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December 17, 2008

Flagler Beach commission spikes City Hall ballot idea

By KENYA WOODARD

Staff Writer 

FLAGLER BEACH -- Residents wanting to vote up or down on a new City Hall will bedisappointed when they step inside the voting booth in March.

City commissioners opted not to move forward with plans for new municipalheadquarters after a three-hour town hall meeting last week.

The decision means the multi-million dollar project won't be placed on the ballot andarchitect's designs and other preliminary tasks will not be carried out, said CommissionChairwoman Jane Mealy.

In October, the commission approved placing the project on the ballot in March if itagreed to advance it after two town hall meetings. Interim City Manager Bernie Murphywill instead continue to research financing options, Mealy said in a recent telephoneinterview.

Getting the project off the ground hinged on selling the current City Hall -- a move that'sunlikely to happen because of the state of the economy and the paralyzed real estatemarket, she said.

In addition, it's uncertain how much money city officials would receive from grants

 because of the state's dismal financial status, Mealy said.

"It's not something we have to have right away," she said. "I'm hoping that the economywill turn around soon."

Residents offered a mixed reaction to the commission's decision.

Longtime resident Phyllis Carmel, who supports a new City Hall, said in a telephoneinterview commissioners "did the right thing because in reality it's not the right time" for a new facility.

"They've put the baby to bed right now," she said.

Dick Ricardi said he's upset the project won't go to the polls, where he's convinced itwould meet a certain death.

"(The commission) put a hold on spending but kept the issue alive," he said in atelephone interview. "There's many reasons why we shouldn't do this, particularly now."

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In August, Murphy told commissioners it would cost about $4.3 million to build a newCity Hall, while the museum and community center each are more than $950,000.

A combination of money from the city's infrastructure tax and utility reserves, the sale of the existing City Hall and state and federal dollars could be used to finance the project.

It would cost nearly $5.3 million to build just the City Hall and museum, while taggingon a community center would bump the price to $6.2 million.

In a recent telephone interview, Commissioner Ron Vath, who was wary of dipping intocity coffers to pay for the project, said the delay gives Murphy ample time to findadditional outside financing.

While the project's financing came from reserves and not ad valorem taxes, "it's stillmoney we're taking out of the bank," Vath said.

"The problem I was having was spending $300,000 to even see if we could get grants,"he said, referring to the estimated architect's fees.

It's possible that millions of federal stimulus money could be obtained without thearchitect's renderings, Vath said.

He said it's best for city officials to wait until the economy is in better shape before takingup discussions for a new City Hall.

"This isn't forever," he said.

kenya.woodard @news-jrnl.com