PALM COAST
Observer
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VOLUME 6, NO. 27
City to end anonymous online code complaints Anonymous complaints could still be filed by mail, in person or by phone. JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR
Palm Coast residents annoyed by the trash can in their neighbor’s yard or the commercial truck in their neighbor’s driveway are used to being able to submit complaints to the city’s code enforcement department anonymously online. Soon, they won’t be able to do that: The City Council is changing its website to prevent anonymous complaints — which could then only be submitted by mail, over the phone or in person — to reduce the number of frivolous complaints the city gets from people using the code enforcement process to anonymously harass neighbors they don’t like. City Attorney Bill Reischmann, opposing the idea of eliminating anonymous code complaints entirely, said at a Tuesday, Aug. 11 City Council workshop that the SEE CODE PAGE 5
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2015
Helping hand for Step-Up? The school district plans talks about budget challenges with county, cities, focusing on adults with disabilities. JACQUE ESTES STAFF WRITER
Flagler Schools officials met with state Sen. Travis Hutson and Rep. Paul Renner in a small conference room at the Flagler Technical Institute Friday, Aug. 7, to discuss the future of the Step-Up and Community Inclusion programs for adults with disabilities. On July 1, funds that counties throughout the state depended on for years for their adults with disability programs were cut from the state budget without warning. The meeting location was appropriate: The people whose futures the officials were discussing — adults with disabilities — were busy in the room behind them. When the meeting ended, Hutson and Renner heard directly from those affected. “Please don’t take my paycheck away,” Linda, a client at Step-Up in Flagler, asked Renner. “I like it here, and I like to work.” Renner told her that was what
Jacque Estes
State Sen. Travis Hutson meets with clients at Flagler Technical Institute, after meeting with staff about state budget cuts.
the meeting was about, and they were working on it. FUNDING
The 45-minute meeting wasn’t a blaming session, it was problem solving meeting. The Step-Up program had been partnering with the Stewart
Marchman-Act, and to qualify for the programs, the clients have to apply for the home- and community-based Medicaid waiver through the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. The Agency for Persons with Disabilities was given $40 million for state programs as a whole, but there was some confusion as to
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how the money was being allocated. FTI Center Manager Jeanne Elliott said she was told the APD grant was not a stopgap for the lost country grant, and that the most FTI would receive would be $10,000, for 18 clients, for three SEE PROGRAMS PAGE 4
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Courtesy photo
PALM COAST GROWS BY ONE
SPORTS 15 You might know Steve Shead, from Bunnell’s Boulevard Tire, but did you know he is a dirt-track racer?
BEACH VS. COUNTY PAGE 3 NEW FOOD PANTRY PAGE 3
Lee Gosson and Joy Davies enjoy the showing of Donald Kolberg’s painting artwork at I AM ART. It was one of three art events last week. PAGES MORE ON 20-23
Information provided by the Florida Agricultural Museum: The Florida Agricultural Museum has a new addition to its herd of cracker cattle: a red bull calf, born on Friday, July 24. “We are thrilled about the new addition to the museum family,” said museum Executive Director Andrew Morrow. “Cracker cattle are an important component of Florida’s agricultural heritage.”