- October 29, 2024
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Flagler County will get a new southern library branch on land that the county will buy for a proposed $278,000 from the First Baptist Church of Bunnell, near the Wendy's restaurant on State Road 100.
The County Commission approved the sale in a 5-0 vote during a commission meeting Aug. 3. The church had accepted the offer on July 19.
"They really liked the opportunity to select who their future neighbor would be. They saw a public library as a really compatible use there," said Tim Telfer, the county's resiliency and resource stewardship manager, during the Aug. 3 meeting.
The purchase agreement will include a right of first refusal for the church: If the county doesn't build a library on the site within 10 years and decides to put the land back on the market, the county would have the property appraised and then offer it first to the church.
"Our library has done a wonderful job in bringing in additional funds to support the library via the passport office."
— DAVID SULLIVAN, Flagler County Commission chairman
The land purchase will be made using money from the library's passport revenue fund — money the library has generated through passport services. If the property is sold, that money will be refunded to the library fund. Jim Ulsamer, head of the library's board, also requested that the county add a provision requiring that the passport fund money be refunded if the land is used for something other than a library.
"Our library has done a wonderful job in bringing in additional funds to support the library via the passport office," County Commission Chairman David Sullivan said. "The funds are kept separate in our budget ... to have those available for something like this, to purchase that land. So this money is not coming from another source, it's coming directly from profits obtained through selling passport services at our main library. ... This is not coming out of your taxpayers' funding."
An 8.4-acre parcel of land the county already owns across the street from the church parcel will be used to construct a new Sheriff's Operations Center.
The county had initially considered placing both structures — the library and the Sheriff's Operations Center — on the same county-owned site, but adjusted plans after the church agreed that it would be willing to sell some of its land.
Separating the two government facilities over the two parcels would give each more room.
The 4.8-acre parcel is off Commerce Parkway next to the church and near the Government Services Building complex off State Road 100.
The $278,000 proposed sale price is $58,000 below the land's appraised value, Telfer said. The church owes $58,000 to the county in connection with previous projects, and the county offered to resolve that issue by taking $58,0000 off the purchase price, he said. The church would also turn over 1.89 acres of right-of-way to the county.
The county and the church have collaborated in the past on other projects involving Commerce Parkway and the Government Services complex.
The county has already had environmental testing performed on soils on the site, and has corresponded with the St. Johns River Water Management District to ensure that there are not wetland conditions on the site that would require mitigation by the county during the construction process, Telfer said.
County Commissioner Charlie Ericksen asked whether Commerce Parkway will be able to handle the increased traffic, and whether it will be widened.
County Administrator Jerry Cameron said the road will likely have to be expanded to four lanes in the future, with intersection improvements on each end.
"It will be a heavily used stretch of road," Cameron said.
