No library grant The Flagler County Public Library applied for a $500,000 grant from the state again this year, but the grant dollars were not included in the state budget, Cameron reported May 3. However, he added, “there are some other grants on the horizon for the library.” Cameron proposed that the county proceed with design on library construction.
Emergency lobbying succeeds County attorney Al Hadeed reported May 3 that the state recently passed legislation to stop governments from declaring a local state of emergency and then renewing it ad infinitum. Instead, local governments can only declare emergencies for 42 days. State lawmakers “were responding to what they perceived as excesses by local governments relative to the pandemic,” Hadeed said. What they didn’t account for was the utility of emergency declarations relative to hurricanes and wildfires, the effects of which can take years to address. For example, Flagler County continues to use its emergency declaration authority to facilitate work on dune restoration from past hurricanes.