- March 14, 2025
Frank J. Meeker
AGE: 57
FAMILY: Married, two children
QUIRKY FACT: Misses coaching young ladies soccer, started the competitive soccer program in Flagler
BIO: Frank J. Meeker is a certified environmental professional who has lived and worked in Palm Coast for 25 years. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental sciences and a Master’s of Science in coastal resources, both from the Florida Institute of Technology. He has considerable experience in permit acquisition, environmental regulations and compliance, operations, management, budget preparation and capital projects management. Meeker also served as the district ombudsman for the St. Johns River Water Management District and currently is a senior regulatory scientist.
How can Flagler work better with Palm Coast and other regional entities?
The best way I can think of is to keep an open dialogue … and the best way to keep an open dialogue is to already have an established relationship with all the players. I offer that. I’ve got an established relationship with the county commissioners there now, and an established relationship with the city of Palm Coast. ... So it’s establishing a relationship, building a relationship. It’s pretty much that simple to me.
The main regional entity that we deal with is the North East Florida Regional Planning Council … and I’ve dealt with (them, too,) for a number of years.
What should the commission do to make Flagler County a better place to do business?
Well, they’ve taken some good steps right now. The $400,000 that they’re setting up for economic development is a good start. The plain truth of the matter is that’s nowhere near enough money to allocate towards something as important as economic development. We can’t compete with places like Fort Myers and Tampa; we tried that on Project Iceman. They wrote a check for $2 million down there. We dealt with it through impact fee reductions and things like that. We couldn’t offer any real cash to encourage a business like Project Iceman to relocate here. And it’s going to be years before we can offer real cash.
So Helga (van Eckert, the economic development director) has got a big job ahead of her … but you’ve (also) got to have Palm Coast doing what it can with its Business Assistance Center. And as of today, we just approved the ordinance for the Bounty for Business program, which I came up with …
You have to come up with innovative ways to encourage businesses to relocate here … fill up empty storefronts, reduce this whacked balance that we have of residential to commercial to industrial. … It’s a cooperative thing.
The county level is looking more for your priority employers, or your primary employers, but … the broader you can cast out the net, the more fish you’re going to bring in. And that’s the whole idea. Let the county do their stuff at the big level; let the Business Assistance Center do their stuff at that one; let the city of Palm Coast with Prosperity 2021 do what they can; Bounty for Business program; a bunch of tools. Wide net. …
What the county needs to do is just stay the course. But at some point in time they’re going to have to contribute more funds to make it happen.
What is your approach to the budget?
When I first came to City Council I didn’t like what they were doing with the budget, and I voted against it. … The next year, other City Council members went along with me and we made major changes to the budget, basically went after capital projects. There was a lot of money out there at the time … we collected (it) and the projects never happened. … We ended up rolling that money into the general fund to make up for the shortfall. …
My point is that at the county level, you start looking at the core functions the county is supposed to provide and you make sure you’re meeting the needs as best you can there, and then you start looking at the nice-to-haves and seeing if you can still afford them. … My recommendation is (the county) take a very hard look at capital projects and probably kill most for the time being, till they get their finances fully squared away. ...
I’d like to talk about kind of a new concept and that is budgeting over a longer period of time. … Maybe what we need to be talking about is budgeting for a five-year period, so we know if we have a five-year capital improvement plan… as opposed to budgeting off of yearly property values.
What is your vision for the next four years?
Fiscal prudence. Unencumbered funds mostly in reserves and (the county) has been using up their reserves trying to make up the deficit, but (they’re) still staying below the rollback rate. … So as much as I hate to say it, as a fiscal conservative, they need to take a very hard look at the rollback rate.
Also, I’d place a heavy emphasis on continued support of youth and youth sporting activities. … When you combine Wadsworth Park with Indian Trails Sports Complex, you have one of the largest sporting venues in Northeast Florida. … You’re looking at 5,000 to 8,000 people that could be visiting the city at any one time. … (When) I pushed for that on City Council three years ago, the council at the time just didn’t recognize the importance of bringing local sporting events in. …
I’d like to see better employment, better job opportunities … I’d like to pre-permit industrial park sites. … I’d like to set up more commercial and industrial incubators. …
I’ve got the numbers to show that impact fees can be a detriment to commercial and industrial growth within the city of Palm Coast during the current economic times. When everybody was rolling in money, impact fees were just a cost of doing business. Now impact fees are a cost deciding whether you’re going to go to an area or not.
