City staff presented a proposed five-year capital improvement plan (CIP) and the fleet management internal service fund for fiscal years through 2030, highlighting an emphasis on a new Maintenance Operations Complex (MOC), fleet facility and energy-efficiency work.

The discussion at the Aug. 12 Palm Coast City Council workshop focused on how the city will phase large projects to match available revenues and grants, and how interfund transfers and fund balance appropriations would be used to finish multi-year work.

The plan shows the city will rely on a mix of small-county discretionary sales surtax allocations, grants, interfund transfers, utility and stormwater contributions and set-aside fund balance to advance projects. "We get a portion of that that is split between all the municipalities within the county. It's committed for construction and improvement in public facilities," said Carl Cody, director of stormwater engineering, describing the county sales surtax revenue that staff projects at about $5 million a year entering the CIP.

Why it matters: the CIP funds long-lived public assets (parks, fire stations, stormwater, city hall improvements and transportation). The council emphasized limiting routine project spending to urgent needs now so larger investments such as the MOC and later phases of a new fleet facility and a wash bay can be completed when revenues or bond proceeds become available.

Key details from the staff presentation
- Maintenance Operations Complex (MOC): staff described the MOC as a multi‑phase, multi‑year project with about $24 million estimated for the main fleet building phased across FY28–30; earlier site work and utility infrastructure are already budgeted. Council members and staff discussed phasing to avoid a single-year spike in charges to enterprise funds.
- Fleet facility and wash facility: the CIP shows sequencing of a fuel facility and fleet maintenance apron in the near term, with the fleet building and wash facility as later phases. Staff said bids for the fuel facility were being reconciled and would return to council in October; the wash facility was shown at about $7.3 million in later years.
- Energy and ADA improvements: next-year money is proposed for solar panels on two fire stations and the community center, plus other energy-efficiency measures such as LED conversions and variable‑frequency drives on pumps.
- Saltwater canal: design funds were included for the saltwater canal work council previously directed staff to budget.
- Funding approach: staff said they are phasing large projects so the timing of expenditures follows conservative revenue projections; the plan includes interfund transfers from utility and stormwater funds for their share of the MOC and other projects.

Fleet management update
Public Works Director Matt Mansell presented the fleet fund and a planned vehicle purchase program for FY26. Mansell told council the city maintains about 822 assets with roughly $60 million in replacement value and averages thousands of annual work orders. He said staff inspected about 190 assets this year and recommended replacement of 36 high‑priority items (including white‑fleet trucks, equipment and a few fire apparatus replacements through the fire capital program).

"Our current fleet sits around 822 assets," Mansell said. He described a long‑term need for more technicians if the fleet grows and said the MOC will add additional maintenance bays (projected to increase indoor capacity compared with today's three light‑duty bays).

Council questions and staff responses
Councilors pressed staff on the MOC funding sources, the timing of interfund transfers, and the rationale for specific fund balance appropriations. Staff explained a portion of the MOC is funded by utility and stormwater rate/rate‑study allocations phased over multiple years to avoid a single large charge to enterprise funds. Council also asked for clarification on what is counted as an "interfund transfer" versus an ongoing replacement allocation for fleet purchases; staff said interfund transfers typically represent one‑time purchases funded by a department while internal allocations represent the long‑term replacement payment plan.

What remains unresolved
Staff said specific construction contracts and bond or loan timing will return to council for action (for example, the fuel depot GMP is anticipated in October). Councilors asked that staff track fund balances closely and return with more detail on some line items (notably large fund‑balance contingency jumps scheduled in FY28) and to hold tight on contract change orders where possible to free contingency for additional projects.

Ending note
No formal votes were taken at the workshop. Staff will present the proposed budget and capital plan again at the council's August public hearings and return specific contract actions (fuel depot GMP, other construction procurements) to the council for formal approval.