Second Annual State of the City Report

Good evening and welcome to the second annual State of the City address for Panama City Beach. I cannot tell you how proud I am to stand here before you and talk about our wonderful City. It is a great day in Panama City Beach and I’m so thankful that I get to call this place home.

I started this event last year because I realized that we spend so much time focusing on the problems of the day or the next project but rarely take the time to reflect on where we stand. As the City marks its 53^rd birthday, I believe that it is vital that we take the time to reflect as we cast our eyes to the future and also celebrate the hard work of the people that make this place great.

Now just because I’m at this podium doesn’t mean that I did these things alone. I first have to thank my fellow Councilmembers: Vice Mayor Paul Casto, Phil Chester, Mary Coburn, and Michael Jarman. Each of us work hard to listen to our constituents and twice a month we get together and each cast our one vote in an effort to make life better on Panama City Beach.

In truth, a huge team of people work together to make the progress we’ve experienced possible. For every ordinance, resolution and quasi-judicial hearing that we may vote on, there is a great team working for weeks, months, and sometimes years to bring the business of the City to the Council. Then once we cast those votes, that same team works hard to not only implement those actions but to make them work for our community. Our City management team and all our employees work tirelessly to keep our City moving forward. Our employees are the secret ingredient to our success, and I know I speak for my fellow Council members when I say thank you for all the hard work you do for our community.

And with that, let’s get right into it.

It is an incredible time to be a part of the greater Panama City Beach Community. We are the City built on welcoming visitors from all walks of life who are called here by the same thing: our beautiful beaches. For decades those visitors realized that this was home and became locals. That trend has only continued with over 50% population growth in 10 years and over 5 million visitors per year. With this explosion of population, we must work even harder to balance the needs of our residents and visitors. And make no mistake, both residents and visitors are part of our DNA and are vital to our City. While some see this as a tension, I see it as an opportunity and that is what I want to focus on tonight.

So how do we balance this tension? We put the visitors’ dollars to work making our City the best place it can be. Our visitors help us be the largest city in the state without a property tax. It’s a blessing to live in Panama City Beach and not pay a City property tax.

When we talk about making room for all these new folks, the first thing that comes to many peoples’ minds is traffic. In this past year our City has made great strides in improving transportation and we have some great projects underway.

As you’ve no doubt seen, the State has kicked off the 6-laning of Back Beach Road. As the main artery for our day-to-day commutes, business errands, and travel to and from the greater Panama City Beach community, this project will alleviate the serious pressure on this road and move lots of additional traffic. Thanks to a lot of hard work, we were successful in moving this project from 40 years away to fully funded and under construction now.

We’ve also used the ½ cent sales tax funding, money that is paid primarily from our visitors, to repave over 17 miles of roads this year alone!

But out biggest transportation project and my highest priority this year has been our Front Beach Road CRA. This project allows property taxes paid to Bay County by property owners along Front Beach Road and its main arteries, to come back to Panama City Beach and create a transformative transportation project. This year we made significant progress on Highway 79 and Front Beach Road, what we call Segment 3. As you’ve seen, our roundabout that replaced the Y has drastically reduced traffic congestion and I’m so excited to see the expanded Highway 79 opened next month.

While it is easy to see the construction taking place on the road, most people don’t see the team of dedicated professionals constantly working to prepare for the next phase, so we are able to start the next phase as soon we finish our current project. In the next year, the CRA will finish Segment 3 and start work on Segments 4.1, 4.2, finish Alf Coleman to stop the constant flooding of that area and begin working on Powell Adams and Hills roads.

Unfortunately, we are not there yet. This is a generational project, and it has required a generation’s worth of patience, but I truly believe the result will be worth the wait. I have had more than my share of frustrations with torn up streets, dust, and delays. Years of excuses, confusion, and conflicting priorities have left us with a mess on our hands. I’ve had to learn that this mess will not be cleaned up as fast as I’d like, but I promise, this Council is working hard to push this and deliver you a project to be proud of.

These transportations projects will take some years to see the benefit, but they will have a huge impact in giving our residents and visitors room to get around our beautiful City.

Of course, transportation isn’t the only challenge presented by the enormous growth we face. Like any good amusement ride, our city is only fun if we know it is safe.

Our police and fire departments continue to perform at an elite level and our Council has acted to ensure that they are given the tools, training, and personnel necessary to protect our citizens and the greater Panama City Beach area.

We currently have two brand new fire stations under construction and a state-of-the-art fire training tower, and we are currently designing a K-9 officer facility for quality care and training of our K9 officers. These facilities will serve to train not only our men and women but those from surrounding departments. I am so grateful to our state leaders, Griff Griffitts, Jay Trumbull, and Governor Ron DeSantis for providing over $5M in state funds just for these projects.

We’re also seeking funding for a new mobile command unit that will allow a unified rapid response to any emergency or disaster. With these new resources we are able to lead and be proactive in response to threats to not only our City but the greater Panama City Beach community.

But safety doesn’t stop at the water’s edge. Our City has led the charge on lifeguards and continues to increase this program every year. But with 9 miles of beach to guard, we cannot do this alone. Since 2020, the City has offered to provide lifeguards to hotels and condos under a public-private partnership. For three years in a row, the Boardwalk Beach Resort has been an amazing partner with the City to provide lifeguards on the beaches behind its resort. I’d like to personally thank the managing partner of the Boardwalk, David Chapman, for his unwavering commitment to this program. But the Boardwalk shouldn’t be the only one. We need other businesses to step up and join this program.

