Ormond Beach capital project workshop leaves MacDonald House improvements on hold

Ormond Beach Observer
News

Almost $20 million worth of projects were given a tentative thumbs-up by the City Commission at the Capital Improvements Program workshop on Tuesday, June 4, but one was notably left in limbo for the time being.

The MacDonald House.

The Ormond Beach Historical Society was hoping the city would allocate $200,000 to the first of four phases needed for exterior improvements to the historic city-owned property. Staff didn't include the project in the drafted list of general fund capital projects, though it was listed as an alternate or additional project. That category in the CIP allocated $572,567 to three projects: Improvements at The Casements (mainly funded through its Guild fundraising efforts), Community Development Block Grant projects and fiber optic connectivity.

Which categories account for the bulk of the $20 million CIP plan?

The plan for fiscal year 2019-2020, prepared by using a millage rate of 4.045 (half of rollback rate), included over $8 million for water and wastewater projects and almost $4.6 million for airport and economic development improvements. As the biggest budget item in the plan, the water and wastewater projects are relying on $5.4 million of funding through impact fees, $1.3 million in user fees, $310,500 from the vehicle reserves fund, as well as $1.1 million from wastewater reserves — which is the cost of the design and permitting phase for the north peninsula Phase 1 septic to sewer conversion.

As for the airport projects, the city is relying on $4.5 million worth of grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation, which will mainly cover the planned airport runway 9/27 1,000-feet extension. The rest of the funds for those projects will come from the general fund and economic development reserves.

Only Mayor Bill Partington voiced his desire to allocate funds to the MacDonald House. He wanted to figure out a way to complete all phases, a cost of $890,000.

“Expensive, but a lot of cities spend a lot of money on old houses," Partington said. "I look at Winter Park which has spent millions of dollars restoring old houses because they treasure their history. It’s valuable to them, and it’s important to their community.

But, he didn't get support from commission at the workshop. City Commissioner Rob Littleton said the city would be digging into its planned 17.3% in general reserve funding. With other organizations like The Casements Guild having raised $127,000 for improvements to The Casements, and the Ormond Memorial Art Museum and Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center working on their own fundraising efforts for building improvements, he said he had hesitations toward allocating city money without a similar effort by the Historical Society.

Historical Society President Bonda Garrison expressed the organization's disappointment at the lack of city support at the commission meeting later that night. She said the Historical Society, the city's Landmarks Preservation and Quality of Life Boards have all been advocating for the maintenance and preservation of the MacDonald House since 2007. That was 12 years ago, she said.

What else is on the CIP budget? Here are some notable highlights.

$182,000 to replace four police cars. This is funded through the dedicated millage for vehicles.
$50,000 to replace a 2003 street loader. This is a five-year lease and is also funded by the dedicated millage for vehicles.
$450,000 for road resurfacing. This is funded through the gas tax.
$70,000 to replace the overlook above the restrooms at the Birthplace of Speed Park by the Granada Boulevard beach approach. This is funded through property taxes.
$70,000 to make improvements to the Rockefeller room inside The Casements. This is funded through property taxes.
$120,000 to paint the Granada bridge. A color scheme is still to be determined. The city plans to apply for FDOT funding for this project.
$865,000 for parking lot imrpovements, a new bathroom, bait house and pavilion at Cassen Park. This will be funded through property taxes.

Garrison said they raised $70,000 two years ago to save the house, but stopped because the city was conducting a study to find out what the improvements would cost. Raising funds isn't easy for a small organization like theirs, she said, and it would be "short-sighted" to do so without city commitment.

“It’s one of the last structures that we can save to showcase our wonderful history," she said. "We stand ready to do our part."

At the workshop, City Commissioner Susan Persis said she'd rather opt to fund a different project over the MacDonald house: the construction of a bathroom and concessions facility at Field 7 in the Ormond Beach Sports Complex, a project that is estimated to cost $600,000, though Persis hoped it could be done for less.

None of the other commissioners favored this idea. City Commissioner Troy Kent agreed that the girls that will be using that field need a bathroom — the city is hoping to make Field 7 the primary home field for the Seabreeze High School's girls softball team — the cost was too high.

Persis persisted, even as Selby pointed out that there are bathrooms nearby and that he wanted to make sure the city wasn't committing to doing a project because it "feels good."

“I don’t want to do it because it feels good, for sure," Persis said. "I want to do it because it’s right.”

The commission reached a compromise regarding the bathrooms by opting to direct staff to put the bathroom project on hold, and in the meantime, continue applying for grants. If the city were able to obtain grant funding, the CIP budget could then be amended.