- April 26, 2024
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As time dwindles to save the church at 56 N. Beach St., residents are getting organized to make their voices heard.
Civil Discourse Common Ground hosted a meeting on Tuesday, May 22, at Salty Church in Ormond Beach to discuss reasons why the church’s demolition should be delayed by six months, a plea that has been presented to the City Commission by the public, religious organizations and Ormond MainStreet since April. The groups hope that a delay will allow them to find ways to save the 1960 midcentury modern structure.
In May, commissioners voted 3-2 to demolish the building for a shell parking lot, and residents are operating under a tight timeline to get at least one commissioner to change his or her mind. Many of the meeting’s attendees felt the decision was rushed, since the property hadn’t been mentioned since a 2018 workshop where the city outlined options to turn the church into a civic center.
Commissioner Dwight Selby and Mayor Bill Partington voted against demolishing the church. Because there are no commission meetings until July 20, a special meeting would have to be called to change the vote.
“If we do something positive now, it can enjoy a lot more years in history,” said Julia Truilo, executive director for Ormond MainStreet, who gave the meeting’s estimated 30 attendees an overview on the church’s history.
According to Truilo’s presentation, the cost to repair and dehumidify the building to usable standards is between $15,000 and $30,000. Only Commissioner Rob Littleton attended the meeting.
“I contend that if one of the commissioners who voted to demolish would change their mind and try to save the church for the next six months, that they may be kind of a hero to some of us in the building, and some of us who are voters and that might want to vote them in or out next time comes around,” said Judith Stein, president of the Ormond Beach Arts District.
Dialogue ensued about putting Truilo’s presentation on Facebook to spread the word, as some commissioners told residents not enough people cared about the church to delay its demolition. Civil Discourse has a petition on the matter and will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 1 at the Ormond Beach Library for a second meeting regarding the church.
The Volusia County Council ratified an agreement on Tuesday, June 22, that changes the way gas tax revenues are divided among cities for the next 13 years.
A press release states the agreement dictates the distribution of revenue from the 11-cents per-gallon in local option gas taxes. receive 57.2% of the revenue.
The agreement does change how the remaining share is divided between the cities: revenues will now be based on the percentage of municipal lane miles that each city maintains.
The county states the top four city shares will go to Deltona, Daytona Beach, Port Orange and Ormond Beach.
However, on May 18, the Ormond Beach City Commission tabled the interlocal agreement for the gas tax distribution, as the city will lose $45,000 in revenue this year and $230,000 per year after that due to the new formula.
Volusia County has accepted a bid to replace the submarine cable for the L.B. Knox Bridge located on Highbridge Road in Ormond Beach.
The bid was awarded to Midcoast Construction Enterprises LLC for $1.6 million. The project will take 18 months to complete, with three days of road closures planned. Detours will be notified.
