Volusia County commits $20M to land conservation, rejects chair's request for EMS talk
Volusia County Council members voted 5-0 on Tuesday morning to commit up to $20 million in Volusia Forever dollars to a land-conservation partnership.
The focus of the project is making the area more resilient against flooding by funding conservation easements and land management agreements. Volusia Forever is a taxpayer-funded program focused on protecting and acquiring property and natural resources.
The partnership discussed Tuesday is with the Alachua Conservation Trust, which is seeking Regional Conservation Partnership Program funding from the United States Department of Agriculture, according to county documents.
The deadline for the trust to apply is Aug. 18, and the council's decision also included issuing a letter of support.
If the project is approved, county funding will be used as a local match for land conservation projects from 2024 to 2029. County money will only go to projects in Volusia County. The program would bring federal and state dollars to help with conserving "environmentally sensitive and agricultural/working lands within Volusia County," according to the county.
In addition to the county's commitment, the Alachua Conservation Trust will seek $25 million in federal funding and several million dollars from other partners, including the state government. It's called the Lake to Lagoon Regional Conservation Partnership Program
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Conserving rural lands helps mitigate flooding and the effects of "catastrophic storm" events.
"This rapidly developing region of Central Florida depends on sustainable natural resources and is susceptible to climate change stressors: sea level rise, groundwater depletion and increasingly intense storms and hurricanes," according to the presentation.
EMS workshop rejected
Council members rejected an idea floated by Chairman Jeff Brower to have a public workshop on concerns about Emergency Medical Services issues, such as attracting and retaining employees, ambulance response times and having more stations for paramedics to rest in between calls. Brower said he wanted the county council to provide direction on any issues that come up.
Council members said they opposed the workshop because the government structure calls for them to give policy direction to County Manager George Recktenwald. They also voiced concerns about interfering with union contract negotiations.
Robins made a motion to put the issue aside and let the county manager and staff handle employee issues without interference from the council, which the council approved.
Brower said Robins was "making a motion to shut up the county chair."
New leaders confirmed
The county council confirmed a few new leaders. Council members unanimously confirmed Brad Burbaugh as the director of the Community Services Department, Clint Mecham as the director of Emergency Management and Angela Miedema as the director of Animal Services.
Burbaugh started as the interim director of the department on July 10. He had been the county's Resource Stewardship director and oversaw programs such as Volusia ECHO, Volusia Forever and the county's extension services partnership with the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Burbaugh's salary as director is $161,535.
Former Community Services Director Dona Butler is leading the county's Transform386 project, which will manage the spending of about $329 million in federal disaster recovery funds.
Mecham will start on Wednesday. His salary will be $120,000. He was the Salt Lake County, Utah, Emergency Management director.
Miedema will be joining the county on Aug. 21 after serving as the animal behaviorist for Orange County Animal Services in Florida. She was also the director of operations for the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando. Her salary will be $95,000.
Councilmen absences
At-large Councilman Jake Johannson and District 1 Councilman Don Dempsey were absent on Tuesday. Johansson was on vacation. Dempsey didn't immediately respond to a text asking why he was absent. Because of their absences, the council moved the Volusia Forever Advisory Committee's annual work plan and goals to the Aug. 15 meeting. Brower voted against the delay.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia county council OKs $20M from Volusia Forever for partnership
