North Florida rural leaders meet for first recreation compact

Published 10:57 am Friday, October 28, 2016

LIVE OAK, Fla. — When Kristin Jacobs was a county commissioner for Broward County, her county along with Miami-Dade County, Fort Lauderdale City and Miami Beach City were all fighting for a federal grant.

“All four were competing with each other for the same pot of money,” said Jacobs, now a Florida house representative for District 96.

She heard from someone that Miami Beach was ahead of everyone else to use the money if they received the grant. An idea occurred to her.

If she could get everyone to stand down and support Miami Beach instead of fighting, the federal money would go toward a project right away, which is exactly what happened, Jacobs said.

Each of the other governments backed out of the grant and supported Miami Beach for the grant. The money successfully went to fund a large road renovation project to prevent flooding, Jacobs said.

“This success wasn’t lost on the federal government,” she said. “Now they are looking kindly on the community because they gave them money and it didn’t get lost in some planning vacuum.”

Jacobs shared this story Tuesday, Oct. 25, at the first Suwannee River Basin Outdoor Recreation Compact Summit at the Suwannee River Water Management District headquarters, 9225 County Road 49.

Attending the summit were leaders from around north central Florida looking to develop a regional approach for responding to opportunities to develop their respective communities.

Helen Miller, chair for the compact, said by working together, compact members can leverage their capabilities for the benefit of all.

“Many of our small rural communities do not have the capacity — neither planning staff nor financial resources — to develop the proposals needed by state funding agencies,” Miller wrote in an email.

The focus of the summit was on the Florida Greenways and Trails System (FGTS), which establishes the vision for implementing a connected statewide system of greenways and trails for recreation, conservation, healthy lifestyles and a high quality of life.

Miller said the opportunities for investment in trail expansion is significant in north central Florida.

“We need to organize, develop our priorities and submit them to OGT (Office of Greenways and Trails) within the window of opportunity,” she said.

Greg Scott, director of Suwannee County parks and recreation, said the compact is an opportunity for the county to attract more people from outside to come and stay longer and also to develop a plan for the future.

“We don’t have that many hired planners, so to have that expertise to help us with the leg-work to get funding is a big opportunity,” Scott said.

Funding will be difficult, however, without the commitment from the officials at the city and county levels, Jacobs said.

She stressed that those in attendance need to get their elected officials involved or their effort might be wasted.

“When every individual jewel in the crown begins to shine on its own, collectively, you all do,” Jacobs said. “And mostly it comes from making sure you are engaging your elected officials. It can’t just be a bunch of exhausted community volunteers or staff.”

The next compact meeting will be in the first week of December between the stakeholders to discuss a vision for the future, Miller said.