Flagler County Administrator Heidi Peito is proposing to end the county’s annual grant to Flagler Beach that for years has paid for half the cost of the city’s lifeguard program. Without that money, the city may have to either shrink its 15-block zone of lifeguard-covered shoreline or space out its lifeguard towers further, increasing response times in drowning or distress incidents. At least one city commissioner is questioning whether the city could keep financing the program on its own.
Last year Flagler Beach’s 31 lifeguards conducted 241 rescues and took 1,800 preventive actions, with zero drownings, according to figures submitted to the United States Lifesaving Association.
Since 2017, when the city and the county signed a joint agreement ensuring that the county would contribute 50 percent of the funding, lifeguards have conducted 1,132 rescues, with zero drownings in the guarded portions of the beach.
There have been zero drownings along the guarded beaches since 2009, the earliest year of USLA data. In contrast, there have been seven drownings on unguarded portions of Flagler County beaches over that span. (The USLA calculates the chance of a drowning off a protected beach at 1 in 18 million.) .
The elimination of next year’s $106,000 grant is part of $1.4 million in “operational efficiency adjustments,” as Petito called them in her presentation to the County Commission today.
If county commissioners appeared surprised, Flagler Beach commissioners were stunned. None of the four interviewed today had heard of the proposal.
“It would be incredibly disappointing if Flagler County slashes lifeguard funding,” Commissioner Scott Spradley said. “We are already scrambling to find funding for beach maintenance to protect our county beaches from storm erosion. The idea of possibly shrinking the area of guarded beaches at a time of unprecedented population growth is a dreadful option. I am all about trimming the budget to cut out unnecessary funding. But funding for beach safety is a necessity, not an excess.”
Commission Chair James Sherman had spoken with City Manager Dale Martin earlier this week–not about Petito’s proposal, of which he was not aware, but to ask whether the manager had discussed with the county the possibility of expanding lifeguard coverage to account for the surging population. “Specifically to our north where there are parks for casual beach-goers,” Sherman said, “because my concern was that our lifeguards are going to be overwhelmed with the crowds that come to our beaches that have lifeguards.”
Petito said she told Martin of her plan two weeks ago over lunch “so that he wasn’t surprised.” The county’s contribution pays only for salaries, not for equipment and other needs of the program.
“When I told him about this cut and that this had been something that had been discussed,” Petito said, “he didn’t think that it was going to be a significant impact, that what it meant to him would be that if he didn’t have the funding, he would shrink the coverage of lifeguard area in Flagler Beach. So it didn’t seem like this was a huge detriment. You may recall, we don’t have lifeguards in any of our county parks that our visitors go to, and so when I mentioned it to him about the potential reduction, so that he would be aware of it during his budget preparations, he could share that with his board so that they could come up with another remedy.” (Martin could not be reached today to verify the account.)
“What are they thinking?” Flagler Beach Commissioner Rick Belhumeur said of the county. “Maybe they think that only our residents benefit from lifeguard protection. It’s actually quite the opposite. Most of our residents walk to the beach near where they live, some for the convenience while others would rather take their dogs with them or stay away from the more crowded areas of the beach. Losing this will create another unfunded convenience provided for everyone 100% paid for by the Flagler Beach taxpayers.”
Tom Gillin, Flagler Beach’s long-time parks and recreation director who oversees the lifeguard program, was not aware of the possibility of a cut. He had already prepared the budget he was submitting to the city commissioners, with the county’s contribution included.
This year’s lifeguard coverage will not be affected. The budgets Petito and Gillin are referring to go in effect in October, with the lifeguard portion of the budget kicking in next April. The county made its full contribution to this year’s lifeguard program last December. The lifeguard season begins in late April, with weekend coverage only. From Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day, lifeguards are on the beach seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They revert to weekend coverage after Labor Day and through October.
There are four lifeguard towers north of the pier and three south of it, at 150 to 200 feet intervals, with 13 lifeguards with eyes on the ocean at any given time (not all of them on towers). If the budget is cut, “we’d have to spread our lifeguard towers further apart, and the other option would be to close up the zone and just have less towers on the beach,” Gillin said.