Beach safety programs are vital to keeping our residents and visitors safe and it is not only visitors that can get in trouble.

Even with all these resources, I’m the first to admit that all these visitors can cause some serious headaches. Bad apples can spoil the bunch and we work hard to keep those bad apples from doing just that.

Panama City Beach is one of the few cities in Florida that had the foresight to prohibit short-term rentals in single family neighborhoods before our State legislature closed the door. However, with over 10,000 units identified by the City’s data, we are dedicated to preventing someone’s good time from causing a bad time. This year the Council passed sweeping legislation that regulates short-term rentals and requires a local point of contact who is required to show up and answer for their guests within an hour’s notice. Not only did we draw tough regulations, but the short-term rental owners applauded us for regulating the bad apples.

We have also kept in place our Spring Break rules that cut down on rowdy behavior and send the bad elements looking for other places to cause trouble. Additionally, since 2020, this Council has closed a small portion of the beach at night to prevent a hot spot of crime from overwhelming the City’s resources.  

I’m proud of the work this Council does to give our City the tools to combat this bad behavior. Fortunately, these are isolated issues, and we can see so many positive impacts that new residents and visitors bring to our area.

We’ve seen over time that by passing sensible regulations to cut off the rough and rowdy behavior of the past, we can allow the true gems of our community to shine, and new exciting partners are finding us as well.

One great example is the great food and beverage options throughout the Panama City Beach area that keep getting better. This year the beautiful Duplin Winery opened, and I’ve been blown away at how welcoming and fun that place is for visitors and the residents of the Glades who are just a golf cart ride away from their new neighborhood spot. Just this month, we broke ground on Dolly Parton’s Pirate Voyage which is going to be a great time and offer great food for our families to enjoy. And last but not least, our very own fine dining destination Firefly was voted the 16^th most romantic restaurant in the entire nation by Yelp.

The fun doesn’t stop there as the list of entertainment options also continues to improve. In December this Council approved the development of TopGolf. I know how excited I am to take my son, John Robert, and daughter, Sydney.

We’re also blessed to have some truly unique and wonderful events in our City. Just this year, USA Today readers voted the Panama City Beach Ball Drop as the #1 way to spend New Year’s Eve. Pier Park and Visit Panama City Beach do a great job with that event and I’m so happy that they are getting the recognition they deserve. Just about every weekend there’s something great to do because you live in Panama City Beach and that is a testament to our residents and our visitors for attracting these wonderful businesses and events. Whether it’s the summer concert series, the food truck festival, the car and boat shows, the Italian circus, and for the first time ever the U.S. Air Force Air Show coming to the Russell-Fields Pier this spring. These events just show you how vibrant our community continues to be.

Our sports and recreation facilities continue to be one of our greatest strengths with our sister facility, the Publix Sports Park, being named the National Sports Park of the Year. The success of this facility only enhances our ability to provide a great place for our youth to pursue their passions. In addition, we’re bringing the biggest update to Frank Brown Park in a decade with the City’s first skatepark, new restroom facilities and a pavilion to the Miracle League field, more pickleball courts, the continued expansion of Gayles Trails, improvements to the Russell-Fields Pier, and construction of our new community center and storm shelter.

But I want to close by highlighting two things that really illustrate we are stand as a City.

First is one that is near and dear to my heart: Our Medical Campus which is set to open its first phase this summer. This Medical Office Building will host a state-of-the-art urgent care facility and multiple specialties so you can finally see your doctors without crossing the bridge. But that is just the beginning of this vision. We are going to be home to a truly game-changing medical facility created in a new partnership between The St. Joe Company, Florida State University and Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.  This is a RESEARCH, TEACHING, AND CLINICAL DELIVERY hospital serving as a state-of-the-art education facility. Physicians will be able to do their residencies here and grow with our community. This facility, when fully operational, is anticipated to have hundreds of beds to serve our community and visitors. This is a generational change for our community.

My wife, my children, and my parents and in-laws all live on this beach. The fact that, with this new hospital, an ambulance ride doesn’t have to go across town means more than I could possibly say in a 15-minute speech.

And finally, I want to close by talking about our beautiful beaches and natural resources. Our beach is so special that we are obligated to preserve it for generations to come. I’m very proud of the work the City and Council have done to protect our beach through the expansion of the sewer system. Research is clear that septic systems harm the ground water and ultimately the water quality of our Gulf. Thanks to state grants, we are expanding our sewer system into Laguna Beach to help preserve that beautiful part of the greater Panama City Beach community. Not only that but we are the only City in the state that allows residents to recoup their investment when they install their own sewer line. That’s a great way to incentivize people to do the right thing.

Another way we are protecting the beach is by cleaning Lullwater Lake. This beautiful pristine lake has gone neglected for too long. Our Council worked hard to obtain $3M from the state and are now seeking more to remove 18 inches of muck from the bottom of the lake. This is not only important for the health of this beautiful resource but will help restore the entire ecosystem around the lake.

Preserving these resources is a moral imperative and I’m committed to doing my part. 

As is plain to see, we truly are a real fun place to live, work, worship, and play. It’s why my wife and I made Panama City Beach home. I want to thank and recognize my wife, Jessica, my daughter Sydney, and my son, John Robert, for being here tonight and supporting me and our City every day.

The City is a unique melting pot of residents and visitors and that is what makes it so special. I for one love getting to meet people from all over the world right in my back yard. I’m proud of the work that this City does to make that melting pot not only work but thrive. We are growing, but we are staying true to who we are as a family destination for thousands to live their best life daily and millions to see each year.

Thank you all and God Bless our city and God Bless America.