Santa Rosa County

Col. Patrick Dierig, commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, advises Santa Rosa County commissioners that traffic congestion on U.S. 98 is a threat to their mission and asks for more help to address the gridlock.

The discovery and required removal of state-protected gopher tortoises from the site has temporarily halted Santa Rosa County's $5 million Pine Blossom Road Drainage Project north of Milton.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a list of vetoes last week as he signed the state’s budget into law. One of the local programs affected by the cuts is the newly established Santa Rosa County Veterans Court. The program has lost a full-time position and is running on a “shoestring” to keep serving veterans.

A week after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the project, the Santa Rosa County Commission has worked out a plan for raising the money to buying for conservation 27 acres of land on Santa Rosa Sound.

Residents have until July 15 to comment on the Cost Feasible portion of the 2050 Long Range Transportation Plan being developed by the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization.

The Santa Rosa County Commission has set rates for new and existing Municipal Service Benefit Units (MSBU) in the areas of fire protection, street lighting, stormwater maintenance, and road paving.

While Municipal Service Taxing Units (MSTUs) for road improvements and public safety were rejected, commissioners unanimously approved an MSBU for stormwater maintenance.

After residents of Avalon Estates successfully lobbied Santa Rosa commissioners to halt construction of an access road on county-owned property at the end of their Ibis Road cul de sac, the long-debated issue of whether such a road could be built appears to be headed to court.

Santa Rosa County has approved the spending of more than $385,000 to pay for design of a new toll system on the Navarre Beach Bridge and a rate study to determine the amount.

Santa Rosa commissioners have compromised on an 11-member task force to revisit certain areas of the county's Land Development Code.