by Kathy Foster
Reginald Dixon, Director of the Office of Disaster Recovery in Tallahassee, hosted a public workshop at the Ag Center in Chipley on Wednesday morning to receive input from the public and elected officials regarding the actions being taken to ensure distribution of available funds for recovery from Hurricane Michael in Washington, Wakulla, Bay Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson and Liberty counties.
Hosted by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the workshop was attended by Washington County Commissioners, Chipley’s elected officials and Washington County School Superintendent Joe Taylor, along with representatives of other agencies working with recovery efforts.
According to Dixon, Florida is expected to receive a total of $735,553,001 in recovery allocations and he said it is necessary to get the sense of need from locals.
Dixon said every community’s needs are different and his department has until June 1, 2020 to develop an action plan dealing the expenditure of the allocated funds.
Fielding comments from the audience, Dixon received the following complaints:
- The length of time insurance litigation has taken.
- The need to streamline the entire process.
- The need for infrastructure funding.
- The need for affordable housing for workers.
For more information Dixon suggested visiting the website www.RebuildFlorida.gov.