Between the 2014 and 2016 elections, Palm Coast got an entirely new City Council–the first time the council has turned over that quickly and completely. The only equivalent in the city’s history was the founding council of 1999, giving this council a chance to be Palm Coast’s new founders. It’s a rare moment in the city’s 17 years. Whether the council chooses to make its defining mark may not become apparent for a few years, with the benefit of hindsight. But with that in mind, FlaglerLive asked all five council members to imagine the Palm Coast they would like to look back on at the end of their term, and write what they see as a way of setting out their vision–whether as a state of the city address that looks back on their years, or in a more conventional look forward. The results are being published this week over five evenings. Mayor Milissa Holland’s piece appeared Monday, Council member Robert Cuff’s on Tuesday, and Heidi Shipley’s on Wednesday.
By Nick Klufas
Foremost, thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you for the next four years. I’m proud to serve on such a diverse and capable City Council. Over this term we have an opportunity to make Palm Coast an even better place to live and work. I foresee a huge improvement in our communication with residents, city employees, and county officials. It is so important that we build strong working relationships to accomplish our goals and better serve our community.
By 2020 we will have completed our Community Center renovation as well as Holland Park. These facilities will be thriving with residents of all ages, meeting the needs of both our families as well as senior citizens. Throughout my campaign, residents frequently told me that there was “nothing for my kids to do around here.” Our parks and recreation department has great new leadership with a vision to launch our new facilities.
Over the next four years, I’d like to expand our summer camp programs which are busting at the seams, and continue other programs like the Senior Olympics and Adult Athletic Leagues. Our youths will have a better shot at staying out of trouble, and our residents have the opportunity to maintain a healthy lifestyle. At the end of the day we need to make sure that we are focusing on loss recovery to recoup the costs of maintaining these amenities. It’s not impossible. We just need to be more diligent about it and I have confidence that our new leadership is more than capable of taking on this challenge.
We also have a fantastic group of emergency service personnel. In order for them to be successful, they also need our support. For all Palm Coast and Flagler County emergency services, there will be significant improvements to the county-run 800mhz communications system, the backbone of the county’s and municipalities’ emergency communications. As your City Councilman, I will ensure that the system meets all of the demands of our city. We will notice an immediate lift in poor coverage areas that include our schools, the European Village and inside Walmart, which are all high-traffic areas. This system is a vital part in providing exceptional service to our residents in their time of need. We will be looking at both the short term and long term needs to ensure that the lifespan of this new system can keep up with our cities’ demands.
Another issue that touches on both public safety and communication is cell phone coverage. Better cell phone coverage provides a conducive environment for new and existing businesses to be successful, while giving residents the service they’ve come to rely on. We are pursuing opportunities for public-private partnerships with tower providers who have established relationships with all of the major services carriers. These providers offer a soup to nuts solution with coverage surveying, tall tower and micro-cell tower construction and installation. The cost to implement this solution is paid for by the carriers leases, so it’s a win-win for the city and our residents. The benefits are big, just starting with better phone calls.
Lastly, over the next four years we will need to make improvements to our city’s beautification and to its public works department. Our current public works facility is substandard and in need of repairs. It’s stood the test of time, and to be more efficient we need a new, larger facility. I believe in working smarter, not harder, and our public works department will have the ability to better maintain our landscaping equipment, machinery, and fire trucks with the appropriate space and tools. As our community continues to grow we need to keep up with demand to maintain the quality we’ve come to expect in Palm Coast.
Time to get to work.
Nick Klufas, a senior development engineer at ACI, was elected to the District 3 seat of the Palm Coast City Council in November. Reach him by email here.
Ron Rizzo says
Congratulations on your recent win, Nick. I’m happy to say that I voted for you! You strike me as being very tech savvy, and I think you will be a valuable addition to City Council. Looking forward to seeing what you bring to the table in the coming 4 years!!
Anonymous says
nick klufas wants big brother watching everywhere……same thing john lamb wanted…..
footballen says
Very impressive and I don’t mind big brother keeping me safe. Some people need to recognize their role in the grand scheme of things. Either you are a Shepard (Klufas) a wolf (bad guy) a sheep (anonymous) or a sheep dog (cops). The sheep often hate the sheep dog keeping them in line but they never mind when the sheep dog has to come between them and the hungry wolf there to ravage them.
Ron says
Get those cell towers built. It is al about safety of our first responders and the public.
Born and Raised Here says
Nick will finally take this town into the Hi Tech generation. But can our citizens and town keep up ?
Coyote says
What happened to the campaign promise to expand FiberNet and make it available to residents?
Fi-del says
Seems to be a very good improvement plan for the city, just need to be prioritized!
To help deter and minimize street crimes and accidents, city councilors should consider improving the current street lighting conditions! Most crimes, accidents that are being reported are happening on all poorly lit streets /intersections and dark corners of the city!
Lighting conditions similar to Belle Terre Blvd. in the Indian Trail section if adopted on all major city thoroughfares will supplement the effectiveness of Mr. Klufas’ visions for the city!
Knightwatch says
Ummm… Nick, city residents did not want red light cameras. Why would you think they’ll go for “Big Brother” cameras?
Ron R. says
Build that tower! Build that tower!!
Anonymous says
Im not sure having cameras is the answer it only shows what happens it does not stop bad things from happening.
previouspcmember says
oh nick…… simply a fill in for john lamb and a mere puppet… his father and family have deep pockets and ties to the community politicians.
he is tech savvy, and now going into politics? Its rather a joke, as blatantly obvious he is a puppet. Such great words and idea’s for someone that has background as his. People realize who is behind him, and who writes the articles for him / helps mentor him.
redlight camera’s are not stop all. FiberNet has been around or awhile and is yet still very underutilized….. Still would need the DC infrastructure to support the camera network; still costly.
How about make FiberNet more profitable and use for cell towers & more peering agreements…
Marshall says
Cameras may not be wanted but say something like a hit in run happens. With those cameras he aims at bringing more criminals to justice who think it’s ok if no one is looking.
previouspcmember says
Understood on camera aspect for criminal activity and or accidents. Still have to build out the infrastructure. Not to mention the storage requirements / retention policies for said video recordings.
Would have to bring entire camera system in-house, rather than it be outsourced to the company that actually install/maintains them.
FiberNet should be more open to businesses throughout palm coast (as its intentions, compete with Brigthouse business class service). Also can be utilized for Cell towers, setup peering agreements.. alot can be done with it and I think used as leverage to get cell towers installed (help provide bandwidth)
We the People says
Community Center renovation as well as Holland Park, expand our summer camp programs, cameras, radios, cell coverage inside Walmart, city beautification, a new building for the public works department to better maintain our landscaping equipment, machinery…. obviously NOT a Conservative (and I say that in a moral sense rather than political).