Ocala committee reviews brownfields cleanup options for South West 10th Street, budget update

The City of Ocala Brownfields Advisory Committee on Jan. 10, 2025, heard an update on cleanup options for a contaminated property on South West 10th Street and a report on remaining grant funds, including plans to use monitoring — rather than excavation — to remove a groundwater-use restriction and advance redevelopment of the site for senior housing.

Committee members received the briefing from Robert, the city’s economic development manager, who said there are no new grants to approve this month but provided project updates and next steps for the grant that funds the brownfields work. "There are no grants to approve this this month, but I'll be providing project updates just to let you kinda give you, where we are at with the grant program," Robert said.

The presentation covered recent environmental work at the South West 10th Street property: 12 Phase I site assessments and four Phase II assessments have been completed under the current grant cycle, and one analysis of brownfields cleanup alternatives has been finished. Consultants completed Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments that found contamination on the site, and the property owner and project leads — named in the presentation as Keith Fair and Donnie Mitchell — are planning to redevelop the site as senior housing.

Robert summarized options from the cleanup-alternatives analysis, which lays out four scenarios ranging from partial to full cleanup and estimates costs for different approaches. He said lifting the existing groundwater-use restriction will require at least four quarters of monitoring data showing contaminant levels below the safety targets; after that, the city would address soil remediation as needed. "For that restriction to be lifted, we need at least 4 quarters of monitoring results showing that the contamination levels are below, what the targets are, for safe usage," he said.

The presentation noted that full remediation, including required drilling and testing to prove contamination is no longer present, could cost up to approximately $600,000 for the remaining work at the site. Robert said the grant cannot be used for excavation but can be applied to additional monitoring to demonstrate steady contaminant levels and support requests to remove the groundwater restriction. He added the city will evaluate using Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) funds where appropriate to complete work beyond what the grant can cover.

Staff also reported outreach and planning work completed under the grant: consultants and staff held a community meeting labeled "REED's Place Community Meeting" on Nov. 1, 2024, which drew 57 participants. Consultants showed concept images for potential uses of the block, conducted an online survey and in-person interviews, and are preparing a final master-plan report that staff said will be shared at a future community event for additional feedback.

The committee received a budget update for January 2025 showing approximately $336,000 spent so far. Robert said the grant is scheduled to end in September (year not specified in the meeting record) and that staff will prioritize remaining tasks and outreach; some remaining budget can be used for additional Phase I assessments but further Phase II work is unlikely because of cost.

Committee business items that followed included a reminder that several membership terms are expiring and that members should contact staff (Britney, by email) if they intend to seek reappointment. The committee set its next meeting for March 20 and then approved the meeting minutes from Sept. 19 by voice vote.

Votes at a glance - Approval of Sept. 19 minutes: Motion moved and seconded; approved by voice vote. Individual member votes were not recorded in the meeting minutes. - Motion to adjourn: Moved, seconded; carried by voice vote.

Why it matters: The brownfields grant work determines whether the South West 10th Street property can be redeveloped for senior housing and whether environmental restrictions that limit groundwater use can be lifted. The committee’s decisions about how much of the remaining grant to allocate to monitoring or other tasks will affect timelines and funding needs for additional cleanup or redevelopment steps.

What’s next: Staff said consultants will complete the final master-plan document for Reeve's Place (listed in materials as REED's Place) and will return to the community with the plan; staff also said they will pursue additional monitoring work and evaluate CRA funding to address remaining remediation needs.