- May 6, 2024
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Palm Coast's Waterfront Park will get a new dock, double kayak launch and boat ramp, plus more parking and boat trailer parking.
The work is expected to begin in 2023.
"This is a beautiful city amenity, and I frequent this — the walking path is amazing — and I think this is only going to make it even brighter."
— NICK KLUFAS, city councilman
The city government has received a Florida Inland Navigation District grant for the work, Palm Coast Stormwater and Engineering Director Carl Cote told Palm Coast City Council members at a Nov. 9 City Council workshop.
"Waterfront Park itself is a great asset to the city," Cote said. "It’s got a lot of connections, communitywide, either through the trail system or people who utilize the facility for various uses. It’s a very successful, very active park."
Palm Coast received its first FIND grant for Waterfront Park in 2005, using that money to design the park's current amenities, known as "Part 1."
The first, $1.1 million Phase A will feature dredging, shoreline stabilization, site work and the installation of concrete and the city's new dock, while a later, $543,000 Phase B will add additional parking.
It has received more assistance regularly in the years since, including grant money last year for the planned work, and more this year.
“We started in 2020; this year we’re at the final stages of having a set of construction plans," Cote said. "Our goal here is, at the beginning of 2023, to move ahead with construction.”
The planned project is called "Part 2," and will broken into two phases.
The first, $1.1 million Phase A will feature dredging, shoreline stabilization, site work and the installation of concrete and the city's new dock, while a later, $543,000 Phase B will add additional parking.
There will also be educational kiosks featuring safety and boating operation information about topics like Intracoastal Waterway channel use, manatee awareness, vessel right-of-way and boater safety, and the distances to various destinations.
"Part 2 is incredibly critical, because if you have a bunch of people launching boats, you need somewhere to be able to put the trucks with the trailers," City Councilman Nick Klufas said. "This is a beautiful city amenity, and I frequent this — the walking path is amazing — and I think this is only going to make it even brighter."
FIND will be funding slightly under half of Phase A. The city will apply for more grants to cover approximately half of Phase B.
Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin asked why the Waterfront Park project, specifically, has been selected for the FIND grant funding.
Cote explained that FIND funds projects that help people access the Intracoastal Waterway. It has also provided funding for the Long Creek Nature Preserve — Palm Coast's only other park with Intracoastal access — and for the city's annual Intracoastal Waterway Cleanup event.
Alfin asked if the new kayak launch would also accommodate other non-motorized boats, like crew boats.
Cote said that it would all types of non-motorized vessels, including crew boats and canoes.
