Hurricane Irma is changing the tenor of exactly what Sarasota County leaders want the Florida Legislature to address in the 2018 session.
Namely, improving River Road, training building industry workers and planning for the impacts of climate change. The county did get $3M allocated in the state budget to improve River Road, but that money was vetoed by Gov. Scott. River Road is an evacuation route for Englewood and South Venice and parts of Charlotte County, and was often down to a crawl when people were evacuating.
As for training workers in the building industry, an already tight labor market will get even tighter as crews need to not only continue with ongoing projects, but now also rebuild in the wake of Irma.
And according to the Herald-Tribune, Longboat Key Mayor Terry Gans said it’s time for the Legislature to begin planning for sea level rise. Gans acknowledged the issue is politically charged, but hoped that politics could be put aside to focus on practical concerns.