- May 16, 2024
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Palm Coast's proposed new Public Works facility is expected to cost as much as $26.4 million, but Palm Coast City Council members aren't sure where they want to build it.
Council members at an Oct. 13 workshop considered moving the Public Works facility to a new location rather than building it on the existing Public Works site, but tentatively favored keeping the Public Works department where it is. They declined to make a final determination, asking city staff to present more information at a future workshop.
"We revisited the site in terms of the needs, and identified that in 10 years or so ... it was going to max out the property."
— CARL COTE, Palm Coast Stormwater & Engineering Department director
Stormwater & Engineering Department Director Carl Cote said city staff have visited public works facilities in other communities to learn more about what works and what doesn't.
Since the city developed a master plan for the Public Works facility in 2017, he said, there have been many structural changes as city departments have merged or shifted.
"We went through a process to really update our programming requirements," he said. "We revisited the site in terms of the needs, and identified that in 10 years or so ... it was going to max out the [existing] property. So council gave direction to look at options and alternatives as to how we could deal with our future needs."
Those include staying at the existing site but adding adjacent properties through land swaps — what Cote referred to as "Option A" — or shifting to other city-owned land further north, which would be Option B.
The city's existing Public Works property on U.S. 1 is adjacent to a large parcel the city may be able to gain in a land swap, he said, as well as some smaller parcels that may also be available. Altogether, he said, the city could end up with a site of about 61 acres.
"There's some benefits to doing this," Cote said, as it would provide direct access to Hargrove Lane and a site for dirt screening and debris removal. "This site would definitely take us far into the future to accommodate growth," he said.
But it's not yet clear to what extent wetlands on the property might impede those plans, he said, and it would cost money to find out — about $100,000 worth.
Then there's Option B: The city owns land near Matanzas Woods Parkway and US 1 for recreation purposes, and could probably acquire more property there and use that land for a Public Works facility.
The benefit of that site is that it's large enough that the city could also house its Utility Department there, Cote said, so that the Utility Department and Public Works could share space.
If the city used that land for the new Public Works facility, the city would need to buy other recreation land to replace it. Option B would likely be less expensive than Option A, Cote said.
"This is all very exciting, after how hard we were sold the original expansion or improvement of the Public Works compound," Councilman Bob Cuff said. "Looking at the two options, I would say pursue Option A until we have some better idea of whether that's going to be feasible or not."
Because Option B is in the city's far north rather than a central location, choosing it would mean increased commute times and fuel costs, Cuff noted.
Councilman Nick Klufas also preferred Option A.
But Councilman Jon Netts said he thought the council needed more information to make a final decision, and Mayor Milissa Holland agreed.
Morton said city staff will gather more data and present it to the council at a future workshop.