Spreading them apart reduces the rescue-response time, intended to abide by a 30-second rule. Gillin said when a swimmer in distress reaches the “active drowning stage,” the swimmer may have just 20 to 60 seconds before submerging. “We want to be able to reach everybody within the zone of my tower within 30 seconds.” Reducing or spreading towers further apart increases response time.
Commission Chair Andy Dance said there is a possibility that revenue from the county’s tourism sales surtax could be used to fund lifeguards. Gillin, echoing Carney, said that’s the case in the Panhandle, but the law requires that a tourism budget be $10 million or more to trigger the allowance to use money on public safety.
Petito is also proposing a $75,000 cut in grant funding to social service agencies such as the Family Life Center–the shelter for abused persons that this year received $92,500)–Grace Community Food Pantry ($9,000 this year), Flagler Volunteer Services ($25,000) and SMA Behavioral Health Services ($173,300), among others. Petito did not specify which agency would lose what portion of its funding, only that the lifeguard program would lose all of its county funding. (See a list of current funding by agency here.)
Commissioners were not thrilled by what Dance called an “abrupt change” in the county’s grants to different agencies, suggesting that some of Petito’s proposals may face resistance, at least in this budget cycle.
There is also some question regarding Petito’s authority unilaterally to cut Flagler Beach’s funding. Both joint agreements controlling the arrangement–the 2017 beach management agreement that included the lifeguard program in one section, and a subsequent 2020 agreement focused exclusively on the lifeguard programs–were so-called “interlocal agreements.”
Those were policy instruments jointly approved by the Flagler Beach City Commission and the County Commission. They may not be abrogated by the county administrator without commissioners’ approval, though either Flagler Beach or the county may pull out.
The 2017 agreement, for example, states that “Together, the Parties shall both continue to develop their ocean/beach rescue programs and coordinate where necessary to close gaps and improve service.” (Emphasis added.) The 2020 agreement is more specific: “The County shall provide the City with funding for lifeguard services in the form of a lump annual payment.”
At the same time, both agreements soon walk back the “shall”: “The Parties understand that performance of this Agreement is contingent upon annual appropriation of adequate funds by the City and/or the County to perform their obligations under the Agreement,” the 2020 document states. So Flagler County is not obligated to make the payments if money isn’t available. But since it is a joint agreement, that decision appears to rest with county commissioners, not the county administrator–who is nevertheless free to propose the cut.
Ending the program, however, will mean the end of the interlocal agreement, and that requires an affirmative commission action, not an administrative action.
To Flagler Beach Commissioner Eric Cooley, that would be irresponsible on several levels. “It seems the newly elected in the county severely undervalue the number one asset of the county in many ways,” he said. “Without having a guarded or maintained beach, county risks having a massive unintended negative consequence across the economic spectrum of the county. The elected should review Petito’s slides on the contribution the coastline makes to the entire tax drivers of the county.”
Cooley noted that the coverage area has already been scaled back. It once stretched from North 10th to South 10th, and now does only from North 8th to South 7th. “Losing 25 percent or more of the funding,” he said (it is actually closer to 50 percent) “puts the program at risk altogether in my personal opinion. It’s a county asset run by the city but underutilized by the local taxpayers of the city. There comes a point where if the partners don’t support it, one has to evaluate if it even makes sense or is fiscally responsible.”
Jaii Hein says
What stupid move on the part of the Parties be…..what is A Life worth. $106k I guess…6 months of coverage…I bet more people use the beach from outside city limits then inside. Maybe it should be 60/40. I once was a volunteer firefighter…we had a small rescue vehicle. Once went to painters hill. 1980s…Rescue was cyanosis..is that what county wants.
NANCY SKADDEN says
The county has its priorities all messed up. I continue to be disappointed in how our county and city are running business.
Flagler County residents, Palm Coast included use the beach. Now safety will be compromised.
And since I’m on the subject of the beach, all of Flagler County benefits from Flagler Beaches. Like school taxes we all need to pay some of the cost of maintaining them.
Sunny says
Let’s be honest here who really is demanding all these cuts & firing of employees! The loss of programs all is coming from ONE COMMISSIONER! The one who believes she knows ALL at everyone else’s expense! After watching these women on the board I’m appalled at their arrogance & total lack of knowledge or concern for the welfare of this county! I’ve been here for 50 years but I can’t stomach anymore! Plus you can’t help but see her total hatred of Heidi and the county in general. Seems we keep getting those who believe they RULE!
