NEWS BRIEFS: Sheriff’s Operations Center marks one-year anniversary

Palm Coast Observer
News

Sheriff’s Operations Center marks one-year anniversary

The month of October marks the one-year anniversary of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office moving into its new, 34,000-square-foot facility.

Since moving from the 12,000-square-foot operations center about a mile away to 901 E. Moody Blvd., Bunnell, the Sheriff’s Operations Center has become a great asset to the community, according to a Flagler County Sheriff’s Office news release.

“We repurposed an old run-down building (a former hospital) into a beautifully landscaped structure,” Sheriff James L. Manfre said in the news release. “It’s more accessible in downtown Bunnell — we have more walk-ins. And we’re able to provide more safety to the surrounding community in this location.”

The new facility has also saved revenue: By moving from the old building, which was built when Flagler County had just 25,000 residents, the Sheriff’s Office saves $100,000 a year in lease payments. The new operations center came in $200,000 under budget at $4.7 million. The facility was designed to actually add 9,000 square feet — from 25,000 to 34,000 square feet.

Building the Operations Center took about 10 months. It was funded through local option sales-tax money, not property taxes.

“I’d like to thank the county for all they did in making this facility become a reality,” Manfre said in the news release. “The expansion capabilities of this building will take us to the next 25 to 50 years.”

The Sheriff’s Operations Center boasts other benefits:

It’s more efficient: Several departments are housed under one roof on 6.85 acres of land instead of at four different locations.
There’s been an increase in business activity because of the new location.
The Sheriff’s Office has state-of-the-art evidence and Crime Scene Investigations departments, and multiple
interview rooms.
The Sheriff’s Office has tripled the training space to enhance its training services.
The Sheriff’s Office’s victim’s advocate office is family friendly with an outside garden for reflection.
The Sheriff’s Office has a dedicated Defensive Tactics area to assist in teaching deputies de-escalation
techniques.
The Sheriff’s Office has a better environment to attract new employees.

Flagler County Board of County Commissioners Chairwoman Barbara Revels praised the accomplishment of the Sheriff’s Operations Center.

“The Sheriff’s Office has been in the facility for a year, and has been able to increase training and communications through having a well-designed and well-planned facility,” Revels said. “The sheriff’s team was wonderful in assisting us during the planning and design of this facility, and it really shows in the results.”

Flagler County Administrator Craig Coffey, whose engineering, IT and general services departments assisted with the project to keep costs down, was also complimentary about the sheriff’s command center. “It is great that law enforcement now has the professional facilities that are representative of the professionalism they display day in and day out,” he said.

Individual FEMA assistance approved for Flagler County residents

Individual Assistance was approved for Flagler County (along with Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia counties) on Oct. 17.

Homeowners, renters and business owners may apply for federal disaster assistance for their uninsured or underinsured damages that were a result of the effects of Hurricane Matthew.

There are three ways to apply:

Online at disasterassistance.gov
On the FEMA Mobile App
Calling 800-621-3362 (621-FEMA) between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Applicants who use 711 or Video

Relay Service may also call 800-621-3362. People who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability and a TTY my call 800-462-7585. Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish, 3 for other languages).

Anyone still in need of shelter or have other emergency needs can call 2-1-1 for information.

Make sure contractors hired to make repairs are licensed and carry general liability insurance,
workers’ compensation and are bonded.

Anyone who suspects fraud should call FEMA’s Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, or the
Florida Attorney General’s fraud and price gouging hotline at 866-966-7226.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has developed a free smartphone app for
taking inventory and documenting damage in homes after a disaster. “myHome Scr.APP.book” for iPhone or Android is available at insureuonline.org/insureu_special_disaster.htm.

Flagler Beach asks beachgoers not to walk on the dunes

The South 9th Street dune crossover in Flagler Beach has been repaired and can be added to the list of usable access points for that section of the beach that has been open to the public: North 4th Street south to South 9th Street., according to a Flagler Beach news release.

Where dune crossovers have been closed due to damage that makes usage unsafe, people should not to attempt to cross over the dunes. Those areas of the beach are still closed.

Walking across the dunes destroys vegetation, which are vital to the stabilization of the dunes. Without the plants, wind blows the sand away. The city’s primary frontal dune is the Flagler Beach’s first line of defense against storm surge, and it can take years for plants to regrow.

Flagler Beach City Ordinance 89-19 makes it unlawful for any person to destroy, harm, cut, harvest, remove or cause the destruction of plant life on the dunes. A violation could cost up to sixty (60) days in county jail, a fine of up to $500, or both.

Those with questions can contact Flagler Beach Police Chief Matthew Doughney at 386-517-2024.