After saving about $1 million from the ball field parking expansion at the Indian Trails Sports Complex, Palm Coast wants to use that money for park improvements and other amenities.
The City Council June 16 tabled a staff proposal to allocate the funds toward a parking expansion at the Southern Recreation Center. Instead, board members suggested using the savings on further parking improvements, safety improvements or even the community’s long-requested skate park.
Mayor Mike Norris suggested using part of the money to fund a skate park, whether it’s built within the Rec Center or in another location within the city. Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri encouraged the city to use some of the money toward safety improvements at Baseball Field 2 at Indian Trails.
Councilman Charles Gambaro pointed to the need for more parking at the Rec Center, which offers several pickleball courts, tennis courts, community gardens, a dog park and more.
Pontieri suggests funding a net around Indian Trails ball field
The vice mayor suggested that part of the money could be used to install a net around Baseball Field 2 at Indian Trails, which she argued “is paramount for safety purposes.”
“I have seen people get beamed in the face with a foul ball, and it is not pretty,” she said. “I have heard from a few people, moms in particular, that they are concerned about safety issues, specifically at Field 2.”
Palm Coast Little League, a local organization that hosts games at the complex, would be involved in the initiative, Pontieri suggested, adding that a batting cage structure could be a part of it.
She said the need for those safety improvements are especially important now as the Orange State League collegiate baseball games are about to begin.
“I’m not so sure that I’m ready to commit the $1 million strictly to (Rec Center parking),” she said. “I certainly want some monies to go there. I think it’s necessary. But I would like staff to explore some these safety improvements at Indian Trails Sports Complex, specifically at this time.”
Could Palm Coast use $1M available for skate park?
Mayor Norris suggested that the city use part of the funds to “add another amenity at the Southern Recreation Center.”
“We can get – which is one of our strategic action plans for this year, and it’s also in the parks master plan – a skate park,” Norris said. “We can get a nice skate park for under $1 million.”
A new skate park, he argued, would satisfy the demand of a large part of the community.
The $1 million is divided almost equally between park impacts fees and capital improvements project funds.
Carl Cote, the city’s director of stormwater and engineering, said discussions are ongoing about bringing a city-run skate park to the upcoming YMCA project at Town Center.
“This is something that’s been asked for in the community, and we could do for under one million bucks,” Norris said. “If it’s (at the Rec Center), in the Town Center where the (YMCA facility) is going to go, we can go ahead and build that skate park now.”
Cote said that the skate park is not currently one of the capital improvement project’s priorities on the Parks and Rec Department’s master plan, which would require the board to direct such a change.
That conversation and more discussions about what to do with the $1 million will be part of a future City Council workshop.
— Brenno Carillo is a local government reporter covering Flagler County, including Palm Coast and Flagler Beach, for The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Palm Coast saved $1M from parking project, weighs plans for surplus
Reporting by Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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By Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
