HMO 09 2020

THE HAMMOCK

Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

ICW CLEANUP 10 FREE • SEPTEMBER 2020

VOLUME 5, NO. 3

Eminent domain for dune holdout County will pursue eminent domain for two properties blocking beach renourishment project PAGE 9

New app to help in rescues JULIE MURPHY FLAGLER COUNTY PIO

First responders across Flagler County are being trained to use a new search-and-rescue app that improves their safety, and allows them to share accurate data to improve the awareness of those conducting the search.

The GIS (geographic information system)-based phone app, powered by ESRI’s “Quick Capture,” provides live tracking of individual search-and-rescue members, hazards reporting with the push of a button, and – provided there is cell tower coverage – instantaneous, accurate data sharing back to the home base.

The app’s creation was funded by the Florida Fire Chiefs Association under a contract with the National Association for Public Safety GIS. The app is currently being used in Georgia, the Carolinas, and Kentucky.

“This is a huge change just in one year,” said GIS Manager Darlene Pardiny during a joint training Tuesday, Sept. 1, with Flagler County and Palm Coast firefighters.

When in use, the application marks continuously the travel path of the first responder, said GIS Analyst/UAS Coordinator Matt Adams.

‘Surrounded by

heroes’ Flagler Beach pier hosts 9-11 remembrance PAGE 6

Flagler Beach Fire Chief Bobby Pace and City Commissioner Ken Bryan drop red roses into the ocean.

BRIAN MCMILLAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR

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Trigger point Pandemic and race riots lead to ‘unprecedented’ gun sales

Photo by Brian McMillan

Elite Warrior Firearms owner Todd Glaczenski said it’s been difficult to keep guns in stock. “There’s been times where I’m almost a gunless gun store,” he said.

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wo sisters, each over 60 years old, walked into Elite Warrior Firearms in Ormond Beach recently, and each bought an AR-15 with several magazines of ammunition.

“They’re scared,” said Todd Glaczenski, owner of the gun shop. “They were buying them for protection.”

Glaczenski, who opened his shop at 1360 N. U.S. 1, Suite 104, in February, just before the pandemic took hold in the United States, said interest in guns is so high, in fact, that he is having a difficult time keeping inventory in stock. More than half are firsttime gun buyers.

About 14 miles north, at Larry’s Guns and Ammo in Bunnell, Manager Kirk Chong tells a similar story. He said he was teach-

Photo by Brian McMillan

ing about 30 people per month in concealed-carry classes last summer; this summer, he’s been teaching more than 500 people per month.

“Everybody says the same things,” Chong said. “We hear it every day: ‘I’m a new gun buyer.’

I must have heard, ‘This world’s getting crazy,’ about 10 million times a day. They want to get their own gun to protect themselves.”

For the most part, Chong said he’s been out of inventory also. He bought 30,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition recently, assuming it would last 90 days. It was gone in 10 days.

“We are currently experiencing unprecedented volume,” a recorded voice says when you call the phone number to another gun shop, Florida Gun Exchange, at 1050 S. Nova Road, in Ormond Beach.

SEE GUNS PAGE 5

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SEPTEMBER 2020

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As unmasked citizens are pushed out, Commissioner Joe Mullins, standing on the left, raises his voice at Commissioner Greg Hansen while Commissioner Charlie Ericksen, at right, draws a deputy’s attention.

THE POLITICS OF

MASKS Residents broke the county’s rule requiring masks in the county’s Government Services Building, and refused to comply when told to mask up or leave.

JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR

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eputies guided the entire audience out of a crowded County Commission meeting Sept. 9 after a small group of attendees — there to call for the firing of local health department officials — refused to comply with the building’s mask requirement, disrupting the meeting with shouts and prompting a vulgar spat at the commission dais.

After the meeting restarted, a handful of people from the antimask group spoke to argue for the dismissal of Florida Department of Health-Flagler Health Officer Bob Snyder and Medical Director Dr. Stephen Bickel, accusing the men of “fear-mongering” and at times blaming them for decisions which they had no part in, such as business closures that had been required by the state, not the county.

When the group first filed into the commission chambers without masks, after passing through the building’s front doors where signs are posted stating that masks are required, Chairman David Sullivan’s tone was conciliatory.

“We’ve got over 50 people in this room, and we’re all going to have to have masks on unless you’re speaking,” Sullivan told the crowd. “So if you don’t have a mask on, either put one on or leave, get a mask, and then come back. So I’ll wait till that happens.”

The group didn’t move and didn’t mask. Sullivan asked them again, twice, and again, none compiled.

Sheriff Rick Staly walked over

and addressed the crowd.

