St. Johns County leadership meets with legislative delegation

On Oct. 17 and 18, representatives of St. Johns County’s leadership visited with the St. Johns County legislative delegation, which includes Sen. Travis Hutson, Rep. Cyndi Stevenson, Speaker Paul Renner, and Rep. Bobby Payne, to advocate for the County’s 2024 Legislative Action Plan. This follows the annual St. Johns County Legislative Delegation meeting held on Oct. 13.

The county’s leadership group included Board of County Commissioners Chairman Christian Whitehurst and Vice Chair Sarah Arnold, as well as Interim County Administrator Joy Andrews, Deputy County Administrator Brad Bradley and Legislative Development Manager Adam Tecler.

“While we are very early in the legislative process, St. Johns County is encouraged by the support we received for important projects that will strengthen law enforcement, fire and EMS infrastructure, reduce daily commute times of our residents and provide emergency responders with the technical training needed to protect the many historic structures in our area that are treasures to this state and the nation,” Tecler said.

Whitehurst echoed the success of those legislative delegation meetings at the Oct. 26 Board of County Commissioners and St. Johns County School Board special joint meeting, and it included Hutson offering input on St. Johns County’s focus on policy changes to address school capacity.

Arnold thanked Florida House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Leek and Rep. Patt Maney for their warm welcome at the State Capitol.

Arnold and Leek discussed in detail the county’s most critical initiatives, including the opportunity to bring the State Museum of Black History to St. Johns County.

Whitehurst also had the opportunity to meet with Florida Senate President-designate Ben Albritton to discuss the Hastings community, including meaningful pathways to conserve working farmlands and facilitate a better quality of life for the historic agriculture community. During the meeting, Albritton expressed this meeting was the start of a lasting friendship, while Whitehurst appreciated Albritton’s hospitality and his support for local growers.

The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved the 2024 Legislative Action Plan at the Sept. 19 regular meeting. The plan requests more than $84 million in State appropriations for the following local projects:

• State Road 16: to alleviate traffic congestion and improve safety.
• County Road 2209: to complete the central segment of this critical road corridor.
• Central Public Safety Station: to provide additional emergency response capacity.
• Regional Fire Training Facility: to address the emergency responder workforce shortage.
• Porpoise Point Stabilization: to reduce persistent flooding and protect a federal navigation channel.
• South Ponte Vedra Beach: to protect property and infrastructure from further erosion.
• Genovar Park: to design and construct recreation enhancements, including a regional boat ramp.

The 2024 Legislative Action Plan also requests the Legislature address critical statewide or regional priorities, including:

• Removing outdated requirements that raise the cost of school construction or inhibit investment in new school construction.
• Identifying historic farming communities and providing pathways to conserve working lands and encourage public infrastructure investment.
• Facilitating the restoration of the Matanzas River Estuary in St. Johns and Flagler counties.

On June 15, St. Johns County announced it received $59 million in appropriations from the State of Florida after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget into law. It was the largest amount of state appropriations the St. Johns County government had ever received and surpassed the $12.4 million appropriated the previous year.