- December 20, 2024
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Palm Coast's utility director was fired after just five months for yelling at and being demeaning to subordinates.
This is the second time in 2024 that Palm Coast is without a utility director. Amanda Rees was hired on as the director in June, replacing former Director Steve Flanagan who stepped down into a smaller management role in March in preparation for his retirement.
The city has a standard six-month probationary period for new employees, or one year for its firefighters, during which time they are evaluated, according to city documents sent to the Observer. Though a condition of the probationary period is that employees can be fired at any time within the probationary period without cause, city administration had received multiple complaints that Rees had "addressed utility staff in an aggressive and inappropriate manner" during her reign, the documents stated.
Rees was fired from the position on Nov. 14, effective that day.
The complaints included yelling at employees, using a demeaning tone and discussing an employee's performance with that employee's peers or subordinates, the documents stated.
Rees received a written warning over the behavior on Sept. 30 from acting City Manager Lauren Johnston and Human Resource Manager Renina Fuller, which Rees refused to sign. The write up states that "such behavior does not align with our standards of professional conduct and mutual respect in the workplace."
"It is important that all employees, regardless of position, are treated with dignity and courtesy," the write-up stated. "As leaders in our organization, it is essential to set a positive example and foster a respectful and productive work environment."
Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston said the city does not want that behavior in the "culture of our organization."
"We're trying to have our employees deliver exceptional service by making citizens our priority. We want to give them the same experience that we want them to give to our residents," Johnston said. "So it's really important that we have a strong culture and appreciation of our employees and in our workforce."
Communications Director Brittany Kershaw said in an email that the decision was made based on Rees' performance. In the meantime, Deputy Director Pete Roussell will fill in for the position. Johnston said the senior positions in utility will step up to fill any gaps in responsibilities.
"We remain focused on ensuring the highest level of service for our community and will provide updates as we move forward with leadership in this department," Kershaw wrote.
Rees' termination comes as the city is facing a decree from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to upgrade its Wastewater Treatment Facility 1 by 2028. The plant — which serves the bulk of Palm Coast’s wastewater treatment needs — is permitted by the FDEP to treat 6.83 million gallons per day but has averaged at or higher than that allotted amount of water flow in at least four of the last 12 months, according to an October presentation to Palm Coast's City Council.
Because of that, the FDEP issued a consent decree — a legal document formalizing the city’s plan to increase its wastewater treatment capacity — to the city to address its overflow by expanding the plant.
Johnston said that the agreement is still being discussed by both the FDEP and city attorneys, but Rees' termination and the open director position shouldn't slow down the process.
"We haven't finalized the agreement yet," she said, "but I don't forecast it being too much longer."
Once the agreement is finalized, the attorneys will recommend who should sign, which may not necessarily include a utility director. Once the consent decree is signed, the next step is designing the expansion project, which will be led by city engineer Alex Blake.
The city is in the process of designing the upgrades for the Wastewater Treatment Plant 1, built in 1973, as well as undergoing a gap-rate analysis to figure out the necessary funding for the upgrades to the plant. Johnston said she expects the gap-rate analysis to be completed by January or February and design for the upgrades to be completed by late spring or early summer.
Current users will contribute to 40% of the project's funding while 60% of the funding will come from the impact fees garnered by growth, Johnston said. If growth slows down, residents will have to pay more to offset the cost.
"While we're expanding the plants capacity, we're also changing the design of how the facility treats the wastewater, and that's what's making the cost so high," she said. "We we have to do it to face future regulations, and we have to do it to meet the current capacity demand for our residents."