Establishments, government buildings included, have the right to set guidelines on masks and to tell people to leave if they won’t comply. When someone refuses to leave after being told to do so, they’re trespassing — and can be escorted out by law enforcement, if needed, and charged if they resist.

“I’m trying to be as cooperative as possible,” Sullivan warned.

“I don’t know what else to do except say I’m not going to start the meeting until everybody has a mask on.”

Commissioner Joe Mullins said he wanted to weigh in. Sullivan and Commissioner Greg Hansen told him not to, because the meeting hadn’t officially started yet.

“I’m weighing in as a citizen. So you all are gonna tell me I can’t as a citizen? Then I’ll walk out as with them as well,” Mullins said.

Other commissioners told him to go ahead.

The maskless among the audience applauded, and some began shouting.

“You guys are way overstepping your boundaries,” one yelled.

“This is America, land of the free!”

Sullivan called for the meeting to adjourn and then reconvene in 15 minutes, and deputies began herding the audience out of the building.

Mullins walked over to Hansen, jabbed a finger toward him, and — in comments that were picked up by a microphone and became a topic of conversation in the crowd — raised his voice and called Hansen a “fat son of a b---” before walking off as a deputy approached.

Mullins apologized to Han-

sen shortly before the meeting resumed, saying he’d misspoken.

COMPLAINTS ABOUT HEALTH DEPARTMENT

About 20 minutes after meeting attendees were guided out of the commission chambers by deputies, they were allowed back in: The unmasked were still unmasked, but were allowed to sit in the front of the room, spaced every other seat.

Sullivan rearranged the meeting schedule to allow them to speak first, with the requirement that they’d leave after they’d said what they wanted to say.

Resident Mark Phillips was first. Phillips stated a series of inaccuracies while accusing health department officials Dr. Stephen Bickel and Bob Snyder of spreading false information.

“Since the beginning of COVID, the situation has been grossly mishandled, in my opinion,” Phillips said. “Beaches were closed against the directives of the state health department, parks were closed against the directives of the state health department, and businesses were shut down which is a violation of our constitution.”

Phillips’ assertions were incorrect.

The county’s park closures did not contravene state directives: The state allowed counties and cities to decide on their own whether or not to close beaches and parks according to local conditions. (State parks also closed around Florida, and in some cases stayed closed longer than Flagler’s.)

Business restrictions, meanwhile, occurred at the direction of the state government, not local officials.

Phillips said masks don’t work because “a piece of cloth or a mask on the face to this virus is like a chainlink fence trying to stop a fly.”

Although it is true that virus particles themselves are smaller than the gaps between cloth mask fibers, the claim that this renders masks useless misconstrues how masks work: Virus particles are transmitted not on their own, but, rather, on water droplets that are much larger — that’s what masks are intended to block, and peerreviewed research has shown that, worn properly, they do so.

Phillips called for the resignation of Bickel and Snyder.

Phillips was followed by Lisa Perkins, who noted that an executive order from the governor had defined recreational activities such as walking, hiking, biking and fishing as “essential activities.”

“However, based on their [Bickel’s and Snyder’s] advisement, our parks, our beaches our fishing pier and our trails were all shut down, leaving us without anywhere to conduct the essential activities,” she said.

Flagler County, acting on the advice of both health department and county emergency management staff, closed most of its parks and limited beach access on March 23, but began reopening them a few weeks later.

Another resident, Darlene Maria Darcey, said that when lockdowns began, people had been told the restrictions would be for two weeks to a month, to keep hospitals from being overrun.

“We’re seven months later, with no end in sight,” she said.

She blamed “constant fearmongering” from Bickel and Snyder, calling them “unelected voices.”

Darcey added that her daughter is a surgeon and had told her to ditch the mask and make sure to exercise, drink enough water, maintain good hygiene, and socialize because it’s good for mental health.

COMMISSIONERS BACK HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Snyder, speaking a few minutes after the anti-mask residents had left the room, opted to thank his staff for their dedication, and then mostly let the statistics do the talking.

“A National Geographic article from a week ago that tracks positive cases and deaths by each county and state in the nation,” he said, “showed that on a per capita basis, as measured by cases per 10,000 people, Flagler County has the lowest case rate in the state, at 125.1 per 10,000 people, and the third lowest death rate per 100,000 people at 15.”

He added, “This is a remarkable outcome, and one such as this does not occur by accident.

Absolutely not! ... This good outcome takes all of us to achieve, including every resident who complies with commonsense, simple, inexpensive acts like mask wearing, social distancing, avoiding large crowds.”

Sullivan thanked Snyder for his remarks, and said that Snyder and Bickel are “doing a great job.”

