Palm Bay, FL -- The council meeting on March 5 covered more ground than most. Council declared consensus for an emergency order against a late-night event venue at Turner Square, confronted a bridge project whose estimated cost has tripled since authorization, and heard City Manager Matthew Morton formally preview the retirement of Police Chief Mario Augello. Along the way, the council hired an interim procurement officer, heard a resident relitigate the Langevin settlement optics, and Councilman Mike Jaffe flagged a texting situation at the Charter Review Commission.
Late-Night Events at Turner Square Put on Notice
The most animated exchange of the night involved Casika Event Center, located at Turner Square at the intersection of Jupiter Boulevard and Eldron Boulevard. The venue has been running events until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
Growth Management Director Althea Jefferson and then-Deputy Chief Jeff Spears briefed the council. The situation is complicated: the twerking contests generating the most complaints appear to stem from a separate restaurant in the same plaza, not from Casika itself. That distinction has legal consequences. It does not change much for residents who live nearby.
Mayor Rob Medina did not leave his position ambiguous. “I’ve been to thousands of weddings, events, bars. You don’t have twerking contests at 2:30 in the morning.” He said he wants an emergency order issued.
Deputy Mayor Mike Jaffe focused on what tools the city has available. Three enforcement paths were discussed: reverse zoning, an emergency curfew, or revising the Land Development Code to address temporary uses. A multi-department meeting was scheduled for the following Friday morning to work through which path is viable.
Medina declared consensus on the dais for an emergency order before the meeting ended. No formal vote was taken Thursday. The enforcement mechanism will come back after the interdepartmental meeting.
For context: the entity behind the plaza is Kasika Heritage Corp. and 3085 Jupiter, LLC. The company has been in the city’s permitting system since at least 2024, when it filed conditional use request CU24-00001 for alcohol service at a dining establishment. That request went to a council agenda in July 2024 and was continued to Planning and Zoning in September 2024.
C7 Canal Bridge: Estimated at $2.5 Million. Now $6.2 Million.
The C7 Canal Bridge project came before the council for a revised scope and cost presentation. The original estimate when the project was authorized: $2.5 million. The current projected total: $6.2 million.
Public Works Director Kevin Brinkley and Kimley-Horn engineer Matthew Gillespie presented the updated figures. The bridge-alone component is approximately $2.4 million. Jaffe said he is not confident that number will hold either.
The council approved the updated scope 5-0. Jaffe made the motion, Medina seconded. No one argued the bridge should not be built. The cost trajectory stands on its own.
Chief Augello Is Out April 2. Jeff Spears Takes Over.
Police Chief Mariano “Mario” Augello retires April 2. Morton announced plans for a public event to mark the transition.
“I’ve invited PD, I’ve invited fire, I’ve invited our staff. The community’s invited to come,” Morton said. “It’s a momentous day to celebrate a legacy of leadership from Chief Augello and to welcome a new legacy of leadership with Chief Spears.”
Augello has led the Palm Bay Police Department for 25 years. He founded the Palm Bay Blue Foundation, a nonprofit supporting officer and family wellness. The department achieved Excelsior Status from the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation in late 2025. FOP attorney Alan Diamond described morale at the department as “better than I’ve ever seen it.”
Augello’s tenure has not been without dispute. Retired Deputy Police Chief Lance Fisher has appeared at public meetings repeatedly since 2024, alleging excessive force incidents, falsified reports, intimidation of officers who report misconduct, and interference in a Melbourne death investigation. Fisher has called for Augello’s resignation or administrative leave pending an independent investigation. Those allegations remain unresolved.
Incoming Chief Jeff Spears grew up in Palm Bay and started with the department as a Police Explorer. He has worked up through the ranks to his current position as Deputy Chief. The formal transition is April 2.
Ordinance 2026-04: Development Agreements Shift to Final Phase (4-1)
The council passed Ordinance 2026-04 on a 4-1 vote. Councilman Mike Hammer was the lone dissent.
