May 20, 2025 · City Council Business Meeting · 15 comments
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morning
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Good morning Councilor Vintonguri Palm Coast Allow me to present my rebuttal against parking commercial vendor vehicles in residential areas Residential neighborhoods are designed to foster peaceful living free from the disruptions associated with commercial activities Parking commercial vendor vehicles and driveways contradicts this purpose by introducing logistical aesthetic and legal concerns The valuation of property and neighborhood aesthetics Home values depend on the overall appearance and character of the neighborhood Commercial vehicles create an unsightly streetscape making the neighborhood less appealing to potential buyers and lowering property values Safety and traffic obstruction commercial parking commercial vehicles and residential driveways can obstruct visibility for pedestrians and other drivers This increases the likelihood of accidents especially near driveways intersections or sidewalks where children and pedestrians frequent Disruption to residential zoning laws allowing these vehicles and driveways undermines zoning laws setting a precedent for future violations Many commercial vehicles operate on diesel engines which produce more emissions than standard passenger vehicles This results in noise environment and health issue complaints Additionally a potential for increased traffic and unauthorized commercial activity Vendors may begin conducting business from residential properties bringing unwanted foot and traffic congestion This disrupts the residential setting and can lead to unauthorized business operations in the neighborhood This proposal sets a negative precedent that will lead to the deterioration in neighborhood standards safety and livability Palm Coast should enforce regulations to maintain The integrity of residential areas Don't destroy the value of our homes Let the citizens vote on this matter I urge the council to reject this proposal Thank you
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Denise Henry Palmcoast Um rather than have the need for proclamations before city council meetings consider having a citywide event At the beginning of the year where all organizations groups can set up booths so the public can become more familiar with these worthy causes During this event proclamations will be announced for the entire year designating dates months weeks days If these dates are made known at the beginning of the year then businesses can become involved in bringing awareness by recognizing the organizational group During its specific time period by possibly offering discounts or specials and even making a specific sale where a percentage of the proceeds go to that organization group Just to hold what is essentially a photo op at a council meeting with very little public participation does not serve the organizations their missions and the tireless work of mainly volunteers Well as the public visits each organization's booths they can make a donation to the organization or organizations of their choice and this contribution can help the organization's operating budget for the year During the event the proclamations and photo opss can be conducted and there will not be proclamations made after the fact such as the February 24 2024 meeting where proclamations were presented for the month of January Which was human trafficking awareness and stalking awareness and within a short time frame during the current month Um that's why I have to just my suggestion about that And then about council meetings Since the meetings have been long I feel it would be a nice gesture to have bottles of water for the public if they desire need one At BJ's 40 bottles of water costs for $3.99 dollars Even at 2 cases a meeting at $8 the cost would not be more than $32 a month or $384 a year With a $40 million budget this is very minimal and I think Something that would be nice to offer Not everybody's going to have a bottle We're not always going to have 40 people but I think that's something to consider And then the only other thing I wanted to say about commercial building or commercial vehicles in the drive When people complain about that they have to also realize these vehicles are usually gone from the driveway from early morning till evening to dark So to say that they can't park there because it's going to somehow devalue their property right they're not even going to be there during the day maybe on a Sunday Thank you Thank you for your comment
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good morning Mark Stencil Seminole Woods I brought this up once before I think uh on my interview when I was uh interviewing for the appointment for District 3 about uh the fact that the city we have 107,000 people here we're not small anymore And we have a very large budget larger than a lot of cities this size and we need to trim trim the fat you know look for places where we can conserve money and save money Maybe there's some projects that maybe don't have to be done right now so we could use that money for more important things uh maybe look at staff you know are there positions where we're we're duplicating you know where maybe we can cut back You know be a more efficient city Look at where we can save money We you really need to look at that you know because otherwise you know we're in trouble anyway So why make it worse Let's look for solutions Thank you
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hello my name is Igor Shapira uh Palm Coast I live at 246 Beechwood Lane Uh I'm just uh send the mail yesterday to the city councilor and the um uh mayor regarding the uh water bill So the issue is uh you vote and approve rate increase on March 18 meeting starting from April 1st However if you look at your bill if you still live in Palm Coast and you Residents of Palm Coast Increase start from February That's what I have in my bill and the copy of it attached to it Unfortunately none of you for 24 hours uh responded to it Some uh city uh employee from the Sylvia from the uh I don't know uh customer service manager and Lisa They responded to my mail but they are not a billing specialist They are not a bookkeeping and the argument is we're doing this for many years It's many years of scam That's what it is if that's the practice OK It's violation of the accounting practice because effective day means day when the raids supposed to start not in February just because they were waiting longer than usual and bill was issued on April 4th By the way the acting city manager by your ordinance is the person who give order to the department to proceed with that increase 949 days based on my bill 42 days I'm sorry before the actual effective date of April 1st In addition also uh 6 months ago I start conversation with the city regarding the piece of land which was grabbed by the city many years ago because my house was rented and I moved to the city Two years ago So part of the pumping station uh Mr Miller uh Miller writes uh uh received my mail 6 months ago and he knows about that issue So nothing's going on The answer from the Virginia Smith is that uh nothing we're going to do The simplest just somebody come in Take a measurement make adjustment to city tax That's it Deal done So then I talked two months ago to the mayor He's not responding So it's a complete ignorance of the Palm Coast issues What will come bills and property
