Ocala council approves skate park expansion, multiple contracts and funding actions; zoning amendments introduced

The Ocala City Council on March 4 approved a design-build agreement for the city's planned skate park expansion and a set of contract, purchasing and budget measures, while members introduced four ordinances proposing land‑use and zoning changes for two separate properties.

City engineer Sean Lanier told the council staff had issued a request for proposals last August for design‑build teams to expand the Ocala Skatepark and received one qualified and responsive proposal. “Staff recommends approval,” Lanier said during his presentation on the project, which will add an intermediate bowl, a snake run, a large bowl and a beginner area.

The council also adopted Budget Resolution 2025‑135 to fund the skate park work and approved several procurement and contract items including: an amendment to the five‑year agreement with ACMS (doing business as Heart of Florida Environmental) to tie annual disposal rate increases to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (garbage and trash collection); additional expenditures under the agreement with Art Walker Construction Inc. for water treatment byproduct disposal; interlocal utility extension work with Marion County for the Southwest 40th/40 Ninth Avenue improvements; continued use of the State of Florida alternative source agreement with Motorola Solutions, Inc.; and purchases for flooring and Ocala Electric Utility inventory items. The council also approved new and renewed service contracts for mowing and street sweeping in multiple city areas.

The most substantive public comment on contract work came from John Sapp of Grandview Landscaping, who told the council he had been the incumbent on a street‑sweeping contract that procurement terminated in February. “We were the current contract holder of this contract, and it was removed…