- March 9, 2025
Flagler Beach is washing its hands of Holmberg Technologies.
After Dick Holmberg’s $50,000 analysis was met with disappointment by residents and officials, the Flagler Beach City Commission decided Thursday to end their efforts to install Holmberg’s undercurrent stabilizers along the city’s shoreline to stop its eroding beaches.
“It’s a painful day,” said Commission Chair Steve Settle, noting that he was one of Holmberg’s most ardent supporters. “We gave him a chance, and I just don’t think he came through for us.”
City Manager Bruce Campbell emailed Holmberg after he presented his 44-page report, which was largely made of photos and information available for free on Holmberg’s website. Campbell told Holmberg the analysis was insufficient and asked some questions unanswered by the report. He said the city would not pay Holmberg the remaining $5,000 owed for the analysis until Holmberg answered.
But, Campbell said at a commission meeting Thursday night, Holmberg’s reply hardly counted as a response at all. Campbell asked for a breakdown of the $10 million price tag Holmberg put on saving Flagler’s beaches, and while he gave some examples, the numbers seemed arbitrary, Campbell said.
Commissioners voted to discontinue their efforts with Holmberg. The city will pay Holmberg his remaining $5,000 for the sake of closure.
At the same meeting, Commissioner Kim Carney proposed a resolution in opposition to Flagler County’s actions with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, calling the project wasteful, and its dredging method unsustainable.
The resolution opened a conversation about increasing cooperation in shoreline preservation efforts between Flagler Beach and Flagler County. Commissioners directed Campbell to email county staff and ask for a meeting to discuss shoreline preservation efforts.
The Army Corps is scheduled to come before the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners at 9 a.m. April 2, in a workshop to discuss its progress on its 10-year, $3.5 million feasibility study.
Carney asked that Flagler Beach express its disdain for the project in hopes of finding another solution. She said the Army Corps project is more concerned with working with the Florida Department of Transportation to prevent State Road A1A from crumbling into the ocean as the beach erodes rather than saving the beach itself.
“I’m probably committing political suicide right now,” Carney said. “But we’ve all agreed on a vision for our beach. I’m asking that we stick with it.”
That vision, Carney said, did not involve dredging, which is the Army Corps’ method of erosion prevention. Rather than fixing the solution, dredging bandages it. Sand placed on eroding beaches eventually falls into the channels dug during the dredging process in the first place.
Other commissioners agreed that dredging is not the solution. But they warned of alienating the county, as well as the FDOT and potentially the Department of Environmental Protection.
Flagler Beach’s budget compared to that of any of those agencies is small. The city needs its help with funding.
“I don’t love the Army Corps, and I don’t think they have a final solution for this,” Commissioner Jane Mealy said. “But if we don’t do this, we won’t do anything.”
Mealy also said taking a strong position on the Army Corps before seeing its final report was premature.
However, Carney said she has been attending meetings with the agency about the report’s progress. The last she heard, the project would cost $3.8 million for initial restoration of the dune system in Flagler Beach, with more dredging done every decade.
Commissioners were still reluctant to take such a strong position before seeing a final report. They said they would prefer to collaborate rather than oppose the county. Ultimately, Carney decided to take her resolution off the commission agenda until the final report is released.
In the meantime, the city hopes to meet with Flagler County officials to discuss mutual interests in beach preservation.
"I want to make sure that our opinions are voiced," Carney said.
