Okaloosa commissioners adopt budget, approve infrastructure contracts and funding; residents raise safety and road concerns

The Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously adopted final budget and millage resolutions, approved capital and infrastructure contracts and grants, and confirmed Scott Bitterman as the county's permanent public works director.

The board also heard public comment urging attention to environmental and public-safety risks tied to plans to sink the SS United States as an artificial reef, a request to ensure the West Highway 98 Collector Road will not take private property on Green Drive, and a personal appeal to recognize September as Sickle Cell Awareness Month.

Why it matters: The actions move county capital projects and programs into implementation and secure grant matches and contracts the county said will expand airport fueling capacity, add multiuse paths, and fund preliminary planning on local waterways. Public comments raised potential health and safety questions and pressed the board to clarify that planned roads will not take private property without negotiation.

The board's highest-profile business included unanimous approval of the county's millage and final budget resolutions presented by staff; staff read the all-funds budget figure during the meeting (stated verbally as "$687,000,249 and 400 or excuse me, $249,428") and the board approved the final budget resolution. Commissioners also approved a capital improvement update ordinance required by state law.

Infrastructure and contracts

- Airport fuel farm expansion: The board awarded a construction contract to MDM Services Inc. for $4,028,051.14 to add four 30,000-gallon jet fuel tanks, which county staff said will increase on-site jet-fuel capacity to about 250,000 gallons. Staff said grant funding had been preapproved for the project, including a $3,541,362 FAA grant (described in the meeting as a 90/10 split) and an FDOT grant referenced by staff; the board authorized the chairman to sign the contract and approved the award unanimously.

- College Boulevard / Forest Road multiuse path: The board approved a construction contract with C.W. Roberts for $1,720,830.92 to build a roughly 2.5-mile, 10-foot-wide multiuse path in the Niceville area (College Boulevard from Palm Drive to Forest Road, and Forest Road to Rocky Bayou Drive). County staff corrected the path width from 12 feet…