Flagler County staff on Monday asked the Board of County Commissioners to narrow its state legislative priorities and to identify top requests by the first week of September so the county’s unified delegation package can be finalized.

Holly Obanese, the county’s library director who is coordinating the legislative program, reviewed last year’s items and said the delegation process this fall is compressed. “We only have till January,” she told the commissioners, adding staff already have contacted municipalities for their priorities. Obanese said the county will continue to show “skin in the game” — a local match or other contribution — for funding requests the county wants the legislature to consider.

The request-for-direction matters because several large projects discussed during the review would be heavy lifts as full construction requests. Commissioners and staff suggested scaling some asks to request design or study money rather than full construction funding. County staff noted an example: a previously proposed regional trails and conservation center that initially had $1.5 million in the budget but lost that money before final conferring. Obanese also said the county received about $3,000,000 in state allocations for local beach projects in a prior session.

Commissioners discussed several recurring priorities: funding for the transportation-disadvantaged program, affordable housing, cybersecurity, beach nourishment, and continued support for home rule and current tourist development tax allocations. The board also reviewed infrastructure project proposals previously submitted, including design and construction of the Black Branch North drainage system, a new UF/IFAS Extension wing, relocation and construction of a sheriff’s marine substation, a new election supervisor headquarters, fire station replacements and joint facilities, a county animal shelter, and US‑1 corridor infrastructure for industrial use.

Commissioners and staff debated whether to seek full construction money for items such as the US‑1 improvements — previously discussed at roughly $27 million — or to ask only for design and study funding (staff suggested a smaller, initial design ask as a pragmatic first step). Staff said one option is to ask the legislature for design funds that would define costs and needs before requesting full construction dollars.

On policy matters, county staff presented a draft position based on recommendations from Deputy County Attorney Sean Moylan to address provisions in SB 180. Moylan described one contested element that would allow homeowners to remain “grandfathered” from modern building-code elevation requirements after a storm unless repairs exceed 50% of the home’s value; Moylan and others warned that loosening that rule could affect flood insurance and the county’s participation in the National Flood Insurance Program.

Commissioners asked staff to come back with a whittled set of priorities for a follow-up workshop on Aug. 18 and to consider meeting with state legislators — Representative Greco and Senator Leake were named — before that date so the county can better align its requests with the delegation’s likely priorities. Obanese said the final unified agenda must be completed and approved by the first week in September to allow time for printing and assembly for the delegation process.

Why this matters: county officials said limiting the legislative slate to three or four top items — prioritized and backed by local match or in‑kind contributions — increases the chance of legislative traction. Commissioners agreed to bring a shorter, ranked list back to the Aug. 18 workshop for final direction.

Ending: Obanese and staff will circulate refined options and coordinate meetings with the county’s lobbyists and legislative offices ahead of the Sept. deadline.