Kingsley Facts Have more Facts, or changes? Email HERE.

Weather links: 1. Jacksonville Radar  2. STARKE weather  3. US weather (updated)
4. National Hurricane Center & Atlantic Weather Outlook (updated 4x daily)
Also see: FirstCoastNews.com

Snake info. Just saying the word “snake” is enough to startle some people, but in our part of Florida snakes are a reality that we all need to know about. MOST are harmless, yet are often killed out of fear and ignorance. Many people think they’re beautiful, and regard it as a rare & wonderful treat to watch them whenever they appear. Water snakes seem to be the least understood. Any snake that swims... is presumed to be a “moccasin” even though the odds are against it. Most water snakes in our area are harmless. See our new Snake Page for more information. Special thanks to Clif Byrd, one of our resident snake experts, for his help with fact checking.

Forest Fire info. The Florida Division of Forestry Wildland Fire and Fire Prevention page has some good links and information about fires, including a link to a map of current wildfires, a map of fires over 100 acres, and a link about current fire weather conditions.

DOCK Directory. Time plus a few hurricanes have removed nearly half of our original dock number signs, which Mike Romanelli so carefully mounted years ago, by canoe! Now we're encouraging residents to replace their own missing numbers, so we can all find each other again! If you don't know your number, you can reference our DOCK Directory. Please send corrections (or updated photos) to this address. Various hardware stores carry the 5 to 7 inch numbers. Choose some that contrast well with your dock, that can be seen from 100+ feet away.

Nuisance alligators.  Every year or so, we hear about a gator that's found its way into Kingsley, especially when there's a drought, which lately has been the norm. If you happen to see one, please send us a nice photo, then you can report it to this hotline number: 866-392-4286 or go to the FWC's Nuisance Alligator page for more information.
   So what's a nuisance alligator? Here's part of what they say at the FWC site: "Generally, alligators may be considered a nuisance when they are at least four feet in length and pose a threat to people or their pets or property. Alligators less than four feet in length are naturally fearful of people and are not generally capable of eating anything larger than a small turtle. They eat small fish, frogs, and other small animals. They are too small to be a threat to even small pets and pose no threat to people. They are typically not dangerous to people unless someone attempts to handle them. Also, they are common in Florida, and the mere presence of a small alligator is not cause for concern, even when they turn up in places where people may not expect to see them such as retention ponds and drainage ditches. However, occasionally alligators less than four feet in length are legitimate problems and must be addressed. If an alligator less than four feet in length approaches people, does not retreat if approached, or is in a location that is not natural, call the Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 1-866-FWC-GATOR (1-866-392-4286)."

Boat Ramp access (updated). It’s true. Since the sale of Kingsley Beach there’s no longer a public boat ramp at Kingsley. Yes, homeowners can pay to join Camp Blanding to access their ramp (see Blanding Access, below), but Blanding won't work for everyone. A few homeowners have private ramps, and some may be willing to allow access for a few friends, but certainly the lack of public access, and boat ramp access, is a situation that will likely lead to actions to address the problem. Will there be a new public ramp, open to everyone and anyone? Some say the County is considering this. Will we regret the new changes, or welcome them? Are we being proactive, or just scratching our heads? It's a great discussion topic for our Comments Page.

Blanding Access for Lake Homeowners is currently available for $125 annually on a June-to-June cycle. Call the Blanding recreation department at 904-682-3104 and they will send you an application. To verify your home ownership the application requires an attached copy of your Deed or a recent property tax bill, and a background check from your local police department.

Handy Map of the area at satellite-sightseer.com shows very cool aerial & hybrid views too.

Civic Center available for functions...! If you are interested in renting our Civic Center for your event, call Tom Smith at Smith & Smith, (904) 964-9222. The rental fee is $175 for Non-Members and $150 for KLA Members. The Rental period is from 8:00am the day of the event until 1:00 am the next day, and a $50 deposit is required. The rental agreement is available here for download: CivicCenterRent.pdf

New Requirements for Making your House Address Visible. Clay County has adopted new regulations regarding the “proper” posting of house and street address numbers, to bring the county up to current E-911 national standards and facilitate the timely delivery of county emergency services. These regulations also give the County authority to “force” citizens to place proper address number on their buildings and property—so we all should take time to become familiar with the new requirements. Read more about The Clay County Addressing Ordinance #2004-57.

