- December 13, 2025
A new bill in the Florida legislature the would provide additional support to beach maintenance has the support of the Flagler County Commission.
Senate Bill, proposed by Florida Sen. Tom Leek, proposes changing some requirements for a beach to be declared “critically eroded” to receive financial support for dune renourishment. Leek represents Flagler, Volusia, Putnam and St. Johns Counties in the Florida legislature, three of which are coastal counties that would benefit from the bill.
“Reading it, it really makes sense and it's going to have a lot of impact in the state,” Commissioner Greg Hansen said at the Dec. 1 Flagler County Commission meeting. “Not just for us, but for any of the coastal counties. I mean, it's really a good bill.”
The commission agreed to support it unanimously. Hansen suggested the county go one step further and contact Flagler County’s Rep. Sam Greco to ensure Greco was also behind the bill and to ask the county’s lobbyist on additional ways to support the bill.
Hansen is the commissioner of District 2, which encompasses The Hammock, Marineland and Beverly Beach. Commissioner Kim Carney’s District 3 includes the remainder of the barrier island.
Carney suggested the county pass a resolution instead of just giving consensus, supported by Commissioner Andy Dance. He said a resolution would give staff to analyze the bill more completely and also outline the specific reasons the county supports the bill.
A resolution will return to the county at the Dec. 15 County Commission meeting for a vote.
Among the proposed changes are stipulations that local governments with perpetual easements for beach maintenance and that suffer repeated inland flooding or structural damage from a lack of spacing between “erosion control line to upland assets,” “must be designated as critically eroded.”
“The bill is all carrot and no stick, in my opinion,” Hammock resident David Eckert said.
Hammock Dunes Owner Association President Greg Davis said he strongly supported the bill as well and encouraged the county to support the bill, too.
“I think it's imperative that we kind of get this done,” Davis said. “I think it's imperative uh that the commission get behind it early and support that [bill].”
The bill, if approved in the 2026 legislative session, would go into effect on July 1, 2026.
Flagler County just began the next phase of its emergency dune restoration work at MalaCompra Park on Dec. 1. The county finished the restoration work from Old Salt Park near the Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa and began moving equipment to MalaCompra Park on Dec. 1.
In turn, with construction work at Old Salt Park completed, the beach will reopen to the public on Dec. 5, according to a county press release. Sand deliveries will likely begin at MalaCompra Park on Dec. 5.
Residents and visitors should use caution around the construction equipment and sand delivery trucks. The work at MalaCompra Park is expected to continue through mid-January pending weather delays.
The commissioners are also preparing to review data on an apportionment survey regarding the special taxing district – or MSBU – the county implemented in The Hammock in December 2024.
On Dec. 9, each commissioner will meet individually with the consulting firm Taylor Engineering to go over the MSBU study for residences in the unincorporated Hammock area on the barrier island.
The MSBU has received strong backlash from Hammock residents, who have said they do not want to be the only Flagler residents paying for the beach renourishment.
As of now, Flagler County has not levied any MSBU tax on Hammock residents and is instead awaiting the results of the survey to make a decision on how much will be levied on Hammock residents. Funds received from the MSBU will only be able to be used on beach renourishment projects in the MSBU area.
