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Atlantic Beach begins FY26–27 priority-setting with stormwater, tree canopy and parks high on the list
Summary
City staff presented a multi-theme priorities memo that emphasizes a stormwater master plan, heritage tree protections, marsh-front pilot projects and park and asset-management work; commissioners will finalize priorities in about 30 days to guide the FY26–27 budget.
Atlantic Beach commissioners on April 6 launched the city's fiscal-year 2026–27 priority-setting exercise, with staff presenting a memo that groups recommendations under seven strategic themes including stormwater resiliency, environmental stewardship, public works and parks.
"This kicks off the fiscal year 26, 27 budget process," staff presenter Kevin said, describing a schedule that will move from tonight's priority-setting exercise to staff budget workshops in July and a budget adoption process in September.
The staff memo lays out several specific priorities commissioners discussed:
- Stormwater management and resiliency: finalize a stormwater master plan using neighborhood-level hydraulic modeling, execute priority CIP projects and flood-proof wastewater lift stations. Commissioner Kelly proposed securing a contract by Dec. 1, 2026 for a drainage-basin-level geological survey to support the master plan.
- Environmental stewardship and trees: strengthen the tree-protection code, expand tree planting and preservation, and explore working with nonprofits for land procurement to save large, older trees. Commissioners debated a heritage-tree protection ordinance and incentives to encourage private sellers to work with the city or land trusts to preserve such trees.
- Marsh and shoreline projects: staff flagged pilot projects (oyster reefs, possible mangrove work) and a need for studies and grant-supported implementation to address erosion on both seaside and intracoastal marsh fronts.
- Parks and programming: finalize Marsh Oaks for a September opening, improve Donner Park facilities including a splash-pad safety surface, consider private funding or turf for athletic fields, and expand multigenerational programming.
- Public works and utilities: implement a GIS-based asset-management platform (CityWorks) for predictive maintenance, reduce inflow/infiltration, and upgrade water-treatment processes to reduce particle output.
- Financial stability and transparency: codify a comprehensive financial policy manual, adopt structurally balanced budget policies, modernize rates and fees citywide and launch an open-data portal for real-time spending and permit metrics.
- Communications and customer service: strengthen public information functions, consider a designated communications lead, publish a monthly manager newsletter and share permitting key-performance indicators so residents can track turnaround times.
Facilitator S6 reminded commissioners that a priority is "a topic that will receive particular, unusual, and significant attention during a specific period of time," and explained the forced-choice voting method: each commissioner receives 10 dots to allocate among priorities.
Commissioners paused to mark items that are already underway so they would not waste votes and asked staff to identify which items should receive a blue check (indicating work in progress). Staff said the city expects to have a stormwater master-plan contract signed by the end of the fiscal year and that tree-canopy legislation should be in place before next fiscal year.
Next steps: staff will return a resolution with the priorities for the commission to approve next month; the commission will use the results to guide FY26–27 budget workshops through July and the September budget adoption process.
