Taylor County outlines nine CDBG-DR projects totaling millions for storm recovery

Taylor County staff presented nine proposed projects for Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding, outlining requested amounts, project purposes and how applications will be positioned to meet state eligibility and scoring criteria.

The county emphasized it is targeting projects that meet the federal low- and moderate-income (LMI) national objective and that also show a “storm tie‑back” to the Hurricane events that triggered the CDBG‑DR allocations. Staff said the state will allocate the majority of funds to projects in LMI areas and that applicants should document how each project links to storm impacts to score competitively.

The nine projects described were: - Canal dredging (Beckia Beach, Dark Island, Cedar Island and Spring Warrior Canals) — staff requested about $30,000,000 to complete dredging, engineering and design for Spring Warrior Canal and other identified areas. The presenter said some engineering is complete while other portions require additional design work. - Turner Road stormwater improvements — requested a little over $700,000 to implement culvert upgrades, conveyance enhancements and limited right‑of‑way work for a repeatedly flooded corridor. - Jody Morgan Road paving — requested a little over $19,000,000 to pave and widen a 14‑mile unpaved road that serves as a secondary evacuation route and direct access to U.S. 19. - Emergency shelter facility adjacent to the Public Safety Complex — requested roughly $8,000,000 to build shelters meeting Category 5 wind standards and provide special‑needs sheltering and on‑site space for emergency response personnel; staff said Taylor County currently lacks a special‑needs shelter. - Theme Hatchy (Fourth and Fifth Avenues) road resurfacing and stormwater work — roughly $1,000,000 requested for resurfacing, subbase stabilization and culvert work. - Keaton Beach road improvements — about $8,000,000 requested to pave and improve several critical coastal access and evacuation routes (listed in the presentation as DeKalb Beach Road, Cedar Island Road, Keaton Beach Road, Dark Island Road, Ezle Beach Road and Marina Road). - Two fire stations replacement — request just over $2,000,000 to repair or replace the Keaton Beach and Shady Grove stations; presenter said recent bids suggest rebuilding costs closer to $4,000,000 per station, and the county has a $2,000,000 legislative appropriation that may not fully cover the gap. - Kelly Grama Road and Henry Gibson Road paving — about $4,500,000 requested to pave and add stormwater improvements for routes that feed to U.S. 19 and serve as evacuation connectors.

Staff told the board roughly nine projects were submitted to strengthen the county’s competitive position under CDBG‑DR. They noted approximately $400,000,000 is available statewide for the program and that Florida intends to devote the bulk of funds to LMI areas. County staff also described coordination opportunities with the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) for match funding; the presenter said Taylor County has active HMGP applications and that a separate CDBG‑DR HMGP‑match cycle is expected but has not been announced.

The presentation included procedural notes: adding projects late to the set will require reopening the public hearing process, and some project budgets are preliminary and may grow as engineering and design are finalized. Staff advised the board that the statewide award announcement typically follows roughly two months after the cycle closes.

The board and members of the public asked several technical questions about matching funds, HMGP tiers and timelines; staff said they would share HMGP application status and RFIs on request and continue coordination with state partners.

No formal vote on project prioritization or application submission was recorded in the transcript; the presentation concluded with staff offering to return for additional agenda steps if the board wants to add or alter project submissions.