The 3-2 vote to stick with the FPL path leading to Matanzas High School doesn’t yet kill alternatives, including the possibility of a temporary footpath along Old Kings Road, the city manager pledged.
jim landon
Controversial FPL Footpath Through F Section Back on Agenda as 2 Council Members Demand Options
F-Section residents are incensed at a planned path they rejected in 2008, but City Manager Jim Landon, who knows the volatile history of the path, shifted the blame for the controversy onto the city council.
Behind County Plaint That Relations With Palm Coast “Suck,” a History of Rancor and Cooperation
It’s been five years since Palm Coast and Flagler County governments met jointly, but they have a poor history of it, preferring to work behind the scenes on key issues.
Matanzas Students Want F-Section Path, But Opponents Say City Should Build Sidewalk On Old Kings Instead
A raucous, emotional meeting at Matanzas High pitted proponents of a foot and bike path through the heart of the F Section against opponents who say it’s misplaced and ill-advised.
Why Is the Palm Coast City Administration Treating 400 Employees Like Children?
Last week Palm Coast HRD Director Wendy Cullen sent a degrading email about bathrooms to 400 city employees. The email is reflective of a contemptuous, disconnected administration.
Palm Coast Would Turn Over Its Cell Towers To Contractor Even as New Law Revamps Landscape
Even as a new state law just has just revamped the whole wireless landscape, the Palm Coast council is about to sign a contract grounded in previous-generation realities about cell coverage.
No New Street Lights in Palm Coast, But $547,000 For Field Lights and $1 Million For Toilets
Six new field lights at Indian Trails Complex will cost $547,000, not including operating costs, where current lights cost the city $108,000 a year in light bills. The bathrooms are paid for from a less flexible pot.
Palm Coast Approves $425,000 Parasols at 4 City Parks, But Council Members Grumble
Council members Nick Klufas and Steve Nobile, who are seeking more oversight of the city administration, had serious misgivings about cost and a bidding process that left them with little choice.
Fatal Irresponsibility:
How Palm Coast Willfully Ignored Street Lights And Sidewalks For 10 Years
Palm Coast’s government’s claim that it didn’t have the money to build sidewalks and street lights is a cynical lie: as people died, the city put luxury ahead of necessity, from city hall to expensive beautification and plenty more.
Retreading Losing Cause, City Will Take Over Running Palm Harbor Golf and Tennis Center
Palm Coast government will end its nearly-decade-long relationship with KemperSports at the money-losing golf and tennis clubs and manage the operations itself while still contracting out certain services.
Palm Coast Council Approves Mayor’s Weekly Radio Infomercial After All, and More
The Palm Coast City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to go ahead with a weekly radio infomercial, for $10,000, hosted by Mayor Milissa Holland, as well as staff-produced podcasts.
Palm Coast Retreats From Mayor Radio Show In Favor of Free, Staff-Hosted Podcast
After the controversy triggered by City Manager Jim Landon’s mishandling of a radio show proposal featuring the mayor, his administration is proposing a podcast instead, but while still spending $8,000 on promotional radio advertising.
Jim Landon’s Fake News
Palm Coast Manager Jim Landon’s plans for a “scripted” weekly radio infomercial hosted by Mayor Milissa Holland demeans the mayor, the council and her listeners. If Holland is to do a show, it should be on her unscripted terms.
In Ugly Meeting Over Mayor’s Radio Show, Palm Coast Manager and Council Member Turn Offensive
City Manager Jim Landon made baseless accusations of “misinformation” and council member Steve Nobile called fellow-member Nick Klufas a child during a discussion of a proposed weekly radio show featuring Mayor Holland, and paid for with public money.
Palm Coast Will Pay $10,000 to Air Mayor’s Weekly Radio Show; Council Was Not Informed
Mayor Milissa Holland and City Manager Jim Landon worked out the $10,000 proposal with WNZF Radio without discussions involving the rest of the council. Some council members are not pleased.
Rep. Renner Takes Another Beating, This Time From Palm Coast Council Over Slew of Bills
The Palm Coast City Council excoriated Rep. Paul Renner over several bills he’s introduced, saying the proposals would hurt Florida Hospital Flagler and end the city’s ability to regulate local business, among others.
Palm Coast’s Jim Landon Gets 4% Pay Hike, Raising Total Compensation to $226,700
The Palm Coast City Council unanimously endorsed the $6,700 pay raise but limited annual automatic increases to 1 percent through 2021, and set aside concerns over Landon’s very generous severance package.