Hansen and Commissioner Charlie Ericksen agreed.

Mullins also commended them.

“Bob, I want to thank you guys for the work you’re doing over at the health department; you all are doing a phenomenal job,” he said.

He added, “I’m fully supportive with you guys; I want to make that publicly stated. If me wearing a mask will save someone else, then I don’t have a selfish bone in my body to not do that, and that’s what we need to do as a community.”

Commissioner Donald O’Brien expressed his gratitude for the health department and noted how many services it provides that have nothing to do with the pandemic, including health care for school children and the indigent.

“It’s comprehensive, and it affects the entire community,” O’Brien said. “It’s a sad day when we have to politicize the Department of Health.”

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SEPTEMBER 2020

HEALTH OFFICER BOB SNYDER’S REMARKS In the Sept. 9 meeting, Florida Department of Health-Flagler Health Officer Bob Snyder praised the work of his staff and said the low case rate in Flagler did not happen by accident. He continued: “We have recently experienced good news about decrease in cases, less hospitalizations and emergency room visits related to COVID-19.

This is hopeful, and we have been trending in the right direction.

But, we are not out of the woods yet until a safe and effective vaccine is broadly distributed.

“We still anticipate occasional spikes in activity, like the one the last five days.

This was expected with the return of traditional classes in our schools, and sure enough, during the last two weeks, 20-plus students and school district staff have been isolated as positive cases, and numerous individuals have been identified as close contacts, and are now in quarantine.

“Also, we’ve seen a spike in cases at three longterm care facilities, which is very uncharacteristic for Flagler County. ...

“In addition to these occasional upticks, we have flu season right around the corner and hurricane season reaching its peak, so now is not the time to be complacent — but still a time of hope and comfort, knowing that together, we obviously know what to do. ...

“So, we just have to hang in there a few more months. We are now planning for vaccine administration...

“So I really think that this is a time of thanks, this is a time to be grateful.”

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SEPTEMBER 2020

Flagler dispatcher and deputies save two lives, one hour apart Communications Center starting tracking lives saved by dispatchers on the ‘Tree of Life’ painted on a wall of the center.

BRITTANY KERSHAW FCSO PUBLIC AFFAIRS MANAGER

Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Communications Specialist McKenzie Davis saved two lives in two separate incidents on Sunday, Sept. 6, within an hour of each other.

Around 3:33 p.m. Davis answered a call from a mother stating that her 6-month-old child was not breathing. The mother was frantic, and Davis worked to calm her down while getting her prepared to administer CPR to the infant. Davis walked the mother through CPR instructions and counted aloud over the phone to ensure the compressions were being done at the proper speed. After a full round of CPR, the baby began breathing and moving again. The baby was transported to a children’s hospital for further observation.

Almost exactly an hour later, at 4:38 p.m., Davis answered another 911 call where a woman reported that her 71-year-old husband was in the pool and was not breathing. Davis instructed the caller to get the man out of the water, which was accomplished by family members on scene.

Since no one on scene was trained to do CPR, Davis told the caller to put the phone on speaker so that

Davis could provide instructions.

Davis gave instructions and counted aloud while the family took turns performing compressions. Davis continued instructions until deputies arrived on scene.

Deputy Strack then took over CPR while Deputy Denker attached his automated external defibrillator to the patient, which advised a shock was not needed.

Paramedics arrived on scene and indicated that the patient had a strong pulse and he was transported to the hospital by ambulance. The patient is expected to fully recover.

“911 is the number you call in your darkest hour, and it is the voice on the other end of the line that can help you through

ACCREDITED COMMS CENTER The FCSO Communications Center is an accredited 911 center and serves as the countywide Public Safety Answering Point for all Emergency 911 calls. The center answers all emergency and nonemergency phone calls and provides dispatch services for the Sheriff’s Office, the cities of Bunnell and Flagler Beach Police Departments, Flagler County Fire/Rescue, City of Palm Coast Fire Department, and the Flagler Beach Fire Department.

whatever situation you are facing,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “In these cases, McKenzie was able to not only calm the callers down enough to listen to the instructions, but she was also able to count with them to ensure they were doing compressions as often as required. Already this year she has helped save four lives. She is a true hero and a great partner with our deputies in the field.”

Just one month ago, on Aug. 5, Davis answered a 911 call from a mother stating that her 1-yearold daughter was having a seizure and stopped breathing. Davis provided CPR instructions to the parents and counted aloud to make sure the compressions were done accurately. After a round of compressions, the baby spit up and began breathing again. First responders arrived on scene and examined the child to make sure she was OK. This year the Communications Center starting tracking lives saved by dispatchers on the “Tree of Life” painted on a wall of the center. Each dispatcher’s name is written on a leaf and a heart is added for every life saved. The Tree of Life is quickly filling up as 911 dispatchers handle emergency calls and continue to save lives.