Capt Bill Hanagan says
Survival of the fittest… which doesn’t bode well for our populace..
Kind of thing Margaritaville should pitch in for
STEVE says
If they do that, they can pay to use our beach & to park here!
Linda Morgan says
Wow, just when you think you’ve seen it all, you hear a crazy proposal like this!! The county doubles our population and then wants to abandon a service that will make it harder to protect people’s lives. Not all tourists are aware of the dangers of the ocean. If anything, the county should increase the amount they give the Lifeguard program!! Maybe when the county approves another community or gives a building permit, we can include a charge or tax similar to the East Flagler Mosquito Control. Currently, my tax on that service is $42.53 per year. (12 cents a day).
Jane Gentile-Youd says
Heidi needs to be F I R E D. It’s okay to pay Hadeed $250,000 – his sidekick do nothing (nice guy though, very nice guy) Moylen makes $150,000 then there is the average $110 per year for OUTSIDE attorneys because the $400,000 we pay both of them isn;’t good enough to represent us in court!!!!!! This is in addition to the $900,000 yearly budget to take care of a total of less than 30,000 residents. That does not include the court costs, settlements paid out to Captains around a $1 million, the LOSSES on the sale of the ‘contaminated’ Sheriff buildings as well as the Sears building ( lawsuit still pending).
Our legal department costs about the same as the Miami-Dade County law department which, again, is responsible for 3 million people not 30,000. We have an attorney applicant who has over 40 years of real experience who is willing to represent us – without outside counsel – for $100,000 less per year than the county is offering – he is willing to work 3 years at %150,000 the same salary do nothing Moylen is doing now ( but Moylen wants $175,000 to do more of the same -farming out everything)
Fire Heidi -cut the legal budget and take some candy away from the Sheriff and DONOT CUT THE LIFEGUARDS –
This is an outrage to everyone who uses our beaches,.
Mothersworry says
Enough with this County circus act!
First they come up with no beach re-nourishment for the beach, south of Gamble Rogers, now they want to half their contribution for life guards.
It is time to charge for parking at the beach!!!
Glassfull says
Congratulations Flagler for electing people like Kim Carney and Pam Richardson. They don’t care about citizens, quality of life or safety.
Jf says
This is such a crock of shit! If I were Flagler Beach I would do away with the lifeguard program all together. Probably 60_70 percent of the beach goers are from Palm Coast or elsewhere in the county. I have heard of the kids being nice and friendly. Y’all need to take a deep look at the problem. Kids and adults from Bunnell come use out beach,use out utilities and most of all sell drugs. I really wish y’all would wake up and see where the real problem lies. I am not racist however I see more and more what you believe to be drug dealers coming from the south side to f Bunnell. Why why why. There isn’t any other reason for someone coming to the beach all decked out in gang colors,long pants about to fall off and a hoodie in Flagler Beach. Are you all that blind? Good lord do something g ppl.
Dusty says
So is the administrator also proposing tax relief for Flagler a beach?
Dennis C Rathsam says
DONT TELL THE SHARKS!!!!!!
Villein says
I hate to say it, and to be so negative, but all of these cuts are going to happen in the coming years. There’ll be layoffs, furloughs, hiring freezes, and across the board cuts. I’m sure more growth will happen but we’re so far under water now even those out of work life guards won’t be able to save us…
We had double digit growth in taxable value this year and the county government can’t stay above water. It’s pretty obvious what will happen when growth slows considerably. Abandon ship.
Jack Flaggler says
I was made aware that this funding cut for the life guards in Flagler Beach was the sole brain child of Clueless Kim Carney. Go ahead and ask her. That’s the representation that we have in Flagler Beach. Clueless Carney said today that she ran on three things, protecting the beach, the roads and stormwater. So far Clueless Carney has fail the residents of Flagler Beach twice in six months, she screwed up our beach funding plan after one year of hard work by killing the 1/2 cent sales tax and now eliminated the life guards in Flagler Beach. But wait, maybe flip flop Carney will come to the rescue and change her mind on her brilliant idea to defund our life guards.
Also the level of arrogance and mistreatment displayed to county staff is completely unacceptable. These are public servants not your personal punching bag. Display a little more compassion for the people that do the work while you get to show off at the dais.
