- December 4, 2025
One of the main reasons Troy Kent wanted to serve on the Volusia County Council was to "give Volusia back to the residents."
He didn't mean it as a soundbite, the District 4 representative told the Observer. As a lifelong resident, he remembers how things were in the past.
Like the beach. The Ocean Center.
As a council, Kent said they've done a "wonderful" job at keeping the tax rate steady, or going to rollback when possible.
"We are working diligently to keep money in the pockets of Volusia County residents," he said.
Giving Volusia back to the residents is about making life easier, and more streamlined, Kent said.
The Observer recently spoke with Kent about priorities and how to address current issues. Here is what he had to say.
Tell me about your inlet proposal.
We have an inlet at Matanzas inlet, and we have an inlet to the south of that at Ponce Inlet, and nothing in between. But if you go down to South Florida, like Jupiter area, they've got multiple inlets and a much closer land area than we have. So, my thought is just north of Highbridge, we could put an inlet there, and it would do a couple of things.
Number one, it would clean out and flush the Halifax River, the Intracoastal, in that area. Number two, I believe, after big rain events and storms, it would [give] the Halifax River and the Tomoka Basin ... an exit.
So right now, between 10 to 20 high tides have to happen for that water to exit out of Ponce Inlet. I think that this would get the water out into the ocean quicker. Then, from a recreational standpoint, it would be incredible for boaters and fishermen.
I want to make it clear, I'm not proposing about building anything new — no housing developments, no marinas, nothing like that. The state owns the land, so there would be no eminent domain.
This is a huge, heavy lift. This is not something that's just going to be done locally. This would have to have huge state involvement, and it would have to have a tremendous push from the federal government — the Army Corps of Engineers would have to get involved. But, I would say 97% of all correspondence I've had with it has been extremely positive from people that would like to see an inlet in north Volusia County.
Like many coastal communities, Volusia is experiencing a lifeguard shortage. What can Volusia do to address this?
I think we're doing it. They have offered more classes for lifeguard recruits. They are offering more money.
I think we're doing just about everything we can from a financial incentive type of thing. And I've got to tell you, I've been, for lack of better terms, barking about this at the council meetings. I've been bringing it up because my district has, historically, the past several years, been underserved with lifeguards in Volusia County, and it's not fair.
It wouldn't be fair if it was happening in Daytona Beach or New Smyrna or Ponce Inlet, and it's not fair that it's happening up in Ormond Beach, up in Ormond-by-the-Sea. So I appreciate that staff has listened to me, and they have come up with different formulas on how to man more areas, because when the chief of our Beach Safety, our lifeguards, Tammy Malphurs says, and I quote, "No one should swim in the ocean unless they're in front of a lifeguard." Then, basically what we're saying is that no one should swim north of Granada. And that's not acceptable. That's not okay.
I know there's a plan on making sure that there's lifeguards at Standish and Neptune and Amsden and Tom Renick (beach approaches). There's usually a lifeguard, but also at the North Shore Park, and I want one at Bicentennial Park as well. These are some of the core government responsibilities that we as a county need to provide, and I'm pleased to tell you that I think that we're moving in the right direction with that.
During last month's budget presentation, staff reported that ParkVolusia revenue was less than the county's consultant had expected it to be. So are there any tweaks to the program you would like to see, or other ways the county can increase the number of visitors to our beaches?
I'll say this, we, for the first time in 37 years, have Volusia residents driving on the beach for free. We have streamlined the process with automation, and we're bringing in, minimum, a million new dollars this year than we had last year. To me, that is a huge, successful win, but I think we need to let the trial period play out before we start looking at changing anything and tweaking anything.
Are there some things we can do? Probably. I'm not exactly sure what they are at this time. I think we really need to see the numbers after July and August.
Our beach is coming back. It is looking better. It is getting larger and we're having people come and enjoy what we have.
You hold quarterly meetings with residents. What are some of the common concerns that you've heard recently during those meetings?
One of the main concerns I continue to hear is that people don't want out of control, explosive growth in their area. Growth is a big issue, and recently, the topic has been growth and flooding. They want their elected government representatives to have solutions and not allow problems like that to occur.
The council recently identified several strategies to address flooding. From your perspective, what is the best way to prevent future flooding and mitigate areas currently experiencing it?
The county and state and federal government needs to come in to places that continuously flood and we need to purchase those low-lying homes, and give fair market value, and turn those low-lying areas — those those bowls, as they call them – turn those into retention ponds because the people that live there, they don't want to live in a house that continually floods.
This isn't about taking something, the government strong-arming anybody. I don't want to put it out that way. This is about giving fair market value for your home that continually floods, and giving you the financial means to look at purchasing a home elsewhere.
And how do you stop that from happening? ... You say no to over-development and you have to say no to development until the infrastructure is in place. If you don't have the stormwater in place that can handle the rain events we have, then you have to say no.
I'm not talking on both sides of my mouth, but what we had last year with, I believe, over 20-some-odd inches of rain in less than 24 hours — that's like a 500-year event. Well, no government I know of has a stormwater [system] that can handle that.
I think sometimes you're going to have anomalies like that, and then you're going to have dry spells. It's a delicate dance.
Several legislative bills targeted aspects of Home Rule, including Senate Bill 180 that could prevent some Florida communities from building back after storms. Where does Volusia County go from here now that the governor has signed bills like that?
The power is always with the people, and it's important to know that the government closest to you has the largest impact on your everyday life.
It's a shame when legislators that control the state and federal level start taking away the powers at the local level, because nobody knows what they need more than the people at the local level. So it's disheartening.
But the good news is, like I said, the power is with people, and the people can make decisions and changes at the ballot box every November.
Has the county heard anything from Belvedere Terminals lately?
I have not been updated with any news from the county that they have had any communication with Belvedere. I know that the county has reached out several times in the past to speak with them, and they have not had any communication back with them.
If you had to sum up in one word what you think the next year for Volusia will look like, what word would you use?
I think it's "exciting."
I think that Volusia has an exciting opportunity in front of it with, not only giving Volusia back to the residents of Volusia County, but I'm looking forward to our flooded areas getting some much needed relief by drying up, hopefully, and allowing our residents to participate and enjoy the great things that Volusia County has to offer with our beach, our Ocean Center and our fairgrounds, etc.
