Palm Coast – The Palm Coast City Council met at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 to discuss and make decisions on official city business. Business meetings and workshops are open to the public and are streamed live on the City’s YouTube channel. Attending a City Council meeting is great way to get involved with your City and to stay in informed and connected.
The meeting opened with public comments. Each member of the public was allowed 3 minutes to address the Mayor. The overwhelming majority of public comments were focused on the lease agreement with Green Lion Café.
- At the February 8 workshop meeting, City Council directed the City Manager to have City Staff solicit proposals from restaurants to utilize the space at the Palm Harbor Golf Club and to bring the lease up to market value.
- At the conclusion of public comment, City Council reached consensus to proceed with seeking a professional to give fair market value for the lease of the restaurant as well as continue negotiations with Green Lion Café for the extension contract.
- City Staff was also directed to discontinue to the RFP process for the property.
Following public comments were four presentations, briefly outlined below.
- The Palm Coast City Council read a proclamation for Rare Disease, which is February 28.
- The Parks & Recreation Department presented prizes to participants of this year’s Mayor’s 30/30 Fitness Challenge. Participants who could not attend can pick their prize up at the Palm Coast Community Center.
- Career Source Flagler gave a presentation on their Flagler/Volusia service offerings for job seekers, employers, and employee training. Learn more at www.careersourcevf.com
- The Stormwater & Engineering Department gave an overview of the saltwater canal consultation selection process. The process outlined includes compiling a Request for Quote (RFQ) package, advertising for the RFQ, opening the bid on March 17, holding bid evaluations on March 24, and finally negotiating scope and fees by April 26. The results of this timeline will bring a resolution to the City Council meeting on May 10.
The next portion of the meeting focused on the following resolutions:
- The Parks & Recreation Department presented a resolution to approve the naming of two public facilities. The City received two separate requests from Palm Coast organizations to name two City owned public facilities for Council consideration. The Democratic Women’s Club of Flagler County advocated to name the Pine Lakes Trail as the Shirley Chisolm Trail. The Palm Coast Little League advocated to name baseball field 6 at the Indian Trails Sports Complex as the Doug Berryhill field. The Beautification and Environmental Committee met on January 27, 2022 and unanimously approved both nomination requests. Today, City Council approved both requests under the Resolution 2021-130, Adopting Guidelines And Procedures For The Official Naming Of Public Facilities.
- The City Clerk presented a resolution to approve a policy for elected officials regarding public records, and the use of email, texting, social media, and city-issued devices. The City will supply and maintain all Apps and public records associated with the city-issued cell phone.
- The Finance Department presented a resolution to approve a budget amendment for FY 2021-2022 related to the appropriation of funds to the capital projects fund for the Public Works Facility. This item was discussed at the workshop meeting on February 8 and approved at today’s meeting.
- The Utility Department presented a resolution to piggyback the Palm Bay contract with Stantec Consulting Services Inc. for the Utility Rate Study. This item was heard by City Council at their February 8, 2022 workshop. There were no changes suggested to this item and it was approved at today’s meeting.
The next item centered on the residential solid waste collection service:
- The Citizen Engagement Department presented a resolution to approve an addendum to the residential solid waste collection and disposal services contract with Waste Pro. This addendum will extend the current contract with Waste Pro for an additional 12-month period.
- The rate per household will be $29.97 per month beginning on June 1, 2022.
- Yard waste will be limited to two cubic yards once a week, which is the industry standard.
- Bulk pickup items will be limited to three cubic yards once a week.
o Three cubic yards can be represented by a couch or a mattress, but not both.
- The Recycling Rewards and the Hazardous Waste Collection programs will be temporarily suspended beginning on March 17, 2022.
o The Recycling Rewards program was an underutilized online incentive program that rewarded customers with coupons if they chose to participate.
o Recycling will still be picked up on the normal recycling day for each customer.
o Hazardous waste can be disposed of free of charge at the Flagler County Recycling and Household Hazardous Waste at 1700 S. Old Kings Road.
The next item focused on the search for a new City Manager:
- The Human Resources Department had planned to present the proposals received for an Executive Search Firm for the City Manager Position but before that happened, Mayor Alfin made a motion to suspend the search for a City Manager and appoint Interim City Manager Denise Bevan to the role.
o The motion was unanimously approved by all five City Council members.
o Additionally, Mayor Alfin was selected to work alongside Bevan and the City Attorney to finalize the City Manager employment contract terms. These terms will be presented to City Council at an upcoming public meeting.
The final item appointed a member to the PLDBR:
- The City Clerk presented an appointment for one member to the Planning and Land Development Regulation Board (PLDRB) to fill a vacancy in District 3. The City Council selected Christopher Gabriel to fill the vacancy.
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Media Release: Brittany N. Kershaw, Director of Public Information & Engagement
