Tuesday Briefing: Mayor's Challenge, Homelessness Task Force, Teachers Union Contract, Hammock Community and Bing's

Today: Mostly sunny in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers. Highs in the upper 80s. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 60s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.
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: 262
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day: ephemeral.
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

“Every time I get a mammogram, every time the hard, flat plates are screwed down with my breast squashed flat between them, I think about how much I’d like to get that radiologist in for a good, long prostate check. Or maybe a scrotal-gram.”

–Sallie Tisdale, from “Talk Dirty To Me” (1994).

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.

It’s teacher and school staff appreciation week.

The Flagler County School Board holds a closed-door meeting at 1 p.m. to discuss school security issues. The board meets at 3 p.m. for a workshop in training room 3 on the third floor of the Government Services Building, Bunnell. The board is expected to discuss its new contract with the teachers union.

The Flagler County Housing and Homelessness Taskforce meets at 2:30 p.m. at the Flagler County Public Library, 2500 Palm Coast Parkway. See summary notes of the previous meeting here.

The Palm Coast City Council meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall in Town Center. Council members will discuss and likely approve land-use matters.

The Bunnell City Commission meets in special session at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 201 West Moody Boulevard, Bunnell, to ratify the appointment of Finance Director Christopher Campbell, who replaces Stella Gurnee. He will be paid $70,000 a year (he’d asked for $75,000). Stella Gurnee, the previous finance director, was making $67,246. See the background and his resume here.

The Rymfire Elementary School Advisory Council meets at 5:30 p.m. at the school’s media center.

The Flagler Beach Planning and Architecture (or PAR) Board meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 105 S 2nd St. The board will consider a request for Final Site Plan Approval for construction of a CVS at 2301 Moody Blvd.

The Hammock Community Association meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Hammock Community Center on MalaCompra Road, with a “Where Are We Now” discussion on the Captain’s BBQ proposed expansion at Bing’s Landing, the county park in the Hammock.

Community outreach: Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins hosts a Community Outreach Meeting To share information and discuss community issues. at Espanola Community Center 3570 County Road 205 Bunnell, 6 p.m.

Flagler Sportfishing Club Meeting, VFW Club, 47 North Old Kings Road. Learn how to surf fish with Noel Kuhn and enjoy the art of fishing without a boat. Noel is a great teacher and guide who will teach all of us how to fish on the beach. Also, this month is the Smoked Fish Smoke Off so bring your best smoked fish to be judged. Judging will begin at 6.30. Bring your favorite fish dip as well. Quick tips at 7, general meeting at 7:30 p.m. Featured speaker at 8:15 p.m.

Daytona State College holds another session in its strategic planning process for 2020-2023 and wants your ideas and insights about initiatives the college might pursue during that timeframe. The session is from 3 to 4 p.m. at DSC’s Wetherell Center (Student Services), Room 402, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd. Daytona Beach. Interactive focus groups are scheduled on each campus, starting at the end of April and ending the second week of June. Faculty, staff, students and the public are invited to attend and participate. Plan to attend and share your vision for DSC’s future. To participate, bring your mobile device (cell phone, tablet, etc.). For more information, contact Dr. Karla Moore, (386) 506-3650, [email protected]; or John Brady, (386) 506-3837, [email protected].

Street Closure in Palm Coast through May 10: The Palm Coast Utility Department will be making a sewer main repair in front of 7 Pepperdine Drive – which is near the intersection of Parkview Drive. The road will be closed at that location for at least a week. The City hopes to reopen the road May 10. A detour will be in place, using the other entrance to Pepperdine from Parkview. This will not affect access to houses, but motorists will need to take a detour. For more information, call Customer Service at 386-986-2360.

Street Closure in Bunnell: The City of Bunnell Infrastructure Department will be temporarily closing East Woodland Avenue from State Road 100 to North Anderson Street. The closure will take place at 7 a.m. Monday through Wednesday. Traffic will be detoured around the closure by way of East Magnolia Street. City crews will be replacing a stormwater culvert that passes under East Woodland Avenue to improve drainage in the area.

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):

Tuesday: Epic Theaters, 1185 Central Avenue, Palm Coast, 1 to 6 p.m.
Wednesday: Palm Coast Data Building 3, 2 Commerce Boulevard, Palm Coast, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday: Palm Coast Data Building 1, 11 Commerce Boulevard, Palm Coast, 12:30 to 3 p.m.
Saturday: Bealls Outlet, 9 Old Kings Road, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday: St. Mark’s By the Sea Lutheran Church, 303 Palm Coast Parkway, 8 a.m. to 1 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.

Last Updated: April 29

Segment 2 (South 22nd Street to South 9th Street):

Installation of a new water main, as well as a new sewer line, is in progress between South 19th Street and South 18th Street. This work is expected to continue over the next few weeks. South of South 19th Street, installation of the French drain system is continuing.

This type of drainage system will collect stormwater into large gravel-filled, underground vaults set into what will be a new raised median. The vaults will be able to store water during heavy rains, which will improve the flooding that occurs to prevent erosion and undermining of the roadway. The water collected will percolate through the vaults into the aquifer. The roadway will be reconstructed at the appropriate slope to collect water at the median.

Pedestrian walkways are open. Pedestrians and bicyclists are asked to be alert to construction equipment and use caution. On South Central Avenue, the project team has applied reflective tape to stop signs to help increase visibility of the signs, and additional enforcement will be conducted by the Florida Highway Patrol.

Segment 3 (North 18th Street to Osprey Drive) Project Update:

Residents can now see all phases of the secant wall process on this segment. At the very north end, the contractor is almost finished bringing in sand and preparing the dune for the drilling process. On the very south end, the concrete cap of the wall has been poured. In the middle of the project, workers are drilling the concrete piles and setting the fiberglass cages.