The ordinance removes the requirement for a Development Agreement at the Preliminary Development Plan stage. Under the new structure, a DA is required only when a developer submits a Final Development Plan. The city’s reasoning: binding agreements should be based on finalized project details, not conceptual estimates.
Hammer’s objection: removing the preliminary DA requirement gives developers a free pass until the final plan arrives, which may be reviewed by a different council and different staff than the ones who started the process. “I can’t promise when I’m in a mountain in Tennessee that they’re going to be doing the same thing,” he said.
Hammer proposed adding a simplified terms sheet at the PDP stage -- enough to get key issues into the public record early. He moved to approve the ordinance with that addition. The motion died without a second. Jaffe then moved to approve the ordinance as written. That passed 4-1.
Battin Relitigates the Langevin Settlement Optics
Resident Bill Battin used public comment to challenge how the $55,000 Langevin settlement landed on the February 27 special council meeting agenda. The fire assessment discussion that night drew a standing-room crowd. By the time the settlement vote came up, the room had thinned to nine people. Battin’s read: “like you were trying to hide it.”
City Attorney Patricia Smith explained the sequence. The federal court dismissed the Langevin case immediately upon filing of a joint settlement notice, which canceled the upcoming pretrial conference and trial date. The next regular council meeting already had a finalized published agenda. Smith said she was not willing to do an agenda revision because she thought that would look bad. The next available meeting was the special meeting. The settlement went there.
The settlement itself: $55,000, approved 4-0 on February 27. Councilman Chandler Langevin was absent. All funds went to plaintiff’s attorney Anthony Sabatini. None went to Langevin. The city released all liability. Neither party admitted wrongdoing. The underlying case, Langevin v. City of Palm Bay, No. 6:25-cv-02015-GAP-NWH, involved First Amendment claims stemming from his October 2025 censure.
There is a cost that does not appear in that figure. At the February 27 meeting, Morton confirmed a publicly traded company had walked away from a planned Palm Bay investment because of the Langevin controversy. That number is not quantifiable and will never appear on an invoice.
No council action was taken Thursday. The matter is legally closed.
Interim CPO: David Gragan, $146,000, Six Months
The council approved a contract with SGR Government for interim Chief Procurement Officer David Gragan at $115 per hour, with a not-to-exceed cap of $146,000. The six-month engagement covers approximately 1,024 working hours.
Cost breakdown: $117,760 salary equivalent, $12,000 travel stipend, $14,400 hotel, $900 SGR placement fee.
Gragan’s background: retired U.S. Marine Corps major, former state procurement director for Indiana, former CPO for the state of Texas. Councilman Kenny Johnson reviewed his resume before the meeting. “It is impeccable,” he said. Hammer connected the hire to the federal Department of Government Efficiency by name. “I would like to remind everybody we are doing a Doge and I think having this influence here is going to be great,” he said.
Jaffe put the hire in perspective. “State procurement director for the state of Indiana, CPO for the state of Texas. I think our community is blessed to have this opportunity.”
Approved 5-0. Gragan’s assignment: modernize procurement workflows, update the procurement manual, clarify staff roles, improve vendor confidence, and help recruit a permanent CPO.
Crystal Palace: Debris on the Ground, Affordable Housing in the Plans
Langevin raised the condition of the former Crystal Palace property at 1881 Palm Bay Road. Demolition started a few months ago. The contractor threw debris outside the building and went quiet. The city has had no response to its outreach.
“I don’t know if anybody’s driven down Palm Bay Road lately and looked at the Crystal Palace project,” Langevin said. “They started the demolition it seems like a few months ago and then threw everything outside the building.”
The city posted stop work orders and notices of violation. The cleanup path: the city removes the debris, bills the contractor, and applies a lien if the bill goes unpaid. One council member raised the idea of an ordinance that would terminate building permits when a city lien is active on a property. Morton said he would look into the legality.
The property is owned by 1611 Meridian LLC, whose attorney is Kim Rezanka and whose principals include Ner Dora and William Peretta. The developer’s stated plan is to convert the former Holiday Inn into affordable housing: 130 studio units in Phase 1 and 170 one- and two-bedroom units in Phase 2. The identity of the demolition contractor who left the debris is not established in available records.
