Civil Municipal - April 2024

On the housing side, Mayor Roberts reports that the city is working in partnership with Jackson County to bring residential development to 300 acres on the former Dozier site. “There’s a real shortage of affordable workforce housing in our area,” he acknowledges. “The county’s looking at soliciting developers to develop that 300 acres and the city will be extending the water, sewer, and natural gas into that development. That will meet a real need in our community.” Dennis says that the last year has seen the introduction of two new apartment complexes in the community. She expands,“One is under construction right now, and one was recently constructed. Each houses about 35 units. And we’ve got a habitat subdivision that has 7 lots.That has just been platted and construction will begin soon.” STRONG PARTNERSHIPS FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH When it comes to the key partnerships that contribute to the continued success of Marianna, and the whole region, Mayor Roberts maintains, “We’re all one big community. We look at it as, if it is good for the city of Marianna it’s good for the county.” Long says the accomplishments of the city can be attributed to collaborations with entities from the Main Street program and Chamber of Commerce to the Economic Development Council, David Melvin, and Jackson County. “All of those people, all of those groups, are instrumental. We try to work as one, we try to work as a big team and erase the territorial lines.What we know is it takes all of us to make this happen.We all have something we bring to the table,” he remarks. This spirit of collaboration, combined with a progressive and forward-thinking approach will continue to move Marianna towards a future of growth and success. 141 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 5, ISSUE 04 MARIANNA, FLORIDA