Freeport Council Sets 2027 Meeting Calendar, Directs Engineering Study for Business 331 Turn Signal
The Freeport City Council approved next year’s meeting calendar, awarded engineering work on two capital projects, renewed the city’s insurance, and took up a congestion fix for the busy Business 331 and Highway 20 intersection during its regular meeting Tuesday morning, September 8, at City Hall.
The meeting opened with the council approving the consent agenda, which covered the city’s bills, the August 27 regular meeting minutes, the September 1 special meeting minutes, and two budget amendments — one for phase three of the city’s decorative lighting program and another funding a storage building for the city’s Christmas decorations.
Council members then agreed to add items to the agenda brought forward by Councilwoman Brannon, including the traffic signal issue at Business 331 and a future budget amendment for the city’s lighting plan.
With the city manager out on jury duty, the council took up several infrastructure items on his behalf. Members approved a scope of services assigning the Blueberry Road State Road 20 project to North Florida Professional Services, a contract totaling $36,500. The council also approved a $58,490 revision to the stormwater design at the Living History Park. The redesign became necessary because the stormwater pond originally planned for the park sits immediately adjacent to Marquee Way West, and engineers were asked to move it away from the new road’s right of way. The city’s planning director told the council that revised state stormwater rules — which now require phosphate studies and more detailed permitting — have made stormwater approvals across Florida significantly more involved, and urged the council to see the cost in that context.
On the finance side, the council approved the city’s annual insurance renewal at $445,672 for the coming year. Members also approved the city’s 2027 holiday schedule, following staff’s recommendation to observe the Christmas holiday on Thursday and Friday rather than Friday and Monday. The council also approved the full 2027 meeting schedule presented by the city manager’s office, with meetings booked through the end of the year.
The parks department received approval for several items, including the city’s annual Trunk or Treat, set this year for October 24. Parks staff also got the go-ahead to explore a new adult kickball league at the city’s sports complex, which would run alongside the existing co-ed softball program, with pricing and schedules to return for council approval. The council also approved sending a city maintenance employee to an HVAC certification class costing $4,000 — an investment Councilwoman Brannon supported as a way to save money on repair contracts, with a written agreement planned so the newly certified employee stays with the city.
The city’s planning department presented a draft sign regulations section intended for the upcoming land development code update. The section compiles the city’s existing sign rules into a single chapter so the standards can be carried into the new code largely as written. Council members agreed to review the draft individually — with one-on-one briefings offered by planning staff — before it returns to a future meeting for adoption.
In new business, the mayor presented the city’s employee of the month award for August to Gary Thomas, recognizing his dedication to Freeport residents.
Councilwoman Brannon then led a pair of agenda items. First, she asked for a housekeeping follow-up on Flock surveillance cameras, noting the governor has barred them on state highways and the county has removed them from county roads. She reported that the sheriff’s office will deactivate the remaining cameras within 30 days, with Flock to physically remove them afterward, and the council voiced no objection to extending the same policy to city streets.
Brannon’s second item targeted the signalized intersection at Business 331 and Highway 20, where she said drivers waited through two full light cycles that morning and traffic backed up past the PNB Community Bank and Blueberry Road with no dedicated left-turn arrow. City staff said they have already discussed the intersection with Walton County Public Works, county engineering, and the Florida Department of Transportation, and explained that a dedicated left-turn cycle would require intersection improvements and possibly right-of-way acquisition. The council directed staff to assign the intersection to one of the city’s engineers for a scope of services covering all options and costs, with findings due back at a future meeting. Brannon also raised a related concern about drivers cutting through nearby parking lots to dodge the light, and said speed bumps may be needed if the shortcutting continues.
The mayor closed with a pair of lighting items. He told the council he is working toward an estimate from Shelco for decorative lighting on at least every other pole along Highway 20 from West Bay Loop to Business 331, and supported Brannon’s suggestion that the council consider a future budget amendment to fund more of the citywide lighting plan using available funds. The council also settled a policy for lighting at City Hall, agreeing to switch the awning lights off on nights without meetings or special events, and to keep the front lights white as a default with red, white, and blue reserved for holidays and occasions.
With no further public comment, the meeting adjourned.
Originally reported by the City of Freeport. Image: City of Freeport via YouTube.
