- January 21, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
Not entirely sold by any of the ideas presented for the redesign of Cassen Park, the Ormond Beach City Commission directed staff during a Feb. 15 workshop to combine design elements from each of the proposed concepts before putting a bid out for a professional design firm.
The last time the three-acre Cassen Park, located at the southwest corner of the Granada Bridge, was redesigned was 1985, a year after the fishing pier and bait shop building were constructed. In 2020, the commission OK’d city staff pursuit of a new bait shop design, which led to a park redesign project.
City staff came up with four concepts, which were presented to the public in early February via an online survey and a public meeting on Feb. 8. A total of 350 responded to the survey, with the majority — 174 respondents — favoring the fourth concept, the most drastic change of all with the redesigning of the park entrance, the addition of eight covered pavilions and a children’s playground, and the loss of the on-street parking along South Beach Street. It would also be the most expensive option, estimated to cost over $900,000.
Fifteen people attended the public meeting on Feb. 8, the majority of whom favored option one, which would change the least amount of things in the park, and would also be the cheapest at $700,000.
City Commissioner Susan Persis said that looking at all the responses from the public, there were certainly mixed opinions.
“I think that citizens are worried, you know, concerned about spending a lot of money, taxpayer’s money and so forth, and I heard that loud and clear,” she said.”
But a consensus she gathered was that people want more parking — including the existing on-street parking — and they want a beautiful view of the park. The playground, however, concerned her, as it did other commissioners due to safety concerns since the park is primarily used as a boating facility.
“To me, there is a place for it, and this is not the place for a playground,” Commissioner Troy Kent said.
A fifth option for the park’s redesign was also proposed by residents Barry du Moulin, Jerry Janero and Bill Partington II, the mayor’s father. City Public Works Director Shawn Finley called it “one of the best comments” the city’s ever received.
“This shows the dedication that we have in our community of people who are interested in this — that someone took the time to do a concept to show us what they think is the right way to do it,” Finley said.
Eight of the participants at the public meeting said they favored this design over the city’s concepts.
In a letter to the commission, Partington II said he didn’t want the commission to vote on any of the proposed designs, including his own. Instead, he asked the commission to determine what they wanted to see in the park to better instruct a design firm in a future request for proposals.
Through the discussion, commissioners also discussed lessening the amount of sidewalk and road intersections within the park to increase safety, and the importance of walking and jogging trails.
Mayor Bill Partington also suggested the city do a timelapse of the park so that engineers could see the walking and traffic patterns during a busy weekend at the park.
The cost of the project wasn’t a concern.
“The cost of $850,000 over 40 years — something that’s going to serve our residents for over 40 years — that’s like $116 a day,” Partington said. “The cost doesn’t seem that outrageous.”
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office recently conducted an undercover operation that identified several violations of stores selling alcohol and nicotine products to customers under 21 years old, according to a press release.
A total of 17 stores throughout the county were found to be in violation, including one in Ormond Beach: The Shell gas station convenience store at 201 W. Granada Blvd.
The enforcement operations occurred on Jan. 21 and Feb.9, and the underage operative was able to make 16 purchases of tobacco or nicotine vape products as well as 5 purchases of alcoholic beverages, VCSO reported.
In October 2021, the state implemented new legislation that raised the minimum age to buy tobacco and nicotine products from 18 to 21.
The operations were conducted by the Deltona Narcotics Enforcement Team and the East and West Volusia Narcotics Task Forces, which include VCSO and its partnered police departments like Ormond Beach Police.
The Ormond Beach City Commission unanimously approved an ordinance at its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 15, to amend the boundaries of the commission zones per the reapportionment plan that passed on Jan. 4.
Per the new map, the boundaries for Zone 4 remain the same as before. About 470 residents living between Airport Road and the Tomoka River were shifted to Zone 1 from Zone 3. Over 1,000 residents living in the North Beach Street area were shifted to Zone 2 from Zone 1.
To see which Zone you fall under, visit https://bit.ly/354iQkV
The commission also approved 4-1 a contract for the second phase of debri removal and environmental site remediation for the property at 385 S. Old Kings Road, to cost $109,822.
City Commissioner Dwight Selby voted against, as he maintains the site cleanup should have been the responsibility of the seller.
