By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor

The Florida Legislature during its just-finished session approved $21.8 million for a new building at Valencia Community College’s Osceola campus and $2 million for a roadway at Kissimmee Gateway Airport, with the appropriations now awaiting the governor’s signature.

State Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee, on May 3 briefed the Osceola County Commission on state budget items relating to the county, calling the funding for the college a “really big deal.” He said the college is in dire need of space and has the least amount of square footage available per student of any college in the state.

Community College funding

The $21.8 million in Public Education Capital Outlay funding would be supplemented by a $5 million commitment from Osceola County government for the Valencia Community College project as well as approximately $2 million in Outlay funding received in prior years. In addition, the college will be requesting $4.3 million next year in order to have all the funding in place for the project, according to college spokeswoman Lucy Boudet.

Boudet, in an e-mail, stated that the proposed building has not been designed yet nor has an architect been selected. However, she stated the approximately 108,000 square-foot building, which would house the library, classrooms and chemistry labs, would make it the largest on Valencia’s Osceola campus.

Boudet also stated the building might include space for the University of Central Florida as part of the college’s Direct Connect to UCF guaranteed transfer program where students complete their four-year degree on the campus.

Sandy Shugart, president of Valencia Community College, stated in an e-mail that approval of funding for this new building – a combination of a college library, science laboratories and classrooms – would bring “desperately needed space to the state’s most efficient college campus.”

“Serving some 10,000 students per semester in just three buildings, the Osceola Campus of Valencia has more students per square foot than any other college in Florida,” Shugart stated. “The new space will enable us to continue to expand access and meet the enormous demand for higher education in Osceola County, including plans to expand access to baccalaureate programs in partnership with UCF.”

The college received $1,066,277 in Outlay funds for the project in 2008 and then another $1 million in 2009. If Outlay funds are awarded by the next Legislature, then the college could begin construction, according to information provided by the college.

The $33.1 million in total funding would cover the cost of the new building ($28 million), plus fund a central facilities plant that would house the chillers, pumps and related electrical equipment to control the air conditioning of the buildings on the Valencia campus, according to college officials.

Airport road funding

Terry Lloyd, director of aviation for the Kissimmee Gateway Airport, said the $2 million, if approved by the governor, would be about two-thirds of the $3.1 million needed to provide a roadway, drainage and utilities to a business park intended for aviation-related medium- and small-sized businesses.

“We’ve had this project designed since 2001,” Lloyd said, adding that funding has been vetoed twice in the past, once by former Gov. Jeb Bush and once by Gov. Charlie Crist. “We see a lot of opportunity for small- and medium-sized aviation businesses looking for a 10,000 square foot hangar and a 2,500-square-foot office.”

Lloyd said the proposed roadway, which would run east off Hoagland Boulevard, would provide access to two hangars in the first phase of the business park’s development.

“If we get the money and build the roadway, it would be a boost to the airport,” Lloyd said, adding that there is little opportunity to obtain funding for airport-related roads from federal or state agencies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration or the Florida Department of Transportation.

Lloyd also said the appropriation, if approved, would produce local jobs.

Other legislation affecting the county

Legislators also approved an Osceola County Expressway Authority, which could generate the financing needed to build major new roadways. The county would get five appointments to the authority. The two cities in the county would also be able to appoint members.

“An expressway authority is a real game-changer,” said Horner. “It gives the county the opportunity to chart its own destiny.”

Horner also said legislators approved cameras to catch drivers running red lights, maintained funding for the Osceola County Juvenile Justice Center and provided an extra $3 million statewide to combat hydrilla, an invasive weed, with the county benefiting additionally, since it receives the largest portion of that money already.

These items also need approval from the governor.

Ultrasound requirement

While Horner did not mention it at the commission meeting, a health-related bill is now awaiting the governor’s signature that contains a contentious attachment requiring all women seeking an abortion to pay for an ultrasound before the procedure or show proof of rape, incest, human trafficking or threat to their health. If approved by the governor, this legislation would go into effect July 1.

Largely along party lines, the Republican-controlled House approved the abortion bill 76-44 on April 30; the Senate approved the measure a day earlier 23-16. Both Horner and state Rep. Stephen L. Precourt, R-Orlando, voted for the bill; Darren Soto, D-Orlando, voted against it.

Opponents say the ultrasound mandate is a government intrusion on a decision that should be left to women. Opponents also say that the woman would have to pay for the ultrasound, regardless of whether she wants it or not.

Proponents of the requirement say it would give a woman more information about her pregnancy and would be another opportunity for her to change her mind before getting the medical procedure.

In addition, a woman in her first trimester of pregnancy – when most abortions occur – would have to view the ultrasound and listen to a doctor's description of the fetus unless she declined in writing to do so.