ESCAMBIA COUNTY – NAVY LAND SWAP

Escambia County and Navy officials held a celebration ceremony yesterday to commemorate the land transfer of Navy Outlying Field 8 on West Nine Mile Road. The 630-acre grass field in Beulah was once a training field for Navy helicopter pilots. Escambia County spent more than 17 million dollars to build the Navy a new helicopter training field in Santa Rosa County to exchange for the property, and that deal finally was completed at the end of January. Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh said the commission will vote Thursday on authorizing county staff to begin official negotiations for the sale of 100 acres of the property to Navy Federal for 3.9 million dollars.