In June, Communication Specialist Joana De Guzman received a Life-Saving Award for walking a caller through CPR instructions when their family member stopped breathing.

Although the tree began in 2020, many other 911 dispatchers have made a difference by providing life-saving instructions prior to the tree.

Courtesy photo

Communications Specialist McKenzie Davis.

In 2019, Communications Specialist Candice Cole provided CPR instructions to a caller who wasn’t sure if his neighbor was breathing or not. Cole asked for the caller to describe the breathing and was able to determine that it was agonal (gasping, labored) and quickly provided CPR instructions resulting in saving the patient’s life.

The hearts on the Tree of Life not only represents when a 911 dispatcher saves a life, but also when they assist in bringing life into the world. Communications Supervisor Amy Sisti received a heart for providing instructions to a father to help deliver his baby boy.

“These are just a few examples of the amazing work that our 9-11 dispatchers do to help our community,” Sheriff Staly added.

The hearts on the Tree of Life not only represents when a 911 dispatcher saves a life, but also when they assist in bringing life into the world.

Alliance Financial Partners Celebrates 10 Years in Serving the Community he team at Alliance Financial Partners is pleased to celebrate this milestone of 10 years in business in Flagler County.

“We’re grateful for the all of the local and nationwide individuals and families that have entrusted us with their investments and retirement planning over the past decade,” said Edward Herrera, CEO and Co-Founder.

At Alliance Financial Partners we use a team approach to serve our clients’ needs. “All of our staff recognizes the importance of being able to sit down face-to-face and receive sound financial advice that is easy to understand,” says Herrera. We focus on the “why” behind the planning process.

“We realize that financial decisions can be complex, and everyone’s goals and needs are unique,” said David Fowler, President/CFO. Aside from working on their practice, Fowler & Herrera have spent the past 10 years getting involved at a deeper level in the community. The partners and their team support local organizations and have served on boards such as the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce, Family Life Center, Advent Health Foundation, Flagler County Education Foundation, Auditorium Governing Board, as well as local ministries like Grace Community Food Pantry and Emmanuel’s Closet to name

a few.

“We never thought we’d be celebrating our anniversary in the current climate, but we’re proud to be here for our clients and community in these unprecedented times,” said Fowler.

“We’re excited for where the next 10 years will take us, both with our clients and as we serve our community here in Flagler County.”

Edward Herrera David Fowler

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Why are so many people buying guns?

LOCKDOWNS AND LOOTING

Both Elite and Larry’s had similarly big sales numbers when the government began talking about locking down society in March, and then again when they saw looting and riots during police brutality protests in June.

“People were concerned that other people would get stupid and try to rob and loot,” Chong said. “We were sold out; there was such a rush on it. … We get calls 10 times a day from people looking for 9 mm, double-ought buck. But there’s just nothing out there at the moment.”

Chong called it “panic buying.”

“When the pandemic started, people were coming in, thinking, ‘We should get a handgun,’” Glaczenski said. “But the moment you saw those riots — I had three older guys from Palm Coast standing at my door. By noontime, every AR-15 was gone. I sold 16.”

Glaczenski added: “I don’t want to be Mr. Extremist Crazy Guy here, but you’ve watched it take place in major cities — people being assaulted, people’s livelihoods being destroyed, looting, the votes to defund police — it scares people. The biggest reason why these first-time gun buyers are buying guns is because they’re scared and they want to be able to protect themselves.”

Observer “If we are to build a better world, we must remember that the guiding principle is this — a policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy.”

Friedrich Hayek “Road to Serfdom,” 1944

SECOND AMENDMENT THREATS

When he goes into local gun shops, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said during Aug. 21’s “Free For All Friday on WNZF, “it looks like the supermarket before a hurricane.

They have very few guns left. …

You see this at every presidential election because of threats made by some political parties against the Second Amendment.”

Glaczenski agrees. “Whereas there used to be a happy medium with firearms, now all the talk you’re hearing from one political party is they’re going to take away our guns,” he said. “You’re hearing a lot of political rhetoric.”

The Second Amendment states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Putting guns in the hands of the people is essential to our security, Glaczenski believes.

