Rift Opens Between County and Flagler Beach Over Dunes Fix; County Depletes...
Flagler County commissioners agreed today to deplete a $1.5 million fund for beach management as part of a match to draw down state dollars, but none of the money would benefit Flagler Beach, angering...
View ArticleO’Brien Surprise: Commissioner Agrees To Higher Tourism Tax, But With Beach...
County Commissioner Donald O'Brien today was willing to raise the county's tourism tax to 5 percent, but to further increase revenue for beach restoration, and, for a year, lower revenue for...
View ArticleSetback For Flagler as Bill Scrapping Vacation-Rental Regulations Advances on...
A divided House Agriculture and Property Rights Subcommittee was not swayed by a presentation from Flagler County Attorney Al Hadeed as it voted to scrap county authority to regulate short-term,...
View ArticleGov. Scott Continues to Attack Lawmakers Over Tourism Budget as Visitors’...
A good showing in December aside, when year-over-year tourism tax receipts jumped 18 percent, Flagler County has done less well, and not necessarily because of Hurricane Matthew. The post Gov. Scott...
View Article16-Year-Old’s High-Def Eye In the Sky Gives Flagler Free and Spectacular...
Lucas Weekley, a budding engineer from Ocala, builds and flies remote-controlled aircraft that shoot high-definition video, which he edits and launches on YouTube through his BuyBee TV. Flagler Beach...
View ArticleFlagler’s Tourism Council Would Relax Rules Governing Subsidies for Special...
The changes, affecting $100,000 in bed-tax dollars county government, through the tourism council, awards organizations that put on special events, would dispense with the requirement that...
View ArticleAs Flagler Beach Sees a Fortune From Parking Fees, Locals See Only Alienated...
Flagler Beach government could make up to $3 million over 5 years by turning its streets into revenue-generating parking slots, but the city manager's proposal faces stiff-but not unanimous--opposition...
View ArticleFlagler Tourism Office Rebuffs Consolidation With County, Hinting at More...
County Commissioner George Hanns and Administrator Craig Coffey had talked of absorbing the tourism office--currently a branch of the chamber of commerce--into county government. It won't happen....
View ArticleShutdown Hits Home: Castillo de San Marcos and Ft. Matanzas Among Parks Off...
Starting Tuesday, the National Park Service closed all 401 national parks, including Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas National Monuments in St. Augustine, affecting the local tourism economy....
View ArticleFlagler County Buys 276 Minutes on Electronic Billboard Near Times Square,...
The 10-second spot will run once an hour, 18 times a day, through Jan. 2, on a billboard on 42nd Street, four and a half blocks south of Times Square, and is paid for half by the county's tourism bed...
View ArticleNothing Flagler Can Do About Divisive Vacation Rentals, Attorney General...
The expedited Attorney General's opinion cited Flagler County's own absence of regulation of vacation rentals before 2011 as one reason the county's hands are tied in controlling what has become a...
View ArticleFlagler Seeks, Flagler Wins: Bill Restoring Vacation-Rental Regulation...
The Flagler County Commission has been leading the fight to overturn a 2011 state law prohibiting the regulation of short-term rentals. Thursday morning, the Florida Senate voted 37-2 to give back some...
View ArticleBull Creek Restaurant, Seasoned By Woody’s BBQ Owners, Dedicated at Flagler’s...
Bull Creek Restaurant on the shores of Dead Lake and in the heart of Bull Creek Camp Ground in western Flagler was dedicated Tuesday morning as the owners of Woody's BBQ in Palm Coast take on the...
View ArticleMissing From Salamander Hotel Proposal: Community Consensus and Respect for...
Chris Goodfellow, a resident of the Hammock, argues that Salamander Hotels' proposed 198-room re-development requires a precedent-setting change the county commission should avoid absent clearer...
View ArticleVacation Rental Company Sues Flagler County Two Weeks After Regulations Are...
Steven Milo, head of Vacation Rental Pros, sued the Flagler County Commission, an eight-count action that alleges property, privacy and equal protection rights violations. The post Vacation Rental...
View ArticleCounty Government Will Take Over Flagler Tourism Office From Chamber in...
The tourism office's four employees have been under contract through the Flagler chamber of commerce. By next fall, they'll be county employees, but their budget will still be underwritten by the 4...
View ArticleHow County Government Is Pimping Princess Place While Spinning Fairy Tales
Flagler County's justifications for holding a Spartan extreme-sport race at Princess Place Preserve fails the smell test on all counts and raise questions about how tourism chief Matt Dunn and County...
View ArticleSpartan Extreme Race Re-Sets for Flagler: New Location, Same Lack of...
While the Spartan race appears set at a private ranch in Flagler next March, again, serious questions of transparency and patronage are undermining tiourism chief Matt Dunn's latest approach. The post...
View ArticleWith Less Accountability, Flagler’s Tourism Dollars Continue Shift To...
County government's tourism arm, which manages $1.6 million in tax dollars, is diminishing emphasis on community events to push sports and conferences which draw people without necessarily promoting...
View ArticleTDC Favors Beverly Beach’s $32,000 Walkover Renovations, But Not Before...
The questioning was another example of of the TDC's more inquisitorial attitude toward local projects as opposed to a less rigorous or accountable approach when the applicant is an out-of-town...
View ArticleFlagler County Agrees to Bail Out Ag Museum Despite $150,000 Deficit and...
After a vote failed to take-over the failing museum entirely, Flagler County commissioners agreed to a generous 90-day bailout, pending a more detailed agreement that would enable the county to absorb...
View ArticleCounty Defends $284,000 Tourism Website Deal and Commissioners Are Mollified
County Administrator Craig Coffey and tourism officials put commissioners' questions about the expense of a website to rest with 75 minutes of details and only a few straw men. The post County Defends...
View ArticleFlagler Approves $227,500 in Tourism Spending, Including $150,000 for Marina
The grants were part of the annual county tourism bureau's funding round and are designed to enhance tourism and the visitor count in the county. The post Flagler Approves $227,500 in Tourism Spending,...
View ArticleCounty Fires Tourism Director Matt Dunn After 4-Month Suspension, Citing New...
Flagler County Tourism Director Matt Dunn had been placed on paid administrative leave in April after coming under criminal investigation. The county says the tourism bureau is turning away from Dunn's...
View ArticlePowered by Vacation Rentals, Flagler’s Tourism Revenue Is Up Significantly as...
Flagler County's tourism-tax revenue has gone up three successive months between July and September, substantially so in August and September, in contrast with statewide tourism revenue, which...
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