The year in review: a look back on Palm Coast in 2022

Elections, two hurricanes and a pandemic made for a busy year. Here's what 2022 looked like in Flagler County.

By Observer Staff
| 12:00 p.m. December 29, 2022

A saltwater canal in Palm Coast's C Section. Photo by Jonathan Simmons

County Commissioners Andy Dance, Joe Mullins and Greg Hansen attend a ribbon cutting for the Flagler Access Center. Photo by Brent Woronoff

Photo courtesy of AdventHeath

The pool at the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club. File photo

Flagler Palm Coast High School. Photo by Jonathan Simmons

A single-engine plane crashed on Interstate 95, leaving the pilot and co-pilot with minor injuries. Photo by Brian McMillan

Courtesy photo

Photo by Brian McMillan

The Green Lion Cafe, Photo by Brian McMillan

Denise Bevan. Photo by Jonathan Simmons

Ryan Mellow, 5, at Whispering Meadows. Photo by Shanna Fortier

Andrew Popov, of Ukraine, shows support for his country in a demonstration in Palm Coast on Feb. 28. Photo by Brian McMillan

FPC student Jada Dotson. Courtesy photo

Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin. Photo by Jonathan Simmons

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. Photo by Jonathan Simmons

The proposed Bunnell library branch would feature meeting areas and technology labs. Image courtesy of the Flagler County government

County Commissioner Greg Hansen. Photo by Jonathan Simmons

The Frieda Zamba pool. File photo by Paige Wilson

The proposed L Section lake. Image courtesy of the city of Palm Coast

Photo by Brian McMillan

Bryson Williams and surfing companion Roxy won the Best Wave Award. Photo by Danny Broadhurst

Photo by Danny Broadhurst

Flagler County firefighters. Courtesy photo

Wednesday the dog and her humans. Photo by Danny Broadhurst

The Flagler County Government Services Building. File photo

Cali Varnes, 3, at the splash pad. Photo courtesy of the city of Palm Coast

Lucas Lown, 3, at the splash pad. Photo courtesy of the city of Palm Coast

Photo by Paige Wilson

County Commissioner Joe Mullins, as seen in Florida Highway Patrol dash camera footage

The location of two proposed cell towers

Dr. Stephen Bickel. File photo

Indian Trails Middle School. Photo by Brian McMillan

The location of the proposed Radiance development

School Board member Trevor Tucker. File photo

Hurricane Nicole damaged beach structures that were left unprotected after Hurricane Ian ate away the county's dunes. Photo courtesy of the Flagler County government

Sheriff Rick Staly at the Toscana site. Photo by Brent Woronoff

A member of the USF team uses a hose to sift the dirt. Photo by Brent Woronoff

Sheriff Rick Staly at the Toscana site. Photo by Brent Woronoff

An architect's design for a new building, center, to be added at Matanzas High School. Image courtesy of Flagler Schools

An architect's design for a new building to be added at Matanzas High School. Image courtesy of Flagler Schools

Leann Pennington at a Free For All Political Forum. Photo by Danny Broadhurst

City Councilman Eddie Branquinho. Photo by Jonathan Simmons

File photo

Hurricane Ian, near Marineland. Photo by Danny Broadhurst

State Road A1A after Hurricane Ian. Photo by Danny Broadhurst

Incoming Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill. File photo

Gov. Ron DeSantis visits Flagler Beach after the hurricane. Photo by Sierra Williams

Palm Coast's 39th annual Holiday Boat Parade. Photo by Sierra Williams

The Palm Harbor Golf Club. File photo

The Flagler County Sheriff's Office has opened a $20-million new operations center. Photo by Sierra Williams

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly shows visitors the Flagler County Sheriff's Office's $20-million new operations center. Photo by Sierra Williams

Palm Coast Observer
News

January:

Jan. 4: Palm Coast's City Council agrees to solicit proposals for the dredging of the city's saltwater canals. The canals have silted over in some places, making them too shallow for deeper-draft boats low tide.
Jan. 7: Omicron surges in Flagler County, with the number of COVID-19 cases in the county rising from 79 over the course of a week in December 2021 to 1,166 over the course of a week in January 2022. Hospitalizations and deaths are below the numbers seen during a delta variant surge.
Jan. 11: Flagler County and partners SMA healthcare and Flagler Health+ hold a cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the Flagler Access Center at 103 E. Moody Blvd. in Bunnell. The center provides education, screening and connection to behavioral health care services.
Jan. 18: School district plans to demolish tennis courts at Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club, and rename the club.
Jan. 18: School Board approves rezoning for middle and high schools to level out capacity between schools.
Jan. 31: A single-engine aircraft crashes onto Interstate 95 in Palm Coast near mile marker 279, clipping a tractor trailer and leaving the pilot and co-pilot with minor injuries.

