Wednesday Briefing: Regal Reeger, Stand Your Ground at Supreme Court, MalaCompra Basin Water

jan reeger — Jan Reeger, left, seen here with long-time Tax Collector Suzanne Johnston, can now call herself among the elected, as she won election to the Bunnell City Commission Tuesday evening: she will have to resign her seat from the city’s planning board. That’s all assuming there’s no recount in her two-vote victory over former Commissioner Daisy Henry, and the recount doesn’t change the result.(© FlaglerLive)

Today: Sunny. Highs in the upper 50s. North winds 10 to 15 mph. Tonight: Colder, clear. Lows in the upper 30s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Tonight: Clear. Lows in the upper 30s. North 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: 165
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day: leviathan.
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

“… the English are masters of the art of not losing sight of ease and convenience in the pursuit of the pastoral life- unlike our own people, who, when seeking rural beguile- ment, are apt but to find a new rudeness added to nature.”

–Henry James, from “English Hours.”

Previously:

In Flagler and Palm Coast:

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.

Flagler County’s Engineering Department hosts a public meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Hammock Community Center, 79 MalaCompra Road, 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. 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.

The Palm Coast Code Enforcement Board meets at 10 a.m. at City Hall in Town Center.

The Old Kings Elementary School Advisory Council meets at 4 p.m. at the school’s media center.

Flagler County Commission Chairman Donald O’Brien speaks about county issues to a meeting of the Flagler County Republican Club at 5:30 p.m. at Palm Coast’s Hilton Garden Inn, 55 Town Center Boulevard. The Republican Club dubbed it a “State of the County Address,” but that was not O’Brien’s idea. “They invited me (I did not approach them), they marketed it and I have had little to do with it other than agreeing with Danielle [Anderson] that I would give a status of current county projects as I see them and answer some questions,” O’Brien wrote in an email, stressing that he was speaking only as himself, not as a representative of the entire commission. Republican Club meetings are usually open to Republican club and party members and their guests only. Queried about O’Brien’s appearance, Anderson said O’Brien’s portion of the meeting would be open to the public at large.

The Blue Power 2020 Action Forum, 12:30 p.m. at the Fair Trade Cafe at Palm Coast’s City Marketplace, 160 Cypress Point Pkwy. Come and join other progressive Democrats to discuss local, state and national issues, and propose actions to influence elected leaders. The Forum is open and informal and all opinions and ideas are welcomed. This is your opportunity to meet and lend your voice and knowledge to people who share your values. For more information, contact Mike Cocchiola, [email protected]. The Blue Power forum meets every Wednesday.

COMMUNITY INPUT SOUGHT ON HEALTH ISSUES (closes March 15): 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):

Wednesday: Palm Coast Data Building 3, 2 Commerce Boulevard, Palm Coast, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Building 1 from 12:30 to 3 p.m.
Thursday: Portuguese Club, 1200 Palm Harbor Parkway, Palm Coast, 1 to 6 p.m.
Sunday: Two Camino Office Complex, Hammock Dunes, 85 Avenue de la Mer, Palm Coast, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday: Epic Theaters, 1185 Central Avenue, Palm Coast, 1 to 6 p.m.

Jail Bookings and Last 24 Hours' Incidents in Flagler, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Bunnell


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
Previous and archived reports

Sources: Flagler County Sheriff's Office, Flagler Beach Police Department, Bunnell Police Department. This is Flagler County's only comprehensive, one-stop compilation of all local law enforcement's daily day and night shift commanders' reports.

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 7^th Street and South 23^rd 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 18^th 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:

The proposed roundabout at the intersection of Old Dixie Highway and U.S. 1 is intended to drastically reduce the number of severe crashes at one of the county's most dangerous intersections. Two other such roundabouts are proposed for other dangerous intersections in Flagler. Click on the image for larger view. (DOT) — The proposed roundabout at the intersection of Old Dixie Highway and U.S. 1 is intended to drastically reduce the number of severe crashes at one of the county’s most dangerous intersections. Two other such roundabouts are proposed for other dangerous intersections in Flagler. Click on the image for larger view.
(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.

The Florida Department of Transportation will be closing Old Dixie Highway and C.R. 325 at U.S. 1 on Monday night, March 4, from about 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. The closure is needed to allow the contractor to make improvements to the crossover at the temporary intersection. U.S. 1 will remain open in both directions.

More details here.

See Also:

Announcements:

None.

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.

VAPING BAN MOVES FORWARD: The Senate Rules Committee will take up a proposal (SB 7012) that would carry out a voter-approved ban on vaping and the use of electronic cigarettes in workplaces. The ban was approved in November as part of a constitutional amendment. (Wednesday, 9 a.m., 110 Senate Office Building, the Capitol.)

SCHOOL VOUCHERS DEBATED: The Senate Education Committee will consider a bill (SB 7070) that would expand school choice in the state, including with a new voucher program dubbed the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program. The program would provide scholarships to as many as 15,000 students to attend private schools during the 2019-2020 academic year. (Wednesday, 10:30 a.m., 412 Knott Building, the Capitol.)

HEMP PROGRAM ON TABLE: The Senate Innovation, Industry and Technology Committee will consider a proposal (SB 1020), filed by Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, that would authorize the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to administer a state hemp program. (Wednesday, 10:30 a.m., 110 Senate Office Building, the Capitol.)

NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAM AT ISSUE: The Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee will consider a proposal (SB 366), filed by Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, that could lead to needle-exchange programs in various areas of the state. The proposal would expand a Miami-Dade County pilot program aimed at helping prevent the spread of HIV and other diseases by intravenous drug users. (Wednesday, 4:15 p.m., 412 Knott Building, the Capitol.)

‘STAND YOUR GROUND’ AT SUPREME COURT: The Florida Supreme Court will take up four cases, including hearing arguments in a closely watched case about whether a controversial 2017 change to the state’s “stand your ground” self-defense law should apply to older cases. An appeal was filed by Tashara Love, who sought to use the “stand your ground” law to be shielded from prosecution in a November 2015 shooting incident outside a Miami-Dade County nightclub. The legal issue centers on a 2017 change that shifted a key burden of proof in “stand your ground” cases — a shift that can play a role in determining whether people claiming self-defense should be prosecuted. Love’s attorneys contend that the change should be applied retroactively to defendants who were arrested before the 2017 law took effect but whose cases were pending. In Love’s case, the 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled that the change should not apply retroactively. (Wednesday, 9 a.m., Florida Supreme Court, 500 South Duval St., Tallahassee.)

CABINET AIDES MEET: Aides to Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis will meet to discuss issues in advance of a March 12 Cabinet meeting. (Wednesday, 9 a.m., Cabinet meeting room, the Capitol.)

—-Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

In Coming Days in Palm Coast, Flagler and the Occasional Beyond:

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A Twitter List by PierreTristam

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 March 1, 2019, with a link to the full week in review here.

Click to access week-in-review-march-1-2019-developments.pdf

Cultural Coda

Mozart: Symphony No. 29 in A major, K.201, Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra