- April 26, 2024
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Funding for a new library site and a mental health care drop-in center topped Flagler County commissioners’ priorities when they made a list Nov. 16 to present to state legislators.
The commission and other local government bodies each create a legislative priorities list and a funding priorities list annually in an attempt to sway state House and Senate representatives to back local projects and interests.
The lists generally have about 10 or fewer items each, and counties or cities sometimes coordinate so that multiple counties list the same priorities.
Flagler County’s legislative priorities list contains nine requests of the state: that it grant funding for the construction of Flagler County’s planned new library branch, support reliable and affordable high-speed internet, increase the Small County Consolidated Solid Waste Grant population cap (currently at 110,000 residents), broaden the eligibly criteria for the Small County Road Assistance Program and Small County Outreach Program, increase funding for transportation options for people who are transportation-disadvantaged, restore and protect funding for the State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program, maintain the state's rules on vacation rentals, support home rule, and support the planned UNF MedNex health care education campus project in Palm Coast.
The library has ranked at the top of a state grant program for five years, but the funding has always been cut, said Library Director Holly Albanese, who presented the priorities to the commission.
The money would allow for the construction of a new library branch on a site off State Road 100, she said.
The county already helps provide transportation assistance for people who are unable to drive, but had to turn down 512 trip requests last year due to budgetary constraints, Albanese said.
“Every trip that’s unmet is a person that’s being kept from going to the doctor’s office or getting food that they need,” Albanese said.
A separate set of five funding priorities includes: a mental health care drop-in facility, western Flagler stormwater drainage improvements, septic-to-sewer conversion for the northern part of the barrier island, a utility project for the Willow Woods community in northeastern Flagler, and utility debt relief for Plantation Bay.
