As we enjoy the holiday season with our friends and family, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you for allowing me to continue serving as your representative on the Board of County Commissioners. Reflecting on the challenges of the past year only confirms how honored I am to be your neighbor and how blessed I am to call St. Johns County home.

The holidays are delivering our community a special gift this season as the South Ponte Vedra/Vilano Beach restoration project is almost complete. The renourishment is ahead of schedule and under budget. Once complete, this project will restore this affected dune system and widen the beach on a beautiful stretch of our coastline that is beloved by residents and visitors alike.

In continued progress to preserve our community’s natural beauty, I also recently initiated discussions to revive the County’s Land Acquisition and Management Program. The program identifies, evaluates, and ranks available land within St. Johns County with the goal of acquiring and preserving it for outdoor recreation, historic, educational, and scientific activities, and protecting rare, endangered, and threatened natural habitats. I encourage you to monitor the progress of this program in 2021 and provide feedback to the Board of County Commissioners.

 

As we prepare for the new year, I am proud of the resiliency our community demonstrated in 2020, and look forward to the new opportunities 2021 will bring. Serving as Vice-chair, I can confirm that the Board of County Commissioners will remain as busy as ever to ensure the service needs of our residents are met or exceeded. We will continue working on your behalf during the holidays and are looking forward to a year of progress in St. Johns County over the next twelve months.

Happy Holidays,

Henry Dean

Vice-chair, District 5

St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners