Torrential rain in Palm Coast ahead of Hurricane Milton has “severely overwhelmed” the city’s stormwater system. Milton’s advance rain bands have led to a few street closures in the B Section, to city crews special-delivering sand bags to some residents, and to an alert from the city to residents to minimize water usage as the stormwater system is being overwhelmed by precipitation–with the worst yet to come.
Palm Coast City Council
Palm Coast Faces State Order to Build Up Sewer Capacity by 2028 as System Falters; Utility Rate Increases Inevitable
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is issuing a consent decree to Palm Coast government requiring the city to improve and expand one of its two sewer plants by 2028. The decree is a direct result of a system under strain and often over capacity. Compliance will be expensive, with ultimate costs in the $200 million range. Some of that may be paid with development impact fees. But a substantial portion of the cost will be the responsibility of existing rate-payers. The City Council will have no choice, especially with a consent decree hanging over its collective neck.
Palm Coast City Council Candidates Ray Stevens and Andrew Werner Sharpen Differences in Radio Face-Off
Ray Stevens and Andrew Warner, the two candidates in the runoff for the District 3 seat of the Palm Coast City Council, faced off on WNZF’s Free For All Fridays this morning in a more focused and spirited discussion than candidates typically do at soporific and rarely challenging forums. The two candidates tangled for 65 minutes over development, their past, their associations, the reason they’re running, and why they’d be a better councilman than the other guy.
Palm Coast Says It Has No Control Over Burn Piles on Lands Cleared for Development But Will Seek Attorney General’s Opinion
For years Palm Coast has had an ordinance giving it authority to control where and when burning takes place. The ordinance conflicts with state law, which reserves that authority exclusively to the Florida Forest Service. Rather than approve a new ordinance just yet, the Palm Coast City Council has agreed to seek an Attorney General opinion on what regulatory authority the city could seek within the law.
A Majority of the Palm Coast City Council Now Opposes Its Own Debt Referendum, Yet It Remains on the Ballot
Newly appointed Palm Coast City Council member Charles Gambaro attempted to nullify a controversial proposed referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot. City Attorney Marcus Duffy counseled against it. That left the council in a startling position of defending a proposed referendum a majority of the council opposes. The ongoing debate is illustrative of the extent to which the proposed referendum has lost credibility and the way it is fracturing the council.
Fire Station 22 Will Survive as Historic Building, with 90-Space Community Center Parking To Be Built Around It
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday voted on a $3.3 million plan that would preserve the old fire station and look to “adaptively reusing the building to serve alternate functions,” in the words of city architect Eric Gebo, while creating 90 new parking spaces as overflow for the nearby Community Center. The 138 parking spaces at the Community Center have proved insufficient for the number and popularity of activities and events there. On average, seven meetings a month are turned away from the center for lack of capacity.
Palm Coast Council Appoints Charles Gambaro to Heighter’s Seat, Bypassing Boyer
Executing the closest approximation of a midnight appointment in the city’s 25-year history, the Palm Coast City Council, with three of four members in their last weeks of service, appointed Charles Gambaro this evening to the seat Cathy Heighter resigned suddenly in August.
Palm Coast Could Have Its First Free, Public 18-Hole Disc Golf Course in a Planned W-Section Park
Palm Coast and Flagler County may soon have their first disc golf course. If the Palm Coast City Council approves a proposed agreement with a builder, the 18-hole course will be the central feature of a new 9-acre city park at the corner of White Mill Drive and Pine Lakes Parkway. The builder, Marbella Apartments, will build the park at its expense, but in exchange for $569,000 in park impact fee credits.
Matters of Temper and Temperament at Tiger Bay Forum, Many Evaded Questions, Some Revealing Moments
The 35 or so people who turned up for Wednesday evening’s Flagler Tiger Bay Club candidate forum would have gotten a general understanding of where the candidates stood on local issues. But sharp differences were surprisingly rare, and specific answers to questions even rarer. Too many questions lent themselves to open-ended speculation and the sort of bromides no one can quibble with. A few questions about temperament, public private partnerships and the “westward expansion” yielded more insights, and the candidates themselves had moments more revealing than they may have intended.
Palm Coast Council Approves Budget and Tax Rate and Rejects Latest Attempt to Nullify Debt Referendum
The Palm Coast City Council on Wednesday gave final approval on a 3-1 vote to a $358 million budget and a slight reduction in the property tax rate starting Oct. 1. The 50-minute hearing, which had been rescheduled from last week, when two of the council members were ill, turned indecorous again in its last 10 minutes. Council member Ed Danko challenged the city attorney over a lawsuit just filed against the city to stop a referendum on November’s ballot, and urged two of his colleagues to rescind their vote supporting the referendum, so the legal action is made moot. They declined.