- June 11, 2026
The Ormond Beach City Commission has approved additional work for Andy Romano Beachfront Park at a cost of $101,947.
The work includes handrails, pavers, concrete work and lengthening the new ADA-accessible ramp at the park, which is undergoing a $2.5 million construction project to repair the seawall and reconstruct the beach ramp, both of which were damaged in 2024 during Hurricane Milton.
City staff still estimates construction will be done sometime in August, and the park remains accessible to the public, but officials at the June 9 City Commission meeting expressed some frustration at the delays and hurdles the project has faced in the last couple of years.
"Here we are adding another amount to a bid that should have probably been done better," said City Commissioner Travis Sargent, who pulled the item from the meeting's consent agenda. "I don't know where we may have went wrong, but I just think that we need to do an after-action report on this, and figure out how we can do better."
Andy Romano's seawall dated to about the 1950s, which city staff previously explained to the Observer meant that the damage couldn't be repaired easily — it needed to be fully rebuilt. That, combined with working with FEMA and having to rebid the project in January after issues with its last contractor involving an $818,000 change order, have led to the delay.
FEMA, however, will be reimbursing the city about $2.3 million of the total combined project cost for the new seawall and beach ramp. The city is also replacing the shade structures at the park.
Assistant City Manager Shawn Finley said that the additional work at the park was identified during a building permit review in January and that the items go beyond what the engineer originally put into the park's design. The work is also coming in about $20,000 higher than originally expected.
"I apologize that our review of our consultants did not cover that prior to getting out to bid, and I certainly would have hoped that our actual prices from our contractor would have been less than what we estimated," Finley said. "... These were deemed necessary to make sure that ramp that we're doing at Andy Romano is fully ADA-compliant."
