The Santa Rosa County Commission is set to discuss 10 potential projects that the county could submit for consideration in the first round of RESTORE Act funding when commissioners meet this morning.

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The commission meets at 9 a.m. at the Santa Rosa County Administrative Office Complex, located at 6495 U.S. 90, Milton (behind McDonald's). The agenda for the meeting is available at http://www.santarosa.fl.gov/agendas/3-9-15backup.pdf. The meeting is broadcast online at http://www.santarosa.fl.gov/bocc/BOCC_Calendar/#.

Generally, the commission’s Monday meetings – called “committee meetings” – are used to discuss items and set the agenda for Thursday’s regular meetings where final decisions are usually made.

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The RESTORE Act is federal legislation intended to direct a portion of the fines paid by BP as a result of its 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill to help restore the communities impacted by the spill.

Santa Rosa County expects to be eligible for up to $4.3 million in funding during the first round of projects, according to Public Information Officer Joy Tsubooka. The deadline for submittals had been March 13, but has been extended to April 3.

Projects to be discussed include:

— Navarre Beach Beach Berm and Dune Restoration.

— Bagdad Mill Site Passive Park Coastal Access Improvements.

— Milton/Bagdad Pedestrian Connector Project.

— Navarre Park Water Quality Enhancement Program Phase 1.

— Floridatown Park Water Quality Enhancement Project.

— Holley-By-The-Sea Stormwater Project Implementation.

— Dirt Road Paving on Navarre/Gulf Breeze Peninsula.

— South End Health Department Mitigation.

— Marketing and promotion for Sand Sculpting Festival, Beaches to Woodlands Tour and Navarre Fishing Rodeo.

— Whiting Aviation Park Construction Plan Development.

The projects come from all five commission districts, and each qualifies as an enhancement to one of the following areas: environment, infrastructure, tourism or economic development.

Commissioners are also set to discuss several items related to the military.

Among those is a proposal to employ the University of West Florida Haas Center to conduct a Military Spouse Technical Skills Inventory.  The county believes the study would be covered by a $11,250 Defense Reinvestment Grant and a $11,250 grant from the Office of Economic Development and Engagement at UWF.

A similar study was conducted by the Haas Center in 2003.

"The need for qualified labor is one of the most critical issues facing the Santa Rosa business community," Haas Center co-director Phyllis Pooley wrote in a letter to the county.

"The objective of the proposed work is to again document the technical skills possessed by military spouse population that reside in the area. This skills inventory will allow Santa Rosa County to describe the education and job skills of this potential workforce to aviation and other industries, thereby encouraging their relocation to this area."

Commissioners are also set to discuss purchasing conservation easements for two parcels, each about 3.3 acres, located on Whiting Field Circle near Whiting Field Naval Air Base. One parcel is owned by J. D. Elliot, T.A. Leonard, Martha H. Pierce and E. L. Dunn, while the other is owned by Pierce alone.

The conservation easements would cost the county $14,000 each. Such easements leave ownership and use of the property with the current owners, but keeps the use of the property at its current level, prohibiting uses that might conflict with activities at the base.

Both parcels are currently zoned for agricultural uses, but, left unencumbered, could be qualify for residential and recreational purposes in the future.

Commissioners will discuss applying to renew two state grants the county has recieved several times in the past: $300, 000 in a Defense Infrastructure Grant, money used to buy land or development rights on property near military bases to prevent residential encroachment and other incompatible development, and $78,700 in a Defense Reinvestment Grant to fund the county's military affairs consultant contract.

Those applications are due to the state by March 19.