BY THE NUMBERS Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly reported on Aug. 28, during WNZF’s “Free For All Friday,” that guns are playing a bigger role in crimes in Flagler County. Percentage of aggravated assaults involving a firearm are up:  2019: 16%  2020: 38%

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SEPTEMBER 2020

THE HAMMOCK

Pandemic and race riots lead to ‘unprecedented’ gun CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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Customer Joe Colmone, with Larry’s Guns and Ammo owner Larry Beighle and Manager Kirk Chong.

Meanwhile, a 2019 Gallup poll showed that 64% of those surveyed preferred stricter federal gun laws. By comparison, in 2009, the same poll showed that 44% wanted stricter gun laws.

PROTECTION AND SPORT

Glaczenski has heard the arguments against high-end guns before: Why would anyone need an AR-15?

“Why do you need a car that exceeds the speed limit?” he said.

In reality, the AR-15 is lighter than a hunting rifle and is a good choice for protecting your home, he said.

“I don’t think anyone buys any of these weapons in hopes that they have to use them for anything other than enjoyment, but it gives them peace of mind,” he said.

Many of Glaczenski’s customers who buy guns for protection

end up falling in love with the sport of shooting.

“I certainly enjoy shooting,” he said. “It’s fun. I think it’s jewelry for guys, the pride of owning rare weapons, high-end guns.”

Despite the camouflaged gun and the deer on the wall at Larry’s in Bunnell, Chong said he doesn’t sell guns to many hunters — only for those who shoot for sport and who want guns for self protection.

Many are retirees from northern states that have more restrictive gun rules, he said.

Bunnell resident Joe Colmone stopped into Larry’s on Aug. 28 as a customer. He said he owns multiple guns and has given advice to many of his friends who have been looking into buying their first.

“They want to protect themselves,” he said. “The news puts the fear in people.”

Email editor@palmcoastobserver.com.

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SEPTEMBER 2020

The Knights of Columbus led the procession with a flag ceremony on the pier.

Photos by Brian McMillan

Remembering 9/11 Among those in attendance was Rudy Andre, a former NYPD detective who helped sift through debris after the attack in 2001.

BRIAN MCMILLAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR

A

fter a brief rain on the morning of Sept. 11, the American flag whipped in the wind as it was carried to end of the Flagler Beach pier, under a rainbow. The crowd gathered to hear stories, to sing and pray together, to remember.

After speeches by Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly and Knights of Columbus District 17 Deputy Kevin Ryan, many dropped red roses toward the blue-green water below.

‘THE HELP I COULD GIVE’

Rudy Andre was one among many in uniform on the pier. He retired as a detective in Harlem with the New York Police Department in 1979 and moved to Flagler Beach in 1992. When the towers were attacked, he booked a flight at his own expense and flew to New York City to find a way to help.

He ended up volunteering for a month, sifting through hundreds of millions of tons of World Trade Center debris on a conveyor belt, at a landfill.

“It was probably the hardest thing I had to do,” he said.

He saw hundreds of shoes. He remembers that their treads were partly worn out, and many still had laces tied. It was harrowing to think how the shoes had remained intact while those who wore them had not.

His objective at that conveyor belt was to find ways to identify those who had been killed. One woman was identified by a Macy’s credit card. Another man by his revolver. A firefighter was identified by fingerprints on a left hand that came through the debris.

But he found that the debris, which was four inches deep on the conveyor belt, was moving too quickly for the volunteers to be truly thorough. So he left his post and brought a rake and a pail to the end of the line, so he could be a second set of eyes.

“I identified hundreds that way,” he recalled. “It was the help I could give.”

When Andre came across a glass shard from a World Trade Center window, he plucked it off the conveyor belt. Typically, he keeps it on display on a mirror with some other items at his house, and it was on display for some time at the Flagler Beach Historical Museum, to help

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Michael Pugliese

‘HONORING OUR DEAD’ The scene by the sea struck a personal note for Navy veteran Frank Consentino, color guard commander for Knights of Columbus Assembly 2810.

He watched the events of Sept. 11, 2001, unfold on TV from his home in New Hampshire.

“It was another Pearl Harbor,” he recalled thinking, “and the tears started to come down my face.”

Consentino served for six years in the Navy, long after Pearl Harbor, but he is a student of military history. He has traced his family history back generations and has identified 47 ancestors who served a total of 225 years of military service, going back to 1774.

“The location, at the pier, is very appropriate,” he said. “I have a certain love affair with the sea because I was a sailor. We honored our dead by burying them at sea, so by dropping a [rose] into the sea, we are honoring our dead and the ones who survived.”

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SEPTEMBER 2020

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everyone remember what happened on Sept. 11.

But on the Flagler Beach pier, he had it in a pocket in his uniform.

“I keep it close to me this particular day,” he said.

