PALM COAST
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VOLUME 16, NO. 19
Bunnell votes down Reserve, 4-1 8,000 homes had been proposed, but it was seen as too much, too fast. PAGE 4A
Help for homeless students
Mom’s imminent deportation devastates Palm Coast family Teen daughter and siblings face uncertainty as mom is being held in detention. 5A
Tour through time Bunnell celebrates over 100 years in first History Day event. PAGE 4B
Lloyd-Miller is a passionate advocate for 394 students without homes. PAGE 2A INSIDE SHORING UP A1A
Flagler County Historical Society Secretary Theresa Owen and society member Polly Conkling gave tours of the Little Red Schoolhouse at the June 7, 2025, Bunnell History Day. Photo by Brian McMillan
CRONK RETIRES
Palm Coast fire responded to over 17,000 calls in 2024
FDOT’s buried seawall projects in Flagler Beach and Ormondby-the-Sea near completion, just in time for hurricane season. PAGE 3A
Buddy Taylor Middle School principal Cara Cronk retires, leaving Flagler Schools with two vacancies. PAGE 4A
SPORTS
7v7 summer soccer league features Matanzas, Flagler Palm Coast teams. PAGE 6B
The PCFD’s goal is to respond to every call in less than seven minutes. In 2024, it met that goal 72% of the time. SIERRA WILLIAMS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
INDEX
Business..................... PAGE 5B Calendar..................... PAGE 2B Cops Corner............... PAGE 6A Crossword.................. PAGE 2C Letters........................ PAGE 8A McMillan..................... PAGE 8A Public Notices.............PAGE 7C Sports......................... PAGE 6B Tributes ...................... PAGE 2C Real Estate..................PAGE 7A
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The Palm Coast Fire Department responded to over 17,200 calls for service in 2024, reaching 72% of them in under seven minutes. The department’s goal is to respond to at least 85% of calls in less than seven minutes, which is the standard set by the Palm Coast City Council. Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill told the Observer that the lag is because the closest fire station in the Seminole Woods area is the Flagler County airport station. “That station is in a location where a huge part of its response area — you could never meet our response goal,” Berryhill said. “Predictive data shows that the travel distance from the airport down both Belle Terre and Seminole Woods boulevards — you can barely get a third of the way down in seven minutes.” The problem should be fixed with the new Station 26 in Seminole Woods, Berryhill said, which is currently under construction. The number of calls fielded by
the PCFD has also increased “dramatically” over the years, Berryhill said to the Palm Coast City Council at its May 10 workshop meeting. In 2023, the department received 15,000 calls for service, compared to the 17,200 calls in 2024. The new Fire Stations 22 and 26 — in the east Palm Coast Parkway and Seminole Woods Boulevard areas of Palm Coast — are under construction and set to be completed in 2022. Despite the new stations, Berryhill said the PCFD budget doesn’t include any new fire personnel requests, as the City Council has already funded the personnel in previous budgets. While the current Fire Station 22 staff will just move to the new building, Station 26 will have nine Palm Coast firefighters — three per shift — to six Flagler County Fire Rescue paramedics, two per shift. “They’ve already given us the staff, and the staff are already in place, which we actually believe is a best practice,” Berryhill said. The department will, however, be replacing two of its fire apparatus trucks in the next budget year. Engine 22 is budgeted to cost $900,000 while Tower 24 is projected to cost $1,900,000. The PCFD already has the funding available to purchase the two replacement trucks, Berryhill said. And because the department will pay for them in full, he said, the cost of both trucks is $120,000 less.
Palm Coast Fire Department Tower 24 is one of two trucks that are being replaced in the next fiscal year. Courtesy of the PCFD
Of a larger concern is the wait for delivery: It can take 30-40 months for a purchased engine to be delivered, due to supply chain issues, Berryhill said. However, he said, PCFD was able to “jump the line” by taking over the purchase of a tower someone else started. That not only saves the PCFD “a pretty significant” amount off the Tower
24 replacement costs, but also halves the amount of time the city will need to wait for the replacement, he said. “We’re saving both time and money by having some flexibility,” Berryhill said, “and because the City Councils, for years, have committed to saving to keep our fleet in good order.”