Palm Coast Council Favors $6,800 Raise for Manager Landon, and Automatic Increases
Vying for a raise for the third time in 10 months, Palm Coast Manager Jim Landon appears to have convinced a new council to award him a 4 percent raise and build in automatic annual raises absent intervention by the council.
Craig Coffey, Jim Landon, Now Dan Davis: For 3rd Time in 2 Years, Top Manager’s Raise Request Is Rebuffed
Bunnell’s Dan Davis this week joined Palm Coast’s Jim Landon and Flagler’s Craig Coffey, all of whose elected boards rejected their raise requests in the past two years, though Davis and Coffey still got smaller raises.
Palm Coast Community Center’s $7.8 Million Renovation, After Postponement, Will Cost Double Initial Estimate
City Manager Jim Landon had first estimated a “$3 to $4 million” renovation cost, but then delayed it to build an addition to City Hall, ostensibly to save money. Community Center costs have now more than erased those savings, Council member Steven Nobile says.
Palm Coast Council Talks As If It Wants To Be Pioneer in Medical Pot, But Post-Moratorium
In a radical departure from its previous incarnations, the Palm Coast City Council discussed medical marijuana in terms of economic development potential for the city as well as in line with its purported humane benefits.
Palm Coast Favors $6 Million Reconstruction of Public Works Facility Off U.S. 1 Over 5 Years
Public work costs are usually the result of new or improved roads, bridges, parks, swales and so on. But Palm Coast’s aging 10-acre public works facility will itself become Ground Zero for a $6 million reconstruction project.
Wawa Might Anchor Long-Sought Redevelopment Plan at Bulldog Drive, But Uncertainties Abound
The Palm Coast City Council is set to sell to a developer corner lots at Bulldog and SR100 for almost $600,000 less than it paid for them, as an incentive and linchpin for the redevelopment of the Bulldog Drive entrance.
Sea Change With Immediate Notes of Assertiveness as New Mayor and Palm Coast Council Are Seated
Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland wasted no time taking the reins after her swearing in, as did now-senior council member Steven Nobile, who wants a more assertive and involved council.
Sod It: Palm Coast Manager Threatens to Fire Holland Park Contractor Over “Vacation” Delays
After Holland Park’s reopening was further delayed four weeks by the hurricane, the contractor, when asked about paying subcontractor, sent notice that it was on vacation.
Embittered Palm Coast Fires Holland Park Contractor and Takes Over Project Months Behind Schedule
City officials, sensitive to the criticism directed at them over the delays, recast the problem as entirely the fault of the contractor, and themselves as heroes looking out for the city’s budget and local contractors, thus effectively changing the subject: it’s no longer a project behind schedule as much as a city wronged and aggrieved.
Taxpayers Hit for $215,000 to Repair Bunkers at City’s Money-Losing Palm Harbor Golf Club
The cost is in addition to the $155,000 the course has lost–and taxpayers have chipped in–so far this year. Bunker repair costs will be greater than that of several bridge repairs the city is planning over the next few years in the city proper.
Palm Coast Votes 3-2 Against $5,000 Hike For Jim Landon in Stinging Rebuke
Two council members said Palm Coast Manager Jim Landon had been overpaid, with his $169,000 salary now where it should be. The vote ends a long, in many ways improper and opaque process.
Bill McGuire, Palm Coast City Council’s Grandmaster, Resigns Effective Aug. 15
McGuire’s resignation was expected, and the council is hinting that it may be uninterested in filling his post for the remaining few weeks of his term before the election, even if the charter says the council “shall” fill it.
Trying to Stem Hemorrhage of Green, Palm Coast Studies Patchy Golf Club Take-Over
Losses at the city-owned Palm Harbor Golf Club are getting worse. The city is considering a “hybrid” take-over of golf and tennis that would still contract put most services but give the city more control.
Yes, Palm Coast Wanted to Boot County EMS Crews Out of Station 22, But That Fire Is Out For Now
A closer look at the record shows that contrary to City Manager Jim Landon’s claim that the county was going on rumors, city officials, including Landon, very much wanted to see county EMS crews out of the fire station on Palm Coast Parkway.
Palm Coast Will Spend $500,000 to “Optimize” a Few Traffic Signals, But Expected Gains Are Vague
The $500,000 will install surveillance cameras and high-speed Internet to just 12 intersections, with more spending and intersections connected in future years, and will create a so-called Advanced Traffic Management System.
European Village Reborn: Palm Coast’s Poster-Child of Housing Bust Thrives Again
The Palm Coast City Council approved a rezoning that enables European Village to be more autonomous and more clearly advertise itself as the 14-year-old development seeks to solidify its new hold on business and residential activity.
