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Editor’s Note: Spoonbill Courier will publish selective portions of SJC Civic Roundtable reports which, in the editor’s judgement, are likely to be of interest to the wider Marsh Creek community.

Monday, April 11   State Representative Cyndi Stevenson & State Representative Paul Renner will be our speakers talking about the past as well as the upcoming legislative session.  Join us: Monday, April 11 12 noon via Zoom   https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5593999943   ————————————————————————————————–

April 5th County Commission Meeting Overview     The Board approved a funding request of $2,282,000 for Home Again with federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA); Commissioner Waldron recused himself and the vote was 3-1 with Whitehurst objecting. There are additional ARPA funds available for funding the needs of our county as a result of the pandemic. The Board asked the director of the United Way if they might be available to assist the Board in evaluating future funding proposals since their organization does comparable evaluations for making their own funding allocations. The United Way would need to know the criteria in which to judge projects. The Board asked staff to do a feasibility study in the next 30 days for working with the United Way and establish criteria for county funded projects.    The Board held a workshop in late March on the vulnerabilities of Northern Summer Haven and the Summer Haven River. The Board unanimously approved $400,000 from the General Fund for a study to understand the specific effects of the River on the surrounding area, identify the risk, provide recommendations and funding costs and options. Commissioner Arnold was able to include the erosion at Summer House in the study. The River is filling in with silt and beginning to close at its mouth. There is a concern that if the Summer Haven River is lost then the Matanzas Inlet may also be lost.    Updates to the 20-year old World Commerce Center DRI at International Golf Parkway were approved for commercial and retail uses. The Center will have 2,171,488 sf of office space, 1,261,000 sf commercial and retail, 453,900 sf for light industrial, 950 hotel rooms and 1,156 residential units. Phase III of the Center will be completed in 2032.    The county will be getting an Unleashed Dog Park on 2.37 acres on US 1 North and Ronald Road. The park will have dog managers and food trucks for its patrons.    Chairman Dean informed the Board that he will put an agenda item for the next meeting to have a discussion of the cultural arts in our county and the great venues we have here.

Growth Management Workshop II   The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners is hosting a second Growth Management Workshop to continue discussions on how to manage future growth and address infrastructure needs. Residents and stakeholders are invited to provide comments after County staff completes their presentations.   The topics that will be discussed include:   Accountability for Development Impacts Mechanisms to Collect Funding for Future Infrastructure   When: Tuesday, April 26 9 a.m.   Where: County Auditorium 500 San Sebastian View St. Augustine, FL 32084   The workshop will be broadcast live on GTV at www.sjcfl.us/GTV/WatchGTV.aspx.   Residents unable to attend the workshop may submit feedback by emailing sjcgrowth@sjcfl.us. Please note that the Board of County Commissioners will not make policy decisions at the workshop nor vote on any item brought forth.   ______________________________________________________________   Two Bad Bills Passed State Legislature– Write the Governor to VETO   It’s not to late!   Read the Roundtable’s Veto letters here:   SB 620 https://conta.cc/36GArjp SB 1078 https://conta.cc/36BGB4r   Once again, the State Legislature “know it alls” have decided that our local government can’t make decisions for its local citizens and instead, the State legislature must set the rules. Unfortunately, both of these bills are authored by our own State Senator Travis Hudson who must believe that our County and City elected officials can’t do their jobs and that the citizens of this county need to have the State legislature take over. Please write the Governor and urge him to veto these two bills.   The Governor’s email address:  GovernorRon.Desantis@eog.myflorida.com   Urge the Governor to vetoSB 620 which allows businesses to sue over local ordinances:      — an expensive burden on taxpayers    — TaxWatch estimated could cost local governments over$900M annually    — will lead to financially motivated and malicious law suits    — will have chilling effect on local governments’ ability to enact meaningful, popular ordinances    — first state to enact such with such a policy.    Urge the Governor to veto SB 1078 which limits membership on Soil & Water Conservation District boards:      — limits membership to wealthy landowners and their employees–Water experts and scientists would be excluded.     — Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services which works directly with the districts oppose bill    — districts work to implement best practices and policies and do educational outreach and need expertise in engineering, science, education and outreach even if not farmers     — technology and science are so critical to agriculture and water conservation and quality and should be represented on boards.