City Council Meetings — Palm Bay, Florida

The Palm Bay City Council meets on the first and third Thursday of each month, except June, at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 120 Malabar Road SE.

The city lists that schedule on its agenda page and notes that all meetings are open to the public (City of Palm Bay Agendas and Minutes page). The 6:00 p.m. start has applied to regular Palm Bay council meetings since April 7, 2022. With two Thursdays a month and a break in June, the regular calendar works out to about 22 meetings a year, plus any special meetings or workshops.

The schedule rests on the Palm Bay City Charter. Section 3.081, in force since January 2023, requires regular council meetings at least twice each month, except for June, at City Hall or another municipal building (Palm Bay City Charter, page 14). City Hall sits on Malabar Road; the city's directions page points drivers to I-95 exits 173 and 176 (City of Palm Bay directions to City Hall).

Regular Palm Bay council meetings air on Space Coast Government Television (SCGTV) and stream live on the city website, with YouTube and Facebook as backups and a video archive for past meetings.

SCGTV is a 24-hour cable channel, and the Palm Bay agenda page lists where it is carried in Brevard (City of Palm Bay Agendas and Minutes page). The most recent regular Palm Bay meeting is rebroadcast on SCGTV on Monday at 6:00 p.m., Friday at 1:00 p.m. and Saturday at 12:00 a.m.

The Palm Bay Listen / Watch Meetings page carries the live feed. If that feed drops, the city says the meeting can be streamed, subject to availability, on YouTube or Facebook, and earlier meetings are in the city's video archive (Palm Bay Listen and Watch Meetings page). The city adds that it is not responsible for recordings made by third parties. Behind the broadcast is the Palm Bay City Clerk's Office, which coordinates televising of regular council meetings on the government channel and streaming of audio to the city website (Office of the Palm Bay City Clerk).

Palm Bay posts council agendas and minutes on its PrimeGov portal, with older records on the NovusAgenda platform and a separate archive for agendas from before June 18, 2020.

The Palm Bay agenda page links PrimeGov for City Council meetings and for the other authorities, boards and committees, and says items not available there remain on NovusAgenda (City of Palm Bay Agendas and Minutes page). Minutes are archived to date. The City Clerk manages the agenda process and the public notification requirements for council business meetings, and prepares the minutes (Palm Bay City Clerk page). The charter gives the clerk the duty to give notice of council meetings to members and the public (Palm Bay City Charter, Section 3.07).

Proposed Palm Bay ordinances can also carry an economic estimate. Since October 1, 2023, section 166.041(4) of the Florida Statutes has required cities to post a Business Impact Estimate for proposed ordinances, subject to exemptions, and Palm Bay posts them on the same agenda page (City of Palm Bay Agendas and Minutes page). The page lists estimates for Ordinances 2024-45, 2024-55 and 2024-56 and for Ordinances 2026-21, 2026-30, 2026-31 and 2026-32. It also notes Senate Bill 1628, signed on May 6, 2024, which narrowed the exemptions from October 1, 2024.

Palm Bay residents may address the council during the meeting, and Florida law guarantees a reasonable opportunity to be heard, but electronic media files must reach the City Clerk 48 hours ahead.

Section 286.0114 of the Florida Statutes says members of the public shall be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard on a proposition before a board or commission, which includes the Palm Bay City Council (s. 286.0114, Florida Statutes). The same statute lets a council adopt rules on speaking time, on forms used to ask to speak, and on a set period for public comment. Section 286.011 declares meetings where official acts are taken to be open to the public at all times and requires reasonable notice of them (s. 286.011, Florida Statutes).

Palm Bay adds two of its own deadlines. Under Council Policies and Procedures, anyone who wants to use electronic media while addressing the Palm Bay City Council must give the file to the City Clerk for screening no later than 48 hours before the meeting (City of Palm Bay Agendas and Minutes page). Requests for accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act go to the City Clerk's Office at (321) 952-3414, or through the Florida Relay System at 711, also at least 48 hours ahead. The Palm Bay charter leaves the details of procedure to the council: Section 3.082 says the council determines its own rules and order of business (Palm Bay City Charter, page 14).

Under the Palm Bay City Charter, a majority of the five-member council forms a quorum, and an action needs the affirmative vote of the majority of a quorum present.

Section 3.02 sets a five-member council made up of a mayor and four other members (Palm Bay City Charter, Section 3.02). Section 3.083 states that a majority of the council constitutes a quorum (Palm Bay City Charter, Section 3.08). Section 3.081 lets any Palm Bay councilmember call a special meeting or workshop on no less than 24 hours verbal and written notice to each member and the public, whenever practicable. The notice states the specific purpose of the meeting, and no additional items may be taken up at a special meeting.

Ordinances move at a set pace. A proposed Palm Bay ordinance may be read by title or in full on at least two separate days, and an amendment at the second or a later reading that changes the ordinance's intent needs another reading at least ten days later (Palm Bay City Charter, Section 3.10). Emergency ordinances can pass at the meeting where they are introduced, but expire 30 days after enactment unless an earlier expiry is specified in them.

Attendance is also written into the Palm Bay charter. Absence from four consecutive regular meetings, or six within a twelve-month period, vacates a member's seat, and the City Clerk notifies the council of the third and fourth consecutive absences (Palm Bay City Charter, Section 3.063). The mayor presides at council meetings, and at the first council meeting following the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, or following any city run-off election if later, the council elects one of its members deputy mayor (Palm Bay City Charter, Section 3.04). Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the City of Palm Bay City Clerk website.