State approves $4 million for flood wall project

The long-term effort to shield historic downtown Fernandina Beach from cresting Amelia River floodwaters got a major boost from the state of Florida.

Lorelei Jacobs, the city's grants administrator, told city commissioners Tuesday that as part of the $115.1 billion state budget passed by the Florida Legislature late Monday night, $4 million has been earmarked for the third phase of the city's Historic Downtown Resiliency Seawall Construction Project. The budget still awaits Gov. Ron DeSantis’s signature; he holds the authority to approve or veto individual items.

Several years ago, DeSantis vetoed $1 million in funds for the project.

The riverfront flood protection wall project is the cornerstone of Fernandina Beach’s strategy to protect the downtown from flooding and shoreline erosion. According to the funding request submitted by State Sen. Clay Yarborough (R-Jacksonville), the wall is essential to reinforcing the city’s coastal defenses, as identified in a citywide vulnerability assessment.

"I gave you the status of our appropriation for this year we had one million in the senate and two million in the house even though our original ask was four million for the seawall this legislative session and in fact last Friday those line were increased to four million in the house and senate," Jacobs said. "It's ready to go the governor and our seawall project has a four-million-dollar appropriation."

The total cost of the seawall project for completion is estimated at $19 million. Last year, the city received $2 million for Phase 2, which remains only 10% complete. City officials anticipate requesting an additional $2 million in state funds after the city commission Tuesday approved filing for more grants.

Whether this latest round of funding makes it into law now rests with the governor. His decision could accelerate the seawall’s construction — or stall a project critical to protecting one of Florida’s oldest downtowns.

The $2 million the city already has in hand will likely be used to rebuild the bulkhead beneath Brett's Waterway Cafe, which will be demolished early next year.