- May 2, 2024
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The city of Ormond Beach will receive over $600,000 worth of ECHO grant funds for improvements to the Sports Complex Softball Quad and baseball fields at Nova Community Park.
On Tuesday, April 2, the Volusia County Council approved two funding requests — the first totaling $456,479 for the installation of LED lighting at the softball quad and the second totaling $216,326 for the baseball fields. The ECHO grant program was created in 2000 to help fund environmental, cultural, historical and outdoor recreation projects in the county. It was renewed by voters for another 20 years in 2020.
The council reviewed over $5.3 million in total funding requests from five different municipalities and three nonprofit organizations. The council also approved another cycle of ECHO grant applications to allow the city of DeBary to submit a $2.5 million request for the construction of its Alexander Island passive park, and, for the city of Daytona Beach to submit an application for a project at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, which was found ineligible for an ECHO grant in 2023. Both projects had applications that were deemed incomplete by county staff.
Brad Burbaugh, county director of Community Services, said the applications for this grant cycle were more rigorous regarding construction timelines and cost timelines.
"With regard to holding applicants responsible to the timeline they've committed to, we have renewed our focus on emphasizing this during the mandatory workshop," Burbaugh said.
The city of Ormond Beach provided match funds equal to the grant requests it sought. The dollars came from its Leisure Services Capital Fund, created in September 2023 when the City Commission approved a property tax increase that was 13.71% above the rollback rate (the rate that would generate the same amount of tax revenue as the previous year). The increase was designated to boost funding for Leisure Services and the city's Facilities Renewal and Replacement Fund.
Both projects were unanimously recommended for approval by the ECHO Advisory Committee.
At the Sports Complex, the city plans to add about 130 LED lights to its softball quad, as well as upgrade two security lights to LED.
At Nova Community Park, the city plans to renovate fields three to five, and convert field two from a softball field to a baseball field.
In addition to the field renovations, the city plans to install new irrigation technology that will conserve water, according to the application.
Both projects are expected to begin construction this summer in July and be completed by July 2025.
Chair Jeff Brower said he liked that the city was implementing new irrigation technology.
"I think that's forward thinking, and with our water issues, that sets a good standard," he said.