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Good morning Mr McDonald
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my name is Carla Amerall I have been involved in the local Palm Coast building industry since I moved here in 2004 Um Mrs Amerall I'm so sorry Can you just pull the microphone a little down a little bit or a little bit closer to you so we can hear you Thank you Is that better Yes it is Thank you Um my name is Carla Amarall Uh I've been involved in the local Palm Coast building industry since I moved here in 2004 I'm a realtor My husband and I own a business where we build custom homes and pools We um own a property management business so I've been involved in all of those parts of uh housing But the reason I applied was because I have a daughter who's a nurse and I have a niece who's a Flagler um County school teacher And finding apartments and places to live where they can afford is very difficult here right now And you know I have kids that are currently in high school will be graduating going to college and I hope can come back and find somewhere that they can afford to live
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My name is Adolphus Evans Junior I go by AJ Um My wife and I retired and moved to this community about 4.5 years ago and we really love it here and so I would like to use my life experiences to help out with the affordable housing issues Um I'm a 1981 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy My degree was in Operations Research I also hold a degree from Regis University in Denver Colorado uh Master's of Business Administration Um my Air Force experience was for 5 years I was a scientific analyst and worked with the offshoot of NORAD as far as looking at satellite uh reconnaissance worldwide Uh then I went to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development I was with the HUD for 30 years Um So I was there in the advent of the community planning process Both the 5-year community plan and the 1-year action plan Uh I helped manage and implement that process within the New Jersey State office Um and I had 3 counties and 16 cities under my purview as a manager Um so I feel as if that I could contribute positively to the committee Um I like working with people Uh I am looking forward to grappling with some of the issues that I see and I I I follow uh like um state Uh um SB 784 that's currently being considered and also uh your amendments or your desire to have job requirements for commercial development west of the tracks So I am definitely here to help and I would love to be a part of the Affordable Housing Committee Thank you very much Any questions for me Thank you sir I'll bring you back to the dais Any questions No thank you OK just want to say thanks for your service
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my name is Kelsey Lombard I'm with the Palm Coast Flagger Chamber of Commerce um and I'm here for the housing authority position OK Any uh I have a question just based on that Um why are you interested in serving on the committee Um so I feel like I can bring a collaborative spirit a com um commitment of data Driven solutions and a passion for driving for our community I feel like I have um a position in the community as the heart of Palm Coast I believe
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my name is Mindy Melendez I have my master's in Education I taught for several years in Ohio and here And then we started um flipping houses I went into real estate We've been flipping houses since 2016 um and we go in um not we I get fired all the time from it My husband does the flipping um just to go in and better the community better the houses Um
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My name is Robert Britt B R I T T and I live on Brownstone Lane Thank you And uh regarding the property on Pine Lakes
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Denise Henry Palm Coast um the only question I couldn't read quickly does that include medical marijuana Because I think it should I I'm not sure James or council
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Hello I'm Tyrese Gaines I'm the tobacco policy manager for uh tobacco Free Flagler Um Terry Williams is actually back there She used to be in this position She's been like extremely uh important when it comes to just getting this on the table So huge shout out to her but um Uh in reference to your question uh no it does not cover uh medical marijuana and that is something that is going to probably be an issue Um also at the same time we see that recreational Marijuana keeps popping up on the ballot so that will be something that we are going to run into but I do think that this in and of itself is a huge step and it will you were talking about enforcement in a sense Obviously it's very hard to enforce something like this But I think it's the uh mindset of our leaders people like you guys that um just advocating for it is something that is huge and that we need So I just wanted to say appreciate you guys appreciate you James for your hard work and uh thank you
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Good morning Michael Scimento for the applicant Uh thank you all for having us here Uh we've been working on this for about a year because of the trying to figure out what the history is So I just wanna thank you guys for rolling up your sleeves and helping this group figure out how to get this project done So we have nothing to offer Uh your staff did a great job We're here to answer any questions but we would appreciate your approval so we can get started Thank you OK Any appli uh any questions for the applicant No All right Then uh we will um ask for a motion and then we'll go out to public comment Do we have a motion to approve or deny the ordinance So moved Second we have a motion from Councilman Sullivan Second from Councilman Gambaro We'll go out to public comment Any public comment on this agenda item Ms Ponteri can we just read uh Miss Mr Sullivan just said so moved but your question was to approve of Oh you're right Would you make a more clear motion Councilman Sullivan
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Mr McDonald Good morning