Build City Hall now, at Town Center

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Palm Coast has been an incorporated city for 12 years. Its current population is 75,000, making it one of the largest cities in Northeast Florida.

The city is beautiful and well kept. Its tax rate has remained low and stable. But after 12 years, it still does not have a proper City Hall.

When the city government first recognized that a City Hall should be built, it had the land in Town Center, but access to it had to wait because the roads and other infrastructure at the center had yet to be completed. In the interim, it chose to purchase a building in the industrial park that had recently been put up for sale. The move gave the city an asset that would meet current and short-term expansion needs and prevent the drain of tax dollars that would have resulted if a rental option was chosen.

In my opinion, the city government made a mistake by selling that building before it knew whether or not it could proceed with the construction of the City Hall in Town Center. So here we are again spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in rental costs, along with the costs of modeling the interiors of those facilities to accommodate city functions.

Now it’s up to us, the citizens, to allow what the City Council couldn’t or wouldn’t do. Get the City Hall built and stop the unending great waste of our tax dollars in rentals.

For those who think the council would want to build City Hall to enhance their egos, nothing could be further from the truth. It’s their responsibility to get the job done, but a Palm Coast City Hall is the reflection of the community and not a council. And I believe most of us understand that. Construction costs and interest rates are very low. If the council moved now, it would save the taxpayers millions of tax dollars in bond and construction costs.

I would offer one word of advice: Design a building that reflects compatibility with the area and an appearance that the community can be proud of.

William Venne is a former member of the Palm Coast City Council.

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