UNF MedNex funding top priority on Flagler’s legislative wish list

Mayors and chiefs administrators from Palm Coast, Bunnell and Flagler Beach stood before state Rep. Paul Renner and Sen. Travis Hutson in unison when the two legislators visited the county last week.

They all shared a common goal: to bring a “medical nexus” to Palm Coast’s Town Center corridor.

Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland was flanked by a contingent of county stakeholders when she spoke to Renner, R-Palm Coast, and Hutson, R-St. Augustine, about the proposed University of North Florida project.

“This will be a transformative project, not only to the city of Palm Coast, but to the entire county, the school district and the region as a whole,” she told them.

Holland and company were among a chorus of locally elected officeholders, civic and business leaders that lobbied for support during the county’s annual legislative delegation on Thursday. The public forum in the Government Services Building in Bunnell gave stakeholders a chance to pitch their legislative wish lists to the two state lawmakers. A total of 18 presenters made pleas for state funding and legislative backing.

Holland’s pitch took center stage as she briefed Hutson and Renner on the proposed UNF MedNex effort, an ambitious project poised to bring a consolidated hub of heath care, technology, research, analytics and education to Palm Coast’s Town Center. UNF is partnering with the city of Palm Coast, Flagler Schools and AdventHealth Palm Coast to bring MedNex to fruition.

Holland spoke to the delegation less than 24 hours before a Florida Board of Governors of the State University System committee approved sending a budget request for the project to the Legislature.

“This is the first of its kind in the entire country,” Holland proclaimed. “No other initiative exists like this. So we’re very proud of this moment as well to be very unique and different.

“This will create a true pipeline for our students — not only in Flagler County, but Volusia County and Putnam County and St. Johns County and surrounding areas — to take advantage of medical job opportunities of today and tomorrow moving forward,” she added.

While asking for Renner and Hutson’s support, Holland was flanked by Bunnell Mayor Catherine Robinson and Flagler Beach Mayor Linda Provencher as well as Alvin Jackson, Larry Newsom and Matt Morton, the city managers of Bunnell, Flagler Beach and Palm Coast.

Hutson said he was impressed by the county’s unified show of support and said he looked forward to being a “champion” for the project in the Senate. Renner pledged to do the same in the House.

UNF MedNex also topped the list of policy priorities that Flagler County Commission Chair David Sullivan presented to the delegates. Second on the county’s list was securing grant funding for construction of a new public library branch to serve residents in southern Flagler.

That initiative ranked as Flagler’s top priority last year, and the state lawmakers appropriated a $1 million grant for the project but county officials had already withdrawn their application due to uncertainty over the Sheriff’s Office Operations Center.

“We know we had a little burble last year when it looked like that grant was going to come to us, but some other higher priorities kind of got in the way, which were important,” Sullivan explained.

Hutson pressed Sullivan to make sure county officials are indeed prepared to move forward, and the commissioner assured him they were. He said the county has purchased land for the new library, begun the design process and identified a source of funding to help cover the county’s share of the estimated $6.3-million project. That source is the library’s passport program, which Sullivan said generates about $100,000 in revenue each year.