Palm Coast council approves $6 million design agreement for Old Kings Road Phase 2 amid funding questions

Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved a $6,000,000 design contract with CBH Incorporated to advance design for Old Kings Road South Phase 2 and related Town Center/Royal Palms intersection improvements.

The contract, presented by Carl Cody, the city's director of stormwater engineering, advances design for the section between the northern terminus of Phase 1 and Palm Coast Parkway and includes utility coordination, right‑of‑way work, and stormwater modifications tied to the Lehigh Canal. Cody said the design will take utilities and the Phase 2a segment to 100 percent and Phase 2b to 60 percent for permitting, with a target completion in November 2026.

Council members and members of the public pressed staff on how the project will be funded. Cody and staff said multiple “pots” of money were earmarked: special assessment district funds for the Old Kings Road special assessment district, transportation and utility impact fees, a state appropriation (DOT/FDOT Grama) and stormwater rate funds for stormwater work. Staff said some utility work could be funded by developer capacity (impact) fees; relocations of existing utilities in the roadway could require repair-and-replace (R&R) funds. Finance details provided in the meeting packet identified an approximate split in which roughly 24–32 percent of the project would come from non‑impact sources (stormwater rates, a state grant and placeholders for potential utility relocations), with the remainder from impact/capacity fees or special assessments.

Public commenters urged faster interim traffic fixes at the Town Center/Royal Palms and Old Kings intersection, and questioned use of utility funds. Longtime resident and former council member Dennis McDonald recounted prior loans from the utility enterprise and urged the council not to use ratepayer funds to subsidize benefits for a limited set of property owners. Cody responded that much of the utility money in the design phase are capacity/impact fee placeholders for new system capacity and that actual R&R funds would only be used for relocations of existing utilities that must move for the roadway improvements.

The council also approved, as part of consent, a $229,792 deposit to Florida Power & Light for relocation design of transmission poles necessary for the Old Kings Road widening; staff said the city bears that relocation cost based on deed and easement research and that the total FPL relocation estimate is roughly $1,297,000.

Council members asked staff for more transparent, itemized reporting as design proceeds. Vice Mayor Teresa Pontieri asked that future updates show what the consultant has identified as fundable with impact fees versus what would require R&R or other non‑capacity sources. Councilman John Miller and others asked staff to pursue near‑term interim measures (striping/temporary turn lanes) to relieve the existing pinch point before construction begins.

The resolution to approve the design contract passed unanimously.

Next steps: staff will seek DOT concurrence to proceed and begin work on the design schedule; staff said they will provide regular status updates showing which design elements are funded by which source and identify potential utility relocations as subsurface utility work progresses.