Flagler County economic staff brief commissioners on fiber grant, site-mapping tool and development projects

Executive Director Helga reported to the Flagler County economic development board on Sept. 17 on multiple projects, including a proposed USDA broadband grant application for the west side of the county, a new interactive properties database for recruitment, and progress on two business-recruitment projects.

Nut graf: County staff presented projects intended to improve infrastructure and recruitment tools: a Mission Fiber Flagler West grant application being coordinated with Commissioner Mullins and USDA representatives; an interactive map and property database to present sites to prospective employers and grantors; and active recruitment files including "Project Columbus" and a medical facility labeled "Project Alice."

Helga said she has worked with Commissioner Mullins on the Mission Fiber Flagler West USDA grant application and that available federal awards could support rural connectivity west of U.S. 1: "First grant, I think, is possible as 3,000,000, then there are other grants for 25,000,000," she said. She said the grant program is targeted to rural communities and that the proposed approach under discussion was to run fiber to existing county towers and then provide local coverage from the towers using wireless technology, a model the USDA representative and consultant favored.

Board members and staff noted last‑mile cost and low-density challenges for fiber deployment. Helga described the role of private carriers if fiber is extended to towers: "It would require a carrier. Yes. Transmit it? Yes." Commissioner discussion confirmed agricultural stakeholders are included in a stakeholder group for the project; Helga said a local agricultural representative, David, will participate.

Helga also introduced the department's new hire, Daniel Pendergrass, who described himself as a recent University of Florida economics graduate and said he will support the department's work.

On business recruitment, Helga said Project Columbus is completing due diligence and will present to the board soon, and that Project Alice, a medical facility project, is nearing announcement. She also said an existing local company, Butelig Pharmaceutical, is adding a new product line and will expand locally.

Staff demonstrated a new interactive property map and database, which Helga said compiles active commercial, industrial and residential development listings into a single publicly accessible tool for recruitment and grant presentations. Lily, a department staff member, explained the map displays active properties, site specifications and available videos and said the database is populated from realtor listings and public sources her team compiles.

Helga said the tool has already been used to present the Commerce Boulevard ("1 to 100") vision to state funding partners and that the Florida Department of Transportation has reviewed the Commerce Boulevard road design and is seeking value engineering because the construction estimate "came in at 6,000,000? 8,000,000 for the full road," she said. Helga said phasing and cost-saving options are being explored prior to pursuing grants.

During council comments, a board member raised residential‑pipeline figures and told staff she had assembled data showing more than 30,000 housing units in the county pipeline when municipal and developer approvals are combined; she had not yet received the county's PUD numbers. Helga and staff agreed to follow up so recruitment presentations can reflect the local housing picture.

Actions and next steps: Helga asked for the board's permission to provide a letter of support for a Daytona State College DEO funding application for a proposed nursing program; staff recorded that permission and will provide the letter. Helga also asked a staff member to report regularly on the fiber grant stakeholder group and said the property mapping tool will be rolled out to local realtors and used in recruitment and grant presentations.

Ending: The report concluded with plans for future presentations, further stakeholder coordination on fiber and infrastructure, and a staff-led rollout of the property database to local realtors and grant partners.