Wakulla County Administration recently hosted an infrastructure meeting to inform and educate the Wakulla community on infrastructure investments in relation to the grant funding and utilization of tax dollars to afford and sustain future upgrades to the county.
The meeting was held at the community center on June 11.
There is a $303,978,804 total 5-year infrastructure investment through county departments such as Road and Bridge, Public Safety, Recreation Services, Facilities, Solid Waste, Emergency Communications, septic–to-sewer Wastewater Management and phases and the upcoming Wakulla Sands Golf course.
Wakulla County can look forward to road and bridge repairs, resurfacing, and replacements, improved sidewalks and 55 miles of improved trails, Fire Rescue staff and facility growth and ambulance availability. Improvements to recreation parks and irrigation systems, the support of Community Center Programs such as the growing popularity of pickleball, tai chi, Zumba were shared with the participants of the meeting.
Parks and Facilities Management shared the monetary breakdowns of beach, park and boat ramp and channel, and facility investments. A total of $4, 617,471.80 for the past 5 years have been allocated.
Future projects include Community Center Expansion and Ochlockonee Bay/Bald Point Navigational Markers. A new Emergency Operations Center and Public Safety Radio System as well as a new Wakulla County Public Library facility and Panacea Evacuation are on the horizon.
Grant funding roll out for septic-to-sewer and project phases and wastewater infrastructure funding and the highly anticipated Wakulla Sands Golf Course were discussed.
County Administrator David Edwards said, “The fiscal years 2019-2024 paved a way for us to purchase 5-, 10-, and 15-year projects on the horizon that has allowed us to chase grant money to bring it all back to you, the citizens of Wakulla County. The money is not going to be saved, we are putting the grant dollars to work for the benefit of Wakulla County.
“If we don’t use it, the money will be used elsewhere,” Edwards said. He gave a shout out to his staff for the long hard hours put in to make all these improvements possible.
“We have a healthy steady growth rate of 1.9 -2.2% averaging 500 homes a year, we are going to see a downturn of development all over the county because we are running out of area to develop,” Edwards said.
