Call Center Company in Palm Bay, FL

Reporter

PALM BAY, Fla. —

Dry weather conditions are continuing to impact Central Florida. Several fires have sparked up throughout local counties, and the fire threat continues.

Could wildfire smoke cause health concerns for Florida residents?

Cliff Frazier, wildlife mitigation specialist with the Florida Forest Service, said the conditions create a perfect opportunity for brush fires in places like Brevard County.

"It's going to continue like this until we get a substantial amount of rainfall. I mean, it is very dry out there. The vegetation is dry, humidity levels are low, [and] high wind gusts are recipes for a wildfire," Frazier said.

Several counties, including Brevard, have issued burn bans. Palm Bay Fire Rescue Assistant Fire Chief John Ringleb said the city hopes to do the same today.

Palm Bay fire crews are on high alert after dealing with multiple fires this week.

Ringleb said they are updating their brush fleet and altering how they respond to these brush fires.

"Every day we're paging out overtime for members to come in off-duty to staff our brush trucks. That way, if we do have a brush fire, that just requires more of a brush truck style apparatus on scene, we can leave our other suppression units in the station to still respond to emergencies throughout the city," Ringleb said. "By upping our staffing, it gives us that flexibility to put people where we need them without debilitating or depleting our resources to respond to other emergencies."

He hopes people adhere to the burn bans and make good choices. He also wants people who see something happen to let them know about it.

Frazier said he had some tips for preparing their homes in case of a fire.

"Take those initial precautions like cleaning your gutters, cleaning the debris out of your roof, moving the firewood out a minimum of 50 to 100ft," he said. "Just take little precautions [because] anything that you think will burn, will burn."

Palm Bay, Fla. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Palm Bay Center, a 135,049-square-foot retail center located along Florida’s Space Coast in Palm Bay. Publix anchors the property, which has operated at this location for more than 40 years. The center was 35 percent leased to additional tenants including Broken Barrel, Family Dollar, Save A Lot and Citi Trends at the time of sale. Palm Bay Center is situated on roughly 12 acres.

Tarek Chbeir of Marcus & Millichap, in collaboration with Adam Sklaver and Philip Kates of Marcus & Millichap’s Commercial Property Auction Services, marketed the property. Tarek Chbeir also represented the seller, a private investor, in the transaction.

Fairview Park, Ohio — JLL Capital Markets has facilitated the $51.5 million sale of Westgate Shopping Center, a 311,440-square-foot regional power center located in the Cleveland suburb of Fairview Park. Originally built in the mid-1950s and renovated in 2007, Westgate Shopping Center sits on 55 acres.

Target, Lowe’s, Kohl’s, Planet Fitness, Petco, Marshalls and Ulta Beauty anchor the center, which was 97.2 percent leased at the time of sale. Other tenants at the property include Bath & Body Works, Five Guys, Jersey Mike’s, Club Pilates, The Joint, Great Clips and Five Below. In the past three years, ownership has executed 17 new leases or relocations and 13 extensions totaling more than 130,000 square feet.

Michael Nieder and Brian Page of JLL’s Investment Sales and Advisory team represented the seller, The RH Johnson Co., in the transaction. The buyer was Phillips Edison & Co.

Killeen, Texas — JLL Capital Markets has secured financing for the acquisition of West Killeen Market, a 44,494-square-foot retail center located in Killeen. Built in 2017, the property is 74 percent leased and shadow-anchored by an H-E-B grocery store. Other tenants include Cohen Veterans Network, Jimmy’s Egg, MB2 Dental, Twin Liquor, Verizon Wireless, Cricket Wireless, Great Clips, The Joint, Venetian Nail Spa, Lone Star Pediatric Dental & Braces and Papa John’s Pizza.

Clint Coe, Chad Lisbeth and Charlie Mossy of JLL’s Debt Advisory team represented the borrower, Brownlee Waggoner Holdings LLC, in arranging the four-year loan through Stellar Bank.

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LAGOON

Florida Today

Palm Bay officials have yet to explain what caused raw sewage to spill for almost 24 hours and flow into Turkey Creek, fouling the popular creek and offending local noses.

But sewage mishaps are a chronic problem in Palm Bay and other cities with aging infrastructure or growth that outpaces their ability to handle sewage.

Here's what we know and don't know about the spill.

What we know about the Palm Bay sewage spill

A main sewer pipe broke around 11 p.m. Sunday, June 8, near 1050 Clearmont St. NE, right next to the city's sewer plant. The spill involved a 20-inch sewer main that serves as a primary feed to the city’s sewer treatment plant.

Palm Bay officials warned residents June 9 of "a serious environmental and public health concern" after raw sewage had been leaking for hours.

Is the Palm Bay sewage spill contained?

Yes. Cathcart Construction Company completed emergency repairs to the damaged 20-inch sewer main late Monday night.

Now what?

Palm Bay, the contractor and environmental specialists are collaborating on the environmental assessment and cleanup efforts.

