- March 10, 2025
As Flagler Beach prepares to repair damages incurred to its iconic pier during Superstorm Sandy, its city manager requested financial assistance from other cities within the county. Palm Coast officials decided Tuesday not to contribute.
“Obviously, the Flagler Pier is a regional facility,” said Jim Landon, city manager for Palm Coast, at Tuesday’s workshop meeting of the Palm Coast City Council. “It’s important to all of us. However, there are regional funding agencies ... that we all contribute tax dollars to, so I’ve proposed to them that that’s how it should be funded.”
The council supported this response. Flagler Beach received a $908,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make the needed repairs to the pier, which is safe to use in the meantime, but with a reduced maximum capacity of 400 people. Flagler Beach is responsible for the rest of the cost.
“I understand (Landon’s) position to some degree,” said Flagler Beach City Manager Bruce Campbell, “but we all use the pier, and the residents of Flagler County pay the same taxes as Palm Coast residents do.”
He told Flagler Beach Commissioners at their Thursday meeting that he has since heard from residents who suggested that since Flagler Beach residents have to pay higher fees at Palm Harbor Golf Club, the same policy be adopted for the pier.
While the commission didn’t consider such retaliation appropriate, it didn’t hide its disdain for Palm Coast’s decision.
Landon suggested on Tuesday that Flagler Beach seek funding from the county, since it is a regional entity more than Palm Coast.
“We consider this a fairly unenlightened position,” said Flagler Beach Commissioner Steve Settle.
