- December 4, 2025
Ormond Beach's Fleming Avenue pump station project was among six flood-mitigation and stormwater initiatives that received disaster recovery funding on Tuesday, Dec. 2, following approval by the Volusia County Council.
The $17 million project, which also includes the construction of a force main, is designed to reduce flooding in the city's neighborhoods surrounding Central Park. The County Council awarded over $8.7 million in funding from its Transform386 Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery program.
"This is a transformative grant," Assistant City Manager Shawn Finley said at the county meeting. "This is one that was a long time coming."
The project would construct a pump station at 601 Fleming Ave., and the force main pipe would be installed along the Fleming Avenue corridor to Ridgewood Avenue, commencing south along Ridgewood Avenue to Reynolds Avenue, and then east to the Halifax River.
Last year, Ormond Beach received $5.35 million from the state for the project, which was first identified as a need after a 2009 storm brought 30 inches of rain to the city in two-and-a-half days, causing historic flooding in the Central Park neighborhoods.
Since then, the city has interconnected the five lakes in Central Park, upgraded the existing Bennet Lane pump station and enhanced its pumping system.
The Fleming Avenue pump station will have the ability to pump 45,000 gallons a minute, an amount equivalent to three swimming pools.
“I am pleased to hear that a grant was awarded through the Transform 386 program by the County Council," Mayor Jason Leslie said to the Observer. "This project has been a long time in the making, and city staff has worked diligently to bring it to this point. It’s great to see it moving forward. The station is expected to protect hundreds of homes, especially in flood-prone neighborhoods along the Fleming Avenue corridor.”
In July, the city applied for a $9.4 million FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant for the project, but Finley told the council it had been stuck in this process for a long time. He commended the county for its Transform386 program, which was created in 2023 after the county received $328.9 million in disaster relief funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the critical infrastructure and flooding mitigation projects. The funding is available for projects initiated by the county, its cities and nonprofits.
Ormond's project was part of the third round of funding. In November 2024, the county awarded over $63 million in grant funds to 20 projects. Another 13 received funding in October, totaling almost $50 million in grant funds.
"This is a substantive project in the city of Ormond Beach," said Donna Butler, county Recovery and Resiliency Department director. "This was their first time coming to us, so almost all of the cities now have come forward with projects in these three rounds."
The third round of funding also included $585,000 for the town of Ponce Inlet, for the acquisition of two vacant lots for a revised stormwater project.
The county also approved four stormwater initiatives at the meeting: studies for the Spruce Creek watershed and the Rhode Island and Graves Avenue Basin in Orange City, as well as a stormwater and future resiliency master plan for Daytona Beach Shores and a flood-mitigation alternatives analysis for Lake Helen.
