Recap from St Johns County Commission meeting June 4th

St Johns County commissioners heard a status update Tuesday of the American Rescue Plan Act enacted to provide economic relief during the COVID pandemic. Historic City News local reporters reviewed the video of presentations during the regular county commission meeting on June 4th.

Today’s presentation featured the County’s partnership with the United Way. With twenty-two nonprofit organizations affecting over 50,000 residents, their efforts have distributed grants totaling $7.4 million. St Johns County’s share for projects adversely impacted by the pandemic is $51.4 million.  All those funds have been fully committed with the Board approving all specific allocations. Reports will continue through December 31, 2026, when the program ends.

Public Safety Update

The Sheriff announced that the first Friday in June is traditionally “Boater Skip Day” to encourage boater safety on our waterways. June 4th is the “Reentry Resource Fair” with local businesses participating to help reduce the likelihood of re-offending inmates. St Johns County has had a 10% reduction in recidivism rates.

County and municipal Fire Chiefs hosted the first “Spark the Flame” camp for young girls, helping them better understand fire-fighting service. Campers participated in a range of physical challenges led by an all-female team of firefighters who helped nurture self-confidence and a realization of the participant’s full potential.

Budget Presentations of Constitutional Officers

• The Sheriff’s Department serves 315,317 residents across 601 square miles of land and 221 square miles of water. The total budget for next year is $128,706,884. The starting salary for a new deputy is $55,000 and $50,000 for dispatchers. In 2023, there were 5,300 traffic crashes and 414,795 calls for service including 115,428 calls for 911. Fentanyl continues to represent the highest volume of drugs seized, followed by cocaine. New bookings in the county jail reached 6,375 and the average daily inmate population was 483.

• The Clerk of Court and Comptroller budget for FY 2025 is $4,477,646 — up $675,761 from this year. Insurance costs have increased by 6%.

• The Property Appraiser presented a tentative budget of $8.6 million for the next fiscal year. The office appraised 175,133 parcels of which 126,189 are residential. The office had 9,000 new Homestead exemption applications. The just market value for the county is $82.9 billion and the taxable value is $51.9 billion.

Boards & Committees 2023 Annual Reports

St Johns County has 20 boards and committees with 148 voluntary members who dedicate their time and efforts. These boards cover a wide range of topics — affordable housing, construction reviews, planning and zoning, coastal overlays, land acquisition, libraries, and cultural resources, to name a few.

Pavo, LLC Economic Development Incentive Request

The Pavo application is to develop a 22,680-square-foot speculative industrial office space near I-95 and International Golf Parkway with estimated completion in the third quarter of 2025. The total value of the incentive being sought is $107,224 to be reimbursed over 20 years. The property is already zoned for this use and there is zero vacancy. The Board unanimously approved the application.

Comp Plan Amendment to Comply with New Florida Statute

A new law requires local governments to update plans to meet pollutant reduction goals by July 1, 2024.  The county must provide a central sewer system for developments of 50 lots or more within the next ten years. Staff is beginning to create feasibility reports for areas such as Vermont Heights, Treasure Beach, and St Augustine South. The comprehensive plan amendment was unanimously adopted.

Estrada CDD

This request adds 103 acres to the originally approved 436.9 acre development east of I-95 and SR 207 and Lightsey Road. The newly added acreage will contain no new homes. Estrada is 70% built out and approximately 178 homes will be built within the next 2 years. The request was approved by 5-0 vote.

RecNation

The Board considered and unanimously approved a request to rezone 1.5 acres west of US 1 North and D and 1st Street to offer prime storage space for recreational vehicles.

Brinkoff Charter School

This request is to utilize approximately 5 acres to build a K-8 charter school at 1600 Brinkoff Road off SR-207. The St Johns County School Board has already approved the proposed charter school as there are no plans to develop a new district school in this area. The charter school will be a free public school being developed by Summit Company. A traffic light is being installed to SR-207 and Brinkoff Road at Treaty Lakes Drive. The Board unanimously approved the project.

Commissioner Reports

Commissioner Joseph wished to salute individuals and groups actively participating in the county’s anti-litter initiatives including Elizabeth Joshi’s group which is growing in size and having fun keeping our community beautiful. You can follow Joshi on Facebook. Joseph indicated that there is extra money in the budget to have another crew pick up litter. She encourage all those interested to get involved.

Commissioner Whitehurst stated that on July 1 a bill will go into effect that will allow us to fine-tune the Live Local Act. There will be some mechanisms such as tax abatement measures which may give us more control over the Live Local Act. He received Board consensus to have staff come back with more information on these measures.

Commissioner Dean stated that in the past couple of months, several of his critics have accused him of blaming previous county commissioners for all the developments approved prior to the arrival of those currently seated. He wants to make it clear that he does not blame anyone but states only the facts. Over 100,000 units were approved before 2008 but never built until after 2016. Now we are dealing and living with these issues such as the one today with the charter school and Treaty Oaks.

The County Attorney reminded everyone that their financial disclosure forms are due by July 1st. Today is the last meeting for attorney Christine Valliere. He extended the County’s heartfelt gratitude for the wealth of knowledge and experience she has brought to county government.  He added that she will be sorely missed.