- April 25, 2024
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An engineering firm has been chosen for the redesign of Cassen Park.
The Ormond Beach City Commission unanimously approved on Tuesday, Dec. 6, a $202,155 contract proposal from local company Zev Cohen and Associates for the design and required permitting for the project, to be funded with Community Redevelopment Agency dollars, since the park is located within the CRA district at the southwest corner of the Granada Bridge.
This project has been in the works since 2020 when the commission, who also acts as the city’s CRA, allowed city staff to pursue a design for a new bait shop at the three-acre park that would combine the shop with a restroom facility, as both standalone buildings are currently prone to flooding.
In February, the city conducted several public meetings to gather input for the park’s redesign, and presented four concepts. The city also received an additional concept from the community. At a Feb. 15 commission workshop, staff were directed to combine design elements from each of the proposed concepts before putting a bid out for a professional design firm.
“I think the charge was given to us that we want the next generation of this park,” City Public Works Director Shawn Finley said. “We want something that’s going to last for the next 50 years.”
Zev Cohen and Associates put forth two new preliminary concepts, both shown briefly to the commission at the Dec. 6 meeting. Finley said that all of the feedback gathered will be implemented in one more concept plan, to come before them for approval.
“These are a step in the right direction, but they’re not there yet,” Finley said.
City Commissioner Travis Sargent mentioned that one aspect he disliked from the concepts was the addition of a playground, calling it a safety issue. Cassen Park is a hub for boating activity in the city.
Sargent added that he would also like to see the war memorial be more prominently displayed in the park.
“I think that memorial should be a centerpiece, with the flag and everything, closer to where the bait shop is located,” he said.
The last time Cassen Park was redesigned was in 1985.
The City Commission, also acting as the city’s CRA, approved a $2.8 million bid to P&S Paving on Tuesday, Dec. 6, for the construction of the sidewalk banding repair project.
The project, to run along Granada Boulevard from A1A to Orchard Street, includes almost nine miles of decorative sidewalk banding, additional street trees with tree gates, streetlights, benches and planter boxes, according to a city memo. The current sidewalk banding was completed in 1991, and city staff noted pavers have since separated from the sidewalk or sunk.
According to the memo, FDOT has expressed concern about the conditions of the pavers and notified the city they need to be brought into compliance.
“There is a huge safety issue with some of the areas on the sidewalks,” Commissioner Susan Persis said. “... I think it’s going to make our downtown look fabulous.”
Instead of having to build a 6-foot masonry wall between a portion of the Aberdeen at Ormond Beach subdivision and upcoming Paradise Pointe assisted living facility at 350 Clyde Morris Blvd., the commission unanimously approved a special exception to allow a 6-foot decorative open aluminum fence instead.
The item came before the commission with a 6-1 Planning Board recommendation to deny the waiver, but the representatives of Paradise Pointe presented polling results to the commission from affected residents, the majority of whom largely preferred a fence over a wall.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has amended an emergency final order specific to Volusia County to allow for more flexibility for seawall structure permits, according to a Volusia County press release.
The new amendment by FDEP, the only authority that can issue coastal construction permits for seawalls, classifies all structures within the developed shorelines of Amsden Road in Ormond Beach south to Inlet Harbor Road in Ponce Inlet, and Sapphire Avenue south to Sandpiper Condominium in New Smyrna Beach, as “vulnerable.”
In normal situations, the press release explains, structures had to be deemed both “eligible” and “vulnerable” for FDEP to issue a seawall permit. The previous emergency final order waived the “eligible” requirement.
The order also waives a provision that only allows seawalls for existing structures. This waiver will allow a seawall to be permitted where a structure has been destroyed or substantially damaged.
The order will expire on Jan. 6, 2023.
