- December 4, 2025
The City of Ormond Beach has applied for federal funding for a pump station to reduce flooding in the neighborhoods surrounding Fleming Avenue.
In need of $12.5 million for the project, the city applied for a $9.4 million FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant for the new stormwater pump station, to be located next to the southernmost Central Park lake. According to a public notice, the 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.
"The pump station would allow for pre-storm drawdown of the lake system and discharge to the Halifax River via a pipe located along the Fleming Avenue corridor," the public notice states.
Last year, the city received $5.35 million from the state for the Fleming Avenue pump station project. This 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 would alleviate the flooding risk to about 500-600 homes in the area, as it would have the ability to pump 45,000 gallons a minute, Assistant City Manager Shawn Finley told the Observer last year. That is equivalent to three swimming pools.
The city's match for the project is $3.14 million, but it is working to secure grant funding to cover that as well.