‘NEVER SEEN AGAIN’

John Feind, a former four-term Flagler Beach city commissioner, arrived at the pier ceremony in the uniform he wore as a captain before he retired from the Newark Police Department. He knew at least one person who died on Sept. 11, 2001: Anthony Infante.

Feind was in charge of the cadet program in the police academy many years ago, and Infante was one of the recruits he oversaw.

Later, Infante became a deputy chief for the Port Authority.

“They saw the plane strike, and he and his staff got on the tubes and were never seen again,” Feind said, referring to the New York subway system. “I think about him on Sept. 11.”

‘SURROUNDED BY HEROES’

Kevin Ryan, deputy for District 17 of the Knights of Columbus, spoke at the ceremony on the pier

Flagler Beach City Commissioner Ken Bryan

Rudy Andre

Rudy Andre carried a piece of a World Trade Center window with him on Sept. 11, 2020.

and recalled knowing Michael Judge, who was identified as the first person to have died on Sept.

11.

“We are surrounded by heroes,” Ryan said. “He is only one of many.

But he was a shining example for us to remember that we are here for a much bigger purpose, and that’s to take care of each other. …

These heroes run to danger. They continue to run to danger.”

MOURNING IN UNIFORM

One New York Fire Department firefighter served in his own way.

Michael Pugliese retired in July

The Rev. Manny Lopez, of Santa Maria del Mar Catholic Church, said a prayer for the occasion.

John Feind, former four-time Flagler Beach city commissioner

2001, just two months before after the towers fell.

“I had my bags packed,” he said, planning to go downtown and help.

But his wife didn’t want him to go, fearing it would be too dangerous. Instead, he wore his uniform to dozens of memorial services and funerals. His uniform became his symbol of mourning.

Pugliese moved to Flagler Beach 10 years ago and dropped a rose off the pier at the end of the ceremony.

RUNNING TO DANGER

Staly shared a story of John Perry.

The text of his speech is as follows: “Nineteen years ago, on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, offduty police officer John Perry, of the 40th precinct in the Bronx, went to police headquarters to file his retirement papers.

“When he heard the explosion as hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center, Tower one, he raced to the site without hesitation.

“Sadly, like many others, Officer John Perry never returned. I don’t think anyone would have blamed him if he had decided to stay behind that day. But, he was a cop, through and through. He knew what he had to do.

“He, like so many other first responders, ran toward the danger, not from it — many for the last time.

“2,977 people died in the attacks on September 11, and many more have passed away since, due to illnesses they contracted running into the World Trade Center buildings to help others. Over 400 first responders are among the dead.

“He, like so many other first responders, ran toward the danger, not from it — many for the last time.”

SHERIFF RICK STALY shared a story of John Perry

A rainbow appeared after a brief rain shower.

“Today, we mourn their loss, share their stories and commemorate their incredible valor. The men and women lost that day will forever live on in the hearts of family members who love them, the friends who remember them and a nation that honors them, now and forever. We will never forget! May God continue to bless their families and our nation!”

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How the pandemic has dealt a blow to veterans services

BRIAN MCMILLAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR

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In normal times, about two dozen veterans get their only good meal of the day when they eat lunch together at American Legion Post 267, in Ormond Beach. During the pandemic, however, that meal was canceled for four of the past six months before the post was able to reopen again, on New Britain Avenue.

It’s just one example of the pandemic’s financial and emotional toll on veterans and on the organizations that support them.

“Being a single guy that lives alone, not having the meals affected me,” said Jerry Gomes, a Vietnam veteran who is also on the executive committee of Post 267. “This was my normal lunch, been that way for 10 years. When you live totally alone — I live in a 10-by-10 room — when I can get out and see people and just say hello, it’s a bonus.”

Camaraderie, for many, is just as important as the food.

Many veterans feel ostracized and can’t talk to nonveterans about their troubles, but the experience is much different at a gathering of veterans.

“They’ll say, ‘I know what you’re talking about. The same thing happened to me,’” said Jim Bowers, Vietnam veteran who is now commander for American Legion District 17, which includes 14 posts in Volusia, Flagler and Putnam counties. “People are finally able to be accepted.”

Keith Tremblay, commander of the Veterans of Foreign War Post 8696, said the building on Old Kings Road in Palm Coast is a “safe place.”

“War veterans usually don’t talk about it,” said Tremblay, who was in the Navy for seven years, including five years on submarines. “It’s a painful memory for them. But when they get around guys who were in it with them, they can talk about it. My father was in World War II, and the only story he ever told me, I pressed him for it before he passed away.”