In Feud’s Latest Distortion, Palm Coast Blames County for “Killing” $600,000 City Road Grant
Palm Coast and the county are at it again, but in this case the city appears to have misrepresented the county’s intention not to violate the law in the latest flare-up of an ongoing feud between City Manager Jim Landon and County Administrator Craig Coffey.
Separate But Equal: Palm Coast Sidesteps Transgender Bathroom Bind With Private Facilities
Palm Coast hopes to avoid the transgender-bathroom controversy by including private bathrooms in its $525,000 project for new facilities in Town Center and Indian Trails Sports Complex.
City Will Spend $100,000 to Renovate Fire Station 22, Its Oldest, on Palm Coast Parkway
The city considered demolishing and rebuilding the station in the past, or closing and moving it, but for it says renovation is the best option, keeping open the possibility of a new station on Colbert Lane in the future.
For 2nd Time in 2 Months, County’s Emergency Communications Falter, and Agencies Chafe
A problem at a tower on John Anderson Highway hampered sheriff’s deputies’ ability to communicate for an hour Monday evening. The county is describing the issue as minor while Palm Coast and the sheriff’s office see it as more emblematic of a recurring problem.
Costlier and Behind Schedule, Holland Park Renovation Swings For Another $50,000
Holland Park’s $4.7 million renovation was to be completed by now. Instead, completion is not expected until late June and the council said it would approve another $50,000 in unexpected expenses.
Council Will Approve “Kind of Dumb Looking” 150-ft Cell Tower on Palm Coast Parkway
The tower, camouflaged as a tree, will go up on city land near the public library and will accommodate four cell carriers, among them AT&T, whose service in many parts of Palm Coast has been dismal.
Palm Coast Floats New Rescue System in Name Of “Efficiency,” But County Sees Many Flaws
No one is complaining about ambulance service in Palm Coast, but the city council is favoring changing the system by adding two county ambulances and spreading manpower around. The county, which runs EMS, says the plan is costly and unnecessary.
Palm Coast’s Jim Landon Wants to Add to His $218,000 Pay Package, Council Pushes Back Slightly
The Palm Coat city manager, by far the highest-paid public employee in Flagler, wants annual, automatic raises based on his own self-evaluations, but council members want a more formal system.
With Curt Emphasis on “NOW,” Palm Coast Mayor Wants Radio Answers from County
For Netts, usually a model of decorum and grace, it was an unusually demanding letter over an issue that has created simemring tensions between the county and city managers for months.
As Palm Coast Surveys Residents Yet Again, For $13,000, Council Members Question the Point
Several council members criticized the latest survey of Palm Coast residents–its small sample size, its limited uses, and whether it should be an annual exercise anymore.
Palm Coast Signals Going Its Own Way In Growing Rift With County Over Radio System
City Manager Jim Landon is pressuring the county to replace its emergency radio infrastructure–on which the city and sheriff depend– well before 2020. The county is resisting, citing costs.
Against Mayor’s Opposition, Palm Coast Council Discovers Public Input at Workshops
For the first time in 17 years the Palm Coast City Council will join other local governments in allowing public participation at council workshops, where most of the decisions are made, not just at “regular” meetings.
As Flagler’s Emergency Communications Briefly Falter, Palm Coast and Sheriff Assail County Over Long-Term Plans
The county’s critical emergency radio system briefly failed when a tower lost its back-up power Thursday even as county, city and sheriff’s officials were meeting in the first high-level meeting since 2013 to deal with their differences over modernizing the emergency communications system.
Palm Coast’s $9 Million Scam at Taxpayers’ Expense
Since 2008, Palm Coast government has wasted over $9 million in taxpayer money to subsidize its privately run, money-losing golf and tennis operations, which serve a small group of people. It’s been a colossal scam perpetrated on taxpayers.
Little League Discovers Palm Coast Rules: Money-Making Tournaments Come First
Palm Coast Little League organizers say the way the city is booting them off Indian Trails Sports Complex fields for a for-profit tournament is a violation of a contractual agreement that defines how the city may go about doing so. City Manager Jim Landon disagrees.
Palm Coast Ties Emergency Communications System to Recent Crash–Falsely, County Says
City Manager Jim Landon says he’s concerned about maintenance of the countywide 800 mhz communications system, suggesting it could crash as parts of the sheriff’s computer system recently did–an inaccurate suggestion that deflects from other problems, the county retorts.
Palm Coast Wants Changes to County-Controlled Ambulance Services in the City
The city wants to reduce the need for fire trucks and ambulances doubling up on EMS calls, and to lower overall costs. The county has its own ideas. The two sides will meet administratively to hash out possibilities.