Once the wall is constructed and the cap has been poured throughout the length of the project, the contractor will shape the dune to the specified slope, place sand on top of the wall, and plant new vegetation.

A short presentation on how the wall is constructed has been added to our project webpage and can be seen below:

Recently, DOT received a few questions from residents that DOT wants to answer:

1. Why do some properties have the black silt fencing and others do not?

The silt fencing is an erosion control requirement to prevent dirt and debris from leaving our work area and being deposited into waterways or onto private property. In some areas, the property to the west of our work area slopes up away from the work area, so erosion control is not required.

2. Will the contractor repair areas on my side of the sidewalk that have been disturbed?

Residents and property owners can get a general idea of where the department’s right of way ends by looking at the placement of the power poles, as well as stakes that have been placed along the project. In some areas, the back edge of the new sidewalk will be slightly farther to the west. For the most part, the back of the new sidewalk will be very close to, or right at, the right of way line.

This project calls for all of the work to be performed within the Florida Department of Transportation right of way. If, however, the work disturbs or damages private property outside of the right of way, the contractor is responsible to make repairs once the work is finished.

Please note that all restoration of conditions within the department’s right of way, including landscaping, hardscaping and driveways, is dictated by the construction plans and existing permits.

3. When will the sidewalk be replaced?

The contractor has begun installing the new sidewalk to the south of 19th Street. As the new water main is installed, there are several types of testing that need to be performed on the new line, and the work needs to be accepted by the City of Flagler Beach before the new sidewalk can be placed. The water main installation is expected to continue for the next several months.

Pedestrians are asked to stay within the temporary pedestrian walkways for safety. Residents and visitors also are reminded that all of the dune walkovers are closed, and removing any signage or barricades to access a walkover is unsafe and unlawful.

Caution! Flagler Beach police and and Sheriff’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:

I-95 Construction, Repaving: Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 9 p.m., single lane closures on NB I-95 from north of Palm Coast Parkway to the St. Johns County line. Monday – Friday, 9 p.m. – 7 a.m., double lane closures on NB I-95 from north of Palm Coast Parkway to the St. Johns County line.

See this week’s full Interstate Construction Report for Flagler, Volusia and St. Johns here.

Announcements/Press Releases:

Palm Coast Fire Chief Jerry Forte speaks at statewide Fire conference: Palm Coast Fire Chief Jerry Forte was a keynote speaker at the 2019 Florida Fire Instructor Conference on Thursday, presenting on “Empowering Employees.” The conference was hosted by the Florida State Fire College in Ocala. Chief Forte’s conference presentation focused on the importance of empowering employees to make the organization successful. Since becoming Chief, he has implemented a number of changes, challenging employees to be part of the department’s leadership by utilizing team concepts. He empowers firefighters to take ownership of department’s structure and allows them to create solutions for organizational challenges. Chief Forte believes in creating a climate that allows employees to reach their full potential. “We need to find subject matter experts, give them the ability to assemble like people for a team, try something new and unconventional, and challenge them to step up without the fear of discipline from failure,” Chief Forte said. The Florida Fire Instructor Conference brings together leaders within the fire service from across the state. Attendees took part in a two-day conference in which they learned about various topics to enrich their departments and training centers. Florida State Fire College is operated by the Bureau of Fire Standards and Training, which approves Florida’s firefighter training curricula, provides training to Florida’s emergency services providers and certifies Florida fire service members to ensure they meet industry-based standards. Forte became Palm Coast’s Fire Chief last September after serving as Deputy Chief for nine years. He started as a Palm Coast volunteer firefighter in 1990, becoming a career member as a firefighter/EMT in 1992 and then rising through the ranks.

Flagler County’s High Schools Highly Rated by National Publication: The latest US News & World Report ranking of US High Schools is out, and both Flagler Palm Coast High School and Matanzas High School are in the top 1/3rd of all public high schools ranked this year. Matanzas High School came in 4,518 in the national rankings and 215th in state rankings. Flagler Palm Coast High School is 5,055 in the national rankings and 235th among Florida high schools. In all, more than 23,000 public high schools were evaluated and 17,245 were ranked. “I think everyone at both schools, to include students, teachers, staff, and administrators should be proud of where they stand on a state and national level,” says Flagler Schools Superintendent James Tager. “I also thank our parents and other significant adults who continually challenge our students to seek more advanced and demanding classes. I believe our students are seeing they can both do this work, and succeed at doing it.” The popular ranking system received an overhaul for this year’s edition, eliminating the traditional “gold, silver, and bronze” designations. More schools were evaluated and the methodology used was revamped. For that reason, the publication warns against comparing the 2019 rankings with previous years. If you’d like additional details, see this for an explanation.

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.

WATER QUALITY AT ISSUE: The state Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration will hold a workshop about “total maximum daily loads” — a water-quality standard — for impaired waters in the Peace River Basin and the Withlacoochee River Basin. (Tuesday, 9:30 a.m., Polk County Parks and Natural Resources Division, 4177 Ben Durrance Road, Bartow.)

MOSQUITO CONTROL AT ISSUE: The Florida Coordinating Council on Mosquito Control is scheduled to meet in Citrus County. (Tuesday, 11 a.m., Citrus County Mosquito Control District, 968 North Lecanto Highway, Lecanto.)

—-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 May 3, 2019, with a link to the full week in review here.

Click to access week-in-review-may-3-2019-development.pdf

Cultural Coda

Thelonious Monk: “Don’t Blame Me”