Even though the VFW Post 8696 building is open, many are too nervous about the pandemic to visit. Over 60% of the membership is over 60 years old, Tremblay said. But those who do attend are able to feel connected.

“A lot of our members, this is the only place to go,” said John Darrow, a Vietnam veteran who manages the canteen for VFW Post 8696. “A lot are widowers, and their families are up north.

It’s very important to these people. The socializing prevents a lot of mental disease.”

Tremblay added: “Emotionally, it’s needed. You have to have it.”

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The pandemic temporarily closed many veteran services organizations, and some remain closed, including the Disabled American Veterans office on Florida Park Drive, in Palm Coast.

Ernie Morris, of DAV Chapter 86, said the Veterans Administration no longer allows the DAV to transport veterans to medical appointments, and volunteers are often in vulnerable populations and unable to help.

“I’m frustrated, discouraged,”

Photos by Brian McMillan

Jim Bowers, commander of American Legion District 17.

Morris said. “I did 24 years in the Navy, and I’m fully retired now.

I’m disabled, and the main thing I do to pass my time is I help veterans get their benefits. … Like everyone else, you reach the point where you get a little depressed over it.”

Each year, Chapter 86 gives about 700 rides to veterans, but now they’re having to do their appointments by phone or video.

Flagler County Veteran Services Officer David Lydon also coordinates medical benefits for veterans and says his own video appointments with a physical therapist sometimes feel “counterintuitive.”

“It’s kind of checking a box that they’re treating you, not the full treatment,” he said. However, many veterans have shown their resilience.

“Veterans are very understanding of what’s going on,” Lydon said. “For the most part, veterans have adapted and overcome. I’m very pleasantly surprised.”

DONATIONS AND FUNDING

While many individuals are adapting, some organizations’ financial opportunities have been lost for good because of the pandemic.

VFW Post 8696 lost $5,000 worth of food when the restaurant had to close down. It has since reopened, but business is still down about 40%, Darrow said.

Event organizers who rented the VFW hall in the past have also had to cancel most events, and that source of revenue is down about 90%, Tremblay said.

That financial hit comes as membership continues to decline.

The VFW accepts only veterans who fought in foreign lands, and today, Post 8696 has 639 members, down from 1,200 five years ago. “Last year, I had to remove 150 members from our rolls because they had passed away,” Tremblay said.

Some VFW posts already have dissolved. Similarly, Bowers said five of the 14 American Legion posts in District 17 are in danger of closing permanently.

HELPING EACH OTHER

Morris said he loves to serve veterans, and he’s not alone. Wayne Zack, of VFW Post 8696, said he helps to distribute day-old bread from supermarkets to veterans.

Tremblay said he recently helped a veteran move furniture. The American Legion and VFW have helped to pay bills for families in need — whether they were veterans or not.

HAMMOCK OBSERVER

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File photo

State Road A1A after Hurricane Matthew. The Army Corps of Engineers project is designed to prevent such damage in the future.

County will pursue eminent domain for two properties blocking project Two properties with a single owner are holding up the multi-million dollar dune to project from storms.

JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR

Flagler County will file suit to begin eminent domain proceedings for two beachfront properties whose owner has not agreed to allow a multi-million dollar beach renourishment project to proceed across the properties.

A decision in favor of the county would allow for the project to occur across the two parcels.

“I, probably as much as anyone, finds the idea of eminent domain to be repugnant,” County Administrator Jerry Cameron told county commissioners during a Sept. 9 County Commission meeting. “But if there is ever a case where you stand to lose tens

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of millions of dollars in insurance by a beach for 50 years, and one person that is not going to be able to make use of those lots anyway will hold that up and cause the rest of the neighbors, and indeed a good part of the rest of the city, to be exposed to extreme peril — if ever there were a case for eminent domain, this is it.”

The project, which would be completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, would add additional sand to build up a dune that would protect the coastal areas behind it from flooding during a future storm such as Hurricane Matthew, which damaged much of State Road A1A and flooded nearby properties. The Army Corps would maintain the

“If ever there were a case for eminent domain, this is it.”

JERRY CAMERON, Flagler County administrator

project for 50 years.

Because any gap in the project would create a breach point that could undermine the safety of everyone, the Corps does not want to proceed unless it will be able to complete the entire, 2.6mile project length.

That requires signed easements from all of the coastal property owners whose properties are in the project length. The county government spent months trying to get people to sign, pointing out that they would retain all of their property rights and that the dune and widened beach would add value to their property by enlarging it. Most owners agreed.

Still, it took a grassroots effort

by Flagler Beach residents — who raised more than $40,000 to pay off a group of holdouts who had been pressing the county for money — to get some to sign, and one property owner who owns two lots still has not done so.

