Message from the City Manager

The budget planning process is now underway, and many of us will be working hard in the coming months planning for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which includes identifying resources available to fund continued city operations, replacement equipment, facility improvements and capital improvement projects.    

As it has been for the past few years, we expect this year to be another tight budget as we continue to operate in challenging economic times.  

I appreciate everyone’s efforts in putting together the annual budget and your ongoing careful management of the City’s resources.

Jenni

Melbourne Firefighters Honored During Awards and Promotional Ceremony

 

Pictured left to right: Lt. Kevin Hardy, Firefighter Corey Flowers, Firefighter Joshua Gentile and Firefighter Steven Tickemyer

The Melbourne Fire Department Awards and Promotional Ceremony was held on February 7 to honor Melbourne firefighters for their heroism, teamwork and compassion. Employees earning promotions were also recognized, and new firefighters were sworn in and formally welcomed to the department.

Lt. Kevin Hardy, Firefighter Corey Flowers, Firefighter Joshua Gentile and Firefighter Steven Tickemyer were named Firefighters of the Year for 2024 for their heroism in rescuing an elderly woman from burning apartment.

View the press release for more pictures from the ceremony and information about all of the awards and promotions. 

Work of City's Engineers Highlighted During National Engineers Week

 

During National Engineers Week (February 16-22), the great work of City of Melbourne's engineers was highlighted on the city's website and social media pages. Established by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1951, Engineers Week is held each year to promote awareness and appreciation of engineers and to encourage interest in the field of engineering.

The City of Melbourne’s Engineering Department oversees a wide range of projects, from road improvements and traffic safety to construction plan review and projects to protect the Indian River Lagoon.

Melbourne Public Works and Utilities Department engineers oversee critical infrastructure projects and services, such as water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, and streets and stormwater maintenance.

The City’s engineers also oversee design, construction and maintenance of all city facilities, including all fire stations, community centers, City Hall and the parking garage, and our new police headquarters building. 

Florida-Friendly Landscaping Seminar Set for March 22

 

The annual Florida-Friendly Landscaping Seminar returns March 22 to the Melbourne Auditorium. This free event will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with check-in starting at 8:15 a.m.

There will be four presentations, a rain barrel workshop, and a variety of vendors. Free breakfast items and goody bags will be offered to all attendees, and there will be a raffle drawing after the presentations.   

This event is free, but registration is encouraged. Register on EventBrite or call 321-633-1702, press 2, to register. 

Melbourne Fire Fighters Complete Prestigious Smoke Divers Course

 

Congratulations to Lt. Tony Mauro and Fire Medic Zac James of the Melbourne Fire Department for being the only two individuals complete the 2025 Florida State Fire College Smoke Divers course. Pictured, left to right: Instructor and Melbourne Fire Training Chief Payton Jones, Fire Medic Zac James, Lt. Tony Mauro, Instructor and Melbourne Fire Driver Medic Patrick Milbocker and Instructor and Palm Bay Fire Department Fire Medic Steve White. Learn more about this physically and mentally demanding program on Florida Smoke Diver website.

Promotions

• Rodney Cherilus to Utility System Service Worker II, Wastewater Collection
• Aswathy Cinu to Communications Officer III, Police Support Services
• Yusef Francis to Maintenance Worker I, Streets Management
• Morgan Gomez to Associate Buyer, Procurement
• Corey McCullough to Maintenance Worker I, Streets Management
• Christopher Pushman to Maintenance Foreman, Water Distribution
• Mark Seefeldt to Maintenance Worker II, Wastewater Collection
• Tyler Vavra to Airport Police Sergeant, Airport Police

Excellence Awards  

Tom Baker (left) congratulates Nic Coster (right) on receiving an Excellence Award.

Nic Coster received an Excellence Award for his dedication and selfless commitment during the city’s mandatory annual training. Nic’s initiative was instrumental to its successful completion. His proactive approach, combined with his determination to ensure the training was completed ahead of the deadline, provided city employees with the valuable opportunity to participate in person. Nic’s exemplary leadership in ensuring that every employee met their training requirements in a timely and effective manner defines the characteristics of a selfless leader.  

From left to right: Alyssa Garrahan, Cindy Meekens, Carol Leuck, Nikki Caldwell, Barbara Smith, and JJ Hintze

Alyssa Garrahan, Barbara Smith, Carol Leuck, Cindy Meekins, and JJ Hintze were recognized with City of Melbourne Employee Excellence Awards for their amazing work and dedication with the CAPRA Accreditation application process. This process began a year and a half ago and was completed in January 2025. They were instrumental in assisting with completing all 154 standards of compliance. 

Alyssa Garrahan assisted with the process and completion of the Strategic Plan and Parks Master Plan. Many long days, nights, and weekends were spent analyzing and compiling data, creating cover sheets, documents, policies, guidelines, and procedures for the department. Alyssa’s great computer skills were an important factor in creating quality documents and uploading all the documents to the accreditation portal. 

Barbara Smith spent many months gathering and creating documents and creating cover sheets summarizing the evidence of compliance. 

Carol Leuck also spent many months gathering and creating documents for the required evidence of compliance. It began with copying the documents borrowed from the City of Palm Bay and creating binders of the information to reference, then creating cover sheets, gathering files, researching City documents and policies, and creating guidelines and procedures for the Department. 

Cindy Meekins spent many long days, nights, and weekends were spent creating documents, policies, guidelines, procedures, and ADA evaluations for the department. 

JJ Hintze spent many long days, nights, and weekends were spent creating documents, policies, procedures, guidelines, spreadsheets, and matrixes for the department. Her outstanding computer skills were contributory in creating quality documents.

Service Award

  

During the February 25 City Council Meeting, council members and the city manager congratulated and thanked Wolfgang Kermer for his 30 years of service to the City of Melbourne. Pictured left to right are City Attorney Adam Conley, Council Member Mark LaRusso, Council Member Mimi Hanley, City Manager Jenni Lamb, Council Member Marcus Smith, Mayor Paul Alfrey, Wolfgang Kermer and his wife, Council Member Julie Kennedy, Council Member Rachael Bassett, and Vice Mayor David Neuman.

Retirement 

Stephen "Lee" Skinner, Fire Lieutenant, retired on February 25 after 25 years of service.