Santa Rosa County is looking for citizen input and volunteers to help plan for disasters. The county is evaluating 56 projects submitted for RESTORE Act money. The butterfly season is about to start at the Panhandle Butterfly House in Navarre.

Help prepare for disasters

Santa Rosa County is looking for help from citizens on how to best respond to disasters like floods.

Santa Rosa’s Local Mitigation Strategy Task Force is conducting a comprehensive update to the county's disaster plan. The task force will also be updating the county’s flood mitigation plan, which is part of the disaster plan but also stands alone.

Mitigation planning is intended to lessen the impacts of disasters and reduce the loss of life and property for residents, governments and businesses. Flood mitigation planning can yield discounts on flood insurance.

There are two opportunities for the public to give input to the mitigation planning process:

• — Tuesday, April 28, at 6 p.m. at the Tiger Point Community Center, 1370 Tiger Park Lane, Gulf Breeze.
• — Thursday, April 30, at 6 p.m. at the Santa Rosa County Administrative Office Complex, 6495 Caroline St, Milton.

Citizens are also needed for both the Local Mitigation Strategy Task Force and the Flood Mitigation Task Force. Volunteers should expect to participate in one to two meetings per month for the next six months and provide assistance and input regarding mitigation planning.

For details on the LMS Task Force or to review the current hazard mitigation and flood plans, visit www.SantaRosa.fl.gov/LMS. For more information about volunteering or the county’s mitigation planning efforts, contact Sheila Fitzgerald, grants and special projects director at (850) 983-1848 or [email protected].

56 proposals vie for RESTORE cash

Santa Rosa county officials announced earlier this month that 56 projects totaling $54.52 million will compete to be included in Santa Rosa’s RESTORE multi-year implementation plan.

In this first round of funding, about $4.3 million is available to Santa Rosa through RESTORE Act money.

The proposals include projects such as Lionsgate-Laguna dredging and clearing in Gulf Breeze, an entrepreneurship academy at Pace High School, and an amphitheater in Milton. The entire list of proposals is here: http://santarosa.fl.gov/news/newsrelease/SantaRosaCountyRESTOREProposals04032015.pdf.

Proposals will be scored and ranked in public meetings and results will be made available at the Monday, June 8, 3 p.m. regular meeting of the Santa Rosa County Local RESTORE Council.

This initial release of funding is a small part of an estimated $20 million to $60 million Santa Rosa County is expected to receive once litigation and Clean Water Act fines against BP are finalized. The funding for the county’s multi-year plan is just one of the many sources of funding associated with the April 2010 oil spill.

Projects not funded in this cycle will be eligible to apply for future funding.

Butterfly House opens May 2

The Panhandle Butterfly House in Navarre will celebrate its grand opening for the 2015 season with a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. on May 2. The facility will be open until 3 p.m.

Special festivities include the classical guitar sounds of Jimmy Chandler and the Monarch Market with many butterfly items for sale. The Santa Rosa County Master Gardeners will have butterfly plants on sale, and Holley-Navarre Elks Lodge No. 2787 will offer meals for purchase.

The Panhandle Butterfly House features a variety of native butterflies inside and out. The Panhandle Butterfly House is located in Navarre Park on U.S. 98 at the foot of the Navarre Beach Bridge. It will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday as of May 2.

Pre-scheduled tours for groups of 10 or more are available Monday through Wednesday. Visit www.panhandlebutterflyhouse.org for reservations.

There is no admission charge, but donations are appreciated. For more information, contact Mary Derrick at (850) 623-3868 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays or via email at [email protected].

The Panhandle Butterfly House is also looking for tour guides and docents.

Tour guides lead pre-scheduled groups through the Butterfly House. They work in teams, educating visiting groups on the importance of butterflies and their habitat in the ecosystem. Tour training will be offered at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, April 20, at the Navarre Public Library. For details, contact [email protected].

Docents greet the public, provide casual interpretations, guide visitors in the outside vivarium where the live butterflies are and manage the butterfly house resources. The first docent training session is set for May 9 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Navarre Library. For details, contact [email protected].