Santa Rosa ‘wish list’ includes Aviation Park, shelters

Santa Rosa ‘wish list’ includes Aviation Park, shelters

By Deborah Nelson
March 6, 2008

This year’s funding wish list to the state includes $1.5 million for a proposed 269 acre aviation industrial park near Whiting Field. County officials have submitted a request to the Navy for use of Whiting’s 6,000 foot runway in conjunction with Park activities.

Santa Rosa officials presented a ‘wish list’ of funding priorities to state legislative delegates during last week’s annual Legislative Delegation visit. The list, pared down from recent years, includes three direct funding requests and three general statements of support.

Lawmakers predict budgetary penning-pinching in the months to come, as Florida legislators look to cut some $4 billion from the state budget.

“This is one of those tight years at the State,” said Senator Durell Peadon, “I think one of the tightest in 30 to 35 years.”

“I think everybody realizes the Florida economy is in a state we’ve never seen in the past,” added Representative Ray Sansom (R-Destin).

Sansom said getting the economy moving would be front and center in coming decisionmaking processes.

“We need to make those decisions to make business affordable in Florida,” he remarked.

Lawmakers also addressed ongoing roadway construction and upgrade issues.

According to Representative Clay Ford (R-Gulf Breeze), state lawmakers are working on a transportation funding program to allow local governments to issue bonds to pay for immediate state roadway upgrades. The state would pay the bonds back.

“If there’s a DoT [Department of Transportation] shortfall, counties would make it up, to be paid by DoT in the future,” said Ford.

Ford says the idea’s still in its infancy.

“I don’t know if it will be popular or doable,” he remarked. “…anything that gets our roads finished early is worth taking a look at.”

“We welcome any initiative that would help us build roads,” Commissioner John Broxson remarked.

Santa Rosa officials submitted three funding requests to the Delegation:

? $1.5 million for a proposed 269 acre aviation industrial park near Whiting Field. The Park would include 269 acres of title-transferrable property. Officials have submitted a request to the Navy for use of Whiting’s 6,000 foot runway in conjunction with Park activities. The $1.5 million would fund initial infrastructure, and the project as a whole is expected to cost $5 million.
? $1.5 million to develop a County facility to be used as a shelter during emergency events. Funds will be matched by local funds and federal grant applications for ‘hardening,’ according to county information. The total project is expected to cost $3 million.
? $600,000 to develop a joint recreation and post-disaster facility in Midway. The south-end Recreation Master Plan, currently underway, recommends partnering with Pensacola Junior College to locate a joint use facility on their Midway campus.

The County also expressed general support for windstorm and insurance reform; more Defense Infrastructure Grant funding; and increased transportation funding.

Broxson spoke in favor of increasing the state sales tax by a penny.

“The main thing I hope they do is give us an alternative revenue source, so people don’t lose so much of the tax cuts,” he says.

Commissioner Bob Cole thanked lawmakers for supporting agricultural and alternative fuels grants.

“I’m one of many people who think Florida has the potential to be a market in the very near future for alternative fuels,” he noted.

Cole also asked delegates to consider adding extra fees onto liquor sales, to help fund law enforcement.

Three private groups also spoke to the Delegation.

The Moore Creek Mt. Carmel electrical cooperative asked lawmakers to help with a grant to upgrade the 30-year old utility system.

Spokesman Darryl Bond says the facility was constructed to serve 500 customers, and now serves 1,043. The grant would go towards a $1.4 million upgrade, he said, and help prevent future rate hikes, like a recent 6 percent increase.

The Three Rivers Conservation Agency asked delegates to support an ongoing project to turn waste wood and trees into an erosion control product for roads.

Those materials are currently going into C&D landfills, according to Three Rivers spokesman Mike Mikell.

And representatives from Florida’s American Cancer Society asked the Delegation to increase cigarette taxes by a dollar per pack. Currently, the state adds 33.9 cents per pack.
The increase could bring in $1 billion in new revenues, and could help educate youngsters about the hazards of tobacco, says spokesman Steve Burgess.

“We want to find a way to get kids to not start smoking,” Burgess remarked.

Local funding requests will likely encounter extra scrutiny from state lawmakers this year.

“It depends on what the project is and how priorities are set through the budget process,” Representative Greg Evers (R-Baker) remarked.

“I think it’s a mystery right now,” Broxson, who has served in Florida’s House and Senate, added. “They always have non-recurring funds, even in the worst of years – it’s just a matter of how high on the priority list these will be.”