Palm Coast’s Customer Service responds to nearly 1,500 resident calls and counting

Palm Coast Observer
News

By: Palm Coast Public Relations Associate Kimberly Norman, courtesy of the city of Palm Coast

While many residents are in their homes and waiting on Dorian to pass through, the City of Palm Coast’s Customer Service division has been working around the clock to serve the City’s 90,000 residents.

Customer Service representatives began additional hours this past weekend and since Saturday morning, have answered 1,483 total calls up to Tuesday evening, Sept. 3. Residents were able to ask about closed City facilities; sand and sandbag locations; trees down; utility, stormwater, and public works issues, garbage questions or anything else that pertains to the City.

Of all of these calls, there are a few questions that have been asked through the call center more than others and so your City wants to make sure you have those answers.

QUESTION 1: Why wasn’t trash picked up Monday and Tuesday and when is it resuming?

ANSWER 1: The decision to pause trash collection was made Friday based on weather reports and forecasts at the time in an effort to maintain a safe pickup by Waste Pro trucks and their employees. Because of the size of the City, it was not possible to resume pickups once it had been cancelled.

QUESTION 2: My neighbor has items (furniture, grills, debris, etc) out that could blow away and cause problems. What can be done by the City or Code Enforcement?

ANSWER 2: At this point, all City code enforcement crews are no longer going out, but are stationed at the City’s Emergency Operations Center ready to deploy as soon as it is safe to do so after Dorian has passed.

QUESTION 3: How do I find out if I’m in an evacuation zone?

ANSWER 3: Residents can check their evacuation zone by clicking here or visiting https://fullsite.palmcoastgov.com/emergency/evacuation-zones

The City’s Customer Service reps have also received a few reports of downed trees through Palm Coast Connect, which is the City’s customer service platform. This is the first year Palm Coast Connect is available to residents and a valuable tool for the City during the cleanup process.

Palm Coast Connect is online at www.palmcoastconnect.com and also available through a free app. It allows residents to report an issue or concern - any time or place. Residents are more engaged and kept more up-to-date through this tool on when and how their concern is handled as they can track how it’s addressed every step of the way through completion.

During and after a storm, examples of concerns reported to Palm Coast Connect would be downed trees, impassable roads, localized flooding, and pep tank alarms. The Palm Coast Connect app is now available in both the Apple and Google Play App Stores. Palm Coast Connect is not a substitute for 9-1-1.

Customer Service can be reached at 386-986-2360.