St. Johns County plans to spend $3 million on repairs to the Pier Park pier in St. Augustine Beach and is gathering public input for a master plan for the site, Ryan Kane, director of parks and recreation for St. Johns County, said Monday in a brief interview with City of St. Augustine Beach Mayor Dylan Rumrell.

County staff are finalizing permitting for the pier work and expect contractors to begin repairs in the fall, Kane said. “The board of county commission approved $3,000,000 for repairs at that site,” he said. Kane said contractors will “encompass the existing concrete piers and they will pour new concrete around that and be able to connect it,” a method engineers estimate will extend the pier’s life “by approximately 20 years.”

Kane said the county is also conducting a master plan process for Pier Park to gather public preferences and design ideas. “We’re currently doing a master plan here at this site … and we’re seeking public input and public feedback,” he said, adding that a project website will launch in the next few months and that the county will hold public meetings in the fall to present options for improvements.

At Ron Parker Park in St. Augustine Beach, Kane said staff completed a drainage study to identify fixes for chronic standing water in the parking lot. The county plans to include some site improvements in its regular operating budget over the next year, including a fence around the playground, shade over the playground and repairs to the basketball court. Kane said larger parking-lot repairs identified by the drainage study will be considered in future budget years.

The updates were presented in a short on-air conversation between Kane and Mayor Dylan Rumrell; no new local ordinance or city-level funding was presented during the exchange. The pier repair dollars were described as approved by the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners; Kane said permitting remains in process. The county did not provide a construction start date beyond the general fall estimate or a detailed budget breakdown during the interview.

Kane and Rumrell closed the segment by noting parks and recreation activities available at the sites, including concerts at Pier Park and recreational uses at Ron Parker Park. The county’s master-plan outreach and the final permitting status will determine the timeline for specific construction milestones.