Chris Doolin guest speaker at the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council Meeting

Bradford County Commissioner Daniel Riddick, Chair of the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council welcomed Chris Doolin, the legislative affairs consultant to the Florida Small County Coalition and the Small School District Council Consortium to the Dec. 10 meeting of the Council held in Lake City. Also in attendance were Madison County Commissioner Rick Davis, City of Madison Commissioner James Catron, Madison County Coordinator Allen Cherry, and City of Madison City Manager Tim Bennett. Mr. Doolin’s remarks provided Council members a review of issues facing rural counties that are anticipated to be addressed in the upcoming legislative session. The Small County Coalition is a non-partisan statewide alliance of county commissions in Florida’s small and rural counties. The Small County Coalition’s primary mission is to help Florida’s small and rural counties address legislative issues from a small/rural perspective and work effectively with the leadership of state agencies. The Small County Coalition supports programs that improve the financial capacity of Florida’s local governments in small counties. The Council, whose members are local elected officials and gubernatorial appointees, administers a variety of state and federal programs for north central Florida including Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Marion, Suwannee, Taylor and Union Counties. Programs include development of the Strategic Regional Policy Plan, technical assistance to local governments in development of comprehensive plans, land development regulations and grant management, and administration of developments of regional impact, local mitigation strategies, hazardous materials, homeland security and economic development programs. In addition, the Council staffs the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization for the Gainesville Urbanized Area, the North Central Florida Local Emergency Planning Committee, the North Central Florida Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team and The Original Florida Tourism Task Force. The Council's offices are located in Gainesville. For more information about the Council, visit ncfrpc.org.