Today:: Cooler, sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Details here.
Today’s document from the National Archives and the Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Drought Index: 157
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day: chockablockplay.
The Live Community Calendar
Today’s jail bookings.
Today’s Briefing: Quick Links
- First Light
- In Flagler and Palm Coast
- Flagler Jail Bookings and Last 24 Hours of Incident Reports
- Flagler Beach A1A Construction Updates
- US 1-Old Dixie Highway Roundabout Construction Updates
- Announcements
- In State Government
- In Coming Days in Flagler, Palm Coast and Beyond
- Fact-Checking the Knaves
- Palm Coast Construction and Development
- Cultural Coda
“I look back at the seventies as the start of the cocaine blizzard that blew across the music business-and the rest of the country–creating havoc in its wake. I was one of the lucky ones. I tried coke and instinctively mistrusted the energy it generated. Others said the energy was positive; I found it poisonous. The drug boosted the ego to ungodly proportions. I use the word ‘ungodly’ purposely because when most folks are jacked up on coke they get to believing that they’re God. With cocaine, there’s no room for a higher power. You become your own higher power. You’re under the illusion that you’re all-knowing, all-powerful, and invulnerable. In short, you become a raging asshole.”
–Willie Nelson, from “It’s a Long Story” (2015).
Previously:
Note: all government meetings noticed below are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated. Many can be heard or seen live through each agency’s website.
The Sheriff’s daily incident reports and jail bookings are posted here.
Florence Fruehan, the former Palm Coast physician who surrendered his license following a Department of Health investigation into alleged sexual improprieties with patients, is scheduled for arraignment before Circuit Judge Terence Perkins on two counts of felony battery on persons over 65, mirroring similar claims Fruehan faced during the health department investigation. Fruehan has waived his right to attend all pre-trial conferences. Arraignment is scheduled at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom 401 at the Flagler County courthouse. See background stories here, here and here. (2018CF001067 and 2018CF001066)
Cameron Contract: The Flagler County Commission meets in special session at 9 a.m. to ratify its contract with Interim Manager Jerry Cameron. The contract calls for Cameron to be paid $160,000 on an annualized basis, though he’d be due for a raise, based on inflation, as soon as March 1. His total compensation package would be worth $237,000 on an annualized basis. See the proposed contract here.
The Bunnell City Commission meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 201 West Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. The commission is expected to approve, on second reading, new regulations for groups looking to use Bunnell as a movie set or for music videos, as well as approve a change to the city’s special events ordinance.
A Happy Hour Fund-Raiser for the Flagler County Free Clinic is scheduled for 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Brown Dog pub, 215 Saint Joe Plaza Drive, off Palm Coast Parkway, at $20 per person, which includes one drink and light appetizers.
The Buddy Taylor Middle School Advisory Council meets at 5 p.m. at the school’s media center. The PTO meets at 6 p.m.
The Flagler County Stamp and Coin Club meets at 4:30 p.m. at the VFW Post 8696 47 N. Old Kings Road. From 4:30 – 6 p.m. the time is used for buying, selling and trading stamps and coins. The club meeting starts at 6 p.m. and ends at 7:30. There is a live auction of stamps and coins at the end of the meeting. The club is open for members, the general public, and all who are interested in stamp and coin collecting and investing. Free stamps and coin evaluations at all our meetings. The club is the only non-profit Stamp and Coin Club in Flagler County. For more information please visit the club’s web site.
COMMUNITY INPUT SOUGHT ON HEALTH ISSUES (closes Feb. 28): Flagler county residents are being asked to speak up and voice their opinion on a variety of health-related topics through an online survey. The input from the community will be used to create health improvement plans to address community concerns and improve quality of life. The survey is online here countyhealthsurvey.com and is available in English and Spanish. Results of the survey provide the foundation of Community Health Needs Assessments, which are a collection of data used to inform communities and develop goals to improve health outcomes. Once the assessments are complete, they will be used to create three-year Community Health Improvement Plans for both Volusia and Flagler counties. The assessments are being conducted in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health in Flagler and Volusia counties, Flagler Cares, local hospitals and Volusia and Flagler county government. Residents, employers and community partners are encouraged to share this link and ask others to take the survey as well. The survey will close February 28, 2019. Please take the survey here.
Blood Donations: The Big Red Bus will be at the following locations this week (schedule your donation by going to the website and entering a Palm Coast zip code, then locating one of the venues below):
- Monday: Government Services Building, Bunnell, 1 to 4 p.m.
- Wednesday: Flagler Palm Coast High School, 5500 State Road 100, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Thursday: Walmart, 174 Cypress Point Parkway, Palm Coast, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Friday: Advance America, 800 Belle Terre Parkway, Suite 212, Palm Coast, 2 to 7 p.m.
