Fewer citations issued in Apalach

Since the month of April, the number of traffic citations issued by city police officers, has significantly dropped in Apalachicola.

In early April, city officials took the recommendation of the Franklin County Community Traffic Safety Team and unanimously voted to lower the speed limit on all city owned streets, from 35MPH to 25MPH.

As a result, Apalachicola Police Chief Bobby Varnes, starting beefing up the enforcement of traffic laws in the city, ahead of the official posting of the new lower speed limit, which is scheduled to go into effect July 15.

Varnes told city commissioners at the recent July 7 meeting, that during the month of June, his officers wrote 14 traffic citations, mostly for speeding, down from 21 in May and 30 in April. City officials are contributing the drop in the issuance of citations to the commitment of Varnes to beef up enforcement ahead of the new lower limit.

Varnes also reported that his department received 172 calls, made five direct arrests, received three warrant requests, investigated five traffic accidents, and issued ten warnings for golf cart violations.