The Triumph Gulf Coast Board of Directors, which was set up by the Legislature to oversee settlement money from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, agreed Tuesday to give time for officials in hurricane-decimated counties to re-prioritize economic-development needs.

Triumph Gulf Coast works on issues in eight Northwest Florida counties, including Bay, Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla, which were among the hardest-hit areas in the Category 4 Hurricane Michael.

“When the chainsaws can’t be heard in the neighborhoods anymore and when the blue tarps come down, because someday they will come down, the jobs Triumph Gulf Coast is commissioned to induce and promote will be more needed than ever,” said Triumph board Chairman Don Gaetz, a former Senate president from Niceville.

The board — which moved its meeting Tuesday from hurricane-damaged Port St. Joe to Crestview — also agreed to give some “flexibility” in a performance timeline to a technical training program in Bay County that received funding in July. Bay County’s schools are expected to reopen by mid-November, about a month after the Oct. 10 storm.

“If the counties are given the opportunity, I believe from the conversations I’ve had, their priorities may have changed,” Shoaf said. “And if this board is willing to help in certain ways, it could make the difference in our communities coming back to life in six months or a year or two.”

The regional board was created to distribute to Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla and Walton counties three-quarters of the $2 billion the state will get over the next 13 years through the BP settlement from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill.

As part of its charge from the state Legislature, Triumph is expected to direct the money to regional projects rather than directly to individual businesses.

Board member Benjamin Lee, a Lynn Haven resident who oversees the Bay County region for Hancock Whitney Bank, said schools and water plants were not what Triumph was designed to fund, but he expects there will be a call for “bare essentials.”

Gaetz said the reprioritization offer isn’t to accentuate storm-recovery programs. However, he said local officials may find job creation has changed due to the storm, with rebuilding and simply sustaining jobs the immediate priority.

“I’m not suggesting we turn ourselves into a little FEMA, nor do I think we should take insurance companies off the hook and provide cash payments to people to help them put up a new roof,” Gaetz said. “That’s the job of the insurance industry, and we’re going to hopefully hold them to account for performance. But it may change the job-creation environment and what seems important.”

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Chad Peacock and Olan Ward work to clean up the 13 Mile oyster house just outside of Apalachicola on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018. The Ward family's business sustained significant damage from Hurricane Michael. 13 Mile is a significant supplier in the Apalachicola region. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Apalachicola, an area of the Florida Panhandle known for its oysters, sustained a significant blow when Hurricane Michael came ashore Oct. 10, 2018. As of Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018, the area's oyster farmers still didn't know the extent of the damage. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Apalachicola, an area of the Florida Panhandle known for its oysters, sustained a significant blow when Hurricane Michael came ashore Oct. 10, 2018. As of Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018, the area's oyster farmers still didn't know the extent of the damage to their oyster beds. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Apalachicola, an area of the Florida Panhandle known for its oysters, sustained a significant blow when Hurricane Michael came ashore Oct. 10, 2018. As of Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018, the area's oyster farmers still didn't know the extent of the damage to their oyster beds. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Apalachicola, an area of the Florida Panhandle known for its oysters, sustained a significant blow when Hurricane Michael came ashore Oct. 10, 2018. As of Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018, the area's oyster farmers still didn't know the extent of the damage to their oyster beds. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Apalachicola, an area of the Florida Panhandle known for its oysters, sustained a significant blow when Hurricane Michael came ashore Oct. 10, 2018. As of Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018, the area's oyster farmers still didn't know the extent of the damage to their oyster beds. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Other anticipated funding includes $3 million from the Legislature, $24 million from the governor’s Job Growth Grant Fund, $50 million from the Florida Department of Transportation and $20 million from city and county governments, according to Triumph paperwork.