Palm Bay, FL -- The City Council meets Thursday, March 5 at 6:00 PM for Regular Meeting 2026-08. The 19-page agenda packet contains the usual mix of proclamations, travel approvals, and routine consent items. It also contains a land use ordinance that the city’s own Planning & Zoning Board voted unanimously to reject, a $146,000 contract for a temporary procurement officer, a multimillion-dollar bridge project stuck in limbo, and a billing change affecting thousands of residents with no cost analysis attached.
Here are the five items worth paying attention to.
1. The PUD Ordinance the Planning Board Rejected
Ordinance 2026-04 is on final reading Thursday. It amends Chapter 172 of the Code of Ordinances (Development Review Procedures) to change when developers must submit a Development Agreement for Planned Unit Development (PUD) projects.
Currently, the Development Agreement is required at the Preliminary Development Plan stage. This ordinance moves that requirement to the Final Development Plan stage. The practical effect: developers get further into the approval process before the terms of their agreement with the city are locked down.
The Planning & Zoning Board voted 6 to 0 to recommend denial. The board’s position was that preliminary review was advantageous to residents. City staff overrode that recommendation and is pushing approval, arguing that waiting until the final stage ensures Development Agreements are based on finalized project details and quantified impacts rather than conceptual estimates.
The internal case number is T26-00002. This is a final reading, meaning Council can adopt it Thursday with a single vote. No second reading required.
This change arrives the same week as the first Land Development Code Phase 2 workshop, scheduled for Monday, March 3. The timing raises a question: why is the city amending development review procedures through a standalone ordinance at the same time it is conducting a comprehensive LDC rewrite? Council should ask whether these two processes are coordinated or running in separate lanes.
2. The $146,000 “Procurement Reset”
The city wants to hire David Gragan through Strategic Government Resources (SGR) as an Interim Chief Procurement Officer. The former CPO, George Barber, has departed. Rather than filling the position directly, the city is bringing in an outside contractor to conduct what the supporting memo calls a “procurement reset.”
The contract details:
Duration: Six months, approximately 1,024 working hours
Rate: $115.00 per hour
Not-to-exceed: $146,000
Breakdown: $117,760 salary, $12,000 travel stipend ($2,000/month), $14,400 for direct-billed hotel lodging, $900 SGR placement fee
The scope goes well beyond filling a vacancy. The memo describes evaluating the procurement system, correcting “operational challenges,” improving staff morale, modernizing the procurement manual and guidelines, streamlining emergency procurement pathways, handling complex capital contracts, improving vendor confidence and relations, and implementing performance metrics. Gragan will also help recruit a permanent replacement.
The language in the memo is notable. References to “institutional bias” and “operational challenges” suggest problems in the procurement operation that predate Barber’s departure. Council should be asking what specifically went wrong, how long the problems existed, and why an internal solution was not viable.
Barber started April 6, 2023. His department was responsible for vendor performance oversight, including the Republic Services solid waste contract. His departure and the simultaneous Republic Services billing amendment on the same agenda (see item 4 below) are a coincidence worth asking about.
3. The C7 Canal Bridge: $6.2 Million and No Budget to Cover It
Council will address the design direction for a four-lane concrete and steel bridge across the C7 Canal, connecting St. Johns Heritage Parkway to Fred Poppe Regional Park. The project also includes approximately 1,300 linear feet of new roadway, intersection improvements, lighting, stormwater modifications, and multi-use paths.
The cost trajectory tells the story directly:
January 2024 estimate: $4.56 million
May 2025 re-estimate: $6.2 million (a 36% increase in 16 months), with the bridge structure alone at approximately $2.4 million
Current unallocated budget: $4,019,924.04, sourced from Parks Impact Fees
That leaves a $2.2 million gap before construction begins.
The concrete bridge design was 95% complete as of September 2025, when Council paused the project to investigate a wood alternative. Staff is now recommending against wood: higher long-term maintenance costs, lower fire resistance, shorter lifespan, and the requirement for substantial redesign that would delay permitting and bidding and likely escalate costs further.
The project is currently paused pending Council direction. Every month of inaction adds cost. Staff is asking for a decision Thursday on design type, and Council will need to address the $2.2 million funding gap at the same time. A decision to proceed without identifying the gap funding is not a plan.
4. Republic Services Billing Change: “No Fiscal Impact” Does Not Add Up
The city wants to amend its Material Management Agreement with Republic Services to switch all residential solid waste customers to monthly billing. Currently, residents with city water and sewer service receive their solid waste charge on their monthly utility bill. Residents without city utilities, those on private wells or septic systems, receive a standalone quarterly bill.
The amendment changes quarterly billing customers to monthly. The agenda packet memo states: “FISCAL IMPACT: No fiscal impact.”
That claim deserves scrutiny.
