Affordable housing: urged the council to take concrete action on housing affordability through zoning, fees, impact fees, and development partnerships, rather than continued discussion without results.
Also announced a 'Meet the Mayors' breakfast event hosted by the Flagler County Association of Realtors on May 13 at FCAR.
Affordable housing: presented data from the City of Palm Coast Housing Needs Assessment showing nearly half of households earn at or below area median income with median home price over $350,000; argued the city is already subsidizing housing through incentives and called on council to tie those incentives to affordability outcomes when public dollars are used.
The resolution approving a facility use agreement with Palm Coast Baseball LLC for a collegiate wooden bat summer league (Orange League) using Field 2 at Indian Trails Sports Complex was pulled from the consent agenda.
Council raised concerns about unresolved concession exclusivity rights vis-à-vis Palm Coast Little League, overly broad maintenance language in Sections 7 and 9, a reference to 'Holland Park' that staff confirmed was a typo, and the term 'policing' needing to be replaced with 'cleanup.' The item was tabled unanimously to the May 19, 2026 business meeting to allow staff to resolve these issues.
A public commenter also raised questions about the two-park reference and permit fee adequacy.
Resolution approving a work order with McKim & Creed for the Water Treatment Plant #2 Automatic Transfer Switch 1, 2, 3 Replacement was approved as part of the consent agenda (items 2, 3, and 4) without separate discussion.
Resolution approving a work order with Connect Consulting, Inc. for the evaluation, limited rehabilitation, and pump replacement of Well SW-28 was approved as part of the consent agenda (items 2, 3, and 4) without separate discussion.
Resolution approving piggybacking the Sourcewell Contract #080124 with Ford Motor Company through Gary Yeomans Ford for OEM vehicle parts and supplies.
Vice Mayor Pontieri asked whether the city still price-shops or assumes best pricing; staff (Mr.
Mansell) clarified this is an additional source only and the city still price-shops, and that the contract also improves access to scarce F-550-and-above parts.
Approved as part of the consent motion covering items 2, 3, and 4.
Facility use agreement with Palm Coast Baseball LLC: raised questions about the agreement referencing both Holland Park and Indian Trails Sports Complex, whether the permit fee schedule would cover operational costs given the league retains 100% of concession revenue, and whether practice versus game usage was defined.
Ordinance repealing and replacing Chapter 2, Article 1, Division 3 of the Palm Coast Code of Ordinances (procurement procedures) was presented on second read.
Staff (Ms.
Ragsdale, budget and procurement manager) summarized two changes from the first read: amended language in Section 2-26 B2 clarifying purchases made under existing contracts and piggyback/sole-source awards approved by council within the annual budget, and a new subsection added to Section 2-29 addressing return of bid protest bonds.
Vice Mayor Pontieri confirmed satisfaction with the changes.
The ordinance passed unanimously.
Referenced a prior council decision approving a development in which a builder committed to donating 71 lots to a nonprofit for workforce/first-responder housing; disputed the characterization that community critics were 'chastising' the council, and raised questions about whether the developer's plan was concrete and whether the homes would actually be affordable to first responders.