Last time Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings (left) was in St. Johns County, she was at the County Emergency Operations Center during the aftermath of last year’s hurricanes. Jennings was back in the region Wednesday to address leading authorities at the ninth annual Regional Cooperation Summit hosted by Northeast Florida Regional Council and St. Johns County. She was the keynote speaker and this year’s topic was affordable workforce housing. Jennings said the state has pumped more than $1 billion into housing programs throughout the state, but noted that the challenge continues to be the labor force and materials. “The dollar just doesn’t go nearly as far,” said Jennings, pictured with St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar and St. Johns County Commissioner and President of NFRC Karen Stern. “You’ve got to plan ahead.” She recognized that Northeast Florida still has land to develop, although it won’t be cheap. “But you still have it,” she said. “Everything’s going vertical down south.” Jennings also said than any new housing needs to be able to withstand hurricanes. “We want to be as safe and secure as we possibly can,” she said. “This has a huge impact on the ability to provide attainable workforce housing.”