Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Board Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves 2025–26 budget and elects chair, vice chair
Summary
Members voted unanimously to adopt the proposed budget and elected Bliss Jemison as chair and a board member as vice chair; the board also reviewed CRA appraisals, DOT grant sidewalk projects, and scholarship outreach plans.
At a regular meeting, the Economic Development Board approved its fiscal-year budget and elected new leadership.
The board moved to approve the budget as presented for 2025–26. A roll-call vote recorded Roman Cruz — yes; Bliss Jemison — yes; Mister Edmond — yes; Mister Kelly — yes; Miss Powers — yes. The motion carried unanimously.
Members then held nominations and voted to elect Bliss Jemison as chair and a board member as vice chair; the slate passed on a recorded vote. Members congratulated the newly elected officers.
During budget discussion members reviewed specific line items and program allocations, including Team Volusia event costs and chamber luncheons, and discussed the CRA (Community Redevelopment Area) budget and recent appraisals: a small house appraised at about $150,000 and a larger lot at about $600,000 were cited. Ryan (staff) reported first-quarter estimated commercial assessed value of roughly $29.5 million for the city and noted the Space Coast Industrial Center’s first building was assessed at $10,000,000.
Ryan also updated the board on two DOT grants: an emergency traffic signal near the fire station and a sidewalk connection project along 442/Air Park Road that will require an ~11% local match (Ryan described the match as about $330,000 on an approximately $3.5 million project). Board members supported marketing and outreach for scholarship recipients and discussed creating handouts to boost applications from trade‑school‑bound students.
What happens next: With the budget adopted and leadership in place, staff will proceed with the items in the approved budget, pursue DOT grant implementation, and follow up on scholarship outreach and site‑readiness tasks the board discussed.
