- February 1, 2025
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The City Commission recently approved with a unanimous vote to name baseball field 5 at the Nova Community Center after Dwight DuRant, president of civil engineering firm Zev Cohen and Associates and longtime youth sports coach.
The commission passed the resolution at its Feb. 18 meeting, which had been in the works since the Leisure Services Advisory Board voted in favor of naming the field at 440 N. Nova Road after DuRant in Nov. 13, 2019, according to city documents.
DuRant has lived in the city for over 30 years, and has been involved in several recreation engineering projects such as the Andy Romano Beachfront Park, Doug Wigley T-Ball Field Complex, South Ormond Neighborhood Center gymnasium and Ormond Beach Middle School’s practice football fields. He was also involved with the engineering of the field that is being named after him.
City Commissioner Troy Kent likened DuRant to the other people the city has named landmarks and facilities after, listing Andy Romano and Harry Wendelstedt as examples.
“You’re pretty darrn special when we name something for you in Ormond Beach,” Kent said.
The budget impact of the naming is estimated to be less than $1,500, city documents state, to allow for new signage.
The Father’s Table Foundation, of Sanford, awarded the First Step Shelter with a nearly $160,000 grant, which has been dedicated to hire a development director, a press release announced.
The grant will be received over an 18-month period. The development director will assist in developing community donors and media outreach, as well as write grants.
Eight months after 23-year-old Justin Egatz injured one man and killed a 14-week pregnant woman by striking them with his vehicle as they walked on the crosswalk at West Granada Boulevard and Seminole Drive, he is now behind bars.
The Port Orange man faces six charges for the May 27, 2019 crash. Two of the charges relate to vehicular homicide. Police report Egatz was under the influence of narcotics at the time of the crash.
The City Commission recently approved travel for Commissioners Rob Littleton and Susan Persis. Littleton will attend the American Legislative Exchange Council’s annual meeting in Orlando on July 15-17. Persis will attend the National League of Cities’ Summer Board and Leadership meeting in Los Angeles on June 17-19.
