4 Panhandle counties get $89M approved for public projects

On the House map (H 8013), the border smooths almost unnoticeably between HD 1 and HD 2, but HD 3 withdraws completely away from the coast. Most territory south of East Bay now falls into the Pensacola-based HD 2, with Navarre Parkway serving as the divide between the districts stretching from that water body straight to the Okaloosa County line. Crestview now falls entirely with HD 4. Further inland, the old border for HD 6 now encompasses all of Bay County and nothing but Bay County. That means swiping some land back from HD 5. But the northern district makes it up, much like SD 2, by snatching all of Calhoun County away from Big Bend neighbors.

About $89 million dedicated to public projects will be distributed to four Florida Panhandle counties after the Triumph Gulf Coast Board approved the spending this week.

The panel met in Panama City and agreed to distribute the funds in Bay, Escambia, Wakulla and Walton counties. The latest distribution by the Triumph Gulf Coast Board brings the total of funds and grants issued by the group to $643 million since 2018, with money going to eight counties.

In Bay County, the Board earmarked a term sheet negotiation of $8.075 million for the Bay School District for workforce training grant and other in-demand programs in the disciplines of health care, aerospace manufacturing, artificial intelligence and computer science. The Board also approved another $25 million grant negotiation for the Northwest Beaches International Airport’s request for construction of new projects.

The Board awarded another $3.32 million in funding to the University of West Florida (UWF). The school is planning to start up a Center for Watercraft and Vessel Engineering in Escambia County. The program will be established at the Port of Pensacola campus and will provide a platform for research and vessel engineering.

Some $6.921 million heading to Escambia County will help with negotiations for establishing an Institute for Human Machine and Cognition and the creation of a National Center for Collaborative Autonomy.

The Wakulla County Commission was granted $2.1 million to purchase a 20-acre site within Opportunity Park to develop a manufacturing business known as “Project Boomer.” The funding will provide the ability to purchase the site that will provide land for a 100,000-square-foot building to be owned by the county, which will lease the facility to a company.

The Board also OK’d $13.5 million for the Wakulla County Commission to purchase another 20-acre site in the same area to build another industrial site for a separate manufacturing business known as “Project Safety.”

The Walton County Board of County Commissioners had their request approved for $20.152 million in grants to purchase a new land mobile radio system. The system will provide communications for the county’s emergency responders.