DeSantis Awards State Grant Funding to Pensacola Area for Infrastructure and Revitalization Improvement Projects

Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced $187 million in state grants funds for communities impacted by Hurricane Sally, including $70.1 million for Escambia County and $55.5 million for the City of Pensacola.

The grants are part of a newly renamed Florida Department of Commerce’s Rebuild Florida Program, which uses grants with different focuses to fund local government’s ability to strategically rebuild homes and harden infrastructure to prevent or mitigate losses from future disasters.

“My administration has prioritized supporting businesses and communities impacted by hurricanes while they get back on their feet,” Governor Ron DeSantis said. “Today, I am happy to announce $187 million in awards to aid in recovery efforts following Hurricane Sally – an important step in helping Northwest Florida recover.”

Escambia County was awarded $52.9 million to build a headquarters for Escambia Area Transit, including regional stormwater drainage improvements for low-and moderateincome neighborhoods. The county was also awarded $10 million to acquire, prepare and rehabilitate targeted property at West Cervantes and North Pace Boulevard and complete a project at Baptist Hospital.

The City of Pensacola was awarded $55.5 million for several significant infrastructure and neighborhood revitalization projects.

The awards include $39.7 million to complete the long-awaited stormwater and urban greenway project at Hollice T. Williams Park located under Interstate 110 as part of the Rebuild Florida Infrastructure Repair Program and repairing infrastructure at the Port of Pensacola and Fricker Center. The Hollice T. Williams project has been in the works since 2015 and aims to improve downtown flooding while reuniting the neighborhoods divided by the construction of I-110.

"This funding is monumental for the City of Pensacola, allowing us to complete projects that will transform our community and impact Pensacola for generations to come," Pensacola

Mayor D.C. Reeves said. "I appreciate Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Department of Commerce, Sen. Doug Broxson and state leadership for recognizing the importance of these projects and the benefits they will bring to citizens of Pensacola and our entire region."

The application for the city grants was coordinated by the newly formed City of Pensacola Grants Office, in collaboration with at least 10 other city departments.

The City of Pensacola will utilize funding for the following projects:

Infrastructure Projects = $39,686,539.86

Hollice T. Williams Stormwater Park Project: This project will include stormwater, flood mitigation, and other green infrastructure improvements to linear park to reduce area flooding and boost community resiliency.

• Port of Pensacola Infrastructure Restoration Project: This project will restore infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Sally to include rail, road, water, and stormwater drainage as well as mitigation improvements.

• Fricker Resource Center Demolition and Rebuild Project: This public facility project will include the demolition and rebuilding of the Fricker Resource Center to serve various community needs, including shelter assisting with emergency preparations and response.

Revitalization Projects = $10,000,000

• Targeted Site Acquisition and Preparation within Former Baptist Health Care Campus: This project will include targeted property acquisition and preparation for reuse of the former Baptist Hospital Campus. Baptist Health Care anticipates relocation of its main hospital, currently located at E and West Moreno Street, to its new location on Brent Lane. The purpose of this project is to address potential blighting conditions that may result from the hospital’s relocation by facilitating reuse of the former campus.

The City of Pensacola was also awarded $5,861,500 through the Rebuild Florida Housing Repair and Replacement Program. The Rebuild Florida HRRP for Hurricane Sally is designed to provide funding for local governments to rebuild, replace or repair homes that were damaged by Hurricane Sally, helping impacted Floridians return to decent, safe and sanitary homes.

The funds are allocated to the state through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program.

The complete lilst of grant awards includes:

Rebuild Florida Infrastructure Repair Program

• Pensacola $39.7 million – to facilitate a stormwater infrastructure project at Hollice T. Williams Park to improve water quality and reduce stormwater in the area, to repair infrastructure at the Port of Pensacola, and to repair and improve infrastructure at the Fricker Center.

• Escambia County $52.9 million – to build a new state-ofthe-art, energy-efficient and resilient Escambia County Area Transit Center and to make regional stormwater drainage improvements in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

• Century $12.9 million – to demolish the old Century High School Gym building located at 440 East Hecker Road and build a shelter that can also be used as a multi-purpose facility and to make drainage and road improvements at Jefferson Avenue, Freedom Road Bridge and Alger Road Bridge, which were damaged during Hurricane Sally.

• Jay $5.5 million – to build a Community Disaster Response Facility and various infrastructure to support disaster response and recovery following a storm event.

Rebuild Florida Voluntary Home Buyout Program

• Panama City = $5 million

• Escambia County = $3.2 million

Rebuild Florida Workforce Recovery Training Program

Pensacola State College $2.5 million – to launch or expand a training program tailored to the specific economic revitalization needs of the community, which may include construction trades like roofing, masonry, carpentry, concrete finishing, plumbing, HVAC, electricity, heavy equipment operations, carpet laying, window installation, plastering, welding and more.

Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program

• Panama City $992,308 – to facilitate Project ACCESS, a boardwalk on Bayview Ave in the St. Andrews community, which aims to draw new businesses, foster economic growth for existing enterprises, encourage a healthy lifestyle for the low- to moderate-income households, and create enduring positive environmental effects.

• Pensacola $10 million – to acquire, prepare and rehabilitate a targeted property at West Cervantes and North Pace Boulevard and complete a project at Baptist Hospital.

• Escambia County $5 million – to improve streetscapes and add solar-powered lighting throughout low- to moderate-income areas by installing 80 new Escambia County Area Transit bus shelters and updating 32 Escambia County Area Transit Bus Shelters.

Rebuild Florida Workforce Affordable Housing Construction Program

• Florida Housing Finance Corporation $25 million - for the construction of new workforce affordable housing to help address housing shortages worsened by Hurricane Sally.