February:

Feb. 1: Palm Coast's City Council votes 5-0 to approve an agreement allowing the Flagler County Sheriff's Office to use the city's traffic camera footage to solve crimes.
Feb. 7: Experts tell the County Commission that reinforcing the county's beach dune system to prevent flooding will cost an estimated $6 million per year.
Feb. 8: Palm Coast City Council members decide to scrap the city's concession lease with the Green Lion Cafe at the Palm Harbor Golf Course, saying the $600-per-month lease is too low, especially given that the city had been paying the restaurant's utilities.
Feb. 15: The Palm Coast City Council votes 5-0 to make Denise Bevan its city manager. Bevan had been serving as interim city manager since June 2021.
Feb. 21: The County Commission decides that the county will enter a partnership with the Whispering Meadows equine therapy ranch and support the ranch's move to a new location near the Flagler County fairgrounds.
Feb. 28: Locals demonstrate for Ukraine after Russia's invasion.

March:

March 1: Palm Coast City Councilman Victor Barbosa resigns from the council, two days after he was trespassed from the local Walmart for allegedly stealing a shirt. Barbosa maintained his innocence, and the trespass order was later lifted.
March 3: The housing inventory in Flagler County and Volusia County plummet as builders contend with material and labor shortages.
March 3: Students at Flagler Palm Coast High School and Matanzas High School hold walkouts to protest the state's Parental Rights in Education Bill, which opponents dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill. Jack Petocz, a junior who organized the protest at FPC and was disciplined by the school, would gain a national profile as a youth LGBT activist in coming months, with speaking appearances and an invitation to the White House.
March 8: Palm Coast announces plans to expand west of U.S. 1, seeking $3.14 million in state funding to support the expansion.
March 21: County commissioners approve an impact fee increase that would direct more funding from new development to the county's school district.

April:

April 5: The Palm Coast City Council votes itself a raise — initially approving a 365% increase on April 5, then walking that back to a 151% increase in a second-reading vote on April 19.
April 14: In an address at the Hilton Garden Inn, Sheriff Rick Staly touts dropping crime numbers, saying crime in Flagler County has dropped by 52% since 2017.
April 18: County Commissioners approve an ordinance that would let deputies cite people for noise violations in unincorporated Flagler County.
April 18: Plans for a new library branch in Bunnell become more concrete as the County Commission approves a design contract with an architecture firm.
April 26: The city decides to keep the Frieda Zamba pool open year-round after dozens of swimmers appear at City Council meetings saying the city needs enhanced aquatic facilities.

May:

May 3: L Section residents are slated to get a new lake as the city decides to add one to increase the area's stormwater capacity.
May 10: Consultants warn the Palm Coast city government that the city's roads are rapidly deteriorating, and that it would take an estimated $8.23 million per year to maintain them.
May 21: Surfing dogs take over Flagler Beach for the inaugural Hang 8 dog surfing competition.
May 23: Flagler County decides to buy two new fire engines, pulling $124 million from reserves to do so.

June:

June 2: The state government allocates $8 million for a septic-to-sewer conversion project on Flagler County's barrier island and $6.8 million to extend Commerce Parkway to make the road link State Road 100 to U.S. 1 in southern Bunnell.
June 7: Palm Coast announces that it is hiring an aquatic engineering firm to inspect damage to the splash pad at Holland Park.
June 9: The Flagler Beach City Commission votes to cancel the city's planned Fourth of July fireworks show, citing concerns about the pyrotechnics vendor.
June 14: Palm Coast unveils pedestrian study with options for sidewalk and walkway improvements.
June 19: County Commissioner Joe Mullins, pulled over in his car by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper for speeding, tells the trooper, as the trooper explains the citation process, "I run the county, so I know how it works." Footage of the incident later goes viral.
June 21: Palm Coast's City Council votes to allow construction of two new cell towers: one on Clubhouse Drive, and another near the intersection of Town Center Boulevard and Royal Palms Parkway.

July:

July 2: The state government allocates $8 million for a septic-to-sewer conversion project on Flagler County's barrier island and $6.8 million to extend Commerce Parkway to make the road link State Road 100 to U.S. 1 in southern Bunnell.
July 7: Dr. Stephen Bickel pledges $10 million gift to support Flagler Cares over 10 years. Bickel is the medical director of the Florida Department of Health in Flagler County.
July 7: Flagler Schools drops to an overall "B" grade as the state issues its school district grades for the year. Three individual schools in Flagler received an A: Old Kings Elementary, Blue Terre Elementary and Indian Trails Middle School.
July 11: A 1,200-home community called "Radiance," planned for the west side of southern Old Kings Road, gets the County Commission's approval.
July 18: Construction workers find a human skeleton on a work site at the Toscana development. The Sheriff's Office works with a team of anthropologists from the University of South Florida to excavate the site and collect the bones.
July 19: An architecture firm contracted with the school district unveils plans for a $17.5-million expansion of Matanzas High School.

