STATE BRIEFS

five percent of this is covered by the federal portion of the project

$16,785,050

The estimated cost of the staging area combined with the 35% the county is responsible for in the renourishment project.

$14,312,700

The remaining grant money the county has for dune renourishments.

$2,472,350

The county’s remaining balance for the project

The project will also ensure a 40to 60-foot berm — the section of the beach where people can lay their towels, between the sea and the dune — with more berm extending into the ocean.

The Corps of Engineers’ fill density is high, Harrah said, so that the fill will last between renourishments, which are scheduled for once every 11 years during the 50-year contract.

Emergency sand deposits from FEMA only build up the dunes to 6 cubic yards of sand per foot of beach, while the Alkhatib said, while the Corps of Engineers’ standard is 90 cubic yards per foot of beach.

While the county will be responsible for maintaining the area between scheduled renourishments, the Corps of Engineers will return after storms to monitor and fix any damage, Harrah said.

“We build back to the same template,” he said. “It’s 100% federal [funds.]”

Tax package gets bipartisan backing

The Florida House on Thursday, April 27, unanimously approved a wideranging $1.38 billion tax package that would include savings for shoppers and businesses, as leaders work out differences with the Senate.

The House bill (HB 7063) would offer shoppers expanded sales-tax “holidays” on back-to-school items, hurricane supplies, summer activities and tool purchases.

Most of the tax-holiday plans match what is included in a Senate version of the tax package (SB 7062). Both versions also would provide tax exemptions on items such as diapers, adult incontinence products, gas stoves, Energy Star appliances and oral-hygiene products. House and Senate leaders could reach an agreement on a tax package as they finish negotiating a budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

Senate takes aim at ‘step therapy’

The Florida Senate has unanimously passed a bill that would allow Medicaid beneficiaries with “serious” mental illness to avoid a drug practice known as step therapy.

Step therapy generally involves requiring a patient to try one type of medication to determine if it is effective before being able to try a more-expensive drug.

The bill would let Medicaid beneficiaries with conditions such as bipolar disorder, major depressive disorders and schizophrenia avoid step therapy if their physicians submit documentation about the medical necessity.

The Corps of Engineers pulled the project for a redesign in January, and now, Harrah said, the same area needs 1,300,000 cubic yards of sand.

“The beauty of our projects — once you complete an initial construction, you’re in the federal program for 50 years,” he said.

Harrah said the Corps of Engineers’ standard is to bring the dunes up to 19 feet in height, level with State Road A1A.

The county is placing or planning to place emergency sand along several sections of the county’s shoreline. Harrah said that won’t interfere with the Army Corps of Engineers project.

“The more sand we get out here, the better,” Harrah said. “It’s going to make the federal project last longer.”

“I think this is a major step forward in how we are dealing with a significant (mental health) crisis that we have,” bill sponsor Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, said.

An identical bill (HB 183) is pending in the House Health & Human Services Committee — THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Fix infrastructure before adding more homes

Dear Editor:

The April 27 issue of the Observer has a very interesting front page. I hope everyone saw what I mean.

The top headline concerns the approval of literally thousands of additional houses, added to the thousands already approved.

Directly under that headline was another article about how the roads in Palm Coast are falling apart.

Does anyone see the problem here? Our roads and other infrastructure are at a “critical point,” as the article says. So here’s a good idea: Let’s add upward of 10,000 new dwellings (which means about 20,000 new vehicles) and not do much to maintain and repair our roads.

Anyone who attempts to travel in or around the city early in the morning or in the late afternoon hours already experiences the vastly increased amount of traffic.

The article says that Palm Coast has 542 miles of roadways. In reality, Palm Coast has basically two main roads, Palm Coast Parkway and Belle Terre Parkway/Boulevard. The remainder are neighborhood streets.

Trying to funnel all those vehicles onto two roads is a foolish idea and very poor planning. If it is going to cost $12 million per year just to maintain, and the city only has $2 million budgeted for it per year, we will never get caught up.

Adding salt to the wound, they figure that five years from now it will cost $50 million to repair the roads. But, hey, here’s another great idea: Let’s put up $50 million for a new arts center.

It seems like anytime a developer wants to build here, the Planning Board approves it, whether or not it is a good thing for the city. The builders build, then they can move away and not have to live in the mess they created, and the city and residents suffer.

It’s our own fault though. We are the ones who continually put real estate agents and developers on the City Council and planning boards. Building and developing is what they do.

Whatever happened to the idea that Palm Coast was a nice small retirement community? The City

Make yourself at home

Council and planning boards obviously want this city to become a sprawling, blighted major urban area, and our voice be damned.

ED MUMMERT

Palm Coast

Road condition report is no surprise

Dear Editor: After experiencing for the last few year the ever-increasing numbers of cars, trucks, and heavy equipment on Palm Coast roads, it was no surprise but very disappointing that the city road engineer needed a consultant’s report to tell him that the roads are “at a critical point.” Hearing this made me wonder, “Who’s minding the store?” This situation didn’t happen overnight. A consultant’s report should have been done years ago because projections at that time would have shown we were headed right where we are now. This highpriced analysis only told us what anyone and everyone had been seeing for years — huge increases in traffic and crumbling roadways. The same goes for stormwater.