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Milton council approves three state legislative priorities including directional drill funding and riverwalk extension
Summary
The City Council unanimously approved three priorities for the Santa Rosa County legislative delegation — funding for a directional drill related to the wastewater project, completion funding for the Blackwater Riverwalk extension, and purchase of flood barricades — and authorized staff to prepare the delegation presentation.
The Milton City Council unanimously approved three priorities to submit to the Santa Rosa County legislative delegation: funding for the city’s directional drill and pipeline work tied to the wastewater project; completion funding for the Blackwater Riverwalk extension; and a request for flood barricades to improve storm resiliency.
Council members discussed which projects would be most competitive with the delegation. Members said the directional drill project has a high cost and strong match potential, making it an appropriate top priority. The Blackwater Riverwalk extension was chosen as the second priority because it would complete an existing project; council members said such completion requests historically fare well. A smaller, resiliency‑focused request for flood barricades was selected as the third priority; members said its smaller dollar amount might improve the likelihood of success while addressing storm readiness.
Councilman Farrow made the motion to submit the three priorities; Councilman Powers seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Staff — including the city manager and finance/engineering staff — will prepare a three‑minute presentation for the legislative delegation meeting scheduled Sept. 23 and will host the delegation at a work session on Sept. 18 to discuss priorities and coordination.
The council recorded a total funding ask of $3,500,000 for the items discussed at the meeting (directional drill and Riverwalk combined), with the flood barricades identified as a separate, smaller request; councilmembers noted specific matching commitments and grant strategies would be developed by staff.