Jail Bookings and Last 24 Hours' Incidents in Flagler, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Bunnell
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| Jail Bookings, June 19-22 Sheriff's night shift incident reports, June 21 Sheriff's day shift incident reports, June 21 Flagler Beach's night shift incident reports, June 21 Flagler Beach's day shift incident reports, June 21 Bunnell police's night shift incident reports, June 21 Bunnell police's day shift incident reports, June 21 |
Flagler Beach Is Open For Business: A1A Construction Update:
FlaglerLive is providing weekly updates to year-long construction on and near State Road A1A in Flagler Beach as the Florida Department of Transportation rebuilds a 1.5-mile segment from South 9th Street to South 22nd Street, and builds a sea wall at the north end of town. These updates are provided through DOT or local officials. If you have any relevant information or images, you’re welcome to email them to the editor here.
Segment 2: South 22nd to South 9th Street: A significant detour on State Road (S.R.) A1A in Flagler Beach is set to start Tuesday, Feb 26, as construction continues on a project to protect the road from erosion and future storm events. The work is part of a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) project to construct improvements along three sections of S.R. A1A in Flagler County. A temporary traffic repair has been in place since the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in late 2016.
Fast Facts:
- Southbound traffic on S.R. A1A will be detoured onto a local road, South Central Avenue, between South 7th Street and South 23rd Street.
- Northbound traffic will remain on S.R. A1A.
- The detour will be in place throughout the reconstruction.
- Access to all businesses and homes will be maintained.
- Access will also be available using side streets.
- For those with driveways only on S.R. A1A, access will be available from northbound S.R. A1A.
Since this is a popular destination for tourists and visitors, drivers are asked to obey the posted speed limits on both S.R. A1A and Central Avenue, and to be alert for pedestrians and bicyclists in the area. Due to safety concerns, bicyclists and foot traffic are urged to stay in designated, safe areas throughout the project.
Segment 3: North 18th Street to Osprey Drive: The contractor continues to bring in sand and prepare for installation of the new buried seawall. Residents may have noticed the contractor installing forms near North 18th Street. This is not the seawall itself. These forms will be used to guide the drill and form the new concrete shafts of the wall. These shafts will be about 36 feet deep. The contractor is expected to move its drilling equipment onto the work site this week. This movement is likely to require short stoppages of traffic using flagging operations along A1A.
Dune Walkovers:
The contractor will continue to remove dune walkovers as needed to accommodate construction of the buried seawall. The affected dune walkovers include both public and private walkovers between North 18th Street and Osprey Drive. By contract, all affected dune walkovers will be reconstructed once work is complete to their pre-construction condition. The contractor is carefully removing and storing separately the existing materials for each walkover. Photographs also are being taken to document existing conditions and will be used to assist with reconstruction.
Please note that the walkovers must remain closed during construction for safety reasons.
The project team has announced that reconstruction of the walkovers is tentatively scheduled to begin in fall 2019. This timeframe is based on the current work schedule. Please note the schedule may be affected by weather or unforeseen circumstances.
The contractor has 300 days to complete the work.
Caution! Flagler Beach police and and Sherriff’s deputies are actively monitoring speed and writing tickets. “I got a warning on north section of A1A before construction actually began so I keep to the 25 limit, but still getting tailgated by cars wanting to go faster,” a reader tells us.
See Also:
- In Flagler Beach, A1A Shops and Restaurants Hope Their ‘Open For Business’ Signs Are Louder Than Road Construction
- $22.4 Million A1A Rebuilding and Sea Wall Construction in Flagler Beach Starts in January
- A New, Not Much Improved A1A in Flagler Beach: Median, 30MPH, Drainage, But No Added Protection
- Council Endorses Raising Flagler’s Tourism Tax to 5% to Pay For Beach Repairs
- FDOT’s Regional Construction Page
(DOT)
U.S. 1 and Old Dixie Highway Roundabout Construction Updates:
FlaglerLive is providing weekly updates to the planned 15-month, $4.1 million construction of a roundabout at U.S. 1 and Old Dixie Highway. The project started in late January and is scheduled for completion by spring 2020.
This week southbound U.S. 1 will be reduced to one lane and be shifted slightly west onto new pavement. Southbound U.S. 1 traffic heading to Old Dixie Highway will be directed to stay on southbound U.S. 1 and make a U-turn to return to Old Dixie Highway using northbound U.S. 1. Old Dixie Highway drivers heading to southbound U.S. 1 will have to turn onto northbound U.S. 1 and make a U-turn to access southbound U.S. 1. Later this week, northbound U.S. 1 will be reduced to one lane and shifted west onto the existing southbound side of the roadway. Once this shift is made, U.S. 1 will have one lane in each direction through the project area. The speed limit will be reduced along U.S. 1 through the construction zone, and drivers are asked to be alert and use caution when traveling through the work area.