The remaining two properties, County Attorney Al Hadeed pointed out to county commissioners during a Sept. 9 County Commission meeting, are remnants — stretches of beach east of A1A on which nothing, except a beach walkover, can be built.

Hadeed said he expected that the court system would be able to expedite the suit on the basis that the two properties are preventing initiation of the dune project.

The Army Corps is supporting the county’s decision to begin eminent domain proceedings, given that there seems to be no other option, Hadeed said.

“We have made numerous contacts with the owner,” he said.

“They’ve been unsuccessful.”

Several Flagler Beach residents spoke during the meeting’s public comment period. All urged

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SEPTEMBER 2020

the county to pursue eminent domain.

“This holdup ... of this project is a danger to the entire beachside community,” John Cameron said. “Every business that was closed because the highway was torn apart by a raging ocean, and then the repair that took all those months — many of them went under; all of them got seriously hurt. We all got seriously hurt.

The people need you to support this vigorously. ... It’s like a rotten tree hanging over your property, and you tell your neighbor, ‘You’re getting ready to crush my house — take that tree down.’ These people ... have set themselves up, and they have set all of us up, for a disaster, and this is the least painful way for them as well as for us.”

Resident Sisco Deen agreed.

“We’re all in peril over there.

Let’s get it done,” he said.

Ken Bryan, a Flagler Beach city commissioner who noted that he was speaking as a resident, not as a commissioner, said he agreed that eminent domain was the right move.

“There are a lot of residents there that are very, very concerned,” he said. “The businesses, and all of Flagler Beach, could essentially disappear if we have another couple hurricanes like we’ve had in the past.”

County Commissioner Donald O’Brien said he opposes eminent domain in almost every circumstance, but not in this one.

“I think this is a textbook example of where it should be used,” he said.

Other commissioners agreed.

The commission voted 5-0 to have the county government begin eminent domain proceedings.

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SEPTEMBER 2020

“If we don’t keep it clean, nobody else will.”

BRIAN MCMILLAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR

W

ith the sun streaming through the Spanish moss at Herschel King Park on Sept. 12, volunteers filled black plastic bags with trash — including shoes, headlights and a rusty, unopened beer bottle — as part of the city of Palm Coast’s annual Intracoastal Waterway Cleanup.

“This is our city,” said Ariel Curtis, scoutmaster for BSA Girls Troop 4281. “If we don’t keep it clean, nobody else will. We all have to pitch in.”

Curtis, in her sixth year as a leader, has four girls in her troop and hopes to eventually have 10-15 as younger girls advance.

Visit beascout.org and look up Girls Troop 4281 to join.

Also at Herschel King Park was BSA Troop 281 Scoutmaster Jason Wheeler, who was pleased with the scouts’ positive attitude.

“They’ve been cooped up for so long they’re just happy to be outside,” he said.

Wheeler was pleased that 28 boys have remained involved in the troop through unusual times; in-person meetings resumed two weeks ago after a spring and summer of Zoom meetings. Twelve also went to summer camp this year.

“We have great parents,” Wheeler said. “They’re the ones who make this thing go.”

Ariel Curtis, Bsa Girls Troop 4281 Scoutmaster

Juliana Selic, 11; Breia Forwood, 16; Ariel Curtis, Scoutmaster for BSA Girls Troop 428; Braxton Prince, 8; and Rowan Curtis, 15 Above: Shawn Cox, Vanessa Fulghum and Ed Narrington Below: Jason Wheeler has been a scouting volunteer for 12-15 years.

This is his first year as scoutmaster of Troop 281.

Jaci Phillips and her son, Vincent, equipped themselves with battery-powered fans for the cleanup.

13TH-ANNUAL CLEANUP The mascot for the 13thannual event was Sir Otterton the otter, named by city employees in a recent contest.

Past years have had different mascots of animals found in nature such as a dolphin, turtle and manatee.

There were 150 volunteers this year, about half the normal number, according to city staff. Also, there was no ceremony at the Community Center to celebrate the work of the volunteers, due to the pandemic.

“It was great that we were still able to have the event with some major changes, but we will be very happy to hopefully get the event back to normal next year,” said Jordan Myers, environmental planning technician with the city.

Former Senior Patrol Leader Tyler Grady and Assistant Senior Patrol Seth Harding

Since the city’s inaugural event in 2008, volunteers have collected more than 20,000 pounds of trash – each year averages about 2,000 pounds.

The event is supported by a $5,000 Florida Inland Navigation District grant award.

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Senior Patrol Leader Colin Milbrandt, Suzanna Milbrandt and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader Andrew Wheeler

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