Palm Coast Observer Online

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bserver O PALM COAST

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

NEIGHBORHOOD

SPORTS

Family hosts Superheroes 5K to thank community for support after death of daughter. PAGE 15

Seniors play one last time: All-star game showcases soccer’s best. PAGE 11

OUR TOWN

Courtesy photo

Patrick Johnson, Luanne Santangelo and Amy Coopersmith

+ Palm Coast honored as 2015 Healthy Weight Community champ The city of Palm Coast has been honored as a 2015 Healthy Weight Community Champion by the Florida Surgeon General in recognition of the Parks and Recreation Department’s annual Palm Coast Running Series. The Surgeon General of the Florida Department of Health’s Healthiest Weight Florida campaign is a public-private collaboration to help Florida’s children and adults make informed, consistent choices about healthy eating and active living. The Flagler County Health Department supports initiatives that promote healthy weight, said Nurse Practitioner Amy Coopersmith, who is the department’s healthiest weight coordinator. She said: “The Palm Coast Running Series ... encourages citizens to live a healthier lifestyle by making exercise convenient and fun.” Now in its fourth year, the Palm Coast Running Series offers eight runs throughout the year. The two remaining runs in this year’s series are Flagler Sheriff’s PAL Hot Pursuit 5K & Block Party 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at European Village, 101 Palm Harbor Parkway. Register at redpointerrunning.com/flagler-sheriffspal-hot-pursuit-5k.php; and Arbor Day 5K Root Run and 1M Flutter Foam Fun Run 8 a.m. Saturday, May 2, at Central Park in Town Center, 975 Central Ave. Register at palmcoastgov.com/ArborDay.

SEE OUR TOWN / PAGE 18

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

NEWS

Survey: Citizens love city’s appearance, but worry about economy. PAGE 3

flashback By Jonathan Simmons | News Editor

NEW REGULATION

The City Council directed the city manager to negotiate with ATS.

County OKs vacation rental ordinance

Red light cameras to drop from 43 to 5? When Palm Coast’s City Council created its red-light camera program, there was little opposition. City meeting minutes from the years leading up to the program’s 2008 birth recount public comment periods

in which residents bemoaned repeated traffic crashes, and some spoke of their willingness to even pay more in taxes for a camera program that would lead to safer intersections. Now, after years of increas-

ingly vocal opposition, dramatic changes in the state law governing red-light cameras — the Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act, passed in 2010 — and nu-

SEE RED LIGHTS / PAGE 4

surprise! By Jonathan Simmons | News Editor

us were hooting and hollering. But he immediately had tears in his eyes. He’s so humble. He was so touched to be recognized among his peers.” Superintendent Jacob Oliva tried to put Sims’ award in context for the school district. “Any time we can recognize one of our own and give them a pat on the back, we want to do that. But when an outside group does it, it makes it even more special.” Shott said Sims has made a big difference at FPC with regard to advanced placement courses. Many students who could have qualified for AP classes based on their test scores weren’t taking advantage of the opportunity. So, Shott said, Sims “set

SEE SIMS / PAGE 4

SEE RENTALS / PAGE 5

Shanna Fortier

Best in state: Dusty Sims Flagler Palm Coast’s Sims was named Assistant Principal of the Year. ment Award in a Feb. 23 Commissioner’s Summit for Principals Awards Luncheon, in Lake Buena Vista. “I am honored to be recognized among outstanding peers, and I have a great appreciation for Flagler County Schools,” Sims said in his acceptance speech. “I will never forget the lesson taught to me my first year in administration by Superintendent Oliva: ‘Managers manage things, leaders lead people.’ I have tried my best to follow that lesson and allow myself each day the privilege of leading others by serving them.” FPC Principal Lynette Shott was in attendance at the ceremony. She said, “He was excited. When they announced the winner, we were at a table, and all of

The version of the ordinance passed Feb. 19 is more lenient than the November version. The fight over the regulation of short-term vacation rentals in Flagler County ended quietly the evening of Feb. 19 with the County Commission’s passage of a vacation rental ordinance after about 45 minutes of public comment. Only about a dozen people during the meeting’s public comment period, most in favor of the ordinance — a contrast with the last time the county held a public meeting about the ordinance on Nov. 3, when vacation rental owners showed up to say the ordinance was too restrictive and infringed on their property rights. In the interim between the two meetings, at the County Commission’s request, county staff revised the proposed ordinance, loosening some of the requirements that had concerned rental owners. “We did lessen restrictions,” County Administrator Craig Coffey told commissioners at the hearing. “And we probably made both sides unhappy, which means we’re probably closer to a balance.” County staff held 10-15 meetings with residents, he said. Residents, many of them from the Hammock area, told commissioners how the rentals had disrupted their lives. One woman read a letter from another who’d had her home on the market for about two years, but seen buyers pull out when they came to the house and saw the “commotion” from the rental next door. In the meantime, she said, renters’ children ran through her plants, and their pets ran between the houses and relieved themselves in her yard. The revised version of the ordinance presented to com-

Dusty Sims was surprised Tuesday afternoon by a cake celebrations with teachers at Flagler Palm Coast High School in honor of his award.

At a party Feb. 24 back at the high school to celebrate his Florida Assistant Principal of the Year award, Dusty Sims was humble and grateful. “Flagler County schools have raised me,” he said. “They have taught me the value of the people you work with and to always take stock in your people and ask them, ‘What do you need?’ ‘What makes them tick?’” he said in front of family and friends. ““And I hope that I’ve been able to do that. But above that and beyond that I’ve also worked in a district that’s done that for me.” The day before, Sims, an assistant principal at Flagler Palm Coast High School, was awarded Florida’s 2015 Outstanding Assistant Principal Achieve-

Jonathan Simmons | News Editor

INDEX Calendar............ 22 Cops Corner...........8

Classifieds.......... 28 Crossword........... 28

McMillan...............6 Neighborhood..... 15

Real Estate......... 26 Sports................ 11

Vol. 6, No. 4 One section


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