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The Bluffs Industrial Complex In Cantonment, Town Of Jay Projects Named TaxWatch ‘Budget Turkeys’
June 12, 2020
The Bluffs in Cantonment and two projects in the town of Jay were included in the 2020 Budget Turkey Watch Report released Thursday by Florida TaxWatch in the think tank’s annual independent review of the state’s budget. They are recommending that Gov. Ron DeSantis veto the funding for the turkeys.
Announced in late 2015, The Bluffs was envisioned as the home of up to 60 new industrial and manufacturing companies and more than 15,000 jobs. The 6,000 acre master-planned development area includes about 1,700 acres of land that can be developed in an area east of Highway 29 bordered by the Escambia River to the east, Becks Lake Road near International Paper to the north, and the University of West Florida to the south.
The $93.2 billion budget passed by the Florida Legislature for FY2020-21 contains 180 appropriations items qualifying as Budget Turkeys worth $136.3 million.
Items classified by the group as Budget Turkeys in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties were (with item descriptions from the Florida Senate):
Escambia County
- The Bluffs Entrance and Transportation Upgrades – $750,000 Escambia County
- The Bluffs entrance at Ascend Performance Materials/Emerald Coast Utilities Authority/Chemstrand Road Intersection. Planning, engineering, design, and construction for the entrance to The Bluffs Industrial Corridor and transportation upgrades at the multileg intersection of New Chemstrand Road, Old Chemstrand Road, Emerald Coast Utilities Authority’s entrance drive, and Ascend Performance Materials entrance drive(s). Project supports the active economic development program for The Bluffs, including over 100 logistics and manufacturing jobs for current active opportunities. The current active projects are: Project Astro, Project Coral, Project Emerald, and Project Flow.
Santa Rosa County
- Town of Jay Roadway Improvements $300,000
- A pavement assessment was conducted in 2019 of all roadways in the Town of Jay. The report concluded that a majority of the roads have not been serviced in thirty years and will only require an overlay rather than a complete redesign making the proposed project “shovel ready”. The funds requested will cover the permitting, contract administration, and construction of the roadway overlays.
- Town of Jay Bray Hendricks Park Master Plan $300,000
- Bray-Hendricks Park is a 39-year old park that is in critical need of updated sports surfaces and support capabilities to place the park in compliance with ADA requirements. This essential Town of Jay project is a proposed master planned sports complex within the town limits of Jay, Florida. The master plan includes one competition softball field, four regulation baseball fields, three tee-ball fields, four tennis courts, a basketball court, a combination soccer/football field, a children’s splash pad, a playground, an accessory concession building, and ADA compliant bathrooms. Economically, the sports complex can bring opportunity to the area by hosting tournaments and events that draw visitors. Current youth recreation leagues bring hundreds of families to the park to share in their child’s sport. The BrayHendricks Park is an important building block in promoting economic development in this rural community.
- Pea Ridge Connector – $750,000
- Santa Rosa County is constructing a new roadway connecting U.S. Highway 90 to Hamilton Bridge Road in the Pea Ridge Area. The new connector road is a 4-lane roadway with bi-directional bike lanes and sidewalks. The construction includes new turn lanes and new signals at both the U.S. Highway 90 intersection and the Hamilton Bridge Road Intersection.
According to TaxWatch, Budget Turkeys are often local member projects, placed in the final appropriations bill without being scrutinized and subjected to the budget committee process, or that circumvented existing grant and other legislatively established selection processes. The Budget Turkey label does not signify judgment of a project’s worthiness. Instead, the review focuses solely on the integrity, accountability, and transparency of the legislatively established budget process. The goal of which is to ensure that all appropriations of hard-earned taxpayer money achieves its intended public benefit. Since 1986, both Republican and Democratic governors have vetoed more than $3 billion in projects identified by FTW as Budget Turkeys.
Comments
5 Responses to “The Bluffs Industrial Complex In Cantonment, Town Of Jay Projects Named TaxWatch ‘Budget Turkeys’”
Please stop destroying undeveloped areas to build industrial parks that will never be used. We already have industrial park areas in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties which have been in place for decades without ever being fully used. These are pet projects to spend large amounts of money on construction that helps local politicians and contractors. The only thing the residents get is higher tax bills for years to come and less green space.
The park in Jay needs to be updated desperately and for this think tank to say otherwise is stupid. Parks all over Santa Rosa are getting updates and Jay should too.
Pace and Pea Ridge communities are not the same place and one is not part of the other.
Pace runs from the UWF Causeway east to the top of the rise, or ridge, Just past West Spencer Field Rd. Pea Ridge starts at the top of the ridge and runs East past where the Lowe’s is at. I still remember both the Pace and apes Ridge green signs on the road back in the 70’s.
Zip codes don’t matter. If they did, then Pace did not exist when I moved there in 1976 because the entire area was part of the Milton 32570 zip code. They indicate where the post office is located, not all the communities that are served by it.
>>>Pea Ridge is an area within Pace. It is misleading, and confusing to locals and others when you use the term “Pea Ridge” instead of Pace. Pea Ridge is an area within Pace similar to Floridatown; or Ferry Pass in Pensacola. Please correct it to say the “Pace Area.”
The name of the funding project as approved by the Florida Legislature this session was the “Pea Ridge Connector”. It would be incorrect for us to change the name of the local funding initiative.
And, like the story says, the project descriptions are from the Florida Senate as approved.
NorthEscambia — Pea Ridge is an area within Pace. It is misleading, and confusing to locals and others when you use the term “Pea Ridge” instead of Pace. Pea Ridge is an area within Pace similar to Floridatown; or Ferry Pass in Pensacola. Please correct it to say the “Pace Area.”
Pea Ridge is not a recognized CDP, does not have a ZIP code, and is not labeled on any addresses. It is within the 32571 Pace ZIP code, and is zoned for Pace Fire District, Pace Sheriff’s Precinct, Pace Fire District.