Vacuum trucks remained on site Tuesday and were cleaning both the pond next to the damaged pipe and the swale that runs parallel.

How did they fix it?

To isolate the affected section of pipe, two 20-inch line stops were installed on the forcemain, along with a bypass to ensure uninterrupted flow. Crews then made pipe repairs using 20-inch long sleeves and replacement sections of pipe. The area was then backfilled with clean soil.

What about Turkey Creek?

Cleanup and remediation efforts are underway in the creek, within a designated turbidity curtain area. Overnight, the contractor began using vacuum trucks and putting in booms to contain the cloudy water.

Early Tuesday, the contractor sent personnel into the creek "to perform manual skimming and net dragging to collect any remaining discharge material." The collected material is being transported to vacuum trucks for removal.

Is the city testing the creek?

Yes. To ensure environmental safety and protect public health, utilities workers were collecting the first round of water samples June 10. They're testing on five designated locations on a 24-hour cycle, with water quality monitoring continuing over the next three weeks.

The contractor also will conduct water quality testing in and around the affected area.

Is the city's drinking water safe?

City officials say the drinking water supply remains safe and unaffected. "However, residents are reminded to avoid contact with Turkey Creek and surrounding waterways while restoration and monitoring efforts continue," the city reported on its website.

Is there a health risk?

Yes. "Residents are still urged to avoid contact with Turkey Creek or surrounding waterways until further notice," the city's website warns. "This includes no fishing, boating, or swimming. However, there is no impact to the City's drinking water supply, which remains safe and unaffected."

What we don't know about the Palm Bay sewage spill

FLORIDA TODAY reached out to city officials Monday and Tuesday for further details such as the volume of the spill, what caused it, and possible impacts to nearby private wells, but those details were not immediately available.

Has anything similar happened before in Palm Bay?

Yes. In the fall of 2014, the city spilled 5.7 million gallons of partially treated sewage toward Turkey Creek after heavy rains overwhelmed the sewer system. That was among some 25 million gallons of wastewater released in the five-county lagoon region, from Volusia through Martin County, according to state data obtained by FLORIDA TODAY.

On May 10, 2024, the same Palm Bay facility at 1105 Clearmont St NE had an overflow of about 790,000 gallons of raw sewage, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Police at the time responded to a vehicle accident at the intersection of Malabar Road and St. Johns Heritage Parkway. As one of the vehicles was towed, police noticed water flowing from a water meter box underneath the vehicle. The vehicle had hit a valve, which caused the spill, according to DEP documents.

On May 16, 2024, an inspector investigated a sewage smell and reported the leak to the Utilities Department. City staff were able to recover about 13,400 gallons with a vac-truck.

Early this year, a DEP draft consent order related to that spill and several other violations associated with the city's sewer plant over the past few years included a $34,857 fine to settle those matters or do a project to prevent pollution. On March 11, the city signed an agreement for an "in-kind project," instead of the fine, which includes about $54,200 in new equipment at its North Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility to prevent nitrogen pollution.

DEP allows utilities to put money toward improving their facilities to prevent pollution, in lieu of paying a fine.

More recently, on April 24 the same sewer plant spilled 69,930 gallons of partially treated sewage on the ground. "The spill was caused by a pump failure that went unnoticed," according to the malfunction report provided to DEP. "A pump is programmed to activate when the partially treated effluent in the deep well reservoir reaches a certain volume, but the pump's failure caused the effluent to overflow from the reservoir onto the street nearby." None of the sewage was recovered.

Where can I call for further information?

"The City will continue to provide updates as additional information becomes available. The citizen hotline 321-726-5683 will have the most current information," officials said.

Waymer covers the environment. Contact him at (321) 261-5903 or at jwaymer@floridatoday.com. Follow him on X at @JWayEnviro.

According to Brevard Sports Network's Alan Zlotorzynski, Palm Bay (Florida) has found it's new head boys basketball coach on Thursday.

The Pirates named Wardell Collins as the program's new head boys basketball coach where he will replace Deuel Fider who left to become the head boys basketball coach at Space Coast High School.

Collins coached the past three seasons at Cocoa Beach High School where he went 34-49 (.409) winning percentage during his tenure with the Minutemen from 2022 to 2025. Before his time at Cocoa Beach, Collins coached just three seasons at West Shore High School where he went 33-41 (.445) winning percentage during his time with the Wildcats, including winning 15 games during the 2020-2021 season which was their most wins in a single season since 2017.

“Palm Bay has always been one of the prime basketball programs in the county, and I am honored to be chosen by Athletic Director Brian Crowley and Principal Jud Kaminski to lead this program,” Collins told Brevard Sports Network.

The Pirates had three consecutive winning seasons and four in the last five years until this season where they finished just 10-14 (.416) winning percentage and had their season come to an end in the District Semifinals against Atlantic (Port Orange) back on February 5.

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