Today at the Editor’s glance: Bring your earplugs, Xanax and crackerjack: The Palm Coast City Council is in workshop starting at 9 a.m. at City Hall. The council will discuss the sort of questions it wants to ask citizens on its biennial survey. The council will also discuss a proposal to annually write off 75 percent of Ground Up’s municipal property taxes for five years, as long as the company maintains 25 employees. Ground Up is the Connecticut company moving into the old 70,000 square foot Palm Coast Data, and old City Hall, building on Commerce Boulevard. The proposal is likely to set a precedent that could prove problematic for the city if new–or even existing–companies contest the selectivity of the deal. On the other hand, the write-off is structured as a grant (similar to foreign aid packages that force the beneficiary country to buy American), with strings attached: the company must spend the money on facility investments, host at least one regionally advertised car show, support Flagler schools’ STEM programs, and so on. It’s not a huge sum: in 2020, taxes due the city amounted to $12,900, so 75 percent of that was just under $10,000. The council will discuss another deal, this one with a developer, on a land swap that would allow for the extension of Citation Boulevard and save the city the need to build an extra fire station, while granting the developer impact fee credits and other benefits. The full agenda here. The St. Johns River Water Management District Board meets in Palatka at 9 a.m.
The University of Florida is conducting an on-line survey on behalf of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to learn more about the use of disposable plastic bags, auxiliary materials and wrappings by Florida residents. The study’s principal investigator is Dr. Tim Townsend from UF and the Sustainable Materials Management Research Laboratory. The survey will be administered on-line using Qualtrics from mid-September 2021 until October 31st, 2021. If you are able to participate in this very important, please visit this link below. Survey link: https://faculty.eng.ufl.edu/timothy-townsend/survey/ … This survey is available to all Florida residents and if you have any questions, please contact Ms. Ashley Ricketts via e-mail at [email protected].
Monoclonal Antibody Treatments are now available in Flagler County at Daytona State College’s Palm Coast Campus. Monoclonal Antibody Treatments (MAB) for COVID-19 can prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death among high-risk individuals. Individuals 12 years and older who are high-risk, that have contracted or been exposed to COVID-19, are eligible for this treatment. Treatment is free. Vaccinations continue to be offered at 301 Dr. Carter Blvd on Mondays from 3:30 to 6:00PM. Appointments are preferred; Walk-ins are welcome. The health department is awaiting guidance for the administration of booster doses. CVS, Walgreens, Publix and Walmart are offering boosters to immunocompromised individuals.
The Live Calendar is a compendium of local and regional political, civic and cultural events. You can input your own calendar events directly onto the site as you wish them to appear (pending approval of course). To include your event in the Live Calendar, please fill out this form.
Rotary’s Fantasy Lights Festival in Palm Coast’s Town Center
Acoustic Jam Circle At The Community Center In The Hammock
Rotary’s Fantasy Lights Festival in Palm Coast’s Town Center
For the full calendar, go here.
“All his tender love of life thrilled through him in that moment, all his profound yearning for his vanished “happiness.” But then he looked about him into the silent, endlessly indifferent peace of nature, saw how the river went its own way in the sun, how the grasses quivered and the flowers stood up where they blossomed, only to fade and be blown away; saw how all that was bent submissively to the will of life; and there came over him all at once that sense of acquaintance and understanding with the inevitable which can make those who know it superior to the blows of fate.”
-—Thomas Mann, from the short story, “Little Herr Friedemann” (1897) transl. H.T. Lowe-Porter.
