BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
Union County has been extremely lucky in the area of grants received over the past few years, receiving funds for major projects and infrastructure, as well as assistance in maintaining and improving many local roads. For the coming fiscal year, the county will be putting to use the proceeds from a number of grants, totaling $24,177,683. This is all money on hand (in special individual accounts).
County Coordinator Jimmy Williams and others are already hard at work searching from more grant opportunities for the future to ensure citizens get everything they need in county services and recreational opportunities. One of the most desired monies will be an additional appropriation requested from the Florida Legislature to cover the shortfall in the original funds caused by price increases in labor and materials for the construction of the long-awaited Providence Fire Station. The county has shifted the fire station construction into a phased plan, breaking the project down into stages and doing as much work as possible in-house to try and do as much as can be done with the funds on hand in hopes of completing the project with an additional appropriation.
Public welfare and safety take the lead in the currently funded grants. In the area of Public Safety (EMS, Fire and Law Enforcement) there are the original appropriation for the Providence Fire Station ($793,975) as well as the second appropriation for the new Public Safety Complex ($8,940,352) and an appropriation for a new Fire/Rescue station in the city of Lake Butler, close to the existing building ($2,250,000).
A Federal Brownfield Grant ($309,048) will pay for the identification and testing of potentially toxic or dangerous areas of land that have, in the past, been the sight of business and/or industrial practices that now are identified as environmental contamination. Being in the Brownfields program will be of help to the county to secure the funds needed to clean-up these sites in the future. Likewise, the grant funded vulnerability study ($275,600) will fund an assessment of the impact from flooding. The results of the study can be used to seek grant funds to mitigate areas identified as in danger of severe impact. Revenue from the Tire Amnesty Program ($25,000) will assist property owners in cleaning up old tires on their property, preventing both improper disposal and the pooling of water in the tires, which encourages the breeding of mosquitos.
Work is planned for the historic Union County Courthouse in the forms of both restoration and courthouse security. The restoration project will include repairs to the roof, the repair or replacement of the buildings HVAC system and new energy efficient windows. The designs will be done by a historical architect to keep the classical look of the building and not interfere with the historical classification of the structure. The restoration grant is for $374,996. The security grant funds will make the building safer for both the courthouse personnel and the visiting public. It will include equipment for the detection of firearms and other weapons, addressing many other security issues as well. The current courthouse security is not up to par with most such buildings in the state, largely due to the expense involved in making a few traffic flow changes and the high cost of needed equipment. The grant funds to cover this project come in two parts – $230,000 deferred from last year’s budget and $319,054 in new grant monies.
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has been generous to the county, both in previous years and in the present, through their Small County Road Assistance Program (SCRAP) and other grants, to assist with needed road maintenance and work. For the coming fiscal year, three projects are funded and some work has already begun. The total grant funds from FDOT for these projects is $10,777,839.
The project with the greatest general interest in the county is the CR-18 project. CR-18 has been in need of attention for some time and now that work will be done, after a long delay due to environmental issues that were not regulated when the road was first built. The stretch between the Columbia County line and SR-124 will be widened, resurfaced and drainage issue addresses as needed, making the road safer, especially in wet weather.
Another project involves three connected roads. Southwest 92nd St. will be widened, with the current nine-foot lanes being enlarged to ten feet. It will be repaved, with the installation of drainage and the upgrading of driveway entrances. As part of the same project, Southwest 146th Lane and Southwest 152 Court will be reconstructed, repaved, have upgrades to driveway entrances and have culverts installed. This project is set to be completed in the spring of 2025.
The third project will be the resurfacing and repaving of Northwest 89th Ave., expected to be complete by the end of June 2025.
Union County has a history of taking care of its young people and the upcoming 24-25 projects continue this effort. A FRDAP recreation grant has been awarded to the county in the amount of $190,000 to allow the addition of another baseball field, batting cages and an ADA sidewalk to the sports complex at the O.J. Phillips Park. County 4-H members will also get some more work to grow, with a $485,794 grant for Phase III of the construction of the Union County Agriculture building that will double the size of the building.
As a financially constrained county, due to both its small size and its agricultural nature, Union County has enough revenue to operate as it should, but without the many grants and appropriations it receives each year could not afford to make the safety and quality of life improvements that these funding sources allow. Williams and all of the various department heads are always on the lookout for ways to make the county a better place to live for its residents.
