More than $24 million has been awarded to rural communities through the Rural Infrastructure Fund (RIF) program. The announcement includes five awards for communities impacted by Hurricane Michael. These funds support community economic development projects that will strengthen public infrastructure and expand job opportunities for employers and families in rural communities.

The Hurricane Michael-impacted communities that will receive awards through the RIF program include:

  • City of Blountstown ($217,943) – to provide improvements and expand existing waterlines to allow an increase in operational efficiency and to increase reliability to prevent significant downtime
    City of Bonifay ($1.5 million) – to upgrade the City’s wastewater treatment plant and potable water supply, which will create 120 jobs and provide more than $20 million in capital investments
  • City of Quincy ($909,810) – to extend South Springs Road, including water, sewer and existing utilities by 1,200 feet
  • City of Quincy ($278,000) – to study the current capacity of the wastewater treatment plant and to determine the needs of planned developments.

Additional communities receiving awards through the RIF program include: 

  • City of Arcadia ($1.8 million) –to construct 8-inch water main lines to service the Municipal Airport and the surrounding properties
  • Village of Indiantown ($300,000) –for the future construction of a water treatment plant that will greatly impact the community in terms of supply capacity and supply quality
  • Town of Jasper ($200,000) –to address critical water infrastructure needs and provide adequate storage and pumping capacity to support economic development and growth
  • City of Live Oak ($295,000) –to reevaluate the City’s potable water demands and develop estimates for potable water demand to serve future development around U.S. Highway 129/I-10 interchange and the existing water distribution mains along US 129 from south of 72nd Trace to north of Interstate 10. The result will be a water and sewer master plan to ensure that water and sewer infrastructure is adequate to support anticipated private development over a 20-year forecast period
  • City of Live Oak ($285,000) – to perform engineering evaluations of the existing public infrastructure (water, sewer and stormwater) to support the proposed redevelopment of Heritage Square
  • City of Perry ($4.7 million) –to upgrade the City’s Water Treatment Plant, furthering the new line and providing water availability to a 200-acre commercial/industrial site that is being marketed for growth and development
  • City of Wauchula ($278,500) –to conduct a study of its jurisdiction and the areas directly surrounding it to determine the feasibility of bringing inland port commerce to their residents.

“We are committed to providing Florida’s rural communities with the resources they need to support long-term economic growth,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “These investments will improve infrastructure, attract new businesses and accelerate Florida’s unprecedented growth.”

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