Parks and Recreation director announces departure and outlines $600,000 ECHO grant, boat-ramp and FEMA pier options

Department Director (speaker 1) told the RCS board that they will be leaving the City of Edgewater and introduced Jason O'Keefe as the department's deputy director for Parks and Recreation. The director used the report to preview a slate of capital and staffing plans that city leaders expect to advance in the coming fiscal year.

"We did get the $600,000 ECHO grant for the pickleball courts," the Department Director said, describing Phase 1 work that will build a stormwater pond sized to correct local flooding and to accommodate future paving, plus four courts and a 40-space lit parking lot. The director said a second phase could add four more courts, a pavilion, shade structures, bleacher seating and a restaurant to support tournaments and revenue generation.

The director also outlined a south-side boat-ramp project adjacent to the Boston Whaler site that the city purchased years ago: the plan envisions five ramps, roughly 100 trailer parking spaces, a trailhead and restroom facilities. The city has selected DMC Dredging and Marine Specialist of Port Orange as the engineering firm to prepare drawings, permitting and on-site construction inspection; price negotiations are scheduled in August, the director said.

On waterfront recovery work, the director said consultants are preparing two options for the Bernard Mate Park fishing pier: one option would rebuild the pier to its prior design and the other would apply FEMA mitigation techniques that use stronger pile types (for example, concrete or alternative piles) and flow-through decking to make the structure more resilient to storms. The department is still searching for historic drawings — the director said the property was deeded to the city in 1918 and locating the original plans has slowed work.

The director reported the city is still pursuing FEMA reimbursement for the Kennedy Park project tied to Hurricane Irma and said obtaining payments has been slow. Other near-term maintenance work noted included a planned bid package for Whistle Stop Park paving, quotes for Hawks Park netting replacement, and Kennedy driveway repaving proposed in next fiscal year budget planning.

Speakers described a city rollout of Flock tag-reader cameras at several parks (Kennedy, Menard, Veterans and park entry points) monitored by police. The director explained that the system can filter by license-tag information and said it can help identify vehicles linked to outstanding warrants; a board member raised privacy concerns, noting the technology can feel like "big brother." The director also noted the tag readers have been useful in tracking suspects away from parks in at least one instance.

Additional items discussed included an EPA-funded green-infrastructure project at Veterans Park to grade collection areas and install a weir and living-shoreline plantings (expected to be completed around September), plans for a butterfly-garden mural led by local Girl Scouts with city vetting before council approval, and new event banners produced by Image Today.

The director said they will remain in post through Aug. 30 and start a new role Sept. 3 but will be available to assist during the transition. The board discussed training and possible interim coverage; the director said hiring and any interim assignment are at the discretion of the city manager.

What happens next: the board will continue design and permitting work on the boat-ramp and pier projects, negotiate engineering pricing with DMC, and proceed with Phase 1 of the pickleball courts using the ECHO grant. Laura's reappointment will go before city council on Aug. 5, and the next RCS quarterly meeting was scheduled for Oct. 16 at 5:30 a.m.