Florida’s Boating Safety Laws. For those who have expressed interest we have posted a complete list of Florida’s Boating Safety Regulations.

Florida’s Dept. of Law Enforcement site has some useful links to databases about sexual offenders, criminal histories, and even hurricane prepardness. The Family WatchDog site developed by John Walsh for American Most Wanted is worth a look too.

Private Property Rights vs. the Rights of Public Domain. A Study of the Conflicting Values when Private Property Rights are Abused by Hunters or Fishermen, by Ronald G. Walsingham. This study from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement examines, from a current and historical perspective, the steps taken by the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission to resolve this emotionally charged conflict.

Got Weeds? Regulations about removing aquatic plants have become a hot topic and there is some discussion about it on our COMMENTs page (now updated with new contact info) including links to download the application for a (free) three year permit.

History of the lake? We are building a short history of the lake, hoping to distinguish the real facts from the tall tales — but both are interesting. We've also posted some articles from the Bradford County Telegraph... and we've nearly completed transcribing Tip Graham's amazing 1989 Petition that established Kingsley Lake as an Outstanding Florida Water. Our most recent addition is Mary Wood Bridgman's "A History of Kingsley Lake" which she wrote in 1975 while a freshman at the University of Florida. She says, "I found very little published information about the lake at that time, so most of the material came from newspaper clippings and interviews of people who lived around the lake," which is probably what make it so interesting! You can download the file here: (67k PDF)

Starke, Florida: Here's a little information (updated link) about our host town. Population 6,000.

Local lake SERVICES: We don't intend free advertising, but some basic facts about who to call when you need something would be very useful. Please tell us what else should be listed....

Internet providers: this is incomplete, but Kingsley Lake does now have broadband DSL through Embarq. Local dialup is available from Atlantic.net and Earthlink. Some have installed satellite systems from SkyWay and there’s a new service called MyBlueDish. Let us know if there are others we should mention.

Garbage pick up: weekly pickup is provided by Advanced Disposal, 904-695-0500 (toll free: 1-866-779-2529), courtesy of the increased assessment (10/07) on your property tax. Household trash pick up on TUESDAY, Recycle & Yard Waste on Monday. They provide bins for recyclables, and also collect certain bulky items. Set items out by 6 am. Here's their flier (Disposal'08.pdf) as a PDF. Any problems call Clay County Environmental Center at 284-6374 and ask for Frank Teague, or see the County’s web page.

Trash disposal site / new hours: Our garbage dump site is located just 1.6 miles east of Blanding's Gate on Hwy. 16. New hours are Thursday - Saturday 8:00am—6:00pm. They accept a wide range of items: residential trash, recyclables, even white goods (washers, dryers), but not yard waste (Rosemary Dump in Green Cove takes leaves and branches, paint, etc.). Byron Gourley is the attendant.

Galaxy Cable TV repairs: [believe this is VERY out of date, right?]After many failed attempts to get her service repaired, Peg Garlington discovered that if you're having trouble with your Galaxy cable TV, don't call Galaxy's repair number, call Heide Pattie in Ocala, (352) 624-1535. [This info seems out of date. I called Florida Cable on 7/17/07 and they came within hours and restored our TV service. 800-779-2788]

Florida LAKEWATCH: Florida LAKEWATCH is a volunteer citizen lake monitoring program that facilitates ‘hands-on’ citizen participation in the management of Florida lakes through monthly monitoring activities. Their web site is full of great information, and they have a page of data dedicated to Kingsley. We hope to post more info about their work soon.

Kingsley Lake is an Outstanding Florida Water...!  This is a designation that insures some protection for the quality of the lake's water. This page at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection describes the program, and our 'history' link offers some additional information about how and why this was achieved.
    The Dept. of Environmental Protection also has a web page for Kingsley. It's not so hot but we liked the PDF aerial photo it sends from its 'Map to Site' link. Click our copy for a larger view that we improved a bit (note: infrared color film is often used for survey aerial photography because it sees through atmospheric haze—and renders green vegetation as red!). There's another great aerial map here that lets you move!

US Geological Survey Seismic Reflection Survey: has some interesting facts and seismic data charts about the Lake's origin as a sinkhole. Click chart for more info.

Geneological Archive for Clay County, Florida: For those who may be interested, here's a link to the Clay County Table of Contents for the Florida USGenWeb Archives.

and more facts items to come. Please help by contributing!