The Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on May 20 to approve a letter of support for a proposed Fellsmere Public Library and Community Resource Center to be submitted for congressional appropriations consideration.

Commissioners approved County staff's request that Chair sign a letter to Rep. Mike Herodopoulos asking that the project be considered for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) subcommittee funding. The move does not guarantee federal money; staff and presenters repeatedly noted the submission is for consideration in a competitive federal appropriations process.

County staff and Fellsmere Action Committee representatives described the project as a combined full-service public library and community resource center to provide veteran services, human services casework, workforce training, a broadband technology lab, small-business incubator space, flexible classrooms, and a recording/green room for local media and cultural programs. Betsy Stenger, identified in the presentation as the county's director of library services, and project lead Cindy Emerson described existing local service gaps and early community survey results.

Cindy Emerson told commissioners the project "gives us an opportunity to bring access into Fellsmere and really boost the local economy," and she acknowledged the project concept has local support from the Fellsmere Action Committee and several county departments.

Commissioner Laura Adams moved approval and said the opportunity to submit the project through the congressman's appropriations process was a "very exciting project" that had been in discussion for years. The motion passed 5-0.

Staff said next steps include finalizing and distributing a community needs survey (staff aims for 400 responses), collecting local letters of support, preparing possible additional funding submissions beyond the congressional request, and continuing stakeholder coordination. The county will send the signed letter of support to the congressman's office to accompany the project's submittal for consideration.