Flagler Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency on May 22 discussed a revised operating agreement with Flagler Strong for the city’s farmers market and approved a temporary waiver of the $60 one‑time application fee for new vendors for the remainder of the fiscal year.

The market’s organizer, Jim Keling, told the CRA he had run the market for about "a year and a half, 2 years now" and that the previous basketball‑court location suffered from low visibility and vendor costs. "There's 2 costs associated with the new vendor. 1 is annual tax receipt, which was $55 and some change. And then the other cost is a market application fee... an average city would charge around $50 for a tax receipt, and additional $60 is unusual," Keling said.

The waiver was proposed to reduce the barrier for new vendors to try the market; commissioners discussed applying the waiver retroactively as a credit toward next year’s Local Business Tax Receipt (LBTR) if vendors already paid the $60 processing fee. Commissioner Spradley moved to approve the agreement with the waiver for new applicants through the balance of the fiscal year; the motion was seconded and carried into further discussion about the market’s location.

Commissioners and market stakeholders debated several location options to improve visibility and vendor revenue. Market supporters and vendors urged moving the market closer to the downtown corridor. Multiple speakers — including market vendors and business owners — recommended a site on Second Street adjacent to Veterans Park, citing tourist foot traffic near the new hotel and the waterfront. John, owner of Flagler’s Sun and Seed, said visibility is key: "Visibility is everything." Public commenters Darryl Reynolds and others also urged locating the market in a central, walkable area.

Staff said the revised agreement in the packet included a new map and that a clause would allow the CRA director to make administrative amendments, subject to formal consideration at the next regularly scheduled CRA executive board meeting. Commissioners asked staff to work out details for the Second Street option and for practical matters such as restroom access, signage and whether amplified music could be allowed under a decibel limit. Jeremy, a representative of the applicant group, noted the draft agreement already restricts "non‑amplified" (sic) music and confirmed the packet language intended to prohibit amplified music in the new location.

The board instructed staff and Flagler Strong to finalize logistics, and commissioners said they would consider inserting a Second Street map into the agreement if details were feasible. The transcript does not include a final roll‑call vote on the location map amendment; the record shows the application‑fee waiver motion was proposed and seconded and that staff and Flagler Strong were directed to continue planning, with the location change discussed as likely to begin after July 4 if feasible.