With the Christmas season behind us, Santa Rosa County Public Works is offering an environmentally friendly way to put those live trees behind us as well as. According to Santa Rosa County Public Works, residents who would like to “treecycle” their tree for mulch may drop off their clean Christmas trees to one of five designated areas in the county by Jan. 15.

These areas are Jay Transfer Station on Transfer Station Road in Jay, Central Landfill at the Household Hazardous Waste facility at 6337 Da Lisa Road in Milton, Pace Fire Rescue District at 4773 Pace Patriot Blvd. in Pace, Navarre Beach Boat Ramp Parking Lot Recycle Area on Gulf Blvd. on Navarre Beach, and Tiger Point Recreation Area in Gulf Breeze.

The new Milton City Council politely rejected Mayor Heather Lindsay’s attempt to relax opposition to widening U.S. Highway 90 at its first meeting last week.

The Milton Community Improvement Board, a volunteer advisory board, had scheduled a review of initial design proposals for the widening of U.S. Highway 90 at a Dec. 20 meeting. But the meeting was canceled because officials worried it would conflict with members’ travel plans.

Milton Mayor Heather Lindsay combined some committees, added new ones, changed the Committee of the Whole meeting to an agenda workshop and announced councilmembers’ assignments at the Dec. 13 regular meeting.

Crews will begin milling and resurfacing U.S. Highway 90 between Avalon Boulevard and Stewart Street in early January, a Florida Department of Transportation spokesperson confirmed Monday.

The Santa Rosa County Commission voted 4-1 last week to table a decision on deeding property to the city of Milton for treated wastewater disposal.

Lawmakers hear a little bit of everything when they hold public hearings in their districts: funding requests, policy concerns, conspiracy theories and political attacks.

Santa Rosa County Environmental staff have noticed an increase in recycling and recycling contamination in the form of holiday lights, electrical cords, inflatables, and garlands (also known as tanglers). Staff would like to encourage residents to “Know Your No’s” when it comes to unacceptable recyclable materials.

The following should NEVER be placed in the recycle bin:

A new report from AAA says that Northwest Florida has some of the least expensive gas prices in the sunshine state.

According to the report, Crestview-Fort Walton Beach at $2.89, Pensacola and Panama City, each at $2.92, were the least expensive metro markets in the state.

Overall, Florida gas prices declined 12 cents per gallon last week. The state average is now on a 31 day streak of declines, falling a total of 41 cents per gallon.

Milton voters chose change in November, defeating three of four incumbents seeking reelection. That change begins when new members are installed and Mayor Heather Lindsay announces assignments for the coming year at Tuesday’s regular meeting of the city council.