August:

Aug 2: Flagler Schools amends its secondary school dress code to allow T-shirts with graphics.
Aug. 15: County Commissioner Joe Mullins contacts the Sheriff's Office after a man allegedly contacts him with an offer to sell him cocaine. Deputies later arrested an 18-year-old suspect.
Aug. 17: Palm Coast approves three new storage facilities. The city has seen a series of proposals for self-storage facilities recently — 11 in the space of a few years, five of them on Old Kings Road.
Aug. 23: Three challengers oust incumbents in the primary elections: Leann Pennington beats incumbent Joe Mullins in the Republican primary for County Commission, While Sally Hunt and Christy Chong defeat incumbents Jill Woolbright and Trevor Tucker in School Board races. County Commissioner Greg Hansen is the only incumbent candidate to keep his seat.

September:

Sept. 1: Flagler Schools prepares for news state laws on instructional and media center materials and LGBT issues, rewriting the district's policies on deleting library and instructional material.
Sept. 6: The Flagler County School Board decides not to join Florida's guardian program, which would place armed staff members in schools to respond to active assailant attacks, in 2022, and instead reconsider it later for 2023 or 2024.
Sept. 8: Palm Coast's City Council votes 4-1, with Councilman Ed Danko dissenting, to keep the city's property tax rate flat, at 4.6100 per $1,000 in taxable value. (Danko had wanted the city to reduce the rate.) The flat rate would bring in a higher dollar amount than it had the previous year because of rising property values.
Sept. 22: Flagler Schools faces a bus driver shortage, with 10 vacancies near the beginning of the school year.
Sept. 22: No more smoking on the beach: Flagler Beach passes a ban on smoking tobacco products in public parks and beaches during a first-reading vote.
Sept. 28: Hurricane Ian makes landfall in the Fort Myers area. Many Flagler County residents prepare with sandbags. The storm causes street flooding in Bunnell, Flagler Beach and parts of Palm Coast.

October:

Oct. 3: Officials assess Flagler's beach dune after Hurricane Ian. There's not much left. A coastal engineering team is scheduled to make a more detailed assessment. City and county crews have blocked off the damaged pier and dune walkovers.
Oct. 6-19: Individuals affiliated with the Flagler County chapter of Moms for Liberty file challenges to 20 books in local school libraries.
Oct. 14: Palm Coast Fire Chief Jerry Forte retires. Kyle Berryhill becomes the new fire chief.
Oct. 16: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visits Flagler County to tour the area's damaged dunes.
Oct. 18: Fighting a shortage of bus drivers, the Flagler County School Board eliminates a requirement that bus drivers have a high school diploma, opting to allow applicants without a diploma or GED to take a skills assessment test.

November:

Nov. 8: Theresa Carli Pontieri and Cathy Heighter win positions on the Palm Coast City Council, marking the first time in the council's history that two women serve at the same time. Leann Pennington is elected to County Commission, and Will Furry is elected to School Board.
Nov. 10: Hurricane Nicole knocks out sections of State Road A1A in Flagler County. State work crews finish temporary road repairs on Nov. 12.
Nov. 15: Jacksonville University announces that it will offer a new accelerated bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Palm Coast's Town Center.
Nov. 21: The East Flagler Mosquito Control District announces plans to expand its services in southern and western Flagler County.
Nov. 22: State Rep. Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, is sworn in as speaker of the House.

December:

Dec. 3: Palm Coast's 39th annual Holiday Boat Parade is the city's largest ever, with 90 boats.
Dec. 5: Flagler County may have new leverage to secure the final beachfront property easement required for the Army Corps of Engineers to begin a dune renourishment project in Flagler Beach, Flagler County Attorney Al Hadeed tells county commissioners. The county recently discovered that the property owner who had refused to sign an easement had not declared her ownership of the property in her bankruptcy case, leaving the county an avenue to acquire access to the land through bankruptcy proceedings.
Dec. 6: Flagler Schools shifts plans for a new middle school off the district's five-year capital plan, leaving a new high school as the top priority, with construction expected in 2026-2027.
Dec. 13: A new restaurant called "Loopers," by the owners of the Beach Front Grille, wins a bid to replace the Green Lion Cafe at the city of Palm Coast's Palm Harbor Golf Course concession, and the City Council approves a lease agreement with the restaurant.
Dec. 19: The Flagler County Sheriff's Office opens a new, $20-million operations center after four years of itinerancy following the agency's evacuation of its previous operations center due to concerns about mold.