- December 4, 2025
The Flagler County Commission has approved another dune maintenance agreement with a private-owned development in The Hammock.
The Ocean Hammock Property Owners Association owns private shoreline property between 16th Road and Jungle Hut Road in The Hammock. With the agreement, Ocean Hammock agrees to pay Flagler County $175,000 annually which will be exclusively used by the county for beach maintenance on Ocean Hammock’s property.
The agreement is similar to one the county approved in August with the Hammock Dunes Owners Association. The HDOA owns 2.3 miles of shoreline and will pay Flagler $570,000 annually for beach maintenance.
County Engineer Hamid Tabassian said the Ocean Hammock, Hammock Beach resort and the Hammock Dunes beach areas are not currently eligible for Federal Emergency Maintenance Agency’s Category G funding.
“This agreement would make these areas eligible for Cat-G with future [storm] events,” Tabassian said.
Commissioner Kim Carney said the $175,000 didn't sound like it would pay for much sand placement. Tabassian said the amount is based on trucking in six cubic yards of sand for that length of the beach.
The payment agreement will continue until Flagler County finds another source of funding for maintaining the property.
But the funds in these agreements can only be used for the stretches of shoreline property that is owned by these private entities. Flagler County is still trying to iron out methods of paying for regular beach maintenance.
In December 2024, Flagler County instituted a special taxing district called an MSBU for The Hammock area. Though nothing was levied this year, the county will likely levy a tax through the MSBU for the 2026-2027 fiscal year budget.
Flagler County is also considering a half-cent sales tax to use for maintenance funding. But the issue has divided the board, with Commission Chair Andy Dance and Commissioner Greg Hansen supporting the initiative and Vice Chair Leann Pennington and Commissioners Pam Richardson and Kim Carney against it.
The county is instead considering sending the half-cent sales tax to a referendum. If implemented, not all the funding from the half-cent would go to funding. Some would be kept by the cities to dedicate to other projects like infrastructure.
The Category G funding is part of FEMA’s Public Assistance program, which provides financial and direct federal assistance to states and territories. Category G is the section that specifically refers to parks, recreational and other facilities.
Tabassian said the county is currently in negotiations with the Hammock Beach resort for a similar agreement.
The commission approved the Ocean Hammock dune maintenance agreement 5-0 at its Oct. 6 meeting.
