Infrastructure, community resiliency projects stacks legislative wish-list

Palm Coast Observer
News

Representatives of Flagler County and its various municipalities presented state representatives their legislative priorities for the new fiscal year on Monday afternoon.

House Speaker and Rep. Paul Renner and Sen. Travis Hutson sat on the dais at the Flagler County Board of County Commission chambers on Dec. 19 for the annual delegation meeting. Representatives from the county, municipalities and organizations had three minutes each to speak about their needs.

Palm Coast Mayor Alfin and City Manager Denise Bevan presented the city’s requests, including funding for Palm Coast’s planned expansion westward.

“I am very impressed and incredibly optimistic,” Alfin said afterward. “They’re looking at not just the short-term, but the long-term.”

Bevan said the planned westward expansion would provide extensive economic opportunities that the city needs. Among their other priorities, Bevan also listed conservation as a priority consideration.

“My priority to ensure that green-print comes before the blueprint as we continue to grow and as we continue to grow the westward,” she said.

The Board of County Commissioners Chair Greg Hansen listed five key areas of need. But the first priority, Hansen said after the meeting, is Flagler’s dunes.

The Florida State Legislature just passed a disaster relief bill in an emergency session on Dec. 16. In the bill is money for emergency sand, and Hansen said the county is already filling out the paperwork for some of that grant money.

“They've got 150 million. We need 200 million," Hansen said. "But we're gonna get oar in the water to get some emergency sand put out on the beach."

Hansen said it is always a positive experience working with Renner and Hutson, who, Hansen said, have given great support to Flagler County.

"They are the strongest supporters for Flagler County that I've seen," he said. "So we're very grateful to the both of them."

Flagler County's priorities

Flagler County's priorities lied mostly in line with public health and safety and community resiliency. The county first wishes to re-nourish the dunes, and in order to do that they are asking the state legislature for funding for "shovel-ready" projects.

In public health and safety, the county wants to consolidate the fire department's administration and with a fire station into one location for greater efficacy, as well as replace the county's only Fire Flight helicopter. They are asking for funding for both the construction of the new fire administration and station building and replacing the helicopter.

The county is also asking for funding to expand the current SMA Healthcare Access Center with the construction of an integrated stabilization unit and a men’s residential treatment program in Flagler County. The county also hopes to see local funding to acquire five properties in a wildlife corridor that have been identified for conservation purposes.

Palm Coast priorities

The city of Palm Coast sent in a list of eleven items identified for public health and safety, infrastructure growth, conservation and community resiliency.

Among their infrastructure priorities, the city wants to focus on its westward expansion with a railway flyover, and continuing its Old Kings Road construction project into the next phase. The city has also identified five community resiliency projects as priorities, all of which deal with water.

Those projects include funding stormwater capacity improvements with the London Waterway project, building culverts and updating the flood map for the Blair Drive-Colbert Lane area and building a rapid infiltration basin to treat wastewater. An analysis of the city's PEP system is also on the list again this year.

The city also hope to acquire funding and legislative support for their conservation goals, as well as replacing Fire Station 22, which is outdated and no longer able to serve the city's needs.