BAY COUNTY Fla. (WMBB) – County officials learned a lot from Hurricane Michael.
Using this knowledge and feedback from citizens, officials have pinpointed more than a dozen improvements to make. One item is a long time coming for some residents.
“We developed this book, post-Hurricane Michael,” Chief Infrastructure Officer Keith Bryant said. “We didn’t just take the city’s and the county’s but citizens’ input. Things that they thought would make the community better prepared for natural disasters.”
19 items have been identified. Through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, the county will receive $33 million to start these improvements. They will also receive another $10 million from the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Response.
“Backup generators for facilities, to a Western Resiliency Center, a hardened facility up at the jail where we can have special teams come and work out of the jail,” Bryant said.
The projects will be presented before the board of commissioners on Tuesday, February 15, and then be put out to bid. Many residents are particularly thrilled about paving Steelfield Road.
“Every time it rains, we have a major problem, and I actually keep a chain in my truck because I don’t know how many people I’ve had to pull out,” resident Steve Grice said.
Grice said grading the dirt roadway is not enough. He is excited about the county’s solution.
“We now know it is on their list to be approved so that gives us hope that this is going to actually come to fruition soon,” Grice said.
Bryant said some of the projects will be a quick fix but others will take closer to 24 months.
For a full list of those projects visit the Bay County Government Center website.
