![Santa Rosa County will have to come up with an alternative funding plan to expand access to its industrial park after Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $1 million for the project. [AARON LITTLE | Press Gazette]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-514d1d24-2c5f-3193-e053-0100007f23bb-035ca8fc-scaled.jpeg)
MILTON — The county must seek other funding to expand its second entrance to the Santa Rosa Industrial Park after Gov. Rick Scott vetoed the $1 million project from this year’s budget.
“We received $1 million last year to put in an access road from the north to the south within the park and build a second entrance,” Santa Rosa County Economic Development Director Shannon Ogletree said. “This year’s (dollars) would have been to expand that road around into the park (and) enable more parcels to be open and available to sell.”
The county would have a better chance at attracting businesses to the park if there were better access in and out of the park, according to Ogletree.
At this point, the county can try submitting the project to the state again next year or try to fund it through Triumph dollars, according to Ogletree. Triumph Gulf Coast is the nonprofit tasked with distributing money for economic development projects in the eight counties the BP oil spill disproportionately affected.
In May, the Florida Senate passed a bill that would transfer $300 million to a trust fund the nonprofit manages to be distributed.
Scott’s 2017 veto list also included a Milton item, $1 million for the Riverwalk extension to the south, according to City Manager Brian Watkins.
The city plans to extend the Riverwalk south toward the train trestle. Without funding from the state, construction remains delayed while the city seeks other funding options, according to Watkins.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Industrial park, Riverwalk extension projects delayed