BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — Ideas differ on how Bradford County should spend around $5 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
While most are emphasizing projects that could advance economic development, there has also been discussion of tackling long overdue projects related to public health and safety.
Complicating the discussion is the fear that the money could be spent on goals that are never achieved.
The county commission held a town hall July 21 to hear public input. The only commentators were from Keystone Heights and the Keystone Heights Airport Authority, who asked for assistance in opening hundreds of landlocked acres to new commercial and industrial development.
The airport is split between Bradford and Clay counties. David Kirkland, chairman of the airport authority, said the goal it so to open the west side of the airport property in Bradford County with a second entrance off State Road 100. Turn lanes would be added at the second entrance as well as the first to enhance traffic safety. They are about a month away from receiving the results of an FAA environmental assessment of the property that will hopefully allow them to proceed, he said.
The cost of the project was originally estimated at $1.9 million, but two years have passed, and costs have surely increased. Kirkland is now estimating $4 million or possibly $5 million.
“We would certainly like to see a portion of the ARPA money devoted to that,” he said.
Kirkland said they continue to have calls about the availability of property. In addition to the traffic plans, the airport recently submitted a study to the Clay County Utility Authority on the feasibility of running water and sewer lines to the airport, which would also attract commercial and light industrial development.
The commission’s first question regarded how best to spend the ARPA money.
“I know, this is the board’s goal, as well as mine. I just want to make sure that we spend this money in the best place possible to get the quickest and the best return for our money, and to put people to work,” Commissioner Danny Riddick said. He wanted to know if it would be better to focus on the entrances or the utilities, saying he knows from personal experience that CCUA won’t pay to run the lines.
The estimate to run those lines ranges from a few million dollars to tens of millions of dollars, depending on how much existing sewer and water infrastructure will need to be upgraded to serve the airport area. The study recently submitted to CCUA should help pinpoint the cost.
Commissioner Carolyn Spooner also asked about Clay County’s financial investment in airport projects. Keystone Heights City Manager Lynn Rutkowski said it’s a “stretch” to ask Clay County to fund a transportation project in Bradford County, which is why their conversations with Clay have centered around the utilities. Keystone Heights invested $110,000 into that feasibility study, she said.
Vincent Esson, owner and CEO of the Keystone Heights RV Resort, said he is one of the potential developers at the airport. He is looking at it as a site for a 70,000 square-foot manufacturing facility with around 200 jobs, but it cannot happen without access to the land and utilities. He asked for the county’s support.
Commission Chairman Chris Dougherty focused on sewer and water, but not for the airport. Since the state built a truck route around the city of Starke, revenue that would have stayed in county is now bypassing it. For that reason, he has talked about extending utilities for development to the bypass. This would create opportunities for commercial and residential development, he said.
Dougherty said the city of Starke and Bradford County would need to work as partners because the city has the existing water and wastewater facilities. Both would benefit from additional revenue in the form of taxes or utility fees.
The question then is where to extend those lines. Each direction carries a different cost. According to City Manager Drew Mullins, the city recommends the southern end of the bypass, which would cost around $3.5 million.
Going west on State Roads 100 and 16, which already have interchanges, and County Road 229 would cost around $8 million and require upgrading the sewer lift station in Saratoga Heights, he said. The north end of the bypass would start at $13.5 million because the city would have to build a new water plant. Extending sewer service would cost more.
Commissioner Diane Andrews said they need to consider which option would bring in the most revenue as soon as possible, so she agreed with 301 south.
Each direction is also a gamble, however. There is no guarantee of development.
Dougherty prefers SR 16 and SR 100 because there are already interchanges and properties available for development that wouldn’t bottleneck traffic or change the landscape of the south end of the bypass.
Dougherty said his original discussions with the city clerk and manager were about extending lines, not system improvements. What was to be a win-win for the city and county now sounds like a bigger win for the city if the county is being asked to fund upgrades to the city’s utilities, he said.
Mullins said any extension is putting additional pressure on the city’s utilities, but it is not asking for a handout. It continues to look for grants and other sources to pay for these improvements itself. Going south would be the best choice to operate within the city’s current capacity.
Dougherty cited Florida Department of Transportation’s yet unknown plans to reconstruct the south end of the truck route. He said the county could be building a “road to nowhere” if the property isn’t accessible for development. On the other hand, the on- and off-ramps are already at S.R. 16 and 100.
As for other ideas, Spooner spoke in favor of using funding to deal with ongoing road and drainage issues, while Andrews wanted some of the money for a study to increase the county’s chances for funding to expand access to broadband internet.
Dougherty wants the focus to remain on projects that could increase the tax base and help pay for public services and infrastructure projects. At 10 mills, the county has no more tax funds to collect and is behind other counties with lower property taxes because they use special assessment fees to pay for services.
“I’m not a mathematician, but I can tell you that the math, it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work when your expenditures are what they are to provide services to the citizens of Bradford County and not be able to pay for it. So, by increasing our tax base, then hopefully we’re able to keep those fees down and roll the millage back at the same time,” he said.
Dougherty said additional workshop discussions would take place before the county is ready to vote on the use of the ARPA funds. These are discussions that should have taken place 20 years ago, when everyone knew the bypass was coming, but long before it was ever built, he said.