I know you well Kim. Do you recall when you were kicked out of the Flagler Beach Rotary because of your arrogance and unacceptable behavior?
Stop listing to your puppet masters Dennis McDonald (who owes the county over $80k in fees) and Perry Mitrano (who couldn’t even get elected to the mosquito control district) . Nice examples of leadership for you.
We need someone like Cooley representing us not this clueless flip flopper.
Former resident says
STUNNING, REALLY!!!!
Only if you haven’t been paying attention for the last 20 years.
Attention Flagler county residents, you live in a shite hole.
Sell and leave otherwise enjoy the smell. I left in 2005, I don’t miss the smell, only the view. Former resident of 1628 S A1A..
Evan T says
They think this is a good idea until a few years from now when the town is doubling in residents and there’s twice as many people at the beach soon enough there will be plenty of tax dollars to go around with all the Yorkers moving to town!!
Gina says
It appears as Jane Gentile Youd got to the crux of some of the problems. It makes
one wonder WHY a county attorney for so many years making a high six figure
salary had to contract outside attorney’s for help. Was it due to lack of knowledge
about these cases and what was he so busy doing otherwise? Now we have a situation
where he claims he groomed Sean Moylan all these years which does not sound so
spectacular on his part plus he is asking for 175,000/yr. knowing the county is in
a deficit and there are cutbacks, this alone IMO should disqualify him and is also
complete turn off. Hire the applicant with the 40 years experience and who is willing
to work for much less, besides having the much needed experience and also living
in the county for many years knows understand and is familar with our problems.
This does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out, the writing is on the wall,
this county needs seasoned, experienced people to make it work, there are attorney’s
and there are ATTORNEY’S. Start trimming some of these top salaries and bring in
people who want to roll up their sleeves to show that they can get the job done without
hirng outside. There is no reason that lifeguards should be cut especially with these
dangerous riptides, one can be in shallow waters and still get into life saving situations.
Josh Warewn says
Shame on you Heidi Petito. You gotta go. Guess you don’t care about beach safety.
Denise Wilson says
Hmmm… Petito, you didn’t mention a cut to YOUR SALARY….. This is crazy, these lifeguards are a MUST FOR FLAGLER COUNTY BEACHES! To cut this, you are risking serious consequences!! Just wait!! They actually needed more funding to keep up their equipment that is NEEDED to help save lives. Petito, I challenge you to go to the beach on a rough seas day and count the number of times these guards have to jump off their stands and RUN in the water to help save a life, Oh by the way, that is a life that would be on YOUR hands.
Carol D Wilson says
CLUELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!! hmmmm why don’t they cut the nursing staff at hospitals? Because they help save lives. Stupid people really? I challenge these moron’s who want to cut the budget on any given day when the surf is somewhat rough, just to sit and watch these lifeguards jump from their stands and RUN into the water to save someone. This is what they do, they are trained to help save lives in the water. A cut, would mean a drowning would be on your hands… Think about that! If anything, they needed more funding to keep up their NEEDED equipment year after year that aides them in their success to save lives.
Greg says
Really sad that the county don’t care. All is all I can say, it’s time for paid parking at Flagler to pay fir the life guards. I hate to see that, but it now needs to be done.
FlaglerLive says
There is not a single local government that does not contract for “outside” legal work for a variety of reasons. The criticism of Flagler County’s legal department for doing the same, implying wrongdoing or incompetence, is misplaced and misinformed.
It's too late for this place says
For once, I’m actually too disgusted (more than usual) to comment. (But I will)
This place has become a breeding ground for realtors (who have little to no education beyond high school), developers, builders, grafting politicians and the Flagler County Builders Association.
The Flagler County Republican Executive Committee should shoulder a lot of the blame. ALL the currently elected “officials” are members of the Flagler Republican Executive Committee. I know because I’ve sat in many meetings as a member until getting too disgusted to continue being a member.
REMEMBER THIS:
Just because you vote for someone who has an R behind their name doesn’t mean they are qualified, intelligent, well educated (a lot of fake diplomas out there), have knowledge, have stable mental health, AND actually really did serve in the military. In fact, I seem to remember that on the federal or state level, it’s now a law that a person CANNOT claim military service if they can’t back up that claim (so claiming military service when there is none has obviously been an issue).
