- October 10, 2024
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Construction work to repair the James F. Holland Park splash pad could begin in just a few weeks and end next summer.
The Palm Coast City Council voted unanimously on Oct. 3 to approve a $3 million contract with Saboungi Construction to fix the park’s splash pad. Sabounji Construction’s Mohammad Mounir Khabazeh said Sabounji's team has spent almost a month reviewing the project to determine the best way to move forward.
“I will be there if we have a problem,” Khabazeh said.
Palm Coast Stormwater and Engineering Director Carl Cote and Khabazeh said they hope to have the repairs completed by July 1, 2024. Khabazeh told the Observer he hopes to break ground in the next few weeks to meet that deadline.
Several council members and members of the public asked what steps the city would take to ensure the repairs would not fail like the original work did.
Cote said the contract includes several oversight and quality control methods, including limitations on how much concrete can be poured at one time, almost full-time inspections from the project designer, and staff oversight.
The project will include modifying and replacing several parts of the pad’s flooring and a new code-compliant surface material, according to the bid documents.
The entire council was adamant that city staff members stay on top of the repairs as the project goes forward.
“It's vital. We cannot repeat the same mistakes,” council member Theresa Carli Pontieri said. “The splash pad is great for families, and we owe a duty to our families to provide certain amenities like this.”
The city invested $5 million in the splash pad. It opened in May 2021 but closed that October because the “poured-in-place,” or PIP, surface material, cracked and peeled, becoming a trip hazard.
The city decided to sue the companies involved in the pad’s construction in November 2022 after Trevor Arnold, the attorney leading the case for the city, said mediation between the parties had reached an impasse.
Arnold told the city council in the November 2022 meeting that the city was seeking $1.4 million for construction costs, involved labor costs and lost revenue. The opposing parties only offered 10% of that.
The lawsuit originally only involved four companies: designers S&ME, builders BBI Construction Management, Westfield Insurance Company and subcontractor No Fault, LLC.
Since then, eight more companies have been listed on the lawsuit, according to Flagler County Clerk of Courts website: Turnsole Builders, LLC, a Florida construction company; COST of Wisconsin, a theme-design and construction company; KDK Concrete of Volusia, which specializes in construction-grade concrete; A W Safety Surfacing LLC, specializing in playground surfacing; 4CS Trucking and Excavation, Inc., in Bunnell; American Recycling Center, Inc., which sells rubber recycled surface materials; Rep Services, Inc., which supplies playground equipment; and Weller Pools, LLCS, a water park and commercial pool designer.
We don’t know if we are going to recoup a penny at this time."
— Ed Danko, Palm Coast vice mayor
Vice Mayor Ed Danko at first said he would not support the contract. He said he felt the city should wait until litigation is complete before starting repairs, to recoup the costs so far.
“We don’t know if we are going to recoup a penny at this time,” Danko said. “I just think that we will be throwing good money after bad money if we do this.”
When the council discussed including the repair project in the 2024 budget during an Aug. 29 City Council meeting, Pontieri said having a firm number for how much the repairs would cost could help during litigation.
Because of the pending lawsuit, Saboungi Construction's project bid was the only one the city received, Cote said in the Aug. 29 meeting.
Saboungi has been in business since 1982 and has worked with the city on multiple projects over the years, including the Palm Coast Post Office built in the late eighties, the Indian Trails Sports Complex and the recently completed Waterfront Park improvements.
Saboungi’s involvement was the reason Danko ultimately changed his vote in support of the repairs.
“I trust this man,” Danko said, “and while I'm not happy with all the money we've lost … I know that there is a need for this in our community.”
