss America Organization is the largest provider of scholarships for young women.
Unsell is a 2017 graduate of Wakulla High School and is a graduate of Florida State University with a degree in Communication Sciences & Disorders to become a Speech Language Pathologist. She is also a recreational and competitive dance teacher at Studio 88 Dance Productions in Crawfordville.
To keep up with the competition week, please like the Miss Florida Scholarship Program page and Miss Gainesville 2026- Tia Unsell on Facebook.

From Gulf Specimen

This month, we welcomed our new rehab patient, Robin!
Robin is a Loggerhead Sea turtle, weighing in at a whopping 232 pounds! The length of her shell measures 102 centimeters!

Robin was spotted floating offshore near Panama City Beach, unable to dive down for food or protection. Some amazing boater heroes spotted her in distress and had Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) come to rescue her. With the help of FWC and Florida Panhandle Marine Institute (FPMI), she was safely removed from the water and docked overnight at FPMI. She was then transferred to Gulf Specimen on Friday, May 22nd.
Once we got her back to our turtle hospital, we ran some X-rays, gave her fluids, and ran blood tests to get a better understanding of what caused her to have her buoyancy issues. All with the amazing help from our vets, Dr. Julie O’Brien of Compassion Vet, and Dr. Liz McGowan of Shepard Springs Animal Hospital. We learned that she has a type of infection causing air to be traped under her shell causing what we call bubble butt.
Robin is happily in one of our deep rehabilitation tanks and healing swimmingly! She is not currently on display for the public so as not to interfere with her recovery process. But we hope to show her off once she gets better!
Robin’s story is an amazing example of how helpful we can be when we work together!
A huge thank you goes out to the amazing boaters, Dr. O’Brien, Dr. McGowan, FWC, FPMI, and all of the GSML volunteers for their teamwork and dedication to turtle rehabilitation and ocean conservation!

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

Because an estimated 46% of Wakulla County’s property taxes come from homesteaded property – higher than most other counties – Wakulla will be more affected by the proposed constitutional amendment on property tax that is to be voted on in November.

That was the bad news that County Commission Chair Ralph Thomas shared with the Chamber Board of Directors last week.
Thomas said it translates to about an $8.5 million budget hole for the county.
County commissioners had set a budget workshop after their meeting on Monday, June 15, to discuss responses.
Thomas noted that some past ideas floated by state lawmakers had been dropped: there is no longer a requirement to hold harmless First Responders such as law enforcement and firefighters; and there is no make-good to cover fiscally constrained counties like Wakulla.
The proposed constitutional amendment would raise the homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027-28, and then $250,000 the following year.
Clerk of Courts Greg James, who is chief financial officer of the county, said commissioners could consider a series of “austerity measures” to cut the budget.
In past budget exer cises to look at how the county could respond to cuts to property taxes, it typically ends with a series of glum choices about which county services do county residents prefer to do without.
Thomas said given the current budget uncertainty, he felt it was the wrong time to accept the Wakulla Education Center campus to turn it into additional recreational fields. “But I’m only one vote,” Thomas added.
County Administrator David Edwards is already cutting unnecessary spending – like no new hires, and letting unfilled positions remain unfilled.

There will be only one competitive political race this season after four candidates qualified to run for county commission District 4 seat.
Qualifying for political office was last week and concluded Friday, June 12, at noon.

Incumbent Quincee Messersmith, a Republican, is being challenged in the August GOP Primary by Carrie Hughes. The winner of that will face a Democratic candidate, Beverly Keister, and a No-Party Affiliation candidate, Patricia Sue Dyszer in November.
Other local candidates did not draw opposition and will return to office:

• Fred Nichols will have another term as county commissioner for District 2.
• School board members Cal Langston, Laura Lawhon and Eddie Hand will all return to office.
  Additionally, four candidates qualified for four seats on the Wakulla Soil & Water Conservation District: Emily T. Johnson, Cole Hall, Kellie Keys, and David Shepard.
  State Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, whose district includes Wakulla, also did not have a challenger qualify and have another 2-year term in the leigslature.
  There’s a long list of candidates who qualified to run for U.S. House of Representatives in the seat that’s been held by Congressman Neal Dunn, including:
  Bailey, Yen (DEM), Barnes, Brice (DEM), Green, Amanda Marie (DEM), Gross, Keith (REP), Jones, Lee (REP), Lewis, Nick (REP), Murphy, Luke (REP), Norton, Jim (REP), Power, Evan (REP), Rogers, Austin (REP), Rowell, Audie (REP) and Zateslo, Nicholas (DEM).
  In addition to Governor and Cabinet positions, there are also two competitive races for circuit judge in the Second Judicial Circuit: incumbent judge Jason Jones is being challenged by Stephanie A. Cager, and incumbent J. Lee Marsh is being challenged by Rashad Green.

weigh-in for the 6th annual Rockin’ Reds fishing tournament with a big haul of Red Snapper. (Photos by Gerald Brown)