Rebuild Florida Housing Repair and Replacement Program

• Pensacola = $5.9 million

• Escambia County = $9 million

James M. Cox Foundation Awards $500,000 to Baptist Health Care Foundation

The Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association Installs 2023-2024 Leadership and Presents Awards

The James M. Cox Foundation awarded a $500,000 grant to fund CareView®, a predictive patient monitoring system at the new Baptist Hospital campus and Behavioral Health Unit, scheduled to open September 2023. The foundation is the charitable arm of Cox Enterprises, parent company of Cox Communications, and named after the company’s founder.

CareView is a virtual monitoring system designed to help health care providers with patient safety by reducing falls, reducing self-harm and increasing patient safety. Its patented technology can help predict inpatient falls, alert staff to at-risk patients and further a culture of patient safety.

“At Baptist, patient and team member safety is our top priority,” Baptist Health Care President and CEO Mark Faulkner said. “We are proud to partner with the James M. Cox Foundation and Cox on this essential technology for the new campus to add another layer of quality to ensure our patients are recovering safely while also keeping us at the forefront of innovative medical technology.”

The Behavioral Health Unit, an inpatient department of Baptist Hospital, will utilize a more robust version of CareView for their specialized patient population. Specific to behavioral health care, CareView allows facilities to keep a continuous watch over patients who present with behaviors that warrant a higher level of protective observation, such as exhibiting extreme combativeness, being self-destructive or being considered a danger to themselves or others.

The patient monitoring solution uses infrared technology and 24-hour monitoring for patients perceived to be at risk for suicide or self-harm. CareView also provides virtual bedrails that will alarm care teams and allow for a faster response time. This technology will be an ideal addition to the behavioral health geriatric unit, where patients are at a much higher risk for falls, especially at night.

The Cox grant will include the installation of 20 observation cameras at Baptist Hospital and 72 cameras that will be installed for observation at the Behavioral Health Unit. All cameras will be strategically located and adjusted to units where there is the greatest risk to patient safety.

“Cox has been a proud longtime partner of Baptist Health Care and the Baptist Foundation, and we’re excited about the James M. Cox Foundation’s generous investment in this beautiful new facility under construction in Pensacola,” Vice President of Cox Communications’ Gulf Coast Market David Deliman said. “The opportunity to partner with Baptist Health Care to use state-of-the-art technology to care for and monitor some of the most at-risk patients will help ease the minds of friends and family members in our community.”

Implementing the CareView system will allow Baptist Health Care to continue to provide the highest quality care for their patients.

About the James M. Cox Foundation: The James M. Cox Foundation is named in honor of Cox Enterprises' founder and provides funding for capital campaigns and special projects in communities where the company operates. James M. Cox was Ohio's first three-term governor and the 1920 Democratic nominee for president of the United States. The foundation concentrates its community support in several areas, including conservation and environment, early childhood education, empowering families and individuals for success and health in a culture of camaraderie, collegiality, competence and mutual trust. For more information about the association or how to become a member, visit esrba.com.

The Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association (ESRBA) recently held its annual installation banquet. First Circuit Chief Judge John Miller conducted the installation of the 2023-2024 ESRBA Executive Council and Young Lawyers Division (YLD) officers and members. The association also recognized several of its members for their service to the profession and community.

Newly installed ESRBA Executive Council officers and council members are Christine Kelly, president; Joe Passeretti, vice president; Rebecca Gilliland, secretary; Stephen Luongo, treasurer; Aaron McCurdy, immediate past president, and members Kristina Cook, Patrick Jennings, Joe Kirkland, Alexis Mays, Michelle Nguyen, Shelby Savage, Jessica Scholl, Andrew Spencer, Rachel Thomas, Angela Trawick, Aaron Watson and YLD representative Brooke DiSalvo.

The 2023 Judge Ross M. Goodman Civility and Professionalism Award was presented to Robert N. Heath, Jr. Established in 2021, the award is bestowed to an ESRBA member whose dedication to civility, professionalism and ethics exemplifies the character as well as commitment to the profession and the administration of justice of Judge Ross Goodman, the inaugural recipient.

The 2023 Michael A. Doubek Community Service Award was presented to Antonio Bruni. The award is presented to a member or group of members of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association in recognition of volunteer service to the community.

Newly installed YLD officers and board members are Brooke DiSalvo, president; Alex Messmore, vice president; Will Hahn, treasurer; Ander Shimek, secretary; Michelle Nguyen, immediate past president, and directors Cassandra Buer, J. Mitchell de Kozan, Carllee Godwin, Haley Hadden, Kreg Jones, Madison Leonard, Sara Martin, Gabe Mueller, Brandon Shelley, Craig Wood and Mikaela Ziko.

Alexandra “Cookie” Echsner-Rasmussen was recognized as the recipient of the 2023 Young Lawyers Division William S. Meador Award. The award is given each year to a young attorney who distinguishes themselves by their commitment to our community through charitable and civil service. The award was established in 2005 to honor the legacy left by William Meador of practicing law with integrity, sincerity and courtesy while recognizing his commitment of giving back to the community.

The 2023-2024 Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Foundation officers and directors were elected by the membership at the banquet. Newly elected officers are D. Steve Traylor, Jr., president; Jodi Dubose, vice president; and Cameron Gore, secretary/treasurer. New and returning directors are Jeremy Branning, Shekka Drayton, Stephen Echsner, Heather Lindsay, Patrick Martin, Aaron McCurdy, Adrianna Spain, Warren Todd, Kasey Watson, John “Buz” Windham, Mikaela Ziko and ESRBA President Christine Kelly.