The main problem in all this is that the electorate (people who vote) continue to vote for unqualified people just because they have an R behind their name. The general electorate doesn’t do any deep dive research into candidate backgrounds. They vote for the BS the candidate spews. Plus they buy into the huge behind-the-scenes campaign blitzes sent out from the Republican Executive Committee about opposing candidates (who might actually be good for the community).
It’s sad to see a slow motion destruction of Flagler County, Palm Coast and Flagler Beach.
I drive to St. John’s and Volusia County (Ormond Beach) for decent library services.
We have a county manager with JUST a high school education running a county and now cutting services for the under privileged, the under-fed, etc and who supports her very mean and vicious friend, the former head of the library who’s been angling for a county management job for years.
So what are the selling points for Palm Coast in particular?
1. Chickens in your back yard.
2. Black, purple, orange, red houses with little to no landscaping.
3. Loads of rentals and vacation rentals interspersed in what once were stable neighborhoods.
4. Code enforcement non-existent . . . meaning houses with overgrown yards, junk piled up, cars parked on swales and at the back of houses.
5. Very little library services.
6. Very little safety at the beaches (few lifeguards).
7. Trees mowed down.
8. Old broken down cars on blocks in driveways.
9. People moving in and out all the time.
10. All trees soon to be gone.
11. Terrible traffic.
12. Roads with potholes and other disrepair.
13. In general, people with awful attitudes.
14. Commercial vehicles in driveways.
What a way to bring a community upscale.
My next-door neighbor purchased the house in June 2022. By September 2022 (3 months later), the house was up for sale again and they moved to North Carolina. They saw early on what a mistake they’d made and didn’t wait around to keep complaining about it. They took a huge hit in the price and had to wait 7 months to get the house sold while they’d already moved out and were then living in North Carolina. Sometimes you have to read the writing on the wall and take immediate action.
Very Very sad to see the destruction of a once very nice place to live.
But keep voting for Flagler County Republican Executive Committee candidates as well as paying big bucks to administrators with only high school educations.
tulip says
Some people have said that this is a “trump”state. Well, somehow this lifeguard issue appears to be the same thing that T is doing, and that is hurting people by cutting out services so he can keep the money in order to benefit himself and his agenda.
Cutting back on paying the amount of lifeguards is totally ignorant and dangerous and puts the people who enjoy the beach in harms way. It could also cost Flagler Beach a lot of income because, once people realized the beach was not “safe”, they might go elsewhere and put their money into that community instead of here.Flagler beach, as well as the entire county both lose a lot of money and there certainly isn’t enough attractions here to make Flagler county a tourist attraction to make up the loss because of poor and selfish decision making.
Robin says
This is penny-wise and pound stupid. I predict a major lawsuit against the city & county if this goes into effect next year and there’s a drowning.
Florida Girl says
“Last year Flagler Beach’s 31 lifeguards conducted 241 rescues and took 1,800 preventive actions, with zero drownings, according to figures submitted to the United States Lifesaving Association…” I think the truth stands right there. The program is not only needed but its successful. So, for lack of better words, here come another dumb a** idea – to come along a fk it all up – especially now with ALL the new growth AND future growth of Flagler County. All of that new growth also comes to the beach at one point or another, and many have NO clue what those waters can do. NOT a clue! This is one of the most Ludacris ideas they have come up. At this point it doesn’t matter who or how they got voted in, fact is they are there. We have to be diligent and pay attention to every move they make for the future of Flagler until they are voted out. Cutting the program in any compacity – that’s a hard pass from this girl right here! I would be prone to say they need to bulk up with all this new growth so we can keep those outstanding statistics – source another grant if possible. Or two or three!
Larry says
Can’t wait to vote against Petito next election.
I was hoping Flagler county would consider EXPANDING lifeguards into Varn Park, Mala Compra, Old Salt and/or Jungle Hut Park soon. Right now, swimmers that want lifeguard protection are forced to cram into one small section Flagler Beach.
Shocked and disgusted that Flagler County is looking to cut lifeguards in the sole section of the entire county that has them now.
Quality of life for county residents means nothing for Petito. All she cares about is cut, cut cut. Voters need to cut her out of her seat in the next election
Willy James says
Not a smart move!