At their February 12 meeting, Tallahassee City Commissioners approved a financial contribution to a veterans memorial for the Tallahassee National Cemetery.
AMVETS Post 1776, a local chapter of AMVETS National, requested a one-time contribution of $7,500 to help fund the donation of a bell tower to the cemetery.
“The cost of engineering, manufacturing, delivery, and installation is approximately $100,000,” staff reports. “This includes a mandatory reserve fund of at least 10 percent set aside for perpetual maintenance of the bell tower/carillon.”
According to the meeting agenda, the Department of Veterans Affairs has approved a conceptual proposal for the donation, but the agreement requires 50 percent of the cost of the donation to come from contributions from local organizations.
The $7,500 contribution from the City would help fulfill the local match requirement. According to the meeting agenda, the funding is available in the Transfer to Other Government Agencies Fund.
According to the AMVETS National website, AMVETS has donated over 90 bell towers to National Cemeteries across the country through its Memorial Carillon programs.
“The history of the program dates back to 1948 when AMVETS sought an appropriate memorial to honor those who had given their lives in World War II,” as stated on the website.
According to the website, AMVETS chose a carillon as a “living memorial” with bells constantly tolling, inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s quote, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
The website also stated that “A carillon would not only affirm that the sacrifices made by those who died were not in vain, but would also serve to remind us of our legacy and of our debt to those who fought to preserve freedom throughout the world.”
Why as there, 'no vote'?
Three bells do not a carillon make - must be at least 23!
Our Vets deserve a scaled down version of the 205 foot tall Singing Tower with its carillon bells Bok Tower located north of Lake Wales, FL.
I like the term FAKENEWSOCRAT.
You're Welcome.
Go ahead and use it, I only charge a 10% royalty fee for the privilege, hah!
Approximately $100,000? I heard about this several Days ago, the County is going to do the same. When I first heard the Cost amount, I was expecting a huge Tower like Structure, made of Brick like an actual Bell Tower that Churches have but with out the Church. Now that I see what it is, $100,000? REALLY? I like the idea of the Bell Tower but $100,000 for THAT? That looks to be about $20,000 worth of Bell Tower, what am I missing here?
You forgot to factor in government inefficiencies, kick backs, and campaign contributions to Rocky all together totaling $80,000 of the $100,000 cost of the project.
So congrats your estimate of the cost of the tower model presented at $20,000 is spot on!
If there is a 'no vote', get a recall petition started...ASAP
Take the money out of the slush fund that the commissioners use for their junkets to Destin and Amelia Island.
God Bless The Veterans!
Sounds like a great idea - the Tallahassee National Cemetery is a gem, and will be growing for decades, as more vets, especially those from Florida, choose to be buried there instead of faraway places like Arlington.
But I wonder why the city thinks it has a bottomless pocketbook, especially when it comes to allocation of our property taxes. For example, the Fake Newsocrat property has DROPPED $1.5M in value since Gannett bought it in 2005, according to leonpa.org records. While they paid as high as $70K in taxes in 2007, they only paid about $40K last year.
While I'm sure most commercial buildings have not suffered as bad, and adding new subdivisions will obviously offset, commissars need to be cognizant about their fiscal responsibilities.