Palm Bay has an estimated 54,046 households. Approximately 12,000 rely on private wells. Roughly 32,000 use individual septic systems instead of the centralized sewer network. The overlap between those two groups means thousands of residents currently receive standalone quarterly solid waste bills. The exact number is not disclosed in the agenda packet.
Switching those accounts from quarterly to monthly triples the billing frequency for that population every year. That means three times the bills generated, printed, mailed, and processed. More payment transactions, more customer service volume, and more credit card processing fees.
The city’s own budget data contradicts the “no fiscal impact” memo. The Utilities Customer Service Division, which handles billing, late notices, and collection, had actual expenditures of $1,757,994 in FY2022 and was budgeted at $2,126,593 for FY2024. The Solid Waste and Stormwater funds already make interfund transfers to the Utilities Operating Fund for billing services. Credit card processing fees alone required emergency appropriations of $53,334 from General Fund Contingency in 2022 and $104,000 across General and Building funds in 2021.
The amendment also specifies that Republic Services is prohibited from billing customers directly and cannot add fees or charges. The city assumes sole billing responsibility for all residential customers. The current residential rate is $26.44 per month ($79.34 per quarter). The franchise agreement runs through June 1, 2030 with a 3% annual rate increase built in.
No effective date for the transition is specified in the packet. Public Works will issue written notification to affected residents prior to implementation. No count of affected accounts is provided anywhere in the packet.
The questions Council should be asking Thursday: How many accounts are switching? What is the estimated annual cost increase from tripling billing frequency? Where is that cost absorbed? If this truly costs nothing, why wasn’t it done years ago?
5. The $355,532 First-Quarter Budget Re-Allocation (Consent Agenda)
This consent agenda item clears the $50,000 threshold and warrants a look. The city identified $355,532 in first-quarter FY2026 savings from General Fund budget requests that were completed under budget or no longer needed.
Where the money comes from:
Public Works: $291,601 from an Electrical Services request that is no longer required
Fire Department: $61,580 total ($40,000 from Fire Inspections trending under estimate, $15,405 from lower Janitorial Services costs, $6,175 from reduced Lucas/LifePak maintenance)
Facilities: $2,351 from completed minor facility maintenance
Where the money goes:
Fire Department: $40,000 for medical supplies needed for Fire Station #7 and temporary station openings
Police Department: $36,280 ($20,000 for SWAT Medic supplies, $16,280 for delivery and contingency fee on a donated Kroger mobile modular building for the Police Range)
Parks and Facilities: $58,100 for critical repairs at Fire Station #2 (HVAC replacement, indoor air quality testing, post-construction cleaning, and bathroom redesign)
General Fund Contingency: $221,152 (the remainder)
The re-allocations to active operational needs are straightforward. The $221,152 returning to General Fund contingency is a cushion-building move. Given the city’s ongoing budget pressures, using one-time savings to pad the reserve is defensible. Council should confirm this is a deliberate reserve strategy and not just parking funds without a plan.
Also on the Agenda
Proclamations: Mayor Rob Medina will proclaim Palm Bay a Purple Heart City (Resolution 2026-04), formally recognizing combat-wounded veterans. Also on the proclamation list: Irish American Heritage Month and Hemophilia and Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month.
Board vacancies: One vacancy on the Community Development Advisory Board and two on the Citizens Accountability Task Force.
VOCA Grant: A $56,910 renewal from the U.S. Department of Justice Victims of Crime Act fund. Reimburses approximately one-third of salary for two Victim Services Unit staff in the Police Department. The 20% local match requirement has been waived. No city cost.
Travel and Training (Consent): Fire Rescue to Sutphen Corporation in Dublin, Ohio for Quint pre-build design review (zero cost, vendor-covered). Police Investigations to the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville ($854, largely reimbursed by Central Florida Cares). Police Uniform Services to a law enforcement leadership summit (destination and full cost not detailed in packet). Public Works to the APWA Equipment Roadeo in Tampa ($5,040 for 10 employees).
Ordinance 2026-05 (First Reading): A request to vacate a portion of a public utility and drainage easement at Lot 26, Block 1410, Port Malabar Unit 30. Requested by WJHFL LLC because a potable water well was placed within the easement in error. First reading only; will require a second vote before it takes effect.
Federal Legislative Priorities: Council will select four of six proposed intersection and transportation projects for federal advocacy by the city’s contracted lobbying firm, Alcalde & Fay. The six candidates are: ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems), San Filippo Drive SE at Wyoming Drive SE, San Filippo Drive SE at Jupiter Boulevard SE, San Filippo Drive SE at Cogan Drive, Jupiter Boulevard SW at Garvey Road, and Malabar Road NW at St. Johns Heritage Parkway.
The Palm Bay City Council meets Thursday, March 5, 2026 at 6:00 PM at City Hall. The full agenda packet is available on the city’s website.
