about my county st johns county florida

St Johns County Board of Commissioners Chair Sarah Arnold spoke to John Bachman at Action News JAX this week to share how the Board is working to deal effectively with the significant growth of the County.

She opened the interview by saying, “The secret is out,” meaning, they’ve found out how totally great it is to be in St Johns County.  Yep, it is and there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle now.  The current Board of Commissioners is tasked with managing growth effectively and that is no easy task.

I encourage you to watch the interview.  Commissioner Arnold’s commitment to and excitement about the County is evident. But it also highlights several initiatives underway that span every aspect of the County, from roads, to infrastructure, to schools, to safety, to parks and to culture.  It is easy to get wrapped up in “overdevelopment” and forget the breadth and scope of the Board of Commissioners role.

Here are a couple that stood out to me as I watched.

• For the past two years, the Board of Commissioners has required developers to establish and fund infrastructure up front.  That is an intentional shift from prior Boards, and one that recognizes the critical need for holding developers accountable.
• There is currently $100 million in road infrastructure underway, funded by developers.  This includes CR210 @ Beach walk, CR 2209, and the Intersection at IGP and SR 16.
• Three major new employers will bring over 2,000 high paying jobs to the County, including UFHealth at Durbin Park, Publix Pharmacy Center, and KeHe Distribution Center.    What I think it cool about this Board of Commissioners is that they initially denied the KeHe Distribution Center because it was not compatible with the proposed area but worked with them to find a site that worked for them and the County.
• In response to request from the Board, the state has placed $59 million in the budget for St Johns County in 2024.  Assuming that remains in the state budget, it will fund a new firefighter training facility that will serve St Johns and surrounding Counties and help with recruiting and retention.  It will also fund an incentive package for hiring paramedics and EMS, beach renourishment and the widening of SR 16.
• While the schools are outside the scope of the Commissioners, they have increased collaboration with the School Board, including a joint meeting to discuss issues related to growth.  The Commissioners have also traveled to Tallahassee to advocate with the Department of Education for a change to the building requirements for schools.  Presently, schools are required to be built to hurricane standards to serve as shelters, but there are already sufficient shelters within the County.  If the State agrees to change the requirements, construction of new schools will be 15% less expensive.
• And then there is culture.  It could be easy to discount the importance of culture, but it is as much a critical part of St Johns County as any of the above-mentioned initiatives.  Not only does SJC have The Amp and the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, but this Board of Commissioners took the initiative to create a non-profit organization: St. Johns County Cultural Events, Inc. to manage and take the already nationally known venues to the next level. And what could be more important than preserving the rich African American heritage here in the County.  State’s Black History Museum.  If approved, it would join Lincolnville and Fort Mose in providing real and visible history of African Americans in our Country.

I am proud to be a resident of St. Johns County – a place where everyone wants to live and where the Board of Commissioners is committed to using their skill and experience to keep up with the challenge of growth.

As Commissioner Arnold said, St Johns County is no longer our secret.  Everyone wants to live here and we clearly understand why.