More details here.
See Also:
- Roundabout Construction on US1 and Old Dixie Begins: Be Prepared For Traffic Shifts and Single Lanes
- Roundabout Construction at U.S. 1 and Old Dixie Begins in Weeks; Expect Detours
- Strident Opposition to Roundabout at US1 and Old Dixie Even As Another Crash Results In Critical Injury
- FDOT’s Project Page
Sheriff’s 911 Center is Re-Accredited: The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center received its first reaccreditation as an accredited 911 center by the Florida Telecommunications Commission (FLA-TAC) last week. It is one of just eight State-Accredited Public Safety Answering Points in Florida. During the entrance interview, the assessment team took a tour of the Communications Center and spoke with various employees and observed security measures. The assessment team then observed all general orders and operating procedures pertaining to the Communications Center to ensure that the center was in compliance with the requirements of all standards. All observable standards and accreditation files were found in compliance. Upon completion off the assessment, the team met for an exit interview to review the findings. It was noted that the assessment team did not encounter any issues and the FCSO Communications Section is staffed by highly trained professionals. It was also noted that the morale in the Communications Center is consistently high and that all members who were interviewed were dedicated professionals that were proud of the work they perform and the Agency they work for. The FCSO’s Communications Center serves as the county-wide PSAP for all 911 calls, answering all emergency and non-emergency phone calls and providing dispatch services for the Sheriff’s Office, the cities of Bunnell and Flagler Beach Police Departments, Flagler County Fire/Rescue, City of Palm Coast Fire Department, Bunnell Volunteer Fire Department and the Flagler Beach Fire Department. “Our Communications and Accreditation teams have done a great job in maintaining compliance and exceeding the expectations of the Accreditation Assessors,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “Not only did we meet re-accreditation standards, but some of the policies and training materials were requested by the Assessors to be used as examples for other agencies. That is a huge compliment. I am very proud of our team.” Communications Center first earned accreditation in February of 2016. Along with their role as 911 dispatchers, Communications Specialists complete a variety of tasks in support of law enforcement or fire/rescue operations including monitoring of state and national computer databases.
Engineering Department hosts MalaCompra Basin project update with residents: Flagler County’s Engineering Department will host a public meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6 at the Hammock Community Center to provide an update on the MalaCompra Basin Water Quality Enhancement project. Mailed invitations will be sent to property owners who are directly impacted by the project – Marineland Acres, Rollins Dunes, and Seascape. “We want to keep residents informed about the status of the project,” said County Engineer Faith Alkhatib. “As always, we will do our best to minimize the impact on the daily life of our residents while we move forward with this health and safety project.” The project will accomplish two goals: ease flooding on the northern barrier island; and, prevent untreated stormwater and septic tank leachate from making its way into the Intracoastal and ultimately places like Pellicer Creek headwaters – a pristine estuarine system. Presently, construction for the system outfall improvements is underway. The stormwater treatment facility construction off Bay Drive will begin within the next couple of months. Design work is about 60 percent complete for the side street collection laterals. The construction for that $6 million portion of the project is almost fully funded through a Florida Department of Transportation grant for the 2019-20 fiscal year. Also assisting, the St. Johns River Water Management District in 2016 awarded Flagler County a $500,000 grant as a Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) cost-share program project. The District decades ago placed the project in its Northern Coastal Basin Surface Water Improvement Management (SWIM) plan. The Flagler County Board of County Commissioners tracked the problems for many years, and in 2010 agreed to make the project a top legislative priority. The County has spent more than $6 million combined on the design and permitting – through the St. Johns River Water Management District and the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as the acquisition of property for the holding pond and outfall easements. Hammock Community Center is located at 79 MalaCompra Road.
Flagler Beach Citizens Academy: Eight consecutive Wednesdays beginning on March 6, 2019, running through April 24, 2019, from 2 to 5 p.m. Learn all there is to know about the history of your city, how your government works and is financed, and the responsibilities of staff and elected officials. Tour your city’s recreational, first responder, library, and public works facilities. Discover plans for the city’s future and opportunities for resident involvement. These sessions are open to anyone residing within the City of Flagler Beach. There will be a limit of 20 participants. Registration applications are available at City Hall, Building Department, Library, Police Department, Fire Department and on our City’s website (www.cityofflaglerbeach.com). All applications must be received by February 22, 2019. Jane Mealy, Commissioner City of Flagler Beach PO Box 70 Flagler Beach, FL 32136 You will then receive a detailed schedule of the sessions and where each will be held. If you have any questions, contact Jane Mealy at: 439-4811 [email protected].
