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 from us on the fourteenth, February. We were not notified of that until Tom Casey called us yesterday morning to say that the contract had been canceled,” Sapp said. Daphne Robinson, the city’s director of procurement and contracting, responded that procurement had documented repeated nonperformance, described multiple equipment outages and late cycles, and determined the vendor had failed to make adequate progress. “After determining that the vendor had failed to make adequate progress and had given the city reason to believe that it was unable to satisfactorily perform, I consulted with public works staff and we made the decision to terminate the contract for default,” Robinson said.

The council introduced four ordinances on first reading proposing future land‑use and zoning changes for roughly 12.8‑acre parcels at 3001 Northeast 20th Street (cases LUC25‑0002 / ZON25‑0002) and roughly 12.4‑acre parcels in the 1800 block of Southwest 15th/16th Avenue (cases LUC25‑0001 / ZON25‑0001). The clerk read ordinance titles and parcel numbers; councilmembers did not hold final readings or votes on those ordinances at the March 4 meeting.

Votes at a glance

- Agreement with Platform Group LLC for Ocala Skatepark Expansion (contract_award): Motion and second recorded; outcome: approved. Vote tally: yes 5, no 0, abstain 0. (Budget resolution 2025‑135 to fund skate park adopted alongside this item.)

- Budget Resolution 2025‑135 (budget_adoption): Adopted to fund skate park work. Motion and second recorded; outcome: approved. Vote tally: yes 5, no 0.

- Amendment No. 1 to ACMS / Heart of Florida Environmental five‑year agreement (contract amendment): Amends annual disposal‑rate escalation from 2.5% to CPI (garbage/trash); staff said this will result in an additional $27,619 in disposal costs over five years versus the original escalation. Motion and second recorded; outcome: approved. Vote tally: yes 5, no 0.

- Additional expenditures under Art Walker Construction Inc. agreement (other/contract amendment): Approved; outcome: approved. Vote tally: yes 5, no 0.

- Interlocal agreement with Marion County for Southwest 40th / 40 Ninth Avenue improvements (other/interlocal): Approved to extend water and wastewater infrastructure as part of Marion County’s design‑build roadway project. Motion and second recorded; outcome: approved. Vote tally: yes 5, no 0.

- Continued use of the State of Florida alternative source agreement with Motorola Solutions, Inc. (contract_renewal): Approved to allow continued procurement of radio parts and equipment; outcome: approved. Vote tally: yes 5, no 0.

- Purchase of flooring and installation under Omnia Partners with Engineered Floors, LLC (purchase): Approved; outcome: approved. Vote tally: yes 5, no 0.

- Purchase of inventory items for Ocala Electric Utility (purchase): Approved; outcome: approved. Vote tally: yes 5, no 0.

- Award of a three‑year contract to Solo Cats Services LLC for mowing in the Southwest section (contract_award): Approved; outcome: approved. Vote tally: yes 5, no 0.

- Reaward of street‑sweeping contract to Shosha Services LLC (contract_award): Approved after public comment and procurement remarks; outcome: approved. Vote tally: yes 4, no 1 (Councilmember Mansfield recorded a “no”).

- Introduction and first reading of Ordinance 2025‑18 / LUC25‑0002 (ordinance_first_reading): Amending the Future Land Use Map from Employment Center to Public for parcels at 3001 NE 20th St. (approx. 12.81 acres). Introduced; final reading not scheduled tonight.

- Introduction and first reading of Ordinance 2025‑19 / ZON25‑0002 (ordinance_first_reading): Rezone from M‑1 Light Industrial to GU Governmental Use for the same NE 20th Street parcels. Introduced; final reading not scheduled tonight.

- Introduction and first reading of Ordinance 2025‑20 / LUC25‑0001 (ordinance_first_reading): Amending the Future Land Use Map from Employment Center to Public for parcels in the 1800 block of SW 15th Ave. (approx. 12.42 acres). Introduced.

- Introduction and first reading of Ordinance 2025‑21 / ZON25‑0001 (ordinance_first_reading): Rezone from M‑1 Light Industrial to GU Governmental Use for the SW 15th/16th Ave. parcels. Introduced.

Context and why it matters

Council members and staff framed most items as operational or capital maintenance actions intended to support the city’s strategic goals of operational excellence, economic hub growth and quality of place. The skate park expansion and its funding will alter park amenities and require capital work; the interlocal and utility purchases support infrastructure projects that can affect construction timing and service delivery. Contract decisions — particularly the termination and reaward related to street sweeping — drew public comment and a detailed procurement response explaining documented nonperformance and the city’s basis for terminating the incumbent vendor.

What’s next

The land‑use and rezoning ordinances will return for public hearings and final readings at later meetings; staff indicated the skate park funding resolution accompanies immediate procurement steps. Procurement officials said they will tighten procedures to avoid notice and delivery problems and that staff would return with any follow‑up items as needed. The council heard several other informational reports at the meeting, including communications metrics, public safety updates and internal audit notices.