The Palm Coast City Council held their morning workshop meeting on Tuesday, April 9th, at 9 am. During the workshop, the council heard presentations on the annual investment report, the search for a permanent city manager, and a presentation on the saltwater canals.
City Staff gave a presentation on the search for a permanent City Manager. The timeline for this search process is currently estimated to have a 90-day search window ready to go by June, meaning August would be the end of that search window. If given permission, staff could piggyback off of another city’s search, shaving 2 months off the process of the search. Danko stated he wanted to make sure that as the applications come in, they are given to the council members. Pontieri stated her objections to the need to shave time off the search, since three seats on the council are up for election, and two will not be on the council. Alfin countered that the new council would be less experienced, and while he doesn’t disagree with Pontieri, however, he stated his concern about the lack of experience the new potential council could have. Pontieri did make two additional points stating her concerns about hiring a city manager immediately before the new council takes its seats. Her concerns centered around the volatile nature of the job over the last few years, and how applicants might be nervous about the possibility of being terminated. Danko argued that he felt this current council should be the one to choose the next city council. Heighter echoed her agreement with Mayor Alfin and Danko. Klufas echoed his agreement with the notion of this council hiring the next City Manager, but he did have some issues with the piggybacking on the contract. Klufas stated that he would like to see secondary searches being made on some level to make sure the City isn’t missing any qualified candidates for the position. City Council agreed that they would come back and look at the RFP included in the Piggybacking contract to make sure that it would suit the needs of Palm Coast, as well as if this piggybacking contract would be negotiable.
Also during the meeting, the annual investment report gave a very brief overview of the federal economy, the Federal Reserve, and Treasury reports before launching into an overview of the City’s portfolio of investments. The portfolio is managed by PFM Asset Management LLC. Pontieri asked what the City’s objective is with this portfolio, City Staff answered her question by stating that they do have liquidity, the ability to use the money if necessary, yield, the City wants the portfolio to be making them money, and working to ensure the City’s portfolio doesn’t lose money. Alfin asked for a workshop in the future, to go over funding, with Pontieri echoing her agreement, and expanding her desire to see this portfolio become more of a tool, instead of just a fund collecting money.
Saltwater Canals were among the presentations heard by the council during this workshop meeting. This presentation covered the study’s update and next steps. Phase one was the initial investigation and it was completed in fiscal year 2023. Phase two is the permit pre-application phase; phase three is the preliminary design of the dredging project, phase four would be the construction administration. The discussion centered around a survey that will be sent to residents. Pontieri stated her concerns about the funding for this massive project. She suggested adding a question to the survey asking if those who live on the canals are willing or unwilling to pay a special assessment. Pontieri continued by explaining this would help with the information gathering to determine the different avenues the Council will be able to explore when it comes to funding the project. The council gave consensus to move forward with some changes to the survey that will be sent to the residents; the survey will be coming back at a future meeting for approval and scheduling. Council also agreed that this project will be a strategic action priority for the next budget cycle.
Also during the meeting, the council heard a resolution on increasing the land development site permitting and inspection fees, as staff had found the rates hadn’t been raised since 2009. Staff presented a revised Fee Schedule rise of roughly 44%. Staff also presented some new fees that could be added as well. Some of the new fees included the actual cost of attorney fees, the actual cost of second part surveyor fees, and raising the rental registration fee from $5 to $35.00 annually. Staff is also proposing an annexation fee of $1,000; the creation of CDDs of $15,000; CDD modifications of $15,000; along with additional raises for many of the fees as well. Alfin questioned how these raises would affect the price of a house. Pontieri asked for clarification as to where these fees go, staff instructed these fees are put directly into the General fund. Pontieri also questioned if the City is missing out on funding by not raising the rezoning and master-planned development fees, as those are both low compared to other areas. The council gave consensus to accept the staff recommendation with the addition of a review process so that these fees are reviewed every 4 years. The resolution will be brought before the council at a future business meeting.