In Florida and in State Government:
Note: Some proceedings below can be followed live on the Florida Channel. Most legislative proceedings can be followed through the Senate or House websites.
FPL LAUNCHES NORTH FLORIDA SOLAR PLANT: Florida Power & Light will hold an event to mark the completion of a solar power plant in North Florida. (Monday, 10 a.m., FPL Sunshine Gateway Solar Energy Center, 9604 Adams Road, Wellborn.)
CRUZ DISCUSSES EDUCATION PROPOSALS: Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, will hold a news conference to discuss education issues. She will discuss proposals by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Senate leaders to expand school vouchers and a school-safety bill that would allow teachers to be armed. (Monday, 10:30 a.m., Ballast Point Elementary School, 2802 West Ballast Point Blvd., Tampa.)
—-Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive
In Coming Days in Palm Coast, Flagler and the Occasional Beyond:
Keep Up with Donald Trump’s attacks on the press through the ACLU’s running tab here.
Keep Up with mass shootings in a running database here.
Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports
Here’s a summary of the latest city developments as of Feb. 22, 2019, with a link to the full week in review here.
Click to access week-in-review-feb-22-2018-development.pdf
Cultural Coda
FPC Jazz Band, 2019 District MPA, Love is Here to Stay
Previous Codas:
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Triosonata in C Minor BWV 526, Katja Sager, organ
- J.S. Bach: Trio Sonata in E-Flat Major, BWV 525, Doug Marshall, Organ
- Willie Nelson and His Sons Discuss Growing up on Tour and Performing as a Family
- Sulkhan Tsintsadze: Miniatures for String Quartet
- Joseph Marx: Trio-Phantasie (1914)
- George Antheil: Violin Sonata Nr. 2
- Elgar’s Serenade for Strings, Op. 20
- Vaughan Williams: Rhosymedre (US Marine Band)
- Maurice Ravel: La Valse
- George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, Maja Babyszka, piano
- Abel Carlevaro: Tamboriles
- Leonora Spangenberger (13) plays Heitor Villa Lobos’s Etude No 9
- Michel Sardou: Le France
- Smetana: Má Vlast / Kubelík Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
- Leontyne Price: the Interview
- Florence Price’s Fantaisie Negre, Performed by Elijah Stevens
- Jean Sibelius, Tapiola: Schlosstheater Schönbrunn, Orchestra of the Slovak Philharmony
palmcoaster says
As an overtaxed resident by Flagler County were my home pays annually to the county $1,229 ad valorem taxes versus my City of Palm Coast $569 I totally consider an aberration the outrageous compensation for the new county manager at $237,000 a year. Since we became a city in 1999 I have always questioned why the county providing me with only maybe 25% of my services get double size of the pie versus the city of Palm Coast that provides me with the 75% percent. My overpaid taxes to the county is what can afford the FCBOCC and their disastrous manager to waste our Palmcoasters taxes left and right first of all in their pricey taj-mahals administration,EOC and Hammond’s Court facilities, the in the Ginn super hangar we are still paying for after he dumped us, In the Cakes across our pockets in the purchase of the contaminated hospital a gauging cost and millions in remodeling to be bulldozed now, in the millionaire overpriced Plantation Bay utility from their buddy Houseinni that still demands over 20 million urgent repairs..Cptn BBQ alike subsidies .etc., etc. Meanwhile our city of Palm Coast confronts strain budgets for street paving and storm water repairs among many other needs. Now is the county to further overburden our ad valorem taxes with that hole in the ground Plantation Bay 20 plus millions repair…when only serves 1,400 exclusive HOA private users, if so or the 8 million proposed to extend the sewer to Cptn BBQ from Hammock Dunes?? I am requesting that at least 10 percent of the taxes my and all PC houses pay to Flagler county should be immediately transferred to Palm Coast for the tight budget the city has and needs to provide the services we pay for. If county would not agree then maybe Palm Coast should consider annexation a la Miami-Dade or Jacksonville-Duval and end with Palm Coasters being gouged by paying for unneeded double services not rendered by county administrators. Is a simple, as Palm Coast is the 800 lbs gorilla of this county tax revenue as if not for the creation of Palm Coast this county would not have ever afforded its Taj-Mahals and the ostentatious waste or even be in the map. Almost 20 years since we incorporated is enough of Palmcoasters taxes wasted by Flagler County. Its time, before city will be forced to raise the taxes that does not receive in the fair share this county should give us .Lets stop the gouging.