The city of Zephyrhills will apply for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Small Cities funding under the neighborhood revitalization category to support improvements at Zephyr Park, city officials announced April 14.

The Citizens Advisory Task Force recommended the park project after a public presentation and discussion; the Zephyrhills City Council voted unanimously later the same evening to direct staff to prepare the application and bring a draft back for a second public hearing before the May 16 submission deadline.

David Fox, a grant consultant with Fred Fox Enterprises who presented the CDBG program to the advisory panel, said this year’s cycle is different from prior years because eligibility was broadened: "This year's cycle is different than any previous one I've been doing...there's a $40,000,000 pot." He described the four eligible CDBG categories — housing rehabilitation, commercial revitalization, neighborhood revitalization and economic development — and explained program scoring incentives for shovel-ready projects and local leverage.

Gail Hamilton, community redevelopment agency director for the city of Zephyrhills, presented Zephyr Park as the staff-priority project and described planning and design progress. "We contemplate a $10,000,000 construction budget," Hamilton said, and she told the Task Force the design team is working to balance park amenities with stormwater and flood mitigation measures.

During public comment, resident Erica Freeman urged including a youth-center component: "It would be really nice to have the youth center for some — a safe place for them to go and not get into trouble and maybe be a little mentored and learn something," she said.

Task Force member Gary Hatrick moved that the Citizens Advisory Task Force recommend a neighborhood-revitalization CDBG application for Zephyr Park; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously. The City Council later approved staff preparing an application under the neighborhood category, asking staff to return with a draft application and cost estimates at a second public hearing before the deadline.

City staff and Fox said applicants must submit an application packet that includes design plans and an engineer’s cost estimate; projects that are shovel-ready and that commit local leverage typically score higher. Hamilton said the park design team has coordinated with water‑management authorities on flood-mitigation elements and that some drainage work would be part of the park construction.

If the council proceeds, staff will prepare a draft application for a second public hearing and revise it as needed before filing on or before May 16.

The move sets Zephyr Park as the city's top candidate for this cycle of CDBG Small Cities funding and starts the next step of engineering-cost collection and a formal second hearing.