On October 25th, the Utilities Department and I delivered a presentation to the community of Bithlo regarding a Water Main Extension! Phase 1 West will extend service to 337 parcels in SW Bithlo, south of SR 50 and west of N. 3rd St. After lobbying for utility infrastructure for years, I am grateful that the American Rescue Plan Act funding made this project possible! More updates and project phases to come!
According to Bonilla, the Florida Communities Trust – the state agency tasked with reviewing the plan – said the proposal might technically be considered a “land exchange” application to build a road. Bonilla said she had conversations and exchanged emails with officials in Tallahassee, and concluded it was filed incorrectly as a “linear facility” application for the road. In the end, the board voted five-to-two to uphold the approval, with commissioners Maribel Gomez Cordero and Emily Bonilla voting in opposition, the same commissioners who voted against the measure in December.
The community clean up was a huge success! A big thank you to everyone who took part in this event. I look forward to doing more community clean up’s like this one.
To help pay for the Harrod property, Commissioner Emily Bonilla, who won her seat in 2016 with support from residents opposed to high-density developments in rural areas, proposed using $2.5 million set aside for a future park in “The Grow.” In a memo to fellow commissioners in December, Bonilla described Harrod’s property as “virtually untouched by modern standards, which leaves it in pristine condition for a potential historical site or park.”
“This issue has received a lot of news attention and provides a great opportunity for us to get the story right about bats,” Bonilla says. “Bats are incredible creatures which are misunderstood. There are myths that ‘all bats carry rabies.’ This is false. Studies have shown that less than 1 percent of bats have been found to carry rabies. A person has a better chance of winning the state lottery jackpot than catching rabies from a bat …” Bonilla adds: “Due to Mayor Jacobs’ objection, we are withdrawing our memo and my office will no longer work with the county staff on this project. We will continue to work on this project in conjunction with the Florida Bat Conservancy. We welcome all community partners who would like to collaborate with us on this issue.”
“While there is still work to be done, there were some gains made today in the plight to achieve environmental sustainability and overall safety in the County,”
“The issue of the summertime ban was the biggest sticking point, with Commissioner Emily Bonilla asking why the county couldn’t just ban non-commercial users during the summer, especially since only 250 non-commercial users in the entire county had applied for certification anyway.”
“Despite these changes, Commissioner Emily Bonilla was adamant about the push for the summertime ban to apply for everyone, not just homeowners.”