Four Federal Projects Selected for 2026-2027 Priority List
The council approved its federal legislative priorities for fiscal year 2026-2027 on a 5-0 vote. Four projects were selected from a list of six.
Selected:
ITS Traffic Enhancements at Emerson/Babcock and Jupiter/San Filippo -- $1 million federal request, $226,415 city match
Intersection Safety at San Filippo SE and Wyoming Drive SE -- $2.4 million, $600,000 match
Intersection Safety at San Filippo SE and Jupiter Boulevard SE -- $2.4 million, $600,000 match
Roundabout at Malabar Road NW and St. Johns Heritage Parkway -- $3 million, $1.5 million match
Total federal ask: $8.8 million. Total city match: $2,926,415.
The only contested decision was the fourth slot. Medina backed the San Filippo/Wyoming intersection. Councilman Kenny Johnson argued for the Garvey Road project near Jupiter Elementary and Odyssey Middle School, where a four-way stop backs up badly during school hours. Johnson deferred to the majority. Garvey Road did not make the list.
Jaffe Flags Texting During a Charter Review Commission Meeting
Jaffe disclosed that two or three Charter Review Commission members were in a group text thread during a public CRC meeting. He did not allege a violation of Florida’s Government in the Sunshine Law. He called the optics a problem.
“Not saying that they’re violating the Sunshine Law,” Jaffe said, “but the optics aren’t great.”
He formally asked City Attorney Smith to look into the matter and address it at the next CRC meeting. Smith did not weigh in on the floor Thursday.
Florida’s Sunshine Law, Section 286.011, prohibits board members from communicating with each other outside of public meetings on matters that may come before the board. Whether a group text thread during a public meeting triggers that prohibition is a question Smith will now have to answer.
Mayor Medina Stepped Back From a Lobbyist Selection
During the city manager’s report, Morton noted a complication in the state lobbyist review committee process. Mayor Medina recused himself after learning a finalist candidate had donated to the Mayor’s Ball fundraiser.
“I’m definitely not going to jeopardize -- that could be construed as a conflict of interest even though I didn’t gain personally from it,” Medina said. He said he did not see the finalist list until the day he reported for committee training.
The council agreed to let Morton appoint a city staff member to fill the role. The finalist’s name was not disclosed publicly Thursday and is not confirmed in available records.
Republic Services, Consent, Routine Business
The council approved an amendment to the city’s agreement with Republic Services to convert solid waste billing from quarterly to monthly for residents who pay separately from their city utility bill -- approximately 40 percent of households.
The quarterly bill of roughly $90 becomes a monthly bill of roughly $29 to $30. The annual cost is unchanged. The city transferred more than $1 million in FY2026 to cover unpaid quarterly bills. Monthly billing is intended to reduce that exposure. Postage costs rise from $3.60 per year to $9.60. Approved 5-0.
The consent agenda included a $355,532 reallocation of General Fund savings from first-quarter budget adjustments: $40,000 to medical supplies for Fire Station 7 and temporary stations; $20,000 for SWAT medic equipment; $58,100 for Fire Station 2 repairs including HVAC, air quality testing, and shower and bathroom work; $16,280 for delivery and contingency on a donated Kroger modular building for the Police Range; and $221,152 to General Fund contingency. Approved 5-0.
Sources
Regular Council Meeting 2026-08, City of Palm Bay, March 5, 2026
Special Council Meeting 2026-07, City of Palm Bay, February 27, 2026
Langevin v. City of Palm Bay, Case No. 6:25-cv-02015-GAP-NWH, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
City of Palm Bay agenda packet, RCM 2026-08
Palm Bayer SCM 2026-07 coverage: Palm Bay Pays $55K to End Langevin Lawsuit
Bayer NotebookLM corpus, 87 sources
Draft prepared by Tammy, 2026-03-06. Awaiting Thomas approval.
