Observer
TEACHERS OF THE YEAR PAGES 4-7
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
JANUARY 2021
VOLUME 7, NO. 6
BRIEFS Flagler County closes on sale of utilities to FGUA The sale and transfer of Flagler County utilities to the Florida Governmental Utility Authority (FGUA) was successfully completed Thursday, Dec. 10. “We’ve been working toward this end for quite a while, and was the most complicated transaction I’ve ever been involved in,” said County Administrator Jerry Cameron. “This is a big day both for us and the customers of the utility systems as FGUA can better serve them because of their industry-specific expertise.” The assets that transferred to FGUA are the water and wastewater utilities that serve the Beverly Beach, Eagle Lakes, and Plantation Bay areas — almost 2,800 customers. The sale and transfer retires Flagler County’s debt on the utilities. It provides a seat on the FGUA Board to a designee of the Flagler County Commission. Cameron has been named, and will attend his first meeting December 17. A couple of minor technical issues remain to be finalized, such as closing out two grants for utility generators. “This is going to be so much better for our residents served by these utilities,” Cameron said. “FGUA is the answer for a utility that provides reliable, continuous service.”
Plantation Bay sports mini-camps are a hit with kids. PAGE 2
ON A ROLL
Golf pro, Ulrika Smith and Jaxon Mulligan can barely contain themselves.
Vaccine slots fill up fast BRIAN MCMILLAN
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EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Day Two of Flagler County COVID-19 vaccinations finished by lunch time on Tuesday, Jan. 5, with a tone of celebration for the 265 who got their shots, as well as frustration for those who tried to get an appointment but couldn’t due to an overwhelmed phone system and online scramble for time slots. “It’s been wild,” said Bob Snyder, Flagler’s health officer for the Florida Department of Health. “But it’s been a meaningful experience, very positive. … I wish we could get everyone who wants it now, but we have a limited quantity.” The 265 vaccinations brought the total to 806, after 541 (mostly health care workers) were vaccinated on Jan. 2, at the Fla-
gler County Fairgrounds. Flagler has been given 1,700 Moderna vaccine doses by the state, so about 900 remain, but they’re spoken for: Available vaccination appointments in Flagler are booked through Monday already. The DOH will learn on Jan. 8 how many more doses will be coming our way. “It’s frustrating for us not knowing, but it’s our fault, and it’s not the state’s fault, either,” Emergency Management Chief Jonathan Lord said. “It’s just that the vaccine [doses] don’t exist.” Appointments were made via Eventbrite (shorturl.at/jsxIP); or by calling the Emergency Operations Center at 386-3134200. (All slots are “sold out.”) Some struggled with Eventbrite, Lord said. If you added a time slot to your online cart, it
was possible to click the button to make the reservation only to be told that it was no longer available, Lord said, because someone else had clicked the button a second earlier. A new waiting list — and a statewide system — are in the works and could be available soon. Some were also frustrated that non-Flagler residents apparently got vaccinated here. But federal guidelines don’t require you to get vaccinated near where you live. That means Flagler residents can also find an appointment in another city if they want to. Regional sites in Florida will also open soon, Lord said. Locally, the EOC’s call center staff of five was overloaded with calls on Jan. 4. “There were more people
Photos by Michele Meyers
calling in here than there were phone lines in county government,” Lord said. “Every single one of them was tied up, and we couldn’t even make outbound calls for the county. We are limited by the tools that are at our disposal. We get it, it is frustrating, but we are trying our best to support the state’s vaccination efforts.” Lord said he was personally answering calls and emails until 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 4. He started again at 6 a.m. Jan. 5. The DOH had 75 people working at the fairgrounds on Jan. 5, divided into four stations to administer the vaccine. They were supported logistically by Flagler County Emergency Management. Those who got the vaccine were “thrilled” and “comforted,” Snyder said. “It takes a lot of bricks off your shoulders, and it gives you a lot of relief and happiness. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for.”